HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rick@crick.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu (Richard H. Miller)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Info on renting/buying
Date: 23 Nov 1992 23:13:26 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: crick.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu

In article <1992Nov19.232445.21746@informix.com>, neilw@informix.com (Neil Williams) writes:
> 
> Next, I did the worksheet for 2-income couples.  Not so good -
> I came up with 0 exemptions!!!  After a mild stroke and severe
> panic, my co-workers told me not to worry and that my wife
> and I should claim 4 or 5 exemptions.  Whew, what a relief!

Be very careful here. Unless your coworkers have detailed information about
all financial affairs, I would tend to trust the worksheet more than them. 
Remeber what the worksheet is trying to do, determine how much should be 
withheld to prevent underwithholding. If you fail to have enough money with-
held you will pay substantial penalties and interest come April 15. What you
want to do is tome make sure your and your wife's combined withholding will
cover 90% of the tax bill due in April. 

The way I do it is to get the 1040-EST worksheets and determine what my
anticipated taxes will be for the next tax year and then determine how
much needs to be withheld (I try for about 92-93% of my tax liability to
be paid by withholding and my estimated tax payments). Since I only have
one income, I then determine how much needs to be withheld from each paycheck
and set up the withholding by a combination of exemptions and extra money so
that amount is withheld. In you case, determine how you are going to divide
you anticipated tax liability between your salary and your wife's and do the
same exercise for each of you.

	An example: you anticipate you will owe $10,000 for this year so you 
	            want to make sure your withholding covers $9,200. Assume
	            you want to have each of your salaraies cover 50% of your
	            tax liability so determine the number of exemptions and
	            extra $ so that you will have $4,600 withheld by the end
	            of the year. Tell your payroll department that this is
	            what you want withheld.

Now, if you did what your coworkers said without checking, do this exercise
fast and determine if you are underwithheld for this tax year. If so, adjust
your withholding for the last month of the year to make sure you are not.
Remeber, unlike estimated payments, anything taken out for withhold is treated
as if it was withheld equally over the entire year so you can make up for
underwithholding during the last pay periods of the year.
 
-- 
Richard H. Miller                 Email: rick@bcm.tmc.edu
Asst. Dir. for Technical Support  Voice: (713)798-3532
Baylor College of Medicine        US Mail: One Baylor Plaza, 302H
                                           Houston, Texas 77030
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jcw1@Ra.MsState.Edu (Jeff C. Wilson)
Subject: rain in vent
Organization: Mississippi State University
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 17:11:41 GMT


I have had a problem with rain blowing into the
vent in the gable ends of my house. the vent
is 36" in diam. It does it when the wind blows
 the rain verry hard.
Thanks for any info into this problem.
From: braverman@mtechca.maintech.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Banging noises in water pipes
Date: 20 Nov 92 11:28:12 PST
Organization: MAINTECH, A division of Volt Delta Resources,Inc. Orange, CA.

In article <conrad.722123078@duke>, conrad@Quotron.COM (Conrad Frank) writes:
> 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.
> 
-- 
Since you have a newer house, you probably have a pressure-reducing valve
on the water line where it enters the house.  If the valve fails, you will
get this symptom (I had the same problem several years ago).  The only 
mystery is the valve is relatively new, so it shouldn't have failed so soon,
but I wouldn't discount it.

In newer construction (at least here in CA), they don't use air pockets
anymore, but if your house has them, the pockets can be easily refilled
with air by shutting off the main water supply, opening all faucets in the
house, and opening a faucet (usually a garden hose faucet) which is lower in
elevation to all the house faucets.  This will drain the system.  Then close
everything up and turn the main valve back on.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+ Joel Braverman                               e-mail: braverman@maintech.com +
+ MAINTECH, a division of Volt Delta Resources, Inc.                          +
+ 2401 North Glassell Street                    voice:  (714) 921 7649        +
+ Orange, CA  92665-2705                          fax:  (714) 921 7510        +
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: mr@ogre.cica.indiana.edu (Michael Regoli)
Subject: Re: Water in Crawlspace
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 03:04:45 GMT


In article <1edrq5INN2fs@bach.crhc.uiuc.edu> long@crhc.uiuc.edu (Junsheng 
Long) writes:
> Recently, I went to the construction site of our new house
> and found that there is a small pool of water in one corner
> of the crawl space (about 50 sqft and 0.5 ft deep).  

That's the low spot of the foundation floor, I'd say.  My house has
the same kind of thing:  sloping crawlspace that causes everything to
go to one corner.  

I'd recommend a 4" CPVC drain in the lowest spot that exhausts
outside, and then put down a vapor barrier (6 mil plastic sheeting,
overlapping generously).  (The latter measure is fairly inexpensive
and is easy to do; 800 sqft (100'x8' roll) of 6 mil plastic is like
$20 at your local building supply store.  (Ask for the
contractor-grade stuff; don't buy the little rolls that are popular at
this time of year for DIY weatherization.)

So if you ever get deluged with water (due to poor drainage on the
building site, and a week of steady downpouring rain, etc) at least
if there is water, it has somewhere to go.  And the vapor barrier 
will and you'll drastically reduce the humidity that will save your
insulation, and more importantly, your subfloor. 

As a new homeowner, you will evenutally learn to RESPECT and feel
POWERLESS by the destructive power of water.  It is one of the most
powerful forces in nature.  Period.

Gosh, sounds like a sermon.  ;-)

--
michael regoli
mr@cica.indiana.edu
regoli@indiana.BITNET
..{att,rutgers}!moose!cica!mr
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist)
Subject: Re: New House Appliances
Organization: INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Naperville, IL
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 19:40:42 GMT

In article <1992Nov22.174517.29906@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r) writes:
...
>My parents had several Maytag appliances, by the way. Although they do
>last quite some time, the Maytag repairman was able to pay his rent. I
>think they're a little overrated myself.

On the other hand, my mother had her Maytag washer for 15 years, without
a service call.  My dad cleaned out the pump once, when it got gunked up
with stuff....  when a seal failed in a hard-to-reach place, and it turned
out to be a major expense to replace the whole assembly, he decided
that after 15 years it'd paid itself off.  They replaced it with another
Maytag, which has had no problems in 6 years.

We've had our washer and dryer for 4 years; the only problem was a clogged
drier vent, which was improperly installed by the previous owner of the
house...

I like the fact that the dealer only has to stock the parts for the current
model, reducing repair costs.  The parts are interchangeable for
the last 25 or 30 model years.
-- 
Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
jeq@i88.isc.com  '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep", DoD #094        Naperville, IL
        There are many things a person should experience in a lifetime.
       Among them are an infant's first cry, and an infant's first laugh.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: guppy@wixer.cactus.org (Jennifer Mery)
Subject: Re: Info on renting/buying
Organization: Real/Time Communications
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 23:26:24 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.
Only if you file schedule A Itemized Deductions. We filed married last
year, and we didn't make over $5,700 in interest payments, so we
couldn't deduct them. I don't even pay that much for my house payment in
a year, so I'll never be able to deduct interest payments on this house.
I have a lot of good reasons to buy this house, but a tax deduction
isn't one of them. I'm always amazed by the stress put on tax
deductions. Some make little or no difference as compared to the cost
(like having kids, or losing money at the stock market).

jam
-- 
==============================================================================
Jennifer Mery |
Austin, Texas | guppy@wixer.cactus.org
==============================================================================
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: bier@acuson.com (Jeff Bier)
Subject: Plumber recommendations needed - Fremont area
Organization: Acuson; Mountain View, California
Distribution: ba
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 19:12:06 GMT


The house I'm in the process of buying (in Fremont)
is in need of some plumbing work.  I'd like to get 
recommendations for a plumber who can give me a detailed,
reliable estimate, and who will do quality work.

If you've recently worked with a plumber who has done
good work, I would appreciate hearing about them.

Similarly, if you've worked with someone who has NOT
done good work, I'd like to hear about them.

Thanks,

-Jeff Bier
bier@acuson.com
(415) 694-5827
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Subject: Re: Replacing gas range: DIY?
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 04:22:45 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

In article <1ek6blINN6vl@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, wb8foz@skybridge.SCL.CWRU.Edu (David Lesher) writes:
> Turn off the gas, unscrew things, gently connect the new line and
> range. If you change the pipe thread fittings, you'll want to use
> RectorSeal or teflon pipe tape. But don't on the flange/flex threads.

Whoops!  Most teflon pipe tape is *not* suitable for use with gas.
I don't know why, but both the packages and some plumbers I've asked
say so.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: manes@magpie.nycenet.edu (Steve Manes)
Subject: Re: Neighborhood from hell
Organization: Manes and Associates, NYC
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 01:54:50 GMT
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]

Janet M. Swisher (swisher@cs.utexas.edu) wrote:
: 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).
: At the very least, make sure you are fully informed about such
: restrictions before you buy.

Absolutely! I had my attorney stick two pages of riders in my sales
contract requiring the seller to reveal anything that, to his
knowledge, might remotely place burdens on my ownership.  A
real important one is a clause requiring the seller to disclose any
information regarding notices of environmental or zoning hearings
pending, which would not show up in even the most painstaking title
search.  This is very important if your property adjoins any
government-administered property, like protected wetlands.

Let's say you've found a great house, surrounded by park land,
watershed, what have you.  Wonderful... no one can build around you
and you can enjoy it as if you owned the land yourself.  Not
necessarily.  If there's a public hearing scheduled to build a
public road into that park next to your property, or the city has
petitioned for a variance to use part of that land (next to your
property) to dump a mountain of salt for road deicing, you could
be snookered by a crafty seller who sees his property value in danger.


-- 
Stephen Manes					   manes@magpie.nycenet.edu
Manes and Associates/Commontech-NoHo		   New York, NY, USA  =o&>o

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: Getting rid of radio on my phone lines?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 20:49:31 GMT

In article <1992Nov23.150227.14070@miki.pictel.com> dustin@miki.pictel.com (Dustin Clampitt) writes:

>there.  The phone company said, "find somebody who sells
>phone stuff and ask for a supressor."  The phone company
>says it's not their problem.  How supportive.
>
>What can I do?  What can I buy?  Who ya gonna call?  

Who to call? Look in the Federal Government listings for the number of
the FCC and register a complaint. The radio station may be in violation,
but it's not likely. Chances are that the FCC will tell you the same
thing as the phone company, but it can't hurt to try.

What can you buy? Call an electronics supply store and ask if they sell
radio noise suppressors for telephones. And the phone company is correct;
it's not their problem. Sounds to me like they were very supportive. They
told you exactly what you need to do.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | It could probably be shown by facts and figures
George Patterson -  | that there is no distinctly native American criminal
                    | class except Congress.
                    |                        Samuel Clemens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com (adams,john)
Subject: Re: Help With Driveway Lights
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 21:11:27 GMT

In article <1992Nov19.200614.1396@meaddata.com> stever@meaddata.com (Steve Rothenberg) writes:
>I have lights along my driveway, they are single bulb outlets,
>and are hooked to a light switch in the garage. The only way for
>the lights to go on right now is if I remember to turn it on.
>
>QUESTION: can I hook up a light sensor right in line to the
>existing wiring between the switch and the first light to control
>the turning on of the lights?  

Absolutely!  You need to determine the "load"  (wattage) to be switched and purchase 
a sensor capable of more than that load. In this configuration the sensor will 
control the hot lead which feeds all the driveway lights.
-- 
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 be lost in the shuffle, now I shuffle along with the lost!
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: chipper-shredder
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 19:29:52 CST
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

LARRY@GOMEZ.PHYS.VIRGINIA.EDU (Larry Suddarth) writes:

> Does anyone have any experience or recommendations with/for a chipper-shredde
> Specifically, how much difference does horsepower make when shipping a 2 inch
> branch for example; does a drop-down chute for leaf loading work well, etc.

I use a 5HP MTD with the drop-down chute for leaves. It works very
well on leaves, but doesn't shred branches fed into the hopper 
very well. Not great, but tolerable (I'm dealing with privet shrub
trimmings, which I let dry before shredding.) I generally feed 
anything over 1/4" into the chipper chute, though, and get better
results (i.e., smaller output) that way. It will handle 2" material,
but how well depends on the wood (oak will go slow, seasoned peach
is *miserable* in any chipper, pine or dry-rotted anything goes 
fast) more than anything else. My mother bought this one for about
$380 total.

I have used a Troy-Bilt Tomahawk Jr., also 5HP. It works as well
or slightly better than the MTD at chipping, and is somewhat better
at shredding small branches. It'll have the same difficulties 
handling 2" wood as the MTD. For leaves, the Jr. is miserable.
Aside from having to pick up the leaves to get them in the hopper,
they don't feed down the narrow neck by themselves--I spent most
of my time using a branch or stick as a plunger. It belongs to 
my sister, and cost about $750.

If you have a lot of 2" hardwood to chip, get at least an 8HP
chipper; either style. If the branches are relatively soft wood,
and you have lots of leaves, I'd recommend the 5HP MTD. If you
don't have many leaves (or don't care about them) the Jr. is a
solid piece of equipment. It's also heavier than the MTD, and
harder to move. Both are louder than a mower, but nowhere near
as annoying as a gas leaf blower.

Bear in mind that he 2" diameter rating is for straight pieces;
if the branches are pretty twisty, they won't feed well.

More information about the amount of material and typical proportions
(leaves, shreddable branches, garden trimmings, heavy branches)
would make it easier to make recommendations.

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
From: hmoss@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Howard Moss)
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 21:51:02 GMT
Subject: Splinter prevention
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

Well, I'm the "official" handyman at my daughter's nursery school and
they have a new complaint that I'd like to ask your opinion about:

Splinters!
The play house is old and the wood has generated a lot of splinters in
the hands of 2-4 year olds. Also, the new wood play structure has
a BIG knot that seems to be coming off in pieces and that generates a 
lot of splinters, too. The redwood picnic table is also being looked
at. What are good ways to deal with this, especially since we're
heading for the rainy season. Should I just sand all the surfaces 
smooth? Won't the rains just render that useless? How about sealing
the wood, like with paint or polyurethane? Is that ok to do now that
the wood is swelling up with moisture from the rains? Another choice
could be a waterproof stain or something like that. Would that seal
the wood so the splinters would not be present?

I know these are a lot of questions, but hey, who else can I ask?

Thanks,
Howard Moss
hmoss@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com
From: stanton@haas.berkeley.edu (Richard Stanton)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: HELP! Skunk keeps attacking my house
Date: 15 Nov 1992 18:35:44 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: haas.berkeley.edu

Every few nights, my house stinks of skunk. It seems to start in the bathroom,
which has a skylight, so I suspect it's happening on the roof somewhere.
However, as most people know, this is a pretty intense smell, and it has a
nasty habit of lingering in the house for a day or more.

What can I do to prevent this from happening? Would the spray that stops
dogs and cats peeing where yo don't want them to work? Any suggestions would be
VERY gratefully received.

Thanks

Richard Stanton
From: long@crhc.uiuc.edu (Junsheng Long)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Water in Crawlspace
Keywords: information wanted: Wet crawlspace
Date: 18 Nov 92 04:42:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: bach.1edrq5INN2fs
Organization: Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
NNTP-Posting-Host: bach.crhc.uiuc.edu

Recently, I went to the construction site of our new house
and found that there is a small pool of water in one corner
of the crawl space (about 50 sqft and 0.5 ft deep).  The house
is almost finished (the closing date is on Nov 30).  Since 
the last rain was a week ago, this may be a problem of poor 
drainage.  This is the first time we ever brought a house. 
Should I be worry about this problem?  Will this water in
crawl space weaken the foundation? What measure should the 
builder take to correct this problem?  

I would like to hear your opinion and experience. 

Thanks a lot.

Junsheng Long
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: 108116@adpdp2.lanl.gov (108116)
Subject: Re: HELP! Skunk keeps attacking my house
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory, EMVAX
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:56:00 GMT

As to skunks under the house - I too am a reluctant expert.  My house has a
3'-5' crawlspace under the house and after hard rains, the local skunks come up
from the arroyo looking for a dry warm place to play at night.  They would dig
under the siding of the house to get into the crawlspace.  With the my
(then) landlord, we strung fence wire 2" off the ground all around the
foundation and connected it to an electric-fence unit!  As skunks pass through
the yard, they will attempt to dig under the siding, get shocked, spray once, 
and leave!

As to putting moth balls and/or used cat sand in their way, I did not have any
success with either of those deterrents.  However, once I cleaned up the
spilled sunflower seeds from under the bird feeder, the skunks came through the
yard less frequently!  Our local animal control has the necessary small cages
to capture skunks and to prevent them from spraying - these seem to be quite
successful.


Heather Albright
e-mail: 108116@em.lanl.gov
Compuserve: 76350,3151