Homeowner Forum / General / May 2007

OOps! My Wife turned on the Central AC for the first time this
season.
Unfortunately, the winter cover was still on the outside compressor.
When I noticed that the AC was on, (about 5 minutes or so), I ran

I'm in the market for a new policy for a house I bought,
and things seem to have changed since the last time I did
this.
So far, the companies I've queried all insist on both my

My overhead garage door opens by the usual hand-held "clicker", but
there's also a box affixed to the garage with push-buttons numbered 1
through 0. There's no "people door", so at present I can't walk up to
the garage and open it, but I have to go into the house for the

I am looking for information on the different types of wood flooring
including laminates, engineered, hardwood and bamboo. My wife has both
allergies and chemical sensitivities so I am particularly interested in
what materials are used in the various types of flooring. So far Google

I rent and can not remove carpet. Is there a product that simulates
hardwood flooring?

I'm having a low-pitch roof added on a porch addition.  The roof isn't
technically a deck, but it will get some foot traffic.  Roofer is
suggesting GAF Liberty roofing system, two-ply self-adhesive SBR
roofing.  

The bearing on my Maytag Neptune is shot and parts alone are at least
$370 before tax.  I'm not too disappointed as I got nine years out of
it.  
The local service people speak highly of the Whirlpool Duet (not the

Can anyone explain the following wire set up?
At a single pole switch I have:
1 - 2 wire (black and white - probably the source)
1 - 3 wire (black, red and white - going to the ceiling box)

We recently had a large amount of construction done on our home.  The
crew was reasonably good about cleanup but there are many many nails
on our lawn.  The lawn is overgrown and needs to be cut but the
landscaper won't do it until this cleanup is done.  I've tried a

We gave an offer to a nice-looking house. But when we conducted a home
inspection yesterday, lots of problem surfaced out. The ceilings of
two bedrooms have cracks between all drywall joints. There are many
violations against the building code. The attic access was covered

All,
I have recently taken a job in another part of the country and am
currently living in a motel while my house sells.  I have started
researching bridge loans as a means of getting into a new home before

Does $1,040 sound like a fair price for replacing an old wooden garage
door with a new sectional double-layer (25 gauge steel + insulation)
door with windows?  The existing opener is to be reused.  Thanks.

We're looking at a 1955 house with electric baseboard heating. We're
wondering how much distance we need to keep between the heaters and
furniture/curtains. Is it a few inches, or a couple of feet? The rooms
are small, so it makes a difference.

Ok so I bought this old house and have entirely renovated the
interior. Before my original contractor left halfway through his
contract in a snit, he'd jacked up various parts of the basement and
braced it so that the walls and floors are now more or less level.

I received a  bid  from a  handyman  for repairs and  reemodelling projects
for  my  house.  The bid  or bids I  should say each were  between  $700 to
$850 for four different projects.   My fiance said that the handyman was
using  this  method to  skirt  around  the  licensing  ...