For hardwood floors I'd suggest a good quality, professional grade, dust mop from a janitorial supply store (get a couple mop heads while you're at it so you can keep them laundered - dirty mop heads can hide debris that can actually scratch the floor finish). One with a nice wide sweep to it. Skip the crappy little dust mops found at stores today. I can run a dust mop over the floors in a fraction of the time it takes to vacuum them - and NO cord to mess with. I only use a vacuum on hardwood floors for an occasional edge cleaning. You might check the Consumer Reports Buying Guide for 2013 (available at news stands and probably at your local library Reference Section). There's quite a bit of information about vacuum cleaners in it (starting on page 129). They rate them for carpet, bare floors, tool airflow, noise, emissions, handling and pet hair - as well as cost. -Grainlady

The first one I had was Ricar when the house was being built. They came out about 4 times. It would work when they left, but still never enough power. Then I would have trouble with the hoses not going in or coming out. Then I got electrolux to come out and they put in all new ports or outlets, and new hoses. Still not enough power and the same with the hose problems. They did do a few things in the attic with the pipes. Now I have Drainvac which is the high powered unit I got the electrician to install. Great suction power but hoses still get stuff in the pipes. If I only had clear pipes I could see where the blockage is. We have a call into the head people at the original company that installed the pipes. It was a Hide A Hose system. We are hoping they will recommend someone who really knows how the install and service them. I have almost 9k in this system now and still not happy. My sister built a new house the same time and did not want it. She has a rainbow somebody gave her. She is laughing all the time about what I am going thru. I never had any trouble before until I got Hide a Hose.

Thankyou. I was too gentle when I removed the screw. You said to pry the front end apart, a little more than I normally use force. (I have learned that I can kill anything.) That allowed me remove the top part, then to press down the two snaps and remove the ring and the hose so I could remove the blockage in the nozzle. Picture of the nozzle and the perfume cap: Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog

Hello, sorry no pic's my camera has died, but it is all white, metal 20 25 lbs aprox 6.5 by 13 " there are two halves that are this size separated by the flange that you would use to attach to the wall. The front of the unit would sit proud to the wall about 3 inches and the back half would sit inside the wall cavity. There is a small square for exhaust on the front half of the unit along its side, about 1 by 1.5". The inlet for the hose is on the front half of the unit near the top , there is a door that folds down to allow you to put in the bag. On the bottom is the power switch and the power head eclectic port/plug. The unit has a cord with plug on the back half of the unit. The model number is WV 1000 120V AC 60 hz 7.37A The bag- the part that is cardboard takes up the entire area when you open the door and measures 5 3/4" wide by 5"high the corners are all rounded. The bag itself is 11" long and triangle in shape, other says the bag is treated with bactrastat. Wish I had a working camera it would simplify things for sure. Oh I forgot it says VIB inc but that lead me no where when I looked. thanks!