myLot Discussions
| Tell us which is better and why: do-it-yourself or outsourcing to a contractor? | | Planning to renovate a room in your home? Will you use a contractor, or roll up your sleeves and smell the caulk? The "Do It Yourself" movement is in full swing thanks to "Mr. Fixit"-style TV shows and a plethora of Home Depots. What advice do you have for the DIY-er about to embark on a raft of sheetrock in search of adventure? greetings. : ) | |
| | Ever Start a Home Repair and then Regret It? | | This morning (after a few weeks of nagging from my wife) I broke down and began a "thorough cleaning of the shower". How often do you really clean the shower thoroughly? It was sort of grimey. After scrubing the shower walls and glass door my wife still wasn't satisfied. There were nooks and crannies that still had grunge. Like in the lip of the door. So off comes the door. Of course the caulking needed redone. So scrap off the caulk. What I thought was a 1/2 hour job has now turned into a still unfinished job. I need to replace the rubber seals in the door. I have it pretty well cleaned but I need to seal all around the door again with silicone and I need to buy new rubber gasket type things. My wife sees the "dirt" but she doesn't understand what it will take to "clean it". I actually have the shower door off and dismantled. Oh well, what else are we men for but "slave labor".... I guess men and women are different. It wouldn't bother me that much. But she can't stand the grime. Oh well... Ya gotta love em... | |
| | how to hurricane-proof your house | | How to Hurricane-Proof Your House
Ready for the Storm?
By ELISABETH LEAMY
Biloxi, Miss., Aug. 31, 2006 —
Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 175,000 homes along the Gulf Coast.
Critics say that it didn't have to happen and that it's possible to build houses to withstand storms.
Shockingly, however, 14 states in this country have no building codes to make sure homes are built soundly.
Louisiana adopted a building code after Katrina, but Mississippi still does not have one.
Building codes are only the bare minimum.
There's a movement growing to build houses that are fortified well beyond what's required by code, but how do builders figure out what it takes to make houses disaster resistant?
They crash test them.
Why would anybody use air cannons and construction cranes to destroy perfectly good houses?
To simulate the chaos of a hurricane and to learn how to build houses better. "Let's build stronger. Let's build smarter. Let's build safer upfront. We don't have to go through this on the other end," said Doug Raucy of the Institute for Business and Home Safety.
The "fortified for safer living" standard, developed by the Institute for Business and Home... | |
| | controllling heat loss - energy efficiency | | Field reporter Joe Lovitt meets with home-energy expert Dale Sullivan, who provides ideas on controlling heat loss in the home.
Each year the average home loses hot or cold air through cracks and crevices, which costs money through higher utility bills. Sealing some of these cracks saves money and makes a home less drafty.
Rope caulk is an inexpensive, easy-to-use insulation material. The clay-like caulk comes in a roll. Simply peel off a section of the caulk (figure A), and apply it to the spaces beside windows (figure B). It peels off easily, though it can leave a residue, and can be used again the following year.
Check windows to see if they're drafty by clipping a lightweight piece of plastic to a clothes hanger. Close all the doors and windows of the house, then go outside to determine which way the wind is blowing. Open one window on the side of the house opposite the direction of the wind. Now go inside and hold the piece of plastic in front of the closed windows and doors and look for any movement or fluttering of the plastic.
Plastic window kits are available to seal windows during the winter months. Simply closing curtains at night can make a surprising difference... | |
| | Minor Home Repairs | | I have a minor leak in my roof. This is caused by ice building up around the chimney from my furnace on the roof. The ice was about 3 inches thick and was covering the base of the stack. I removed this after noticing this small leak in my bathroom ceiling. This is a small area of maybe 2 inches a cross so far. It hasn't gotten bigger. I marked the edges of it with a pencil to keep an eye on if it gets bigger. The ice would melt then it dripped under the shingles into my attic. then the water dripped down the stack in the attic to the bathroom. Now I have a small repair to make once it warms up a lot more. It shouldn't be too costly nor hard to do. A small piece of aluminum to place around the base, a few new shingle which I have, some caulk and some roofing nails and some drywall compound is all I need other than the tools. Have you ever done any minor repairs such as this? Are you experienced? What did it feel like when you finally did a minor home repair by yourself?
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB!!~ | |
| | Tip 20 Ways to Reduce Global Warming | | Its only tips to reduce. We all know we cannot stop Global Warming easily. So, at least we can do something like this one. They are very easy to do.Tip 20 Ways to Reduce Global Warming1. Get Educated
* Educate yourself about Global warming. You won't be able to tell other people about it if you don't have knowledge of the topic yourself!2. Recycle more
* 15-25% of people don't recycle. Try to recycle more. If you don't have a recycling bin, go to you nearest recycling center and ask where you can get one.3. Act Collectively
* Acting individually is not enough to solve this global problem. We must bring pressure to bear on power holders and decision makers in government to promptly and decisively act on the national and international levels to curb greenhouse gas emissions.4. Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
* Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Save 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $60 per year.5. Keep your Car Tires Inflated
* Keep the tires on your car adequately inflated. Check them monthly. Save 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $840 per year.6. Change Your Air Filter
* Check your car's air filter monthly. Save 800... | |
| | Will it ever end??? | | About a half hour or so ago, I sat down to check my e-mail, do some banking and check out the discussions here on myLot. Well, no sooner than I sat down did I hear this dripping noise. It's not raining so I'm being verrrrry quiet to hear where it's coming from. Well, it was coming from the ceiling here in the computer room. Right where the A/C unit is that we just had repaired the other day. I knew it was leaking right away and called my husband - who had just gone to bed. Well, the Mr. Fix-it that he's NOT decided the drain up there was clogged - that's what I thought too, until I LOOKED at it! The pan was not even half full, there's no way a clog would cause it to overflow. So he's on his way outside to try to use a vaccuum to suck the clog out when I run out (both in our nightclothes) and tell him it's the caulk around the pipe in the pan that's got a leak. I could tell right away because the boards directly under that are SOAKED, and the rest of the place is dry. AND that's right where the worst of the leak is.So, we've spent the last half hour plus first draining the 1/4 inch of water out of this 4 foot by 2 foot pan. We're using 2 hand towels and a beach towel to drain... | |
| | Whose Responsibility is It When Renting? | | When I say my sister I am not talking about the same one all the time, my father married 3 times. Having said that.One of my sisters rents so where she was living the landlord went up on the rent and she moved over the weekend and I went and helped her. This is an old house that she moved in. The temperature here has gotten real cold and windy at night. Saturday the day she moved was a nice day the temp was in the 70's. By Sunday night the temp dropped to the 20's at night and windy. That is when she realized that the house was cold and wind was coming through the windows. She called me and was telling me about it she said her husband had placed some plastic over the windows which didn't help much. I told her to call the landlord because that was his place to have those windows fixed, well she did, and he said that he did not do that. As in that is not his responsibility, and her husband told her to ask him about caulking the windows, the landlord said he did not want caulk on the windows, he told her to put some plastic over the window. Now what is she suppose to do?Isn't that his responsibility to get those windows fixed? | |
| | How do you get rid of carpernter bees? | | It's spring and the carpenter bees are out in full swing at my house. They keep boaring into the wood under the overhang. We have put caulk in the holes after they go in the wood and they still eat their way out with no harm to them. Tried putting other things in the holes but they just eat around them. Do any of you have carpenter bees around your home and if so, how do you handle them? | |
| | You cannot spend your way out of a recession or borrow your way out of debt..... | | I was watching the news the other day and came across a story of a Parliament member that was chastizing the Prime Minister of Britain.
His name is Daniel Hannan and I must confess that whoever he is...he's hit the nail on the head when it comes to pork barrel spending....even if it's not our country. His speech is below....see what you think about it and tell me....would you like to tell your president this? Would you like to see more or less Danniel Hannans?
The part of the speech I liked best is in my title line.....'Prime Minister, I see you've already mastered the essential craft of the European politician: namely the ability to say one thing in this chamber and a very different thing to your home electorate. You've spoken here of free trade, and amen to that.
Who would have guessed, listening to you just now, that you were the author of the phrase 'British jobs for British workers,' and that you have subsidised - where you have not nationalised outright - swaths of our economy, including the car industry and many of the banks.
Perhaps you would have more moral authority in this House if your actions matched your words, and perhaps more legitimacy in the councils of... | |
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