Q.

A. American Home Shield They have an excellent plan for under $500/yr. Service calls are $55 each to repair or replace. Some items have a 30 day waiting period for new customers. They cover not only appliances, but electrical, and plumbing as well. I have used them for years. In one year they replaced my 38 year old (orig. to the house) hot water heater, 38 year old (orig. to the house) dishwasher, and 38 year old (org. to the house) paper duct work. Each time it only cost me the service call. All work is guaranteed by the contractor for 90 days. We recently moved, and they warranty my new house as well.

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Q. A customer called and said after alot of rain the furnace and the hot water tank don't work. The board on the furnace indicates pressure switch problem but I haven't tested anything yet. I don't know if the basement actually flooded or not but I don't think so. Any ideas?

A. I have read one website with very good description about gas furnace,heater etc...Might be it will help you! Just go through this site http://hvacbestbuy.com/ and get the solution from here.

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Q. The apt is 900 square feet. i'm trying to figure out how best to put HVAC in the apartment--but would prefer not to have a gas furnace (being as i, the landlord, pay the gas but the tenant pays the electric)

A. It should not be a problem as long as each has it's own breaker. 30 amps for HVAC , 20 amps for heater

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Q. I've had rats which after 2 months of pest control they should be history. I've sealed everything off around my mobile home completely. Now, I hear this ticking sound by the vents in the floor and the furnace is always off. I keep my home on the cool side-only use it in the morning for a few minutes. I am paranoid about rats and thought they might be in the duct/vents.Terrible damage done from rats. I had a duct/vent cleaning company come out-they say they get all mice, birds and rats etc. from the ducts. However, I still hear the noise-seems to be in the morning from about 9 to 10am and at night between 8 and 10pm. I had a contractor go under the mobile home and tie everything up and secure the vents with sheet metal and screws to prevent any movement. Then the noise got worse:loud, thump, tick-tick and bang. I don't know if my water lines go along the ducts/vent lines and could cause this noise? I am not using water at these times,either. My water heater is on the other side of the mobile home-10ft away in a straight line from the bathroom/bedroom wall. The vents on either side of this wall is where I hear the noise. All the water faucets, shower etc are on the opposite side of the house from the water heater. Could the water lines from the water heater (12 yr old water heater) cause this noise running close to the vents? I've done everything I know to do. These sounds have occurred during the past 3 months-since the rat thing. Any suggestions? anyone? please help.

A. I am a person who hears every little noise and must catalog what it is before I can stop concentrating on it. However I still am vary aware of each and every noise that takes place around me. What you are describing in my mind is expansion and contraction of the trailer and heating duct. This is amplified by the barren metal walls with in. Seeing that it got worse when they where secured that it most surely is the case because now not only does the metal have to struggle more in its secure fastening it has to deal with the expansion of the trailer. If the noise gets to where it is irritating you try laying out a heavy peace of cut carpet along the bottom of the duct to collect some of the noise. When I had a rat or mouse problem in another home I used plastic bags to alert me of their presence. I would hear a distinct rustling of the bags.

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Q. In a mobile home, I hear clicking, ticking noises by the bathroom and bedroom vents-they are adjacent to each other. I had a bad problem with rats-pest control came out for 2 months-caught 2. They had chewed up water lines and the over flow pressure tube from the hot water heater. I had the ducts/vents cleaned out by professionals, in case, some mice were making the noise I still hear by the vents-usually at 9 to 10am and 8-9pm at nite or so. I still hear the tick, tick noise. I had a contractor go under the mobile home and secure the vents with sheet metal and tighten pipes and anything that might rattle-down-now, the noise is even louder-thud, bang and tick, tick. The hot water heater is in a straight line about 10ft on the other side of the mobile home from the bathroom/bedroom. What could be causing this noise? could it be the hot water heater? The water faucets/shower are on the opposite side of the house from the hot water heater-its 12 yrs old,now and I have very hard water. Would a plumber be the one to call? Please help me. I've sealed all around my mobile home against rodents, plugged all holes and pulled all insulation out, secured everything-still here that noise. I still hear the noise about 10ft from where the hot water heater,near the bathroom/bedroom vents. Either its 'evil spirits', or....hot water heater making noises in the water lines? I've spent thousands trying to get back to 'normal'-from the rat damage etc. and I don't want to replace the hot water heater if I don't have to-but, I will-just to get some peace-if that's what the noise is coming from. Help! I've had a very bad time. What do you think it might be, please?

A. It sounds like the expansion and contraction of the pipes and heating duct surfaces. You really need to relax. I live in an old house and it makes all kinds of noises. Try putting on the tv or a mellow radio station or a fan as white noise and don't worry about the normal noises of living.If you see a rodent then that is one thing but don't freak about stuff that's not that big of a deal. Relax.

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Q. We are thinking about moving our gas furnace and gas water heater to make the basement remodel more sensible. When they built our house, they were definitely not thinking and the floorplan is very tight. Approximately how much would it be to do such a thing? Is it possible to create a new drain hole in the basement as well? We would want to move that too since it would be in the middle of the room = not ideal.

A. You are talking a lot of money. Moving the furnace will create a lot of problems. Its located in the center of your basement for a reason. Its so that all the heat vents will be balanced going to all the rooms. Changing the location of the furnace will change all that and will probably require re-doing a lot of duct-work, not to mention moving the gas feed line. Moving the water heater is not nearly as bad and will also require a new gas line. Changing the drain location on your floor may be the hardest of all. This will require a jack-hammer to break up your floor, re-lay the pipes and re-cementing. So as a professional who has finished many basements, i would recommend building a room around your furnace/water heater and design your basement around that. You need about two feet of walking room around the furnace/heater.

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Q.

A. It depends on who you get to do it, if you do it yourself and if you are moving anything like the furnace or water heater. i know people who took a month to just clean it up. 6 months to put in a couple of rooms and close to a year for a complete remodel.. but those were larger rooms if you are going to get someone to do it for you ask them for an estimation, hope this helps!

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Q. Remodeling my basement and I intend on closing off the furnace water heater in a smaller room containing an access to the crawl space. Not sure if I have the required ventilation area, so I wanted to put bi-fold doors (the kind with vents all the way up) in front of the furnace/wh. Do you think these doors would provide sufficient venting? Remodeling my basement and I intend on closing off the gas furnace and gas water heater in a smaller room containing an access to the crawl space. Not sure if I have the required ventilation area, so I wanted to put bi-fold doors (the kind with vents all the way up) in front of the furnace/wh. Do you think these doors would provide sufficient venting? Both the furnace and water heater are gas...

A. Well, in my house the water heater and furnace are in a little closet on the first floor (house is built on a slab). And the room has a normal door with vents on it, and there are no problems with moisture there. So it sounds like a good idea, but I'm no expert on this.

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