Homeowner Forum / General / October 2003

I bought a new house and one of the selling features was that the phonelines
were wired with CAT5 wiring instead of the standard minimum grade wiring.
Of course the salespeople had no other details.
I moved in and see that the phone jacks are all still just RJ-11 ports.

I need to get my gas furnace replaced.  It's a 1984 Carrier.  I'll be
interviewing 3-4 contractors.  I'd rather give my business to a small and
competent firm than one of the big chains (philosophically).  First
question: am I doing something dumb ruling out the big companies.

The only place I have been able to find a place to buy bricks online
is http://distinctivebrick.com.  However, is there a place that sells
traditional,
and not so 'distinctive brick'?

a. What kind of motor repair would be easy
  when the blades of a table, floor or window fan stop?...
  The blades don't turn.
  But sometimes a fan will hum a bit when turned on low, medium, high

I have quite a simple question. Is a top-loading washing machine a better
buy than a front-loading one?
As I see it there are a few factors:
- The engineering of a frontloader must be more complicated than a top

My daughter was in a car accident this past weekend.  I obtained the police
report  and the other driver was ticketed for driving too close to her.  Our
car is a 1986 Volvo wagon and we have no collision insurance due to its age.
My insurance co. has told me to contact the other ...

I have a problem with cable reception on my 2nd TV. I attached a
splitter to the incoming cable with one going to my main set. The
second lead goes to my set in the basement.
The reception in the 2nd set seems to drop off after about half the

I'm receiving mixed messages, and browsing with Google for an hour has
only left me more confused.
I have a 1984 moderately-well insulated house with an existing
well-based heat pump for heating and cooling. The heat pump is broken,

I always do research on the 'net before I buy something (large).  I
particularly like to search usenet groups to get real peoples opinions.  
Unfortunately, I have been unable to find much information related to
leather sofas.  But from what I have found, I am leaning towards ...

I'm in a small two story house (about 8,800 cubic feet not counting
the unheated basement) that's heated by gas (hot water radiators). The
house is old (about 100 years) and the gas boiler looks like it might
have been around since when the house was switched from coal to gas

HELP!!! Here is our situation.
We were in the process of renewing our lease for September 1st which
would make it our second year here in Newton, MA. There are five of
us. One of our roommates was out of the country and returned the first

Thank you for the information folks !
a.
What hardware or fixtures are there that leave no mark or very minimal mark
when removed or what are the different kinds of similar hardware that might

Has anyone ever used Mohawk Seneca laminate before?  It sells for a
fairly cheap price at outlet stores.  I am thinking of using that
instead of Pergo, but the old "you get what you pay for" adage keeps
nagging at me.

We are purchasing a house, everything is just about perfect except the
fact the very nice Indian family living in it right now did a lot of
cooking, and there is a strong smell about the house from all the
spices.  We will be cleaning the air ducts and replacing the filters,

I have an old house, built in late '20 -and lately problem with a
pressure in (hot water) heating system. Everything's been normal for
last couple of years but ... things change, I guess.
Problem: very soon after furnace gets signal from main thermostat in