Homeowner Forum / Repair / October 2008

I'm in the latter stages of building a play room in an attic space
above the garage of my house.  It is built into a gabled roof, having
4-foot tall kneewalls along the sides of the room.  The space behind
the kneewalls will be used for storage, so I will install access doors

I have a few busted sprinkler heads so I decided to dig a trench along the
line and examine the line.  I was amazed that in a stretch of 60' the pipe
went from 1-1/2" diameter to 3/4" to 1" then back to 3/4" as it goes
downstream.  I think over the year sections of pipes were ...

I am wanting to build something akin to the underbed storage one would
see in an RV.  Mattress on a flat board, with a handle  of the foot of
the bed to lift the platform hinged up at the head of the bed...and
underneath is storage...the storage area is marginally smaller in

Bought an old house, need to get blueprints so I can find out where
all the water pipes are (slab on grade). Call county building
department (sacramento, ca), number on counties own web site
disconnected. Call county information line and get a number. Call it

I want to float my 5/8" solid bamboo over a concrete slab.  I've lived
in the house for 14 years and tested the slab and there is no moisture
coming up.  My plan is to glue the planks together and float them over
a moisture barrier.  I don't want to add a subfloor and nail the floor

I grow pumpkins every year, lately kabocha (Japanese pumpkins), also
known as tetsukabuta. They over-winter well, are delicious, similar to
acorn squash, I think.
I had a bumper crop this year due to ample composting at plant time. The

I have a Kenmore refrigerator (596.50392001)   It's approximately 10
years old.
When the problem starts the water dispenser stops working.  This also
stops the ice cube maker.  It doesn't stop refrigerating but is

Garage is under family room.  Only finished wall is in the back and
other side is the basement.  There has always been a minor water
problem from the garage to the basement in the winter when snow melted
from the cars.  It would leak under the finished wall via approx 1/4

I want to replace my current double exterior door.  Well it is an exterior
door on both sides, the outside is facing the street, and the inside is
facing the courtyard.  So it's not an entry door to a building structure.
The existing door is a hollow wood door and the bottom is ...

I was told recently I should have a water pressure regulator installed
as my pressure is too high.
We live in a two story house and some of the faucets on the second
story seem to have low pressure (or low flow rate.)

I have a wall-to-wall crack in my basement concrete floor.  The crack
is fairly uniform in width, about 1/8" or less, and travels in a
somewhat random path.   I've already cleaned the crack and surrounding
area with household ammonia and water, and plan to clean it again with

A little off topic but because it relates directly to my HOME telephone I
thought this group might provide good input.
I currently use at&t for my long distance service.  I am paying on average
about $.30/minute (OUCH) with a monthly minimum whether I use it or not.

Wow.  I'm impressed.
I just learned that you can check your remote controls IR output
using a digital camera.  
You just point your remote control at the digital camera such as a

Hello. I am having trouble with my Hague Maximizer Series 93 water
softener. It is working fine, despite being old, but the problem we
are having is that it is regenerating too frequently. It is supposed
to count down (the number being hundreds of gallons left before

For a while after we moved into this house the shower stall looked fine,
but then the grout lines -- especially those between the edge of the
floor and the bottom of the walls -- started looking dirtier and dirtier.
The usual shower cleaning products did not do much, nor did ...