Keep your home healthy and comfortable with proper ventilation

Most homeowners know that insulation in your attic is important, but equally important is proper attic ventilation.

Airflow through your attic prevents problems that can result from high moisture and temperature variations between indoor and outdoor spaces.

First, do your math. You need about 1 square foot of ventilation for every 150 square feet of attic space, divided equally between roof vents and soffit vents. This is a general guideline that you can work from.

Now that you have your number, split it in half. You will need to supply half the ventilation through soffit vents and the other half through passive roof vents. These could be gable vents, ridge vents or smaller roof vents.

Soffit vents can be small. Rectangular grills should be found in your home's soffit area or built into vinyl siding. Make sure they are clear of insulation and other materials in order to draw in the needed air. Plastic baffles are inexpensive and easy to install in the typical attic if you need them to prevent blockage. It's better to have a little extra soffit ventilation than not enough. If you don't have enough, your roof vents will pull air from somewhere else, like your home's interior.

Roof vents can be gable vents at the ends of your roof line or ridge vents, along the top of your roof peak or well-placed small vents. Some passive vents have built-in fans to help move more air, such as a Whirlybird vent.

Another option would be a powered vent. Because a powered vent will move a lot more air than a passive vent, you will need less of them. Depending on the size of your home, you may only need one of these. If you have existing roof vents, you actually will need to remove or cover some of these. And if you opt for a solar-powered vent, there will be no ongoing costs.

Check your attic vents a couple of times a year to make sure there are no issues. Correct them when you find a problem. Proper ventilation is good for a healthy home and a super way to keep your home more comfortable all year round.

Supersize sander

Sanding might not be on your list of fun projects, but it's usually on your to-do list if you are making household repairs. But here's a tip: The bigger the sander, the quicker you can get the job done! To make a supersize sander, just cover a two-by-four with sandpaper. Your extra-large sanding block is going to be great for sanding wall repairs, floors and even a table.

Snake away stubborn clogs

Downspouts are going to get clogged every once in a while. It's almost impossible to prevent. Cleaning them out can be done a couple of ways. A plumbing snake is a pretty good way because it's usually not very messy. A plumbing snake is easy to push up or down into the downspout, and if worked back and forth, it can remove even a pretty stubborn clog. You can help your snake take care of business by tying a rag onto the end of it, once you push the end out the other side. Then, when you pull the snake back through, the rag will dislodge additional debris.

Super hints

• Graphite is what you should use to properly lubricate a lock. You can buy it at the hardware store, but you also can use a pencil. Just rub it back and forth over the teeth of your key and stick it into the lock, turning the key back and forth a couple of times to distribute it. That's all you need to do to keep your locks working smoothly.

• My next-door neighbor has some plastic covers she puts over her outdoor table, chairs and grill. They have ties on them but are hard to secure, as I occasionally find them in my yard after a storm. We talked about some possible fixes, but ended up sewing some heavy metal washers onto the bottom edges of the covers. The covers seem to stay on better, even when the ties don't hold.

• To keep drill bits stored safely, drill holes into a solid block of wood, stick the bits into the holes and set this right on your workbench where they will be easy to get to when you need them. Label each hole if you want to, and make things even easier.

Q, Our front porch features a neat old decorative iron railing. I see an area where it attaches to the concrete that is coming out. The concrete around the bolt is breaking. What can we do to secure it again?

A. Remove the bolt and clean away all of the loose material. Use a chisel to make the hole a little larger and then reset the bolt into some anchoring cement. Let it set up, and then install the nut that holds it in place.

Q. One of my neighbors had a break-in through her air conditioner. I have one in the window on my patio, too. What can I do to make this window more secure?

A. Just take a look at your hardware store for window locks. There are some great add-ons that can be screwed onto the tracks to prevent the window from being raised. I don't know if you are in an apartment, but these locks are portable, so they aren't going to damage the window frame in any way. They work great, too.

Q. We have a sunroom and I've just taken all of the plants back outside on the patio. Now I have to try to remove the old carpet. It's been down for a while and was held in place with double-sided carpet tape. How can I get the old adhesive off the floor?

A. Try WD-40 to see if it dissolves the old adhesive. You can use a putty knife to remove the loosened material. There are some store-bought glue removers as well. A stiff scrub brush might also come in handy for scraping.

Reader tips

• I was tired of our plain concrete patio. This spring, I decided to paint it with some patio paint I found at the hardware store. The paint is mixed up and spread on, so it was a little thick, but I thought it would be too smooth and slippery when it was wet. I added some sand to it, and mixed that in before spreading it on the surface. It did add some grit to the surface and seems to be wearing OK. It's not nearly as slick when it rains.

• I found my rental house had an old iron clothesline stand in the backyard. I was able to find some vinyl clothesline at the hardware store, and installed it on the old metal stand. It's great. I don't know why people don't use these much anymore. The clothes smell wonderful, and it's a lot more economical than the electric dryer. I guess it does take more time, but the fresh, clean smell is worth it!

• Our new patio roof is going to be great. I can't wait until the first big storm so I can sit out there and not get wet! I decided to hang a ceiling fan once it was all finished. I found a good one on sale, but it just had plain white blades. I found some bamboo-patterned contact paper and covered the plain blades. My thoughts are that, not only will they look good, they will be protected a little better from humidity.

• The kids are in high school now, but since I never throw stuff away, I still have the old baby gates we used to use to keep them from going down into the basement. Now that we have a new puppy, I got the gates back out and have placed them in front of the stairs and on the dining room doorway. I knew I would need them again. I wonder what else might be hiding in the garage.

• When I replaced our old shower curtain, I bought new rings, too. The old rings were the heavy-duty metal type. I know you can use them for a lot of stuff in the workshop, as I've been reading your column for years. I use them on my stepladder. I have several attached to it and use them to hold rags, paintbrushes, putty knives, etc. I also put them on my long-handled tools, like mops and brooms, to make them easier to hang up. The rest are in my shop drawer, and I know they'll be used soon. Thanks for all of the super tips!

Shoptalk

• When I mow the lawn, I like to do a little striping, but it's not easy and it takes practice. But now, Toro has come out with an add-on for most walk-behind mowers. It's a weighted bar that is easy to install and uses sand for extra weight to flatten the grass after you mow it down. Now your yard really can look professionally mowed, and, with a little practice, you can really get creative with the patterns. Just go to www.toro.com to find out more about it and to learn how to make your yard look super! The kit is available at a wide variety of lawn and garden stores, as well as hardware stores and home centers.

• There are lots of times when welding needs to be done away from the shop. Dewalt's new Portable Stick & TIG Welder has a built-in lithium ion battery that makes it possible to use cordlessly. It also can be plugged in to any 20-amp circuit or a generator and, with a 50-minute charge, will be ready whenever and wherever you need it. At 25 pounds, it's the perfect small rig for the casual or even a professional user. Check it out at www.dewalt.com.

• Write to Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or visit online at thesuperhandyman.com.

© 2015, Cowles Syndicate Inc.