Homeowner Forum / Repair / December 2003

Where can I get, for example, a 1/2 or 1/4 sized sheet of drywall or a
small amount of fiberglass insulation?  I only see whole sheets of
drywall which I don't need/want/ and won't fit in my car.  And the
insulation seems to come only in bales, which is also way too much for

I want to replace the existing tile on the 3 walls surrounding my bathtub.
What is the best way to remove the existing tile?
A hammer & chisel?
Thanks so much.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to remove these from the bathtub's edge?
I'm taking them off permanently, and didn't want to damage the bathtub.
There's no caulk on either side of the tracks.  Is there a solvent that
would be safe to try?

Our dishwasher leaves dirt on the dishes. Per the troubleshooting section in
the manual, I've narrowed the problem down to paper from labels in the pump
or spray arms. The lower spray arm was clogged a bit so I cleaned it, but
it's still not cleaning properly.

Any reason why a hardwood floor would be cold when it's 22 Celsius in the
room, the floor is above a very hot basement (26 celsius) and the basment
ceiling (floor of above room) is insulated?

Being a neat freak I'd like to install a suspended ceiling in my attached
garage, with recessed fluorescent fixtures.  Just like in an office.
Is this something which is generally allowed?  I would of course use the
fire retardant ceiling panels.  Any other potential code concerns?

I've got a question for someone smart on this sort of thing.
Had an upstairs toilet overflow....had been running for about 30
minutes.  Saw the overflow, dried/mopped the floor and had to leave.
Came home a few hours later and the ceiling on the main floor had

Hi, I am a diy novice.  I own a good 12 volt drill and am considering
purchasing a door guardian:
http://www.rtgprotech.com/dg.htm
Is there anything I need to know to install this properly?

I recently purchased a 5 year old home. The original owner did not do
any 'upgrade' at all, just had gotten the basic fixtures that come
with the house from the builder. I love the house, but I hate 2 parts
of the house.

For last several months, our electric dryer has been taking longer and
longer to dry anything. Got so bad that it took two hours + to dry anything
at all. I had already replace the thermostat about a year ago, and that
helped for a while, but not long-term. I popped the top while it ...

We have a manufactured home that was constructed and fitted out in Canada,
although we live in Arizona.  The home is approximately two years old.
I recently bought a Speakman showerhead at Lowe's and attempted to replace
the original showerhead with it.  Disaster!  Using ...

Can a string of Christmas lights be cut down? These are the mini
lights that come in a string of 100.
It looks like they are wired in series which leads me to believe that
each bulb is a little over 1 volt (about 1/100 of 110). That would

I have an old refrigerator that has started making a noise when it's
running. I have replaced the freezer fan and also tested the fridge without
the freezer fan running (no difference). I have checked the condenser fan;
it's fine. I have checked the compressor and that is fine too ...

Hello.  
We're redoing our bathroom, and taking up about 2 sq. ft. of it is a
sealed off chimney.  There's nothing coming out of our roof, there's
nothing in the 'attic' section of the house above where it is.  But,

My first post's subject line was not very descriptive of my problem...
First year above ground pool owner here. 24' round, deck built 3/4 distance
around, winter was coming and was time to cover it up.
Left over hurricane and rains knocked over a big tree which missed the pool