HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: exuptr@exu.ericsson.se (Patrick Taylor)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.kids,rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: How do you remove urine smells from carpet?
Date: 25 Sep 92 19:38:01 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Inc.
X-Disclaimer: This article was posted by a user at Ericsson in North America.
              The opinions expressed are strictly those of the user and
              not necessarily those of Ericsson.

In article <1992Sep22.192148.14809@electro.electro.com> carlo@electro.electro.com (Carlo Sgro) writes:
>From: carlo@electro.electro.com (Carlo Sgro)
>Subject: How do you remove urine smells from carpet?
>Date: 22 Sep 92 19:21:48 GMT

><Please note Followup-To misc.consumers.house>

>Can anyone recommend a good, proven way to remove the smell of baby and cat
>urine and spilled milk from carpet?  The smells have built up over the past few 
>weeks or months and are most intense when the humidity is high and windows are 
>closed.  We hesitate to replace the carpet at this point since the baby is 
>still being toilet-trained.  Does anyone have any recommendations?

>-- 
>Carlo Sgro  is  carlo@electro.com            "... and I think that it is 
>and also watcgl.waterloo.edu!electro!carlo    extremely unlikely that she was
>System Administrator, Electrohome Ltd.        kidnapped by Alien Elvis 
>Kitchener, ON, (519)744-7111 x 7209           Impersonators ..."  

I'd just steam clean it until you can replace it.  You're not going to ever
get rid of the cat urine smell, IMHO.
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "This must be Thursday.  I never could get the hang of Thursdays"
                                                       - Douglas Adams
  - Patrick Taylor                                       (Arthur Dent)
    Ericsson Network Systems
    exuptr@exu.ericsson.se                       "Don't let the .se fool you"
    or exuptr@ZGNews.Lonestar.Org, exu.exuptr@memo.ericsson.se
From: masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Styrofoam? Paper? Or Wood?
Date: 3 Oct 92 05:50:44 GMT
Organization: Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center


   My wife and I are thinking of buying a house. We are first time
buyers, and I'm afraid this question might be a very naive one.

  There are several developments in our area by various developers/builders.
When we looked at buildings under construction, some builders were using a
styrofoam board under the siding, some builders were using a cardboard-kind-of
thing coated with thin aluminum foil (?), and others were using a wooden 
chipboard.
  I'm wondering what kind of difference these materials could make.  
  Any enlightenment would be appreciated.

Michiaki Masuda
Laboratory of Molecular Oncology
National Cancer Institute 
Frederick, MD 21702-1201
U.S.A.
E-mail address: Masuda@ncifcrf.gov
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Thermostat info and recommendations
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 19:09:58 CDT
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

konstan@saturn.cs.umn.edu (Joe Konstan) writes:

> Hi folks!  We just moved to Minnesota from California and have to start 
> considering heating as a significant expense.  Here's the situtation:
> 
> 	We're living in (and will stay two winters in) a small 2BR townhouse
> 	(attached on both sides).  It is under 1200 sq feet.  We have gas
> 	heat and it has a completely manual thermostat installed.
> 
> 	The question:
> 		Will we save enough over two Minneapolis winters to pay
> 		for a more programmable thermostat (we probably could 
> 		take it with us, but let's assume we don't)?

Estimate your heating bill for the two years. If 5% of that is more
than $40, get a programmable. You'll probably save lots more than
5%, so it will probably pay for itself in less than a year. Save
the old one, and put it back before you leave.

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
From: epresley@brazilian.leper.colony
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Central air ducts
Keywords: hideout, not-dead, UFO, lepers
Date: 6 Oct 92 20:18:55 GMT
Reply-To: epresley@brazilian.leper.colony
Distribution: usa
Organization: WallyWorld USA


Does anyone one know if I could use small central air ducts 
instead of the existing large ones (12" diameter) in my house
without installing a new central air system?

I have large (12" diameter) central air ducts for the central AC in
my house.  I saw on This Old House that they used really small 
unobtrusive central air outlets in the house-next-to-the-church 
episode.  My current ducts are 12" tubular and take up lot's of space 
in the 2nd floor eve's that I would like to expand into someday.

Did they use a special central air system to push the air 
through these small ducts?
From: konstan@saturn.cs.umn.edu (Joe Konstan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Thermostat info and recommendations
Date: 29 Sep 92 20:55:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: news2.1992Sep29.205529.24558
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Minnesota

Hi folks!  We just moved to Minnesota from California and have to start 
considering heating as a significant expense.  Here's the situtation:

	We're living in (and will stay two winters in) a small 2BR townhouse
	(attached on both sides).  It is under 1200 sq feet.  We have gas
	heat and it has a completely manual thermostat installed.

	The question:
		Will we save enough over two Minneapolis winters to pay
		for a more programmable thermostat (we probably could 
		take it with us, but let's assume we don't)?

		What are the best thermostat's to buy for the money?

	Additional info that might help:

		Only two of us--both likely to be away from home from 9am 
		until 5pm.  We'll likely be at home awake from 5-11 and
		asleep from roughly 11-7 or 8.

		I'm assuming that if we don't get something programmable,
		we'll have three common settings for the heat in the house--
		high when we're home and awake, medium at night (enough to 
		make it reasonable to wake up), low during the day (figuring
		that we can handle a little cold when we come home).  

		I'm also assuming that with a programmable thermostat we'd
		instead go to low in the middle of the night (and warm up
		before waking in the morning) and perhaps set the temperature
		a bit lower during the day as well.  

		I'd be perfectly happy with a reliable model with timer
		wheels and high-low inserts, but am also interested in 
		hearing the benefits of fancier ones.

	Finally, 
		Anything I should know about installing it?  It seems as
		though they all install almost identically, but is there 
		anything to watch out for?

Thanks

Joe Konstan
konstan@cs.umn.edu
	
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: cab@col.hp.com (Chris Best)
Subject: Re: Square-D electrical panel
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 17:54:16 GMT
Organization: your service

> And I've not encountered that many SquareD's at all compared to FPEs

----------

Ah, yes - "Federal No-Blows" is what we used to call 'em.  In my
few years as an electrician, I never hated a breaker box and
breakers as much as FPE.  Several reasons:

  They are (used to be, anyway) loose and sloppy in the box,
  and don't line up well to put the faceplate on, unless you
  hold 'em all in place;

  They plug into the bus near the center, but the ON position
  is toward the outside, which makes them pull off the bus
  when you turn 'em on without the faceplate (and even WITH the
  faceplate, their contact with the bus depends entirely on
  how well the faceplate fits);

  I've found FPE breakers that don't.  One one large job, we
  would 'mark' an outlet with a jumper wire plugged into it
  from hot to neutral (power off, of course), and then locate
  it back at the panel with a continuity tester.  Well, I forgot 
  to remove the jumper on one, and turned on the breaker, and it 
  just hummed a little without tripping!  Even for the 10-20
  seconds it took me to realize what was happening.

To their credit, I liked the single-width units you could get
that had two breakers on 'em.

These are only MY opinions - your experiences may vary.
From: gt7865a@prism.gatech.EDU (Comer,Matthew Brian)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: need programmable thermostat
Date: 4 Oct 92 06:00:27 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

I am looking for a digital programmable thermostat that supports a heat pump. 
All of the models I have seen at the local home stores say "Not for use with
a heat pump." Brands, models, and sources would be appreciated.

Also, I would very much like if someone were to explain to me the electrical/
control system of a heat pump. I am an EE by trade so I am familiar with 
electronics in general, but I am unsure as to what sort of signals a heat
pump expects, and why a thermostat for one should be different in some way.

Thank you in advance!


-- 
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind,
Got my papers and I was free...            -Indigo Girls

Matt Comer     gt7865a@hydra.gatech.edu
From: rhaar@albert.cs.gmr.com (Bob Haar)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Electric Drill Recommendation
Date: 2 Oct 92 14:36:36 GMT
Reply-To: rhaar@albert.cs.gmr.com
Organization: G.M. Research and Envirnmental Staff

In article 642@clpd.kodak.com, staffan@ca.serum.kodak.com (Kenneth Staffan (x37507)) writes:
|>> Cordless drill technology has come a long way in the past few years. The only
|>> reasons I can see for *not* getting a cordless drill are:
|>>
|>> 1) Price - they cost more
|>> 2) You need more than 1300 rpm (why?)
|>
|>3) You don't use it frequently enough.  If it spends most of its time on 
|>   a shelf, the battery will never be fully charged when you need it, and
|>   charging it on demand (as opposed to letting it discharge and then 
|>   recharging it) will cause the battery to hold its charge for shorter and
|>   shorter times.

This much less of a problem than it used to be. Rechargable batteries
of recent design are nearly immune to this kind of "memory" effect.
Any many cordless tools are intended to be left on the recharger
at the time when not in use.

ANother reason why a cordless drill might not be the only drill
you own is that you need long periods of use and lots of torque.
you can get professional quality cordless drills from companies
like Porter Cable that do have lots of muscle, but they are rather
expensive. 

---
	Robert Haar               InterNet : rhaar@gmr.com 
	Computer Science Dept., G.M. Research and Environmental Staff
DISCLAIMER: Unless indicated otherwise, everything in this note is
personal opinion, not an official statement of General Motors Corp.


Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

>Hi,
>
>I want to install an extension of gas pipe to my new gas
>clothes dryer, and was wondering where I could get some
>do-it-yourself information on it.  A book or videotape would
>be great.  None of the DIY books I looked into had it.  Maybe
>it is not considered a DIY job?  It is just a few feet from
>the 1" gas pipe to my appliance.
>
>Vallath Nandakumar

Me too, please.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Russ Lown, Response Center Lab       |                                     ~
~ Hewlett-Packard  MS 37MA  /__  ___   |   "Between two evils,               ~
~ 100 Mayfield Ave.        /  / /__/   |       I always choose the one       ~
~ Mt. View, CA 94043 USA       /       |          I've never tried before."  ~
~ E-mail: russ@hpkslx.mayfield.hp.com  |                                     ~
~ Phone : (415) 691-3421               |                                     ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Subject: Re: Electric Drill Recommendation
Reply-To: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Organization: NCR Corporation, Rancho Bernardo
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 18:17:33 GMT

In article <1992Oct1.005135.5910@Armstrong.EDU> frazier@Armstrong.EDU (Doug Frazier) writes:
>I want to buy a really good, durable 3/8" VSR drill for general homeowner
>use.  Can anyone recommend models and good mail-order sources?  Many thanks.

I really like the DeWalt model that sell for about $60 at Home Depot,
it is like a very sturdy, powerful drill. It is supposedly designed
for "professional" use. The same drill is sold
under several other brand names including Craftsman, Cyclone, and
Black & Decker Professional. I like the DeWalt version because of its cool
yellow housing but mine is actually a Craftsman (it was a gift).

It is American made.
From: raghu@enh.nist.gov
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: help! my landlord wants to sell my townhouse and I would rather not move.
Date: 1 Oct 92 17:01:40 GMT
Organization: NIST

hello:
I am renting a townhouse in miami florida.  
My lease expires Nov 30, 1992.
The owner of my house wants to sell the house.  
He started the process even before hurricane andrew hit us.  
But then nobody was buying.  
Now that the hurricane has come and gone, houses and condos are getting 
sold in a hurry.  
I wish to retain my apt for 2-3 more months because I expect to leave 
town by then.  
Also, it is hard to find an apt to rent now around here.  
What options do I have, if at all.  
My landlord is a decent guy and I have $1000 of deposit also.  
So I do not want to do anything stupid.
raghu@enh.nist.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Chipper/Shreader recommendations sought
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 92 19:01:23 CDT
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

mike@fuego.viewlogic.com (Mike Ethier) writes:

> >Mike, I'm interested in a chipper/shredder. I have fourteen
> >large trees that I trim each winter. What type of cost
> >justification did you go through in deciding to buy. Will
> >it ever pay for itself?
> 
> Well, for me, I planned on doing some heavy-duty chipping. I
> have about 5 acres of heavily wooded land. I wanted a strong,
> reliable machine that could go the distance. I burn a lot of

In your case, you definantly need a heavy-duty machine, like the Kemp
you mentioned, or perhaps a Super-Tomahawk (I think that's what Troy-Bilt
calls their biggest one). And while they are heavy and a little awkward
to move, you shouldn't be out with one of those by yourself anyway.

I've used a 5HP Tomahawk Jr. and a 5HP MTD (the one with the drop-
chute for leaves). I concluded early on that it's best to feed 
everything possible through the chipper hopper; I cram in privet
trimmings, blackbery canes, cornstalks, even weeds, as well as
branches. If you're dealing with leaves for the most part, the
MTD wins hands down. Drop the chute, and sweep the leaves in.
Both do an acceptable (to me) job of chipping, unless you have 
2" oak or similar hardwood limbs to deal with.

> whatever I what. I had some neighbors come over and talk to me
> about it, but when I told them is was $2000, they said no way.
> It seems its one of those items that people would love to have, but
> don't want to spend the $$ on.

Of course. They're waiting until *you* buy one, so they can borrow
it....

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: vln@icpsr.umich.edu (Victoria Neff)
Subject: Re: SUMMARY: siding options
Organization: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 16:30:37 GMT

In article <1992Sep30.153108.14913@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie) writes:
>In article <1992Sep30.144624.13164@meteor.wisc.edu> foley@meteor.wisc.edu writes:
>
>>One final question....What if I am sick of peeling paint and I want to STAIN
>>(with an opaque stain) the clapboards instead?  Stain doesn't peel and it
>>(to my understanding) protects the wood pretty well too.  Any comments or
>>suggestions?
>
>This is quite true, however the two labels I've looked at on outdoor
>stain/wood protection sytems both recommended recoating every few years.
>These were both designed for use on decks, however. There may be others.
>
>Before you apply a stain, you'll have to remove all the paint. Peeling
>or not, I think you'll have difficulty getting it all.
>

No, you don't have to get all the paint off.  The stain will coat the old
paint, too.  Of course, the old paint will continue to flake off, but IMO
it's easier to touch up here and there every year or so than to spend
an ENORMOUS amount of time and energy removing all the old paint.

We put a pigmented stain on our 1946 house 6 years ago.  (And we did make
a concerted effort to remove old paint, including using a heat plate
on the whole south end of the house).  We have had to touch up here and there
as the old paint fails, but the stain we used allows touching up, even after 
all those years -- you can just touch up without it being incredibly obvious.

Our stain is MAXIM or MAXUM or something.

Note our location in southeast Michigan.  Your mileage may vary.
From: lsnow@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM (Linda Snow)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Mortage Negotiating?
Date: 29 Sep 92 17:50:12 GMT
Reply-To: lsnow@ncrclm.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM (Linda Snow)
Organization: NCR E&M CLEMSON Liberty, SC

In article <27SEP199218514704@elroy.uh.edu> englhq@elroy.uh.edu (Franklet, Duane L.) writes:
>I am a first-time home shopper, and I've approached a few lenders
>to discuss the process and the fees involved. There seem to be about
>$1600 worth of miscellaneous fees: $375 appraisal and credit report,
>$175 underwriting fee, $100 processing fee, etc, etc. (I'm sure many of
>you know the story well.) In addition, a 1% origination fee seems
>to be pretty standard here in Houston.
>
>I'm wondering if any of these items are negotiable, and, if so, 
>to what extent? 

One thing to keep in mind about buying/selling houses: EVERYTHING (well
almost) is negotiable.  Depending, of course, on the circumstances.

When I bought my last house I was being transferred by my company, who
promised to pay all my closing costs.  Turned out their definition of
closing costs was a little less inclusive than mine, and I ended up short
of cash after I had already made a deal.  The mortgage company agreed to
waive the loan origination fee (about $1K or so) in return for an additional
1/4% interest, so I could close the deal.  This would have actually turned
out in my favor if I had sold the house in about 3 years which I thought I
probably would.  (Live and learn).  Oh, and they also agreed to refund the
credit report fee after closing.
.
.
.
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Gas piping question
Date: 3 Oct 92 05:51:29 GMT
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

In article <2090014@hpkslx.mayfield.HP.COM> russ@hpkslx.mayfield.HP.COM (Russ Lown) writes:
>Ok, 

>All legalities aside,  I think the real question i would like to 
>see answered is, 

> "where could i get some DIY information on doing a job like this?"

>In particular, what are some good books on gas fitting.  Then, I can
>decide if it's worth my time, and if it's legal for me to get the
>permit and DIM (DoItMyself).

Why not find out whether it's legal first, before spending any time
or money finding out how to do it?  It just takes a phone call.
-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
Psroff 3.0 info: psroff-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Ferret list: ferret-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: eliot@chutney.rtp.dg.com (Topher Eliot)
Subject: Re: Broken Thermometers
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 16:01:48 GMT
Reply-To: eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com
Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC

In article <Sep.29.23.21.31.1992.22150@cadenza.rutgers.edu>, masticol@cadenza.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola) writes:
|> redman@plate.megatek.com (Tim Redfield) writes:
|> 
|> [ broken mercury thermometer in bathroom ]
|> 
|> >        1) Is there an easy way to clean up after an event
|> >           such as this?
|> 
|> Sprinkle the area with sulfur powder. That will react with the mercury
|> and immobilize it. Then vacuum it up. (Treat the vacuum bag as
|> hazardous waste, like mercury batteries.)
This may work fine, I don't know.  I have seen mercury cleanup kits for sale
in safety equipment catalogs, maybe you could look under 's' in the yellow
pages.  The same folks who sell fire extinguishers and dust masks.

-- 
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
"To arms, to arms!  The redcoats are coming!
One arm, one arm, the fatcoats are coming!"	-- Tommy, age 4.
From: srivatsa@karna.Eng.Sun.COM (Chakra Srivatsa)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: siding options?
Date: 28 Sep 1992 21:59:31 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: srivatsa@karna.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: karna

In article 2653@meteor.wisc.edu, foley@meteor.wisc.edu (Jonathan Foley) writes:
>Hello!  My wife and I are living in a very old wooden house (it was built in
>the 1870s).  Paint does not last very long on this beast.  It was painted every
>8 years or so for the last 30 years without much luck.  Paint just seems to
>peel right off the sucker.   We don't want to do this.  So, we are considering 


One saleswoman at a local paint store, Kelly-Moore, told me that all exterior
paint usually lasts only 8 to 10 years.  Seems reasonably long to me....

---
The one l lama, he's a priest. 		srivatsa@eng.sun.com
The two l llama, he's a beast.
And I will bet a silk pajama, 
there isn't a three l lllama!		says Ogden Nash
From: charlesv@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca (Charles Van Duren)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: siding options?
Date: 30 Sep 92 14:57:10 GMT

jbl@mesaadm.cre.nt.com (JB) writes:

#In article <wZZVRB2w161w@cdthq.UUCP> Gary Heston, gary@cdthq.UUCP writes:
#>> Hello!  My wife and I are living in a very old wooden house (it was
#built in
#>> the 1870s).  Paint does not last very long on this beast.  

#My $0.02:  please don't put vinyl on a 1870's house!  8 years is
#reasonable for repainting, depending on where you are in the US.  

#                                                      If you truly want
#to side your house with something other than wooden clapboards, consider
#the new oriented strand board.  It is a "Masonite-like" siding made of
#oriented strands of wood, impregnated with paint and fire resistant
#chemicals. Unlike the basic Masonite siding, it is textured to look like
#wood.  I am using Masonite as the generic term, like Kleenex or Coke;
#there are other companies.

I'm just using it to side my garage. It's called primed shop siding, it's
easy to install, and takes stain beautifully. It's of uniform quality, and
doesn't warp. 

CvD
*----------------------------------------------------------------------------*
| Charles van Duren - Senior Systems Analyst - Center for Distance Education |  
|      Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, Canada T0G 0B0              |
*-------------------------------------\/-------------------------------------*
|      Now Tom he claims, that a man's true joy,                             |
|      Is in the work he likes to do,                                        |
|      And if I understand, Tom's a right joyous man,                        |
|      And Tom, he's looking at you ...       Tom Blasingame (Ian Tyson)     |
*-------------------------------------/\-------------------------------------*