Q. I have a choice between Carrier and Lennox. Which is the better of the two for a home installation? I have bids for both for a furnace and AC/heat pump. I am looking opinions on overall performance, cost, and maintenance records. A friend of mine said that Lennox has had a poor service/repair record over the last few years and is also more expensive. I am looking for opinions from HVAC professionals who are familar with both brands as well as homeowners who have had both installed.

A. To start off most brands are very comparable except for pricing, quality and craftsmanship tend to be close on most brands. A lot of brands use the same manufactures for their parts such as Copeland, Sporland and Emerson Climate Technologies. A bit of Background on me I own my HVAC company we sell Frigidaire and York systems . When I was in school I worked for a company that installed Lennox my own home had a builders grade carrier system installed its 12 years old now and haven't had a even a minor issue with it. We service all brands in my area we see a lot of Lennox systems because most of these homes were built the company I use to work for did most of these homes. Now I will tell you this any system no matter what the nameplate says is only as good as the installing contractor. You need to be more concern about how the contractor operates and what people have said about them. Some things to look for 1) Is the unit sized correctly did the contractor preform a load calculation called a Manual J if the contractor skipped on this step the installers will probably take short cuts too. 2) What kind of warranties are offered parts, labor, and manufacture. See if you can find out how the HVAC company handles any issues. 3) Is the duct sized correctly? This is usually the biggest issue I find with the variable speed motors and such causing problems. 4) I could go on and on but I suggest maybe stopping by HVAC-Talk.com to do a bit of research on a proper install. When I went to a HVAC convention this year I was told 7 out of 10 installations are wrong I feel this number is high but I am sure with the way the industry is this could be right. Too Many Area's don't require you to have a contractors HVAC Lic. My area included its a shame too many people don't have this we spend a lot time training and learning new code regulations to stay current on our License. Now the Pros and Cons of the systems you want from my experience Lennox I have seen many Lennox units most still running fine at the 20 year mark with only minor fixes such as Capicitors and maybe a fan motor or ignitor. They are a pretty sturdy as far as equipment goes. the Cons I personally do not like in most of the Lennox furnaces the place the igniton control module in direct line of the evaporator coil drain line which gets clogged and overflows. This has caused many of these control modules to fail early which cost any where from $120-$400 for the part depending on the unit. Lennox parts tend to be pricey and Lennox Dealers in my area tend to have higher service call rates. Hence why we get a lot of calls to repair Lennox systems. Sometimes it may take us a few days to get parts if there isn't a universal replacement, But then again a Lennox dealer should have the parts on hand. Carrier They tend to be a bit cheaper in equipment cost, They are well built system not as fancy looking as the Lennox systems. I think it was Carrier I saw a ad for that you could get your favorite sports team logo added to the outside units covers. Cons Some Carrier Models are just a pain to work on as far as access to major parts for the service tech. The Drain pan in the older model of the Evaporator coils rust out fairly quick causing water leaking onto the furnace heat exchanger and such I hate replacing these pans because the older installs you usually have to dismantle the old air plenum. My carrier furnace is very loud in fact I thought it broke down one winter because my nieces turned the furnace off with the switch on the side because it was too loud while they were downstairs playing rock band on my xbox. The newer models of both brands are more efficient and quiet now days. They will cost less to operate. Last I suggest regular preventive maint. on your new unit will keep it running at maximum efficency. It will also extend the lifespan of the system and if you talk to the salespeople you can usually get a good price on a service agreement if you go with their system. Hope this helps if you have any questions feel free to ask I willing to answer any questions you may have.

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Q. When I built my house I thought I would save some money by leaving out the tub in one of our bathrooms and just make it a powder room. It has a toilet and a sink. I am on a concrete slap. my house is not raised up. The room is big enough to add a tub and I would like to do that now BUT.... the toilet is wear the tub would need to fit and then I would have to move the toilet to a differnt place beside the tub. How hard is this to do?

A. Basically it would involve cutting out a strip of slab to plumb in the new toilet location and plumb in the tub drain. A skilled plumber could "do" the actual work within a day, but it would take longer because the work would require a permit from your City's building inspection department and they would need to inspect the work before concrete could be poured to fill in the slab. Replacing/patching the floor might be the most involved step, depending on what type of floor surface you currently have. If you have tile in the bath already, it might be a pain to try to preserve the existing tile or match it with new patch pieces. Removing the entire tile floor and then re-tiling might produce a better end result. If it's currently just bare concrete then you don't even have to worry about "patching" the floor. The new concrete will look different than the old concrete, but shouldn't cause any issues with your final floor finishing. I'm in the process of remodeling my lower level which has a slab floor. I had to remove all of the existing tile and cut a hole in the slab around the existing shower drain to fit the tub drain (a 7 1/4" diamond masonry blade went through the concrete without issue). However, I was able to reuse the existing shower drain for the tub drain. It's quite possible a plumber will just run a new toilet drain back to the stack and reuse most of the existing toilet drain for the tub. Of course there's no reason you couldn't do the work yourself if you are so inclined. All it takes is a bit of research and a permit or two from your city. Good luck!

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Q. I am considering starting my own catering business, what are good ways to introduce myself to the population. i am a certified chef and i also have a family member who is a pastry chef and i was thinking that maybe we could start something together but i do not know much about marketing if we do really decide to start it. we already have experience catering for weddings and other major functions.

A. Advertising is good for increasing awareness of your company and its offerings. The point of advertising is to firmly plant your marketing message into the consumer's mind so that they think about you when they look for what you offer. Advertising also gets the company in front of a wide variety of people in a timely manner. Keep the following points in mind when you consider advertising: 1. Many companies provide money to distributors for cooperative advertising. If you mention their products in specific ways in your ads, they pay for a portion of the ad. Include enough suppliers, and the suppliers can pay for the entire ad. Contact each of your suppliers for their specific restrictions. 2. Yellow Page advertising is a must for any business trying to reach the general public, such as a restaurant. The phone book comes out only once a year, so you should plan in advance to be included. Check with colleagues about their success with the various ad types and sizes; take the plunge and hope for the best. 3. Placing an ad just one time in a paper or on TV or radio is generally useless. You need to repeat your ad on a regular basis to get the best results, so plan for six to ten insertions, or don't waste your money. 4. Advertising firms specialize in making companies succeed with advertising. They also have an art department that can design an ad for you. 5. Contact each publication, radio, and TV station you are interested in advertising with and ask them to send you a media kit. (Media kits are prepared by the advertising departments of newspapers, magazines, and television and radio stations as a means of encouraging companies to buy ads. These kits typically contain demographic information about their audience, a rate card, and an editorial calendar for publications, which tells readers what to expect in upcoming issues.) The kit includes demographic information about the people who read each publication, listen to specific radio programs, and watch individual TV shows. Typical information includes age, sex, education, and marital status. This information lets you determine whether the people who will see or hear the ad are the ones most likely to buy from you. 5. Ask each media supplier if they have ever run ads like yours before and what type of responses they received. This might help you determine whether it makes sense to invest in advertising there. There are a number of new advertising tools now available via the Internet, including banner ads, site ads, and search engine listings. For people using the internet regularly, this can be a great way to get their attention. Advertising can be a useful tool when used properly, but it can also drain massive amounts of cash from your company with minimal financial return. Make sure that whenever your ads appear, they are seen or heard by serious potential customers for your company's product or service offerings. It is also wise to pay for professional help when producing ads. There's no sense paying for ad time or space only to run an ineffective, poorly designed advertisement. Hope I helped! Good luck! I will say a special prayer tonight for you and your future successful business!

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Q. I had my sewer drain cleaned out of roots which they accessed by removing the toilet and going through that drain. Now the toilet gurgles and bubbles up when flushing, and the water level in the bowl varies, but is usually very low. It acts like it can't get air, but it was fine before the drain was cleaned. The drain cleaner service says they didn't do anything to my toilet, so it's not their problem. I played with the toilet tank float, but no luck. Any suggestions? Thanks.

A. You are either having venting issues or their is an obstruction in the toilet. Not necessarily a clog but an obstruction. If the vent is blocked or partially blocked, the flow of the water leaving the toilet will siphon the water out of your bowl. They may not have worked on the toilet but their work may have sent debris up the vent pipe. I hope they have since taken care of the problem.

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Q. I posted a question about my current situation yesterday and got some good information but what I really have a question about is can the issue we are having with our septic and sewer drainage be caused by an unscrupulous company or a technician that doesn't know what he's doing?? Here is the link to what I already posted http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnM.CPwsrkmq4SIC8kZiJvMazKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20100618184930AAuMMah you can read what is happening if you want to. I am hoping maybe someone who works as a septic and sewer cleaner and repair person can tell me if it's possible that someone can intentionally or unintentionally clog leach lines so that you will have to have expensive repairs or not? I do realize it could have gone bad on it's own. Or maybe this is just a problem of too much rain, I just think it could be suspicious and wondered if it's possible. I have read things online saying that "Without proper pump-outs, solids will flow into and clog the drainfield, resulting in an expensive repair process." Can someone make this happen when they pump it by possibly breaking up the slug and then pumping to a certain level then letting the solids flow into the leach lines before finishing the pumping? We just had ours pumped a month and a half ago and now it is backing up into the house and draining very, very slowly. Thank god at least it is clean water, (well not clean, clean, lol, but clear) We can only use limited water and when it rises into the downstairs shower we have to pump it out with a sub-pump. We haven't called anyone yet because if it is do to the rains I was told pumping could just be a waste of money as it will refill. Thanks John. :-) The only reason why I was wondering about this is other ppl said they were dissatisfied with this company & I read on http://www.inspectapedia.com/septic/SepticTankPumpProcedure.htm That "a rectangle of floating scum layer material can fall from the septic tank inlet baffle area as the effluent level in the tank drops. Service operators call this the "pillow" and its appearance is important. If this material is left in the tank baffles the system may become clogged." I was concerned if this could have happened. Wow check 2x a year that will be hard since the lid is 3' 6" deep. Yikes that's a lot of digging. lol The guy that pumped it said it only needed serviced every 3 years since it was a very large tank and only 2 ppl in house. We flush notta but what's supposed to be flushed, no lady stuff, lol, sorry TMI, lol and have no garbage disposal and only use liquid soaps, no powder. Thanks for the info John! Hey do you recommend additives? I read on sites it's no good John, since it sounds like you have experience with this, do you have an approximate guess at what it costs to have this repaired, ie new leach field installed? Just a guess of course? I know it is probably different in different parts of the country. Oh and is there a way to test the leach lines to be sure they are bad and need replaced? Thanks Hydroace, I really appreciate the reply! More good information. I am going to have to google some of the info as I'm guessing the "header" you speak of is the distribution box?? And the "footer" would be the end of one of the lateral tubes?? Or do I have that backwards? Heck I might not even be close, lol. ( I know I should be calling out a professional by now but I have also read that they can't do anything to fix/replace your drain field until the ground is dry, if you've been having flooding, which we have. It keeps raining 2+ inches a day! Maybe there's some hope in the future as it's not supposed to rain for the next 2 1/2 days. Plus I like to know as much as I can before someone comes out so I don't get ripped off too badly, lol.

A. I'm gonna agree; the 'honey dipper' can't do anything to cause the issues you're experiencing. Here are a couple of comments, just some food for thought. First, regards digging up the access port, I'd suggest putting some kind of a standoff over the access port for the septic tank - one which has a cover just a few inches but beneath the surface of the ground. For example, I cut the bottom out of a bucket for a sump pump and put it over the access port. When I needed access to the septic tank, I just exposed the cover to the sump bucket and opened it to gain access to the septic tank. I have to confess I only did so every 5 years (but I never had any problems either ;-) On to the bigger issue, the tile field. I've done a lot of work in construction and land development and there's a special piece of equipment used to compact ground - a sheep's foot. They have a large drum with raised pads on it, concentrating the weight of the drum on the pads and compacting the ground. The machine was designed to simulate the compaction that occurs in paddocks and along trails frequented by large animals. I read your first post and noted that your tile field may have been compacted by the horses you keep. To check the condition of your tile field, first expose a part of the header at the upstream end of the tile field to see if the pipe is full of effluent or if it's empty. Then expose the footer for the field to verify whether it's draining or holding water. If necessary, run a hose into the header to check the footer. If the footer is empty (even after running water into the header) effluent isn't getting through the laterals in the tile field. You probably have crushed or filled laterals, and it's time for a new field. If the header is empty effluent isn't getting from the septic tank into the tile field, and you need to expose the pipe between the two and clean it out. This may require that you install a cleanout. If effluent spurts out of the header or the footer when you inspect those pipes, the tile field is full and not draining properly; time for new tile field. Good luck with it! Edit: Sorry, I've gotta explain myself better. The effluent leaves your house through a pipe and enters the septic tank(s), which traps anything that floats or sinks, and a relatively clear effluent leaves the tank(s) and enters a distribution box. At its simplest, the distribution box is nothing more than a tee in the line, sending the effluent to either side along the header. The header distributes the effluent to several laterals, which run the length of the tile field. In open tile fields, the laterals are simply capped at their end, while in closed tile fields, they are connected to a common footer at their downstream end. If yours is a closed system, you'll need to find the closed ends and check to see if the lateral is full or empty. Hope this helps.

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Q. Wow, well there's A LOT of DIY out there using these two for drain issues.

A. No. When you mix vinegar and baking soda you end up with carbon dioxide gas. Where were you when they explained that in science class?

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Q. And I am interested in what the normal rate for charging customers would be. Anyone in the feild? I would like to have competitive pricing since I am just starting out. Prices for Snaking and prices for jettting would be appreciated. thanks!

A. Since you are just starting out, I expect that you should be concentrating on some of the other factors necessary to get your business of the ground than competitive pricing. Pricing is not the most important aspect. You need to understand your customers and the value you bring to them and then determine what that value is worth to them. If you've never been in business before, I would strongly recommend that you talk to a business counselor before you do anything especially spend money. I'd call the local office of SCORE (go to http://www.score.org and input your zip code to find the chapter nearest you), the advice is FREE. The counselor at SCORE will most likely advise you to write a business plan which is very good advice because it will force you to dig out all of the start up details and the costs of starting a Drain Cleaning/Jetting Business and force you to also understand all of the aspects of this business including the customers you'll concentrate on (your market ) and how you'll go after them. Whether its an Internet business or a classical brick and mortar business there are some of the same business issues and you SCORE counselor will be able to help you through the process Try this link : http://www.ychange.com/small-business-co... and read some of the articles especially the ones about a business plan and starting a business. Good Luck

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Q. I would like to start a drain cleaning business. I think that I should incorporate, but what other insurance or financial protection should I have?

A. Liability insurance would cover most of your damage issues. Your best bet would be to talk to someone already in that business for an insurance referral if you don;t already have a good agent. They should be able to help you. If you have a good insurance agent, He or she would be an excellent resource.

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