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Cedar oil can be helpful if used properly

Q. If you have answered this previously, please forgive me; I am guilty of not finding this in an earlier column of yours. (I went through at least 14 pages of your archives to no avail.)

I recently read that a spray product that contains cedar oil can be used to repel insects. As I recall, it can be used inside or outside a house. Have you heard of such a product, and if so, can you share your experience with it? I would also appreciate your providing brand names of such products.

A. Sorry that you spent so much time looking for the answer through my archives, since I do not recall having dealt with this subject before. But here it is now: Cedar oil is extracted from the bark of cedar trees. It is generally considered to be a natural insect repellent, which needs to be mixed with citronella and lemon grass oils to be effective in repelling mosquitoes.

Cedar oil is also used in a number of natural shampoos and skin lotions. However, it can be hazardous to pets and must never be ingested.

You can find some common-sense guidelines for using cedar oil at: ehow.com/about_5437506_dangers-cedar-oil.html.

You should be able to find cedar oil in hardware and big-box stores, as well as on Amazon.

Q. My question for you is in regard to our basement. We moved here a little longer than seven years ago. Our house is a log cabin ranch with a finished basement. By that I mean there are carpets on the floors and rooms divided with Sheetrock - two bedrooms, a family room and three closets. There is also a laundry room and workshop that are not finished. The basement is heated in the winter to about 60 degrees and we keep a dehumidifier running in the summer to about 65 percent. In between, in the spring and fall, there seems to be a musty odor. We wonder where the odor comes from. Do we have a mold problem somewhere? Who do we contact for help with this situation? Your help will be greatly appreciated.

A. A musty odor is not unusual during the spring and fall when the heat is turned off and you haven't started the dehumidifier.

It would help to raise the temperature to 65 degrees in the winter and keep the basement heated longer in the spring until you start the dehumidifier. It would also help to start heating it earlier in the fall.

If you are concerned about the possibility of mold and health issues, you can call an environmental specialist. You can find one in your Yellow Pages. It will be a costly investigation.

Q. Dear Henri, a week or so ago we noticed a growth beneath two windows in the upper part of our living room. This is an extremely difficult area to get to. We are attaching two photographs and we are wondering if you can identify what might be happening before we take further steps.

A. This is serious. Since the windows are hard to reach, I gather that they are quite high in a tall wall.

This growth is a sign of continuous leakage and deteriorating wood. It can already be the beginning of structural damage.

Your photos do not show enough in context for me to be able to offer more targeted advice as to where the leakage is likely to be occurring.

You should have an experienced general contractor or structural engineer investigate. Hopefully, the damage is not too advanced as to require major repairs.

Q. We have a 40-gallon gas hot water heater that was in our home when we bought the house 15 years ago. It works just fine. It is a GE nine-year-warranty model. My question is: Should we pre-emptively replace it or wait for it to die at some inconvenient time?

A. You are fortunate having a water heater that has lasted far longer than its warranty. Nowadays, it seems as if everything you buy has built-in obsolescence. Several of our kitchen appliances, only 10 years old, just died and had to be replaced. Our cars, with great engines and only slightly over 100,000 miles, are incurring large expenses to replace everything else.

Whether to replace your water heater pre-emptively or not depends on its location. If it is easily monitored or set into a pan, I'd vote for getting the most out of it; it may last a few more years.

Water heaters usually develop a slow leak, which gives you time to schedule a replacement.

But if the heater is in a difficult spot, it may be wise to think of replacing it soon. One option may be to buy a leak detector made for the purpose in a hardware store. It has a small part that is placed on the floor at the foot of the heater. On the other end of a long wire is the alarm, which is set on top of the heater.

Q. I read with interest your article about caulking storm windows.

We added storm/screen windows to five of our windows in one room when we moved here about 10 years ago. Since we added them, as soon as it gets cool outside, the insides of the storm windows will steam up. In winter, the moisture on the storm windows will freeze.

As a test, I taped an inside window shut on all surfaces and that window continues to steam over. That leads me to believe that the moisture is coming from the outside.

Would it help to caulk these windows, and could I caulk them on the inside? That would be easier to do now that it is cold outside. This is on the second floor, and it is very windy here at times. The only other alternative is to get rid of the storm windows altogether.

The inside windows slide up and down. I don't think I can add weatherstripping to them. That is what I was told.

A. Condensation, or fogging, on storm windows occurs because the storm windows are tighter than the primary windows, and warm, moist air bypasses the latter. Any infiltration of cold air from the outside, as you suspect, would actually dry the space between the storms and the primary windows. This is why lower-floor windows do not experience this problem. Outside air infiltrates around lower level windows to replace the warm, moist air exfiltrating around the upper-level windows through the stack effect in all buildings: Warm air rises.

There are so many weatherstripping systems available on the market today that one of them should be usable for your primary windows.

You may want to consider having an experienced contractor or glass shop inspect your windows and suggest a solution. In some large urban areas, there are weatherstripping specialists listed in local Yellow Pages.

You should not caulk the storm windows any more than they probably were by the installers - on top and both sides, but not on the bottom to allow drainage.

An interesting tip from a reader: "Our home was built in Huntley, Illinois, in 1855-56 and doubled in size in 1906. The newest windows are the 1906 ones with a few 1856 windows here and there.

"It's a must to use rope caulk each winter or we freeze. I reuse some of the caulk (Mortite) each year. To bring it back to life, I microwave a small pile for about one minute. As I place it on the vertical seam, it's soft enough to press into the joint between the window and casing. Good news, so far. As I pull my fingers away, the caulk sticks to my fingers and pulls off the window/casing. Over the years I've tried talcum power, rubber gloves, etc., but they're no help. This year I put a drop of dish soap on the tip of my finger and bingo - problem solved. You must recharge your finger every 8 inches or so.

"Hope this helps someone else with the same problem."

A. Very ingenious! I remember in the '50s having to use Mortite on our single-hung windows to keep the winter drafts out. It was a task, and it would have been helpful to know of your trick, but I was an inexperienced young man then. Lots has happened since.

Follow-up from an Illinois reader: "A recent reply to someone wanting to dispose of destructive critters from their property included a suggestion to trap them and drop them off at a wooded area some distance away.

"In Illinois, many of the parks, forest preserves and nature areas prohibit animal relocation onto their sites. That practice can disrupt the established balance of nature, can promote alterations in the genetic makeup, and introduce disease. There can be fines for those caught. In some of those areas the animals are already under stress.

"Also, some species are protected by law and may not be moved. It is probably best to first consult with the local naturalist or an experienced exterminator."

A. Thank you for your comments. Some time ago, I also received an email from a wildlife biologist who indicated that taking a captured squirrel or chipmunk to a distant area was a certain death sentence. He pointed out that the little critters, released in a foreign territory, have no places to hide from predators or sources of stored food.

Another reader had told me that he set a bucket with water in it and a contraption that caused the animals to fall in and drown.

In my opinion, if one is invaded by these amusing, cute, but destructive creatures and needs to diminish their numbers, I'd rather feed a hungry fox or hawk with them than poison or drown them and dispose of their bodies. Otherwise, live with the problem. There is no easy solution.

• Henri de Marne was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. His book, "About the House," is available at www.upperaccess.com. His website is www.henridemarne.com. Email questions to henridemarne@gmavt.net.

© 2015, United Feature Syndicate Inc.

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