Homeowner Forum / General / March 2004

Walmart is one of the seeds that is going to set off a very big change
in the world we know today. The exporting of jobs will most likely
expand to great legnths, and cause a decline in profits for many
american businesses. Equilibrium seeks itself out eventually.

I have 40 year-old oak flooring in my house that until this week was
covered with a carpet (with a carpet pad underneath). The floor
appears in excellent condition. I plan to refinish the floor.
MY questions-

I am remodeling my kitchen, and am acting as my own main contractor.
This is a pretty large project with new appliances, some changes in
wiring, new cabinet doors, new countertop and sink, and new flooring.
My question is, What comes first--and what follows?

On Nov 7, 2003 our Maytag Neptute washing machine (model MAH5500) quit
working
when it was a year and a half old. We purchased it at Home Depot. We
also

Heavy wind driven rain just floods into floor via sliding
glass door bottom rail - what are techniques to reduce this?
Have caulked everything in sight from the outside, but can
see other problems harder to solve...

I live in California and would like to know which way cost more... I
already own a house in a subdivision but want to rent that out and
move.
Overall, is it much more costly to purchase land and build a house on

I installed a dishwasher with the power cord plugged into a GFI wall
unit in the kitchen. I plan on direct wiring the dishwasher to the
circuit breaker, but in the mean time I have witnessed some puzzling
developments. I selected the Pots and Pans button on the dishwasher

A 10-inch snake, which is black triangle head and brown body, went to my
house via gap between door and frame last night. Then it finally left my
house through the same gap. My question is how I can prevent it from
entering my house and why it came. Should I complain to HOA or ...

Within a lot of the older steakhouses & bars they would drop their
peanut shells on the floors so the peanut oil would absorb into the
wood.  So... could you use just raw peanut oil on unfinished
hardwoods?  Just a thought..

A 10-inch snake, which is black triangle head and brown body, went to my
house via gap between door and frame last night. Then it finally left my
house through the same gap. My question is how I can prevent it from
entering my house and why it came. Should I complain to HOA or ...

We havd an aluminum/glass sunroom where we have a 80" spa. It is very
decrepit and needs constant attention and repair.
So, we want to buy a new 84x84" spa, tear out the old spa, and replace
it with the new spa. Some disassembly of the sunroom is required, and

I live in Central Florida.  I noticed regular carpenter ant activity at
night in two locations in my garage.  I put some Terro liquid bait (borax)
out and they went for it big time.  They actually ate all that I put out and
I had to give them more.  The next evening, there were no ...

(This is posted to both misc.consumers.house and alt.home.repair, but
not X-posted. )
Last summer, a neighbor sold his house to a contractor. The house went
down in November, and a new larger home is going up in its place. The

what is the best way to kill and remove mold/mildew from drywall partitions
prior to painting so that it is permanently gone and not to come back
through the new paint?

Yesterday was my lucky day!  I received a Consumer Product Survey of
America from Laura David! It's exactly like the one shown at
http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/FTC-InfoMktpl-B.pdf
After reading up about it at