Homeowner Forum / Repair / May 2006

I'm in the process or repiping my whole house with copper. During the
process in removing the iron pipes I've encountered a little problem under
the house in a tight crawl space. There are a few sections of existing iron
pipes where I wasn't able to remove with a 30" pipe wrench ...

I need to install a small section of counter top in a corner.  This is
in a house about an hour away from my workshop.  My plan was to buy an
off the shelf section at Loews, cut it to fit, bring it up and install
it.  I thought I would take all the measurements, then cut the ...

My fridge freezer has an on / off button and has recently developed the
habit of turning itself off.  When I press the on / off button it
starts as if nothing happened, but then turns itself off at random
times.  Apart from this (major) problem it seems to be running fine.

If I want to lay linoleum in my bathroom do I need to remove the toilet or
can I cut to fit around toilet and then use caulk around the toilet to
seal it? Also, If I do have to remove the toilet to lay the linoleum
properly, how do I do that?

I have a leaking AEG Lavamat 610 washing machine. I took the back cover
off and I can see the leak is coming from the water pump. I can order a
replacement pump. How easy is it to change it? And, can you get access
to the pump (to unbolt if) from the back? or do you have to remove ...

Good Evening,
I am wanting to paint a floor that used to be the garage and we are
turning it into a game room. I know that I want to paint the floor
black and white, but I need some suggestions on how to tape the design

I have a storm door with a hydraulic opener.
The opener hydraulics work fine (the door closes fully on its own), but
the little latch that you move to keep the door in the open position
just slides back with the hydraulics and doesn't keep the door open.

I may buy a Lawnboy mower that has rear-wheel drive.  how does the Toro
Personal pace compare?  are there any drawbacks to self propel mowers?  do
they take getting used to?  i don't mind a push mower....just would like to
take some of the exertion off.  i could go either way on ...

We have an old house that we're in the process of renovating and we
just tore up the rug in a very poorly constructed 3rd bedroom
extension.  To our surprise, the floorboards are all about 1-2 inches
short of the baseboards on the far end of the room!!

I've soldered for years with a Weller electric soldering
gun.  Works fine.  Sometimes I need to solder when I'm not
near 110 vac.  I've tried a 12 vdc soldering iron and it was
useless.  What experience/recommendations do you people have

I opened up a wall up today and exposed the cast iron waste line. At
the joint of two sections, it appears discolored both above and below
the union. The area was
slightly gummy. I assume it would be a leak if it was discolored below

I had some limestone delivered to my home (7 cubic yards to be
precise), and they dumped it on my driveway right beside the house.  It
has been raining for 3 days and we've been unable to do the patio work
we had planned.  As such the mountain of limestone is still on my

I'm about to order stone for a paver installation.  I plan to follow
the recommended specifications for my area which is a 4 inch gravel
base.
I want to use crusher run.  Does anyone have any comments about the

Having problems with my water heater heating my water too hot.  I
turned the thermastats all the way down to 110, but out of the tap it
seems way hotter, cant keep your hands there long anyway!  I dont quite
understand how to diagnose an a/c electric circuit, but live in the

In light of the seemingly endless rain, here is a question I've been
wondering.   Do we need gutters?   We don't have them, nor do we have
problems with leaking in the house.  I've heard differing opinions - Gutters
are good because they redirect water from the foundation, and ...