Homeowner Forum / Repair / July 2008

The west, north and south sides of my home's foundation has settled
over the years causing a 2" drop in the floor near the walls. The rest
of the house seems fairly level. The house was built in 1946 on a
raised foundation. The concrete driveways in the area are all cracked,

We have a two-story home in Flagstaff, AZ.  It's normally cool enough
around here that, without using our central air, the downstairs stays
pretty comfortable during the day if we open things up at night to
cool the house down.  But the bedrooms upstairs get pretty toasty.

generator is honda gx390, 6600w / surge 8000, northerntool pro series 8000, unit has
total running hours under 30.
had it connected to load and suspect the ground post connection wire was not properly
connected to post at other end, ie. bad ground connection may have caused it to ...

"Quite regularly, as a home inspector, I see run-of-the-mill "bad" popping
up. Occasionally "that was really dumb" makes an appearance. But you know
you are in rare air when "Hall of Fame Stupid" presents itself. Now, gentle
reader, is one of those times."

I need the name for an architectural detail, and my memory won't kick in.
It's a horizontal element on the facade, running across the front of the
building, about two feet below the top of the facade.  It's two separate
wood pieces that form a triangle in cross section and protrude ...

Our fridge is about 5 years old.  A bin broke; JB Weld fixed it for about
two days.  I guess we need a new bin.
Any idea how to get one?  I expect Sears sells them, but also expect they
are much cheaper some place else. Thanks.

Halfway through a project and I need to get some more Deck Mate
screws.  Originally purchased from Home Depot but it looks like they
are now carrying "DeckMate" screws (one word) with a star drive head
instead of Phillips Screw Company's Phillips Square-Driv head.  It

any tricks or hints on installing fiberglass screen on my pool enclosure
the ends have triangle openings, 8ft. x8ft. x12ft. thanks

I want to store some papers and some books in the house roof space and also
the garden shed.  Being in the U.K. both places can get a bit damp.
So I thought I would wrap well in a plastic bag to keep out the damp, and
then put aluminium cooking foil around them (i'm told this would ...

I have some troffers in my basement that I got off Craigslist; I'm very
happy with them (they look much better than the previous shop lights
screwed to the joists with lighting panels in the drop ceiling below
them...) however one had a loud ballast in it.  I pulled it apart ...

I live in an area where there are lots of Box Elder trees.  
These trees grow fast and provide shade.  They are not bad looking
trees either.  The problem is that they are weak trees.  Winds knock
them down or split them apart quicker than most other trees.  So I am

My wife and I did some remodeling and created a new laundry room on the
first floor.  We decieded to have a washing machine tray (bought at
Lowe's) put in.
The washer sits in the tray just fine; however, whenever we run the

Got a nice new replacement tire for my mower.  Old one was a bitch to get
off.  New one is half on.  The second side tire bead slips faster than I
can move the irons.
Any great techniques someone can share?

I have a string of three under-the-counter fluorescent lights.
The first one won't come on. It's not the tube, because when I replace it
with a working tube, it still won't come on.
Both ends of the tube get hot, but there's no light.

Just curious---
Anyone recommend a DIY lock-set for an exterior door that is not prone to
being opened by the bumping technique?
A few years ago breaking into homes by this bumping was a big rage on