HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: allen@tessi.com (Allen Warren)
Subject: Re: How to tell a REAL buyer's agent
Organization: Test Systems Strategies, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 20:03:17 GMT

egreen@east.sun.com (Ed Green - Pixel Cruncher) writes:

>Quite the contrary.  I purchased a great house at what I judged to be a
>substantial bargan from a FSBO.  Had he tacked 6% onto the price, I
>could not have afforded it.  

Geez, must have left my latest and greatest acronym dictionary at home
again.  =)  What does FSBO mean?

>>You seem
>>incredibly hostile concerning realtor's.  

>I'm not hostile, I just think RE is a fundamentally a dishonest
>business, it's full of incompetents, and they are grossly overpaid.


I used to date a realtor, and for the amount of work she did, working
from sunrise to 9:00 or 10:00 or late at night, no weekends off, showing
houses at a moments notice, showing houses to potential buyers for
weeks or months and then they decide maybe they're not ready to buy,
etc., etc., I would have to say that the realtors who really care
(I'd say about half) work very hard for their money.  I know that I
personally wouldn't work in the business since the hours are just too
crazy and long.  I think that the ones who are grossly overpaid are the
realtors who open their own agency.  They treat the salespeople working
for them like dirt, make the salespeople pay for office space, business
cards, etc. and the agency owners just sit back and rake in the dough.

I guess that I'm agreeing with you in that real estate is fundamentally
a dishonest business in some respects, but then, I think plumbers and
electricians, etc. are grossly overpaid as well.  Considering what software
I write, what it does, the fact that I sweated out over 4 years of college,
etc. and then compare all this to being a plumber and I think there's a
GROSS inequity factor here.

allen

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jim@doink.b23b.ingr.com (James B. Reed)
Subject: Re: HELP! Skunk keeps attacking my house
Reply-To: jimreed@b23b.b23b.ingr.com
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 19:42:39 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.162702.23982@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>, patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r) writes:
|> In article <1e65a0INNstl@agate.berkeley.edu> stanton@haas.berkeley.edu (Richard Stanton) writes:
|> >Every few nights, my house stinks of skunk...
|>
|> Now, if it's not nesting under the house, then it lives in the area and
|> is dropping by your place hunting for food. They eat about anything and
|> love eggs. If the garbage smells are what's attracting it, you might try
|> dousing the cans with ammonia. This is just to hide the food smell; I
|> somehow doubt that any sort of odor will actually deter a skunk!

Mothballs should work well too.  If they are living under the house, you
could throw in some mothballs and they will probably vacate the premises.
-- 
James B. Reed                | If at first you don't succeed,
Intergraph Corporation       | Find out why,
jimreed@b23b.b23b.ingr.com   | **THEN** try again.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: bircsak@cmpass.mps.mlo.dec.com (John Bircsak)
Subject: Water saving toilets
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Distribution: misc.consumers.house
Date: 19 Nov 92 14:38:57


Hello all,

We're fixing up our bathroom, and would like to replace the existing
toilet with a low-flush-volume (or whatever the term is) toilet (1.5
gals).

I remember hearing bad things about low flush toilets several years
ago (i.e., requiring several flushes to achieve success).  (I do know
to avoid toilets that rely on the house water pressure, since we have
fairly low pressure.)

So, what I'd like are recommendations/disrecommendations, hints,
tips, hidden catches from actual experienced consumers.

Email (bircsak@mps.mlo.dec.com) or Post as desired.

Thanks in advance!
-johnb
--
+---------------------------------------------------++++++++
|  John A. Bircsak,  Digital Equipment Corp.        ++++++++
|  Massively Parallel Systems Group                 ++++++++
|  146 Main St., MLO1-5/U46, Maynard MA  01754  USA ++++++++
|  bircsak@mps.mlo.dec.com  (508) 493-2572          ++++++++
+---------------------------------------------------++++++++
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: conrad@Quotron.COM (Conrad Frank)
Subject: Banging noises in water pipes
Summary: Banging noises in water pipes when flow stopped.
Organization: Quotron System, Inc.
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 21:44:38 GMT

I know that this has been discused before, but I did not pay as much
attention at the time as I should have. My house is 2-3 years old, and
has always done this. When water flow is stopped, (i.e. facuet turned off,
dishwasher stops filling, toilet stops filling, etc) a loud bang sound comes
from the pipes. Would the "air pocket" stop this? If so, where should it be
installed? The noise comes from both hot and cold pipes. Also, if the air
pocket will fix this, how large should it be?

Any information is greatly appreciated.
From: swisher@cs.utexas.edu (Janet M. Swisher)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Neighborhood from hell
Date: 21 Nov 1992 17:28:10 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: boogie.cs.utexas.edu

In article <1992Nov21.140321.5749@desire.wright.edu>
sbishop@desire.wright.edu writes:

>They did not know when they moved in (the agent didn't tell them until the 
>papers were all signed) that the plat had an owners' organization and that 
>the Owners' Organization could make rules and regulations as to how you used
>your land, any modifications to the house, outbuildings, etc.

Shouldn't this have been revealed by the title search?  I don't know
specifically about owners organizations, but the title search on my
house turned up some restrictive covenants (one racial which I assume
is legally null, and some about building size, use and setback from
streets).  I bought the house knowing these covenants existed.  Either
they weren't informed that the papers they signed agreed to this, in
which case whoever performed the closing may be liable, or the agent
didn't reveal all he knew about the property, in which case he may
liable.  None of this helps your friends out of their ugly situation,
but they may be able to recover damages for their trouble.

>I've learned one thing from all this.  AVOID ANY HOUSE THAT IS PART OF AN
>OWNERS' ORGANIZATION!

At the very least, make sure you are fully informed about such
restrictions before you buy.

--The above comments should not be perceived as legal advice--

-- 
Don't take life so serious ... it ain't *no how* permanent. -- Porkypine. 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: mparker@adobe.com (Mike Parker)
Subject: Re: Plumbing - what sort of connector do I need?
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 18:48:40 GMT

In article <w-y1m8h@rpi.edu> ameres@ithaca.cat.rpi.edu (Eric Ameres) writes:
>First let me say I'm not a plumber, but I do play one on TV... :)
>
Followed by incorrect advice about how to install a 1.25" tailpiece when
the trap has a 1.5" connection.....


Arrrrgh. Why do people always insist on posting to this group things
about which they know nothing.  Eric's suggestion of a rubber connector
that slips over both the tailpiece and the top of the trap leaves
a place that will hold water and other stuff, and either leak or clog
the drain.

The original poster unfortunately didn't describe the top of that trap
well enough, so no single correct answer can be given.  If the top of
the trap is a 1.5" slip connector, meaning the top of the trap is 
threaded, there's a big nut on it and under the nut a beveled washer
then there are a couple of good solutions. (note that there's about a 95%
chance that the trap has a slip connector).  One solution is an adapter
washer intended to replace the 1.5" beveled washer in the top of the
trap with one that still has the same outside diameter but now has
the 1.25" inside diameter.  these are O.K. but the old 1.5" slip nut
doesn't really have enough lip to hold things as tight as possible.  The
other solution requires a few inches between the top of the trap and the
bottom of the sink.  A Tailpiece adapter is a piece of 1.5" diameter chrome
pipe with a 1.25" slip connector on it's top.  It'll go INSIDE the
trap where it belongs and the outside the new 1.25" tailpiece.

mike



Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: mpb@troy.cc.bellcore.com (bunz,marcus p)
Subject: Re: refrigerator in a garage?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 20:33:01 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.132703.26478@cci632.cci.com>, lcw@cci632.cci.com (Lori Wershing) writes:
> 
> We have two refrigerators...one for the kitchen and one for ????.  In the past
> we kept it in the basement, but in the new house it is actually more 
> convenient to have it in the garage.  Is there any reason not to put it
> there?  We live in Rochester, NY so it does get somewhat cold....will this
> damage the motor?
> 
> My father thinks that it should be adequately insulated to protect it from
> cold.....my husband is willing to move it if necessary......what do you folks
> think?
> 
> All comments appreciated........Lori.
> 
> 

You may find that the frozen food compartment doesn't keep things frozen.
This is because the fresh food compartment doesn't need to run the 
compressor to keep it at the right temperature.  My solution has been to
place a night light (7watt) under the thermostate in the fresh food compartment.
It provides enough heat to cause the compressor to cycle enough to keep the
frozen food frozen.  It is also possible for it to get cold enough to
effect the lubrication in the compressor, in which case you may have a problem.
But this can be solved with a 100 watt bulb under the compressor.

Marc
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: colette@bnr.ca (Colette George)
Subject: Re: New House Walk-Through
Organization: Bell-Northern Research 
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 19:13:04 GMT

In article <9200498@MVB.SAIC.COM>, pcohen@cseic.saic.com ( Peter M. Cohen) writes:
|> 
|> 
|> In two days I am going on the "buyers walk-through" on a new townhouse
|> my wife and I just purchased.  What are some of the MAJOR items I
|> should look for as I inspect the house.  Since this is my first home
|> purchase I am very interested in your replies.  I checked out the
|> builder (PULTE HOMES) and while some of the other residents had

Could you post a summary of your responses?  I would be interested
in seeing this info as well. Thanks.

-- 
===================================================================
Colette George 			
Bell-Northern Research Ltd. 	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Internet:  colette@bnr.ca 
===================================================================
From: aem@symbiosis.ahp.com (a.e.mossberg)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Mail Order sources for alarm system parts
Date: 23 Nov 1992 16:41:28 -0500
Organization: Symbiosis Corporation, Miami, Florida  (305) 597-4000
Distribution: na
Reply-To: aem@symbiosis.ahp.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: symbi1.symbiosis.ahp.com


I think someone else posted this request recently, but I didn't see any
replies. 

Any recommendations for sources of alarm system parts, e.g. control
boxes, keypads, motion, heat, smoke, door/window sensors, etc?

aem
-- 
andrew mossberg           systems specialist           symbiosis corporation
(305) 597-4110            fax (305) 597-4002           miami, florida 33166-6202
aem@symbiosis.ahp.com     uunet!symbi1!aem             SPAN: UMIGW::AEM
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,sci.physics
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: How to cut back my heat bill?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 16:17:14 GMT

In article <92325.085334F0O@psuvm.psu.edu> <F0O@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>
>   I live in a trailer which has is only a year old and has double
>insulation in it.  I have a Miller propane heat furnace and my stove
>is also gas.  Last year, I ended up paying over $600 in gas!  This
>seems like *alot* of money to me.  I had someone come over to take a
>look, and there are no leaks.

This seems like a lot of money to me too! I have a fair size house heated
by natural gas. I've only finished insulating about 1/4 of it, and my
gas bill totals about that each year.

One thing you may want to try, if you haven't done so. If the trailer
is more-or-less permanently sited, install skirting around the bottom
and insulate the floor.

>   My question is, will turning my thermostat back to 60 and keeping
>it there save me more money then if I would keep it at 72? 

Of course it will.

> I would think
>it would, but the person from the gas company said it wouldn't.

The person is either stupid or dishonest. Your reasoning is correct.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | The Swordfish relies on her "peggy"
George Patterson -  | The modified Taurus ain't sound
                    | So the Swordfish flies off on her missions
                    | And the Albacore stays on the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com (adams,john)
Subject: Re: Info on renting/buying
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 13:38:12 GMT

In article <1550@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM> lsnow@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM (Linda Snow) writes:
>>don't worry too much about
>>the rent money just going into someone else's pocket, for the first
>>couple of years of owning a house you are only putting a few dollars
>>a month towards equity anyway. 
>
>True. But the interest payments are tax-deductible. Rent isn't.

Also, the opportunity for your down payment (equity) to appreciate (tax
sheltered) doesn't exist with renting.  Well, maybe someday residential real
estate will appreciate :^{!

-- 
Jack (John) Adams			| Bellcore NVC 2Z-220
(908) 758-5372 {Voice}			| (908) 758-4389 {Facsimile}
jadams@vixen.bellcore.com		| kahuna@attmail.com
	I used to get lost in the shuffle, now I shuffle along with the lost!
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: barakam@infonode.ingr.com (Sreedhar Barakam)
Subject: 15 Year Mortgage Vs. 30 Year Mortgage -- Which is better?
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 22:25:21 GMT

I am a first time home-buyer and looking at selecting eigther 15 or 
30 year mortgage. In our area currently, 30 year mortgages are around
8.5%,  15 yr mortgages are around 7.8%.  State bond mortgages 
loan 30 yr for 6.9%.

What are pros and cons here, considering  a move may be necessary say
around 5-6 years after buying the house.  At the first look 15 year
looks better, as whatever money I would be saving on lower payments(30yr)
may not yield more than 6.9% with any conservative type of investment.

There are other factors like savings on tax, as 30year mortgages do have
higher interest payments; and the difficulty in selling a house
with 15 year mortgage etc.,  Experienced people's responses regarding
this would be appreciated.


Sreedhar Barakam.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: ac@vlsi.ll.mit.edu (Andrew V. Curtis)
Subject: Motion Detector Lighting Outside
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington MA
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 21:11:14 GMT

	Is it true that motion detector lighting decreases its
ability to sense movement the colder the temperature is?


Email or post responses


Thanks in advance,
AVC


Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: pngai@adobe.com (Phil Ngai)
Subject: Re: How to cut back my heat bill?
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: na
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 02:00:21 GMT

In article <1992Nov20.175535.1694@osf.org> drand@spinner.osf.org (Douglas S. Rand) writes:
>Although Stavros debunked this elsewhere in this thread,  I'll 
>do it here.  The laws of thermodynamics says that the heat loss
>is directly proportional to the temperature delta.  It is never
>more expensive to let the house cool down and reheat.  It is not

Unfortunately, there is a tiny bit of truth in what is otherwise
a myth. If you have a heat pump AND it gets into a mode where it
decides the heat pump can't handle the delta T asked for, it may
turn on electric resistance coils to make the heat.

It is still true that heat loss is directly proportional to delta T
but the type of heat used also affects the cost.

-- 
My opinions are my own.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jon@destin.dazixco.ingr.com (Jon Stone)
Subject: Re: How to cut back my heat bill?
Reply-To: jon@dazixco.ingr.com
Organization: Dazix - An Intergraph Company
	<1992Nov20.171452.2840@cbfsb.cb.att.com>
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 23:11:42 GMT

>>>>> On Fri, 20 Nov 1992 17:14:52 GMT, disaacs@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (david.e.isaacs) said:

  >|>    My question is, will turning my thermostat back to 60 and keeping
  >|> it there save me more money then if I would keep it at 72?  I would think
  >|> it would, but the person from the gas company said it wouldn't.  This
  >|> doesn't make sense to me for the following reason:
  >
  >
  >A good compromise is to buy a programmable setback thermostat, such as a
  >Hunter, and program the night temperature for 5-10 degrees lower, having it
  >come back up just before you rise, go back down after you leave for work, and
  >come back up before you get home.  You can get them for $40-60 depending on
  >features, and they will save you that the first heating season.
  > 

 David> I have heard that it's better to just set your thermostat to
 David> 68 (or whatever temp you like) and leave it.  Someone told me
 David> that using daily setbacks is like changing speeds in a car and
 David> is energy inefficient.  I have a programable thermostat but
 David> only set it back when we are going away for over a day.
 David> Anyone out there know the "emis" on this is ?

This is true for heat pumps.  They are better left on one temperature
setting.  For a furnace or gas heat, then varying the setting will
only save you money.  I think the reason heat pumps don't save is that
(at least for my last house), the air they put out is barely warmer
than the inside temperature and thus, they take a lonnnng time to get
the temp up.  That's one reason heat pumps often come with electric
strip heaters when the setting is significantly higher than the
current indoor temp.

That's my theory.

Jon




--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Stone                                                 jon@ingr.com
Intergraph Corporation, Boulder, CO                     (303) 581-2319
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: GA.MCL@forsythe.stanford.edu (Mark C. Lawrence)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: R-values
Date: 16 Nov 1992 17:23:43 -0800
Organization: Stanford University
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: morrow.stanford.edu

In article <1992Nov13.203409.5933@adobe.com>,
pngai@adobe.com (Phil Ngai) writes:
>In article <1992Nov13.164122.18882@src.honeywell.com> hfunk@src.honeywell.com (Harry Funk) writes:
>>Well, at the risk of calling into question my reliability :^), I'll take a
>>stab at why someone who's *really* pedantic (me, for example :^)) might
>>maintain that you get less total R-value *and* less R-value per inch when
>>you compress fiberglass.  First, let me say that the loss is negligible for
>>most applications.  That said, I'd base my conclusion on the following data
>
>You are talking about a type of compression that is way outside the
>question asked. You can talk about solid glass if you want, but that's
>not really relevant to the subject of home insulation.

Most (all?) insulation materials have much higher thermal conductivity than
air.  They work by preventing convection.  That's why foam-type insulation
works so well.

In the case of glass fibers, one can presume that at very low density they
will be ineffective in preventing convection currents, but their conductivity
would be negligible.  As the density increases, loss from convection will
decrease, and the loss from conduction will increase.  Presumably there is an
optimum that gives best insulation (maximum R-value) in a given wall
thickness.  I would even go so far as to assume that the insulation you buy is
in fact at this optimum density when installed in a wall of the specified
thickness.

My reasoning:  If a lower density would achieve a better R-value, that would
be how they'd sell it, as it would be cheaper to make and thus more profitable
for the manufacturer.  If a higher density would achieve a better R-value, you
would be able to buy insulation with higher R-values for a given thickness,
e.g., 3-1/2 inch R-19 or some such.

>not really relevant to the subject of home insulation. Why don't you
>talk about performance at temperatures around 10 to 100 degrees K,
>where the "air" might be solid or liquid? Or go even further with
>compression to neutron star densities? Going the other way, why bother
>with fiberglass, just leave the walls empty, since your K factor
>for air seems to indicate an R-value per inch of nearly 6?

Or better yet, leave your computer tuned to USENET and let the flames
warm your house.  With Flaming Phil online, you don't need a fireplace...

Mark C. Lawrence
Systems Programmer     Internet: M.Lawrence@Forsythe.Stanford.edu
Stanford Data Center     Bitnet: M.Lawrence@STANFORD
Stanford, CA 94305-4136     Tel: (415) 723-4976
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Softtub hot tubs??
From: dresler@cabell.vcu.edu (Dan Resler)
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 14:59:25 GMT
Organization: Virginia Commonwealth University


I am considering buying a Softub brand hot tub and am wondering if
anyone out there has had any experience with them. I'm especially
interested in any reports on their durability. Also - does anyone
know of a trade or consumer magazine that has evaluated or mentioned
them? Thanks.

(Softubs are semi-rigid (you can sit on the sides), wide-open (i.e. no 
seats, like the wooden ones) tubs that are very portable and inexpensive 
to purchase and maintain.)

-- 
Dan Resler                             
Dept. of Mathematical Sciences        email: dresler@cabell.vcu.edu
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia, USA 23284-2014
From: fosth@yynot.Eng.Sun.COM (Stephen Fosth)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Do I lay floor tile before or after installing kitchen cabinets?
Date: 19 Nov 1992 21:04:26 GMT
Organization: sun
Distribution: world
Reply-To: fosth@yynot.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: yynot

A couple of reasons to put the cabinets in first.

1) There is probably a good chance you could damage the floor when installing the
   cabinets.  I know that when we installed our cabinets we sure didn't want to 
   be thinking about protecting the floor.  We have a small cut in our floor
   from where a something was dropped while installing a light fixture.  :(

2) If there is any irregularity in the floor (and there will be) you will want to 
   put shims under the cabinets to make the level.  Having flooring under the front
   edge will probably increase the need to do this.

3) With the cabinets in first you can cove the floor up the base of the cabinets a 
   few inches which makes cleaning the floor much easier IMHO.

--Steve





Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house