smd6169

We have hard wired smoke detectors with 9volt battery back up. The system was installed 2 years ago and I have had to change the back up battery on a couple of units. Last night the smoke detectors went off in the middle of the night for about 30 seconds. A check of the entire interior and exterior of the house showed no signs of smoke and i hope it was not due to Carbon Monoxide as it did just go off for 30 seconds and would hope that it would continue to go off until shut off and the monoxide levels drop. So I guess my very general question is...what else can cause smoke detectors to go off for about 30 seconds...?

Thanks - Sean

I live in the harsh cliemt of Boston, MA. I am building a fence with Pressure Treated Posts and White Ceder boards. I take good care of my property so maintenance aside, which will last longer and protect my fence better, staining it or painting it? I would stain & seal it or prime and paint.

Thanks

I am new to lawn care. We had bluegrass sod placed last year and it took root very well. I guess it is now time to feed it.... There's very little weed growing (1000 SQF of lawn and 3 or 4 instinces of a weed growing). A product like Vigoro or Scotts Spray Weed & Feed, how often do I need to apply that? Should I apply the Weed & Feed once and then only the Spray feed there after (if so how often)?

Thanks - Sean

My condo association built a roof deck out of PT about 7 years ago (prior to me moving in). In 7 years they have never powerwashed it, stained it etc...

I know nothing about how to care for a deck but really want to revamp it. 99% of the wood is still in great condition but some boards are warping and lifting the nails up (which I intend to screw down). What is the process to try to restore the deck? Power washing it? Staining? Help....

Thanks.

I live in the Boston, MA area. We had SOD layed last Septmebr\October (not sure what type) a top fresh loom. Much of the grass has taken root and is a sharp dark green but there's a handfull of brown/yellow spots in the middle of a roll or edges. Much of the grass has grown enough to mow, so I feel that overall I have a healty yard/grass. That said, what do I need to do to revitalize the yellow spots? What fertalizer do I put down? What do I spread to combat crabgrass, weeds etc...I go to Home Depot, so what can I get there?

I never had a yard before so this is all new to me.

I was cleaning my bathoom ventilation fan, which has 2 flourescent bulbs. I blow air in through the vents in the cover. The lights were on and I left them on for a few hours while cleaning. Once I shut them off, they will not come on again. It flickers for a second or two and dies. Wiring looks snug....could the blown air (at 80 - 90 PSI) have damaged the bulbs?

How much aid (money) does the U.S give annually in total to all other countries?

We are in the process of refinishing our basement. The basement walls have been insulated and a vapor barier placed. When insulating the ceiling, do I need KRAFT faced or NONE-KRAFT faced batts (I assume the KRAFT FACE would face up if needed)? Also, do I need to insulate the floor? I was thinking of building a small sub-floor, insulate between joists, put down floor boards and then carpeting.

Thanks - Sean

We are going to panit our bathroom 2 colors. The top portion one color and the bottom a second color. My question is which color goes on top, the lighter or darker color and at what height do I split the colors IE: bottom portion 3 feet, upper portion remaing 6 feet etc...

I want to build a built-in type bookshelf cabinet (IE: I am going to secure it to the wall). The cabinet will be painted. What is my best choice of wood type? I want to avoid expansion and contraction as much as possible.

I recently purchased the Craftsman oilless air compressor and air guns tool kit. It came with a bottle of oil (and people have told me not to forget to oil after I am done) but I can not figure out WHAT I am supposed to oil. The manuals all say these are oil less tools that don't require oiling. So...what should I oil????

Sean

Out of curiosity, with a poorly insulated attic, aside from the warm air below raising and escaping through the attic, does the cold air above act like a vaccum, succing the warm air out even quicker?

Now to my attic, we renovated the rear portion of our 1968 house in Boston and during the process I reinsulated the back portion with faced R-38 and am now in the process of running R-13 or R-19 perpedicular.

The front portion of the house/attic insulation is untouched. It is a double faced R-13 at best.

My questions are:

Can I keep the double face bats down and run unfaced R-19 over it, then R38 perpandicular OR should I remove the existing bats, place new faced R-38 with R-13 or R-19 perpedicular, thus not wasting anything allready up there?

Thanks -

Sean

I built a 3 center block high retaining wall on my property, which I place on crushed stone. The bottom row of blocks is buried in. I drove rebar into the ground about 2 - 3 feet every other opening and filled the entire thing with cement. The wall is functioning great but looks like a center block wall. What kind of Stucco product can I use to give the wall a more finished look? I prefer Quickrete products as they are readily available where I live. Thanks - Sean

Due to the width of my driveway and slope of the street, I am installing a steel frame gate. Each gate will be approx. 8.5 feet wide. The post will have to be 8 - 8.5 feet above ground. Will a 5 1/4 inch post do or is it over kill? At 8.5 feet above ground, how deep should the post go in the ground, I am thinking 4 feet minumum set in concrete.

I had my driveway re-paved in April and stayed off it for a few weeks while it cured (a little). I just noticed that there are some tire depression marks on the driveway from some work I was doing and from guests who spun the wheel in the driveway. I would like to repair or fill these in my self, what do I need to do?

My utility closet has a poured concrete floor with an unfinished [Blueboard] wall built around it. On the other side of the wall is a finished closet with rug etc... When I recently changed my Hot Water Heater, some water leaked out and under the gap between the concrete floor and blueboard wall, seeping into the carpet on the other side. I want to fill in the gap between the concrete floor and blueboard, what sealent should I use?

I just regrouted my Kitchen floor (using sanded Grout) and Bathroom (using unsanded Grout).

Do I need to seal them?

How soon after curing do I seal it?

Do I need a sanded sealer and unsanded sealer?

Any recomandations on what sealer to use from Home Depot?

Thanks - Sean

I live in Boston, MA (Charlestown to be exact). Does anyone know if there is a setback requirement when placing a fence? I can not find anything that states there is...

For the past couple of days various Circut Breakers have been tripping in my condo, even at night. Nothing new has been plugged in. Now I can't reset some of them. The condo is about 7 years old, and so are the breakers. We've never had any electrical issues before. Can this be something as simple as wear-and-tear on the breakers and that I simply just need to replace them?

One of my breakers is tripping when I turn the Iron on. The area where I would want to have the iron is all on the same circut. It is a 15 AMP circut on a 200 AMP panel. I have another area in the house that is on a 20 amp breaker that is less used. 2 questions....

1 - Can I swap breaker positions to allow more amperege to the "iron" circut?

2 - Can I just swap the 15 for a 20 amp breaker (thus adding 5 more amps to the panel?

Thanks -

SD