HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ken@wybbs.mi.org (Ken Jongsma)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Icemaker problem
Date: 14 Dec 92 01:15:17 GMT
Reply-To: jongsma@benzie.si.com
Distribution: na
Organization: Smiths Industries

rgreen@brtph633.bnr.ca (Rodney Green P125) writes:

>I have a refrigerator equipped with icemaker that has recently had
>a couple of strange problems.

>First some history:
>   Before we moved about 6 months ago, the icemaker worked perfectly,
>   making nice full ice cubes and dumping nearly all of them in the
>   ice bin.  The icemaker was connected to cold water supply using
>   copper plumbing.

>Now, the ice cubes are usually small, often hollow, and the icemaker
>shoots them all around the freezer instead of into the bin.  The
>plumbing is now plastic tubing instead of copper, but the inside
>diameter of the tubing is the same as the copper before.  Another
>difference in our current house is that we now have community water
>with much less pressure than the city water we had at our last house.

>Any ideas?  Should I replace the plastic tubing with copper?

We had a similar problem with the icemaker in our 6 year old machine.
Does your icemaker have a white plastic tray? Even if it doesn't,
the problem may still be the same. Over time, mineral deposits build up
in the tray and the "teflon" coating wears off. The cubes stick to
the tray or go flying off in all directions when they finially let go.

Test this by removing the tray, drying it and spraying it with PAM or
some no stick vegetable spray. Put the tray back in and try it out.
If it works better for a day, then just replace the tray.

Our tray cost under $10.

Note that it took me 6 months to figure what was going on here...

-- 
Ken Jongsma                                     jongsma@benzie.si.com
Smiths Industries                                    ken@wybbs.mi.org 
Grand Rapids, Michigan                      73115.1041@compuserve.com
From: johne@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_GATEWAY_FILE (John Eaton)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Bulging Basement Wall
Date: 16 Dec 92 18:59:28 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard VCD
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Jonathan E. Quist (jeq@i88.isc.com) wrote:
: 
: I'd also suggest that, if money for repairs is tight, contact your
: mortgage holder and insurance agent, and explain the situation.
: They both have a vested interest in the house - the mortgage company
: because, if the wall collapses, they could get stuck with a condemned
: house - the insurance agent because, if the wall collapses, he's got
: a much larger claim to pay then he would to repair the damage.
:
--------------------------------
Most insurance policies cover sudden unexpected events so you can expect 
the agent to deny any claims and perhaps cancel the policy.

The mortgage holder is likely to point out the clause in small print giving
them the right to come in and fix the problem at your expense and place 
a lien on the house to cover it. Expect them to chose a contractor charging
2 to 3 times the going rate.

He now knows how he is going to spend the $150 that he saved by not hiring
a house inspector.

John Eaton
!hp-vcd!johne



 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: edwards@world.std.com (Jonathan Edwards)
Subject: Re: Building a new house
Organization: IntraNet, Inc.
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 16:23:54 GMT

In article <BRENNAN.92Dec14003406@hysteria.hal.com> brennan@hal.com (Dave Brennan) writes:
>I'm just getting started in having a new house built and want to do
>everything I can to make sure that the job gets done right.  It's not
>a custom job, but a canned plan, so I'll be dealing with the builder
>and not the contractors (right?).
>

ABANDON ALL HOPE!

You are going to be completely dependent on the character and integrity of
the builder. Once you sign the contract, you are locked in to him, and he is
free to build the house any damn way he pleases, as long as it meets building
codes. You can build a REALLY CRAPPY house that meets building codes.
You can also build a house that doesn't meet building codes, as many residents
of S. FLorida have found. It turns out my builder is also building a house for
the town building inspector...
He will also be free to charge you arbitrary amounts to make any changes or
upgrades.

Based on my experience of just building a custom home, I can tell you that
90% of the people in the building industry don't give a damn for quality. They
just want to crank out the work and move on to the next job with minimum
effort and 0 thought. There aren't many repeat customers in the building
business, so you get roughly the same attention to customer satisfaction as
in an airport cafeteria.

Maybe you have lucked on to a gem of a builder. But how will you know?
My advice is to carefully consider whether you are willing to accept a
mediocre-quality assembly-line house. Because unless the builder is charging
you a premium over going rates, that is what you will get. Now a mediocre
house by today's standards can still be pretty good, especially compared to
tract houses built in the 50's and 60's. But there are literally hundreds
of decisions about construction materials and techniques, and for each of them
there is the RIGHT way, and the STANDARD way. Guess which one you will get? 

If you can live with these compromises, then go ahead. One suggestion is to
hire a professional building inspector to check out the model house and give
you recommendations for upgrades. You will at least have some
leverage on upgrades you specify before signing the contract.


-- 
Jonathan Edwards				edwards@intranet.com
IntraNet, Inc					617-527-7020
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: nathan@laplace.biology.yale.edu (Nathan F. Janette)
Subject: Re: Air valves for steam radiators
Reply-To: nathan@laplace.biology.yale.edu
Organization: Yale University, Department of Computer Science, New Haven, CT
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 21:27:31 GMT

In article <1gsv1lINNj6n@hp-col.col.hp.com> msmith@col.hp.com (Mike Smith)  
writes:
> 
> While on the subject of steam heat, let me throw in my two cents worth.
> 
> A recent problem (details follow) with my boiler prompts me to say clearly,
> 
> **  Regulary purge/test/flush your low water cutoff!! Do it with the burner
>     running so you both flush the cutoff and verify that it works.
> 
> What happens if you don't you ask???
> 
> When I bought my old house (2 years ago) I was told "once a month, open the
> valve on the low water cutoff and drain till water runs clear". No problem,
> sez I, that is pretty straightforward. I did what I had been told, but I
> did it with a cold system. Besides, the knob on the low water cutoff was
> small, close to the water outlet, and really hard to open much less close
> all the way (so it didn't continue dripping).

Ditto everything he said.  Three months into owning our first house
the honeymoon is over, thanks to the same stupid installation of a
hard/impossible to operate knob on the low water cutoff drain knob. 
The previous owners obviously never drained it:  when the gas company
tech put a wrench on it to pull the pipe so that the knob would be clear,
the totally corroded parts gave way, dumping the contents of the
boiler onto the carpet we had just installed on the basement floor. 

What fun. 

--
Nathan Janette		"I'm a NeXTstep man,
Dept MB&B, Yale Univ	 I'm a NeXTcube guy"
New Haven, CT
nathan@laplace.biology.yale.edu (NeXT)
From: cab@col.hp.com (Chris Best)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Maybe you can get FREE gas logs!
Date: 15 Dec 1992 18:17:49 GMT
Organization: your service
NNTP-Posting-Host: hpctdke.col.hp.com

> 	We just built a house in Plane, TX and have found out (round about, 
> 6 months after we moved in, that our gas company (Lone Star Gas) and builder
> (Goodman Homes) have a deal where the buyer can get free gas logs from the 
> gas company for the fireplace. Installation is also free! After asking 
> around, I've found other buyers who have also received the deal with other 
> builders.
> 
> 	So, FYI, check into it if you're interested.

----------

But realize it's just a ploy to get you to use more gas.  Our
rural electric co-op has discounts for buying certain electrical 
appliances, even if it's not from them.  Same scam.

As was said, if you'd use something like this anyway, it's
probably a good deal.  I have a real fireplace (which I seldom
use) and a woodstove (which cooks me out of the room), so I
can't comment on gas logs otherwise.  I always pictured them as
purely decorational, since I can't imagine they put out much
heat.

I've always wondered about that - opinions from owners?
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: Philip Barr <pbarr@convex.UUCP>
Subject: Re: Maybe you can get FREE gas logs!
Originator: pbarr@mikey.convex.com
Reply-To: pbarr@convex.UUCP (Philip Barr)
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 17:12:59 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

>
>But realize it's just a ploy to get you to use more gas.  Our
>rural electric co-op has discounts for buying certain electrical 
>appliances, even if it's not from them.  Same scam.
>
>As was said, if you'd use something like this anyway, it's
>probably a good deal.  I have a real fireplace (which I seldom
>use) and a woodstove (which cooks me out of the room), so I
>can't comment on gas logs otherwise.  I always pictured them as
>purely decorational, since I can't imagine they put out much
>heat.
>
>I've always wondered about that - opinions from owners?

I always used wood in my fireplace,  but at $120 a cord I deceided to
put in a gas log in my new house.  I get more heat than at my old house
but it might be construction  changes.  It is a lot more convientant than
wood.  I can just turn it on/off when it suits me.  I dont have to haul
wood or wait for the fire to burn out before closing the flu.

Does anyone know how much gas a gas log uses?  I regularlly used more than
a cord of wood a season.  Am I spending more on gas?

-- 
Phil Barr 				I Know That You Believe You
Systems Specialist - CONVEX TAC		Understand What You Think I Said,
pbarr@convex.com			But I'm Not Sure You Realize That
(214)/497-4421				What you Heard Is Not What I Meant.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: colette@bnr.ca (Colette George)
Subject: Re: How to tell a REAL buyer's agent
Organization: Bell-Northern Research 
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 19:20:27 GMT

In article <Bz2DpM.IFA@magpie.nycenet.edu>, manes@magpie.nycenet.edu (Steve Manes) writes:
|> Ed Green - Pixel Cruncher (egreen@east.sun.com) wrote:
|> : I have heard *many* buyers, both on the net and in real life, tell
|> : stories about how wonderful their RE agent was, "how hard he worked for
|> : us, how he negotiated for us with the seller and got the price down,
|> : etc."  It is clear that these people have no idea that their agent, far
|> : from "working for them," was ethically, morally, and legally obligated
|> : to the seller.
|> 
|> Technically true, but my real estate agent had never met nor talked
|> to the seller until closing, just the agent who listed the house
|> originally.  Even after we closed on the property, Catherine's been
|> very helpful.  For instance, I wanted to get the septic system
|> cleaned before the snows arrived today and called her this morning
|> to find out what septic company the previous owners used.  It turned
|> out that they didn't own the property long enough to ever have had the
|> septic system cleaned so Catherine got on the phone and called every
|> septic service for thirty miles around to find the guys who had
|> last cleaned it in order to save me a septic inspection fee (~$50).
|> At noon today, she called to say that she had found the company and
|> arranged to meet them at the house this afternoon (I'm working in
|> the city this week).  She's already got her commission and had
|> nothing to gain at this point. 
|> 

I have to agree on this one.  A *good* agent will do a lot of extra work
for you, and some who REALLY love their jobs are truly interested in their
clients and will work to make sure you get a home you love.  Our agent was
great - we really had a good relationship with him.  He never tried to push
a house on us - in fact, because he had a background in construction, he made
it a habit to check out the basements, foundations, attics, etc with us and 
offer his opinions on whether there were any problems with the house (not 
that we relied exclusively on his opinion, but we trusted him because he would 
point out flaws with a house rather than only showing us the good things).

As a side bonus, it turns out that the lawyer we chose knew and respected our 
agent quite well (coincidence only) because our agent regularly attends his 
real estate law classes and seminars.  All around, our agent made home buying 
an almost painless experience, and I'd highly recommend him to anyone in the 
Ottawa area. Email if you want his name and number.

-- 
===================================================================
Colette George 			
Bell-Northern Research Ltd. 	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Internet:  colette@bnr.ca 
===================================================================
From: tvervaek@col.hp.com (Tom Vervaeke)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Closing on a newly built home - need checklist
Date: 13 Dec 1992 05:05:45 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: itchub21.cs.itc.hp.com

Definitely hire a reputable, professional, home inspector. Make sure you
get a well written report. Allow you builder to be present when the
inspection is done if you feel comfortable with that.

Good Luck.




( ___ )------------------------------------------------------------( ___ )
 | / | Tom Vervaeke           Email: tom_vervaeke@0800.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 !!!         |___|
(_____)------------------------------------------------------------(_____)
   ^                                                                  ^

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jeromes@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (jerome.scriptunas)
Subject: House for Sale, Morris county
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: nj
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 14:43:31 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Keywords: Colonial, $342K, Morris Cty, 4BR

For Sale:  Colonial House in Morris County, NJ

4 Bedrooms, 2-1/2 Baths, Study, Full Basement
Family neighborhood
Price:  $342,000
Call:  201-822-1130
-- 
Jerome Scriptunas 908*949*4971
att!hoqax!jeromes OR attmail!scriptunas
Organization: CUNY/UCC VM Systems
Date: Friday, 18 Dec 1992 09:02:57 EST
From: Robert Chambers <RMCCU@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Electronic Thermostats??
 <o4yDVB2w161w@cdthq.UUCP>

Id just like to add one thing about these guys...

I replaced a 24hour timer one with a Honeywell model and the only thing
that really bugs the shit out of me about it is there is no way to set
the Anticipator/fudge-factor like the little variable resistor on
normal thermostats.

The model I have has a couple of switches in the back to set which type
of system you have, air, water, or electric.  The degrees above setting
for the system to stop and the degrees below setting for the system
are sort of hardcoded in to the value these switches are set.. I can't
tell it to "Go off when ambient temp has reached 2 degrees over the setting"
"Go on when temp is 2 degrees below setting".  With the old model the value
you set with the anticipator gave you some control over this.

I called Honeywell's 800 number about it and they said, sorry, thats the
way it is.  It saves energy that way, going on more often but staying on
less time..  Fine, it saves energy, but it annoys the hell out of me,
especially when it goes from "away" temperature to "home" temperature..
It goes on and off several times with only a minute or so between cycles
until the house temperature overall is stabilized.

Try to find one where you can set this value... I don't know if anybody
sells them that do.. but if I knew then what I know now I would have
looked a little harder for this feature.

Robert
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: clewis@bcarh1d7.bnr.ca (Chris Lewis)
Subject: Re: Problem with electric water heater
Organization: Bell Northern Research
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 15:36:50 GMT

In article <1992Dec12.000344.3095@sequent.com> bobk@sequent.com (Bob Krull) writes:
|In article <1992Dec11.221334.10441@delfin.com> mr@delfin.com (Mark Rosenberg) writes:
|>My wife claims that our electric water heater does not produce as much
|>hot water as before.

|>Is it possible to have a water heater produce only a partial tankfull of
|>hot water?

|Electric hot water heaters have *two* heating elements, one near the top of
|the tank, one near the bottom.  You might check that one of these is not
|burned out.  This would dramatically reduce the recovery capacity.

It's not recovery that's the issue here.  Water stratification inside a HWT
can be pretty spectacular (they're designed that way), from full hot at the
top, to almost full cold at the bottom under certain circumstances.

If you get a partial tank of full hot water, the lower element is probably shot.
If you get not quite full hot from the beginning, the upper element is
probably shot.  This also results in the water going *real* cold when the HWT
runs out of heat, instead of just a lot colder.

While you're replacing the lower element, try vacuuming out the inside of the
bottom of the tank...
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: neilson@pmin28.osf.org (Peter Neilson)
Subject: Re: Problem with electric water heater
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 14:22:42 GMT

In article <6739@npri6.npri.com> jhagen@npri6.npri.com (Jarom Hagen) writes:
>mr@delfin.com (Mark Rosenberg) writes:
>
>
>>Is it possible to have a water heater produce only a partial tankfull of
>>hot water?
>
>Quite possible you have a partially heated tankfull.  When we first moved 
>into our new house, we had a problem like this.  It turned out that 
>one heating element was broken and the other was cracked.  We were 
>lucky to get any hot water at all!

Several other people have provided answers as well, but I have not
seen either of two additional possibilities mentioned:

1. The thermal circuit breaker for one element has tripped.  This is a
   little red button, hiding somewhere beneath the fibreglass under a
   cover plate.  There should be a cover plate, and a button for each
   element.

2. The electric company has you on a peak-leveling timer that
   automatically cuts out one of the heating elements at certain times
   of the day, and the timer is busted or set wrong, or you only take
   showers when your peak is levelled.
-- 
      "Pragmatism would be fine, except that it doesn't work."
             >>>  Peter Neilson  --- neilson@osf.org  <<<
Quote changed daily.  If you've seen this one before, burn your calendar.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: ANTS! Helllllllllllllllp!!!
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 02:28:19 GMT

In article <1gqob6INN1fr@uwm.edu> pkosidow@csd4.csd.uwm.edu writes:
>From article <1992Dec17.183708.7849@cbnewsm.cb.att.com>, by mks@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (manishkumar.sharma):
>> We have recently noticed ants in several rooms of our house. THese are the
>> black variety about 1/8" in length. We sprayed an ant&roach killer which
>> keeps them out for a couple of days, but they return, especially at night,
>> so that we see several of them crawling around in the morning. Our
>> kitchen is usually spotless, so there is no food remnants for them and so
>> is our carpet.
>> 
>You might have carpenter ants, in which case I wouldn't fool around with them
>call an exterminator and have them evaluate the situation....

Carpenter ants tend to be about twice this size, but certainly call an
exterminator. I'm currently using Terminix.

>Carpenter ants
>feed on food, but their presence means that there is wet rotting wood
>somewhere in the structure.

Not necessarily. They'll build nests in plywood, going in through a void,
and they'll nest in hollow core doors and sometimes (but rarely) in the
space between studs of a wall. At least, that's what the Terminix info
book says. I have a nest in a cherry tree in the front yard, and it's
all in live wood. The trunk has whatchmacallem bumps two feet across
where the tree is irritated by the nest.

>They are very difficult to get rid of if they 
>have nested in the structure of the house (in an exterior wall). We had
>carpenters when we moved into our house, and we made the mistake of cancelling
>the pest control contract, they were back within months.

If there are nests nearby, they'll recolonize as soon as the treatment wears
off. You can get rid of them permanently *only* if you find and exterminate
the nests. It is frequently easier and cheaper to pay for repeated treatment.

>They are nocturnal, and
>they usually are most visible when the weather is getting cool (fall or 
>spring up north, I'm not sure about where you are).  Call around to get 
>different pest control estimates, though. The first one we had didn't treat
>it correctly, and the second one did a great job. We haven't seen on in months.
>But a full treatment, can be expensive. An initial treatment of $300 or more
>(to spray INSIDE all your exterior walls) and at least $25 per month for a year
>after...to keep them from coming back. Good Luck!

Fortunately, they found no evidence of anything but scouts in my house,
so all I'm paying is the monthly fee. The worst part about that is arranging
to be home when the exterminator comes.

For what it's worth, I'm satisfied with Terminix.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | Have a place for everything and keep the thing
George Patterson -  | somewhere else. This is not advice, merely custom.
                    |                        Samuel Clemens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Subject: Re: Moisture barrier on top of faced insulation or NOT
Originator: clewis@bcarh1d7
Organization: who?
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 15:15:44 GMT

In article <Bz9osB.M2z@unx.sas.com> sasa3d@morisot.unx.sas.com (Ali Dogrusoz) writes:

|The subject mostly says it. I am planning on putting wall board in my
|"Bonus room" over the garage. The room is insulated with faced batts.
|Should I put another layer of 4-6 mil plastic over the backing or there
|is no point?

Faced batts still leak - when you consider the lengths that are gone to
make plastic a perfect seal, putting plastic would probably be a good idea,
but perhaps not an enormously great idea.  Some books suggest slashing the
facing first.

|What about the ceiling I've heard that one should not put
|a plasic vapor barrier on the ceilings (the rational was that moisture
|would be trapped between the wall board and the barrier and the little
|infitration between the stud and the insulation backing would allow the
|moisture to escape.) what do you think?

Ignoring, for the moment, the present faced batts, this is, um, bogus.  It's
*required* by building code for new construction in areas that need vapor barriers.

If you don't have a vapor barrier on the ceiling, you almost certainly will
get ceiling damage as moist air passes thru and condenses inside the insulation -
especially in bathrooms.  The faced batts are preventing it now.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house