Latex over paneling may require special primer
Q. I plan on painting the paneling on my walls in our family room. I will be using a latex paint. Is there any special primer I should use? Or should I be OK with just a latex primer?
Via e-mail
A. If the paneling is made of boards and has not had a penetrating finish for many years, you may be able to use a regular oil-based primer and apply the latex paint of your choice. But if the board paneling has been varnished, you will need to apply B-I-N or Bulls Eye 1-2-3 before painting it. The same applies if the paneling is plywood with a plasticized finish.
Q. I read your column each week in the Daily Herald and really enjoy it. Your advice always seems to be on the money. I live in Huntley, Ill., and I smoke, but we smoke in the garage, not in the house. In the summer, we open the garage door to clear the air. We smoke maybe 10 times per day.
However, with winter upon us, I'm looking for another solution to vent the smoke from the garage. I was thinking of adding a ceiling vent -- like we have in our bathrooms. But we live in a townhouse, and there are rules about exterior modifications. Because of this, I can't put a vent on the roof or an exterior wall. The existing bathroom roof vents are 20 to 30 feet from the garage, which is probably too far away for a connection. I was planning on installing a fan and venting it into the attic or near the ridge vent. Does this seem like a reasonable solution, or am I heading for trouble with this approach?
Via e-mail
A. Without more thorough description of your layout, I would say that your plan seems OK. The closer you can run the fan's duct to the ridge vent, the better. I assume the garage has no window that you could open?
Q. Would you give us your opinion on the best way to insulate the space between a platform bed and the floor. There is about 2 feet of open space between the mattress, which is on a piece of plywood, and the floor. This bedroom was a porch at one time, so there is no foundation beneath the floor and the room is very cold on winter nights.
Burlington, Vt.
A. Probably the best way to provide some insulation for the mattress is to lay a 2-inch-thick sheet of rigid insulation on the plywood, then put the mattress on top of it. However, if the bed is next to an uninsulated wall, Erin may still feel cold. And if the room has little or no heat, placing insulation below the mattress is not going to solve the problem.
Q. I have looked everywhere (Home Depot, Lowe's and many hardware and lumber stores) for the expanding polystyrene kits that fit over the opening in attics. I live in the New Jersey shore area. Please help me find a location where I can find these kits.
Via e-mail
A. If none of your local suppliers carried a polystyrene insulated folding stair cover, try searching "Battic Door" on Amazon.com, then click on the first link. The insulated cover you see appears to be fiberglass. Scroll down and you may find others. Other choices are www.astleproducts.com; a rigid polyisocyanurate cover -- pricey but looks good and easy to use, and www.attictent.com. The Attic Tent is more for controlling convection from the living space into the attic than for providing effective insulation.
Q. In a previous article in the Free Press about a year ago, you mentioned a particular product used in preparation of old, dried-out wood prior to exterior painting. I saved this article, knowing I would need it some day, but alas, I can't find it! Do you remember what this product is?
Via e-mail
A. I do not recall mentioning any special product. Power-wash the area that needs to be painted, then apply an oil-based primer, followed by one or two coats of 100-percent acrylic latex paint.
Q. We are considering fixing up an old farmhouse, but before we put a lot of money into it, we would really appreciate your advice. The cellar is an old, laid-up stone foundation with a dirt floor. Only part of the house has a dug-out cellar under it. The rest is crawl space that is very shallow and inaccessible. There is relatively little air circulation downstairs, and it is very damp and quite moldy. A friend says that the mold isn't healthy to have in a house (I have asthma), but he doesn't think it is dangerous. He thinks that the mold will still be there, even if we put the house on a poured-concrete foundation. He also wasn't very encouraging about fixing the problem by sealing up all the joists and sills. I've been reading more and more about the problem of mold in houses and how bad it is. At the same time, I can't imagine that all old homes with damp, moldy cellars should be abandoned. What do you recommend?
Middlebury, Vt.
A. The best solution is to lift the house, excavate for a full basement, and put the house back on a new concrete foundation. The first-floor framing is probably made of old logs. Over the years, they develop a "dust mulch" that protects the inner core of the logs. That should not be disturbed. Once the house is set on the new foundation and everything dries up, the moldy smell may no longer be a problem. But if it is, spray the logs with a light coating of Nok-Out (Nok-Out is manufactured by Amazing Concepts, LLC. It is only available from the distributor, Neo Products at P.O. Box 190, Holly, MI 48442. Their toll-free number is (888) 977-4848. You can also order it online at www.nokout.com. In Canada, the distributor is OdorTech located in Midhurst, Ontario, northwest of Toronto. OdorTech's toll-free number is (877) 466-5688.
If you cannot afford to put the house on a new concrete foundation, the dirt floor should be covered with 6-mil plastic, including the shallow crawl space. Although you say it is inaccessible, plastic may be unrolled and pushed in place with a soft-bristle sweeping broom. To reach farther, tie a long stick to it. This will not solve the problem if the cellar leaks, and it won't allow you to do anything with the logs. Old houses are certainly worth saving, but you also must either accept their problems or take care of them. And you must also consider your health.
Q. Your column about Andersen windows showing a wet oval on the room side of the glass fits my problem exactly. In the early years after insulation, I complained about only certain windows that showed the condition. I was told it was because the humidity in the house was too high. On casement windows, one pane would show the condition, but the other would not. The kitchen, living room and bathroom never had the problem. Recently, I again complained to Andersen, but the same old humidity story was their answer, even though we are at desert levels.
The previous column's questioner said that Andersen came out and fixed the problem. Can you direct me to a source of further information that I can use in pressing my claim with Andersen?
Via e-mail
A message from an Andersen Windows representative
"I am writing to say that I saw your article in the paper and wanted to respond, regarding the oval condensation. I am a 25-year veteran of Andersen Windows, and our windows have a 20-year glass warranty that covers seal failures, stress cracks and visual distortion. It sounds like collapsed glass is what occurred in your reader's windows. Sometimes sash replacement is the solution, and we have been using a new solution, which includes drilling through our spacer and equalizing the pressure, allowing the glass to return to its natural shape. This has been a very successful repair.
It sounds like the customer might have gone to our Tier-1 toll-free call center, and the representative was not very well trained."
If the person who sent me the above question reads this, the Andersen representative recommends you call (888) 888-7020 and speak to someone who can arrange for the necessary repairs. He told me that you must have fallen on an inexperienced person who should have transferred you to their Tier-2 call center.
© 2007, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.