Home Improvement Thread

[Dickie Dunn]

Armstrong in BuCo sucks

[robbiestoupe]

I’m in Allegheny. Armstrong was ok when I had them but I can get the same speed from Consolidated for much less

[scb147]

Really? I'm in Cranberry, and I have Armstrong's Zoom II 500Mbps plan and it is $84/month. The 250Mbps plan for Consolidated is $85/month, but that isn't even available to me since they are only available in newer developments.

[robbiestoupe]

Really? I'm in Cranberry, and I have Armstrong's Zoom II 500Mbps plan and it is $84/month. The 250Mbps plan for Consolidated is $85/month, but that isn't even available to me since they are only available in newer developments.

I have the lower plan: 20 Mbps. I complained after they raised their prices that a new customer would pay less than me, and if they don't go back to that rate that I'd switch to Armstrong. They caved. I tried the same tactic with Armstrong when I had them, and they said, See Ya

[scb147]

is that 20Mbps Consolidated's fiber (Fidium I think?), or their DSL? Up until recently, I thought Consolidated was only DSL, so their speeds were usually really low compared to cable. But I haven't really considered them since for where I live, it's Armstrong or nothing.

[robbiestoupe]

It is DSL. Super slow, but we've never had issues for what we use it for. Streaming services never lag.

[NTP66]

I had no idea that DSL was even still a thing, if I'm being honest.

[robbiestoupe]

I had no idea that DSL was even still a thing, if I'm being honest.

It made it very difficult in 2020 when I was trying to set up my son and myself in different areas to do school and WFH at the same time. But otherwise, I haven't had any issues.

[Troy Loney]

Oh, if it's just that, then $3600 sounds really high. I could probably replace every outlet and switch in my house in one day, and that would be something like $450/hour.

So, cancelled this project. Instead planning to just buy all the parts and I have an electrician coming to the house to install them and pay their hourly rate. Any idea on what all I would need to purchase?

[NTP66]

Oh, if it's just that, then $3600 sounds really high. I could probably replace every outlet and switch in my house in one day, and that would be something like $450/hour.

So, cancelled this project. Instead planning to just buy all the parts and I have an electrician coming to the house to install them and pay their hourly rate. Any idea on what all I would need to purchase?

All of this is IMO.

Outlets: If it matters to you, pick out standard outlets that visually appeal to you. Some people like the rectangular receptacles as opposed to the old school ones. Make sure that you buy the appropriate faceplates to go with them. For your kitchen and bathrooms, you'll want to buy GFCI outlets.

Switches: Standard switches work fine, but if you want a dimmer switch, make sure that the light supports dimming. If you have two switches that control the same fixture, those need to be 3-way switches. The same applies to faceplates for these, too.

I don't think you need to buy anything other than the outlets, switches, and faceplates. Any electrician should have wingnuts should they require them for something.

[Troy Loney]

Oh, if it's just that, then $3600 sounds really high. I could probably replace every outlet and switch in my house in one day, and that would be something like $450/hour.

So, cancelled this project. Instead planning to just buy all the parts and I have an electrician coming to the house to install them and pay their hourly rate. Any idea on what all I would need to purchase?

All of this is IMO.

Outlets: If it matters to you, pick out standard outlets that visually appeal to you. Some people like the rectangular receptacles as opposed to the old school ones. Make sure that you buy the appropriate faceplates to go with them. For your kitchen and bathrooms, you'll want to buy GFCI outlets.

Switches: Standard switches work fine, but if you want a dimmer switch, make sure that the light supports dimming. If you have two switches that control the same fixture, those need to be 3-way switches. The same applies to faceplates for these, too.

I don't think you need to buy anything other than the outlets, switches, and faceplates. Any electrician should have wingnuts should they require them for something.

Thanks, if the current switch has a dimmer and I wanted to get rid of that, can I just get the regular switch?

[NTP66]

Oh, if it's just that, then $3600 sounds really high. I could probably replace every outlet and switch in my house in one day, and that would be something like $450/hour.

So, cancelled this project. Instead planning to just buy all the parts and I have an electrician coming to the house to install them and pay their hourly rate. Any idea on what all I would need to purchase?

All of this is IMO.

Outlets: If it matters to you, pick out standard outlets that visually appeal to you. Some people like the rectangular receptacles as opposed to the old school ones. Make sure that you buy the appropriate faceplates to go with them. For your kitchen and bathrooms, you'll want to buy GFCI outlets.

Switches: Standard switches work fine, but if you want a dimmer switch, make sure that the light supports dimming. If you have two switches that control the same fixture, those need to be 3-way switches. The same applies to faceplates for these, too.

I don't think you need to buy anything other than the outlets, switches, and faceplates. Any electrician should have wingnuts should they require them for something.

Thanks, if the current switch has a dimmer and I wanted to get rid of that, can I just get the regular switch?

Yep, there's nothing special about the wiring, you can easily replace it with a standard switch.

[NTP66]

I should also mention, if you intend to install a dimmer switch into a box that currently doesn't have one, you may want to take the faceplate off right now and look at how cramped it is. Some dimmer switches are rather large, and space may be an issue if you're installing it in a double gang box that already has another switch next to it.

[scb147]

For your kitchen and bathrooms, you'll want to buy GFCI outlets.

But you only need one GFCI per circuit, correct? Like my 2 upstairs bathrooms are on the same circuit, so there is only one GFCI outlet on that circuit. Maybe code is different now than when my place was built in the 90s, but that's how I thought the GFCI outlets needed wired.

[NTP66]

For your kitchen and bathrooms, you'll want to buy GFCI outlets.

But you only need one GFCI per circuit, correct? Like my 2 upstairs bathrooms are on the same circuit, so there is only one GFCI outlet on that circuit. Maybe code is different now than when my place was built in the 90s, but that's how I thought the GFCI outlets needed wired.

I have no idea if the code is national or regional, so I can't say what's actually required. I know that yes, if you install a GFCI outlet, any downstream outlet is also protected. I want to say that even though that's the case, you are still required to have GFCI outlets in areas like the bathroom because of wet areas, but local code may dictate whether or not that's accurate. I'd probably still buy as many GFCI's as you think you may need, and maybe even the same number of standard outlets, and simply return the ones you wind up not using. I do that with HD/Lowe's for projects like this.

[Beveridge]

It's weird. Almost all the outlets in the kitchen are GFCI, but neither of the bathroom outlets right above the sink are. Apparently it isn't Code unless every inspector missed it along the way.

[NTP66]

It's weird. Almost all the outlets in the kitchen are GFCI, but neither of the bathroom outlets right above the sink are. Apparently it isn't Code unless every inspector missed it along the way.

See? And I wonder if that's some goofy local code. I would not want a standard outlet in the bathroom, personally.

[scb147]

It's weird. Almost all the outlets in the kitchen are GFCI, but neither of the bathroom outlets right above the sink are. Apparently it isn't Code unless every inspector missed it along the way.

See? And I wonder if that's some goofy local code. I would not want a standard outlet in the bathroom, personally.

You don't want to come to my house then

[Kane]

Addendum; buy nylon wall plates when possible. They don't break.

[NTP66]

Kane, my man, what are you doing to break faceplates?

[Kane]

Kane, my man, what are you doing to break faceplates?

All it takes is a crappy gang box install from someone else. Plate looks uneven, so you screw it down a little bit more and *snap*.

[DigitalGypsy66]

It's weird. Almost all the outlets in the kitchen are GFCI, but neither of the bathroom outlets right above the sink are. Apparently it isn't Code unless every inspector missed it along the way.

See? And I wonder if that's some goofy local code. I would not want a standard outlet in the bathroom, personally.

Our old house, built in 2007, had GFCI outlets for days. Multiple in the kitchen, and all outlets in both bathrooms were also GFCI. All outlets in the garage were GFCI.

Brand new house in a different county, and I think we have 1 or 2 GFCI outlets in the entire house. I know neither is in the bathroom, and I think 1 in the kitchen and 1 in the garage. It passed the county building inspection and our home inspector didn't say anything about it.

[robbiestoupe]

It's weird. Almost all the outlets in the kitchen are GFCI, but neither of the bathroom outlets right above the sink are. Apparently it isn't Code unless every inspector missed it along the way.

See? And I wonder if that's some goofy local code. I would not want a standard outlet in the bathroom, personally.

Our old house, built in 2007, had GFCI outlets for days. Multiple in the kitchen, and all outlets in both bathrooms were also GFCI. All outlets in the garage were GFCI.

Brand new house in a different county, and I think we have 1 or 2 GFCI outlets in the entire house. I know neither is in the bathroom, and I think 1 in the kitchen and 1 in the garage. It passed the county building inspection and our home inspector didn't say anything about it.

Both were probably to code, but the 2007 house was overdone. Like already mentioned, you only need the first outlet from the breaker box to be GFCI and every outlet wired to that circuit thereafter is protected. Or if you install a GFCI breaker in the box, you can have regular outlets everywhere and be protected at the breaker.

BTW, might as well update everything to AFCI outlets, as that will be the new code in the not too distant future

[CBear3]

In the 2020 edition of the NEC®, Section 210.12 requires that for dwelling units, all 120-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere branch circuits supplying outlets or devices installed in dwelling unit kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas, or similar rooms or areas shall be protected by AFCIs.

I don't know if he has to upgrade the breaker if he's doing any work on the circuit to be kosher, or if it would just be for a new install, but code already requires AFCIs.

[meow]

My parlor isn’t GFCI protected. The **** you gonna do about it?