Home repair: Popcorn ceilings with asbestos require special handling

Q. My son bought a house with popcorn ceilings in every room. He had them tested for asbestos, and the test came back 3 percent. I am not sure what that means, but is there any way we can remove or cover it?

A. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has advised for years that if asbestos is in good shape and not likely to be damaged, it should be left alone or encapsulated.

However, your son may want to remove the popcorn ceiling because it is so outdated and was used to conceal a rough finish. And since it contains asbestos, removal should be done by accredited asbestos removers — an expensive project.

An alternative is to cover it with drywall.

Q. I regularly read your column and have a question regarding sump pump replacement. My 11-year-old house has two sump pumps in the basement. They run and the basement is totally dry, but I am concerned about their life expectancy. When does one replace a functioning sump pump to make sure it does not fail, resulting in a flooded basement? Is there a rule of thumb? Do you recommend any kind of emergency backup?

A. You haven’t mentioned what type of sump pumps you have and their brand. High-quality submersible pumps have no set life limits.

I would be more concerned about pedestal sump pumps, as I personally experienced problems with several of them in the past — one of my own and several through my consulting practice. If idle for an extended time, their impellers are prone to seizing from the deposits of chemicals in the water as the sump dries.

Years ago, I switched to a submersible Zoeller pump, which has performed very well, not only as a sump pump but also under general use in my construction business.

Battery-operated backup systems are available. They offer peace of mind in case of power interruptions.

Q. Within the past few weeks, you described your method for ridding a roof of moss. I frequently clip your column, but I did not save this one because I don’t have a moss problem. Then today, a friend emailed me and asked what to do about moss on the roof. Could you kindly bring me up to speed?

A. Tell your friend to try spraying the affected areas of the roof with a solution of three parts white vinegar to one part water. He or she also can use Spray & Forget (www.sprayandforget.com) or Wet & Forget (www.wetandforget.com). Both claim to be environmentally safe, and readers have reported good luck with both.

As with all products and methods of dealing with moss, lichens or algae, you must follow directions on the containers and allow plenty of time — sometimes months — before seeing results, depending on the extent of the infestation.

Q. I am looking for some impartial advice regarding cedar siding clapboards.

We have a house built in the late 1990s with cedar clapboard siding. It needs to be restained. (Probably it would be the first time it was stained since it was built.) The boards appear to be in good shape; only a few are curling or cracked. A contractor told us that since the extra boards in the basement were stained only on the outside, it is likely the ones on the house are also stained/sealed on only one side. He recommended not wasting money on restaining, but rather saving up to completely remove and replace the siding in a few years, since it will probably rot from the interior surfaces. This would obviously be a much bigger and more expensive undertaking. Does this sound reasonable?

A. Your contractor is probably right about the clapboards being stained only on the outside faces, which is why some of them have curled and cracked.

However, since only a few have such damage, why not replace them with the spare ones found in your basement (after staining their backsides)? Follow that with a complete staining of the entire house.

Clapboards curl, crack or rot mostly because they were not back-treated with a preservative, stain or paint, and were applied directly over housewrap or felt paper. As the finish on their exposed faces wears off, water begins to penetrate the wood. The sun dries these exposed faces by driving the moisture in the wood fibers to their back. The front cracks and shrinks, but the back is still swollen, causing curling.

All wood siding should be backprimed, all field cuts should be coated with the chosen finish, and the siding should be installed over a “rain screen,” which can be obtained by using one of the several products that have been developed over the last few years.

In the late 1970s, I developed a rain-screen system to solve the siding failure problems mentioned above. At that time, I screwed 1-by-3-inch furring strips vertically through the sheathing to the underlying studs. To prevent insect intrusion, I used a 1-inch-thick by 3-inch-wide Cobra fascia vent at both the top and bottom of the wall, and offset the top trim with small blocks to achieve a ventilation slot.

It was the subject of an article I wrote for the Journal of Light Construction in the ’80s. It is still my preferred method of providing a rain screen to allow drainage and ventilation behind the siding, because it allows a greater ventilation space than the commercial products now available, and it eliminates the risk of clapboards waving if some nails are driven too hard over a compressible material.

However, it is costlier in labor than installing Benjamin Obdyke’s Home Slicker — to name just one, and the first one on the market. Home Slicker is a yellow mat that is unrolled and stapled to the sheathing, and over which the siding is fastened. Home Slicker is also available as an integral system with Typar housewrap, saving on installation labor. Six-inch-wide insect screening is available from Benjamin Obdyke, but needs to be ordered separately.

You may want to wait until there is considerable deterioration of the clapboards to have them replaced, using the rain screen. But if you keep the clapboards stained on a timely basis, you may never need to replace them.

Q. I hope you can help me. I have an ongoing problem with my front porch and main entrance. The porch is exposed to the winter elements.

I’ve had the tongue-and-groove flooring replaced three times in 21 years and need to have from the flooring to the ground replaced due to rot, cheap lattice and it is not plumb due to settling (I guess?).

I’ve attached several pictures of the front porch and my side porch. You will note that the side porch, although requiring a paint job, has held up extremely well, with absolutely no rot of the pressure-treated floorboards. The side porch also remains level.

Can you please make a recommendation as to what I should have my carpenter lay for the front-porch floor? He is not sure what to do. He’s ready to start work, but I told him I wanted to get your feedback first.

I have decided I am absolutely not going to paint anymore but use some sort of a solid stain, if you think that is smart. I’m going to get a thicker, better-quality lattice and have the stairs replaced as well.

Is there such a thing as tongue-and-groove, pressure-treated wood for the more formal front entrance?

Money is a factor for me. I would appreciate any recommendations you make, including the type of wood, painting or staining, etc. Do you think using the same wood that is on the side porch for the floor of the front porch will look good, or will it diminish the appearance of the home? I do think the appearance of the front porch entrance is important.

A. You could use pressure-treated lumber or Trex for the front porch, but neither comes in tongue-and-groove. However, there are composite products that do. I suggest you go to a lumberyard to look at what is available.

I believe that pressure-treated lumber or Trex would look OK on the front porch, but the boards should run parallel to the front door so the small spaces between them will not detract from the appearance. This will require some alterations to the framing. Your carpenter can install blocking 16 inches on center between the existing joists to satisfy that need. But you should be the one to decide whether to use either or stick with tongue-and-groove material. The composites will be more expensive than pressure-treated wood or Trex, but there will be no need to add the blocking since they can run as the existing boards do. It’s a personal preference.

If any parts of the floor framing members or posts are also suffering from rot, they should be replaced with pressure-treated wood. The steps as well. You can also get pressure-treated lattice that should last a long time.

Pressure-treated wood should not be painted anyway; it is best to coat it with one of the products specially formulated for it. My favorite is Amteco TWP, which you can get in several hues (www.amteco.com). Trex can be painted. Composite products cannot, but they come in a variety of hues.

It is also best not to use an opaque product (highly pigmented solid color stain) on pressure-treated wood, as it is likely to peel. Some readers have had such problems with Behr and Sikkens.

Interesting comments: Two faithful readers have suggested that the bacon smell a reader’s daughter experienced in bedrooms above her kitchen may be caused by a range-hood problem, such as a disconnected or nonexistent duct. Cooking grease may have built up between the floor joists, and, when the sun shines on the floor, it activates the smell. I admit that I never thought of this possibility and zeroed in on fiberglass window screens, which are known to emit an unpleasant smell when heated by the sun.

If my two friends are correct, this is a lot more serious. Cooking grease that may be coating wood elements in the floor above the kitchen may represent a fire hazard. This should be investigated.

Thank you for your analyses. I have passed them on to the person who sent me the original question.

Of interest to parents of young children: Timber Press has just published “The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids: 101 Ways to Get Kids Outside, Dirty and Having Fun” by Whitney Cohen and John Fisher. Timber Press Inc. of Portland, Ore., can be reached at (503) 227-2878 or at info@timberpress.com; www.timberpress.com.

I leafed through the book and found some fun projects. I gave the book to a daughter and son-in-law for them to entertain their young children.

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. His book, “About the House,” is available at www.upperaccess.com and in bookstores.

© 2012, United Feature Syndicate Inc.