Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

About Us

Air Clean of Florida is the number one HVAC Duct Cleaning company on the West Coast of Florida, and has been in business in Sarasota since 1981. We are a fully licensed and NADCA certified A/C company, which services Sarasota, Manatee & Charlotte County. Initially we started with only duct cleaning service, but today our company has every branch of an A/C provider including Residential and Commercial HVAC installation and an efficient Service Department.

Our goal is to provide quality workmanship to our customers expedited in a timely manner. We pride ourselves with taking every job as being the most important. We have a well trained work force experienced in all facets of the HVAC industry. Our technicians are equipped with well-maintained, well-stocked vehicles and are in constant communication with management.

Our office hours are Monday - Friday from 8am - 5 pm. Please give our office a call today for a free Duct Cleaning inspection, or to set up a service appointment! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.

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Air Duct Cleaning Company | Sarasota, FL

Specialties

Our mission is to provide fast, reliable and affordable appliance repair services, and we have established ourselves as a leader in the industry in pursuit of that goal. Our repair technicians are all factory trained to repair and restore most major brands of appliances and are experienced in working an all types of household machines. Whether it's your washer, dryer, fridge, freezer, stove or garbage disposal, Apple Appliance Repair can have it up and running again for you in no time.

At Apple Appliance Repair, we are constantly trying to improve our customer service and offer a satisfaction guarantee

Why Choose Apple Appliance Repair?

Evening and Weekend Hours Same Day Service 24 Hour Emergency Service Fully Trained and Qualified Staff No Hidden Fees Great Rates

Appliance Repairs:

When your washer, dryer or refrigerator breaks you suddenly forget how you lived without these helpful devices. Getting your appliances repaired quickly and effectively becomes a top priority.

At Apple Appliance Repair, we stand by our quotes and will never tack on any hidden fees or extras mid-job. We will be at your door promptly and armed with the tools and experience to get your machine running again.

Originally posted here:
Apple Appliance Repair - - Ashburn, VA - Yelp

Choosing the right Metro Detroit contractor for your Stamped Concrete, Concrete Patio, Driveway, Walkway or flatwork cement home improvement project doesn't have to be a time consuming or nerve racking process.

That's why we take the time to show you our "actual concrete sample boards" in your home. These boards display the many different combinations of colors and textures as they really are. The boards can be laid down against your house brick or siding so that you can make the best color and pattern selection to match your home. Biondo Cement is also your local concrete driveway contractor specializing in NEW Driveway installation or replacement.

We take out old concrete and replace it with reinforced concrete so you get the very best product. We can also install lights into your patio, driveway or walkway to make it even more outstanding! Check out our concrete colors & patterns samples and get inspired.

Biondo Cement, Inc. is a leading residential and commercial concrete contractor that specializes in "Decorative Stamped Concrete" driveways, patios, walkways, garage floors, flatwork, cement footings and custom concrete installations and applications. Established in 1985, Biondo Cement has a proven track record of quality cement work and customer satisfaction that's hard to beat. Located in Shelby Township, Michigan.

Stamped Concrete is becoming increasingly more popular and the concrete of choice for most homeowners across the country. Because Biondo Cement, Inc. specializes in decorative stamped concrete, we're able to offer a wide variety of colors, patterns, finishes and design options to our customers. Our team of experts have decades of experience and use "state-of-the-art" tools and equipment when installing the product. Our expertise insures your project will be done both professionally and in a timely manner. We are fully licensed and insured and back up our commitment to quality and complete customer satisfaction with a 2 Year Warranty on workmanship and materials.

Owner is involved in every project to insure the best quality product!

Biondo Cement puts quality and service first. Your job will be given our utmost care & attention, therefore we do not cut costs by cutting corners. We want you to be a satisfied client who will refer others to us whithout hesitation. You can rest absolutley assured of professional workmanship.

Read more here:
Biondo Cement | Stamped Concrete | Patios | Exposed Concrete ...

stamped concrete patio by Mr. Concrete of Indiana

The patio is the focal point of any backyard. Your decorative concrete patio will be an oasis where you can entertain friends or simply relax after a hard days work. In the past, landscaping was the only way to enhance your outdoor living space, but now through the use of stamped concrete, stenciled concrete, concrete overlayments and acid stained concrete, your patio can be a functional showplace. Find a local patio contractor by clicking here.

The decorative concrete patiospictured below were all designed and installed by members of the Indiana Decorative Concrete Network. These Indianapolis area concrete contractors have years of experience installing stamped concrete, stenciled concrete, acid stained concrete, concrete overlayments, and concrete countertops all over Central Indiana and beyond.

Service areasinclude (but are not limited to): Indianapolis, Carmel, Zionsville, Noblesville, Westfield, Cicero, Fishers, Fortville, McCordsville, Greenfield, Shelbyville, Greenwood, Center Grove, Bloomington, Terre Haute, Avon, Brownsburg, Crawfordsville, Lafayette, Kokomo, Anderson, Fort Wayne, Whitestown, Lebanon, and Muncie.

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Concrete Patios | Indiana Decorative Concrete Network

Outerspace Landscape Furnishings is the North American importer/distributor for LEGI and hasrepresentedmanufacturers of landscape furnishingsfor more than 30 years.

Founded in Germany in 1949, LEGI manufactures architectural fencing; swinging, rolling, and cantilever gates; trellises; and landscape structures. With facilities also in Poland, Romania, and Russia, LEGI employs more than 450 workers.

LEGIs high-quality, heavy-duty, and aesthetic products are made from welded steel wire, hot-dip galvanized after fabrication and polyester powdercoated. They are appropriate for public spaces, parks, playgrounds, athletic facilities, gardens, streetscapes, corporate settings, universities, schools, and high-security areas.

We have been told by owners and specifiers that LEGI has made a positive contribution to their projects we hope you will agree after visiting the website. Whether your project calls for standard or customized LEGI products, Outerspace Landscape Furnishings looks forward to working with you on all phases of your design process.

Recent Projects

Sunset Recreation Center and Playground

29th and Lawton Streets, San Francisco CA

LEGI-Fit Fence, LEGI Klassik gates, custom LEGI fenceposts to accommodate artwork

New Products

Consider this 2 square mesh as an aesthetic option for screening use with LEGI-R or LEGI-Fit posts for a heavy-duty, corrosion-resistant solution. Also available in 2 x 4. mesh openings and dimensions to fit your project.

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fences.com - Outerspace Landscape Furnishings

Overview:

Arguably August Wilson's most renowned work, Fences explores the life and relationships of the Maxson family. This moving drama was written in 1983 and earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize.

The protagonist, Troy Maxson is a restless trash-collector and former baseball athlete. Though deeply flawed, he represents the struggle for justice and fair treatment during the 1950s. Troy also represents human nature's reluctance to recognize and accept social change.

In the playwright's setting description, symbols connected to his character can be found: the house, the incomplete fence, the porch, and the makeshift baseball tied to a tree branch.

Origins of Troy Maxson:

According to Joseph Kelly, editor of The Seagull Reader: Plays, Troy Maxson is loosely based upon August Wilson's step-father, David Bedford.

The following can be said about both men:

The Setting Reveals the Man:

The set description provides several clues to the heart of Troy Maxson's character. The play takes place in the front yard of Troy's "ancient two-story brick house." The house is a source of both pride and shame for Troy. He is proud to provide a home for his family. He is also ashamed because he realizes that the only way he could afford the house is through his brother (a mentally unstable WWII veteran) and his brother's disability checks.

Building Fences:

Also mentioned in the setting description, an incomplete fence borders part of the yard. Tools and lumber are off to the side. These set pieces will provide the literal and metaphoric activity of the play: building a fence around Troy's property. Questions to consider:

According to the playwright's description, "the wooden porch is badly in need of paint." Why does it need paint? Well, in practical terms, the porch is a recent addition to the house. Therefore, it could simply be seen as a task not quite finished. However, the porch is not the only thing in dire need of attention. Troy's wife of eighteen years, Rose, has also been neglected. Troy has spent time and energy on both his wife and the porch. However, Troy ultimately does not commit to his marriage nor to the unpainted, unfinished porch, leaving each to the mercy of the elements.

Baseball and Fences:

At the beginning of the script, August Wilson makes certain to mention an important prop placement. A baseball bat leans against the tree. A ball of rags is tied to a branch. Both Troy and his teenage son Cory (a football star in the making - if it wasn't for his embittered father) practice swinging at the ball. Later on in the play, when the father and son argue, the bat will be turned on Troy - though Troy will ultimately win in that confrontation.

Troy Maxson was a great baseball player, at least according to his friend Bono. Although he played brilliantly for the "Negro Leagues," he was not allowed to on the "white" teams, unlike Jackie Robinson. The success of Robinson and other black players is a sore subject for Troy. Because he was "born at the wrong time," he never earned the recognition or the money which he felt he deserved - and discussion of professional sports will often send him into a tirade.

Baseball serves as Troy's main way of explaining his actions. When he talks about facing death, he uses baseball terminology, comparing a face-off with the grim reaper to a duel between a pitcher and a batter. When he bullies his son Cory, he warns him:

During Act Two of Fences, Troy confesses to Rose about his infidelity. He explains not only that he has a mistress, but that she is pregnant with his child. He uses a baseball metaphor to explain why he had an affair:

ROSE: You should have stayed in my bed, Troy.

TROY: Then when I saw that gal . . . she firmed up my backbone. And I got to thinking that if I tried . . . I just might be able to steal second. Do you understand after eighteen years I wanted to steal second.

Troy the Garbage Man:

The final details mentioned in the setting description reflect Troy's later years as a hardworking garbage man. August Wilson writes, "Two oil drums serve as garbage receptacles and sit near the house."

For nearly two decades, Troy worked from the back of the garbage truck, along side his friend Bono. Together, they hauled junk throughout the neighborhoods and alleyways of Pittsburg. But Troy wanted more. So, he finally sought a promotion - not an easy task due to the white, racist employers and union members.

Ultimately, Troy earns the promotion, allowing him to drive the garbage truck. However, this creates a solitary occupation, distancing himself from Bono and other friends (and perhaps symbolically separating himself from his African American community).

The Pittsburg Cycle:

Fences is part of August Wilson's Pittsburg Cycle, a collection of ten plays. Each drama explores a different decade in the 20th century, and each examines the lives and struggles of African Americans.

See the article here:
"Fences," a Play by August Wilson - About.com Education

Why choose DuraMax for your fence, railing, deck, or patio cover product needs? We are the premier vinyl fencing, gates, deck, and patio cover manufacturer and installer in Southern California. With nearly 10,000 projects completed in our local community, our expert installers will be more than happy to provide you with the most attractive vinyl fences, gates, deck, or patio covers at prices that t any budget.

Vinyl will NOT mold, splinter, rot, peel, crack or attract termites

Color fast vinyl will not fade

No visible screws or nails give a clean finished look.

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We have a variety of gate styles for each of our fence styles. Best of all, your new vinyl gates are rot-proof and rust-proof, eliminating all the headaches of wood or metal gates. The gates are beautiful, solid and strong, and they operate easily and smoothly. Your new gate from the Vinyl Fence Company will be the last gate you will ever need for your property!

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Vinyl will NOT mold, splinter, rot, peel, crack or attract termites. Color fast vinyl will not fade. Slip resistant wood grain surface. Light colors stays cool to the touch under the hot sun and is fire resistant. No visible screws or nails give a clean finished look.

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Picket Fences Privacy Fences Ranch Rails Ornamental Fences Pool Fences Durawood

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Steel Reinforced. Free-standing or attached to your home. Low maintenance and durable vinyl. Unlike wood, vinyl will NOT rot, warp, crack. attract termites, or ever need paint. Unlike aluminum, vinyl is quiet in the rain and will be cool to the touch under the sun. Available in white or tan.

Construction is all ROUTE-AND-LOCK so there are no unsightly screws or brackets that can rust or corrode. These routed vinyl patio structures are steel-reinforced and incredibly strong!

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We have a variety of gazebo styles available for your specific design needs. Best of all, your new vinyl gazebo are rot proof, eliminating all the headaches of traditional wood gazebos. The beauty, strength, and durability of your new gazebo from Vinyl Patio Covers & Fence, will be the last gazebo you will ever need for your property!

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Unlike wood siding, our siding gives you a lifetime of enjoyment with no worries about rotting, termites, water stains and other wear-and-tear. Beautiful Detail. LIFETIME TRANSFERABLE GUARANTEE!

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Now Your Fence Can Easily Be Upgraded To A Stone Wall

The Beautiful Look and Feel of Real StoneWall Thick 6 Wide Construction Low Maintenance Durable Vinyl Surface Strong Steel Frame Structure Durawall Increases the Value of Your Property Great for Gate Walls High Pony Walls with Wrought Iron Top Lifetime Limited warranty

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See the article here:
The Vinyl Fence Company - Vinyl Fences Orange County

The areanext to the storage shed is highest in elevation for the layout.Because the yard slopes down from that point, I will be building aretaining wall next to the patio to have a level area for pond andphase I of the layout.

For some time, I thought about what material to use for a retaining wall. My first choice was to use field stone, piled dry. While this is an easy to build solution, it is also quite espensive. I would need about $900 worth of stone, perhaps more to make the wall. In addition, it would look odd next to the house with it's brick foundation. My second choice was to use the retaining wall blocks, the ones with a tab in the rear to lock onto the course below. This too would be easy to build, but it would also look out of place next to the house. It would also not result in a vertical wall. My third option was to build a brick retaining wall. This would be the most time consuming to build since I would need to mortar many bricks into place, but it would (nearly) match the brick in the existing foundation. I would top it with poured concrete capstones, providing a nice, flat shelf for sitting on as well as other uses.

I decided on a brick retaining wall. It will be about 27" tall at the patio, low enough that one could see it while sitting down. The wall would have to jog around the train closet door, and would extend out back for about thirty feet.

The brick was delivered on Thursday, 15 June 2000. Three cubes worth, or about 1600 bricks. It took two evenings to move the three tons of bricks to the patio in the backyard.

The weather was not cooperating, so to prevent the trench from filling up with water, I covered it with plastic. Welded wire fencing was put atop the trench to support the plastic. I also made a ventilation tunnel to help in the evaporation of any water that findes its way into the trench.

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Chapter 1 - Retaining Wall - Duke University

Custom Three Season Porches Build New or Retrofit

Since 1980 Vixen Hill has reinvented many products of yesteryear. In 1992 the Three Season Porch System was introduced for people who loved outdoor living without the pestilence of bugs or the discomfort of inclement weather. Unlike four season rooms, the Vixen Hill Porch System was designed to maintain that traditional porch feeling. The design was based on old-fashioned wooden screen doors where screens could be exchanged with storm glass. Vixen Hill took the Three Season Porch design further by making porch wall panels that not only accepted screens and glass but also architectural inserts - providing the flexibility of both a screened porch and a true 3 season room. Vixen Hills modular porch design coupled with diverse design options allows customers to match any historic building. Whether in Vermont, South Carolina, Alabama or Tennessee, nothing will serve your screened porch needs better than a Vixen Hill Porch System. Dont settle for a sun deck, sunroom or open porch when you can have the convenience and beauty of a Vixen Hill Three Season Porch.

A 3 Season Room is not considered additional living space while a 4 Season Room or sunroom is. Building codes almost always require permits and construction considerations because Four Season Room additions are livable space. This dramatically increases bottom line costs while also increasing tax assessment. Code requirements drastically change the overall ambience of the space from an outdoor escape to just another room. However, four season enclosures do have the advantage of being usable year round. Related structures such as sunrooms, greenhouses and conservatories are best suited for growing plants or rainy climates. Its important to first decide on whether youre looking for additional living space or for a space to share with the outdoors. A three season room can provide virtually the same usability and functionality, while significantly reducing construction costs and other building considerations.

Vixen Hill pre-engineered cedar porches are factory built to the highest standards using durable cedar milled in our own factories. They are unlike similiar to Florida sunrooms in flexibility while offering a more affordable alternative. Discounts and specials combine with a knowledgeable sales staff that will help design the best porch for the best price. If youre on a tight budget, you can always add storm glass and architectural inserts later. In most cases the Vixen Hill Modular Screened Porch System can be installed in a single day. Use our online software to design a new porch or retrofit an existing one. For more information, download our Three Season Porch Catalog or create your own custom porch with our Three Season Room Designer

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Screen Porch Systems - Vixen Hill

Note: this page describes the phone wiring conventions in the United States. I'm not familiar with the phone wiring conventions outside the U.S., so the information here may not apply in your country.

In years gone past, it was the responsibility of the phone company not only to bring phone service to your house but to do the phone wiring within your house as well. This is no longer the case. When you order phone service to your house, the local phone company installs a network interface device, a sturdy grey plastic box usually mounted either in your basement or on an outside wall.

You can do your inside wiring yourself, or you can pay the local phone company or a third party (such as an electrician) to do it for you. Doing residential phone wiring is easy, however, and the local phone company's charges for this service are steep. Even if you have to buy wire and modular jacks, you're going to come out way ahead if you do your own work.

Installing extra lines can be a problem if you rent an apartment in a multi-unit building. The wiring between the network interface device and the apartment is not the phone company's responsibility, so you'll have to work out with your landlord who's going to do the in-between wiring if you need additional lines. Your landlord may not want you to do the wiring for fear you don't know what you're doing; but the landlord may also object to picking up the tab if the phone company does the work. Whose responsibility it actually is probably depends on your lease.

I once had a deadbeat landlord who I didn't even bother approaching when I needed a second line installed. Instead, I just ran my own wire out thru a hole I drilled in the window frame and down a six-story fire escape in the alley to the basement, where I had the phone company representative install an ordinary residential network interface device for me next to the big panel. When I moved, I just unhooked my piece of wire and rolled it up for my next wiring project, and then I spackled over the hole I had drilled. The landlord was none the wiser.

This page is mainly about installing additional phone lines, which is one of the most common phone wiring tasks in this age of modems and fax machines. What's described here are the color coding conventions for phone wiring, and how to make the connections. It's assumed that you know how to use a screwdriver and a drill.

It's also assumed that you have at least a rudimentary understanding of electrical safety. Phone wires carry low-voltage electricity, but you probably already know better than to do your wiring barefoot on a wet floor, for example. If you're touching the wires when the phone rings, you can get a substantial jolt; enough current goes thru to ring the old-type mechanical ringing devices consisting of a heavy clapper and some rather large bells, even though most modern phones no longer require so much current. Best policy is to disconnect your house at the Network Interface Device (see below) before working on wiring. Even a small shock can interfere with a pacemaker, according to one person who wrote to me. Also, for everybody, it's a bad idea to work on your phone wiring during thunderstorms.

In most residential phone wiring, the cable contains four individual wires. Most phone wire installed in the U.S. during the second half of the 20th century is of the following kind:

The kind of wire shown above has recently become obsolete. For all new telephone wiring projects, you should use Cat 5 cable. All of the Cat 5 wire I've seen uses the following color coding:

In either case, the important point is this: one phone line only requires two of these strands. In the vast majority of cases, the other two wires go unused-- but if you choose, you can certainly use them for a second line (i.e., a totally separate line with its own phone number, which the local phone company will connect to a second terminal in your network interface device). This means that if you are installing a second line for a fax, modem, etc., you usually don't have to actually physically run new wires; you can connect the extra two wires to the second phone line at the network interface device. Assuming that everything is wired properly thruout your house (i.e., nobody has cut corners by not bothering to connect the extra two wires somewhere along the way), this will give you "Line 2" service thruout the house.

If you're going to buy a two-line phone, there's nothing more you need to do, since a two-line phone expects "Line 2" to run on the yellow/black wires. For ordinary phone equipment such a modem, however, you have to convert a "Line 1" jack to a "Line 2" jack. One way you can do this is with a plug-in adapter, but the method described here involves swapping around a few wires in the jack.

Wiring at the network interface device

Don't be squeamish about poking around inside the Network Interface Device. It may look forbidding and official, but you have every right to be there.

The following two diagrams show the color coding scheme for the old kind of wire. This probably applies to your house if you're not running any new cable, and are simply running a second line thru the existing unused yellow/black wires. If you're running Cat 5 cable, you'll need to make the appropriate color conversions.

Converting a "Line 1" jack to a "Line 2" jack

Note that black is swapped for green, and yellow is swapped for red. Of course, it would also work if you consistently swapped the black and yellow wires the other way (black for red, yellow for green) but that is not the standard. Given that you have to be consistent between the two ends of the wire, you might as well follow the standard.

Converting a jack to Line 2 means that you will no longer be able to use it for Line 1. In practice, you'll probably want to install a second wiring block beside the first, and use a short piece of four-strand wire to extend the system from the existing block to the new one. This way, you can have a Line 1 jack right beside the Line 2 jack.

Caveat: It occasionally happens that the red and/or green wires become damaged and unusable, but that the black and yellow wires are intact. Repairpersons have sometimes remedied this by running the one phone line across the black and yellow wires rather than replacing the cabling. If this has happened, you won't be able to run a second line thru the four-strand wire. (This is uncommon, but it is a gotcha to be aware of).

Four-strand wire supports up to two phone lines. If you are installing three or four lines, you might also consider buying eight-strand wire. The color coding conventions for this kind of wire are as follows:

(There's also six-strand wire, which is the same as eight-strand wire with the brown pair left out. This color system actually extends up thru other colors to distinguish 25 different pairs, but even the most techno-geeky of us will probably never have that many phone lines in our homes. If you're interested, you can get the details to this system at Phone-Man's Home Page)

The conventions for eight-strand wire are as follows:

If you have very old existing wiring in your house, it may not follow the conventions described above, but new wiring should follow them.

If you think you've got everything hooked up correctly, but one or more of your lines is "dead" (no dial tone), the problem might be the local phone company's problem, or it might be in your own wiring. Be sure that the problem isn't in your own wiring or in one of your own phones before you call the phone company to check on the problem. If they determine that the problem is on their side of the network interface device, they have to fix the problem at no charge to you; but if they determine that the problem is on your side of the network interface device, they'll charge you just for having determined this, and they'll charge you a second time if you have them make the fix in your wiring for you.

So how can you tell whose problem it is? This is easy: when you open your network interface box, notice that there is a modular jack for each phone line. You can unplug the jack for the line in question (note that doing this unplugs your whole house from the phone company's network) and plug a working phone into the jack instead. This phone is now hooked directly into the phone company's network. If the phone works properly when connected in this manner, then the problem is in your own wiring. If the phone doesn't work, either your phone is broken or there's a problem in the phone company's network. Try a second phone which you know to work, and if there still seems to be no service on the line, the problem is probably on the phone company's side of the network interface device.

If the problem is in your own wiring, the following things might be wrong:

If you're getting static on the line, it's possible that there's a hole somewhere in the wire insulation which is letting in moisture and causing a short. Follow the wire from the network interface device to the jack and look for holes. For example, if you've used staples to fasten the wire to the wall, check for a staple puncturing the insulation.

There isn't any one right way to plan your house wiring. Some people prefer to run a separate wire all the way from the Network Interface Device to each jack (star topology); others prefer a system with branching at points other than the NID, and/or with one jack daisy-chained to the next:

Star topology potentially uses a good bit more wire, but it is easier to troubleshoot because each jack is independent of the others.

I use the branching/daisy chaining approach myself. Fishing the wire is probably the most time-consuming part of the whole job, so if I'm just putting in one new jack, I'd usually rather just jump off of an existing jack than take the time to run a whole new wire all the way from the basement to the second floor. However, if the house has old, premodern wiring, the advantage to running a whole new wire is that I know exactly what I'm dealing with.

This section doesn't attempt to cover all the gadgets and parts related to phone wiring. For the wiring jobs described above, you usually only need to buy wire and modular jacks.

Two gotchas when buying modular jacks. First, for ordinary residential wiring, you should buy the kind of modular jack with four contacts inside the jack; don't make the mistake of buying the wider modular jack with six contacts unless you're sure it's what you need (you've got to look closely to see the difference).

Second, you can buy modular jacks either with or without the wiring block (this is the heavy plastic piece which you mount to the wall, with screws to attach the wires to; see the picture higher up on the page). If you're installing a totally new jack, then you need the wiring block. If you're upgrading an existing, old-fashioned (pre-modular) connection to a modular jack, you might be able to use the existing wiring block, in which case you don't need to buy the kind of jack with the wiring block included; sometimes you can take the old cover off and just put a new modular cover over the old wiring block. In the store, it's hard to tell from outside the sealed package whether the block is included. Read the label carefully! More than once I've gotten home and realized I bought the wrong kind; it's an easy mistake to make.

As mentioned above, you should buy Cat 5 wire for all new phone wiring projects. The older four-color type allows more crosstalk between wires; this might be only a minor annoyance for voice lines, but it's a bigger problem for modems or DSL lines. Even if you don't have immediate plans to transmit this kind of data across your line, it's better to plan for flexibility in the future. Cat 5 is now the national standard.

A reader tells me that Radio Shack sells a handy two-line tester for $5 which allows you to make sure the polarity (red/green, yellow/black) isn't reversed anywhere (I generally don't recommend Radio Shack since their products tend to be of shoddy quality, but for $5 it's hard to go wrong). You can also check at the Network Interface Device to make sure the phone company doesn't have the polarity reversed; if they do, you should call them to have it fixed at no charge, since reversed polarity can reportedly damage some kinds of phone equipment.

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Obnoxious Legal Stuff: To the best of my knowledge, all of the information on this page is correct, and it is provided in hope that it will be useful. However, I assume no liability for any damages, direct or otherwise, resulting from the use of this information, and no warranty is made regarding its accuracy or completeness. Use this information at your own risk.

Read more:
Doing Your Own Telephone Wiring