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I have a large oak tree in a small backyard. I'd like a deck under it, but minimizing any damage to the root system is critical. How should I do the footings?

It'll be free-standing. The dimensions will be roughly 12x16' though I haven't finalized the design. I'll be using composite decking, so will use 12" joist spacing.

I'm planning to keep the deck under 30" high, so according to my permits dept I don't need one. My preference is to build to code regardless, but any legit technique is fair game.

I'm in a frost free area (coastal California). The ground is fairly level, but not perfectly so. Maybe 6-8" of height variation in the space I intend to build.

I'm a fairly experienced DIYer,

I get that it's a little smaller than 60" so there's wiggle room for shimming, so you can ensure its level and square.

But why 59.5", and not a bit smaller? Alternatively, why is 60" a standard width for a rough opening?

Here's what I'm grappling with that makes me ask. Hopefully I'm misunderstanding something, and it'll make sense once explained?

My studs are layed out 16" O.C. If I look at a group of five studs, they span 64" O.C. I would like to use the outer studs in that group as my king studs. But if I were to nail jack studs (aka trimmers) on the inner sides of those studs, I'll have a 59.5" rough opening -- I lose 3" from my two Jack studs, and another 1.5" by measuring from ins

I played a round of Ticket To Ride yesterday, and while scoring it had one of those "Wouldn't it be neat?" moments. What if you could just take pictures of the board, and of each player's route cards, and have an app calculate all the scores?

As far as I can tell, most board game score apps available today are for keeping track of scores across plays, or are simple aids for tallying up scores where you are entering a bunch of numbers.

The core idea is that I could use deep learning so the app will recognize play pieces on the board. From there, I think it should be fairly straightforward to have it calculate scores.

So what I'd love to get some ideas from you on, what would be a good game

I'm installing a new vanity, but it has a drawer that's blocking where the p-trap would normally go.

Pics: http://imgur.com/gallery/0GhXbcG

The way I figure, I have four options, none of which seem great.

1. Cut open the wall, move the trap adapter upwards.
2. Cut a big notch out of the drawer to make room for the p-trap.
3. Turn a 90 left or right immediately after the trap adapter. Then p-trap, then riser, then back to middle to tie in with sink. May still need to cut into the vanity to make room. Or cut off the trap adapter and redo it a bit tighter to the wall to give me another 1/2" or so.
4. Buy a different vanity.

How would you tackle this? Are there other (better) options? I'm le

I'm looking for some shopping advice. I'm loooong overdue to replace my water heater. I'll almost certainly be getting a heat pump based one to replace my current natural gas unit. These appear to be marketed as "hybrid" -- I guess for clarity that it's a water heater, and not a heat pump for heating/cooling your house.

I'm on a 'time-of-use' rate for our electricity, meaning it's significantly more expensive during certain hours.

Does anyone know much about scheduling the water heater to prefer running during certain hours? Ideally, it wouldn't just be a binary 'thou shalt not run' type of scheduling, but instead be smart enough to run just enough to get a small reserve during expensiv

I'm DIY installing a couple of EV chargers next to my driveway. I'm running 125A/240V power out there in 1-1/2" PVC conduit (buried) which will come up to a subpanel.

The subpanel and EV chargers will be mounted on what is essentially a wooden post, though it's actually three-legged thing. The actual design isn't too relevant aside from noting that it's not a shed or "structure", and I'll need to use an outdoor-rated subpanel. Also, I'm trying to keep the whole thing fairly compact and unobtrusive.

I have a few questions. First, let me note that I have a good understanding of electricity, read a bunch of the NEC before starting this, and had a detailed discussion about the project with an

I'm planning to replace a bunch of old aluminum frame windows with new construction vinyl windows. I'll be enlarging some of them, and for those I'll just make the rough opening match the windows I buy. But for the rest, I'd like to buy windows that match the existing opening.

I'd rather not open up the walls from either side until the windows have arrived. I've never installed windows before, and I guess I'm a little unsure how to know the exact frame size that i should buy. Can I just measure the apparent window frame size, based on where the aluminum frame meets stucco, or is there likely to be some part of the existing window frame that is hidden behind the stucco (aside from the nailin

We humans often crack our knuckles, our necks, our backs -- pretty much anything we can crack, we do. Certainly not everyone does it, but it seems to be a pretty popular past-time for our species.

So, have any other animals been documented as deliberately cracking their joints? Just one individual, or does the whole species make a habit of it?

Do other mammals crack their joints?