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

I've pulled all the carpet out of my house (I'm allergic to house-dust
mites), and refinished one bedroom, and plan to do the living room and
other bedroom Real Soon.  To get an idea if it's going to be worthwhile,
try lifitng the carpet in a lesser-used room, or better yet, one where
you can get away with a mistake.  :-)

Tack strips aren't much of a problem; the holes fill pretty well.  I had
more trouble from some gaps that opened between the boards; nothing bad,
but my filling technique didn't do a good job at closing them.  Have to 
alter the technique for the next rooms.

I posted a long article on doing this.  It's in the house-archive/FAQ
list.

Pete Brooks

From: tristan@hp-ptp.ptp.hp.com (Tristan Colson)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 22:40:52 GMT
Subject: Cracks in Wall -- Who to Call?
Organization: HP Pacific Technology Park - Sunnyvale, Ca.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house



Since last winter (with a fair amount of rain) we have noticed many many
wallboard cracks appearing all over our house, no doubt due to excessive
soil movement. It seems clear that this has happened before, since we can
see where all the cracks were previously taped and painted over by the
previous occupants. These cracks are mostly appearing near areas of stress
such as near door and window frames.

Clearly we can also repair the wallboard in the same manner, but our concern
is that this might be only a symptom of a more severe problem, that is, a 
structural problem of some kind.

My question for the net is:
    What kind of a person should we ask to determine this? We need someone
    who can look at our house, and tell us whether we have or will have
    any serious structural problems, or just a lot of cracked wallboard.

    Who do I look up in the Yellow Pages for someone to call?

    Many thanks in advance for the help!

    Tristan

   _____________________________  ____________________________________
 
   Lisa Tristan Colson            e-mail  : tristan@hp-ptp.ptp.hp.com
   Hewlett-Packard                HPDESK  : Tristan Colson / HP2200/UM
   Integrated Systems             US Mail : 1266 Kifer Road MS 102F
     Division                               Sunnyvale, CA 94086            
   Phone : (Telnet/408) 746-5322            
   _____________________________  ____________________________________
From: andrew@frip.WV.TEK.COM (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Attic Insulation
Date: 1 Sep 92 22:17:01 GMT
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon

[]

	"The attic has a walk-up entrance and I would like to put in
	some "flooring" and use that attic for storage.  My problem is
	that I would also like to add some fiberglass insulation to
	increase the R-value of the attic.  Currently the loose
	isulation is a the tops of the joists in the attic, so if I lay
	the fiberglass over it, I will not be able to put down the
	flooring.  Should I remove the loose insulation and replace it
	with fiberglass or try something else?"

In my garage attic, I insulated the rafters with batts (sp?).  This
left me free to put a plywood floor down for storage, and gave me a
storage space with moderated temperature swings.

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
                       (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: drand@spinner.osf.org (Douglas Rand)
Subject: Re: Romex & Thinwall Question
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 15:12:44 GMT

In article <1992Sep3.014749.3912@adobe.com>, vonzelow@adobe.com (Jon von Zelowitz) writes:
|> 
|> I am wiring a new outlet in my laundry room. The wire will come up from the
|> crawlspace, through a hole I will drill in the sole plate (that's the 2x4 at
|> the base of the wall), to the outlet. Since the walls are unfinished (no
|> sheetrock, studs showing), I know that Code says I need to protect the wire
|> in the laundry room with (for example) thinwall conduit.

If this is a normal basement space,  I don't believe you need the extra 
protection.  Certainly most basement areas I've been in don't have such
protection in a laundry area.

|> The wiring in the crawlspace is all Romex. As far as I understand, you don't
|> run Romex through TWC, you run wires. So, my question is, can I strip off
|> the outer sheathing from the Romex from the point where it enters the TWC? I
|> can't find any mention of this in several wiring books. Thanks (Chris ;-) ).

If you find you need to do this,  then you can just run the Romex (NMC) down the
conduit with an appropriate strain relief at the open end to prevent chaffing 
the cable.

-- 
Douglas S. Rand <drand@osf.org>		OSF/Motif Dev.
Snail:         11 Cambridge Center,  Cambridge,  MA  02142
Disclaimer:    I don't know if OSF agrees with me... let's vote on it.
Amateur Radio: KC1KJ
From: andrew@frip.WV.TEK.COM (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Beware when prewiring for telephone
Date: 2 Sep 92 20:12:31 GMT
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon

[]

	"Don't use POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) wire to run a LAN
	in the future.  There are five levels of cabling defined ..."

But NONE of these twisted-pair wires are suitable for Ethernet 10BASE-T
in a residence, because you get EMI from hell.  It could knock out your
neighbor's 1960s-era TV, and the law says that *you* have to shut down
your emissions if the neighbor doesn't want to install a choke filter.

AppleTalk (230kbps) over twisted pair is fine, but if you want 10Mbps,
run coax.  I ran a 500 foot loop of RG-58 through my new house for
10BASE-2.

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
                       (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: kls4344@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (Person in flux)
Subject: For DSR@philabs.Philips.com
Reply-To: kls4344@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 13:34:09 GMT

Sorry to waste bandwidth, but mail to Debby at DSR@philabs is bouncing.  My
parents used Glidden Best Quality exterior House paint, 100 percent acrylic,
for their aluminum siding.  Great results.  Do yours!

Katie
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: drmax@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Marianna Max)
Subject: Re: suggested weapons (was: Killing burglars.)
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 16:59:04 GMT

In article <Btwonv.GHw.2@cs.cmu.edu> goddard+@cs.cmu.edu (Nigel Goddard) writes:
>In the same vein, can someone tell me the best type and arrangement of
>crystals to get to protect my house from burglars?  There is a huge
>choice out there.  We have two kids, so I don't want anything that
>concentrates energy in the 1-3ft height range.  Preferably the
>spectrum should dissipate at no more than 12 ft. from source to avoid
>zapping passers-by on the sidewalk.  I've been considering agates
>but have heard these have an unbalanced frequency distribution.  Can
>someone comment on this?

Won't work, the burglers are all hip to the crystal homeguard protection
devices. They just wear their multipurpose crystal frequency deflector suits.

>
>Another difficult problem is spatial placement of the crystals.  Of
>course it depends on just which minerals and cuts are used, but the
>general outline is what I want to know about.  I've read that the
>hexagonal tri-phased vector layout is the most powerful, but my
>question is, does it work in a two storey house?
>
>Nigel Goddard
>-- 
>Nigel Goddard
>goddard@b.gp.cs.cmu.edu


Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: tom@oracorp.com (Tom)
Subject: Re: Killing burglars.
Organization: ORA Corporation
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 17:21:18 GMT

: I am very interested in this because I would like to find some means of
: defending my home without having to purchase a hand gun.  My wife hates
: them and I must admit I am a bit aprehensive about keeping a gun in the
: house.  Would mace or tear gas or "pest" repelent be a (somewhat) reasonable
: alternative?


If you really want to defend your home, get yourself an older 12 gauge
pump shotgun with about an 18 inch cylinder bore barrel.  Fill the
magazine with skeet loads (1-1/8 oz. of # 9 shot).  If an intruder
comes into your house, all you gotta do is shuck the action of that
old pump gun, and that intruder will be out of there faster than you
can blink.  A pump action shotgun will stop MOST incidents BEFORE they
start.  (I say "older" model, because some of the slick new models
don't make that intimidating clackety, clackety thunk when pumped.)

If the sound of a 12 gauge action being cycled doesn't convince the
intruder to leave, you've got one hell of a defensive weapon in your
hands.  You don't use rock salt, you don't use magnum goose loads,
you don't use deer slugs, you don't use buck shot.  You DO use skeet
loads.  Number nine shot is adequate to kill a perp within the confines
of a house, but the shot size is not so large as to overpenetrate
potentially injuring other family members or even people in other
houses.

The advantages of a shotgun are many:  you don't have to be a great
shot, it makes a hell of a bang, it is extremely intimidating and
best of all, you don't need a permit to own one (in most localities,
I don't know about the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts).  As with
any potentially dangerous tool, get some training and know how to use
it, and practice with it.  Who knows, maybe you might even enjoy
target shooting.

Now can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take this discussion out or
m.c.h?

-- Tom
From: pestes@wdi.COM (Laurin Pestes x82570)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Spray Foam Follies
Date: 26 Aug 92 17:46:18 GMT
Organization: Western Digital - Imaging, Mtn. View, CA

I tried some of the aerosol expanding foam insulation 
around a prehung door I installed recently. It filled 
up the gaps too well, oozing out of the gap, although
it was easily trimmed off later. The real greif came 
later when I tried to close the door again. The door 
wouldn't close, but ran into the jamb instead.
 
As it set, the foam expanded and forced the door jambs 
out about 3/8 inch, even though they were fastened with 
several large (#10, 3 inch long) screws on both sides. 
 
Luckily, a heavy hammer and several more screws pulled 
it back into usable alignment, and the only damage was 
covered over with another coat of paint. 
 
The moral of the story: Save the spray foam for places
where it's well isolated from anything with close
tolerances, unnecessary to clean up, and remember it
keeps on expanding for an hour or two until it sets up. 
 
Laurin (wondering how to insulate the next door) 
From: jefftb@hpmwtd.sr.hp.com (Jeff Brown)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 23:34:32 GMT
Subject: Re: Insulation Under Extension
Organization: HP Santa Rosa Site (NMD MTA MWTD)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

Insulation not required by code in Maryland!!!! 
Here in "balmy" Calif it is. I don't know if the home warranty would cover 
it.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie)
Subject: Re: Insulated Drywall?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 17:20:29 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.152542.3139@alw.nih.gov> sullivan@alw.nih.gov (Jim Sullivan) writes:

>I was wondering whether there exists an insulating material
>similar to drywall (i.e nice finish and paintable) which I 
>can use and thus save the precious inch of space in the closet. 
>It would basically be a 1/2" drywall like product with a high
>insulation value (i.e. R-4).  I presume such a thing would be
>expensive and thus not in found your neighborhood hardware store 
>but since I only need a small amount, it might be worth it.

There are several which are intended to be used as house sheathing under
your siding. One which is popular in the South is Gold Bond brand insulation
board. It looks like beaver-board that's been soaked in tar. I'm not sure
it would do well in this application.

There is, however, one sold here by Channel and Home Depot that is a foam
panel sandwiched between two layers of foil. I can't remember the price;
it's either around $9 a sheet or $19 a sheet. It's about 1/2" thick and
has the necessary vapor barrier built it. I haven't personally used it,
but it looks like exactly what you need.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |
George Patterson -  | If you always tell the truth, you never
                    | have to remember what you said.
                    |                        Samuel Clemens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

In a previous remodel, I found that 12ga wire was usually on sale, and
could be found a few bucks/roll *cheaper* than 14ga.  (Same quality in
both cases, complete with UL approval.)  About the only time I wired
with 14 ga was when I had to do a lighting circuit requiring special
wire (14-3 with ground, etc.)  OTOH, your builder may have bought a few
miles worth of the 14 ga stuff and wouldn't want to mess with it.  It's
also easier to deal with 14 ga wire, though it's pretty marginal.

Pete Brooks
From: dianeho@hp-ptp.ptp.hp.com (Diane Ho)
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 17:04:14 GMT
Subject: Re: HELP! NEED LANDSCAPER RECOMMENDATION!
Organization: HP Pacific Technology Park - Sunnyvale, Ca.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

  I forgot to mention that we live in Campbell, California.  So if
you recommend somebody, he/she has to be able to come to our house
in Campbell :)!

Diane
From: mcnamara@vixvax.mgi.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Basement water woes
Date: 25 Aug 92 12:52:56 CDT
Organization: Management Graphics, Inc.

	I have recently found the source of that dreaded mildew smell 
in my basement.  Apparently some water is getting behind the gutter, 
soaking the stucco on that corner of the house (! in Fig. 1), and from 
there seeping into the basement.  This part of the solution is fairly clear:  
either ensure that no water can get behind the gutter, or stand it away 
from the house by a few inches.
	Correction of the problems created by the water appears more
difficult.  The block wall that faces the driveway can be sealed,
but what can I do about the damaged mortar board (* in Fig. 2) and 
damaged footer (% in Fig. 2) on the wall that faces the back yard?
It does appear that the footer, in rotting away from the source
of the water, has effectively disconnected itself from the source of
further damage.  However, it has left the farthest stud with only
partial support.  In addition, I can't see how to replace the mortar 
board because of the dirt on the other side of the wall.  
	BTW, this stuff was all hidden behind paneling and insulation.
The house is ~35 years old.
	

			@@@@@@@@ Upstairs @@@@@@@@@@@
					  [Studs] [ #				
\					  [	] [ #
 \					  [	] [ #
  \	Driveway		|-------| [	] [ #
   \				|	| [	] [ #
    \				|Window	| [	] [ #
     \				|	| [	] [ # Block
      \				|-------| [	] [ #  wall
 Dirt  \		-------		  [	]*[ #
________!		 Dirt ^	  Mortar  [    *]*[ #
       ^|    D			  board	  [   **]*[ #
        |    r		=2x4 footer================%#
        |B   i		############################# 
        |l   v			 Block footer
        |o   e
        |c   .
        |k

Figure 1			Figure 2
 top view			 inside view (^ in Fig. 1)

****************************************************************************
Curt McNamara	(mcnamara@mgi.com)	|"Mistakes are part of the dues
Mgmt. Graphics, Inc.			|one pays for a full life."
1401 E. 79th St.			|	Sophia Loren
Mpls., MN    55425			|
****************************************************************************
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 20:38:53 EDT
From: <U4400@wvnvm.wvnet.edu>
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Question of Kitchen appliances, Are there small dishwashers, etc
Distribution: usa

In article <1992Aug28.025518.14092@news.Hawaii.Edu>, bill@gaza.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu
(William J. King) says:
>
>        Does any company make smaller dishwashers, and
>        clothes washers for under the counter installation?
>        (Are there front loading clothes washers?)
.
There are definately front-loader clothes washers available, but
unfortunately I don't know where to look.  I know that a house I looked
at in NJ had a new front loader installed in it, though, and this was
within the last 2 years.  Call around.
|
/--------------------------/------------------------:
|      Eric T. Meyer      /    u4400@wvnvm.bitnet   |
|                        /  u4400@wvnvm.wvnet.edu   |
|-----------------------/---------------------------|
|  Our life is more than our work, and              |
|  our work is more than our job.   - Charlie King  |
:---------------------------------------------------/
|
From: andrew@frip.WV.TEK.COM (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Wiring for a garbage disposal
Date: 4 Sep 92 00:14:35 GMT
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon

>    Is anyone familiar with the code for wiring a garbage disposal under
>    the sink?
>    Specifically, is it acceptable to install a switched outlet under the
>    sink, attach a short appliance cord and plug the unit in?

Yes.  My disposal is wired in this way, and it passed the electrical
and plumbing inspections under the Oregon 1991 building code.

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
                       (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,news.answers
From: house-archive@jester.rtp.dg.com (Topher Eliot)
Subject: misc.consumers.house FAQ (frequently asked questions)
Supersedes: <posting_713937603@dg-rtp.dg.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 04:00:11 GMT
Expires: 27 Sep 1992 04:00:04 GMT
Reply-To: house-archive@dg-rtp.dg.com
Organization: Data General Corporation. RTP, NC.
Followup-To: poster

Archive-name: house-faq
Last-Modified: Wed Apr 22 10:30:32 EDT 1992

Welcome to misc.consumers.house.  Many of the questions that come up here,
quite possibly including yours, have been covered before.
A collection of discussions on various topics is available from the 
misc.consumers.house archive server.  To learn about the archive server, send
an empty piece of mail to:
	house-archive@dg-rtp.dg.com
(You should be able to just reply to this posting.)

If for some reason you have problems, send mail the address that you get by
substituting 'admin' for 'archive' in the above address.  (Why do I state
this in such an odd way, rather than just writing out the address?  I'm
tired of people carelessly sending mail to the wrong place!)
If you have to send mail to 'admin', be sure to include every conceivable
piece of information that I might need to reply to you, up to and including
a phone number where you will accept collect calls.  If the daemon can't
figure out how to get mail back to you, I probably won't be able to, either.

Topher Eliot             Data General DG/UX Systems Administration Development
(919) 248-6371      eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com       {backbone}!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!eliot
Obviously, I speak for myself, not for DG.
misc.consumers.house archivist.  Send mail to house-archive@dg-rtp.dg.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: sca@dopey.eng.ohio-state.edu (Stan Ahalt)
Subject: Advice sought on Central A/C and furnace
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept of Electrical Engineering
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 03:21:20 GMT

I have just purchased a "new" house and, after a routine inspection of
the A/C and furnace, a leak was discovered in the A/C.  The cost of
repair will be about $550, which will be covered by the Homegard
policy the seller purchased on the house.  However, the cost can also
be applied to the purchase of a new A/C and/or a new furnace.  The
existing physical plant is about 18 years old and will probably not
last much longer anyway.  I have recieved a quote of about $4,000 for
replacement of the A/C and furnace (Trane equipment, A/C CER 10,
furnace 78% efficient).  I am curious as to whether this seems to be 
reasonable deal....

(For the curious, Columbus, and Ohio, now adhere to rather stringent
clean-air requirements which make the repair of a leak, even if it is
small one, rather expensive because of the extensive measures taken to
keep the freon from leaking into the air.  Also, we are now required
to replace old equipment with reasonably high efficiency equipment.)

-- 
Stanley C. Ahalt   			sca@dopey.eng.ohio-state.edu
Department of Electrical Engineering                 620 Dreese Labs
Ohio State University			            2015 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210   614-292-0068(O) 614-292-7596(F) 614-847-6064(H)
From: jeske@src.dec.com (Steve Jeske)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Hardening the Target (was Re: Killing burglars.)
Date: 1 Sep 92 00:58:02 GMT
Followup-To: rec.guns
Distribution: na
Organization: DEC Systems Research Center

In article <1992Aug31.210721.11267@michael.apple.com>
ems@michael.apple.com (E. Michael Smith) writes:
[two pages about guns, and so on, including:]
>Some folks here have asked for information about the use of firearms
>in home defense.  Some bogus information was posted.  I feel it is
>my duty to do what I can to show the bogus info is, in fact, bogus,
>and could get someone killed.  It is also my duty to try to convince
>people to learn something about combat before they lightly advocate
>it as a way to solve a home intruder problem...
>The Karate-do would let me do no less...
>
>If you think this is humorless, perhaps it is because the topic is
>a very serious one and not something to joke lightly about.

Perhaps, but the topic belongs in rec.guns, not here, so please
continue the discussion there.  Thanks.
From: mguyott@eriador.prime.com (M. Guyott)
Subject: It looks like carpenter ants...
Organization: Prime Computer R&D
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 16:06:04 GMT


First off, thanks to everyone who helped me to figure out what carpenter
ants look like.  I believe that what I have are carpenter ants but I
have one last test when I get home tonite.  The exterminating company I
just called said that carpenter ants will have pinchers and hair under
their middle section.  I guess the hair under the middle section is the
real give away as this is unique to carpenter ants (or so the exterminator
said).

At this point I am pretty confident that they are carpenter ants.  My next
question is how to treat for them?

Should I spring for the bucks to have an exterminator treat for them?  I
have an insecticide sprayer and some Ortho Diazanon Plus so I could spray
the exterior myself.  What else will the exterminator do?  Will they drill
holes in the wall and squirt liquid or powder into the holes?  Which, liquid
or powder?  How do they determine where to drill the holes?  Is this something
that I can do myself?

Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated!

Marc
----
Two of the worst things we teach our children are that a knowledge of science
is nice but not necessary, and a knowledge of sex is necessary but not nice.

Marc Guyott              Constellation Software, Inc.          (508) 620-2800
                         Framingham, Mass. 01701 USA                Ext. 3135
mguyott@primerd.prime.com       ...!{uunet, decwrl}!primerd.prime.com!mguyott
mguyott@eriador.prime.com       ...!{uunet, decwrl}!eriador.prime.com!mguyott
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house