Ask This Old House

Kevin

Today on "Ask This Old House"...

Larry

I've got a leak, and it's coming up from an unusual place. It's coming out of the overflow tube.

Richard

This is an important safety device on any water heater, and it should not be leaking. I'll show you the fix.

Scott

I'm heading to North Carolina to install the latest generation of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. So anywhere you have Internet connection, you can tell what's going on in your house.

Tom

And I'll show a young fan how to build her very own toolbox. Just let the weight of the saw do the work. All we're doing is pushing and pulling. You're pretty good with that hammer. You've had practice.

Kevin

Hi, there. I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to "Ask This Old House." You may have heard that we are trying to close the gap in the skilled trades. It's a program that we call Generation Next, and we have had a great response from young people in high school and college. But we also had a response from a younger person -- a 10-year-old who sent us a letter, and I want to share it with you. She writes, "Dear 'Ask This Old House,' my name is Katherine, and I am in the fourth grade." And she thinks that if kids learn how to use certain tools such as a jigsaw and a router, that they might actually learn some skills that they can use later in life. Well, we were so taken with her letter that we actually invited her here to work with Tommy.

Tom

So, Katherine, you're in the fourth grade.

Yes. Tom

You like school? And what's your favorite subject?

Katherine

Well, I like math a lot. And then sometimes I like to write.

Tom

Sometimes you like to write. Well, I like the math part, because I have to use math all the time. I use fractions and adding and subtracting, and it comes in handy for when you're trying to build stuff, you know what I mean?

Katherine

Yeah.

Tom

And what about after school?

Katherine

I like to do a lot of ballet, and I also like to build things, so...

Tom

Oh, you like ballet? You think I'd make a good ballerina? You do?

Katherine

Yes.

Tom

Ah... No, believe me, I couldn't be. So you like to build things. So I thought -- and I knew that you like to build things. But I think it's a good idea. I went out, and I bought some lumber. So you and I can build a little project that we can make a toolbox so that you can carry your tools around when you want to build things. What do you think?

Katherine

That sounds good.

Tom

Want to get started?

Okay. -Tom

All right, Katherine. Here's the kind of wood that we're gonna use for the toolbox. This is a piece of 1x5. And we're gonna take -- the longest thing that we're gonna put in your toolbox is this handsaw. So rather than measure it, we're gonna lay it down like this. I'm gonna take the handle, and I'll slide it all the way down to the end. All right, and then we can mark a line about two or three inches longer than the saw. Take the combination square, hold it on the edge of the board. Nice and tight. There you go, and then mark one side. Perfect. And now we can cut it. So now when we're cutting like this... you want to try to make sure that we keep the saw, this part of the wood, the saw handle, and your shoulder all lined up. When we do that, the saw will cut straight. So in other words, if you're standing over here, the saw goes over here. If you stand over here, the saw goes over there. When you line them up, it just goes nice and straight. Look at that. Oh, see! Now that's perfect. You can even hear how nice it's cutting. Boom! All right! There you go. High-five! Ah! All right, let's do a dry fit. Here's our bottom, and here's our two sides. And we made our bottom how much shorter than the two sides?

Katherine

One and a half inches.

Tom

One and a half. So one and a half divided by two is...

Three-quarters. -Tom

Correct. All right, so now the side will stick out three-quarters of an inch on each end of the bottom, right? So let's stand up one of the sides -- or one of the ends. That's right. Put it right in there. Take the other side, stand that up. Are you even on the end there?

Yeah. -Tom

Good. Okay, let's try one on this end. See how it fits. Is it even?

Katherine

Yeah.

Tom

Yep. We did a good job. All right. So the next thing we want to do is we want to dress this box up a little bit. So I think what we're gonna do is cut an angle on each corner. Look at that. Boom. The handle is gonna be a one-inch dowel, so we're gonna use a one-inch drill bit to drill the hole.

Drill whirring

Tom

All right, let me check it, see if it's coming through. There it is. It's just starting to come through. So now what we're gonna do is we're gonna take the drill out... and we're gonna turn the board over, and drill it from the other side. You know why we do that? Because if we just keep drilling all the way, the drill will actually chip out the wood, and it will make it look terrible. And we don't want it to look terrible, we want it to look stunning.

Katherine

Okay.

Tom

Boom, we're through. All right, let's see if the dowel fits. Perfect. If you can hammer that nail without hammering my finger, we got it made. Oh, you're pretty good with that hammer. You've had practice. All right, Katherine, here's the toolbox that you built, and it looks beautiful. But I put a name on the side of it. I burnt it in there so you'll always know where you made it. I also got you some tools. I got you a saw -- a couple of different saws. I got some earplugs to protect the ears. You have the eyeglasses. Different screwdrivers, a compass, a tape measure so that you can do your math, a level to make sure everything's straight, a hammer, some chisels, and a block plane, and a pencil. So now when you're working on a project with mom and dad,

you can get it all built. -Katherine

Thank you.

Tom

What I want you to do, though, is when you build a project, will you send me -a picture of it?

Katherine

Of course!

Tom

All right, you're the best. Thank you. Let's load this up.

Scott

Hi,

Carolyn. -Carolyn

Hi, Scott!

Nice to meet you. -Carolyn

Nice to meet you.

Welcome to Charlotte. -Scott

Thanks for having me. What a beautiful neighborhood, and the house is just great!

Carolyn

Thank you. We've been here for two years, and we're very happy. We have two kids. We also had a recent problem with a smoke detector in our master bedroom. It started chirping in the middle of the night, woke the whole family up, and we had to remove it. And so now we do not have one in the master bedroom,

which is not very safe. -Scott

Oh, okay. So you have no smoke detector in your master bedroom right now?

Carolyn

That's correct.

Scott

How about the rest of the home?

Carolyn

We do have some in the rest of the house. I'm not sure how many, and I think the only thing we've done was replace the batteries.

Scott

All right, Carolyn, so I've just done the inspection of your home for all the devices that you have. We have some good news, and we have some bad news. Start with the good news. So first off, your house meets all the modern codes that are required with smoke-detector locations. So upstairs, you have three bedrooms. There's a smoke detector required in each of the bedrooms. There is. And in the hallway, there's a smoke detector upstairs. Down here on this level, you need a smoke detector, which we have right above here. Over there in that little hallway, that covers the rest of the floor.

That's also really good. -Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

And you had one in your master bedroom before you ripped it down. There's no basement here, so you don't need anything, obviously, 'cause it's a slab. But you would have needed one if you had a basement. Now, they are powered by battery, but that's only for backup. So the main power source is 120 volts. Now, they have a third wire. The third wire is called an interconnect wire. What that wire does, when one of the devices go off, it sends a signal to all the other devices and makes a real loud racket to let you know that there's something in alarm. So that's all the good news. The bad news is that each one of these devices has an expiration date. They're only good 10 years after the date of manufacture. This one was manufactured almost 20 years ago.

Carolyn

Okay, so I'm confused, because we just bought this house two years ago, and we had a home inspection, and they told us that these are working. So are you saying my house is not safe?

Scott

Well, the inspectors are only checking two things. They're checking if the devices are in their locations that they're supposed to be, and they're checking to see if they make a sound. The expiration part of it is on you as the homeowner. You're required to remove them and look and check yourself.

Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

Now, regarding carbon monoxide detectors, carbon monoxide detectors are required on every living level. So upstairs, you have a carbon monoxide detector, which is plugged into the wall outlet. Down here, you have a carbon monoxide smoke detector. That's good. So carbon monoxide detectors, they expire every three to five years. You gotta check with the manufacturer on that one. Now, we have to replace all the devices in your house anyhow, so we might as well just give you the latest technology, and I brought some pretty cool stuff.

Let me show ya. -Carolyn

Awesome. Thanks.

Scott

Okay, this is what we're gonna install today.

Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

This a combination unit, meaning it has both smoke and carbon monoxide detector all built into one nice little package.

Carolyn

Awesome.

Scott

Now, the smoke detector -- currently, right now, you have ionization detection, which basically is your flash fires, your real quick-burning fires. This has a second type of detector, which is photoelectric, which is great for those smoldering fires that start real slow and create a lot of smoke. This has both built in. Now, this is connected with 120 volt power source, and it also has battery backup. But the interconnection is wireless, so you don't need that third wire, which is fantastic for a retrofit or a remodel where it's not existing into the house already. Now, this connects wirelessly to your phone also. So anywhere you have Internet connection, you can tell what's going on in your house.

Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

Now, before we install these, we've gotta go to the app, scan each device... and assign it a location in your home. Any time I do electrical work, the power needs to be shut off at the circuit panel first. We're gonna pull down the old device. Since we don't need the third interconnect wire any longer, I can cap it off with a wire nut. Now I can tie in the new pigtail that they supplied us to the house's power supply. They also supply this custom-mounted plate, which I tie into the existing device box using the existing screws. Then we do the same thing for the remaining devices. Okay,

so we're all set. -Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

The devices have all been programmed, they've all been installed, and the power is back on. Now, that is tied into your Wi-Fi system. So, basically, what that means is it's the Internet of Things. There's a whole bunch of things all connected,

and they speak to each other. -Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

That thermostat over there is part of that network. Ties into your smoke detectors. What it basically means is that if you had a carbon-monoxide alarm that went off, the thermostat would actually shut off your furnaces, kind of maybe solving the problem.

Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

So there's a battery in each one of these units. Now, just like all batteries, they eventually have their life and need to be changed. Instead of that chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp that you hear in the middle of the night...

I know that chirp. Scott

We know how that went. It's gonna notify your phone that the battery needs to be replaced, which should be a lot more convenient for you.

Carolyn

Yes, what a relief that's gonna be.

Scott

Yeah, it's good. Now, they have to be tested, so I could just press the test button, which I've already done to make sure it works.

Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

Right here, I'm gonna use matches, it will give us a real-life scenario here.

Blows

Dinging

Alarm voice

Head's up! There's smoke in the family room. The alarm may sound.

Scott

That's just a warning.

Alarm voice

There's smoke. Emergency.

Scott

And all the other ones in the house are going off. You hear that?

Carolyn

Yeah, I do.

Alarm voice

Press to silence.

Scott

Okay, so you just press this right here to silence it.

Carolyn

Okay.

Scott

And then we hold it in the middle. And that silences it right there. Pretty loud, huh?

Carolyn

That's very loud.

Scott

It just gives you acknowledgement that everything works.

Real nice system. Carolyn

And everything's safe.

Scott

Everything's really safe. You can sleep tight tonight.

Carolyn

Yes. Thanks for coming to North Carolina.

Scott

Thanks for having me. It was fun.

Kevin

Well, I guess the Internet of Things is coming our way.

Richard

It is an exciting time to be in this technology field. It's really great. You know, Scott mentioned that the smoke detector communicates

with the smart thermostat. -Kevin

Right.

Richard

What I like is just the opposite -- the thermostat communicates with the smoke detector.

Kevin

Meaning what?

Richard

Well, this has a motion sensor inside of it. Now with a smart thermostat, when you come near it, the motion sensor here feels your presence and actually activates the heating system so it learns how you live in a building. What happens if you are in a home office away from where the thermostat is?

Kevin

That's a good point.

Richard

It might shut the system down.

Kevin

There might only be two at the most of these on the wall in a house.

Richard

But now you end up with 7, 8, or 9 of these sensors, and you can index it to the thermostat.

Kevin

So now it knows, it's getting smarter.

That's right. Kevin

Beautiful.

Richard

And I love that inside this smoke detector is also a C.O. detector, carbon monoxide. That's big for your industry, because you're the guy who installs everything that deals with combustion. That's right. You name it, if it burns fuel -- a furnace, a boiler, a water heater, even a car running in a garage can give off this odorless, colorless, deadly gas.

Kevin

You'll never know you have it unless you've got something to detect this. And you've had a personal scare with this. I mean, just recently, your niece, who was pregnant, wasn't feeling well. And she didn't know if it was the pregnancy or not.

Richard

Come home, they put batteries in the C.O. detector, and it was 100 times worse than it was supposed to be. We got her out of there. But all good news. She recently had a beautiful baby boy --

Bobby. -Kevin

Look at that!

Richard

And so the family continues.

Kevin

That is adorable. That's great. So unto us,

a plumber is born. -Richard

Another one, yes.

Congrats. Richard

Thanks.

Larry

Well, Richard, thanks ever so much

for helping me out today. -Richard

Glad to be here. Look at you! You're quite the woodworker!

Larry

Yes, it's my hobby!

Richard

So is this your work here?

Larry

Yes! That's a piece of red maple right off the firewood pile.

Richard

This is a mistake?

Larry

No, it's a natural edge.

Laughs

Richard

And this is another beauty here.

Larry

Yeah, that's a piece of a figured maple. And they use it in the guitar industry. And it's inlaid with some South American wood.

Richard

Tommy and Norm would be very proud of you.

Larry

Well, very good.

Richard

But you didn't bring me here

to check your woodworking. -Larry

No, I have a problem.

Richard

All right.

Larry

And my problem's right here. I'm getting water coming out of this pipe.

Richard

See the bucket. Okay, so that's your temperature and pressure relief valve -- the T&P -- the most important safety device really in this whole system. Brought a little cutaway here. It senses temperature, the "T," right here.

Larry

Okay.

Richard

If it gets to be 210 degrees or higher in the tank, it will relieve through here. And the spring right here is where it senses pressure. That's 150 PSI. Now, what I love seeing is that there's a bucket underneath it. I've come into jobs where people have plugged off the bottom of the relief or they've plugged off here. And what they've created really is a bomb.

Larry

Oh, my goodness.

Richard

Now, it could be that this temperature and pressure valve, they wear out over time. It could be that we just have to change it and put a new one in.

Larry

But, Richard, I did that about two weeks ago.

Richard

Really?

Larry

And I still have water.

Richard

All right, so if you have replaced it,

I want to check one more thing. -Larry

Okay.

Richard

Larry, I think we found our culprit.

Larry

Oh.

Richard

So here's the water main that comes in right here from the street. That's all the city water supply the comes to the building. It splits in with a "T" to two different meters. This one is for your outdoor sprinkler system. You look up here, I've added a pressure gauge, and look at this.

It's 100 PSI. -Larry

Wow.

Richard

Now, 100 pounds pressure is a lot. It might be okay for irrigation, but it's not good for a house, because that much pressure means you waste a ton of water and the faucets have to work much hard, and they can wear out much faster. If you look right here on the part that goes into the house, they've added a pressure-reducing valve. Yeah, that was something the town did about 10 years ago. Okay. So it's good because it steps the pressure down. But it can lead to some unintended consequences. So here's what it looks like. It's got a directional flow right here. I turn it over, it's a cutaway, so 100 pounds pressure might come here through a filter screen, through a diaphragm. There's a spring right here, and you can set it right here and reduce that 100 pounds down to 40 or 50 pounds right here. But whenever you install a pressure-reducing valve, it acts like a check valve. It means that the water can only come in from the street. It can't go the other way. And that might be what's causing the problem.

Larry

Why would I ever want water to go the other way?

Richard

Let me show you. All right, so a little anatomy lesson. Here is that cold water line coming from the pressure-reducing valve. That's gonna be, what, 50 pounds pressure. Comes into the top of the water heater. It does down in a dip tube to the very bottom, sends cold water to the bottom. It then gets heated by this burner. And now heated water leaves through here.

Larry

Yep.

Richard

Now, every time we heat up water, that water needs a place to expand. So sometimes that expansion will be taken care of 'cause people open the faucets and relief that pressure.

Larry

That makes sense.

Richard

But many times in a house, this water wants to expand this way, up through the cold water line, and work its way back through the meter and actually go outside the building.

But you can't. -Larry

I can't do that.

Richard

That's right, so now we've stopped it. So now what happens is it heats up, starts to build up the pressure just a little bit, 140, 150. Dribbles a little bit, and then somebody opens a faucet, and you're fine. What I don't get is why is this happening now? That PRV went in, what, like 10 years ago, right?

Larry

Correct.

Richard

Water heater shows to be six years ago. Why is this only happening now? It has to be that there's been some change in lifestyle, use, or some change in the building's occupants.

Larry

You know, I'm not sure this is it, but I just recently retired.

Richard

Okay.

Larry

And that means I get up later than I used to. My wife still goes out, takes her shower, and heads out the door bright and early. I'm still sleeping.

Richard

You might be on to something. Let's take that for a ride for a minute. If a shower happened at,

call it 5

00 in the morning, this is a 75,000 BTU burner on here. It's a big, powerful burner. The sensor comes on, heats up that tank, and then nobody uses water for the next two, three, four hours. What happens?

Larry

I'm sleeping.

Richard

Expand, expand, expand. And it starts to dribble out through here. And probably it starts to relieve. Then you wake up and take a shower, it probably makes it all right. Does this think leak during the day?

Larry

No. I only see it in the morning.

Richard

So that's it. What we need, I think, is we need a place

for expansion to happen. -Larry

Okay.

Richard

Now, we know expansion tanks on heating systems, right? It's the same idea. Water needs a place to expand. So always have an expansion tank right here. If you looked inside it, it will always have water on one side, an air charge on this side. So now when that water expands, it pushes this neoprene gasket this way against the air, so it constantly acts like a shock absorber. What we need to do is to get an expansion tank like this, but for potable water, 'cause this has to be one that won't rust, because these are metal normally. So let me run and go grab this. I think we have found the smoking gun. It's you -- you retired.

Larry

Excellent.

Richard

I'm gonna just drain the level of the water heater just enough to be able to cut those pipes. So the nice thing with these push fittings is even if there's a little bit of water dripping down, it doesn't matter. There's soldering I couldn't solder. There we go. All right, my friend. We've got your brand-new potable water expansion tank here. We've got all the water back on, no leaks.

Larry

No leaks.

Richard

I think you can now stop worrying about your T&P valve, all right?

Larry

Perfect! I can't thank you enough.

Richard

And I have supreme confidence. So I'm going to actually remove this bucket and put one down that you'll never have to worry about.

Larry

Oh! You better be confident!

Richard

I am. Thank you, my friend.

Kevin

Next time on "Ask This Old House"...

Richard

I'll show you a way to stop floods dead in their tracks. With even a little bit of water dripping, in a minute, you're gonna see this shut off right here.

So this is -- -Richard

It will just now shut off all the water in the house.

Tom

And if you want to add a tile backsplash to your kitchen, there's some easy ways to do it.

Jenn

And this water feature not only looks incredible, it uses reclaimed rain water, and I'm gonna show you how to install it.