Kitchen floor needs more support for tiles
Q. I found your article on floor grout interesting and was hoping you would address another grout problem. The grout between my kitchen tile floor has come loose in certain places. I tried removing the remainder of the loose grout with a tool in the sections where it broke loose and replacing it with new grout, but it doesn't seem to stay put for long and comes out all over again. Can you tell me what to do to get the grout to stay in those areas?
A. If repeated grouting keeps coming loose, it is probably because the kitchen floor flexes too much. No grout will stay put under these conditions. You can identify this problem by walking hard on the floor and seeing whether it gives, however little it may be. Then, if possible, you'll need to take remedial measures. These may include beefing up the floor joists from below with blocking or by installing an intermediate support under the floor. I would need more information to be more specific.
Q. I am having a problem with my bathroom sink's refusal to drain; it takes forever, sometimes an hour or more, but the pipe is not clogged (I replaced the pipe and elbow). I have put a snake about 15 feet down the drain in the floor and encountered no blockage, and the toilet and bathtub drain fine. This is driving me nuts.
A. Pull up the stopper, and check the tail pipe; it may be clogged with hair, etc. If you cannot pull up the stopper because it is held by the little rod operated by the stem that opens and closes it, unscrew the knurled knob in the back of the tail pipe under the sink. Pull the rod out to free the stopper, and pull the stopper out. Rescrew the little rod, and look inside the tail pipe with a flashlight. You may be surprised at the amount of stuff stuck in there. You may need to fashion a hook at the end of a wire to get it all out. Once the tail pipe is clear, put the stopper back, but without inserting the rod in its ring (face the ring toward you); it will just sit there and can easily be removed anytime you need to clean the tail pipe. I hope this does it for you. Consider a monthly treatment with Super Washing Soda. Read the instructions on the side of the box, but do not use Super Washing Soda in completely clogged pipes, as it will turn into a cementlike plug that will need to be rooted out.
Q. I have baseboard hot-water heat in my 20-year-old house, along with central air conditioning. I am looking for an easy way to seal up my AC vents during the winter when the heat is on, as I can usually feel drafts coming from there. While all of the vents have louvers that can close, they do not tightly seal. I have resorted to taping plastic food wrap over the vents every year. In a few cases - particularly for the rectangular vents that are on the walls - I use those magnetic covers that work fine, since the vents are steel. However, the square vents on the ceiling are aluminum, which does not allow the magnetic covers to work. I have tried to ensure there are no air leaks in the flexible ducts or plenum for the air conditioning in the attic, but I suspect it is difficult or impossible to do without having all new materials. Do you have any other solution for me? I was hoping there was some way to use Velcro or other easily removable material that would do the job, even if appearance were compromised a bit.
A. A couple of things come to mind: 1) double-faced tape applied to the ceiling around the aluminum registers to which some plastic material would stick; 2) remove the grilles of the ceiling registers, wrap them with plastic, and screw them back on. In the latter case, stuff some rags in the duct as well to make the seal more efficient.
Q. Can you please respond again to a question you gave a few weeks back regarding the best method for treating clear caulking in a newly finished shower stall that has become dark and discolored?
A. If you have tried to remove the discoloration with bleach and it has not worked, it is quite possible that the clear caulking used is silicone - a product prone to mildew. The only solution I know of with this type of caulking is removal, which should be fairly easy to do - it can usually be simply peeled off. Replace it with DAP Kwik Seal Plus Premium Kitchen & Bath Adhesive Caulk w/Microban. You may wish to check the DAP Web site, www.dap.com, and click on "Products," "Caulks and Sealants" or "Kitchen/Bath." You will see several choices. The advantage of the caulks with Microban is that they contain a mildew-resistant ingredient.
Q. My bathroom sink gets clogged occasionally. There is a black sludgy substance that collects in the drain. I use a liquid hand soap in this sink. I assume this is the cause of the problem. Also, I'm the only one that uses this sink. I have short hair and very little of it. I would like your thoughts on this problem.
A. If water still drains, albeit slowly, pour a solution of Super Washing Soda and boiling water down the drain to clean it once a month. However, if the drain is completely clogged, do not use Super Washing Soda until you can obtain some drainage, as it would form a cementlike plug that would have to be rooted out. You'll find Super Washing Soda in the laundry section of your supermarket. Follow the directions on the box.
Q. I have an apartment with a moisture problem. Even in the winter, you notice the humidity when you walk into the place. My property manager thought that a loose chimney flashing caused the moisture. We fixed that, but there is still noticeable humidity. This duplex house (ranch-style) was built in the 1970s, about the time of the energy crisis. I know the place is well insulated, but I am sure if all was properly installed, we shouldn't have this problem. The bathroom has some mold on the windowsills and one bedroom as well, so I am concerned. The basement is nice and dry. There are five people living in this small apartment - I am sure that doesn't help. I have hired a man to put an exhaust fan in the bathroom and also replace all the old windows. If you have any suggestions, please forward them to me.
A. I assume that you are the landlord and the five people are your tenants. The excessive moisture problem is more likely to be caused by the five people living in a small apartment, as they generate a lot of moisture. If they have water-loving plants and dry laundry on a rack, that adds insult to injury. If the building is well insulated and reasonably tight, the buildup of moisture is even worse now that you have replaced the old windows with newer ones, which I assume are tighter than the old ones. Even using the bathroom fan after showering will not overcome the excessive moisture generated by the tenants.
The best solution is to install an air-to-air heat exchanger through a wall of the largest open space and keep all doors to various rooms open - including the bathroom when it is not in use. Using the bathroom fan whenever anyone showers will also help a lot. You may also want to consider painting the bathroom with Zinsser Perma-White, which contains a mildewcide.
Q. I live in an 80-year-old home situated on the side of a hill. The basement floor is poured concrete, and sometimes during heavy rains water comes through the ground. Also, the floor paint creates bubbles and flakes off. I just use regular concrete floor paint. Is there any special paint that will not flake and/or allow the water to come through? Your advice will be greatly appreciated.
A. When you say that the water comes through the ground, do you mean water comes through cracks in the concrete floor or around its perimeter? The first thing I would recommend is to check the grade around the house, particularly the side facing the hill. Correct any low or level grade in order to keep water away from the foundation. A swale a few feet from the foundation may help direct the water around the lower side or sides of the house. If that does not solve the problem, you may be suffering from an underground water problem. This is harder to deal with, as it will probably require digging a deep trench between the house and the bottom of the hill and down one side of the house to daylight. The trench may have to be as deep as the footings of the house. Place a sheet of black plastic against the house side of the trench on the hillside, and place a couple of inches of crushed stones on the bottom of the trench. Lay a perforated pipe in that section of the trench and a solid pipe in the side trench. Fill most of the hillside trench with egg-sized crushed stones. Cover the stones with filter fabric and coarse sand, and top it off with native soil, making sure that you finish the job with a swale. Then plant grass. The side trench can be backfilled with native soil.
As to the paint peeling from the concrete slab, there is not much you can do about it. Painting a concrete slab is always going to be chancy, as there is no paint that won't be affected by hydrostatic pressure from below. The safest way to color a concrete slab is to stain it with a concrete stain. That would require the complete removal of the paint there now.
Q. Our overhead garage door has issues that seem temperature-related. When it is cold, perhaps in the 20-degree range or lower, the door will open to a height of about three feet and then stop. If one pushes up slightly on the door before reaching that critical point, the door will open completely. There is no problem when shutting the door. I have tried spraying the track with WD-40, but that has proved ineffective. Any suggestions short of calling in a professional?
A. Most electric door openers have a sensitivity adjustment. Since you are only experiencing a problem when the door is opening, adjust the UP sensitivity. WD-40 is OK to use, but you should lubricate the wheels and spindles and not the tracks.
Q. Help! I redid our basement last year with new paint, carpeting, etc. I am still getting the "musty smell." What do you suggest to combat that odor?
A. To prevent a musty smell in summer, you need to use a dehumidifier with a capacity that is able to handle the cubic footage of the area. In winter, heat is the answer. I hope the carpeting you used is synthetic and over a similar pad. Too bad you didn't deal with the mustiness before redoing the basement; it would have been better to take care of it then. Try spraying the basement with Magic-Zymes, a product that kills odors quite successfully. Order it online at www.magiczymes.com, or call (866) 478-2368. Another choice is Nok-Out, which works differently and has a chlorine base: www.nokout.com, (888) 977-4848. In Canada, the Nok-Out distributor is OdorTech, located in Midhurst, Ontario, northwest of Toronto, (877) 466-5688.
• 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.
© 2009, United Feature Syndicate Inc.