IKEA uses the METRIC sizes, not the standard SAE sized allen keys. Likely 5mm or 6mm, I have never seen 8mm or larger for IKEA furniture.

And next time you buy IKEA furniture, tape the included allen key hidden away underneath the furniture where you can find it later!

Yes, you can insulate it. Rockwool is ideal, as it's flame resistant, while fiberglass/ cellulose bats are not so much.

I wouldn't vapor barrier. Ideally you'd drywall after the insulation, but that's also not necessary. Drywalling will however act as a blocker to airflow as well as adding sound deadening.

Does it sound like this? https://youtu.be/2ktDPAvVRaA

I'd just cut off the plug and put on a new one; Plugs are super cheap, the job cannot kill you (you're working on a system without electricity), and it will be more comfortable later on, to just plug the thing in like any other device, without having to tape /untape it every time...

In my experience, either the anchors are fit for the job and the wall, then 1/8 doesn't really matter (especially like in your case, when it's not somewhere by itself, but in a line), or they are completely useless, but then even the 8 wouldn't do it.

The cleanest procedure would be to take the shelf down again, take our the spinning screw, take out (drill out) the anchor, still a new, slightly bigger, hole, or in New, sorry bigger anchor, put in slightly bigger screw.

I seldom bother with cleanest procedure xD

With a wire brush, and then sand, you use the sand to soak up the tar/diesel goo. It is a pretty easy process.

I'm in Zone 3, in San Francisco.

If you go this route, don't use pre-mix plaster.

It'll shrink like crazy! :)

Go for the 30-90 minute powder you have to mix. Watch some YouTube videos. :)

Edit: Powder you have to mix yourself. Pre-mixed dries out and shrinks. Freshly mixed 'mud' will cure and retain it's shape. It's also a lot more durable when cured. (But. you're still gonna need more than that to cover this depth. :)

Shrinks and longer to dry.

Same vapor retarder for either insulation. Outside the framing. Typically outside the sheathing.

As others have suggested, it only takes a 10 minutes to plug in a hair dryer or space heater to the suspect outlet and see if it holds. If the GFCI is bad, it will likely trip pretty quickly. If it runs a hair dryer for 10 minutes, the issue is in your lighting and the GFCI is just doing its job. GFCI outlets work by detecting leakage current to ground. It doesn't take much current leaking to trip one (4-6mA). They can trip with even tiny loads attached to them if that load has some leakage current to ground. The other good suggestion was to run an extension cord from another GFCI to your christmas lights and see if it trips too. Based on what happens, you can swap the outlet or not.

If it turns out your outlet is good, then look for any place your lights might be grounding out. Most christmas lights don't have a ground wire so they would need to ground to something in order to trip your GFCI. If it was a bare wire short, your light string would burn up like a fuse so it's likely a crimped wire with the insulation being crushed by something metal or something wet. A high-resistance short to ground will trip a GFCI but not trip the breaker behind it. The comments about moisture are right on as well since water can break down insulation and allow current to pass through it.

I've got outdoor GFCI outlets that are 20 years old and still function perfectly. One of them saved my life about 6 years ago when I stepped in a puddle that had a cord in it just as it tripped out. Assuming the GFCI is the problem ignores the fact it could be doing exactly what it was designed to do. Stay safe.

It seems bad at first but gutting is often less work overall. I’d take it down to studs, probably only one day of work. Wear an N95!

I think the GFCI is working properly, esp since you said you had no problems before with other equipment plugged in.
A long string of christmas lights, CHEAPLY MADE, has dozens of open air exposure to the conductors, place these exposures next to your home, add moisture from the air, you have a tripping GFCI. Wrapping lights around a tree would be especially prone to trip a GFCI.

Connect your lights to a non GFCI outlet using an extension cord. You're not going to be touching the lights while they are plugged in, anyway.

Unless you've already stapled the lights in place, you can put the string of lights in a plastic garbage bag, the GFCI should no longer trip. Indicating your lights are the problem, not the outlet.

I have a similar house, with similar problems. (1907 Edwardian in the SF Bay Area.)

Leaks in the bathroom plumbing 70yrs ago led to delamination, and bad patching made it worse. Already fixed up minors problems in one bedroom wall, but still have to deal with something just as bad as yours in the hallway.

I'll be following this thread with interest. Thanks for posting!

Check insulation ratings for your area. Coastal cali is alot of region north and south.

Ants killed two GFCI outlets where I live. The buggers like the tiny extra little bit of heat the electronics in there generated under load ... that was all fine until the ants got a bit too cozy and dense across 120 VAC.

I’m in upstate NY, my answer was to use 2.5” metal studs held 1” off the wall (put the bottom channel on sill plate foam) and to apply 3” of closed cell spray foam. This ends up dimensionally the same as doing 2x4 framing (3.5 actual) directly against the wall but providers an air and moisture barrier, the foam stiffens the studs insanely well, has no organic materials to mold or rot from moisture gained by contact with concrete, and provides an EXCEPTIONALLY flat surface to drywall - which ok in a workshop isn’t as important ;)

Speaking of workshop stuff - I’d install some cross bracing (can just zip screw some ply or furring strips, notch for the rolled metal edge) where you intend to wall mount anything heavy like a metal pegboard full of tools - you can still drill through a metal stud and use toggles but I prefer pre-bracing.

Make the whole square. Put in drywall that's the same thickness, either half or quarter inch. Then just tape and mud the seams

>This is a problem with the lights, not the outlet

Could be either at this point - insufficient data to conclusively determine.

I used to manage an old building and this is the way, but there is one problem: leaks. If there really is a leak issue, that drywall is going to mold, turn black, and stink up your apartment.

Old buildings have lots of leaks: old galvanized drain lines, internal roof drains, rainwater intrusion from rotted tin lintels, poorly sealed ancient windows, retrofitted shower pans on old ass flooors, etc. from my experience, catching the leak and fixing it was one thing, but ripping apart walls to find mold from old Sheetrock repairs and abating that was a nightmare (and potentially a reoccurring one).

Plaster doesn’t rot, just gets wet and dries out.

You need a spade, you slide it along the lathes behind the plaster and it'll come off very easy.

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All the exposed joist space makes for a ton of additional storage if you get creative. Another bonus of leaving the ceiling unfinished.

>GFI outlets don’t trip based on moisture, they trip on a difference in the current between the line and neutral.

Get enough moisture between hot/line and ground, and you'll have that difference in current that'll trip the GFCI. That principle may also save someone's life - e.g. wet feet in bathtub, hand on faulty device plugged in that contacts or leaks hot to the person's hand, flows through them, into feet in tub and ground ... again, moisture, current imbalance between line/hot and neutral ... and ... it trips.

Try a fairly heavy load that's compact and highly well insulated from ground - just hot and neutral and well insulated with nothing for it to leak off to anywhere nearby. If it still trips the GFCI outlet, you probably have a faulty GFCI outlet. Various intrusions can cause them to fail, e.g. moisture, ants(!), ... also possible, though less likely, that the GFCI circuit itself might be faulty, or there could be some wiring issue that's causing it to trip (e.g. by causing excess heat build-up from poor connections or faulty components).