Homeowner Forum / Repair / February 2010

Plus interview with lady named Wood
Video
http://www.azcentral.com/video/#/News/Carved+tree+causing+a+stir/40280768001/351
50280001/66190510001

For example a family member installed a legally sold 'electronic
thermostat' to better control the heat in their bedroom. It did a good
job of that. But ...........
Unfortunately it emitted RFI (Radio frequency interference) that

  I have a twenty-two year old home.  I am assuming that the builder
quality shingles used in construction of the house mean I should be
looking at a new roof...soon!
  This will be the first roof I have ever replaced.  One company,

Lately, I'm getting some air in the system.  I don't get any water if
I release pressure from the tire valve on the pressure tank.  On
pressure is 28PSI off is 48, and the pressure in membrane with pump
off is 27PSI (as best as I can measure).

I got two comparable quotes for floors in my house. My house is a 70
year old colonial with antique red oak floors.
There is one big difference. One company uses
1 coat of Emulsion followed by 3 coats of StreetShoe (by basic coatings)

Are made-in-Japan Fuller Tools good stuff or junk?

I bought a small used cast iron radiator about 6 months (about 12 inches
wide by 24 inches high).  I finally connected it up to the hot water heating
system in an apartment that I will be renting out.
But, when I went to bleed the radiator, I noticed that the bleeder valve is

There no doubt that houses are getting "smarter" all the time.  More and
more new homes are coming with goodies like alarm systems, intelligent
controls for HVAC, pools and sprinklers and even devices to monitor power
consumption in real time.

I can't figure out what the white plastic grill-looking part is for:
http://www.westsidewholesale.com/300w-1-0-amp-maestro-multi-location-fan-control
-and-dimmer-combination-switch-black.html
Can someone please shed light on that?
Thanks in advance,

I was installing a bathroom sink drain assembly recently.  Due to the
sink material, I couldn't use putty under the drain flange.  I didn't
feel like using silicone under it, partly because any leak would just
flow into the drain chamber and really only prevent the sink from

Can I buy just the relay component or do I have to replace the whole
honeywell box on my boiler?  Sometimes when the heat wants to go on it
keeps switching on and off very quickly just as the burners start to
light.

I'm in a hotel now and afaict, I can only get hot water in the
bathtub, shower or bath, if the water is on full blast.
I can't tell what brand it is.
Do fixtures like this cost less money?  Break less often?

Is there a device to measure electrical usage over a span of about a day,
and plot a graph of power use versus time? If it can transfer logged data to
a computer that would be even better.
I want to measure the power consumption of appliances like refrigerator,

If I want a drainage system in my dirt crawl space, is french drain the only
choice? I believe they clog up after a number of years, perhaps between 10
to 20 years.
I need a non clogging drainage system because I also want to install a vapor

We have a four story plus cellar 1840's 2 family house with a hydronic
heating system with large radiators that was probably installed in the
1920's.  The gas boiler is about 20 years old.  The system has both a
conventional expansion tank (that has not been emptied in years) and ...