HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bobk@sequent.com (Bob Krull)
Subject: Re: vinyl floor question
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 17:01:11 GMT

In article <1992Dec21.170746.3277@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r) writes:
>In article <4470@cvbnetPrime.COM> bsweeney@argon.prime.com (Brian Sweeney) writes:
>>Is it possible to put a vinyl floor over an already existing
>>vinyl floor?   In other words, do you have to rip up the old 
>>stuff and put down an underlayment and then the new stuff?
>
>If the old vinyl is smooth, you can glue the new stuff right on top. You
>should be able to do this with a "pebble grain" surface also. If the old
>stuff is textured with grooves to form patterns, it will have to come up.
>The new flooring will gradually settle into the grooves.
>

It's common to "float out" the old floor with a liquid latex filler.  This
will fill the old texture.

-Bob
bobk@sequent.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Distribution: world
From: GioF@ultramac.uucp (Gio Favignano)
Organization: Odyssey Ultraware, Inc
Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1993 09:37:19 CDT
Subject: Re: Drywall Repair Questions

In article <1992Dec29.143654.12316@nynexst.com> smierch@fun.com writes:
>2) In a couple places where drywall sheets butt together, the horizontal
>   joint is visible as a raised line on the wall.

Jon von Zelowitz   vonzelow@mv.us.adobe.com
>I believe this is an example of why some people say not to hang the
>sheets horizontally. Since you can only fasten those horizontal edges
>every 16", and there is nothing holding the panels down except at
>those points, there is more chance of bumpy joints.

   Jon von Zelowitz   vonzelow@mv.us.adobe.com   ...uunet!adobe!vonzelow

Hanging the sheet horizonally lets the recessed edge run horizontally. and the
Butt Joint run vertically which can be screwed or nailed every few inches on a
stud (which is Better) rather than every 16 or 24 inches (which ever the stud
layout is).
The problem here is a bad taping job.
There's no simple way of fixing the problem other than scraping out the old
joint compound and retaping. Which is a very time consuming process. It would
problably be faster and easier to rehang that wall. There is nothing wrong
with hanging drywall over existing drywall. Just use longer screws. and break
your sheets on different studs than the existing drywall. 
GioF
GioF@oui.com  St. Louis Mo.
From: thompson@forsyth.wsnc.org
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Home Automation -- NOT X10
Date: 30 Dec 92 11:04:29 EST
Organization: Forsyth County, Winston-Salem  NC

In article <1992Dec29.220442.5536@phx.mcd.mot.com>, fredch@phx.mcd.mot.com (Fred Christiansen) writes:
> In article <1992Dec23.141107.11146@microware.com> adam@microware.com (Adam Goldberg) writes:
>>Does anyone know of any company which sells home automation stuff
>>which is not X10?? Anyone?
> 
> Builder magazine contains many ads for something called SmartHouse.
> Try 800-333-2411.
> -- 
> Fred Christiansen, Motorola, 2900 S Diablo Way, Tempe, AZ 85282  "Canajun, eh?"
> fredch@phx.mcd.mot.com  ||  uunet!phx.mcd.mot.com!fredch  ||  +1 602-438-3464
>   ".. I have set before you Life and Death, blessing and cursing;  therefore
>       choose Life, that both you and your children may live"  Deut 30:19
-- 
The trouble with SmartHouse is that it is extremely expensive, almost 
impossible to retrofit into an existing house and suffers from a paucity
of devices.  Making a new home "SmartReady", i.e. installing the wiring to
support SmartHouse but not adding the devices themselves, costs in the
vicinity of $10,000.  The nature of the cabling and terminations makes it
nearly impossible to retrofit without major surgery.

There are a couple of competing technologies out there, both of which share
the problem with SmartHouse that they are not fully implemented.  CEBus is
the Consumer Electronics Bus.  Whereas SmartHouse is pushed by the home
building industry (you have to buy a new home to have SmartHouse), CEBus is
pushed by the consumer electronics industry (you have to buy all new home
appliances).  A company called Echelon (sp?) has designed a chipset that 
promises great functionality at a relatively small price, but it's not a
consumer product as yet.  There are a variety of companies selling semi-
custom solutions, many or most of which employ some X10 control. I have a
brochure laying on my desk now from Honeywell describing their TotalHome
system (security, home control, intercom, etc.).  They are also using some
X10 services.  They can be reached at 800-345-6770x2039.

As far as I can determine, you have only two practical choices at this point.
You can use X10 with all its problems and have a working solution relatively
inexpensively, or you can buy a custom hardwired solution.  I haven't been
impressed by what I've seen of SmartHouse, and the others are simply ideas
that haven't been fully implemented.

____________________________________________________________________________
Robert Bruce Thompson                thompson@ledger.forsyth.wsnc.org
Forsyth County MIS Department        (919) 727-2597 x3012
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA    (919) 727-2020 (FAX)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: JB <jbl@mesaadm.cre.nt.com>
Subject: Re: ANTS! Helllllllllllllllp!!!
X-Xxdate: Tue, 22 Dec 92 10:34:21 GMT
Organization: NT/BNR
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d9
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 15:29:20 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.223100.6184@netcom.com> Teri Miller,
shannah@netcom.com writes:
>In misc.rural, I read that Cream of Wheat, poured on the anthill,
>would kill them.  I dunno.  I tried it, and while it didn't seem
>to completely eliminate the hill, it did reduce the amount of ants
>coming out of there for some time.  Since it's non-toxic, and
>cheap, you might consider giving it a try.  Pour it on dry, right 
>out of the box, and see what happens.

To remove ants outside, mix sugar and laundry detergent half and half and
pour on and around hills.  Use only dry detergent (of course) and try to
use one that won't overpower the smell of the sugar.  Dead ants.
***************************************************************
************ Laissez le bontemps rouler ****  JB  *************
* no e-mail address, but if you feel inclined: 919/992-2489 * 
***************************************************************
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: smb@research.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Subject: boxing in a whole-house fan
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 02:35:41 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

I strongly suspect that during the winter, we're losing a lot of warm air 
through the louvres of the whole-house fan.  Even if I sealed the top of
the fan with plastic, there still wouldn't be any insulation.

My idea is to construct a plywood box around the fan, with permanent sides
about 12-15" high.  In the winter, I'd add a lid on top of this, with
appropriate insulation and weather stripping.

So -- first, will this actually do any good?  Second, will the plywood box
impair the efficiency of the fan during the summer?  The peak of the roof
is ~6.5' above the fan at the high point, alone one edge of the fan;
naturally, it slopes down from there.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: heflin@rtsg.mot.com (Suzanne Stratton Heflin)
Subject: Re: Seeking advice to get rid of fleas
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 16:13:37 GMT

cc100aa@xray.gatech.edu (Ray Spalding) writes:

>Does anyone know of an effective way to get rid of fleas living in
>furniture and carpet?

>I've tried an "Enforcer" spray, and fumigating the whole house with
>a "Raid" product.  These cut them down for a few days, but then
>they're back.

>I have no pets (now), other than an aquarium.  Interestingly, I
>had no major problem with fleas until my cat died recently.  Perhaps
>the fleas are attacking me now because the cat's gone!

That's exactly right.  YOU didn't have the problem with fleas, but your
cat sure did.  When the host animal is gone, the fleas will bite humans.
I had fleas, and bought "bombs" from my veterinarian.  They told me that
they guarantee theirs, but retail outlet products generally don't work
(as evidenced by you!)  Well, the ones I bought did work, and the fleas
left (died.)  It was expensive for the tiny house we had (about $50) but
worth it.  By the way, it consisted of two parts:  aerosol can "bombs"
that you use, then a very potent spray that you use in places that the
bombs won't get, e.g. under beds and couches, under couch cushions.  This
part is necessary because the bombs only work on contact, so if the spray
doesn't "land" on some portion of your home, the manually held spray is
necessary.  The bombs are very toxic, so everyone including pets, must be
out of the house for 2-3 hours.  I am not sure what to think about fish.
When the bombs are set off, all windows must be closed and the heat off
(well, any fan) for maximum effectiveness.  When returning home, the windows
must be opened, and preferably the fan turned on for at least 15 minutes or
so.  Good luck!
From: lgoodman@BBN.COM (Laurie Goodman)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Humidifier filter
Date: 21 Dec 1992 19:18:55 GMT
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Distribution: na
Reply-To: lgoodman@BBN.COM (Laurie Goodman)
NNTP-Posting-Host: bbn.com


I recently bought a small (1.5gal) Duracraft cool mist humidifier. It consists
of a tub to hold water and a removable top with a fan and grill work. It is
reasonably quiet, and does what it is intended to do. It also includes a 
filter (NATURALMOISTURE Pad) that is enclosed in a plastic frame and sits
partially in the water on one side of the tub.The filter is about 2.5 inches
thick and is made of paper or cellulose in a honeycomb pattern. The 
instructions recommend changing the filter after it gets totally discolored.
You can change the position of the filter so that all parts of it are immersed
in water at one time or another. After only two weeks the end of the filter 
exposed to air has turned a rust brown, and at this rate, if I follow the 
manufacturer's recommendations, the filter will need to be changed in a month 
or so. A new filter ordered from the manufacturer costs $11.99 plus 
$3.00 handling!! Two new filters will about equal the cost of the humidifier 
bought at discount.

Here are my questions: First, is a filter really necessary? I am guessing that
the reason the filter is turning brown is that there is iron in the water and 
the moist part of the filter exposed to air is rusting. But is it really
preventing the dispersal of harmful minerals that may be in the droplets of 
water evaporating into the room?

Second, assuming the filter is necessary, does anyone know where this 
particular filter is available at a more reasonable price? The discount house
where I bought the humidifier does not stock them.

Thanks in advance,
Laurie Goodman <lgoodman@bbn.com>
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond)
Subject: Re: Epoxy paint on concrete floors
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 10:47:16 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.

schultz@halley.est.3m.com (John C. Schultz) writes:

>I have used a two-part epoxy paint from Sherwin Williams with excellent
>results.  You need to ask for it because it is not normally displayed.  It is
>called an "Industrial Maintenance Coating, Tile-Clad II Enamel". I have
>painted part of the garage floor and my shop floor with this epoxy.  I
>apparently spread it quite a bit thinner than recommended because I got about
>50% or so more coverage than the can recommended (185 sq ft/gallon - 9 mils
>thick wet).  It seems OK however because it is still there after two MN
>winters.  Probably even my garage floor does not take the beating an
>industrial environment would mete out.

I'll second the recommendation for this product.  I had my garage floor
coated with this stuff two years ago.  It is in constant use, sees
all kinds of interesting chemcials, ranging from brake fluid to 
nitromethane and yet has shown NO wear.  One thing John did not mention 
is the fact that sweeping this surface is MANY times easier than
any other painted or tiled surface I've ever had in a shop.  The broom
literally floats across the floor.

>You have to prepare concrete by etching with muriatic acid (dilute
>hyrdochloric acid).  Muriatic acid is sold in hardware stores by the gallon.

Here's an alternative for where it fits.  I'm not crazy about having
hydrochloric acid fumes in my basement around sensitive equipment so
I passed.  What I DID have done is have a sand blasting contractor
"sweep" the concrete with his blaster. This work was being done in
the context of a fire restoration and he was on site anyway with his
huge truck-mounted blaster removing charred wood.  "Sweeping" consists
of blasting the floor holding the nozzle at chest level and moving it
rapidly.  The whole process took only about 10 minutes for 2000 sq ft and 
left the surface slightly rough but with no concrete finish glaze.

I had my floor applied as slick as possible so rollers, brooms and so on
would move easier.  Traction is normally not a problem.  Did I mention
how slick epoxy/tennis shoe/brake fluid is? :-)  If the surface gets
wet and/or many other people walk on the surface, roughness is 
not a bad idea.

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: Timothy.P.Stammers@dartmouth.edu (Timothy P. Stammers)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Wood stove/Humidity level ?????
Date: 30 Dec 92 17:23:42 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0a5@newshost.dartmouth.edu


I'm hoping that someone out there can help me.  We have a wood stove
and  are planning to get a humidifier to compensate for the moisture
loss in the air.  What is the propper humidity level when a woodstove
is being being used?  Please e-mail me directly with the answer if you
have one.  Thank you very much in advance.  - Tim

************************************************
* Tim Stammers    (Tim.Stammers@Dartmouth.edu) *
* Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center           *                     
* Lebanon, N.H., U.S.A., Earth                 *                       
               
************************************************
From: skk@gsg.pa.dec.com (Stuart Kreitman)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Insulation cutting tool?
Date: 28 Dec 1992 21:25:26 GMT
Organization: DEC Western Software Laboratory
Distribution: world
Reply-To: skk@gsg.pa.dec.com (Stuart Kreitman)
NNTP-Posting-Host: gsg.pa.dec.com


What's a good,cheap tool for cutting insulation? I was going
to use a hedge shear, but it doesn't seem right. Is it best 
to sharpen up a retired kitchen knife or similar?

thanks
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jfw@jfwhome.FUNHOUSE.COM (John F. Woods)
Subject: Re: How to go low?
Organization: Misanthropes-R-Us
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 03:32:33 GMT

In <1992Dec28.192605.1179@tessi.com> allen@tessi.com (Allen Warren) writes:
>Yes, your asking price
>could indeed be way out of line, but if someone is REALLY interested in 
>your house, there's nothing stopping them from making a low offer, is there?

It could be that the people whose budget is right for the "right" value of
the house are not seeing it because they believe it is way too expensive,
and the people whose budgets will cover the asking price are looking for
significantly more home than is there; hence, relatively few "REALLY"
interested buyers may be seeing the house.

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: cthorne@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Charles E Thorne)
Subject: Re: Corporate-owned housing
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 18:28:09 GMT

In article <BzqBII.MHE@boi.hp.com> bobpassl@boi.hp.com (Bob Passell) writes:
>I was touring a major american city (thinking about a job
>transfer) with a real estate agent who took me through 
>a number of vacant homes that were currently held by
>corporations who relocated the former owners. She said
>she preferred this because it didn't require a lot of
>appointments (and I did give her short notice). It made
>me wonder, though...

>When someone is transferred and the relocation company
>takes over the house, who owns it? The relocation company
>is the obvious answer, but I was wondering if the former
>owner's employer still had some interest in it. Never having
>been transferred in this manner, I was wondering if housing
>like this might be easier to acquire at bargain prices. 
>Or would the fact that the owner was a corporate entity
>with a capital budget and no emotional reason for selling
>the house pretty much mean that it would be priced (and sold)
>at pretty much the prevailing market rate no matter how long 
>it took?

You're probably correct up to a point.  With a fairly large capital behind
them, a corporation isn't usually under pressure to sell.  At some point,
they might be.  The biggest obstacle is probably just the level of people
who would have to decide to cut the price.  At some point the accounting 
dept. would probably urge them to get rid of some property, and then they'd
dump maybe half of it and then sit for another six months before doing anything
else.  To get a good comparison, look at how long it takes the Federal Gov't
to get rid of repossessed FHA and VA houses--sometimes a year or more.

Charlie
From: carl@Cayman.COM (Carl Heinzl)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: "balancing" a power panel
Date: 31 Dec 92 18:55:34 GMT
	<CARL.92Dec31122943@atlantis.Cayman.COM>
	<1hvdriINN93t@rave.larc.nasa.gov>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Cayman Systems Inc., Cambridge, MA
In-reply-to: kludge@grissom.larc.nasa.gov's message of 31 Dec 92 18:23:46 GMT


>>Most of these "Main Breakers" have both side tied together (with a
>>little bar going across both breakers) so if one "half" trips, they
>>both trip.  I've never seen "half" of a house going out.

>You've never used Federal circuit breakers, have you?
>--scott

Nope.  It also may have to do with local electrical codes as to
exactly how the mains must be configured...

-Carl-
--
From: brennan@hal.com (Dave Brennan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Source for audio/video/network wiring stuff
Date: 2 Jan 93 03:52:50 GMT
Organization: HaL Computer Systems, Austin, TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: hysteria.hal.com

I'm having a house built and will be doing the wiring for cable, phones,
audio, and twisted-pair.  Can anyone suggest or recommend a source for the
wiring (coax, audio wire, and type 3 or type 5 multi-pair), outlets (coax
and configurable phone, serial, thin ethernet), push-down blocks, patch
panels, and anything else that would be useful?  Since I'll have phone,
serial, and twisted-pair, I was wondering if there's anyway to get away with
using a single patch panel instead of three.

Overall I'm interested in minimizing mu costs without sacrificing too much
in the short term and not locking myself out in the long term.  I've never
done anything to this scale before (just wired phones and audio) so
suggestions in general to the task at hand would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

--
Dave Brennan                                      HaL Computer Systems
brennan@hal.com                                         (512) 794-2855
From: jfinn@ll.mit.edu (Joe Finnivan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Radon Problems
Date: 22 Dec 92 12:26:26 GMT
Reply-To: jfinn@ll.mit.edu (Joe Finnivan)
Distribution: usa
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington MA
Originator: jfinn@ll.mit.edu (Joe Finnivan)



I just tested for radon in my house and I flunked.  The EPA `action
level' is 4 picoCuries of radon per liter of air (4 pCi/L).  My
basement was 18, and the first floor was 8.  We are retesting to 
make sure, but in the meantime I am researching ways of fixing the
problem.  One place I called puts in a passive venting system by
cutting a hole in the basement floor, putting a PVC pipe in it,
sealing the edges, and running the pipe outside through the sill.
Any cracks are sealed in the basement floor and walls, and the radon
supposedly vents itself out the pipe.  If this does not work 
they then run the pipe up to the attic where they put a fan that
runs continuously, sucking the air from under the foundation and
out the vent.  Price for the passive venting is around $900.00,
no price yet for the active system.

I am sure that I can do a lot of this work myself.  Some questions
for netters:

 - what kind of a seal do I put around the PVC pipe in the
   basement floor.

 - WHat should the diameter of the be.

 - Is one pipe enough, or should I put in several
   (the company uses one, then checks to see if it's
    enough)

 - What should I use to seal cracks in the concrete
   foundation.


Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

jfinn@ll.mit.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: fariss@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Gary B. Fariss)
Subject: Re: Mechanical Setback Thermostats
Organization: NASA/ARC Information Sciences Division
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 17:34:58 GMT

kludge@grissom.larc.nasa.gov (Scott Dorsey) writes:

>I've been looking for a mechanical setback thermostat for the last few
>days, and not having any luck.  So far I have found a Robertshaw model
>which has to be special-ordered, and doesn't look terribly impressive,
>either.

>I have seen the older Honeywell Chronotherm models, but my local Honeywell
>dealer has never heard of them... he wants to sell me a Chronotherm III
>digital model.

>I don't want any digital equipment; because of the high RF level around
>the place at times I tend to destroy microelectronics that aren't well
>protected.  I just want a nice, simple mechanically timed thermostat.
>Is that too much to ask for.


Install two standard thermostats.  Switch between them with a 110v relay.
Run the relay with a mechanical wall-wart timer.


============================================================================
73, Gary B. Fariss        fariss@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov           W6KYF @N0ARY
                          Recom Technologies, Inc. @ NASA Ames  415/604-3181
                          Mountain View, California 94035       MS: 269-4
From: spikes@hpscit.sc.hp.com (Bill Spikes)
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 15:11:30 GMT
Subject: Re: I was dive bombed by a bat!
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Clara, CA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

Unless I missed it, what is a group of bats? Flock, pod, herd, gaggle,
bunch....what?

Oh yeah, for any bat-huggers, Le' Bat
                                   |
                                   |    
                                   | 
                                   |
                                   V

                           -.                       .-
                       _..-'(                       )`-.._
                    ./'. '||\\.       (\_/)       .//||` .`\.
                 ./'.|'.'||||\\|..    )o o(    ..|//||||`.`|.`\.
              ./'..|'.|| |||||\`````` '`"'` ''''''/||||| ||.`|..`\.       
            ./'.||'.|||| ||||||||||||.     .|||||||||||| ||||.`||.`\.     
           /'|||'.|||||| ||||||||||||{     }|||||||||||| ||||||.`|||`\    
          '.|||'.||||||| ||||||||||||{     }|||||||||||| |||||||.`|||.`  
         '.||| ||||||||| |/'   ``\||``     ''||/''   `\| ||||||||| |||.`
         |/' \./'     `\./         \!|\   /|!/         \./'     `\./ `\|  
         V    V         V          }' `\ /' `{          V         V    V
         `    `         `               V               '         '    '

I suppose this is needed.... :-)


Bill
Amateur Homeowner
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house