HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

The damage is primarily from dry rot.  However the inspector that came
in low claims the damage is all "superficial" and the guy that came in
high (Clark Pest Control of Burlingame, CA) claims it is structural.
Incidently a structural engineer came to the house and sided with the
low inspector.  The high inspector had wild estimates for repair costs
as well.  For instance he had a major bullet of $28,000 for replacing
timbers in the basement.  The low inspector put in perspective by
saying "... OK, let's give him $3000 for materials (plenty) and say
he charges $500 labor per day (a lot).  That means he plans to spend
50 days doing work in our basement!!  Pretty outrageous.
Unfortunately we are simply screwed by this crook.  Their appears to
be no good solution.  He wins, we loose.  All I can say is it is a
good thing I am a nonviolent individual.

Keith
From: tvervaek@col.hp.com (Tom Vervaeke)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: How to keep deer off my backyard
Date: 21 Jan 1993 20:41:10 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: itchub21.cs.itc.hp.com


How about a dog on a temporary lease from a friend or neighbor? Never
met a deer who liked a dog; and never met a dog who didn't want to catch
the deer!!!


( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ )
 | / | Tom Vervaeke           Email:tom_vervaeke@hp0800.desk.hp.com | \ |
 | / | Technology Specialist  Snail: 1900 Garden of the Gods Rd.    | \ |
 | / | Hewlett Packard Co.           Colorado Springs, CO 80901     | \ |
 | / | Colorado Springs, CO   Voice    : 719-590-2133               | \ |
 | / | USA                    Fax      : 719-590-2117               | \ |
 | / |--------------------------------------------------------------| \ |
 | / | Quote of the week...                                         | \ |
 |___|           Quote deleted do to lack of creativity !!!         |___|
(_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____)
   ^                                                                  ^

Xref: sparky misc.consumers.house:17336 misc.rural:2891
From: geoff@netcom.com (Geoffrey Leach)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.rural
Subject: Re: Septic System Issues???
Date: 25 Jan 93 15:46:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: netcom.1993Jan25.154633.27281
Distribution: usa
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

awang@sunpix.East.Sun.COM (Angus Wang - Sun NC Development Center) writes:

>I was born & raised on city water and have no idea about wells &
>septic systems.  Waht are some good sources of information to
>learn about issues concerning these?

There's a book, entitled _Country Plumbing_ that will tell you all
you need to know.  I believe its published by Garden Way.  Real Goods
carries it.  Check with 800 information for their order line.

-- 
Geoffrey Leach		geoff@netcom.com
From: smedley@newton.ccs.tuns.ca (Prof. Trevor Smedley)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Stripping and Painting Old Iron Radiators
Summary: How to get the paint off?
Keywords: radiators, paint, sandblasting
Date: 28 Jan 93 16:15:41 GMT
Organization: Technical University of Nova Scotia, Halifax, N.S.

We have an old house with hot water heating using those big old iron
radiators.  Like everything else in the house they have been poorly
painted half a dozen times, and the paint is flaking and peeling quite
badly.  What are the options for getting the old paint off and new
paint on?  A couple I've thought of are:

1) Strip them with paint stripper, a wire brush, sandpaper...  The
   problem with this is that it's difficult to reach a lot of the
   radiator (near walls, nooks and crannies, etc.).

2) Remove them and send them off to a sandblasting shop to be blasted
   clean.  Although this would certainly work well, I'm not too keen
   on ripping out 5 radiators, at about 200 lbs each.

3) Sandblasting them in place.  I could build a temporary booth around
   each radiator to try to keep in the sand.  The worry I have with
   this is the potential for filling the house with dust.  I'm don't
   know how much dust is generated by sandblasting.

Comments, suggestions?

Trevor Smedley -- smedley@tuns.ca
Technical University of Nova Scotia
School of Computer Science
From: srivatsa@karna.Eng.Sun.COM (Chakra Srivatsa)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Home alarm system supplies
Date: 26 Jan 93 20:42:27 GMT
Reply-To: srivatsa@karna.Eng.Sun.COM
Distribution: usa
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: karna

Mail-order seems expensive.  I've located 2 local stores
where the prices are very good (I'm in Silicon Valley).  Here are
three mail order places:  (Quement Electronics in Silicon Valley
is very good).

1) DSC Alarm, MN.  (701)234-0101
You can buy the DSC systems from here.  A local store carries them
at the same price as this mail order firm.

2) Mountain West Alarm Supplies
   4215 N 16th St, Phoenix, AZ 85064.
This one seems slightly expensive.  I can dig up the phone # if anyone
wants.

3) Group One Northwest
   12031 Northup Way
   Bellevue Wa.
   206-454-9900
Also expensive.

-Chakra.

---
The one l lama, he's a priest. 		srivatsa@eng.sun.com
The two l llama, he's a beast.
And I will bet a silk pajama, 
there isn't a three l lllama!		says Ogden Nash
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: eliot@chutney.rtp.dg.com (Topher Eliot)
Subject: Re: Water Filter Recommendations Wanted!!!!
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 18:26:45 GMT
Reply-To: eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com
Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC

The current issue of Consumer Reports has an article on water filters, 
particularly for lead.

-- 
Topher Eliot             Data General DG/UX Systems Administration Development
(919) 248-6371                                             eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com
Obviously, I speak for myself, not for DG.
misc.consumers.house archivist.  Send mail to house-archive@dg-rtp.dg.com
"It's hard to talk when I'm trying to whine." -- Tommy, age 4
From: rel@diamond.tamsun (Ronald E. Lacey)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Electrostatic Air Cleaners
Date: 25 Jan 93 20:27:19
Organization: /u2/users/rel/.organization
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: diamond.tamu.edu

I've recently moved into a new-old house which has a 1968 Westinghouse
electrostatic air cleaner in addition to the regular furnace filter. Does
anyone know of a way to check to see if the unit is functioning short of
waiting a month or two and seeing if the filter gets dirty.  Are these units 
effective in removing mold?

Thanks in advance.

--
**************************************************************************
Ronald E. Lacey                               OFFICE  409-845-3967
Department of Agricultural Engineering        FAX     409-845-3932 
Texas A & M University                        EMAIL   rel@diamond.tamu.edu
College Station, TX 77843-2117
**************************************************************************
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: breland@cobweb.mcc.com (Mark A. Breland)
Subject: Re: Deer in the yard
Reply-To: breland@cobweb.mcc.com
Organization: MCC
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:03:13 GMT

In article C5H@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu, prange@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Henry Prange) writes:
>Try urine-marking. I walked a circle around my tomatoes last summer and
>the deer quit eating them. 

This works...hunters use this method to direct deer to desired trails.  Also,
remember the scene in "Doc Hollywood" when Michael T. Fox and whatshername
are scurrying around the hunters' blind, peeing to drive the deer away?

---
Mark A. Breland - Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC)
Ada Fault Tolerance                               | voice:    (512) 338-3509
3500 West Balcones Center Drive                   | FAX:      (512) 338-3900
Austin, Texas 78759-6509   USA                    | internet: breland@mcc.com

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Grout problems
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 09:42:17 CST
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

weiss@cs.unc.edu (Steve Weiss) writes:

> We just had a bathroom floor tiled with 8 inch tiles.  The grout line
> is pretty thick: about  three sixteenths of an inch.  The problem is
> when you walk across the tile in socks, the grout seems to pull at the
> material.  It's an annoying feeling and may also be damaging my socks.
> 
> What can be done to smooth the grout so it doesn't grab me?

Scrub the grout with a stiff brush, or use the corner of a block of
wood, to smooth it out. Vacuum up all the dust, and paint the grout
lines with sealer.

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
From: marki@hpcupt3.cup.hp.com (Mark Ikemoto)
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 07:00:02 GMT
Subject: Re: MIND IN THE GUTTER
Organization: HP CCSY
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

If you're lucky, the backed-up rainwater will overflow the side of
your gutter opposite your roof and just saturate the ground near your
foundation causing, among other things, your foundation to actually
crack and tilt in or out because the ground is so soggy.  THIS DOES
HAPPEN.  And it costs bucks to get the foundation realigned and
repaired.

If you're unlucky :-), the backed-up rainwater will overflow on the
ROOF-side of the gutter.  This can happen if there is flashing from
the roof going directly into the gutter and your gutter is bent in
toward the roof slightly (which can happen depending on how the
gutter was attached to the roof or fascia); heck, it can happen by
the wind just blowing it up under your roof!  The backed-up rainwater
will either flow up into and under your shingles or worse, between
your shingles and the roof deck.  Now we're talking about potential
dry-rot, wet-rot, roof leaks, shingles coming loose, an invitation
to termites--   all kinds of insidious damage that you can't see until
you've got a major problem.




Mark
From: disaacs@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (david.e.isaacs)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Polyurathane vs Acrylic on HW floors
Date: 21 Jan 93 16:10:36 GMT
Organization: AT&T

The guy who is going to be sanding our hard wood floors has offered us
the option of polyurathane or an arcylic finish.  the arcylic costs $100
more.  Is it worth it?  This isn't our dream home and we hope to move in
5 - 10 yrs.

Much Thanks

David Isaacs			If I said it, why blame anyone else?
Ok.... So I didn't major 
in English.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: laird@pasture.ecn.purdue.edu (Kyler Laird)
Subject: Re: Driveway Gate Opener Needed
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: 27 Jan 93 17:43:30 GMT

Our Sam's Club has these.  I've seen them in many farm magazines and
supply stores.

--kyler
From: lsnow@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM (Linda Snow)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: No Hot Water!
Date: 21 Jan 93 22:31:06 GMT
Reply-To: lsnow@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM (Linda Snow)
Distribution: na
Organization: NCR E&M CLEMSON Liberty, SC

In article <1993Jan19.012921.122@sco.com> rogerv@sco.COM (Roger Vortman) writes:
>
>>We just completed a new home of 5000 square feet. Only 2 adults (and a
                                  ^^^^

Good God!  How many rooms does that represent and what are you going
to do with all of them?  I consider my house roomy and yours is >2 1/2
times the size of mine!

Xref: sparky misc.consumers.house:17203 misc.rural:2865
From: tvervaek@col.hp.com (Tom Vervaeke)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.rural
Subject: Re: Septic System Issues???
Date: 21 Jan 1993 20:43:43 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: itchub21.cs.itc.hp.com

awang@sunpix.East.Sun.COM (Angus Wang - Sun NC Development Center) writes:
> I was born & raised on city water and have no idea about wells &
> septic systems.  Waht are some good sources of information to
> learn about issues concerning these?  Information such as exactly
> what perc tested means/tells you, water sheds, run-off area, etc.
> Practical information such as what actually goes into installing
> a septic system entails would be useful.  I have heard that even
> though a lot percs, that's just the beginning of things to consider.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -- 
> North Carolina Development Center

How about the library? We just built a house that has a well and septic
(in the country). I'd had these before but never knew how they worked
really. The library here had several good books on the subject for the
layman.  Very informative.


( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ )
 | / | Tom Vervaeke           Email:tom_vervaeke@hp0800.desk.hp.com | \ |
 | / | Technology Specialist  Snail: 1900 Garden of the Gods Rd.    | \ |
 | / | Hewlett Packard Co.           Colorado Springs, CO 80901     | \ |
 | / | Colorado Springs, CO   Voice    : 719-590-2133               | \ |
 | / | USA                    Fax      : 719-590-2117               | \ |
 | / |--------------------------------------------------------------| \ |
 | / | Quote of the week...                                         | \ |
 |___|           Quote deleted do to lack of creativity !!!         |___|
(_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____)
   ^                                                                  ^
From: tvervaek@col.hp.com (Tom Vervaeke)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Cat Repellant
Date: 21 Jan 1993 21:40:41 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
NNTP-Posting-Host: itchub21.cs.itc.hp.com


I'm not sure why folks here think it's terrible to give the neighbor's
cat a little shot in the rump with a pellet gun. It would hurt the cat
more to hit it with the newspaper. A pump pellet gun can be used to keep
cats off of cars, out of the birdfeeders, or even repel strange dogs.

Here's my case: My wife and I have a nice home in the country on 5
acres. We have two cats that we keep inside (as the foxes and mountain
lions tend to reduce the cat population quite quickly if left outside
for long periods.) We also have two nice dogs. We have paid around $1700
to have one of the Invisible Fences (tm) installed in our yard. Our dogs
wear special collars and it does a wonderful job of keeping our dogs in
the yard. 

Of course, many of the neighbors have dogs and do not wish to invest in
any mechanism to keep their dogs at home. Some of them are friendly, and
do not really bother me or my pups. Some are mean and like to have
fights with our dogs, eat their snacks, etc.. I purchased a $25 Crossman
pump pellet pistol (and the matching metal stock so it feels more like a
rifle). By pumping it 1 or 2 times and shotting the bad dogs in the rear
ends I have all but eliminated the problem. Of course, I also had asked
all of my neighbors to kindly try to keep their dogs on their property,
after all we all have 5 acres which is somethinkg like 220,000 square
feet to romp on. SOme of the neighbors have now bought Invisible Fences.
Some have dogs who now like to stay on their own property....

I moved to the country to have peace and quiet. So did my dogs. Why
should I be the bad guy when it is simply my neighbors who are failing
to live up to decent standards.

The same goes for the person with the cat bothering the birds. Ask the
owner of the cat to keep it home. If not, either take action or call the
animal control folks. Why should your life be altered due to lack of
control of someone else?


( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ )
 | / | Tom Vervaeke           Email:tom_vervaeke@hp0800.desk.hp.com | \ |
 | / | Technology Specialist  Snail: 1900 Garden of the Gods Rd.    | \ |
 | / | Hewlett Packard Co.           Colorado Springs, CO 80901     | \ |
 | / | Colorado Springs, CO   Voice    : 719-590-2133               | \ |
 | / | USA                    Fax      : 719-590-2117               | \ |
 | / |--------------------------------------------------------------| \ |
 | / | Quote of the week...                                         | \ |
 |___|           Quote deleted do to lack of creativity !!!         |___|
(_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____)
   ^                                                                  ^
From: SASLED@vm.sas.com (Larry Dowty)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Gutter Helmets, are they worth it $$$$
Date: 26 Jan 93 15:48:00 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.

I am looking for the lowest maintance way to avoid cleaning the very high,
 and frequently full gutters on a house on a wooded lot. In my area several
 companys offer to install "Gutter Helmets". It seems to be a good system,
 but very expensive. If you have Gutter Helmets or a similar product on
 your house, please let me know what you think of them (email or post).

Larry Dowty                            Systems Developer
sasled@vm.sas.com                      SAS Institute Inc.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: dannyb@panix.com (Daniel Burstein)
Subject: Re: No Hot Water!
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 17:38:47 GMT

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

umm, have to relate this from PERSONAL experience, both as a paramedic in
NYC, and having friends...

I have treated numerous peole who have had pretty bad burns from normal
"hot" water.  anything above about 120 can, and will do damage.  It won't
hurt to just dip your finger in, but if you should fall in, or climb into
a tub with it, or numerous other scenarios.

Yes, you and I might always chck the water temp carefully, but what about
the day you just step into the tub? won't happen?  think of how many times
you've gone through stop signs without realizing it.

Better to engineer safety right into the system.

btw, there is a (relatively) simple solution (no pun intended).  You can
put a thermostatic mixing valve after the water heater to lower the temp
from, say, 150 to 120.  Or, our friend who kept running out of hot water
could even turn it up to 195 (you need some margin below boiling).  

That way the regular hot water through the home would be <120, but you
could still tap off the very hot water for things like the dishwasher. 

But let me repeat, people are, inded, often burned by regular hot water.
In fact, plumbing and safety codes REQUIRE various techniques to keep
maximum hot water temp in specilized environments (nursing homes, for
example), to be below something like 115 degrees  (don't have the code
with me for the exact temp).

dannyb@panix.com

From: keith@hpkslx.mayfield.HP.COM (Keith Richards)
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 01:40:58 GMT
Subject: Re: Bogus Pest Control Inspection
Organization: HP Response Center Lab
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

I have been in touch with the California Structural Pest Control Board
and all they can offer is that I can file a complaint.  What is the
BBB?  I really want to nail this jerk.

Keith
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond)
Subject: Re: Cat Repellant
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 22:44:48 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.
Keywords: Cat, Bird, Pounce, Kill

troy@cs.sfu.ca (Troy Brooks) writes:

>	I don't know how many of the responses I've seen to this
>	were tongue-in-cheek, but I find it hard to understand
>	why people would suggest things like shooting the cat with
>	a pellet gun, or hauling it off to the pound. This is
>	just what cats do. 

My comment was tongue-in-cheek only to the extent that my actual 
cat control tool is a .22 rifle.  It is true that cats just do things
like walking on the car and killing birds.  Dogs bite people and
other critters do other antisocial things.  That is why there are leash
laws.  My luck in getting neighbors to keep their pets up has been
approximately zero.  I like to think of it as saving the pound the 
trouble of catching and euthanazing the beast.

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: bwilliam@oyster.smcm.edu (Bill Williams)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: What to caulk chimney flashing with?
Date: 25 Jan 93 19:09:00 GMT
Organization: St. Mary's College of Maryland
X-UserAgent: Nuntius v1.1.1d17
X-XXMessage-ID: <A789A5B6730201D2@williams.smcm.edu>
X-XXDate: Mon, 25 Jan 93 19:12:06 GMT

We have a few leaks around the metal flashing that joins our old brick
chimney to the roof.  What's the best goop for re-caulking this kind of
thing?  Silicone?  Roofing "tar" from the hardware store?  Some archane
commercial stuff?  Any suggestions would be welcome.
___________________________________
William E. Williams, bwilliam@oyster.smcm.edu
Divison of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, MD 20686
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: allen@tessi.com (Allen Warren)
Subject: Re: Buying a FSO?
Organization: Test Systems Strategies, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 00:25:36 GMT

bglenden@colobus.cv.nrao.edu (Brian Glendenning) writes:


>My wife and I might have found a "For Sale By Owner" house that we
>would like to buy. Are there any particular pitfalls to watch out for
>here?

I sold my house through a realtor approx. 2 months after my neighbor
sold his house FBO.  Bruce (my neighbor) talked to two realtors to
get a fairly accurate appraisal on his house (realtors were good
friends of his and ex-ministry students of his).  He put it on the
market, got a buyer in the first weekend showing, and the bank
approved the buyer for a loan.

We, on the other hand, had some difficulty at first in that the
initial appraisal from the eventual buyer's lender came in below
the agreed-upon price.  Our listing/selling agent spent two days
getting comparables together for the lending institution, ending up
with a reappraisal at full amount.

From my experiences in the last 5 years with selling one house and
purchasing another, the only differences I see are as follows:

	#1:  Getting people in to see an FBO house (this excludes you)
	#2:  Getting a lending institution to appraise it at the
	     agreed-upon price.
	#3:  You as the buyer, making sure you aren't paying too much
	     for a home.  A realtor can usually tell you pretty clearly
	     if the house is overpriced for the area.

As far as the rest goes, a home inspection, roof inspection, etc. will
still be the same for you as the potential buyer, and could actually be
more beneficial going through the homeowner in that the homeowner *might*
have money available that normally would be locked in to paying a
realtor with.

Hope this helps,

allen
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: shf@ais.org (Steve Fox)
Subject: Re: An Owner-Builder's Tale, final chapter of phase 1
Organization: UMCC
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 01:18:14 GMT

Thanks Fred for letting those of us still deep in the darkest depths of
house construction that there can be a light at the end of the tunnel.  Your
stories ( and other things ) encouraged me to get into this, and I must say
it's been a very interesting time.  Glad to hear you made it.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house