Homeowner Forum / Repair / September 2008

UNITED CHIMNEY CORP.Address:1401 Church Street Bohemia, NY 11716
United chimney wasted my time for 2 months, charged my credit card
around $800 deposit and never provided the order. The owner, Douglas
Acker, is a crook that comes to the phone or answers e-mails only to

I am in the market for a free standing gas range that is self
cleaning. Anyone have any recommendations or brands to watch out for?

Someone in the family just moved into a new home. The showers in the
house have a type of control valve that allows you to adjust the
temperature but not the flow. Is it easy to replace the valves with ones
that allow both the temperature and the flow to be adjusted? (By easy I

I have recently posted a question about tapping into this drain:
http://freeboundaries.com/drain.jpg
and I received good advice to actually tie into one of the smaller
pipes that go into it. Well it turns out that that location is too

Just redoing the front porch - ~5'x6'wide.  It's only ~3' high and there
are cement steps.  It's rotted all to hell, but my only question is what's
the common wisdom on attaching a ledger to the foundation (really hard -
poured in 1954).  The 2x6 that's there is only nailed - and ...

I have power coming into a GFCI outlet in my bathroom.  Power then goes to
the bathroom switch which controls the bathroom light and a switch in the
hallway which controls the hallway lights.  Everything works fine except
when I trip the GFCI outlet.  When it's tripped the hallway ...

I have an Arrow brand steel shed. Although I have never seen water inside,
the inner roof is coated with rust. Additionally, anything steel inside
the shed is rusted, even things that I know could not have gotten wet. Any
ideas? Lack of ventilation? The floor is plywood on top of ...

I have tried to pour boiling water into the bowl in the hopes of it
helping to break up the clog while I was using the plunger to break
the clog. However, I have heard some cracking sound near the toilet as
I flush the boiling water down the drain. I don't see any water

Does anyone have any experience with Behr Elastomeric paint? How well
will it go through this gun
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&
langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100625110&N=10000003+90029+502673
Anthing else I need to be aware of ...

Is it allowed to install a gas furnace in a closet such that there is no
return installed?  The door is louvered, so the furnace sucks the air from
inside the closet that comes through the vents in the door.
I ask because a joint in the PVC exhaust (it's the warmer of the two PVC

Anyone know where I can get a replacement track for a Stanley sliding
mirrored closet door? I've tried Stanley and all of the subsequent useless
phone numers they gave me. Thanks.
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I recently purchased a new washer when it drains I get water backed up on
the floor,it drains,but it drains very slowly. What can I do to solve this
problem?Any help would be greatly appreciated! Also, I tried to to snake

A sinkhole, now about 2 feet deep and approx. 4 feet wide by 5 feet
long, has formed within 5 feet from my deep well equipped with a
submersible pump over 100 feet down. My water supply has not been
affected so far and the pump is doing just fine, judging from the

I'm installing a 4-ft. kitchenette with sink and, due to space
constraints, I am considering running 1-1/4" abs as opposed to
1-1/2" (the lines will tie into 1-1/2" about 8' downstream).  What
problems might I run into wrt to draining?  TIA!

It is getting near time for a new roof. I have a medium blown color shingle
now. I think I will go with a lighter shade to lower the heat load a bit.
Does the color have much of an effect on shingle life? What is a good long
lasting brand of fiberglass/asphalt shingle? Do roofers ...