Homeowner Forum / General / June 2005

I recently put an offer on a house that has a full basement.  The
attractive thing about the house is I can increase the squarefootage in
the future by finishing the basement.
The builder just recently had the plumbing installed, and it looks like

A buddy and I are almost ready to drywall my basement (abt 1500 sq ft
ceiling + walls = abt 110 sheets of 8' drywall, or fewer if we go 12').
I am leaning towards buying one of two Dewalt screwguns, the DW272 or
the DW260K.  I have some questions, though:

I've got a house that is approx 15 yrs old. Its exterior finish is
"stucco".
I just started reading some of the horror stories about the EIFS
materials and water damage. How can I identify (without ripping the

If you wanted window screens that would prevent those annoying black
flying bugs such as No-See-Ums from getting in, would a standard mesh
size of 18x16 be good enough?
Also, are the standard aluminum and standard fiberglass hole sizes

Just wanted to vent.  Wells Fargo is the current holder of my home
mortgage.  I refinanced two years ago and they were the lending
institution for my new loan.  As part of the mortgage, we are required
to hold flood insurance.  Part of my property is considered flood plain

A few months ago, we bought a house in New York with over 2 acres of
landscaped yard.  Obviously, I needed a lawn tractor to care for it, but I
didn't want to spend too much money on it.  I was happy to find a Troy-Bilt
"Pony" (779) at Lowe's for a thousand bucks.  For those who ...

I'm looking for a wireless window alarm for my basement. I've seen the
First Alert commercials. Those seem to work pretty good on TV. Are
there any brands that are recommended?
Thanks,

I have a 20x40 kidney shaped inground pool.  My Mother-in-law is being
treated for cancer and Dr. recommends swimming so my wife wants me to
get a heater.  My wife refuses to use a pool cover.
A chart says a 250,000 Btu heater will suffice.  If I buy a 400,000

I know someone who's built a shed on their property, and honestly it
looks pretty good.  HOwever, I have no idea whether or not it meets
"code."  He seems to know what he's doing though. Anyway, it's a
somewhat large shed meant for doing "workshop" stuff, cutting wood,

Hey yall anyone who is looking to buy a new home in
florida,texas,ohklahoma,or california i can get you financed no matter
what type of credit score you have if you have any questions you can call
me at 4695741400 or email me at mladak14@yahoo.com

I installed a 24" Direct Drive whole house fan from Master Flow
recently and currently it just has a pull string with off/high/low
settings.  I am looking for another solution and went looking for
something that I might like.  I saw some thermostats to control it and

So I am planning on adding a large whole house fan to my new home.
The house has 13 roof vents and 13 under eave vents.  I might have 6
sq. ft NFA between them all, which is quite good for a new home, but
probably not the 18 NFA reccomended for the Mongo 42" 1/2 hp fan I will

My father wants me to haul the massive 42" whole house fan into the
attic just before drywall goes up in my home under construction.
We are dealing with a non-custom builder who isn't very flexible on
most things.

My builder recommended and installed a Heatilator fireplace. From my
cursory look at this unit, it looks like a piece of junk.  The wire
curtain supplied that you can draw across the front will not slide
well on the tracks and the lever for opening and closing the flue

I'm very confused.  It's time to replace all the windows in my house in
Westchester County, NY. There are so many replacement window companies.
Several have come to my house to give me prices.  They all say their product
is the best.  How do I sort this out?   I don't want the ...