HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sandrar@garnet.berkeley.edu (Sandi Rollins)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Soundproofing a Room, Preserving Open Space
Date: 12 Jan 1993 23:22:37 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.berkeley.edu




We have a rather "different" type of problem with our newly purchased
house.  It is a one and one half story place, built on a slope.
There is a large common room downstairs, apparently used as a party room
& in-law unit.  We had originally intended to subdivide this room and then
soundproof a portion to allow for band rehearsals (which can get _LOUD_!).

However, now that we've been in the house a few months, we really would
prefer to keep the open space as much as possible.  This has created
a challenge I'm not sure we're up to -- it involves sound proofing around
windows, insulating effectively without building an interior second wall,
etc.  

Is there any advice or sources which I can check out to give us some
hints?  FYI, an approximation of the layout is below.

                                       Door
	_____XXX______________________OOOOO___
       |    Window                    |Stair  |                        
       |                              |       |
       |                              |       X Window
       | Door                                 | 
       |                                      |
       |              X Central               |
       | Door            Beam                 |
       |                                      X Window 
       |                                      X
       |                                      |
       |                            |         |
       |                            |Stairs|   X
       |____________________________|000000|__X Window
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: Broken dishwasher
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 05:06:55 GMT
Keywords: dishwasher

In article <1993Jan11.195543.16857@merlin.dev.cdx.mot.com> yue@merlin.dev.cdx.mot.com (Yue L. Chen) writes:
>
>My dishwasher is broken -- the water doesn't come into the 
>washing chamber when I turned it on, although I hear a lot of noise.  
>I've looked in public libraries and bookstores for a repair handbook, 
>but to no avail.
>
>Could anyone point me to the right direction?

The right direction? Well, take the bottom panel off, get down on the
floor and look underneath. See where the water line comes in? It'll
be hooked to a box about the size of your fist (maybe a little larger),
or it will be hooked to a junction which has a hose that leads to such
a box. That box has the valves for the water inlet. It will also have
electrical wires running to it. That's probably your problem.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | "Under Consideration": We never heard of it.
George Patterson -  | "Under Active Consideration": We're searching the
                    |    files for it.
                    |         Kelvin Throop - The Management Dictionary
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: clos@TrentU.CA
Subject: Need help removing old plaster and lath walls
Reply-To: clos@TrentU.CA
Organization: Trent University, Peterborough
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 20:19:59 GMT

What is the best way to take out old plaster and lath??  I am told this is a very dusty job.   Is there a better way than using a sledge and crowbar??

Any advice would be appreciated.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: manes@magpie.nycenet.edu (Steve Manes)
Subject: Re: Security Systems: Do I need to wire windows on 2nd Floor?
Organization: Manes and Associates, NYC
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 18:19:30 GMT
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

Pat J. Pinchera (pjp@sloth.mlb.semi.harris.com) wrote:

: Specific question in regard to home security systems:

: Is it necessary to wire windows on a second floor?  I've done a rough
: evaluation of the entry points on my home and came up with 16, NOT
: including the 2nd floor windows.

That's a lot of windows to wire.  It also means bigger maintenance
problems and a higher probability of false alarms, which won't endear
you to the local constabulary.  An alternative would be motion detectors.
That's what I've got in my Connecticut house and it works well.  In
fact, due to the open layout of the house I only need two detectors
in a criss-cross pattern on the first floor to cover everything but
the rear bedroom.  The downside is that motion sensors are only
practical when the house is empty (large pets included).  If you
want the system armed at bedtime you'll have to disarm it in the
morning or before a midnight raid on the fridge.  On the upside, if
the installation is good, motion detectors are very tough for
burglars to defeat, even if they know where they are.  They're also low
profile.  Mine look like duplex outlets.

As regards your question about being able to have a window open and
armed, a tremble switch might solve that problem.

-- 
Stephen Manes					   manes@magpie.nycenet.edu
Manes and Associates/Commontech-NoHo		   New York, NY, USA  =o&>o

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: aa531@Freenet.carleton.ca (Don Hickey)
Subject: Water Softners 
Reply-To: aa531@Freenet.carleton.ca (Don Hickey)
Organization: The National Capital Freenet
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 18:18:54 GMT


I am very new to usenet news but here goes nothing...

I live in a rural region and have hard water (16 grains?).  I know basically
how most softners work but I have no independent information on the
products.  Specifically what should I expect from a softner?  Are there
really any differences between brand names?  Do they add sodium to the
water?  How do I get rid of this sodium for my drinking water?

Help!  All my fixtures are turning brown and I use large amounts of soap
to do almost anything.
-- 
/###################################/
/  Don Hickey                       /
/  Ottawa, Ontario                  /
/  Canada                           /
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.rural
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: Power company easement
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: misc
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 18:17:52 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.153819.29688@bcars6a8.bnr.ca> colette@bnr.ca (Colette George) writes:
>In article <JCH.93Jan12084820@mitchell.cit.cornell.edu>, jch@jch@nr-tech.cit.cornell.edu (Jeffrey C Honig) writes:
>|> Our local power company (NY State Electric and Gas) just contacted me
>|> to request an easement to put a power pole on our property.  Are there
>|> any liabilities or disadvantages if we agree to this?  
>|> 
>Well, I don't know too much about this subject, but I saw a program once
>where a farmer's livestock became sick and died off one by one when a
>hydro tower was installed on his property. 

I saw the same thing. The problem is that it was fiction, but people's
memory gets hazy and they start to think it was fact. Had some neat
tricks like the guy that stands under the tower holding one end of a
flourescent light bulb and it lights up.

>I have also read that there
>is evidence linking close proximity to hydro lines with leukemia in humans 
>and animals.  Then again, there is no "hard evidence" of this, so the findings 
>are still being investigated.  I'm not sure I would want to take a chance,

I grew up under a set of TVA high tension lines. Lived there from the
time I was 4 to when I turned 13. Neither I nor my three siblings have
any unusual health problems, and three of us are past forty. As far as
the livestock situation goes, we raised chickens, rabbits, ducks, and
goats and had no stock fatalities we didn't cause. We also had a couple
of well-adjusted dogs who lived to ripe old ages.

As far as I'm concerned, this is just another case of a bunch of modern
Ludites who've gotten media exposure. When there's hard evidence, post
references.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | The human race likes to give itself airs.
George Patterson -  | One good volcano can produce more greenhouse gases
                    | in a year than the human race has in its entire
                    | history.                - Ray Bradbury
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: faunt@netcom.Netcom.COM (Doug Faunt N6TQS 510-655-8604)
Subject: Re: Relays (was Tying 2 Switches to Common Load?)
Organization: at home, in Oakland
	<1iiq37INN3bo@network.ucsd.edu> <1993Jan8.165353.10245@dg-rtp.dg.com>
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 20:28:33 GMT

The relays are from GE.  I have more information about all of this.

I talked to the electrician who does a lot of work here at cisco, and
he says there's no problem with paralleling switches, so, go for it.

He also says that he installs a lot of the GE relay systems in
commercial applications, but almost none in homes, although it was
pushed at residential use for a while.  They're quite reliable, unless
you have a short on load of the relay.  That generally eats the relay.

He has installed master-on switches on loads that normally would be
controlled by three-way switches.  The obvious way is to put the
switch from hot to the load, in parallel with the three-way's and
that's fine, but another way is to just put a switch between the two
travelers, which accomplishes the same thing, and is often more
convenient.

73, doug


Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: brett@sr.hp.com ()
Subject: Re: Gray flexible water supply pipe OK?
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 23:00:43 GMT
Organization: HP Sonoma County (SRSD/MWTD/MID)
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8.1]

Rand Briggs (rand@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM) wrote:
> Poly-Butyl Water Supply Pipe
> I am looking into building a new home.  The builder suggests using the
> flexible, gray, plastic pipe, rather than the usual copper pipe.  I am a
> little bit leery of it.  Does anyone have information about this stuff?

If you're talking about for hot/cold water runs in the house...

	STAY AWAY FROM IT AT ALL COSTS !!!

We've got the stuff in our current house (didn't realize it when we bought it).
There's nothing wrong with the pipe itself, but all connections are made with
a crimped fitting.  If they don't put it on JUST RIGHT, it can crack the pipe
or just pull apart in a few years.  We've been averaging about one leak per
year which is fixed by cutting out the connection and replacing it with a metal
(typically gas-line) connector.  Thank goodness all the pipe is under the house
so all the leaks do is waste water and money, no damage.

Yea, plastic may be cheaper, but it isn't worth the risk.

--

							Brett Carver
							(707) 577-4344
							brett@sr.hp.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: allen@tessi.com (Allen Warren)
Subject: Re: Advice on re-finishing wood floors
Organization: Test Systems Strategies, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon
Distribution: misc
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 23:13:40 GMT

patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r) writes:

>You basically have a choice of shellac or varnish for a finish. Shellac
>dries more rapidly; you can get several coats down in a weekend. It does
>not hold up as well as varnish, and it doesn't look as good, in my
>opinion. With the old formula varnishes, you needed three coats, and
>each coat required a day to dry. No between coat sanding is required if
>you timed it right.


George,

Your advice on sanding (which I deleted for brevity and bandwidth sake)
and prepping is excellent, however, there is another product for finish
which is commercially called Pacific Pride and is referred to by the 
name of Swedish Finish.  It's not a shellac or varnish, but a very, very
tough coating (like a transparent layer of plastic, almost).  When I
refinished my oak floors in my previous home, I used Swedish Finnish
based on advice from several floor companies and by looking at my
neighbor's floor which was refinished with the stuff.  SF is a tad
difficult to apply and is expensive, but cleaning it only requires
soap and water and it's durable as hell, as witnessed in my neighbor's
house by how incredibly great it looked after being trompled on for
the past 8 years by two boys and a girl all under the age of 10.

SF is a three-coat process on bare floors.  The first coat goes on
and is sucked up quite liberally by the exposed wood.  After waiting
8 hours for drying, the second coat is put on.  After the second coat
dries, the wood fibers can be seen and felt as SF makes them stand up.
You have to then 'screen' the floor with a commercial floor buffer which
has large, circular fine-metal screens attached to the bottom.  After
smoothing out the floor again, you apply the third and last coat of
SF, waiting 24 hours to dry, after which time you clearly have one
hell of a floor.  The realtor that sold our home couldn't believe how
nice the floors looked and further couldn't believe I did it myself.

BTW, SF costs at least $60.00/gallon, but in my mind, it's well
worth it.

allen
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: leath@UPEI.CA (Steve Leath)
Subject: Another Drywall Question
Organization: University of Prince Edward Island, CANADA
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 19:28:19 GMT

I am thinking of placing 1/4 in. drywall over badly cracked plaster walls and
butting the drywall to the existing 3/4 in. window/door moldings. I can't rip
out the plaster walls due to blown in insulation. Does anyone have tips or 
ideas to share ?

One more thing is there a drywall that can be butted up to a chimney ?

Thanks in advance 
STEVE     leath@upei.ca
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: When does it make sense to reduce the
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 02:22:42 GMT

In article <1993Jan7.213915.13528@gvl.unisys.com> garyp@rmtc.paramax.com (Gary Palangian [RMTC/ISP]) writes:

>..............  Also, $6800 for the first year (considering it
>is almost all interest), doesn't seem like much house (assuming
>a non-intro mortgage rate).  I think $10-12K/year for a first house
>(including taxes) is more realistic.  

Depends on the area. $6,800 in interest would be about right for a $60,000
house, and you can get a decent one in Knoxville, Tennessee for that kind
of bread. Here, that won't buy the garage (mild exageration).

I think the more important flaw in his reasoning is the fact that $6,800
is nearly twice his "standard deduction", yet the tone of his posting is
as if the difference is trivial. Personally, I have no deductions besides
my house and taxes, I own a low cost house (for this area) and it would
cost me over a thousand more in federal taxes if I didn't itemize.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | New Jersey drivers are the best in the world.
George Patterson -  | They have to be to drive the way they do and
                    | survive.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: gws@n8emr.cmhnet.org (Gary Sanders)
Subject: Re: Garage Door Openers
Organization: HAM BBS, 614-895-2553 (1200/2400/v.32/pep)
Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 04:41:44 GMT

In article <C0CouD.136@unx.sas.com> saseph@hal.unx.sas.com (Ed Hughes) writes:
>
>In article <1993Jan04.193527.40965@watson.ibm.com>, oasis@jcwrs.watson.ibm.com (GA.Hoffman) writes:
>>A month or so ago a thread began on garage door openers ..
>>I didn't catch the recommendations.
>>
>
>Make sure you get an opener that obeys the 1993 regulations,
>which as I heard require one of the following:
> 1. Electric eye to stop the door from closing on an obstruction.
> 2. Button that must be held down during the entire downward
>    traverse of the door.
> 3. Pressure-sensitive tape on the door edge.

Sounds like to me I should go find and 1992 as a spare. While
#1 should like good idea and 3 might be an overkill. Number 2 
sounds pretty bad. I have the de-attached garage and hit the 
down button and exit via the garage door. Ok so now I suppose to 
hold the door button till its down go around the garage side door and
into the house.. seems like a lot of extra work.
-- 
Gary W. Sanders gws@n8emr.cmhnet.org, 72277,1325
N8EMR @ N8JYV (ip addr) 44.70.0.1 [Ohio AMPR address coordinator]
HAM BBS 614-895-2553 (1200/2400/V.32/PEP) Voice: 614-895-2552 (eves/weekends)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: sns@bondi.jpl.nasa.gov (Sam Southard)
Subject: Re: How to go low?
Organization: SAR Systems Development & Processing, JPL
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 18:16:36 GMT

In article <Bzy0wq.6yE@boi.hp.com> bobpassl@boi.hp.com (Bob Passell) writes:
>I think we could "drift" down a little, to $?94,300 for a
>while before going to $?79,900 as she suggests. She is 
>adamant that this will only bring disaster, but she won't
>explain why. Keeping in mind that her contract is up on 
>12/31/92, and I'm willing to spend another 20 days at
>$?94,300 before I go to $?79,900, what is this disaster
>that awaits me if I drift lower? I hope she's not trying
>to bargain-price it in hopes of flogging the thing before her
>contract expires, because that's a sure way to lose me 
>as a customer. Has anyone else faced this situation before?

Well, no one else has mentioned this, so I thought I might.  I've faced the
situation before, on a much larger scale, thankfully from the other end, and it
was a disaster for the seller.  First a little background.

I bought my house in Pasadena, in October 1991.  For those of you unaware of
the unfortunate circumstances around here, house prices have been dropping for
a while.  The drop in my neighborhood seems to have stopped right about the
time I bought my house (or it's since recovered).  The most recent home sale on
the block is the same floor plan (and it's not a tract - the builder built four
houses on the block, with only two of them the same), except that my house has
a two bedroom addition and a game room behind the garage sold in three weeks
for about the same price as I paid for my house.

However, before 10/91 some heavy depreciation had been occurring for the last
3-5 years.  My house was on and off the market for almost 5 years before I
bought it.  I paid $x25,000.  The price when it first when on the market was
$y00,000, where y = x+2.  Yes, 2 - the owner originally wanted $175K more for
it than she got for it.  And x isn't that large.

What happened was the owner had lived in the house for 30 years.  I think she
had become very attached to the house and didn't want to devalue it, so she was
always 10-25% above the market.  By the time she accepted coming down another
increment, the market had moved down even more.

It could be that your realator is trying to avoid such a situation.  Of course,
with only 20 days left in the listing I think it's more likely that he's trying
to get a smaller commission instead of no commission.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: How should I treat my hardwood floors?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 17:17:08 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.164452.27660@crd.ge.com> lorraine@caliban.crd.ge.com (Peter Lorraine) writes:
>Could someone clue me in on what to do here?  My wife and I have just bought
>a 17 year old house
>with hardwood floors.
>
>If someone could tell me how to identify the present finish I would be
>grateful.  If the floors have a wax finish, is there a straightforward way
>to remove it and rewax?  Any other information or opinions
>about how to treat these floors would be appreciated!

Normally varnish is used to finish floors, but sometimes shellac is
applied. In your case, you almost certainly have varnish, because you
say it's not a glossy finish. Shellac produces a glossy finish, whereas
varnish can be had in semi-gloss. Alcohol disolves shellac but will not
harm varnish.

Removing wax is fairly easy. Use household ammonia at anything up to
full strength. I would rent (or buy) an electric floor scrubber/polisher
for this and use sudsing ammonia to clean the floors and remove the old
wax. Then I would apply two coats of Butcher's paste wax while I still
had the floor polisher.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | I think that I shall never see
George Patterson -  | a billboard lovely as a tree.
                    | Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
                    | I'll never see a tree at all.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: dianne@dianne.b24a.ingr.com (Dianne Ferrans)
Subject: Re: Painting on paneling vs. drywall?
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 15:52:22 GMT

In article <1993Jan11.144844.3883@nynexst.com>, selvin@nynexst.com (Al Selvin) writes:
|> The front hall of the house we recently bought is covered with
|> 1960s-era 1/4" wood paneling (as was most of the rest of the house
|> until we ripped it down, unless it was beige-floral wallpaper, also
|> ripped down).
|> 
|> I favor painting over the paneling in the hall because it is in good
|> shape and well-attached to the walls. My wife favors ripping it
|> down and putting up drywall, which we are in the middle of doing
|> in the living room.
|> 
|> Any pros or cons to either approach?

My mom had some paneling in a back room which she just put
primer on and painted.  It turned out just fine, and has an
interesting texture.  This probably would look strange if your
house is modern-looking but looks great on her house (she has
a circa 1890's two-story amityville-horror looking house)

Hell, paint's cheap.  Paint a section and see how it looks!
From: joem@meaddata.com (Joe Mehrle)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Condo for Sale Centerville, Ohio
Date: 6 Jan 1993 18:37:54 GMT
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: baseball.meaddata.com

1079 Bay Harbour Circle - Excellent location Centerville
  School district but actually in Washington Township so
  no city taxes.

Spacious 2 bedroom townhouse plus a loft overlooking a great room
  which includes 16 1/2 foot vaulted ceiling which has
  two skylights. Large ceiling fan hangs down in the
  center of the room.

Wooden deck overlooking two lakes.

Fireplace, attached garage with automatic opener

Built in microwave, refrigerator and washer and dryer included

Only 3 years old

Condo dues only $55 per month

Clean quiet community of professionals

Average utility bill 85 per month

Price $79,000 Realitor coop 3%

email for details


-- 
Joe Mehrle                       "I don't know why I
Mead Data Central, Dayton, Ohio   did it, I don't know why I liked it,
Internet: joem@meaddata.com       and I don't know why I'll do it again"
UUCP:     !uunet!meaddata!joem           -Bart Simpson-
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house