HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tonytran@sunnet.EBay.Sun.COM (Tony Tran)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Need recommendation on a garage door opener
Date: 21 Jan 1993 21:09:12 GMT
Organization: SUN MicroSystems, Milpitas, CA
Distribution: world
Reply-To: tonytran@sunnet.EBay.Sun.COM (Tony Tran)
NNTP-Posting-Host: sunnet.ebay.sun.com

Can anybody recommend a good garage door opener for a roll-up metal garage
door? It would be nice if it can be controlled by my Clifford remote control 
(the car alarm). Also, is it better to buy the garage door opener
separately and hire somebody to install it, or find somebody who
sells + installs it?

I will summarize if there is enough interest.

Tony
--

Internet: tony.tran@ebay.sun.com
From: larrym@ssec.wisc.edu (Larry McGuire )
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Deer in the yard
Date: 26 Jan 93 20:35:16 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Space Science and Engineering Center

In article <1993Jan22.201751.3344@eplrx7.es.duPont.com>, walker@eplrx7.es.duPont.com (Scott Walker) writes:
|> My father lives backed up to some woods and has seen many bushes eaten
|> to the nubbins by deer.  He has tried dried blood and soap shavings, two
|> recommended methods, but has had no success.  I assume he just sprinkled
|> these around the bushes, which are up against the house.  There is 
|> supposed to be a certain brand of soap to use, but he couldn't remember
|> which one.  As food becomes scarcer, they get bolder and will routinely
|> feed on his bushes even after being scared away.
|>     We'd really like to know of any methods which have succeeded!
|> 
|> Scott Walker


I grew up on a nursery in Northern Wisconsin.  Deer were an annual problem.  We worked pretty
closely with the DNR  (Dept. of Natural Resources) to try and keep them out.  Deer adapt pretty
well, and method effectiveness deteriorates over the years.  Some of the things we tried:

  Fencing:  Works somewhat, but deer will be able to get under and through some pretty 
	    narrow openings.

  Some slimy gooey stuff that looks like pine tar and smells like the stuff used to treat
  railroad ties:  Effective for a while, but the deer eventually got used to it.

  Cannon:  Looks like a cannon, sounds like a cannon, but no cannonballs.  Programmed to 
	   go off every five minutes or so.  Again, the deer got used to it.

  Hunting:  The DNR folks actually sent someone out to harvest a few.  They may have took a
    	   couple (can't remember), but this was not a long term solution.  

  Human Hair:  Fresh from the barber and placed in netlike bags and nailed to posts.  This
            worked the best of all the solutions.  

Today, the nurseries use a combination of the hair and electrical fence (the type that has a
wire woven into nylon). 

Good Luck!
From: swisher@cs.utexas.edu (Janet M. Swisher)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Tearing out woodstove and brick hearth
Date: 24 Jan 1993 21:50:48 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: boogie.cs.utexas.edu

The previous owner of our house installed a wood-burning stove in one
corner of the living room.  We are considering taking it out because
we don't use it much, aren't enamored with its contribution to the
decor, and would like to reclaim the space it takes up.

The stove rests on a brick hearth which extends about 4 feet up two
walls and out into the room in a square with a rounded corner.  The
floor part of the hearth was laid on top of the hardwood floor, with a
layer of plastic sheeting in between (which I know because it sticks
out in a few places).  As far as I can tell, the wall part is laid
right up against the drywall.

What is involved in tearing apart brick masonry?  Can we do it without
damaging the floor terribly much?  In spite of the plastic sheet, I'm
sure there are places where the mortar got on to the hardwood.

It will probably be simplest to just leave the stovepipe in place (it
goes through the ceiling to the attic and out the roof).  Would taking
it out entail major repairs to the ceiling and roof?

Anybody know how much a used wood-burning stove sells for these days?

	Cheers,
	Janet

-- 
Don't take life so serious ... it ain't *no how* permanent. -- Porkypine.
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Popped Window Seals - Again!
Date: 24 Jan 93 05:43:12 GMT
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

In article <1jmiacINNr6g@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu> vln@icpsr.umich.edu (Victoria Neff) writes:
>In article <4158@ecicrl.ocunix.on.ca> clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis) writes:

>>Whatever gave you the idea that thermopane windows are "always popping
>>their seals"?  Around here, almost every house built in the last 15 years
>>has thermopane (double or triple), and I've only seen one or two
>>units that had a condensation problem.

>So, Chris, what brand are your windows?  I, too, have the feeling that
>thermopane windows are "always popping".  I have them in my office, and one
>has popped twice in the last 8 years.  Many others in my colleagues' offices
>have popped, too.  I have a friend (the only person I know who has these
>windows at home) who bought a house with LOTS of thermopane windows.  This
>house was about 10 years old, and they spent THOUSANDS replacing popped
>windows.....

Actually, I don't know who made these windows.  I'd guess they're "Dashwood"
for not much other reason than Dashwood is local and fairly large.  They are,
I think, medium quality.  Implementation-wise, they're cedar frame,
operating windows are casement style, and the fixed lites are anywhere up
to about 6'x7' (four of these monsters).  All triple pane.

They may be Hunt/Pella, but I doubt it.  Probably not Anderson.  The casement
controls seem a little cheap for Pella or Anderson.  Besides, I'd really hate
to think what a window unit that's got two 6'x1' casements and a 6x7 fixed section
would cost from Pella.  $3K?  I'd hate to install one - I remember carrying
units half the size with double pane.  Tipped the scales at 120 pounds.

I dunno.  Maybe thermopane is relatively recent in the US, and the manufacturers
are getting away with cheap garbage.  As I said earlier, it doesn't seem to
be manufacturer-specific here - few thermopane units I've seen from any
manufacturer have failed.

I'm also wondering if climate may have something to do with it.  Perhaps
more hot days in the sunny south are causing them to fail.  -40F/C
weather here doesn't seem to cause any problems.
-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
Psroff 3.0 info: psroff-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Ferret list: ferret-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond)
Subject: Re: No Hot Water!
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 05:30:50 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.
Distribution: na

eliot@chutney.rtp.dg.com (Topher Eliot) writes:

[me]
|> J> The hysterisis in the thermostat is generally fixed.  You have a couple of
|> J> options.  You can turn the thermostat up higher so that you use less
|> J> of hotter water during your shower.  This will probably be very effective,
|> J> particularly if someone has been propagandized into turning the heat

>Or they have been correctly warned that water hotter than 120F can cause life-
>threatening scalding of little children who turn it on full blast on them-
>selves in the tub.

Figured I'd flush a safety nazi or two out with that one.  I'd be amused
to hear any scenario you could come up with where a child could receive
a "life threatening" scalding in which the parent was not being irresponsible.
If the parent is responsible enough to worry about water temperature,
s/he is responsible enough to keep the kid out of boiling water.

PS:  The stove can also cause life threatening burns and can burn your
house down.  Do you also run your stove at reduced power?

John

-- 
John De Armond, WD4OQC               |Interested in high performance mobility?  
Performance Engineering Magazine(TM) | Interested in high tech and computers? 
Marietta, Ga                         | Send ur snail-mail address to 
jgd@dixie.com                        | perform@dixie.com for a free sample mag
Need Usenet public Access in Atlanta?  Write Me for info on Dixie.com.
From: hroth@ncratl.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM (Harris Roth)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: wiring diagram
Date: 21 Jan 93 19:05:45 GMT
Organization: NCR Engineering and Manufacturing Atlanta -- Atlanta, GA

Would someone please post or email the wiring diagram for a light(s) controlled
by three switches.  I know that the circuit requires two - 3 way switches and
one - 4 way switch.  What I'm not sure of is the wiring and how the internal
workings of the switches allow any switch to turn the light on or off.
-- 
Harris J. Roth, Senior Programmer Analyst    hroth@ncratl.atlantaga.NCR.COM 
Network Systems                              (404) 623-7749
Transaction Terminal and Retail Systems Division     
NCR E&M Atlanta                              
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: smb@research.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Subject: Re: No Hot Water!
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 18:42:59 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

In article <y1_s6dd@dixie.com>, jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond) writes:
> eliot@chutney.rtp.dg.com (Topher Eliot) writes:
> Figured I'd flush a safety nazi or two out with that one.  I'd be amused
> to hear any scenario you could come up with where a child could receive
> a "life threatening" scalding in which the parent was not being irresponsible.

Do you have any kids, John?  From your past postings, I don't think so
(i.e., your posting about how you got out of your house when you had
that fire.  An excellent article, btw.)

You'd be amazed at how fast kids can get into trouble.  And you not only
*can't* watch them every second, you shouldn't -- how else can they learn
to do things on their own.  (I should point out, of course, that this
is a direct corollary to the attitude I strongly suspect you have towards
the government -- that at a certain point, people, big or small, have to
be allowed to take responsibility.)  It's my job as a parent to walk
a very fine line on that matter -- and to try my damnedest to ensure
that the inevitable mistakes aren't dangerous.

Want an example?  My son (age 3.5) knows how to wash his hands by
himself, and *always* uses just the cold water.  But he almost always
washes his hands in one bathroom -- till the time he washed his hands
upstairs instead.  Well, he doesn't quite know left from right yet,
so he reasoned that the faucet near the door was always the cold water.
Yes, he's smart -- but he was also wrong, of course.

Fortunately, we don't have tankless hot water heaters, or I'd have been
dealing with a scalded hand...

As I said, I do my best to shift the odds.  And Daniel has now learned
a lesson the easy way.  But I can't predict what he'll try next...
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: dlg@banshee.cray.com (David Grensing  {66594 CF/DEV})
Subject: wobbling banister
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 25 Jan 93 16:02:44 CST



HELP!
I've recently purchased a newer home. I have an open
staircase with oak spindles and banisters. The problem
I'm having is the railing is starting to wobble. Part of
the problem is the end posts don't extend to the ceiling.
I think the way the system is mounted to the floor is that
a metal track is installed, and then the post/spindles are 
mounted/slide onto this (but I'm not sure). I am able to slide
the end post back about an 1/4 in., and I can see a metal plate.
When I rock the post back and forth, so does this plate. I 
can't move the post back any farther without pulling up some
carpet. Has anyone had a similar problem, and if so, how did 
you fix it? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
|    ___      __         Chaos and  |  Internet : dlg@romulus.cray.com  |
|    /  \    /  \        Disorder   |  Voice #  : (715) 726-6594        |
|   /   /   /  _         Since 1961 |  Fax   #  : (715) 726-2320        |
| _/___/ave \__/rensing     ~~~~    |  Location : CF/DEV Room 266       |
|  Cray Research, INC.              ------------------------------------|
|  900 Lowater Road                 Disclaimer: HuH?     ,,,~           | 
|  Chippewa Falls, WI. 54729                             (o O)          | 
|----------------------------------------------------oOO--(_)--OOo------|
|   Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad.  And then I    | 
| think, "Aw, who cares?"  And then I think, "Hey, what's for supper?"  |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: doernber@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com (Joey Doernberg)
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 02:02:33 GMT
Subject: Re-fi again, rates even LOWER
Organization: HP Labs, High Speed Electronics Dept., Palo Alto, CA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

You may have seen my previous posting a few months ago about 
refinancing a house with Pacific Fidelity Mortgage Co.  
in Palo Alto, (415) 321-3333.

Recently I refinanced with them when I thought that rates were the
best that they would be.  Now rates have dropped even LOWER and they
have offered me a lower rate WITHOUT any closing costs.

Although my situation was a bit complicated Pacific Fidelity was able to
get me a loan quickly and easily, and their rates are GREAT.  
I would highly recommend going to them.  Their biggest advantage is in
getting a ***very LOW rate*** without having to pay closing costs.

I am not affiliated with Pacific Fidelity Mortgage.
They just make the re-fi process easy and they saved me money.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
|	  @..@    	Joey Doernberg
|	 (----)  	joey@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com
|	< I  I >	(415) 857-6315
|	  "  "	
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Cat Repellant
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 12:21:19 CST
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

hubcap@hubcap.clemson.edu (System Janitor) writes:

> So, just to make sure I understand...
> 
> My cat comes over to your house and walks on your car or poops in your
> begonias... do you shoot him before or after you see if I can/will keep
> him away?

First, I'll just chase it away. Possibly several times.

If it's possible to determine the owner (not always easy with
cats or dogs running loose), then by all means I'll try to have
you do something about it.

After that, trapping and a trip to the pound will be considered.
Being inside the city, I can't legally shoot anything.

Gary Heston, at home...
gary@cdthq.uucp
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu (Michael Covington)
Subject: Re: No Hot Water!
Organization: AI Programs, University of Georgia, Athens
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:37:40 GMT

In article <y1_s6dd@dixie.com> jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond) writes:

[someone writes:]
+Or they have been correctly warned that water hotter than 120F can cause life-
+threatening scalding of little children who turn it on full blast on them-
+selves in the tub.

>Figured I'd flush a safety nazi or two out with that one.  I'd be amused
>to hear any scenario you could come up with where a child could receive
>a "life threatening" scalding in which the parent was not being irresponsible.
>If the parent is responsible enough to worry about water temperature,
>s/he is responsible enough to keep the kid out of boiling water.
>
>PS:  The stove can also cause life threatening burns and can burn your
>house down.  Do you also run your stove at reduced power?

Hmmm.  One might even construct a variant of the well-known argument that
it's easier to get cut with a dull knife than with a sharp one.  The
reason: If your HW temperature is inadequate, you'll get accustomed to
using 100% hot water with no cold water mixed in.  If it's adequate, you
will be in the habit of always using cold water mixed with hot.

Admittedly, hot water can scald.  But the whole point of a 40-gallon hot
water heater is to be able to make a lot more than 40 gallons of *warm*
water, by mixing.
-- 
:-  Michael A. Covington     internet mcovingt@uga.cc.uga.edu :    *****
:-  Artificial Intelligence Programs       phone 706 542-0358 :  *********
:-  The University of Georgia                fax 706 542-0349 :   *  *  *
:-  Athens, Georgia 30602-7415 U.S.A.     amateur radio N4TMI :  ** *** **
Xref: sparky misc.consumers.house:17346 misc.kids:33355
From: pburch@roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.kids
Subject: Re: Hot water too hot
Date: 25 Jan 1993 18:12:41 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu
Originator: pburch@roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu


Renee@cup.portal.com (Renee Linda Roberts) writes:
> Tell the landlord (or property cooperative leaders) to turn it down! It
> wastes energy, especially if it is over 140 degrees. Turning it down to
> 120 will make it so it will take more than 5 minutes to sustain a burn,
> thereby also saving them from potential liability claims (If the energy
> idea doesn't work, the legal usually does).

But then a whole lot of dishwashers won't work--the detergent doesn't 
dissolve well under a certain temperature. This would probably annoy 
a lot of residents.

Some dishwasher repairman claimed that this was the cause of the problem, 
anyway, in one case, and using the hotter water did seem to work.

It would be cheaper to buy temperature-sensitive valves (that shut off 
at the faucet if the water exceeds a certain temperature) for one apartment 
than to buy new dishwashers for everybody, if the dishwashers lack their 
own built-in water heaters. Even in a single-family home, buying the valve 
is probably cheaper than replacing the dishwasher.

I saw these valves in either the Perfectly Safe catalog or the Safety Zone 
catalog, maybe both. (They are not here right now, or I'd post the
telephone numbers--I think that they're both 800 numbers, though, so try
1-800-555-1212 if you're interested.)

Now you can argue about which is worse for the environment, wasting energy 
to heat your water too hot, or throwing away a perfectly good dishwasher....

Paula Burch
pburch@bcm.tmc.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: leem@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (Lee Mellinger)
Subject: Pressed Sawdust Fireplace Logs - Where? 
Keywords: logs, pressed sawdust, presto logs
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 21:00:00 GMT


Much to my dismay, I have discovered that Setzer Forest Products ceased
manufacturing Presto logs about a year ago.  These were the original
pressed sawdust logs and remained the only manufactured logs that were
made without wax.  They did tell me that another company based in
Washingon Stae was making this kind of log, but they did not have the
company'a name or exact location.  

If anybody out there knows of this or any other company making this
kind of log, I would sincerely appreciate it if you email this info to me.

Lee

"Mit Pulver und Blei, die Gedanken sind frei."

|Lee F. Mellinger                 Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA
|4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 818/354-1163  FTS 792-1163     
|leem@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: u4944@cray.com (Charles Hubbert)
Subject: Basement floor coating help
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: 22 Jan 93 09:07:26 CST

I am cleaning up the basement and am ready to do something with the
concrete floor in the utility portion.  There is already hints of
erosion in the high traffic area.  I am wondering if I should patch
these areas, or will floor paint hold up for awhile?  I read the
instructions on a gallon of floor paint, and it talked about etching
the surface with a 10% muriatic acid solution.  When and why would 
etching be necessary?

I think I saw something about a FAQ list regarding wet basements.  
Where is that list?  I am specifically interested in the 'weep holes
and epoxied baseboard method' at this time.

Thanks.
-- 
Chuck Hubbert	u4944@cray.com    tel# 313/574-8159
From: cnrdean@toxic (Sam Scalise)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: AutoDesk Landscaping Computer Program
Date: 26 Jan 93 17:51:18 GMT
Organization: U.C. College of Natural Resources
NNTP-Posting-Host: toxic.berkeley.edu


As Frank from MASH once said:  "I wonder if I might be able to say
something useful."

I bought "LANDSCAPE" from Egghead Software for ~$50.  Before that, I
tried a $10 landscaping software and regretted it.  I ran the LANDSCAPE
program on my 386.  The program was more than adequate for my needs,
and made me think about becoming a landscape architect ;-).  The only
major drag occured whenever it had to "redraw" the screen; it took a
long time if there was any kind of patterns on the screen (lawn,
bricks, trees, etc.).  And the program redraws the screen much more
often than the user would expect it would.  It is great that you can
zoom in to certain areas, but when you do, the program calculates the
"redraw" even though most of it is not on the screen.  My advice:  Wait
to put the "plants" and "patterns (bricks, etc.) until you have
everything else done.  Or have a big pot of coffee on so that you can
go get some while the program "redraws".

It is nicer than using a pencil because it is easy to erase one object
without erasing everything else in the area.  Also, when you are adding
lines or objects, the program will "snap" the origin of the object to
existing corners (or whatever) for you.  Or you can easily instruct the
program to insert this object four feet to the left, and two feet above
the corner of my house.

It will measure areas for you.

It also has a feature  which will assit you with drawing the side view
after you draw the plan view.  I never got around to trying this
feature.

Customer support was excellent.

I recommend going through the tutorial in the book, it will save you a
lot of time.  There was no on-line tutorial.

It took me quite a while to do my house and yard (the first time).
But, not any longer than (for me) to do it with an architect rule and
pencil.  And now that I have a template saved on disk, I can modify the
whole thing, and save it in a different file.  For example, I have one
"template" file, another "undergound conduit" file, a "sprinkler" file,
and so on.  I can superimpose any combination of these files on top of
each other as needed.

I recommend the program, hope they come out with a newer version which
is smarter about redrawing the screen.

Sam Scalise
cnrdean@nature.Berkeley.EDU
From: slusk@falcon.aamrl.wpafb.af.mil
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Help! Sinking Front Steps
Date: 22 Jan 93 17:38:15 EST
Organization: USAF AL/CFH, WPAFB, Dayton, OH

In article <1993Jan14.232944.19774@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>,
ghuntres@nyx.cs.du.edu (Gary  huntress) writes: 

> Two years ago I built a set of fieldstone steps capped in bluestone.
> Since then they have sunk almost two inches.  Short of digging them
> out, I can't think of a practical way of stopping (or slowing) their
> downward slide.  
> 
> Has anyone successfully conquered SSS (sinking step syndrome)?

No, but I did read in Home Mechanix magazine about some sort of cement that
expands as it dries.  Apparently it is designed exactly for this type of
problem.  As I recall, they dig a cavity below (e.g. your step) from the side,
then backfill the side of the step (the idea is to make sure you keep a cavity
under there).  Next they drilled through the step and pumped this special
cement in (amount?).  As it dries it expands, pushing the step up in the
process.  If I can find the actual article, I'll post a reference.  Hope this
helps. 

Steve
-- 
Disclaimer:  I'm the only one typing, neither Logicon nor the United States Air 
Force has anything to 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house