Is that a corner? The same paint can look different on perpendicular walls, depending on light and shadows. I bet it will look fine when finished. That grey is much nicer than that brown IMO

On the question of insulation, I recommend it if there is room in the chimney for the liner + insulation. Insulation keeps the gas hot as it exits the house which is a good thing. Hotter gasses rise faster, therefore the insulation will improve drafting. The gasses staying hot also reduces the build up of deposits from gas condensation. Maybe this is less an issue with natural gas exhaust, but with a wood burning stove you will get more rapid creosote build-up on the liner and therefore must clean it more often if you skip on insulation. You don't want a chimney fire.

Edit: I should make it clear that I am not a professional, just a DIY guy with a degree in physics. My opinions are worth what they cost you. :)

There are definitely wall mounts that will work with 8 pound speakers, but your shelf will work and look good too. Maybe you could include a full-width block underneath where you could screw “up” into the back, and down through the shelf into the block.

Consider a small lip around the shelf too, or another method to keep the speakers from falling off. Eight pound speakers could really hurt if they fell on somebody’s head.

I don’t usually worry about stuff like this, but years ago we were on vacation visiting relatives, and one one of their surround speakers rattled off and landed square on one of our kid’s head, resulting in a trip to the ER and many stitches.

Turn your shelves upside down and add a triangular brace to strengthen it

Couple things here.

1. I did my own stainless liner install for my wood fireplace insert. My approach was to give it a try and get help if I couldn't get it to work. It worked fine.
2. You should look up the installation manual for your furnace and water heater; many of the new high-efficiency ones won't work properly with a 5" vertical exhaust. You may be able to vent out the side of the house instead.

Always, always, test. This is rule 2. Right after isolating once you know what's what. 🤠

Figure 8 but with vinyl siding is fine, which has insulation in the cavity. Vinyl is far more forgiving of a siding material than stone, brick, or stucco so I presume the author didn't find it worth mentioning. Vinyl has lots of gaps so air and water vapor travel freely and it mounts with just nails so there's no brackets causing thermal breaks, so there's almost no way installing vinyl siding can compromise liquid water and vapor management. OTOH it's trivial to install synthetic stucco and trap water somewhere, causing rot and building destruction.

I've tried 2 different post mounts, but the speakers were too heavy. My wife would also wants to try and match the rest of the trim in the room by painting/staining them.

Satellite speakers usually have provisions for wall mounts. If yours do, that might be easier than building shelves from “scratch”. Plus most mounts allow you to position the speakers, and point them directionally.

https://i.imgur.com/5BaSdAl.png Here is the diagram

I wouldn't, buy a new one

Thanks for the comprehensive answer!

Goal was hanging an IKEA Shade, it had hardware that needed to be attached to the frane

That's a lot of assumptions.

I'd be absolutely fascinated to know how you thought there being a plug there could cause an arc that would then somehow not short the breaker in a way that a wire nut would. From an electrical perspective, there's virtually no difference between a male to female plug connection and a wire nut.

Theft-proof a truck bed soft cover?

I picked up a soft tonneau tri-fold cover for an upcoming cross country trip. I plan on moving any valuables to the cab when I stop each night, but was trying to figure out if there was a cheap-ish option to hinder thieves from cutting open the top and getting access to my things. There are some cross-bars to support the cover, and it's attached by clamps to the sides of the bed. It only needs to last ~4 days, I don't need the "tri fold" functionality of the cover during that time, and can dispose of whatever the solution is once I get to my next destination.

Any ideas?

How is it mounted? If you can cleanly remove it, put something else up and then put this back when you leave the place?

We're talking about light fixtures, here, or, at least, I thought we were. You said "deal with twisting those wirenuts at the top of a ladder", and most appliances (other than light fixtures, which I assumed you were referring to) aren't installed in a location that requires a ladder.

That first video is installing a stove/oven plug or dryer plug or something. I didn't really watch it. I'm not sure what you're getting at with that.

The second video is installing a fixture (that already uses flexible lamp cord) and plugging it into an extension cord (note that using an extension cord for permanently-installed fixtures is also not allowed, but that's not what we're talking about anyway).

We were talking about things that otherwise required wire nuts and were at the top of a ladder, so I presumed we were talking about normal light fixtures.

If you're putting a female end on the wires up in the ceiling and burying it INSIDE a junction box, that's not allowed.

There’s no way to do it and “save” the varnish. The varnish is already ruined, just sand/grind the whole thing down and refinish it. I would also want to save steps in your shoes, but unfortunately it’s too late. Best of luck!

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If the rules are explicit, why go against it? Is there something specific you are trying to accomplish?

Also much better for the environment, paint stripper has some nasty solvents in it.

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That is what I was going to suggest. I've used them and was quite pleased with the results.

Sounds like a job for maintenance. You can go buy a Window Insulation Kit at most box stores. It’s just clears plastic that you tape to the window trim and “tighten” up the plastic with a hair dryer.

I second doing each pane separately. It is a bit more tedious but the work is known. Taking the frame apart will incur additional unknowns and potential issues.