Ceiling fans help to make a living space more comfortable

Q. Please settle an argument that happens every summer in our house. We have ceiling fans throughout our upstairs. Do they help with the cooling of the house? And do they affect energy costs? I believe it helps in the winter also, as long as the fans spin the opposite direction; my wife says no.

A. You are putting me in a difficult spot, but I'll answer honestly and impartially.

Ceiling fans are useful year-round. We keep ours going at all times.

If a house is cooled naturally, ceiling fans should blow down in the summer to help people feel the air moving. But in air-conditioned homes, the fans should blow air up to move stratified warm air down along the walls, and not on people. This mixes the air in each room. The same strategy works during the heating season: The fans should blow upward for the same reason.

Q. You have previously mentioned a cleaning solution that helps eliminate spiders from vinyl siding. Would you please tell us the name of the product again?

A. The product I mentioned before is Miss Muffet's Revenge by Wet & Forget (www.wetandforget.com). Miss Muffet's Revenge is ready to use and comes in half-gallon containers with a built-in sprayer. The listed price is $19.99.

Q. Before I call a roofer, I want to run this by you. The last two winters I have ice forming on, in and around a downspout from the gutter to the ground. I am concerned that it could cause damage to the house brick. The gutter has the leaf guard, installed over five years ago, and it has worked just fine until now. Any suggestions as to what may have caused this ice problem?

A. If the ice problem is only recent - in the last two years - it sounds as if this is weather-related. The recent winters have been very cold, and snow has been plentiful.

If downspouts fill with ice, there is a great risk that the ice will cause the seam in the back of the downspout to break.

Once the ice has melted, the seam, now open, can let water leak through it and would damage any siding. This is one more reason why I recommend commercial gutters and downspouts because they are larger (the downspouts have twice the surface area of residential types), and they do not ice up as fast, although this is not a guarantee.

I think your gutter is also filled with ice, as the two usually go together, but you may not be aware of it because the gutter cover hides it.

For gutters to fill with ice, it usually requires snow to melt from the bottom of the snow pack. One way to deal with this is to take measures to slow or stop the melting. Additional attic insulation may be helpful, and perhaps improved attic ventilation also may be needed. In addition, the possibility that convective paths exist which allow warm air from the conditioned space into the attic should be investigated.

Another way is to install electric roof cables in the gutter and downspouts. I am usually not in favor of them because they are costly to operate, and unless you have specialists install them with a complicated and very pricey system of controls, you will have to monitor them yourself.

They should be turned on only when needed, and you should make sure the cables are UL listed for safety, as there have been reports of fires from their use.

You will need a receptacle nearby with an easily accessible switch.

Q. The last two times I had my deck cedar railings sanded and stained we used a product you recommended. It was pretty toxic. This time the people who will work for me will only do it if I have a less-toxic product. What do you recommend now?

A. The product I recommended is Amteco TWP. The stain you used must have been oil-based. I am not sure why the people you hired refuse to work with it, as it is easy enough to wear gloves, and the work is outside.

I have used TWP for decades and never found any problem with its use, and neither have a number of workers who have also used it.

But Amteco now has most of their TWP stains manufactured with low VOC and water-based.

Your local paint store may not carry these products. You may want to check if the Glidden Professional Paint shop in your area has what you want. It carries TWP products.

Q. Thanks for the reply to my earlier question regarding moisture in the attic. It has been a problem for a few years even before we replaced the roof. When I had the insulation work done, they discovered no intake vents in the soffits.

When they did the insulation, they sealed all openings and lights and also built a box with a lid to protect the opening for pull-down steps. It is sealed really well.

When the roof was replaced about three years ago, we added the Airvent Edgevent to provide intake. A ridge vent was on the previous roof and replaced on the new roof.

If the passive vents are added on the back side of the roof, it wouldn't hurt looks from the street, so I am leaning toward doing this rather than ripping shingles off to add hip vents. Does that make sense?

Could you explain a little about the power vent? Every contractor I had come out has recommended this as a solution over passive vents.

A. You have answered my earlier questions. The moisture problem existed before you added insulation and put on a new roof with intake Edgevents, and the insulators did a thorough job of sealing any convective paths from the conditioned space below the attic, including insulating and sealing the folding stairway.

And yet, the moisture problem still exists.

Try installing the passive vents, which you prefer over hip venting, in the back of the roof as close to the ridge as you can to increase the exhaust area, which you have calculated to be currently insufficient.

If this solves the problem, you have done a good job of analyzing the situation. But if it does not solve this persistent moisture problem, I'd go back to my earlier comment that convective paths from the conditioned space still exist somewhere, and an energy audit consisting of infrared thermography and a blowdoor test may be advisable.

Adding an attic power vent has negative effects on cooling and heating of the conditioned spaces. Unless enough net free ventilation area (NFVA) is provided to satisfy the fan's CFM (cubic feet per minute) output - seldom the case - the fan will draw the additional needed air from the living spaces, increasing the costs of heating and air conditioning, and resulting in a waste of energy, which is something we should all be conscious of avoiding.

Q. During the summer of 2013, we had our deck replaced and extended using 4-inch wide Cambera mahogany deck materials. The Cambera came pre-treated, and I believe we used a linseed oil product to treat it immediately after it was installed.

My husband designed it using a hidden deck fastener system that involved his cutting dadoes along the sides of each board. He is a structural engineer, so the design was simple, yet elegant, and of course extremely stable. He diligently re-treated the ends as well as the side cutouts before inserting the dadoes in the process of installing it.

Due to health issues and other life demands, we were not able to re-treat it since the initial installation. (He did re-treat the area on and around the wood plugs he used where countersunk nails were necessary.) Most of the boards have some dirt or mildew, but the finish is still intact, although there are a few small spots where it looks like the finish is gone.

What product do you suggest we use to clean the deck (no power-washing, though) and what finish would you recommend for re-treating it? We were pleased with the finish after the first year, so are willing to use it again if you think it is a good idea. We expect to clean and re-treat it yearly, and wonder if you agree with this plan.

A. I wonder why you treated the deck boards with linseed oil since they came pre-treated. Did the manufacturer's instructions call for a topical treatment after installation?

When you say the finish is gone from a few areas, do you mean the original pre-treatment or the linseed oil you applied?

The dirt or mildew you see on the boards is likely caused by the use of linseed oil, a food for mildew spores. Linseed oil is not the best product to apply. Is it the treatment the manufacturer of the decking recommended?

The best cleaning method I know is a solution made of equal parts Oxy-Boost and Deck & Patio Cleaner by Ecogeeks (www.ecogeeks.com). The manufacturer claims that it is ecologically friendly. Follow the directions for application.

For re-treating the deck, I suggest you check with the manufacturer of the mahogany. Having to re-treat yearly seems like an onerous job to me. But you may have to remove all remnants of the linseed oil.

• Henri de Marne was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. His book, "About the House," is available at www.upperaccess.com. His website is www.henridemarne.com. Email questions to henridemarne@gmavt.net, or mail First Aid for the Ailing House, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

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