As per Mr. Murphy, whatever material is most expensive to repair or replace must be will be 'what that material is.

Didn't focus and read "Primed my balls today." Had to read to second time.

Ceiling

Foam is expensive compared to batts or cellulose

Exactly. Sand doesn't compact.

>How expensive is wire these days?

Way more expensive in recent years due to short supplies of copper, but the cost of the wire is outstripped (yeah, I did that) by the cost of the trenching too.

Thank you, out of curiosity, how does that save money if we don't heat the attic (which we do not)? I would have assumed that keeping insulation closer to the floors we do heat would have been more efficient, but I am asking here because I admittedly know very little about it.

Also, what "threw you off" is normal for generic light switches. Lights need a complete circuit to turn on. You use a basic light switch to turn on/off just the black hot wire, which breaks the complete circuit to the light. There is no need to also break the white wire, so that's why they're all connected, just passing the neutrals through the j-box out to the lights. The switches should have been grounded for safety, but doesn't affect the operation of them.

If there's no need to pay to heat the attic, insulate the ceiling and save the $$.

They're not joists. Joists are structural, 2x4s are not. It really is that simple. When running horizontally, there is no span chart for a 2x4.

Sounds like you wired it backwards. If you're leaving the switch on the right, you want the jumper to connect to the black on the dimmer (left). The red wire from the dimmer should connect to the black romex wire going out of the box (on the left). That black wire goes to your light. Before you actually make that connection, I'd suggest fully disconnecting the switch on the left, capping the jumper, turn power back on, and check the black romex wire on the left with your meter to make sure it is NOT hot. If that wire is dead, with the breaker turned on, then it is most likely the hot wire to your fixture and is the "switched" hot wire.

Yes, one is for track lighting in the living room and the second switch is for the main kitchen light. It threw me off with all the white wires tied together and all the ground wires tied together, but none of them connected to the switches.

Yeah, to be properly "reglazed" they need to be put through a kikn.

Hey, thanks for the reply. I have a meter. I've wired some things before, but I always had the hot, ground, and neutral. It threw me off that none of the white or ground wires were connected to the switches. So, I tied the incoming black wire to the black on the dimmer switch, the ground to the other grounds, the solid red to the jumper going to the second switch, and capped off the red striped wire.

Oh, right. The concrete footers need to be below frostline of course. The posts need to be above ground though. Posts can't be in the concrete.

All things considered it's much cheaper to do it posts above ground vs in-ground. Less wood.

But yes! Definitely check your local building codes 😁

Going to start with the usual disclaimer that if you're asking these fundamental wiring questions, you should call an electrician.

But, if you want to learn and are willing to take the risk, you should start off with buying a digital multi-meter, so you can check which specific wires are "hot". What you're likely dealing with in this box is a single "hot" wire (black) that is bringing power into the switch on the right. From there, you have a black "switched hot" going to a light from your switch on the right. You also have a jumper making a daisy-chained connection to the switch on the left (which is how it gets power). Then from that switch, you have another "switched" hot that goes out to a light. Based on that simple wiring, I'd wager you do not have a remote 3-way switch tied to either of these.

As for your new dimmer, if you look in your instruction manual, a standard single-pole dimmer connection has you connect incoming "hot" to the black wire, the dimmed output to your light is the red wire, the green goes to ground, and the red striped wire is capped. Because both dimmers have black leads, you could tie them together and connect to the incoming hot, if the leads reach.

If you don't have much experience with wiring, I'd again advise a professional, but there are many YouTube videos on how to properly use wire-nuts or lever nuts to make these multi-wire connections. Your scenario here is very basic lighting connections. Make sure to turn off the breaker before touching anything in the junction box. If you need to check which wires are live with the multi-meter, turn off power, disconnect the wire nuts as needed and make sure there is no chance for a short, turn on power, check with meter, turn off power again.

as long as the wires will reach into the new box can he splice the extra length on there?

Carpet shouldn't be a problem with that setup. It stretches over imperfections well.

Another option is vinyl planks. They might charge more for the extra effort, but a smart contractor should know how to handle putting planks over the ramp. I've done a similar job when I was 19. I cut the plants flat to the edge of the ramp, then cut a slight angle for the ones over the ramp. Just had to cut the moulding a bit higher but it fit fine. If your husband is a confident DIYer he might be able to figure it out himself. Shouldn't need much more than a slight angle saw for the cuts.

Call 811, then call your county or city permitting office. Tell them what you are doing and see what the code is. They are almost always super helpful a can answer your questions to make sure you aren’t going to have to tear the building down once they resurvey your grid with a satellite and discover it.

Once you have a 3d printer and some basic know how with 3d design software like Fusion360 hobby (free), all of these little problems just go away.

This all looks wrong to begin with, as in one switch just turns on/off power to the other switch. Do they actually operate different fixtures?

I love the idea of not having to put drywall on a basement ceiling and maintaing access to everything but I hate the idea of trying to have a finished space with no sound barrier between floors.

Are you sure it isn't slope like that for a reason, like seasonal rains where you need the drainage? If there is ever large amounts of water the sand will get washed out.

I think he meant like a tighter fit: put teflon tape on the “father” pipe to give it more girth so you almost have to push it in. after that put a hose clamp on it and it is for sure a durable solution!

what’s the point of OP spending money by having a plumber look at that, when he’s got us?!