Homeowner Forum / Repair / April 2008

About 9 years ago the two 20 year old skylights on our 120 year old house
started to leak, and the 15 year old shingles looked wavy, and we
reluctantly began to think, a little, about getting a new roof.
Over a period of 9 years or so, we had 7 or 8 roofers come by and give an

I finished wiring up my 3 way switches I asked about a while ago, but the
one switch only worked in one position. I assumed I had a common and
traveller reversed somewhere, but the wiring seemed fine. I finally pulled
both switches to check continuity and the same push connector ...

How do I tell the difference between flying/winged ants and flying/winged
termites?
I have what look like winged ants (black bodies with long wings) that have
been congregating on the inside of a window sill in my home.  There are

Any folks out there with concrete experience?
I've got a problem with my front porch.
There's a spot that looks like it's deteriorating.
My questions are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-5kz8sUT94&feature=related
This video is a couple of months old. Stock prices took another big
hit 4/11/08 with more anticipated in the next few weeks. Get
out while you can.

Now it is Google taking it down.
If enough groups ban Google posters we can have Usenet back.

Friend has a south facing garage in central Florida.
Garage juts from house (two outside walls).
Door itself is south facing.
Vents?  Solar powered exhaust (still needs vents?)?

Can anyone give me a ball park cost for a yard of concrete? Does the price per
yard go down as the yardage goes up?
My project will take about 68 yards.
Thanks

For small bathroom with no tub and a concrete floor do I need to put
anything on the concrete before I put in the thinset mortar for my
ceramic tiles?

I've been reading about devices made by Tekmar and Beckett will either
of them do what I want? My boiler heats my hot water and these days I
hear it cycling all night just to keep the water hot enough in case I
decide I want to take a bath at 2am. Is there any way I can tell my

Hi;
I had an April Aire 650 Whole House humidifier installed in my house.
It is a bypass model. They ran a thermocouple outside and I am not
quite grasping why. I am not questioning the install, I am just trying

I've got a heavy solid-core door with hinge problems.  The original
screws have loosened up and stripped out.  Several of these were
replaced by what appears to be 3 inch decking screws.  Now it appears
that even these decking screws have loosened up and lost traction.

I live in FL where algae growing on the roof is a big problem.  When I
had a tile roof I had it sprayed every year with some kind of
mildewcide....a man comes around and does several houses in the
neighborhood.  Last June I got a new GAF ultra Timberline shingle roof

Working for a client yesterday, I saw a type of gutter installation I
hadn't seen before, and was wondering if someone here knew about it. It
consists of metal gutters that are completely covered with a fine screen
on top to keep debris out. The screen is sloped towards the roof ...