Homeowner Forum / Repair / December 2007

Just had three old dead or dying trees cut down.  Now I have a lot of
wood to chop for firewood.  After chopping away for an hour with my old
ax, maul and wedge, I'm thinking there's got to be an easier way to cut
up the wood.  As a senior citizen, my shoulders and back aren't ...

Here in the last week and a half we have been having strange things
going on with our electricity.  The lights dim and flicker.  When we
try to turn on the microwave the lights will dim (& sometimes brighten
instead) and the microwave power drops low.  When we use the vaccum

Evening-
I built a homemade countertop using formica- 1/10th the cost of
commercial.  My wife just used it as a stepping stool and caught
herself on it- ripped one piece that was loose (near the dishwasher

I have tapping noise from the heat system in my apt building.  I know
what causes it.  The pipes are expanding from heat.
For many years I heard a fast series of clicks every 30-60 minutes or
so, but lately, I've been hearing a "slow tapping," which is one CLICK

my in laws just got their chimney swept.  the guy told them that the
smoke shelf had holes rusted through it and they should have it fixed
before using it again.  Is there any real harm in this situation

Is there a book or website with tips for completing house construction
related tasks when working solo?

I am on my 3rd plumber, and I think he is getting tired of coming over
to my house.  First one was too expensive, second one did not have a
camera and after 3 visits gave up.  The third one could not find my
sewer line so he had to start at the cleanout a dig it up.  He found

I live in a mobilehome and I have a 6 month old GAS water heater
outside. I thought the water heater ONLY comes on when you use the HOT
water. I heard it come on this morning at 5:00 AM(it was really cold
outside) do not know if that makes a difference. It stayed on for 15

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I have the tiolet off of the floor and the flange exposed but I have a
lead bend in it (from the flange to the main line about 1 foot or so)
and I was told that an industrial snake will destroy that lead bend.
Do I just use a smaller snake but then it may not fully clear the

I have an old Frigidaire double oven, model RD-71-64 that I believe is
from the late 50's, but I am not sure when that model came out and
can't find much on it with Google.  Recently, a burner sparked and
there was a loud electrical noise, and then the breaker blew.  We

My winter project is going to be to finish off my garage.  It is
presently heated, insulated and drywalled.  What kind of finish should
I have put on the walls?  Plaster?  Kalkote?  Is there something I can
put on, then paint with at good paint so when I want to clean the

My project for the winter is to renovate my bathroom, and I was
planning on installing a whirlpool bathrub. Lately I have been hearing
some negative comments from people about them.For example one person
told me their whirlpool bath pump made a very loud distracting

We had some smoke/soot damage in our house in the recent SoCa wildfires.
Our insurers (State Farm) had the interior of the house cleaned and washed
by professional cleaners.
After they cleaned the house, they had a commercial duct cleaning outfit