THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 4, 1994 TAG: 9407020026
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Gateway: Exploring the Computer World
SOURCE: By DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
AT LONG LAST we were getting a dishwasher. It was the first thing we'd promised ourselves when we bought the 90-year-old house in one of Norfolk's older neighborhoods two years ago. We'd been living two years already in another old house with no dishwasher, and the dishpan hands were getting legendary.
Here we were, two years later, feeling flush with our first tax refund, determined to buy the sleekest, quietest model we could find.
Like the dutiful consumers we are, we logged onto Compuserve to access its file of Consumer Reports. Looked up dishwasher. Downloaded the pertinent information.
Then, for another opinion, we logged onto the Internet and went to the misc.consumers.house Usenet group, where people from all walks of life - from those who can barely wield a hammer to professional contractors - hang out, giving the kind of advice your father used to provide, fixing things via the cyberspace airwaves.
``What's the best dishwasher to buy in the range of $300 to $400?''
I expected the quintessential answer. Instead, I got a different answer from every e-mail address. This one swore by Maytags; this one was high on Whirlpools. No, you really should only buy a Kenmore.
In the end, we went with what looked pretty and was on sale, but since then, I've used the group for advice (how much should we expect to spend on remodeling our bathroom), picked up valuable tips lurking (where to find radiator covers), and generally improved my own home-repair knowledge. Next time I talk to a contractor, I swore, I'd know the right questions to ask.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I received a message about a new list: HOMEFIX - all about home repair and remodeling. I immediately signed on.
Since then, my mailbox has been flooded with up to 30 messages a day about everything from fixing cracks in the wall to righting a leaning garage.
No question is too basic for this list and the ``experts'' are amazingly patient and clear with their advice. No one gets flamed for not knowing how to fix a hot water heater, or for painting before they sanded, or any of the other totally dumb, yet totally common, mistakes we amateur home repairmen make.
When Janice asked how she could find a glass, trackless shower door for far less than the $3,000 her husband was ready to spend, she was instructed to visit Home Depot, where ``they have all you need at a reasonable price.''
A problem with squirrels in the attic brought a flurry of suggestions, ranging from hiring a professional exterminator to installing something called a ``Catch-em-alive'' trap (about $20), to scattering moth balls and/or dog hair (obtained from a dog groomer) around the attic (apparently, squirrels are afraid of dogs).
Then there's the couple who gave up life in the fast lane for what they thought was going to be their dream farmhouse in South Dakota. Instead, they found the classic money pit. In addition to stopped-up plumbing, water as hard as granite, a roof that has seen better decades, windows with sashes so rotted out that the glass appears to be hanging in mid-air, etc., they also have an electrical system that looks like ``something out of a 1930s horror flick'' and were desperately querying the list for advice.
After reading that message, I was able to look at my own, slightly seedy, in-need-of-work house with much kinder eyes. After all, what's a peeling porch compared to a new electrical system? MEMO: To subscribe to HOMEFIX, send a message to:
LISTSERV(AT)VM3090.EGE.EDU.TR or LISTSERV(AT)TREARN.BITNET. In the body
of the message type: SUB HOMEFIX (first name) (last name) substituting
your name in the parentheses.
Other home-related usenet groups include misc.consumers,
rec.woodworking, rec.gardens, misc.rural and rec.antiques.
If you have an idea for The Gateway message robm(AT)infi.net or call
446-2362.
by CNB