HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: richard@sfu.ca (Richard Chycoski)
Subject: Re: Telephone Outlets
Reply-To: richard@sfu.ca
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 18:59:17 GMT

In article <180b2aINNkh@sixgun.East.Sun.COM> egreen@east.sun.com (Ed Green -  
Pixel Cruncher) writes:
> In article 5443@naucse.cse.nau.edu, rrw@elden (Robert Wier) writes:
> 
> >   Being
> > in a somewhat rural location perhaps helps also (not too many houses
> > within a half mile or so).
> 
> Half mile?!?  The phone itself has a range of ~1000 ft.  How can a
> snooper pick up the signal past where it's too weak for the phone to?
> 
> ---

Because your telephone handset and base are full duplex, i.e. they are
transmitting and receiving at the same time. This causes their receivers
to be *very* insensitive, hence limiting their range. If you just want
to listen in, and not talk on the line, you can hear both the base units
and remotes at considerable distances (several kilometers), as can be
seen when using a scanner. (I'm not a regular listener, but one day I
was curious enough about the range of a cordless phone that I was using.
When I started listening with my scanner, there were people who were up
to ten kilometres away that were coming in just fine.)

- Richard Chycoski
  richard@sfu.ca
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: macrakis@osf.org (Stavros Macrakis)
Subject: Re: Question of Kitchen appliances, Are there small dishwashers, etc
Organization: OSF Research Institute
	<1992Aug31.173122.3040@phx.mcd.mot.com>
Distribution: usa
Date: 1 Sep 92 11:57:41

In article <1992Aug31.173122.3040@phx.mcd.mot.com>
fredch@phx.mcd.mot.com (Fred Christiansen) writes re small dishwashers:

   Frigidaire does.  18".  Also, I owned a home in Oregon with a Kenmore 18".

My understanding is that all the US 18" models currently on the market
are made by White-Westinghouse, and are essentially the same.  (Does
anyone have evidence to the contrary?)  Therefore, go for the best
price and warranty service.

	-s
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: irvin@ucunix.san.uc.edu (Dwayne Irvin)
Subject: Room Additions
Organization: University of Cincinnati
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 16:08:19 GMT

Hello:

	I'm considering a room addition to my home, and would like to know
if anyone out there has any experience with this?  What I'm most interested
in, is the approximate cost.  The dimensions will be around 15' x 20' (or
10' x 15' if the cost is to high), and since it will be on the back of a
bi-level, it would have to be around 4' off the ground.
	One thing that I would like to do is have someone build the
"shell", and I would finish off the inside.
	If anyone out there would like to share their experiences, it would
be appreciated.

Thanks
Dwayne Irvin	irvin@ucunix.san.uc.edu
From: millerj@belize.crd.ge.com (Julia K. Miller)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: wood floor or carpet?
Date: 27 Aug 92 19:19:30 GMT
Reply-To: belize!millerj@steinmetz.UUCP (Julia K. Miller)
Distribution: na
Organization: GE Corporate Research & Development

In article <1992Aug27.155041.26574@oracle.pnl.gov> d3a132@pnl.gov writes:
>In article 7337@crd.ge.com, millerj@belize.crd.ge.com (Julia K. Miller) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug27.105925.7484@cbnews.cb.att.com> trb@cbnews.cb.att.com (tom.balent) writes:
>>>>Carpet is easier to care for then hardwood, 
>>>come home after a big drunk and hurl chunks in the livingroom (don't
>>>you hate it that happens?)
>>>
>>
>>	Someone/something getting sick on a hardwood floor doesn't do it any
>>good either.  Our golden retriever had a case of stomach flue and barfed
>>the whole floor redone.  Sigh!  That was an expensive stomach ache!
>
>Gee, our dogs puke on the hardwood all the time, and we've never had
>any trouble.  We do wipe up promptly (usually.... not implying that you
>didn't).  Our floors are about 45 years old, and may be maximally discolored
>already.  We did refinish them with something called "Floorfin" - a wipe
>on type finish - before we moved in.  I like better the hardwood to care
>for.  No shampooing!
>

	Unfortunately, he did it sometime while we were at work.  So, I'm not
sure how long it sat there.  The person who stripped the floor said that
the acid in his stomach was what did it.  Our floor wasn't treated with
anything, only waxed.  Maybe we should treat it when we get it refinished.

Julia
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: cab@col.hp.com (Chris Best)
Subject: Re: Possible gas leak?
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 16:29:58 GMT
Organization: your service

> I talked with our gas man/plumber and he said that it might be some of the
> aluminum tubing in the furnace leaking or that the pilot on the furnace may
> have gone out and then come back on or that there might have been a pressure
> bubble in the gas main that caused a little gas to seep into the basement
> via some release vent on our gas main junction box.  He said that if we had
> a gas leak we should smell it all of the time.

----------

Maybe it's just me, but this guy scares me. 

Pilot lights don't just 'come back on'.  The only case where this
is close to true is in devices with electronic ignition, and they
don't use pilot lights at all.

Any 'pressure bubble' that may occur on the gas main will never
get past the regulator, which is at the meter.  Therefore, unless
the meter is inside (can they even do that?), such a 'bubble' would 
never reach your house.  And any intentional venting of gas (inside 
the house, especially!) is unimaginable.

Maybe you do have a small leak, but you only smelled it after being
gone for awhile, due to: 'getting used to' the faint odor and not
noticing it after being home for a long time (unlikely - it's a 
pretty gross smell); your everyday activities keep it from collecting
enough to smell, but being gone for awhile allowed it (more likely);
or maybe you turned the furnace down while gone, which stirred up
the air less near the furnace (also more likely).

Yes, I would find out what it is, soon.  You'll have to decide whether
or not to use this guy, though.
From: d3a132@pnl.gov (Carl P Baker)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Heat Pumps
Date: 25 Aug 92 22:19:11 GMT
Reply-To: d3a132@pnl.gov
Organization: Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories

In article 10258@engage.pko.dec.com, moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com () writes:
>In article <william.zwicky-210892133704@wezwicky.cray.com>, william.zwicky@cray.com (Bill Zwicky) writes...
>>I'm considering installing a central air conditioner in my
>>house and ran across something called an "Air Source Heat Pump"
>>that would provide cool air in the summer and provide most of the
>>heat in the winter (when it gets real cold, my gas furnace takes over).
>>Has anyone had any experiences with heat pumps?  Are they cost 

>Cray. I'll AssUMe that you're in Minnesota, and there I would not get an air
>source heat pump as they're rather inefficient at below 20F or so and useless
>at 0F.  These systems usually have electric heat as a backup for when it
>gets really cold, and in Minnesota I'll bet you'd be using that expensive
>backup quite a bit.
>
>On the other hand, ground- or water-source heat pumps get their heat directly
>from the ground or a water source respectively, which are fairly constant
>temperature sources regardless of the weather, and they might be worth
>looking into.  They're quite a bit more expensive, though.

But if he uses his existing gas heat as backup, he should be at least
as good as he is now.  The ground or water source heat pumps are a good
idea (source refers to the medium which is used as a source of heat).


-- carl

Carl P Baker
cp_baker@pnl.gov
509-375-2724

Disclaimer: I am not the official spokesperson for anyone.  For which
organizations that use spokespersons are profoundly grateful.
From: thompson@forsyth.wsnc.org
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Telephone Outlets
Date: 31 Aug 92 16:49:57 EST
Organization: Forsyth County, Winston-Salem  NC

In article <BtMJry.JJF@hatch.socal.com>, richg@hatch.socal.com (Rich Greenberg) writes:
> In article <1992Aug26.131409.9708@uoft02.utoledo.edu> cscon0151@uoft02.utoledo.edu writes:
> 
> [Discussion of cordless phone scrambling]
> 
>>Could any person with knowledge about 'frequency inversion' or 'spread
>>spectrum technology' explain these 'scrambling' techniques to me via Email?
> 
> Frequency inversion:  _Simplified_
> A fairly simple modulation-dmodulation technique converts each audio
> frequency to a different one.  For example, 3000Hz is converted to 100Hz,
> and 100Hz is converted to 300Hz.  2000Hz -> 1100Hz, 1000Hz -> 2100Hz etc
> The algorith is fo = 3100-fi.
> At the far end, this processed is reversed.
> 
> Spread Spectrum  _Very Simplified_:
> At intervals, the radio transmitter stops transmitting at f(n) and
> starts transmitting at f(n+1).  The frequencies are selected by a
> psuedo-random function, with both the transmitter and the receiver
> using the same pseudo-random series.  The frequencies are shifted
> several times per second.  (Not sure, but many (or very many) times
> a second may be a better wording.)
> -- 
>                 
> Rich Greenberg - N6LRT - 310-649-0238 - richg@hatch.socal.com
-- 

Hate to disagree, but the description you give of "spread spectrum" bears
better on the term "frequency agile."  A spread spectrum system encodes
different portions of the data to be modulated on carriers of different
frequencies.  Existing military comm gears makes use of both frequency
agility and spread spectrum.


____________________________________________________________________________
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: eric@desktalk.com (Eric Lieber)
Subject: Re: Eletric dryer - running but not drying
Reply-To: eric@desktalk.com
Organization: Desktalk Systems Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 22:55:25 GMT

In article 24358@oasys.dt.navy.mil, diprosp@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Michael DiProspero) writes:
>I recently purchased a home in which the washer/dryer combo was included
>by the previous homeowner.  Everything was fine for about a month -
>but a couple of days ago when I tried to dry a load of clothes the
>dryer kept on running and running, but never got hot.  The dryer is
>a Kenmore and electric (I forget the model number).  Does anyone have
>any ideas what might be causing this?  Thanks.
>
>Mike


The heat element/coil has probaly burnt out.


eric lieber		std disclaimer
desktalk systens
torrance ca
From: wido@isgtec.com (Wido Menhardt)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: wood floor or carpet?
Date: 27 Aug 92 22:38:40 GMT
Distribution: na
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5


We just bought a very similar house, I guess. It had hardwood,
plywood nailed on top, linoleum floor glued to that, and as a
finish, thick carpet. We ripped everything out with a crowbar
and help from a friend with muscles. The plywood was nailed
down with nails every three inches, so there are a *lot* of 
holes in the floor. Also, the hardwood didn't look very good
anymore. In one room, they had glued plastic tiles on top
of the hardwood instead of the plywood. Anyways, we had some-
body in to sand and refinish it for about 600 CND$. It looks
great, although you'll see the holes from the nails if you
look closely. We'd do it again.

Good luck,

-wido.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie)
Subject: Re: ADVICE NEEDED: Shake roof maintenance
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 16:03:59 GMT

In article <gX55PB2w161w@cdthq.UUCP> gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston) writes:
>wayne@ultra.com (Wayne Hathaway) writes:
>
>> I have recently acquired a three-story house with a shake roof
>> underneath pine trees.  A very nice place, but the roof is COVERED
>> with pine needles (not to mention the gutters).

>Almost any broom should work fine. If you have a few years 
>accumulation in the gutters, you'll have to scoop it out with a
>small shovel or a tin can. (Makes a good soil additive, though. :-) )

Best add a little lime first, pine straw tends to be acid.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |
George Patterson -  | If you always tell the truth, you never
                    | have to remember what you said.
                    |                        Samuel Clemens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: shelly@APS.Atex.Kodak.COM (Shelly Simon)
Subject: Help! Need advise on carpet!
Reply-To: shelly@Atex.Kodak.COM
Organization: "Atex, Inc. Billerica, MA "
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 18:39:31 GMT

I am in the process of carpeting a second floor in a new house.
I want to invest in a good quality carpet without spending an outrageous amount of money. Has anyone had any luck with a brand of carpet that has worn well? I have builder grade carpet on the first floor and after 2 years it is all matted and worn (manufacturer says its my problem not theirs). 

I have contacted a few mills directly and they have reasonable carpet but not the best I've seen. Anyone ever order directly from a mill?

Thanks
Shelley



-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shelley Sarrategui (Simon)                      <shelly@Atex.Kodak.COM>
Atex, Inc. 					508-670-4016 
805 Middlesex Turnpike Billerica, MA 01821    	508-670-4033 (Fax)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Bulbs fusing too often
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 19:40:06 CDT
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

nigam@mwunix (Alok Nigam) writes:

> 
> I moved into a new house and have had to change the bulbs in some
> fixtures four times in the last six months.  I'd appreciate any
> suggestions on what might be the problem, and how I might fix it.

Either vibration or overheating. If any of them are near doors that 
get closed solidly (exterior doors in particular) don't slam the
door, or replace them with CF fixtures (what I did). If they're
in poorly ventilated fixtures, either vent the fixtures (get some
air circulation of some sort around them) or put in lower wattage/
higher quality bulbs. 130V rated bulbs will cost a little more,
but will last lots longer in those situations.

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
From: busey@milton.u.washington.edu (Thomas Busey)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Computer programs for designing dream home
Date: 26 Aug 92 16:16:55 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Washington

I'm looking for public domain or shareware software (preferably mac but pc ok) 
to design floor plans- not architecture quality but something an architect
could easily interprete.

I've seen programs like Design Your Own Home, but I'm too cheap (too poor,
actually) to buy them.  I would like opinions on them, however, if people 
have used them.

Thanks
Tom 
busey@u.washington.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: cashalk@lims02.lerc.nasa.gov (KURT SHALKHAUSER)
Subject: Re: Should I sand the deck?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Distribution: na
Date: 26 Aug 1992 13:16 EST  

In article <1992Aug21.171131.27830@cbnewsl.cb.att.com>, bkb@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (brian.bebeau) writes...
> 
>We have a three-year-old deck on the back of our four-year-old
>house (which we just bought last October). The kids and I have been
>getting splinters like crazy because the wood is getting very rough
>and worn.  I don't think any protective coating was ever put on the
>deck. I had planned to go to a tool rental place and get one of those
>huge sanders and sand the whole deck down,    etc  etc 


Brian...

One issue that was not discussed in the responses [to your posting] 
is that of the type of wood used on your deck.  If it is the classic
pressure-treated ("wolmanized") lumber, then sanding it is a definite no-no. 
The preservatives used in the wood are easily carried in the sanding (or 
sawing) dust and are quite toxic.  At the same time, splinters and slivers 
are also not too good, so a rule of always wearing shoes is a good idea 
until the deck surface issue is resolved.

If the deck is redwood or cedar, sanding is no problem, but it certainly is 
a big job.

Good luck!


Kurt Shalkhauser
> 
>=====================================================================
From: un026217@wvnvms.wvnet.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Anything before siding??
Date: 3 Sep 92 13:40:21 GMT
Organization: West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing

Hi,

We just bought a old house and I like to put up siding
before the weather gets cold. My questions are: 

Is there anything else I should do before I start siding?
(I will replace windows first; I also want to rebuild 
kitchen and bathroom). Do exhaust fans for kitchen and
bathroom go outside the house? Should I put in those fans
and then start siding? 

Thanks in advance, Bo Wang
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Subject: Re: safety vs suggested weapons
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 17:11:33 GMT


In article <1992Sep1.004221.3561@src.dec.com> jeske@src.dec.com (Steve
Jeske, self.appointed.net.policeman) writes *MULTIPLE* off-topic
responses while providing absolutely nothing in the way of relevant
material:

>I agree.  Please also restrict your postings to the most appropriate
>bboard, which in this case is not misc.consumers.house.  Thanks.

>This has nothing to do with housing.  Please continue the discussion
>on the rec.guns bboard.  Thanks.

>Perhaps, but the topic belongs in rec.guns, not here, so please
>continue the discussion there.  Thanks.

>This topic has nothing to do with housing, so the rest of us would
>appreciate it if you would please transfer the discussion to the
>rec.guns bboard.  Thanks.

>Even though you're not responsible, the rest of us would surely be very
>appreciative if you continued this discussion on rec.guns, since it has
>nothing to do with housing at all.  Thanks.

>Fine.	Let's all hope the original poster, and everybody else, has
>learned that a more appropriate bboard for this topic is rec.guns
>and not misc.consumers.house.	Thanks.


Steve,

You made you point the first time; there was absolutely no need for you
to post the same basic message *seven* times. If you're going to bitch
about bandwidth wasting and/or off-topic postings made by others, kindly
set the example and restrict your own.

Thanks.

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: cab@col.hp.com (Chris Best)
Subject: Re: help me locate this item
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 22:38:30 GMT
Distribution: ba
Organization: your service

> I'm looking for a swing for my porch .  The kind I have in 
> mind looks like a bench hanged from the ceiling .  

----------

If you're interested in building it yourself, Woodsmith
published a nice set of plans a while ago.  I built it
for my wife, and she loves it.  Email me if you want 
more info.
From: tedb@hpcvra.cv.hp.com (Ted Beers)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Whole-House Fan Choice is Not a Breeze
Date: 4 Sep 92 17:08:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: hpcvra.25860029
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA


  I'm planing to install a whole-house fan in my house under
  constructions as an alternative to air conditioning (and short-term,
  as a way to exhaust the toxic new-house material fumes).  The advice
  available locally is frighteningly scarce, so I was hoping the net
  might offer some input.

  I've narrowed down the manufacturer choice to Nutone or Broan, and
  previous net wisdom has suggested that a direct-drive model is
  preferable to a belt-drive one.  Here's the problem:  The largest size
  direct-drive fans push around 5000 CFM (cubic feet per minute), which
  the manufacturers claim is suitable for a 1600 sq. ft. house, but
  our new one-story house is 2450 sq. ft.!  So will I be causing
  problems using an undersized fan, or does this simply mean it'll take
  a few more minutes to change the air in the house?  Other comments?  I
  really feel like I'm trying to make this decision without sufficent
  information.

  Thanks for your input.

				Ted Beers
From: meltsner@crd.ge.com (Kenneth J Meltsner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: wood floor or carpet?
Date: 27 Aug 92 17:25:47 GMT
Reply-To: meltsner@crd.ge.com
Distribution: na
Organization: GE Research and Development Center



In article <1992Aug27.154055.792@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>,
patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie) writes:
[floor refinishing q&a deleted]
|>How much work do you want to do? The best way to make them disappear is to
|>fill them with small pieces of oak, but that's a real pain (it's a trick used
|>in cabinet work, not floors). You can also fill them with Elmer's wood putty.
|>If the floor is oak, the putty will be a fair color match once the varnish is
|>on the floor. If you want an exact color match, fill the holes *after* the
|>floor is varnished and touch up the filled places with a varnish/stain
|>combination. Another cabinetry trick is to save some of the sanding dust
|>and mix it with wood glue to make your own wood filler. This would be used
|>before varnishing.

Some woodworking and house maintenance books recommend puttying after
the first coat of finish in nearly all cases, since it minimizes the
spread of putty residue.  Badly applied putty can seriously mess up an
otherwise nice finish.  Same thing apparently applies to house
painting, if you can believe it, since the putty is thought to stick
better if applied after the primer coat.  I don't know if this all
applies to wood dust/glue filler, though.

The other tip is to find out how the wood will age and make the putty
somewhat darker than the as-milled color.  My grandmother's dining
room has near-white putty filling in brown knotty pine paneling.  I'd
expect dark putty/light wood will look better than light putty/dark
wood, so err accordingly.  You'd have to ask around to see what shade
your wood & finish will turn as it ages.

Finally, the builder of our 60 YO house inlaid a strip of dark wood
(prob. mahogany) a foot in from the perimeter of our dining room.* You
might want to see if a similar trick could cover any serious scars
from carpeting if the tack strips were consistently placed.  Or you
could just position your furniture very carefully.

*  In general, I'd use our floors as a benchmark for what's possible in
a well-built,  "upper median-priced" home.  Our PE house inspector said it
was the best-condition wood floor he's seen in an older house -- no
gaps between boards, no loose spots, no knots.  The builder must have
used well-seasoned wood to make our floors, and the inlay is a great
touch.

===============================================================================
Ken Meltsner                        | meltsner@crd.ge.com (518) 387-6391
GE Research and Development Center  | Fax:  (518) 387-7495
P.O. Box 8, Room K1/MB207	    | Nothing I say should be attributed
Schenectady, NY 12301               | to my employer, and probably vice-versa
================ Materials and Manufacturing, World O' Stuff ==================
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: How do I remove rust stains from cement?
Date: 3 Sep 92 17:19:38 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Sep3.145139.4726@macc.wisc.edu>, nmrdb@vms.macc.wisc.edu (BEVERLY SEAVEY) writes...
>Our basement floor has rust stains both on cement and on old linoleum.
>How can I remove rust stains from each material?

Try scrubbing it with some oxalic acid dissolved in water.

(be careful, it's a poison)

-Mike