Sealing with caulk keeps out yellow jackets

Q. Last summer, I had yellow jackets enter my home via a crack by the electrical box on the outside wall. I sprayed some hornet wasp killer into the opening. The next few days, I found about 35 to 40 dead yellow jackets in the house where the electrical box enters the house wall. I could not find any entrance from the wall into the house. Upon discovering the dead yellow jackets in the house, I quit trying to destroy them, as I expected a real home invasion if they got worked up. If they are still in the wall, they have been dormant for the winter. Are they still in the walls? Have they left? How do I destroy them? Is plugging the outside hole advisable? Is there anything I can do now or must I wait till there is warmer weather?

Arlington Heights, Ill.

A. Yellow-jacket workers all die in the late fall; only the queen remains alive to start a new colony. If yellow jackets came into the house where the electric-service box is, seal around it with caulking or expanding foam. Then spray from the outside as you did last summer, which should kill the queen if she is still in the wall. Or call a pest-management professional to take care of the problem.

Q. I filled my driveway cracks this past summer with liquid filler (three times), and they all opened this winter. Did the asphalt contract and open these cracks? Should I fill them now?

Via e-mail

A. Cold-poured crack fillers available to homeowners are of low quality and need to be reapplied yearly. A better option would be to hire a contractor to apply a hot, rubberized liquid sealant.

Q. Our house is a two-family that's about 80 to 90 years old. Some of the plaster walls are starting to have "bellies" in them. I might expect it from outside walls, as the house is not insulated very well, but none of the walls with "bellies" is an outside wall; they are walls dividing rooms and hallway walls. I thought the only way to fix these was to break them out and replace with Sheetrock -- a dirty and time-consuming project that we have put off until spring. Someone told me there is something called "plaster buttons" that can pull in the bellies without breaking out the wall. Can you elaborate? Do they work?

Via e-mail

A. A plaster button is a perforated metal disc with a countersunk hole in the center where a drywall screw is inserted. The better buttons are 1¼ inches in diameter. They work if there are no broken plaster particles behind the "bellies" that would prevent them from being drawn back to the substrate. Once you have succeeded in flattening the "bellies," spackling is applied over the buttons, followed by sanding and painting.

Q. I am new to the area, and it was pointed out to me that there is an ice dam forming on the back (south) side of the garage. A spare bedroom covers the front three-quarters of the garage, and it is on its own heat zone. We keep the spare room closed most of the time and the heat at 55 F. The open space below where the damming is occurring can be accessed through a plywood-covered panel in the spare room. There is blow-in insulation covering the floor of the open space. Is a little bit of ice damming unavoidable in this situation, or is there something I can do to alleviate or at least minimize it? Would placing insulation between the ceiling joists in the open space do the trick?

South Burlington, Vt.

A. The photo of the attic does not show any problems, but the photo's small, and I might not be able to see what I need to see. The exterior photos show a small ice dam and many small icicles. The ice dam may be caused by a heat loss through the scuttle hole that allows access to the attic. If it is not weatherstripped, take care of it by cleaning the edges onto which the panel rests, and applying a peel-and-stick, closed-cell weatherstripping tape to them. Make sure the scuttle-hole panel is insulated, or place a 2-inch-thick piece of rigid insulation over the hole. The many small icicles are an indication that the snow pack is melting from natural external causes -- normal since this section of the roof is facing south. As long as the ice dam is not thicker, I wouldn't worry about it. However, it may get worse if you raise the temperature in that unused room.

It is not advisable to put insulation between the roof rafters; insulation belongs on the floor, and it looks as if you have enough cellulose now. The main thing is to look for convective paths allowing warm, moist air to get into the attic.

Q. I have redwood decks and have been using Behr Semi-Transparent Deck, Fence & Siding Stain with a tint base of 3-77. I always end up with a dull, unfinished look, and it seems like it needs a new coat every year. Your article mentioned Ameteco TWP 501. Would this work better than the Behr? If so, who would have this?

Williston, Vt.

A. Amteco TWP 501 is Cedar Tone; you may want to use 502, which is redwood. It is a good product for decks, but the surface has to be clean. You will have to remove the previous stain. Behr is also a good product. I have been a fan of Amteco products for many years, have used them myself on my house and have recommended them to many clients. Try local paint stores (Essex Paint & Carpet in Essex Junction carries Amteco products), or order online at www.twp-amteco.com.

Q. Would you have information where the Gordon Wrench that you mentioned in December of last year, could be purchased in Northern Illinois?

Via e-mail

A. If you cannot find the Gordon Wrench in a local store, you can buy it through their Web site: www.gordonwrench.com. It's a great tool.

Q. We have a 6-year-old house with a standing-seam metal roof and aluminum gutters. Every winter, the gutters take a beating from the snow and ice sliding off the roof that accumulates in the gutters. This has required repairs or replacements every spring. I've been contemplating two possible solutions to this problem. The first option is installing snow guards on the roof to catch the bulk of the snow and ice before it reaches the gutters. The other option would be to install ice-melting wire along the eaves of the roof to prevent the snow and ice from building up in this area. Do you have any suggestions or solutions that you could offer to this problem?

Underhill, Vt.

A. Go for the snow guards. Electric wires would not prevent snow from sliding off the roof. They also need to be managed (turned off when snow is not falling) and are costly to operate. However, if there is considerable heat loss into the attic, ice dams may still form at the eaves of the roof and fill your gutters, but at least snow will not slide off and cause as many problems.

Q. What do you think about the heavily advertised Heat Surge heaters that are free if one buys Amish-made fireplace mantels? These heaters are supposed to use no more energy than a coffee maker and heat a whole room. Somehow it sounds too good to be true.

Via e-mail

A. I consulted experts in the electric-energy field, and these devices are electric heaters, pure and simple. You can buy an electric heater in a hardware store for a few dollars that will do the same thing, but you would not get the "beautiful Amish fireplace mantel," which costs $249.

Important spring maintenance: With the outdoor-cooking season upon us, it is important to warn you of the care and caution you should exercise with propane and natural-gas grills. Proper maintenance is essential for your safety. Headlines such as "Another gas grill explosion" are too common, and we should all use care to avoid them.

Estimates from the U.S. Fire Administration are sobering: about 2,000 fires, several hundred injuries and property damage of approximately $18 million per year. They are caused by gas leaks, overfilling and blockage of the venturi tubes. The connection between the propane tank and the fuel line is through a fitting that's threaded counterclockwise. This makes it easy to damage the fitting or make a poor connection.

To check for leaks after the connection is made, brush a solution of equal parts water and detergent on the fitting. If bubbles form, the fitting is not tight and gas is leaking. Tighten the connection, but if this is not entirely successful, have it checked by a competent technician. Bugs and spiders may make a comfy winter nest in the venturi tubes, which allow the mixing of air and gas. Obstructions will force the gas to come out elsewhere, possibly causing an explosion. Clean the venturi tubes and make sure they are completely open.

Overfilling is also a potentially dangerous condition because gas expands in the heat of summer and can escape through the pressure-relief valve; it can then ignite and explode. The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises gas grills be placed at least 10 feet away from any building and on a noncombustible surface, and never under a roof, such as a carport or porch.

© 2008, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.