Be careful with acid, or try vinegar to clean calcium rings
Q. I have just read your column regarding muriatic acid. I have very difficult calcium rings in my three toilet bowls, my glass shower doors have stains on them, and the inside of my stainless-steel dishwasher has the same problem. Its surface is covered with a white powder after the dishes are dried. Even my drinking glasses have to be rewashed by hand. No matter how much I wash and scrub, the problem is still there. I looked up muriatic acid on the Internet, and, frankly, I am afraid to use it. Can you please suggest something less dangerous that will take care of this limescale problem?
Via e-mail
A. Muriatic acid should not be used for anything but the removal of calcium rings in toilets, and that must be done by very carefully pouring a cup of the acid into the bowls and letting it stand for a couple of hours before brushing the rings and flushing the toilet.
But you can also remove the calcium rings with one of the toilet cleaners available in the cleaning aisle of your supermarket. Your shower doors, glasses and dishwasher can be cleaned with white vinegar or a lemon-based cleaner. But it sounds as if you need to have your water tested and, if necessary, a conditioning system installed. Locate firms doing this work in your Yellow Pages under: "Water Softening & Conditioning Equipment Service & Supplies."
Q. We supplement the heating of our home with a wood-burning stove. To counter the excessive dryness in the house, we use a humidifier. My husband places the humidifier next to the stove. The moist air blows at the stove. His theory is that the fan in the humidifier will circulate warm, moist air. I contend that the moisture evaporates when it hits the stove. Your comments would be appreciated.
Sparta, N.J.
A. I love questions like yours, because I can truly say that you are both right. The humidifier blows the moist air toward the stove, which is carried with the rising hot air, which is now humidified, throughout the room. The air from any humidifier is absorbed into the surrounding air, which then evaporates if the ambient air is not saturated.
Q. I hope you can help me. I have shotgun mold or fungus all over my white vinyl fence and house siding. I have been told it is from my mulch. We will be removing the mulch this spring. I tried everything I could think of to remove it. Nothing seems to work. It is so sticky, and the little dots are everywhere! Do you have any ideas?
Scottdale, Pa.
A. What you call shotgun mold is artillery fungus. Artillery fungus is caused by decaying vegetable matter in organic mulch. It's a spring and fall problem, as it is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter for the fungus to ripen. When ripe, the fungus explodes with great force and can jump 20 or more feet in height. Unfortunately, it cannot be removed from any surface without causing damage. To prevent this, add new mulch over the old every year. Or replace the mulch with rubber mulch, which is widely available in garden-supply stores; it's quite attractive and does not decay or support nefarious insect life.
Q. My wife and I recently bought a small ranch that had an old, inefficient furnace in the crawl space. During the fall, we disconnected the old furnace and decided to install a new one and run new ductwork in the attic. Things seemed to be fine until we had a sustained cold period and our pipes froze. We did not take into consideration that the old furnace in the crawl space was emanating enough heat to warm the space and keep the pipes from freezing. I purchased electric heat tape and fiberglass insulation for the area that was most susceptible to the freezing (along the foundation wall). We went through another cold spell and the pipes froze, despite the heat tape. I have received many recommendations for fixing the problem, ranging from heating the space to repiping with heated pipes. Any suggestions?
Via e-mail
A. Having installed your furnace in the attic has probably caused significant ice-dam problems at the eaves of your roof. This is not the best idea in climates that receive even moderate snowfalls. But it's done, and you don't want to spend the money to put everything back in the crawl space. The best solution to your pipe-freezing problem is to make sure that all cracks, crevices, gaps and openings are sealed around the perimeter of the crawl-space foundation. This can be done by caulking with polyurethane, available at Home Depot. (Do not use any silicone products.) For larger cracks, you may need to use a foaming urethane such as Polycel or Great Stuff. It is also essential that the crawl-space floor be fully covered with 6-mil plastic in order to control moisture coming from the ground.
Next, consider insulating the walls of the crawl space from inside. First, insulate the band joists with R-19 fiberglass that is cut 1-inch longer than the depth of the joists. Buy batts with an integral vapor retarder and staple their side flanges to the floor joists. Next, use rigid extruded polystyrene insulation if the crawl space access is large enough to get the sheets through (2 feet wide and 8 feet long.)
Apply the sheets to the foundation walls with the same polyurethane caulking. Squeeze daubs of the caulking every 2 feet onto cleaned areas, and press the insulation into them. If you cannot use rigid insulation, you can insulate the walls with fiberglass batts. Staple the top of the batts to the band joists and let them hang against the foundation walls. Staple their flanges to each other with stapling pliers. The heat of the earth should keep the crawl space above freezing. Insulated crawl spaces without any source of heat should stay above 50 F (10 C). This will also make your first floor feel less cold.
Q. Our new house has water on some of the basement walls. The builder says it is condensation from humidity. It is located on the basement walls (concrete) on the portion that is above ground. Is this common with new construction?
Via e-mail
A. Yes, it is. Concrete exudes a lot of water as it cures because it requires about twice as much water to pour the concrete in place than it needs to cure. It takes one to two heating season to for the excess moisture generated by the construction process to dry. In your case, the moisture appears only at the top of the concrete walls because it is colder above grade than it is below.
Q. We have been frustrated with water leaks that have stained our ceiling for about two years. Our house is 20 years old, with two stories and a finished basement. The roof was replaced about three years ago. At that same time, we decided to create an additional attic space with access from the second floor. We vented the upstairs bathrooms and dryer to the outside rather than to the attic. We think we had initial problems with flashing, but the handy man has corrected that problem. Additional leaks this winter have been traced to excessive condensation in the vent pipe rather than from the roof. (Note: Several members of the family love long showers.)
The exhaust fans for the two bathrooms were "Y"-ed together into one roof vent. Our only solution this winter has been to disconnect the vents and direct them into a bucket that we empty every four to six weeks (2 to 3 gallons of water). With this temporary solution for the winter, we have stopped additional ceiling stains.
How do we prevent this problem without limiting shower duration? We have considered the possibility that a horizontal vent may lead to less condensation but don't want to spend the time and effort if it will not correct our problem.
Via e-mail
A. In climates with low winter temperatures, condensation will form in the bathroom vents. (I assume that is what you are talking about.) When the ducts are vented through the roof, or in any upward position, the condensate will run back into the fan and stain the ceiling. In your case, this seems to be aggravated by the fact that both bathroom fans are connected to only one roof vent, doubling the amount of condensation when people shower in both bathrooms at the same time.
The solution is to run the ducts separately and horizontally to the nearest gable wall. The best way to do so is to use Schedule 20, bell-end plastic pipes with a slightly tilting them toward the outside. (The bell end should be facing the fan side, not the outdoor side.) This is accomplished by setting the pipes on small blocks that diminish in size as you move away from the fan. Terminate the pipes through the wall with aluminum jacks (avoid plastic jacks, as they can break and allow cold air, bugs and mice in. Finally, tuck 4-inch thick fiberglass batts snugly on each side of the pipes and cover them with more batts. This will retard condensation that should only occur near the end of the pipes. There is no need to limit the length of the showers your family enjoys.
Q. I truly enjoy your column each week in the Daily Herald. I just recently found your book online and have purchased it. I know that you have mentioned it in your column before, but I can't recall the name of the product you recommended for the tiny dark flour beetles that appear in the kitchen. I would appreciate it if you would mention the product again and where it can be purchased.
Arlington Heights
A. Thanks for your confidence. It is nice to hear that you find the information helpful. I am not sure what you call flour beetles. If they are about ¼-inch long, they are probably larder beetles, which show up in houses in May and June, seeking food on which to deposit their eggs. They may also be brought into the house via bags of dry pet food, which contain mixtures of cereal and animal products.
The best form of control, if they are not too abundant, is to put a piece of cheese on a dish. They love cheese and will congregate on it in large numbers. You can then catch and kill them when they land. For a very large infestation, an ant-and-roach-type residual household spray is helpful. Apply it along baseboards and other areas where beetles are noticed. Do not let spray get on dishes or come in contact with food or food-preparation surfaces.
© 2008, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.