- 2 weeks ago
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00:00On Ask This Old House, our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house.
00:18Today, looking for ways to organize your garage? Nathan helps a homeowner install overhead storage.
00:26Then, Heath shows how to install a three-way smart switch.
00:32And, Richard gives a lesson on water heater maintenance by replacing an anorod.
00:38You could make the water heater last 20 years versus 10.
00:41All that on Ask This Old House.
00:50Thanks so much for coming, Nathan. I really appreciate it.
00:54Yeah, so we've been in this house now for a couple years, and we're expecting our first child.
00:58Congratulations.
01:00And, well, we thought now would be kind of the perfect time to really start working on the organization in here,
01:05because I've heard kids come with a lot of stuff.
01:07They really do. I've got three of my own, and there's plenty of strollers and toys, and they just never stop.
01:12Great.
01:13I see you already have some organization going on here. Show me what you got.
01:17Yeah, so we have the overhead rack with probably an excessive number of brackets up there.
01:22Brackets up there. Thank you.
01:23I like it.
01:24We have this dresser that we picked up off the street. Certainly not ideal, but, you know, it works.
01:28Kind of like a makeshift toolbox.
01:29Yeah, and then these plastic racks that are probably just as old as I am from my dad, but not as sturdy as they probably should be for a kid.
01:37All right. Well, I'm getting some ideas, and we know organization's key with kids.
01:40So I see maybe a heavy-duty rack here with some adjustable shelving because the strollers, the toys, I mean, they keep coming.
01:48Maybe a toolbox to swap that out, and then I see kind of a blank slate above my head.
01:53We could probably do a rack up there.
01:54That'd be awesome.
01:56So I think a good place to get started is by emptying off those racks, and an extra set of hands is going to be pretty helpful.
02:01So this is my dad, Bill.
02:02Hi. Great to meet you both.
02:03Nice to meet you.
02:04So here is your new adjustable ceiling storage rack, rated up to 600 pounds, but we definitely want to kind of keep it on the lighter side.
02:27Totes and bins, things that you only want to grab once, twice a year.
02:31That'd be perfect.
02:32So we're actually going to build it up in the air.
02:34We're going to find our ceiling joists and get into some good structure.
02:37I think right about here above us would be nice.
02:40Give ourselves about three or four feet to get a ladder down here.
02:43So when you're up in the ladder, you could access both sides.
02:45Yes, absolutely.
02:46Yeah.
02:47So I see you have a little panel there.
02:48I'm definitely going to open that up and see what we're working with.
02:51All right.
02:52All right.
02:53So we got our strapping, we have our ceiling joists and it looks like it's framed 16 on center,
03:06which is good.
03:08So we'll do our layout, ensure that we're getting into joists, then we'll fasten those brackets on.
03:23All right.
03:24I'm going to pre-drill and then I'll secure the bracket with a lag bolt.
03:38Okay.
03:39All right.
03:40How's that look?
03:41Good.
03:42Any adjustment?
03:43Okay.
03:44Good.
03:45Good.
03:46Good.
03:47Yeah.
03:49All right.
03:50All right.
03:52How's that look?
03:53Good.
03:54Any adjustment?
04:06Good.
04:11Good?
04:26Good.
04:41All right, here it is, your toolbox replacement, nice heavy duty unit, big draw at the top
04:55here, little ones on the side, soft close options, on wheels, easy to roll around.
05:01I know that that's going to be very heavy, so I think that we should probably transfer
05:04those tools into here, and then we'll roll this into place.
05:07Absolutely.
05:08We'll work on transferring those tools, me and my dad will put this heavy duty shelving
05:11unit together, all metal, even the racks are metal, so really good for an unconditioned
05:16space.
05:17Even better, it's adjustable, you can change the height of the shelves, if you have something
05:20bulky you can spread them apart.
05:22Sounds great.
05:24All right, Veronica, what do you think?
05:27This looks amazing, I mean all the organization, all the storage for all the baby gear that
05:35I'm sure that's just going to roll in over time.
05:43It's going to keep coming and coming, I want to show you one thing.
05:48So right here we put your stroller, and I did this in my house, I have the three girls,
05:52and they have a lot of stuff.
05:53So I make sure when my wife backs in, easy in and out for strollers, kids' toys, beach
05:58stuff, right onto the shelf out of the back of the car.
06:02But as always, you're going to adapt over time, change your layout, do what's best for you.
06:19Painting quite a picture, and I'm sure, as you said, things are going to change over time,
06:22but this is amazing, and I just can't thank you guys enough.
06:25This is gorgeous.
06:26You're welcome.
06:27Enjoy it.
06:28You're welcome.
06:29Take care.
06:30With the switch to smart switches, I've been getting a lot of phone calls from homeowners
06:46who are finding certain configurations a little bit confusing.
06:49Now we have two basic types you're going to find in your home.
06:51The first one's going to be a single-pole switch.
06:54Now this refers to a switch in one location that can control a light or multiple lights.
06:59Very simple.
07:00Has two screws on the side, and the ground.
07:03Pretty easy to replace, and you can see the homeowner replaced two single-poles here.
07:07What we're having some confusion is when it comes to the three-way switch, and this refers
07:12to when we have at least two switches, two different locations, controlling a light or
07:16multiple lights.
07:17Here we have a three-way switch at the top of the stairs, controlling the light over the
07:20staircase, and one at the bottom of the stairs, so you can turn them on or off from both
07:24locations.
07:25Now instead of just having the two screws, we have the two brass screws and an identified
07:29screw, and that can throw you off a little bit when you have different wiring configurations.
07:33So what I want to do today is show you how to replace the traditional three-way switch
07:37with a smart three-way switch and how to control it from both locations.
07:41So the first thing I want to do before I get started is turn off the breaker.
07:44All right, now that the power's off, I'm going to go ahead and remove the wall plate.
07:51Then I'll take the switch out.
07:58All right, so you can see this switch has the three wires on it, and we have two brass screws
08:12and this black screw.
08:14The black screw is the common.
08:15We want to pay attention to what wire is connected to this screw.
08:18So I'm going to take that one off first and set it aside.
08:25Now these two I can see go on the three wire together.
08:28Those are my travelers, and I'll put these over here together.
08:31So I know that was my common.
08:33Those are my travelers.
08:35So with this box, I'm going to take this apart, and I should be able to see if I have multiple
08:46feed wires coming out of here going to each of these switches since they're single poles.
08:52All right, so we can see that wire nut.
08:55We can see this wire coming off.
08:57That was our common.
08:58It also comes off and goes to the black wire, the feed in on this switch, and it has another
09:04pigtail that comes off and goes to this switch.
09:07So that is our feed wire.
09:09So we know that that common is our feed.
09:11The switch at the bottom of the stairs will be the light.
09:16And now we can install the new smart switch.
09:18So first, I'm going to start with the ground wire.
09:21This will either be a green conductor or a bare copper wire.
09:26Next, I'm going to do the two travelers.
09:29Now for this, you want to pay attention to which color wire you put where.
09:35I'll do the red to the red traveler, the black to the blue.
09:47And finally, the black wire is going to connect to our common, which is our feed.
09:51Make sure everything's secure, and then try and fold everything neatly into the junction box.
09:55What you don't want to do is stuff the wires in too tightly or risk anything coming loose or getting pinched.
10:00So make sure everything has plenty of room to move.
10:02All right.
10:24So now it's time to address the second three-way switch at the bottom of the stairs here.
10:29Now, while there are a variety of ways to configure this switch that we have upstairs,
10:33I'm going to show you two different options.
10:36The first one is going to be installing this.
10:38And this is essentially a remote control.
10:41What's going to happen is you have this switch in place with the three wires and the three screws.
10:46You're going to take all three off and put them together under one wire nut.
10:50Push it in the back of the box, and then you're going to take this remote and screw it into the switch box.
10:55And it actually comes with a bracket here to do just that.
10:58So you'll screw this in, apply the plate, and you'll be ready to turn power on upstairs.
11:03Now, what happens is this is now simply a remote control that talks to that switch.
11:07So in order to link them, you press and hold a button for six seconds here.
11:11You do the same thing on the switch upstairs.
11:13The two are linked, and now you can actually dim it and control everything from both locations.
11:18In this situation, though, we want to keep the mechanical switch like we have.
11:23It's just simpler to use when guests come in and out.
11:26So what's going to happen again is we have the common and the two travelers.
11:31But remember, we paid attention to what traveler we tied to what color upstairs.
11:34We took the red wire on the switch and put it to the red traveler wire.
11:38Keep that in mind because we're now going to take that red wire and combine it with the common wire.
11:43So the red traveler and the black wire on the common are going to go together under the common screw.
11:48The other traveler wire, in this case the other black wire, is going to go to either one of the brass screws.
11:54Doesn't matter which one.
11:55And then finally one brass screw simply won't have a wire on it.
11:59Alright, first thing to do again is take the switch plate off.
12:04Now I'll just double check that the power is off.
12:07It should be off because we turned that breaker off that controlled the three-way switches,
12:11but you never know if something else is on a different circuit.
12:14So it looks like everything is off.
12:18Next I'll take the three-way switch out.
12:22Okay.
12:23So you can see we have a black wire on the common.
12:26In this case we know that's our light fixture.
12:28And then we have a black and the red on the travelers.
12:33Now I'll take the jumper that comes with the smart switch tied together with the other two wires
12:37and go ahead and put that on the common screw.
12:42And then go ahead and twist the wire nut on clockwise as well.
12:46So now I will take that little jumper and I will put that on the common.
12:50So there you can see we took the wire that was on the common and the red traveler that goes to the red wire on the smart switch,
13:02put them together with a pigtail, put them on the common,
13:05and left the other traveler, the black wire in this case, alone.
13:08Now we're ready to install the switch.
13:09All right, now that the power's back on, let's go ahead and test it.
13:18So it turns on here.
13:20All right, so the light works from the bottom.
13:22Let's go ahead and try to turn it off from up here.
13:25And there we go.
13:26It works from both sides.
13:27Great systems up and running.
13:28So now we have our smart switch installed and it's ready to tie to your home lighting system.
13:32Hey Richard, thanks for coming by.
13:41This is quite the old gem.
13:43Yeah, kind of a diamond in the rough.
13:45How old a house is it?
13:46Over 250 years old.
13:48They didn't have an automatic water heater back then.
13:50I'm sure they didn't.
13:51So here's my somewhat neglected water heater.
13:54What do you mean neglected water heater?
13:56What do you got?
13:57It's eight years old.
14:00That's right.
14:01What haven't you done?
14:02Well, there's a note here from the prior owner telling me I should have changed an anode rod a couple of years back.
14:07Did you know that you had an anode rod?
14:09Don't know what it is.
14:10You know how to change it?
14:11Don't know what it does.
14:12Don't know how to change it.
14:13Well, it's something that should be changed regularly.
14:15It looks like we may be too late.
14:17You can see there's all sorts of corrosion here and you have an eight year old water heater.
14:20What I'm going to do is run to the truck and come back and we're going to teach you how to change your anode.
14:24All right, sounds good.
14:26All right, so in every single water heater, there is a rod like that.
14:35That's an anode rod.
14:36It's made out of aluminum.
14:37It's made out of magnesium or sometimes zinc.
14:40What it does is it sits down inside the tanks and just imagine it sits in right there and it is this sacrificial rod.
14:47It's actually designed to have any corrosion electrolysis that happens naturally in water from attacking the tank because the tank itself is glass lined steel.
14:59Okay, so now if that glass lining was to have any imperfections that electrolysis would want to eat this, but it would eat this first if it's operation because it's a sacrificial anode.
15:10Okay, that's what it looks like brand new.
15:13This is one that just came out of a water heater that is about this age.
15:18It's about 10 years old.
15:19That's crazy.
15:20And that's all that was left.
15:21Once that sacrificial anode was gone, we actually saw on that water heater a very similar condition here where it started to show rust here and ultimately it leaked.
15:29Okay.
15:30Okay.
15:31And if you change the anode and you did it every two to five years, you could make the water heater last almost indefinitely.
15:36It could be 20 years versus 10.
15:38Okay.
15:39So this is a $40 part.
15:40Okay.
15:41The problem is often is how to get it into it.
15:45Okay.
15:46All right.
15:47I made this just for you, Brennan.
15:48Look, this is a replacement anode.
15:50Do you see how it can bend?
15:51Mm-hmm.
15:52So now there's a tapping right here and you could bend that and get it down into it.
15:56Okay.
15:57So to get that anode out, we got to drain the water down, but not all of it.
16:01So I'm going to turn the water off right here.
16:03And we want to just drain it down to about here so that we have the weight of the water in the tank holding back when we try to back the anode out.
16:11Okay.
16:12Put that hose on there if you would for me.
16:13Okay.
16:14And then when you get that on, just open up the drain valve.
16:17I'm going to go open the hot water faucets upstairs just to vent it back to you.
16:20Sounds good.
16:26All right.
16:27By letting that hot water faucet open, we will let the air come down and drain out all the water in the piping.
16:34Let me know when you've got half a bucket or so.
16:38So what'd that water look like coming into the bucket?
16:40Real funky at first.
16:41Real funky at first.
16:42See, people don't realize that the bottom of that tank is a natural place to collect sediment.
16:46So one good tip is to actually take a little bit of water out every six months because any sediment that's down there is going to affect the fire to water transfer.
16:53So you can send the light just by doing that.
16:55Okay?
16:56Okay.
16:57So that's on your list, right?
16:58Yep.
16:59Okay.
17:00And then you can take a little bit of water heater.
17:01So you can take a little bit of water.
17:02And then you can take a little bit of water heater.
17:03Okay?
17:04So you can take a little bit of water heater.
17:05Alright.
17:06So welcome to Anode Replacement 101.
17:07Can't wait.
17:08Okay.
17:09Anode have a standard size head and it's one and one sixteenths.
17:12Okay?
17:13So you can get a socket that can fit.
17:15The standard is always a 12 point socket and that goes on top of it.
17:19And the simplest approach is just to get a breaker bar with a ratchet and get on top of it and back it out.
17:25And if it's been in only for a little bit of time, it should back out readily.
17:28Okay?
17:29Now, most people ignore it for what?
17:31Five years, you, eight years, whatever.
17:33How many years?
17:34Yeah.
17:35So what happens is it wants to fuse in and now you have to step up your leverage.
17:38So now you'd go to a heavy gauge ratchet, again with a one sixteenths, and a pipe or an extender.
17:46Now you're going to extend your leverage against that nut.
17:50But the more force we put on it, the more we got to worry about the whole water heater dancing.
17:56So one little tip is to use a strap that lets a second person hold back against it.
18:02Okay?
18:03Because if you don't, these pipes could bend, the gas connection, and even the vent.
18:07Don't want that.
18:08Okay?
18:09And the water in the tank is our friend here to hold this tank in place.
18:13And if that doesn't work, the last line of defense is actually an impact gun like this.
18:19You also want to search out a six-point socket.
18:22The standard universal socket has 12 points, and that could actually round over the nut.
18:29So you can see that the nut itself has got six sides, and this will match it perfectly for the most amount of grip.
18:36The impact gun is the perfect tool for this because it gets high, high torque with low, low speed.
18:42And it's much like the air gun that takes the lugs off in an auto body shot.
18:45Okay.
18:46So you ready? Because you're doing this.
18:47Oh, it is.
18:48So you're feeling lucky?
18:49Not particularly.
18:50We'll give it a go.
18:51All right.
18:52So peel that piece out right there.
18:54Expose the head of the anode.
18:55Perfect.
18:56I'll hold back a little bit.
19:01You down on it?
19:03Yep.
19:04Okay.
19:09Nope.
19:10Nope.
19:11Okay, nope.
19:14All right.
19:15So now that's pretty well in there.
19:17So now I could, let's pull that off.
19:19I could hand you these two, okay?
19:23Time is money.
19:26Let's try this thing.
19:28All right.
19:33And get that six point right down on top of it.
19:35It's going the right way, right?
19:36Yep.
19:37Make it go down.
19:38Is it down all the way?
19:39Yep.
19:40It's got a little torque, so just give it a little pop.
19:45Go.
19:46Go.
19:48Go.
19:49Go.
19:50Did it come?
19:51Yep.
19:52Keep.
19:53Keep going.
19:54It might be on loose.
19:55Go ahead.
19:56Yeah, I think it's finger.
19:57I don't know.
20:00Oh my goodness.
20:01There's no anode rod left.
20:02It's gone.
20:03This awful one's even better than this one.
20:06All right.
20:07So here's our new anode rod.
20:08I want to apply a little Teflon tape to the threads.
20:13All right.
20:14So now we're going to bend this first one so we can get it down in there.
20:18Hold on.
20:19Okay, now just we want to bend that straight now.
20:24Put it back to more straight so it'll hang straight down.
20:27Yep, that's better.
20:28There we go.
20:29There we go.
20:30All right, good.
20:31All right.
20:32Catch that thread without crossing it, please.
20:35Let me try it.
20:50Okay.
20:51So now we've got a brand new anode in there.
20:55I see all this corrosion.
20:56There's a really good chance that this water heater would then leak what?
20:59Two weeks later?
21:00Yeah.
21:01You'll be talking on the whole neighborhood about me?
21:02Of course.
21:03Okay.
21:04So I think what we should do is I'm going to get you a new water heater and install it.
21:08Only if you promise that you will change that anode every two to three years.
21:13I promise.
21:14Okay.
21:15I don't believe you.
21:16Okay.
21:17I'll be right back.
21:18Bye.
21:19Bye.
21:48There are so many things in this life we know we should do.
21:56You know, rotate your tires and clean the dryer vent.
21:59And changing the anode rod is just one more of them that nobody does.
22:02But you're going to, right?
22:03Absolutely.
22:03All right.
22:04Now, there is a story.
22:06This replacement anode rod is $40.
22:09That new water heater is about $1,000.
22:12If this little rod can make that water heater last twice as long, 20 to 25 years,
22:17I hope you do it.
22:19Absolutely.
22:20There's even instructions.
22:21I went to do this, and I'm going to actually call you, too.
22:24Yeah.
22:24Hold me to it.
22:24Okay.
22:25What you're not going to get, though, because I know you're going to do it, is this.
22:29Fair enough.
22:30Okay.
22:30All right.
22:31Thank you so much for the knowledge and the labor and the experience.
22:34You were great.
22:35Great help.
22:35I really appreciate it.
22:36All right.
22:36Have a good one.
22:36I'm going to call you.
22:37Next time on Ask This Old House, Jen travels to Idaho to meet a homeowner whose backyard
22:48has become a community gathering spot and is in need of some TLC.
22:53You ready to shovel with us?
22:54Yeah.
22:54Keep it moving.
22:55I love it.
22:56You like the rough side out on these boards.
22:58I like the texture, too.
23:00And are your window wells in rough shape?
23:04Mark will show you how to replace them.
23:05It's not as easy as it looks.
23:08All that on Ask This Old House.
23:35It's not as easy as it looks.
23:36It's not as easy as it looks.
23:37It's not as easy as it looks.
23:38It's not as easy as it looks.
23:39It's not as easy as it looks.
23:40It's not as easy as it looks.
23:41It's not as easy as it looks.
23:42It's not as easy as it looks.
23:43It's not as easy as it looks.
23:44It's not as easy as it looks.
23:45It's not as easy as it looks.
23:46It's not as easy as it looks.
23:47It's not as easy as it looks.
23:48It's not as easy as it looks.
23:49It's not as easy as it looks.
23:50It's not as easy as it looks.
23:51It's not as easy as it looks.
23:52It's not as easy as it looks.
23:53It's not as easy as it looks.
23:54It's not as easy as it looks.
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