Home repair: Elbow grease may brighten yellowed tiles

Q. I am hoping you know of a solution for the yellowing of my white vinyl floor tiles. Two years ago, after a summer of hot days, the tiles turned yellow in all areas not covered with throw rugs in the backroom and the kitchen. I would like to change this to the original appearance.

Is there a commercial product or a homemade solution I could use on these areas?

A. If the yellowing is on all the tiled areas not covered by scatter rugs, it may be caused by a wax buildup, assuming you have been waxing the floors.

Try to remove the yellow as follows: Clean the floors to remove all dust, etc. Mix a cup of ammonia and a cup of laundry detergent in a gallon of water. Scrub the affected areas with a sponge saturated in the solution. It may take a lot of scrubbing, and you may need to scrub more aggressively with a scouring pad. Rinse the floor and let it dry. Be sure to wear rubber or plastic gloves, and never mix ammonia with any bleach or detergent containing bleach, as it will produce toxic gases.

If the stains are localized to the traffic areas, they may be due to asphalt from your driveway that is brought in on the soles of shoes. This seems likely, since you mention the problem developed after a summer of hot days, when the asphalt would be softer. Try to remove these stains with a citrus-based cleaner or mineral spirits.

Q. I have a plumbing problem. I can’t turn on the water to the toilet bowl full force. The pipes start making banging noises. I cleared the lines of air, but it’s still the same.

A. If you mean that when you open the supply valve fully, the pipes start banging, it may mean you need a new fill valve. There should not be air in the water pipes, so that’s not the cause of your problem.

Q. Do you have a solution for artillery spores that is better than removing and replacing mulch each year?

A. The easiest solution is to replace organic mulch with rubber mulch, which does not decompose or support insect life. You should find rubber mulch at some garden centers and hardware stores. You can learn more about it at www.rubbermulch.com.

An alternative is to remove the mulch and replace it with grass or a suitable ground cover.

Q. I purchased my ranch-style home in 2003. I had air-conditioning put in the attic in 2005, and ever since, I have had a moisture problem there. The water leaks around my ceiling vents in the winter when the boiler comes on. You can hear it drip when the heat first comes on.

I contacted several people, and they told me I needed more ventilation in the attic. I have four round roof vents.

Do you think that if I got a dehumidifier, it would solve the problem? If so, do I put it in the attic or in the basement?

A. A dehumidifier would not help, and neither would additional attic ventilation.

What is happening is that in cold weather, condensation forms in the air-conditioning ducts in the attic as moist, warm air enters the ceiling registers. The condensation may freeze there until the heat comes on and warmer air enters the ceiling registers, at which time the frost melts and the drips start.

You may need more insulation on the air-conditioning ducts or in the attic itself to cover the ducts. You could also try sealing the ceiling registers for the winter.

Q. We will be building a deck railing of 4-foot pressure-treated posts and two-by-four pressure-treated top and bottom rails, with painted aluminum balusters attached to the two-by-fours. The 4-by4s have a 6-inch rabbet notched out of the bottom, which leaves that section of the posts 2 inches thick. I am attaching that 6-inch section to the outside of the deck joists. The outside joists are three, 2-by-12s bolted together, so I have 6 inches to drill into.

Should carriage bolts or screws be used, and how many on each 6-inch piece? Also, should stainless steel hardware be used with pressure-treated wood?

A. Yes, you should use stainless steel hardware. Instead of carriage bolts or screws, I would suggest you use regular bolts with washers at both ends. They are a lot easier to deal with, particularly if you ever have to unbolt them. You will have much better control with two wrenches than you would with carriage bolts, which can be troublesome if they don’t “seat” properly into the pressure-treated wood. Two bolts per post are sufficient.

Q. The garage on our western Pennsylvania home faces south. The aluminum coil stock trim around our garage door became wavy from the heat generated by the sun. We replaced the coil stock trim with Verrsatex PVC board. Before installing the PVC board, we removed the coil stock, with the exception of a portion that is under the stone. When we removed the aluminum coil stock, we noticed some water staining on the bottom of the garage door header. It appears the staining may have been the result of water or condensation that couldn’t escape because of the coil stock. After installing the PVC board, we’ve noticed a very small amount of water coming from behind the PVC fascia portion of the trim (see photos). Since the water appears even when there is no rain, we’re guessing the source of the water may be condensation weeping from behind the PVC board and siding.

Should that small amount of water cause concern and, if so, what should we do to rectify the issue?

A. Thank you for sending the photos; they are always helpful.

Since you have seen water drops when it hasn’t rained, the water stains behind the coil stock could be caused by condensation in cold weather, and if a lot of moisture is introduced by the cars when snow melts from their undercarriages.

The stains also could have been caused by small amounts of rain getting behind the stone veneer and the coil stock. It looks as if the coil stock was applied directly over the sheathing instead of behind it (or behind a housewrap, if one was used). Since no siding is fully waterproof, it is conceivable there has been some penetration through the joints between the stones, and therefore behind the aluminum. Any water that penetrates could freeze in cold weather and show up when the temperature warms up.

The same would occur after the application of the PVC trim. Caulking is not a permanent solution and does not address the fact that no head flashing was applied behind the sheathing or any housewrap (not shown in your photos) and over the top of the PVC trim.

Any water behind a finished surface is a potential problem over time. Short of removing the stone veneer over the door and flashing the garage door properly, try making sure that caulking with polyurethane is done thoroughly and checked regularly, and make sure the mortar joints between the stones are kept up.

Q. I recognized the letter in a recent column that describes my project built last year. I have used this type of pier foundation on nearly 50 projects and have yet to hear of any failure.

We hand-dig piers, “bell” the bottom of each hole and then place at least two bags of Sakrete in each hole. We mix it rather stiff so the pier won’t plunge through it when it is placed.

I order the correct “foundation grade” pressure-treated lumber. We place the uncut, treated end in the hole after installing hot dipped galvanized common nails with about 2 inches of the nail projecting (looks like a medieval mace). We place the post onto the wet concrete footing, then pour an additional bag of Sakrete mix around the side to encase the nails. The heavy nails anchor the piers in the “mushroom” concrete footing and prevent uplift. The weight carried by the post is transferred to the footing and is not dependent on the nails.

I have removed untreated wooden posts and have noticed wood rot within 12 inches of the surface, but none farther down. I have concluded that the corrosion and rot need air — which is only available near the surface and not 4 feet deep.

You raised the issue of corrosion with the pressure-treated chemicals, and that is something I would like to look into. The heavy galvanized nails I use should last a long time at the 4-foot depth, however, a stainless steel fastener might be superior.

A. Thank you for your comments, which are in response to my answer to a reader who was concerned about the durability and integrity of the posts you installed to support the conversion of his deck into a new sunporch.

The reader did not mention that you poured stiff concrete mix in the hole first. He said you put the posts in and then poured concrete in the hole. This was my problem with the installation. My concern is that when the galvanized nails eventually disintegrate from contact with the pressure-treated posts, the wood posts would simply sink in the ground under the weight of the structure.

I am not opposed to the use of pressure-treated posts — if they are of the proper treatment grade — in place of concrete piers from footings to the structure they support, because the “hinge” where the wood posts are attached to the piers is a weak link. The advantage of one-piece supports is that they are resistant to lateral frost pressure, which concrete piers are not. The soil on the open side of concrete piers may be covered with snow, protecting them from freezing, while the soil under the structure they support is not. This frequently results in the concrete piers being pushed outward, resulting in a “bent knee” where the concrete pier and wood post are connected.

The soil condition may also cause them to be “bear-hugged” and yanked up, causing the supported structure to heave as well.

These problems can be overcome by integrating a footing, such as Big Foot, and reinforcing it and the cardboard forms for the piers with L-shaped steel rerods before pouring the concrete; wrapping the piers with plastic to create a slick surface against “bear-hugging”; backfilling with coarse sand; and placing a 2-foot square XPS collar around them a few inches below grade to prevent frost penetration.

It would be better if you used stainless steel nails, as galvanized nails are likely to eventually corrode from the posts’ treatment, which is why galvanized deck screws are no longer used since we switched from CCA treatment to ACQ.

Untreated cedar and redwood posts, which I used extensively before pressure-treated wood was available in the 1950s, do indeed rot in the few inches just below the soil line, because that is where the wood is subjected to wetting-and-drying cycles. By contrast, wood posts immersed in water are far more resistant to decay because they are not subjected to these cycles.

Ÿ Henri de Marne 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 email at henridemarne@gmavt.net.

© 2012, United Feature Syndicate Inc.