The advantage (assuming it works right) of the flowlogic is that it detects what's not a normal flow, as opposed to the sensing type which detect actual water. I suspect the best sort incorporates both, as a sensor type that detects the presence of water will also deal with backing up drains etc, as well as a burst pipe. The sprinkler idea of your friend is impractical, silly and would not be up with code. You may as well just turn off your water main when you go out (not an entirely silly idea but make sure your hot water system can cope with that, a bigger issue than your ice maker which I would think will just not make ice) Most burglar alarm systems can have a low temperature (in case furnace fails) sensor incorporated to prevent freezing of pipes, as well as water sensors in key areas. The flow logic has some advantages I guess but the security system can be set up to call you, a neighbour or a monitoring station if it receives an alert. I am kind of fussy and do a lot of preventative maintenance, and can see the logic of replacing those flexible hoses. You also want to make sure they don't just start a slow leak around the seals rather than bursting - turning off the water to the washing machine and dishwasher can be wise, as those solenoid valves can be prone to failure. Make sure the cutoff valves for toilets, taps etc are the ball-valve types as they are less likely to leak than the other type. Lastly and most importantly, make sure your water pressure is not too high and ideally has a pressure regulating valve installed, which might have been the source of your original woes. A handy person could probably incorporate an off-the-shelf electric shutoff valve with sensors, and still come out cheaper than the flowlogic.

Okay, I've actually done both myself. I'd say "it all depends" is the answer. - Tile on Slab: I removed two bathrooms worth of tile in our fairly new house. The builder used substandard materials and the tile de-laminated within the 2nd year of the house. No it was not covered by the warranty. I used a demolition hammmer to break up the tile off the floor. I duct-taped my shop vac hose to the shaft of the 'bit' and used a concrete dust bag in the shop vac to keep the dust down. I think this worked pretty well but still had some clean up. But this leaves a rough surface of thinset. So the next step is a 4.5" angle grinder with a diamond cup wheel and a dust collecting housing. Again connected to the shop-vac. It works REALLY well. The thinset is litterally just vacummed up off the floor. Still it was a lot of hard work but left the slab as clean as the day it was poured. I could even see the builders marking on the slab of where to put junction boxes, vents etc. - Tile on concrete backer board. It depends on how well the backerboard is attached, but a pry bar under the backerboard (which was nailed not screwed) removed the tile in minutes with no dust. If it were screwed I might have been screwed too. ;-) - Tile backsplash in Kitchen. I just got through removing the builders idea of a custom backsplash... the same tile as the floor tile. This was placed over dry wall and there is no way you are going to remove tile off dry wall. The dry wall will be ruined. So I took a multi-tool and cut along the top and bottom of the backsplash (between the countertop and upper cabinet) and then used my demo hammer to break up the backsplash which came out pretty easily. So the only thing left was the studs. After some wiring work I just replaced the drywall. Again I ran the shop vac right next to the tool which really cut down on the dust. But not dust free. A pro would use other, larger tools. Maybe air powered tools. Maybe walk-behind tools. These might generate a lot more dust. I was used a floor machine with a sand paper disk to prep a slab and it was a dust nightmare. Luckily that house was empty at the time. If you are going to do this yourself you can control the dust reasonably well. Use a bag in your shop-vac rated for concrete dust and run the shop vac as close to the tool as you can at all times. First time using Picasa Web Album... hope it works.. GW Album From GW Album From GW Album From GW Album

rileyann, I don't think Joefixit had read the original posts about the ground wire. The truth is that I don't fully trust that ground wire - that's part of the reason for making a home run to the breaker box. If you don't feel comfortable making the connection in the breaker box, hire the whole job done. A professional will do a good job of getting it to the box, and getting it grounded properly. I think that running a new conduit (which is what would need to happen) may put the the job outside your current abilities. Just so you know, current code requires at least two 20 amp small appliance circuits in the kitchen that feed almost nothing else (the fridge can be on one of those, a kitchen clock outlet and an outlet for a gas stove are all that's permitted to be included with counter-top outlets - no lights and certainly not GD and/or DW). There's a little more to the code than that... but you can google it. I don't know if your remodel would obligate you to meet current code, but it's good to know what that code is. For sure if your counter-top outlets, GD, DW, and Fridge are all on the same circuit it needs the GD and DW split off. The circuit is over utilized even if there wasn't a rule about counter-top outlet circuits in the kitchen being kept separate. The point is you need to make a home run back to the panel and you probably need to hire it done.

It takes special wire to act as both a support for a pendant fixture and conductors. It is likely to be relatively hard to find in small quantities, but you can try lamp sales and repair shops. The voltage in the US for general use is 120 volts. you will need to find 120 VF bulbs that fit the sockets you have, or change the socket to a US size and type. The 'regular' size bulb socket is referred to as an 'Edison' base. It is about 1 inch in diameter. The common smaller size is referred to as a 'chandelier' base. It is around 3/8 of an inch in diameter. There are also all sorts of bayonet and pin bases. Grainger is a good place to look for odd bulb sizes and types, and while they may not sell to you a manufacturer's part number can be ordered at an electrical distributor if the electrical house does not have the bulb.