Shower grab bars must be attached securely
Q. Following a recent accident, my husband is returning home and will receive home care. We need to have grab bars installed in our fiberglass shower. How can they be safely anchored on a fiberglass wall that feels so flimsy? One side of the shower is against an interior wall, while the back is against an exterior wall. Do we have to cut a hole in these walls to devise some sort of safe anchoring system?
A. I am so sorry to hear about your husband's accident. I do hope that he will recover quickly. You have my thoughts and prayers.
Until about six months ago, you would either have had to try to locate studs and screw the mounts into them if the shower walls were in contact with the framing or drywall behind them. Or you would have had to cut a hole in the back of the shower in the location selected for the grab bars to install some form of blocking - not very practical on an exterior wall. But an ingenious new product has just come on the market that solves this problem. It's called the SecureMount System from Home Care by Moen.
A hole is drilled through the shower walls, the SecureMount system is inserted, and the anchor is flipped and tightened to the back of the wall. The SecureMount system can be used on fiberglass, drywall with or without tiles, marble, etc., up to a wall thickness of 11/2 inches. It can hold more than 600 pounds, depending on the wall material. It is available in plumbing-supply houses.
Q. I read your column religiously and save most of them, including many on commercial gutters, which I intend to buy when I replace the roof on my hip-roofed ranch house within the next few years. You wrote about commercial gutters and 4-inch PVC drainage piping, one of my issues. My follow-up question is whether any sort of screening covers are made for commercial gutters. Not the gutter-guard solid-cover type, but the old-fashioned rolled aluminum screening, or any of the newer 3-foot long semirigid type screening in either metal or plastic.
For the last several years, I've been conducting my own modest experiment with the rolled screening, which I've used for over 20 years: 3-foot sections of three different types of semirigid screening (two metal and one plastic). What are the dimensions of the downspouts for commercial gutters?
A. I haven't looked into the type of screening you are asking about for commercial gutters. You may have gathered that I am not very fond of any gutter covers, having not found one that really solves all the problems that beset gutters. I have always found commercial gutters and downspouts capable of holding leaves satisfactorily, as the downspouts do not clog - the main issue with residential gutters and spouts. Commercial downspouts are 3-by-4 inches, which is twice the cross section of residential downspouts. I would be very interested in the results of your experiment with the different types you have tested.
Q. I'm getting rust spots on my clothes from my washing machine. You have addressed this problem once before but the solution escapes me.
A. To determine whether the rust is caused by your water heater, draw hot water in the laundry tub (if you have one) or a bathtub and wash an old white towel by hand in it. Let it dry on a rack. If rust spots do not appear as it dries, that is not the problem and the rust spots are more likely caused by your clothes washer. Next, wash the same towel in the washer and let it dry on the rack. By process of elimination, you should be able to pinpoint the offending appliance. The only cure may be a replacement.
Q. I know you probably get loads of inquiries about water in the basement, but this might be different. My home is about 55 years old. The basement floor has asphalt tile, which was put down about 30 years ago or so. The water leak is happening around a sewer pipe/cap that is at floor level.
The pipe has a 4-inch cap with a square nut in the middle. The cap has always protruded through the floor. Recently, the tile in front of the cap has sunk, and about every third day or so, clear water appears around the cap. I can use about three paper towels to wipe up the water. Why is the asphalt tile sinking? Is it because the floor is wet on and off? What would happen if I unscrewed this cap? I am scared to death that I won't be able to get it back on and water will come rushing into the basement.
I should also mention that I was away all summer, and, when I returned, my stationary tubs by the washing machine were filled with about an inch of black-pudding-like gunk. It did not smell, and the plumber just roto-rooted it away. Was this connected?
A. There is no need to unscrew the sewer clean-out cap; it is unlikely that the water is leaking around it. The sunken tile may be due to some erosion or disintegration of the old concrete around the sewer clean-out plug. A very handy-person or a mason is probably the best person to call.
The asphalt tile can be removed easily by applying heat from a hair dryer or heat gun (at a low setting), and lifting it with a putty knife. The deteriorating concrete should be dug up and new concrete put in its place. The tile can be reset with the proper adhesive. Did the plumber have any explanation as to what the black gunk was and how it got into your laundry tubs? I doubt that there is a connection between the black gunk and the clear-water intrusion at the sewer clean-out since the gunk did not smell. (Sewer-generated gunk would smell.) If there were a connection, I would think the leakage around the sewer clean-out would also be black. And if there is a floor drain on your basement floor, any sewer backup would first show there.
Q. Two summers, ago my husband and I pressure-washed our wraparound deck, repaired splintering and broken slats, etc. before rolling, brushing and spraying on Behr's opaque deck stain in a redwood color. This spring, we took the leaf blower to remove any debris before placing the summer furniture. The stain came off in huge strips, leaving the gray patina we originally had. After 35-plus gallons of stain, and hours of hard work, all was for naught. Can you please tell me what went wrong and how we can remedy this situation of an awful-looking deck?
A. Over the years, I have received several letters like yours and have investigated a couple of condo projects where Behr deck stain had been used. They all suffered from the same peeling problem. All I can suggest is that you remove all the Behr stain and apply a product compatible with the type of wood on your deck. If it is pressure-treated yellow pine, try one of the Wolman's deck stains. They all have a mildewcide and are water-repellent. You should be able to find Wolman's stains in box stores, hardware and paint stores.
Q. I am trying to determine the most efficient and cost-effective way to heat our Florida room. We replaced the "louvered crank-out windows" with double-pane, high-efficiency windows. A few of these windows are casements to provide ventilation. The dimensions are approximately 30-feet long by 12-feet wide with 8-foot ceilings. (It is unlikely the wood ceiling has insulation; above it, the roof goes to the outside). It is attached to our house on the north and west sides. These walls are block covered with stucco. The south side of the room, which overlooks a lake, has approximately 2 feet of stucco-covered block as a base and four, 6-foot-long by 4-foot-high windows. There are casements on each end and picture windows in the middle. The north side also has 2-foot block/stucco base with two approximately 4-by-4-foot casement windows with a door in between.
The floor is concrete slab with slate. The Florida room will be replacing our family room, as we'll need to convert our family room into a bedroom. Our home is heated with oil. We use propane for cooking and clothes drying. It was suggested that we do not use oil heat, as we'll keep the temperature low when not in use. Does this make sense to you? I could easily run a propane line or dedicated electrical line to supply heat if necessary. It was also suggested that I look into Hydro-Sil (a silicone-filled baseboard heating system that uses electricity as its power source). I contacted the manufacturer and was told that it would cost about $52 per month to heat the room (assuming outside temperature is 0 degrees and we keep the room at 70 degrees, 24 hours a day). The cost is $800 for materials, excluding electrical. Are you familiar with this product? Propane is the last option.
A. For your Florida room to be comfortable and energy-efficient, you should insulate the ceiling and the walls. The ceiling can be insulated by having cellulose blown in or - if this is too difficult to do and the ceiling finish is not something you wish to preserve - it can either be taken down and fiberglass batts can be stapled between the ceiling joists or 2-inch thick rigid insulation can be applied directly to the ceiling and covered with drywall or paneling. The walls can be insulated with 2-inch-thick rigid insulation, covered with drywall or paneling. If the inside of the exterior walls is exposed blocks - or stucco - the rigid insulation can be adhered to clean blocks with a compatible adhesive such as Sikaflex-1a or Styrobond, as long as you use a rigid insulation without an aluminum or paper skin.
The drywall can also be adhered to the rigid insulation with the same adhesive. Be sure that you use a 2-by-4-inch wood block that is at least a foot long and a heavy rubber mallet to tap the insulation and the drywall tightly to the base material to which they are attached. An alternative is to fasten furring strips to the masonry walls with construction adhesive and attach the insulation and drywall to the furring strips. You will have to use this system if you choose to use paneling as a wall finish. To heat this room, consider a Rinnai propane gas heater vented to the outside. It is very dependable, easy to maintain (clean the filters) and, if properly sized, will heat the room faster than any other heating system as long as the room has been made energy-efficient as outlined above. No heater will make the room comfortable in cold weather if the ceiling and block walls are not insulated.
• Henri de Marne's column appears Sundays. He was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. Write to him in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or via e-mail at henridemarne@gmavt.net.
© 2008, United Feature Syndicate Inc.