Homeowner Forum / Repair / July 2008

I bought a new condo 4 years ago. Apart from regularly changing air
filter, I have not done any maintenance on water heater, furnace or
ac. Is there some 'bare minimum' I should be doing? Everything works
great, so I am not sure what I need to do.

OK this is ridiculous.
I have what I thought was 'standard' ABS black piping from my sump
pump up about 8 feet and then leaving the house through a basement
wall.

Anyone if there's usually a building code that dictates how close you
are allowed to place an air conditioning unit to the dividing wall
between you and the neighbor?
I'm not getting a permit (I'm not sure if its required), but I don't

Hello, was in the store the other day. wife was shopping i was bored
as usual. Looked up and saw plastic dripping from one of he 4ft tubes
in the store. One of the lamps had failed. this was the 4ft type
thinner octron bulbs i believe . the lamps had a plastic cover which

I just bought a Troy Bilt model 020344 pressure washer.  I've read the
manual, but I'm not not 100% clear from the manual which way to turn
the detergent valve for "on."  Is the vertical position for using
detergent, and horizontal just plain water?  Or is it the other way

I'm having a weird problem with our air conditioner.  It is actually a
heat pump.  About 8-10 days ago it was running but not cold air.  I
cut it off for a few minutes and then it started working again.  Then
last Wednesday it quit working and even seemed to be blowing heated

Can someone give me a heads-up and/or link to more info on a DIY repair.
I've got a combo tub/shower with a common three-handle arrangement, the
center handle switches from tub faucet to shower. Unfortunately there's
no brand name in sight. I've replaced the rubber washers in the ...

Just brainstorming here, expecting No for an answer. If I have a
prefabricated shower floor and I want a tile floor, can I instead just
tile the prefab floor instead of taking it out and starting all over
with pre-pan and paper and all that?

At HD the other day I picked up two stainless braided washer hoses labelled
"Floodsafe."  The package says "sutomatic senses hose ruptures and shuts the
water supply off when then flow of water exceed the design rate.
Has anyone used these and/or any like this?  Pros?  Cons?

While using the weed wacker I damaged my vinal siding (rock got slung
aganist it). Apparently it doesn't take much. The hole is about thumnail
size. What could  use to patch this..? Is there a caulk type compound..?
I have several spare lengths of siding  that the builder left or me ...

Why is Billy Maize yelling at me in his commercials. Does he think I
can't hear..? Why would anyone hire this person to sell anything. If the
general public has the same reaction to his voice that I do, they are
all switching the channel until he's done yelling..

Why don't these companies post their actual performance data?
All I ever see is ENERGY STAR® requirements.
Seems like most others give the real data.

I have a bathroom where, due to poor calking, the floor has rotted.
The floor is tile and still looks fine, but when I go in the basement
and look at the floor above the floor is rotted completely thru and I
can see the bottom of the tile.  The amount of rot is about 5x5

About three c'notes. Now, how to spend it. Ideas, anyone?

I have a modified split entry house.  For the most part it is the
typical split which is a mid sized rectangle with three bedrooms on
the left, the stair case down to the front door in the center.
Hopefully this crude diagam might give you an idea on the layout.