Many choices to make to finish a basement

Q. We live in Vermont and our house is built in a neighborhood that was once a gravel pit, so our basement is very dry. We have lived here for 27 years and store clothing, tools, packaged foods, etc., in the basement on shelves. In another section of the basement we laid a large area rug with a foam underlayment, and that too is in fine shape after all these years. So it seems our basement is a good candidate for restoration.

We consulted with a handyman who gave us some ideas about this process and the types of materials that could be used, but we would like to do more research before we make any decisions. Can you recommend books or websites that could guide us in the selection of materials for the walls, floor and ceiling to turn this storage area into more livable space such as a large playroom, party room or type of Ratskeller?

We likely would section off a space for the washer/dryer and also a mechanical room for the gas furnace. By the way, the house is heated with hot water and the copper pipes in the ceiling as well as the furnace are the only source of basement heat, which is sufficiently comfortable at about 67 degrees.

So far what has been recommended is to stud the walls, foam them, and cover them with plasterboard; for the flooring either linoleum (or similar) or a floating wood floor; for the ceiling, possibly nothing (not very attractive) or a hung ceiling (interferes with the heat) or lattice board.

We would appreciate any advice or help you can offer.

A. You may want to buy two books that should give you quite a lot of ideas - "Remodeling a Basement: Revised Edition (Taunton's Build Like a Pro). The other book is Black & Decker's "The Complete Guide to Finishing Basements: Projects and Practical Solutions for Converting Basements into Livable Space." You could also buy the e-book versions.

Since your house is built in a gravel pit, you are unlikely to run into a deep frost problem that could crack the foundation walls. So it may be safe to insulate the walls from top to bottom.

If by foaming the walls you mean using closed-cell polyurethane, this will be quite an expense; you will also have to put up with the outgassing for a while.

Instead, you may want to consider applying 1- to 2-inch thick rigid insulation to the foundation walls before studding them. Hold the insulation panels in place with a few dabs of caulking; the studs will do the bulk of it. The stud spaces also will allow you to run the electrical lines you will need.

For the ceiling, give some thought to simply hanging burlap or a similar material of your choice as long as it has an open weave. The floor finish can be floating wood, synthetic carpet and pad, or linoleum.

Q. Some time ago, I wrote you about our ice-damming problem in Richmond, Vermont. Heat loss was the culprit, and our ultimate remedy was to remove the existing roof (the shingles were in need of replacement anyway), remove the 12-inch fiberglass bats and baffles, and extend the eaves to allow for better venting to be installed.

We then replaced the whole kit & caboodle with 7 inches of closed-cell spray foam, and then had standing seam installed for roofing. A blower-door test before and after showed significant improvement in the tightness of the house. The work was done by an Efficiency Vermont-approved contractor.

Attached are pictures of work on the back side of the house - the same was done to the front. Also attached are photos of the bowing, which seems actually to be a contraction of the drywall between strapping that was installed when the drywall was installed some years ago.

The foam and new roof were installed this spring, and there were several days of colder weather, when the contractor said it would actually create a better seal due to the temperature differential (warm against the Sheetrock; cooler away from it). My guess is that there was some thermal contraction or lifting toward the newly installed sheathing after the metal roof was installed and the sun hit the south faces. The southeast side of the front gable and south side of the main roof are the only parts affected - the southeast side is affected the most.

My real question is this: Since the foaming contractor agrees that he is responsible, he has offered two solutions at my discretion - either remove the existing Sheetrock and replace it, or apply Durabond to the affected area to create a uniform ceiling again.

If I choose the former, I worry that some of our new and very expensive thermal envelope will be compromised. If I choose the latter, will the Durabond hold well to the latex-painted surface? Do you have any thoughts about which would be the better option?

A. The photos of the drywall ceiling are not clear enough to show what is happening there.

The painted drywall should be lightly sanded with 80-grit paper and the surfaces vacuumed or cleaned with a tack cloth. Then they should be primed with a product such as Gardz or an equivalent. USG's Durabond coating should hold up well on the primed surfaces. However, you may want to have the contractor write you a letter guaranteeing to come back and remove and replace the drywall if the Durabond fails.

Q. I live in a one-story concrete foundation house that is 7 years old. In the past 10 days, I have discovered four different spots in my living area that have had water appear for no apparent reason (except that we have had a lot of rain off and on). These areas are not near any faucets or things that might leak (like refrigerator water lines). The areas that are wet are surrounded by areas that are dry.

Any ideas as to what may be causing this? Who should I call to check? Thank you for your help.

A. Assuming that by concrete foundation you mean your first floor is a concrete slab, the only thing that comes to mind is possible condensation.

Since this occurred in mid- to late-October, did you close the house up and incur a high level of humidity inside the house? A colder concrete floor might cause condensation to occur, as the air just above the floor is the coolest in each room.

That's all I can come up with based on the information you provided.

Q. My shingle roof is in very good shape but was installed before zinc (A/R) shingles were being used.

Could you tell me how to clean a few vertical streaks that have appeared?

A. The streaks on roof shingles are caused by algae that grow on damp surfaces, most often on shaded sides. You can purchase a roof cleaner, such as the Stainhandler (www.stainhandler.com), or another brand to do the cleaning quickly.

You can also spray the shingles on a very calm day with a mixture of equal parts water and Clorox bleach. Do not overspray; one gallon of the mix should treat 50 square feet of roof.

Soak any planting that may receive any dripping, cover it with plastic and rinse it thoroughly after the job is done and all dripping has stopped. If you have metal gutters and downspouts, keep water running through them until all dripping is over. Or you can have the streaks removed commercially by contractors who specialize in roof cleaning.

Then consider having zinc strips installed just below the ridge cap to prevent recurrence. You can buy rolls of zinc in building-supply houses, big-box stores and some hardware stores, or you can buy strips at the same website as the roof cleaner.

Q. I am a fan of your column and read your advice regularly. With that being said, I must comment about floor drains releasing sewer gases back into a house. My parents' house, which was built in the mid 1960s, has a floor drain that drains out to a tank that only receives laundry water and water from the kitchen sink. The septic tank receives the remaining waste from the house. Therefore, even if the trap dries, there are no problems with sewer gases.

As an added bonus, the septic tank is original to the house and has never needed pumping. It has been checked many times over the years and is working perfectly. The thought is that without the cleaning chemicals going into the septic tank, which kills the needed bacteria, the tank works as it was designed. Just my two cents worth!

A. You are pointing out a situation that is not the norm. Most waste systems are connected to city sewers or septic tanks.

Separating black and gray water is unusual, but if the basement floor drain is connected to the gray water, the floor drain may still dry up. It may not smell like sewer odors, but it may emit a sort of rancid, musty smell, and allow some insects to enter the basement.

Floor drains should always be kept full of water, and that means that they need to be monitored.

Q. I have a bathroom on the second floor and a powder room on the first floor. The commode on the first floor is clean, but the commode on the second floor keeps getting a gray stain that I must clean every other day. Before calling a plumber, I was wondering whether you might know what is causing this gray stain. The toilet works fine.

A. Some toilets are prone to staining more easily than others. I do not know why. I have one toilet bowl with a similar problem. Brushing the bowl with bleach works, and it seems to last for quite a while.

• 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.

© 2015, United Feature Syndicate Inc.