Homeowner Forum / Repair / September 2008

I just got a used MTD/Ward garden tractor at an auction.  It has an
18hp Briggs engine.  It's probably about 14 years old.  In order to
start it, I have to push down the clutch. That's normal.  But when I
let up on the clutch pedal, the engine dies.  No, it's not a tight

There may be a "green" board that covers this but this group seems to
know everything.  Several years ago when a wall was open I segregated
off a shower drain for garden use-- now working on the hookup system.
BG; house is in Los Angeles and have about 1000 sf of lawn.  The

Hello.. I am priming newly patched/repaired plaster walls with PVA
primer. The walls were never painted before- covered w/wallpaper.  I
accidently rubbed up an area in a tight spot and a smudge occured.. I
tried to fix it, but it is peeling now. and, off comes big shards of

We live in a row home, built about 60 years ago. The pressure on the
2nd floor isn't the greatest due to the small (in diameter I believe)
copper pipes they installed when the house was first built. The
pressure isn't bad, you just don't get a real powerful flush.

We have pressure treated wood stairs leading up to our front door from
the street level.  At some point someone decided to paint that
material, and EVERY year, I have to repaint, because the paint doesn't
seem to really "stick" well to the pressure treated wood material.  It

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Greetings. Today I installed a  Broan bath vent on the outside wall of
my bathroom. Because my siding is not flat, I had to cut out the
perimeter of the vent as the instructions say.  I now have to trim out
the opening. What is the best way? In the second pic you see a window

I have ripped up the vinyl tile in my kitchen, cleaned to the bare
concrete, set and installed base cabinets and just about ready to
tile.  As I have been inspecting the floor I have found the floor has
some "wavey" areas where over a 3 or 4 foot distance, there might be

Hi folks--
I have a little (about 1.5 cu. ft.) refrigerator that died---doesn't
cool and makes no sound.
There is a kind of circuit breaker inside the "relay assembly".  That

I have more lumber to paint now and learned my lesson about using cheap
brown masking tapes last time...took me a long time to finally get the tape
off with razor blades and "GOOF OFF"...so this time I will get some
professional tapes.

Just a reminder, now that cool weather is starting, be sure the heater fires
up and avoid the crowds if you need serious service.
Last night it got down into the low 40's and the house was 65 this morning.
Tried the heat just to be sure it worked and found a thermostat stopped

I got a generator for my mother but the noise level is very high.
(5500 watt)
Briggs and Stratton say they have no other muffler that is quieter.
I find it difficult to understand since I have seen much bigger

I got a generator for my mother but the noise level is very high.
(5500 watt)
Briggs and Stratton say they have no other muffler that is quieter.
I find it difficult to understand since I have seen much bigger

The last time I had a 3 day power outage I lost all my frozen food.  I'm
thinking of getting a small freezer and "stocking" it with jugs of
water.  When we have an outage I will put all my frozen food in it.  How
long should the food stay frozen without power?  The freezer will be

Will be replacing 7  vinyl windows in about two weeks.  Was thinking
about using silicon but think it could be a big mess.  Don't want to
be wiping excess away with mineral spirits.
I've used DAP many times but don't know if there is anything better.