Like water, air will always flow along the easiest path
Q. I am an avid reader of your column each week, and I have learned a lot from it. I know you have mentioned my problem before and would appreciate your help. We have a two-story house. The second floor all summer has been very, very hot.
We have a ridge vent and a gable vent. I think we should have one or the other but not both - I think that is what I have seen in your column. I feel the ridge vent is the better way to go. I would appreciate it if you would tell me which one we should use and which one should be closed off. Thank you again, and I look forward to hearing from you.
A. The reason why ridge vents and gable vents are not compatible is that air, like water, seeks the easiest path to move along. Ridge vents are exhausts, and gable vents are the closest intake to satisfy the lack of equilibrium caused by the negative pressure induced by the ridge vents.
But a ridge vent alone is not effective in venting an attic. There should be full-length soffit vents at all eaves of the roof, equaling or exceeding the net free ventilation area (NFVA) of the ridge vent. And there must also be an uninterrupted airflow between the soffit vents and the ridge vent. This may be difficult to attain in some types of construction, and where insulation may block the soffits.
And be sure to close the gable vents. This can be easily done by blocking them with a piece of exterior-grade plywood painted a matte black.
Do be aware that a properly working soffit/ridge vent system does not automatically assure a cooler attic. Increased insulation is still more reliable. The combination of the two is ideal.
Q. I was hoping you might have a solution for me about some smelly water. The tap water in the kitchen has a foul scent to it, but the water in my two bathrooms, which are on same floor, does not. If it helps, my home is a 1998 double-wide trailer. I honestly don't know where to start looking for a solution.
A. It sounds as if you may have a failing sacrificial anode in your water heater. Sacrificial anodes are made of galvanic metals, which are attacked by the chemicals in the water, thus preserving the other metal parts of the water heater.
Once they have reached a certain corrosion point, the sulfur in the water is no longer controlled. A licensed plumber can investigate and replace it if needed.
The reason you smell it in the kitchen is that usually kitchen faucets are used in short spurts that do not clear the line of the rotten egg smell, whereas flushing toilets, running a bath or showering do so.
<h3 class="leadin">Interesting tip from a reader: "I have your book and have read your weekly column in the Daily Herald for many years. The solutions you have given others have helped me countless times. </h3>
"I did not recall anyone asking for the best way to completely remove a stain in a Unilock paver driveway (that has not been sealed) caused by power steering fluid. I tried ideas you offered for concrete and asphalt, but none (including TSP) worked.
"I read about a new product from Rust-Oleum called 'Krud Kutter' Oil Grabber oil stain remover. I had high hopes as reading the bottle it appeared to be the perfect product. It wasn't. I applied it multiple times and could not see any difference. I then turned to the inventory of spray cleaners my wife had collected. One was Zep Commercial Heavy-Duty Citrus Degreaser. When I sprayed this orange cleaner on the affected pavers, it started to turn brown as it pulled the oil out of the pavers. You could see it working immediately. On pavers that didn't contain oil or after all the oil was removed, the cleaner didn't change color. After rinsing off three applications of the Zep degreaser, the stain, which had been in the pavers for more than two years, was completely gone.
"Perhaps this information will help others. Thank you for sharing your wisdom."
A. Thank you! It's very helpful, and I am adding your tip to my resource files.
<h3 class="leadin">Another interesting tip from a reader: "I read your response about drain flies, and I have had the same problem for years. An exterminator we use suggested removing the drain cover and using it to cut a piece of (non metallic) screening. Then take the screen and place it over the drain and replace the drain cover. Since the flies cannot go through the screen, no flies. I have not had a problem with them for over a year. Easy solution. Thanks."</h3>
Q. Our house was built in 1998, and we have been the only owners. The foundation walls are poured concrete, not block. There is a full basement under everything but the garage portion of the house. I have attached a few photos to give you a view of the house and the grading of the property from different angles.
We have had three instances of water in the basement in the 17 years that we have lived here. All three were during or right after periods of unusually heavy storms that were bad enough to cause flooding throughout our entire area. In all three cases, there does not seem to be one specific point where the water comes in. I believe that it's percolating up evenly through cracks in the floor slab when the water table rises.
During the second event in 2009, we had roughly 2 inches of water in the basement. At that time, I contacted our builder and asked where he had run the French drains. He told me that because the lot is fairly level and with the French drains roughly six feet below finished grade, he could not slope the French drains to daylight so he took them out into the backyard and turned them down into a gravel pit.
At that point, I had a sump pump installed in a corner of the basement. The output of the pump is tied into a downspout take-away that goes out to daylight at the curb. The pump is rated 70 gallons per minute and includes a battery backup secondary pump. I have had to replace the pump once in 2013. In general, I would say that it has functioned well.
Event No. 3 was during a particularly heavy rainstorm. We ended up with enough water in the basement to soak the carpet that is glued to the floor. There was not any standing water but the wetness was uniform throughout the entire basement. The water was clear. At the peak of this storm, I uncovered the sump pit and saw that the sump pump was running flat out and the backup battery was fully discharged, so I'm guessing that throughout the night, the main pump could not keep up and the battery backup was trying to add to the output, but probably could not push into the head created by the volume being carried away by the main pump. I also did not see any obvious grading deficiencies that would direct water toward the house. I even crawled under the deck that you see in these photos to check that the grading there was not sloped toward the house.
I'm fairly convinced that during periods of unusually heavy rains, the water table on my lot rises to the point where it comes up through the basement floor. With the French drains not plumbed to daylight or to a storm sewer, I expect that they can become ineffective as the water table rises.
My immediate next step is to put in a sump pump with an increased gpm rating. Long term, I'd like to find a way to get more of the ground water carried away from the property - possibly tied into storm sewers that run down both the road in the front of the house and the road in the back of the house. There is a floor drain in the laundry room, near the sump pump. Would it be possible and within code to tie the existing under slab drainage into that floor drain?
A. Unfortunately, the photos do not make it possible to determine whether the grade is properly sloping away from the foundation.
There may be a problem with the large stone patio/walk, as water penetrates between the stones' joints, unless the stones were set on a concrete slab.
The planting and mulched bed on one side of the house can also trap water and prevent it from draining away on the lawn. The joint of the lawn and the bed forms somewhat of a dam that catches and retains any surface water. The same situation may exist on the front of the house where there is extensive planting.
But this does not mean your conclusion that the water is coming through cracks in the floor is not valid. Where accessible, you may want to work some water seal compound into the cracks; it might help.
It is not uncommon for the water table to rise, or an underground spring to swell, following a heavy downpour. And this may be the problem.
In this case, installing an additional sump pump with a much higher discharge capacity may be a better answer than replacing the existing pump. Zoeller makes excellent, reliable pumps, which I have used extensively during my active contracting days. You can browse Zoeller's website, www.zoellerpumps.com, and find pumps with a capacity of well over 100 gpm.
The fact that the sump pump discharge is tied to one of the downspout pipes may also be a problem, as that pipe may not be able to handle both the roof water and the sump discharge in unusually heavy downpours. The two sump pumps' discharge should be piped separately. As to tying the laundry room floor drain into one of the storm sewers, this must be dealt with according to your locality's regulations.
• 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.