There are lots of name-brand options for concrete repair

Q. As a faithful reader of your column every week, I was disappointed with your answer to a question about garage floor pitting. You have solved a lot of problems with honest, effective answers. You usually have a product in mind that will solve the person's problem. I was excited to read about pitting, as I have the same problem.

It is very hard to find a knowledgeable employee to suggest a product that will solve our problem. I was hoping you had a specific product in mind.

A. I am sorry I disappointed you by not mentioning a specific product. I didn't because there are so many on the market, which wasn't the case years ago.

Prominent products are Thorocrete, one of the oldest products for concrete repairs; Sakrete Top'n Bond Concrete Patcher; Quikrete; Duracrete; Sika; there are others, but this should take care of local availability, as these products have national distribution.

Q. About 15 years ago, we finished our basement and put in a full bath with a stall shower. Since it is in our basement, we have truly never used it and a smell is emanating from the drain. I have tried vinegar, Clorox and baking soda, but the smell still returns. Any suggestions?

Someone also told me perhaps it wasn't installed properly - something to do with the pipes. I was also told to keep running water down the drain to keep the plastic moist and not dried out. What do you think about all this? I would appreciate your help.

A. The smell is likely due to the shower drain trap drying up. There is a water seal in all plumbing drains to prevent sewage odors and methane gas from escaping into the building.

The water in any plumbing fixture not being used regularly will evaporate, allowing these gases to escape.

Make sure you run water regularly - weekly is best - into any unused trap. It is not a good practice to cover the drain because you never know when there might be some discharge of water from the showerhead, which could then flood your basement.

Q. What do you think of electronic pest-control devices that are plugged into an electric outlet? Are they a fire hazard? I see that they make ones now that do not plug into electric outlets; are they just as effective?

I have an ant and spider problem. We put pesticide around the outside, but I do not want pesticides in my home. The ants and spiders go away in the summer, but they come in the house in the winter months if we have a warm day. We have had many this year. They started in January.

The area I am trying to protect is a little over 1,300 square feet. Do you have one type that you would recommend? The spiders aren't numerous; it's the ants that I am trying to control, although I understand some devices are for both ants and spiders.

A. Sorry, but I don't believe that any electronic devices, either plug-in or battery-operated, are going to work with spiders and ants. In fact, I haven't found them effective with mice in summer camps.

The concern I would have with ants is that they may be carpenter ants, which can establish nests inside, and are quite destructive. One way to control ants and prevent them from coming in out of the cold is to treat the perimeter of the building with the appropriate chemical, which is only available to licensed pest-control operators. It may be that the product you used previously was not effective.

I suggest you have a local, family-owned pest-control operator, who is not going to sell you an unneeded contract for maintenance, come to your house to check for a carpenter ant nest. If one is found, the specialist will apply a special gel or spray to the nest to kill the ants.

You may also want to place MaxAttrax ant baits where you see the ants, which I have found to be very effective for most ant species, but not for carpenter ants. You should be able to buy these kits in hardware stores.

As for spiders, they are looking for food, as all insects and other forms of life are doing. I have found that if spiders are a problem in a basement, placing small, empty and cleaned cans (tuna, cat food, etc.) with a small amount of 20-Mule Team Borax, topped with a pinch of sugar, along the outside wall is effective in killing the spiders' food supply, forcing them to go elsewhere for their meals. But this method should not be used if there are pets and children about.

Q. My husband and I would like to finish our basement in our 13-year-old home. We would like to frame the space and make a laundry room, game room and storage/work area.

Our ongoing discussion is always about how to frame, insulate, seal and protect before we actually "finish" the space. There seem to be an array of opinions out there on how to seal and prepare basement walls prior to finishing.

Our house is on sandy soil, and we have had no issues to date of any water infiltrating into the basement from the outside. Our foundation is poured concrete. We have tested for radon and found that we are within safe limits. However, we have been wondering about sealing for future mitigation.

There is a product on the market called RadonSeal. It's distributed by Radon Mitigation & Concrete Waterproofing Co. Have you heard of it and do you recommend using it? We do not know of anybody who has used it and wonder how effective it is and whether the benefits outweigh the risks (such as unknown health issues down the road).

We have read about spray-foaming basement walls as a way to seal for moisture. Another method we have read about is using foam board to both seal and insulate.

If framing is used with foam board, should a barrier of some type (such as sill seal) be used between the framing and the concrete wall? Our contractor has suggested we use an integrated framing system - metal Z-frame with foam board insulation that attaches directly to the concrete walls. He was not planning on putting sill seal or any other material behind the framing, as he believes it is not necessary, especially since it is not wood. This is a system commonly used in commercial construction sold by Trowel Trades Supply.

We don't know where to begin. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

A. RadonSeal is really a concrete sealer, banking on the radon concern to get your attention. If you have tested for radon with an alpha track kit over several months and got good results, there is no need to worry, but if you have tested with a charcoal short-term kit, this is not a test I would rely on for the long run.

You may want to test again with the long-range alpha track system over next winter to get the real answer. Radon fluctuates all the time, depending on the temperature differential between indoors and out, and the stack effect in the house.

The stack effect is the exfiltration of warm, indoor air in upper stories causing the infiltration of outside air through any available paths in the lower level of a building to equalize the pressure in the house.

If your house is in a sandy location, and you haven't had leakage issues, there should be no need to apply any sealer on the concrete, but doing so isn't going to hurt. Moreover, the sandy location makes it most likely to be safe to insulate the walls from top to bottom, without concern for the walls suffering from frost pressure.

To finish the basement and insulate it, the Z-track system developed by Dow is a good choice, but the drawbacks are the difficulty in installing utilities, such as electrical boxes, heating and plumbing pipes, etc., unless you plan on using standard construction over the insulation system.

You can also choose to simply apply 1-inch-thick rigid insulation to the bare concrete, using Styrobond or a polyurethane caulking to fasten the insulation to the concrete walls. Use a few quarter-sized dabs every couple of feet and push the foam boards onto them. Standard framing will then hold the boards in place.

I do not know what you mean by using "sill seal." A sill sealer is a strip of ethafoam or cellulose material about 6 inches wide that is placed over a foundation wall and under wall plates to seal against air penetration.

If you use XPS or polyiso rigid insulation, there is no need for any other sealing of the concrete walls.

Q. My garage floor is flaking like sand about 8 inches in from the outside door, and when I sweep it up, the floor is pockmarked underneath. Am I now getting water under the garage floor or do I have another problem?

A. It is more likely there was an error in the finishing of the concrete, or that the concrete is damaged from salt brought in with your car.

An experienced mason or concrete contractor should be able to tell you which is likely to be the cause, and repair the damage.

• 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, or mail First Aid for the Ailing House, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

© 2016, United Feature Syndicate Inc.