When a door is manufactured, the complete door face including all of the metal hardware that is attached to the door face.....that moves as a unit when the door is raised and lowered is put on an accurate scale and weighed. Taking into consideration the width of the door, the height of the door, the weight of the door and the cable drums selected, charts are consulted to calculate the correct springs. The inside diameter of the spring, the diameter of the wire used to wind the spring and the length of the spring are then determined. There are other considerations such as how much "lift" or vertical travel the door face must make before it begins to become horizontal. Also, the life of the spring is also determined and the life is spoken about in "cycles". One cycle represents the door opening and then closing fully. Many residential door springs have an estimated life cycle of 6000. High usage industrial doors may use springs that will live for 100,000 cycles of operation. How well a door is balanced is relative to how good the person who calculated the springs was. It is also relative to how good the installer was when he put the door in. All too often, doors are slapped in on a flat rate basis. As long as the door goes up and down, the installer just rushes to the next job because the more doors he slaps in per day, the more money he makes. IF......the springs on your door were calculated properly and the door was installed properly, then the door should sit on the floor with about 5 to 10 pounds of weight max. If you lift the door 1 foot and let it go, the door should stop right there. It should not try to rise up nor should it try to fall lower. You should be able to do the same thing at any point in the vertical travel of the door. When the door is fully open, it should not rush up in the last foot or two of travel. It should sit just above the opening in a position that allows full clearance of the opening. In other words, if your opening is seven foot high, then the bottom edge of the door should be slightly more than seven feet off the floor. The door should not creep back down into the opening either. The door should move smoothly up and down. It should not rub the tracks, squeak, squeal or bind anywhere. Torsion springs should have a light coat of motor oil on them to prevent rust and keep the coils from binding on each other. The springs should have the exact same number of turns on them because they work in unison. If one spring is wound tighter than the other, then that shortens the life of that spring. All springs will settle in after installation and lose a bit of tension. Installers often put extra tension on the springs when they first put them in to compensate for this tension loss so they don't have to return on their own time to do a door adjustment under warranty. Over time, the springs will continue to lose a bit of tension but the biggest loss is within the first 6 months. And yes, if you don't know what you are doing, spring adjusting can be very dangerous.

ya, i guess you guys were all right... i think i over reacted a little bit about it... i guess i was more pissed that there was enough moisture in the tank that it wouldnt run... baffles me how it got to that point because i was just using it the day before. on a side note, we have been suspicious of some people that used to live across the street. long story short we took them to small claims over some money they borrowed from us. they have since moved, but a month ago we thought we had a blown head gasket in our car and it turned out someone dumped oil in the overflow... now alot of water in the tank of my mower??? well anyways, thanks guys for your opinions. this really is a great community (apparently better than the one i live in!).

You really need to rebuild the whole thing. As it is, it's NOT "fixable". In fact, the CO should probably be revoked for the dwelling if that's the only bathroom. So, what do you need? A sledgehammer, crowbar, and hammer will get what's there gone. To rebuild, you'll need plastic sheeting (probably can get on Freecycle) cement backer board (ditto, if you're OK piecing smaller pieces together) thinset (definately can get from someone who has leftover) a rubber membrane for the floor pan (not expensive at a box store) and some tile (Lots of free tile on Freecycle, make a mosaic!). You obviously have internet access, so go to the John Bridge Tile Forum to get step by step instructions as to how to build a waterproof shower. It wont' be an instant job, it'll take a couple of days, but when you're done, it will be waterproof and you wont' have to redo it in a couple of months like any other bandaid fix you might be considering. I'm sure if you posted your location that there are many folks out there who might even help you!

Things that haven't already been mentioned: The enclosed porch floor-- it looks like worn paint on wood, and should be painted. Take your accessories and group them for more impact. The simplest method is in groups of threes, with one in the back, and two in the front, or vice versa. The three objects should have something in common, such as a color or texture. You can also arrange similar objects in rows. Odd numbers (3,5,7,9) tend to be more interesting than even numbers. That's just a start, experiment! If you can, put something like "turnkey home, all appliances and window treatments to stay" in the listing. This is a starter home, and your buyers may be stretching their budget. So anything they don't have to buy, even if it's not perfect, is a plus. Clean the odd little corners that might not be obvious. Open the windows and clean the bottom of the frames. Wash the glass. Wash and iron the curtains with spray starch. Clean the inside edges of the dishwasher, and the detergent receptacle. Ditto with the washing machine. Fish out all the fluff from the dryer door. Clean the tops of the doors, scrub and retouch the trim. Clean and disinfect the door knobs. Clean the hinges, and oil all the squeaky ones. Steam clean your furniture. I could go on, but you get the picture. Your goal is to make these things look as "like new" as you can. Even if you have to get down on your hands and knees and scrub grout with bleach and a tooth brush. (Been there, done that. Stock up on your pain killer of choice.) This is a lot of hard work, and it sounds almost obsessive compulsive, but every little bit helps. Good luck.