Homeowner Forum / Repair / April 2008

Here;s a situation I came across.
I know any time a metal mounting box is used for a duplex outlet the box
should be tied to the ground wire coming in.
What if the metal box/outlet is on the load side of an upstream GFCI?

fortunately it's at the high end, the opposite side of the house from
the drain... Anybody have a suggestion about how to get them to move,
without hurting them?  Alternatively, at what point in the summer I
could dump the nest because the babies have already flown?

This is a question of curiosity more than anything, as I don't plan to make
changes to the way I have installed outdoor outlets.
In several homes, including the present one where I am currently installing
outdoor outlets, this has been my method...

"To us, it's not a prank, it's vandalism," Anchorage School District
spokeswoman Michelle Egan said. "They were actually trying to build their
own concrete blocks. As luck would have it, they didn't actually know how to
make concrete, so it didn't set up."

My office room in my house here in Austin gets pretty hot during the day,
and will be getting hotter and hotter as we get into SuperSummer,
Austin's third distinct season (Wet Season, Summer, SuperSummer, Summer
again).  On each side of this office is unfinished crawl space.  The ...

Outside house, coming down from soffit over back door.  No leak in
house???
Any suggestions, where to look?  Who to call to look?
Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.

I have a dumb question....  We have a 40 sqft. bathroom (full bath).
The exhaust fan can not keep up.  It's been getting worse and worse
since we moved in a few years ago.  We've tried cleaning it out a few
times but that does little good.  We didn't put it in, but from the

I have a craftsman DLT 25 hp riding mower.  The drive belt keeps coming  off.
I bought a new belt and still have the same problem.  It happens when I stop
and shift from a forward to reverse and then back to a forward gear.  Any
ideas?  Thanks.

I bought this sconce light, which I am attaching to an outlet
controlled by a dimmer switch.
The electrical outlet gets the 110V as expected before attaching the
light.

I have a 55-year-old cut squared block stone house. The stone is in
need of tuck-pointing in some areas.
First off is it called tuck-pointing when it is not brick but stone?
The other thing is how do I go about to try to mix matching mortar? It

In years past I had weather proofed an exterior door with varnish.  This
door has panels.  I may have put the coat on too thick because the excess
varnish collected and hardened on the ledges of the panels.
What's the best way to remove this hardened varnish?

I have a second floor dormer/room that had dropped a few inches on one end
(before I bought the property) due to a poor support design.  I now have it
supported from underneath and I want to try jacking it up a little at a time
using a 20-ton bottle jack on each of the two exterior ...

While I'm cleaning the lint inside the dryer and have access to the moving
parts, I'm wondering if I should lube the shaft on which the support rollers
ride.  The only con I see, is that grease would attract lint.
What do the pros do?

Normally toilet tissue will completely break apart after being in water for
a short period of time.  But these so called 'moist toilet tissues' now for
sale in some supermarkets do not dissolve at all.
Will the sewerage system in north London U.K., deal with these Strong type

Someone a few years (10) ago gave us an old refrig that
we use as 2nd refrig.  
That bottom drawer -- slides out -- stationary shelf that
it slides in and out under is clear plastic (other shelves