Bathroom tiles can be painted

Q. Is it possible to paint vinyl bathroom tiles and get a finish that does not scratch or wear off? If so, what type of paint do you suggest?

A. Yes, it is possible. Make sure the tiles are thoroughly clean, and prime them with B-I-N.

Any top-quality latex paint should be fine, but if you think the bathroom will have excessive use, epoxy would be best.

Dear readers: A recent fire, which the fire department said was caused by creosote in a chimney venting a wood stove in an energy-efficient home in Shelburne, Vermont, is prompting me to repeat a recommendation I have offered many times over the years.

I heated with wood for many years in my energy-efficient home in the mountains of Vermont. Having studied the potential dangers of creosote formation with experts and having developed contacts in firms dedicated to the mitigation of these dangers, I used a catalytic spray - ACS - formulated by a chemist who later became a friend.

ACS, the acronym for Anti-Creo-Soot, is a water-based solution that can be sprayed on a woodpile outdoors, on logs in the house, waiting to be used, or directly on burning firewood in the stove.

It literally changes the chemistry of the potentially lethal creosote deposits on chimney walls, particularly Type 3 creosote, which is extremely difficult to remove by chimney sweeps.

I had designed my two stainless steel chimneys to be easily disassembled from inside the house for seasonal cleaning, and to allow for periodical inspections through a Tee equipped with a lid that could easily be removed in order to insert a mirror into the chimneys for inspection.

Not only does ACS transform the chemistry of the creosote into a very fine brown ash similar to the residue of burning fuel oil, but it also changes Type 3 creosote buildup to that same fine ash over time.

Chimney sweeps, who might have been opposed to such a novel way to eliminate Type 3 creosote as competition, were, in fact, delighted to be able to clean chimneys relatively easily, in lieu of the extreme difficulty of dealing with these deposits.

ACS can be bought through some stove shops, from chimney sweeps, and online by Googling Anti-Creo-Soot for an array of retail outlets from Amazon to other shops.

Please, all wood burners, get ACS, use it daily and eliminate the risk of chimney fires from creosote buildup.

Q. I need your help. This is my problem: In July 2014, we had a man cement a small basement furnace room. Adjacent to this room is a basement bedroom.

The furnace room floor has been dusting ever since he cemented it. We just put on two gallons of Val-Oil multi-surface sealer, but it does not seem to be helping.

We are hoping you have a solution for this problem, as we are ready to sell this small house. It is a problem because of the tracking of dust into the bedroom.

A. Concrete dusting is caused by one or more of the following: The concrete was troweled too soon with bleed water still on the surface; it was laid directly on plastic, which prevented some of the water in the mix from draining into the substrate; or it was not allowed to cure sufficiently.

To eliminate dusting, try one of several potential solutions. Apply a commercially available chemical floor hardener; apply a cementitious paint; use an epoxy sealer; or get a special latex formulation.

You should be able to buy these products in construction-specialty houses, such as A.H. Harris, which has several stores in your state. Visit the company at www.ahharris.com. If you do not have access to the Internet, call its headquarters at (844) 244-1916 for the location of its nearest store to you.

Q. I am a 93-year-old deaf woman with no computer and no cellphone. Two young neighbor kids pushed out the felt or rubber seam expander between my sidewalk spaces. Rain pours down the sloped sidewalk into the ground below.

I am in need of help to prevent further damage to the sidewalk. Please give me some advice so I can correct this problem. Can I fix this myself or do I need professional help? Is there dry cement that I can mix and use to seal the open seam between the two sections of sidewalk?

A. It's not an easy fix considering you will have to get down on your knees, and that the process itself is not that easy. You may want to have an experienced handyperson, contractor or mason take care of this for you.

A crack-filling product advertising that it can fill cracks up to one-half inch has more flexibility than one made for smaller cracks. You can buy crack fillers at Home Depot or Lowe's. One such product is Trowel Patch (a mixture of sand, ground rubber and asphalt emulsion).

Crack fillers take a long time to dry, so they must be applied repeatedly in very thin coats until the crack is filled.

But the best crack filler is the rope type you can buy from Sporty's, available at Sportys.com or from the company's catalog, which can be requested at (800) 776-7897. It is pushed into the cracks with a screwdriver or other suitable tool and melted, using a handheld propane torch.

Q. Two of my garage foundation walls are bowing out and cracking both vertically and horizontally, and the slab is sinking inside it. It definitely got worse last winter, and nothing is tied together. Because the slab is sinking, the chimney also is starting to pull away.

I'm having a hard time figuring out a solution and getting a price from anyone. It seems there are three ways to do it:

• Place about 10 big metal plates outside and anchor them to the inside with bolts to pull in the walls and hold them.

• Install piercing from underneath the walls, with the footings going down to something solid (but it would still need plates to hold the cracked walls in).

• Take the garage off (it's not the greatest built garage, anyway), and start fresh with all-new footings, if needed, and new foundation walls and a new slab, all dug out with proper stone and materials placed inside and out, along with proper drainage.

The soil around here is not good and does not drain well, and after working on this house for 20 years, I would not be at all confident that the original builders did anything special down there in 1981 or followed all the proper steps. I've seen a lot of improper work around here.

One company waited eight months without suggesting a price, then said I needed a structural engineer to look at it from the outside and determine what is happening.

Other companies say it's just water getting inside and freezing, and that having a $500 engineer's report is totally unnecessary. They suggest taking out the slab to see what is needed from the inside, then either partial or full replacement of walls and footings and materials.

Of course, the structural engineer says that the inside won't tell us anything, since the walls don't appear to be sinking, but the slab definitely is going down within the walls.

It sounds like Fix No. 1 and Fix No. 2 to the existing structure still leave me with cracked walls and a sunken slab, though they would be held in place. Fix No. 3 obviously will cost more to start fresh, but it would seem to take care of all problems. Any advice?

A. Considering all the related problems you have, and the added concern of the chimney pulling away, an evaluation by a structural engineer seems to be the safest way to approach the overall situation.

Reading your description, I assume the garage is attached to the house and that some of its walls are below grade.

It seems that tearing out the garage and rebuilding it may be the best option, but let's have an engineer recommend the best approach.

Q. About one year ago, we added a roof over our deck. Since the treated lumber decking was in good condition, we did not replace it. For a new look and to fill the cracks, we choose Rustoleum Deck Restore. We pressure-washed the deck three times and carefully followed application instructions. Initially, we were very pleased with the results. The textured finish looked like Trex, and the texture was nice to walk on.

Our satisfaction, however, was short-lived. After a couple of months, areas began to bubble, peel and chip. The damage only got worse, even though the roof protected the deck from the western Pennsylvania weather. Because we had used a sand-colored Restore over a dark brown stain, the damage is very noticeable.

What is the best approach to repairing the damage? We can scrape the peeling and bubbled sections, as well as pressure-wash, but there are still sections where the Restore is adhering well (at least for now). Because the product is so thick, using regular deck stain to cover the patches would leave the surface uneven. We're not comfortable using more Restore as there is currently a class-action lawsuit due to poor product quality.

We would certainly appreciate any suggestions.

A. I believe the best approach is to remove the rest of the failed product. Since it appears to be a water-based product, you should be able to remove it with a paint remover made for latex paints.

If this is not successful, try Peel Away, which well-stocked paint stores should have on hand. You may also purchase Peel Away online at www.dumondchemicals.com. Click on Paint Removers and choose the best product for the job - probably Peel Away 1.

If you decide to apply another coating, consider Amteco TWP, available at www.amteco.com. Amteco offers several choices; choose the best for your porch floor.

• 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.

© 2016, United Feature Syndicate Inc.