Homeowner Forum / General / March 2006

Looking for suggestions/experiences with different brands of kitchen
faucets. Specifically, I am looking at some faucets by Denze and
Hansgrohe, but I don't know anything about these companies.
Thanks.

I would like to know if it would be possible to replace the open
expansion tank with a closed expansion tank in the diagram of Kit 3A
from the webpage http://www.edilkamin.com/eng/doc/menu-eng.swf
Edilkamin themselves don't offer much technical support.

Not sure whether you can pull up this page without a subscription -
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/housing/2006/index.asp

Hi,  I'm evaluating the use of my one-time $10,000 withdrawal from my
IRA for qualifed acquisition costs on a new construction property.
I see that the funds need to be used within 120 days from distribution.
I'll be using the money for my down payment and closing costs.

I have a 18x36 pool in New England that the pool company closed for us
in October. They never mentioned draining the pool if the water level
got higher than the skimmer. We had a landscaping guy out for a consult
and he was adamant that the water level was too high and that we ...

I need to buy window shades for some west facing windows & patio door.
My cat likes to scratch at fabric shades. Are there any
wood/metal/fiberglass/etc shades that insulate well?

I'm considering getting one.  I would use it mostly for washing my cars.
The one I saw (Costco) is electric and can dispense car soap as needed.  If
you have one, do you like yours?  Are they powerful enough to get gunk off
of your car?  I saw a gas powered one too, but I'm not ...

I saw a roman bath that looked like tiles over cement work with steps
inside the bath on an HGTV special on the ugliest bathrooms ever.  I
really like the idea and it might be cheaper than the trendy soaking
tubs that are available from major vendors and custom made ones like

We are buying a new construction house from a large public listed
builder in Pennsylvania. During the construction the framing and floor
boards were exposed to the rains and roof was not on. This caused the
framing and flooring to get wet and developed stains, which me and my

Is there any difference between venting bathroom fans through roof or out a
wall? Is one way better?
I'd prefer not to cut a hole in my roof, but to vent through a wall I'll
have to run 25' of duct.

A 10 X 6 bathroom and they want $650 to loose lay new vinyl and that does not
include underlayment.

My home has a microwave over the cooktop in the kitchen.  It doesn't vent
to the outside, but recirculates back to the kitchen.  The microwave has a
configurable venting, including top vent and back vent, so I wanted to switch
it to vent to the outside.  The problem is, there is a ...

It must also be OK to use for a front loader
Any advice?

We are re-doing some electrical outlets and switches in our older home
(built 1954).  We put a GFCI at the start of every branch.  There is
one branch that keeps tripping the GFCI and I can't figure out why.
The wiring goes through the GFCI, to 4 other outlets, and through a

Trying to install a medium-heavy bathroom cabinet in an old house.
Walls are old plaster and lathing.
In the inside of the cabinet there is a board about 1/2 inch thick at the
top.  I have to get through that