Home Sense

Mike McClintock (For The Washington Post)

Have questions about how to keep your home fit and trim?

Home Sense columnist Mike McClintock is online every other Thursday at Noon ET to answer your questions about home building, remodeling, repairs and the wide range of home-consumer issues. If it has something to do with the place where you live -- from home security to the latest on appliances, energy-saving and a lot more -- just ask. Mike has the answers.

McClintock's column appears in the Post Home section every Thursday. He is the author of 10 books, including "Alternative Housebuilding."

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Mike McClintock: Hello again. And it should be a cheerier greeting than that, but as we wander endlessly toward spring without getting there I could use a little more unobstructed SUNLIGHT, but anyway. While I start absorbing your questions, peruse if you like this week's quiz about do-it-yourselfers. The right answers, scrambled among the multiple choices and answered end of hour as usual, come from a recent nationwide survey of American homeowners conducted by Sears, Roebuck & Co.

HOME SENSE-DIY HOMEOWNERS- QUESTION
What percentage say they grew up in a home where at least one adult was handy: 60$, 70%, 80%?
What percentage of respondents say that their spouse or partner is handy: 63%, 73%, 83%?
What percentage say that their home is more of a drain on resources than an investment for the future: 5%, 15%, 25%, 35%?

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Frederick, Md.: As I sit here watching the cute little squirrels eating the peanuts that I gave them, I noticed the screen on the patio door is pulling lose from the handle/latch. Can a patio door be re-screended or does the screen door need to be entirely replaced?

Mike McClintock: That's often a weak link because when people grab the handle, or almost, they wind up pushing some on the screen, too. But, yes, you can rescreen unbless the frame is really bent (and usually even then if you straighten it out.
If you haven't done it before, maybe take it to a hardware store and watch the guy. First they pry up and end of the thin plastic packing around the edges and remove it, and the screen. Then they lay new screen over the frame and use a small roller to set the new edging (spline) that keeps the screen in place. It's not hard to do. Sometimes, it's hard to keep the screen even and flat so there aren't any wrinkles- and without that ;little screen roller the job would take a while

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Alexandria, Va.: We fell for an asphalt driveway scam artist a few years ago -- he came to the door, had "part of a load left over" that he needed to sell "right away" before it was ruined, and offered us a great deal. Needless to say, he was unlicensed in Virginia, did a mediocre job installing asphalt on a day well below the minimum acceptable temperature, and completely made up the "other job." The price he charged was what a good driveway would have cost.

Now, however, we're wondering whether what he installed is really so bad! It's been a few years, it's still there, and while the surface is bumpy and tends to shed stones at times, it's basically solid, parkable, and settling in to be a normal driveway.

We're thinking of just living with it. Is there any inexpensive step we should take to stabilize it?

Mike McClintock: A slightly odd tale, but maybe it was really asphalt and just needed better rolling- and now maybe spot rolling and then sealing.
Usually, the scams are for asphalt coating (sealing) and turn out to be a thin combination of old engine oil and other junk that washes away in the rain.
At this point, i would patch any cracks, try to roll down the worst bumps, then wait for a warm day (with some direct SUNLIGHT) and reseal.

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Fairfax, Va.: Hi, Mike. We've recently started pulling down the wallpaper that we inherited when we bought our house. The wallpaper is coming down with no problem, but the floor-to-ceiling plastic guards on every corner are giving us problems. What's the best way to get those down without putting big holes in the drywall?

Thanks for your help!

Mike McClintock: One option is to leave them and paper around the corners- assuming you want to repepar. If not, it depends on what shape the wall is in when you're done removing the paper that's there. Sometimes it peels or steams away leaving the paper surface of drywall pretty much intact. Often, it pells away with the paper surface and you have to drywall again.
In that case, it wouldn't much matter how you took off the corners, but to minimize damage, pretty much as always, you have to take the time to pry and break the spackle bond, slowly and a bit at a time.

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Richmond, Va.: I might have a spring under my house. What should I do?

Mike McClintock: Find out if you really do; it's very uinusual, and more often ground water from rains or a drain somewhere that you need to track back to the source and divert. You can do that with springs, too, but it's more complicated to track them back to a point where you can divert them.

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Rockville, Md.: We recently had our bathtub re-glazed and it looks good. However, after the job was finished I was talking to my neighbor and he had his tub re-glazed a couple of years ago and now it's chipping. Is there anything I can do to make the nice new finish last?

Mike McClintock: Some people report good results with these reglazing sysrtems, and i think today in the paper there's a story quoting some local firms. But, of course, they say how everything works so well.
Mainly, you have to give the new surface a lot of time to harden, even more so in humid weathyer, and then keep sharp objects and even bottles of shampoo off the surface.
If i sound skeptical, well, i am. Have seen several of these jobs gone bad in a matter of months. But the process (at 3-400 bucks or so) is appealing copmpared to getting rid of an old tub tiles in place and installing a new one.

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Arlington, Va.: Hi Mike -- had a question about rugs, hope you can answer.

I was recently in the Georgetown Park mall and I noticed they had a huge, customized, rug in the entranceway (this one had the name of the mall and a graphic on it) that was pretty nice. (I went back a week or two later and it was gone, but anyway...)

I just bought a house in Arlington with a huge front entrance where something like that might fit well. Do you know of places where I could get something like that for home use?

Also, any tips for upkeep and/or cleaning?

Mike McClintock: First thing that popped into my sometimes warped mind is that a person with the same name (Mr. Gerogetown Park) stole it. Anyway, no , i don't know a company that does custom work like that, but you could probably find a few on the Web. Typically, it's for commercial clients.
Upkeep infor would go on and on, so try the column archives on carpets and if the columns were before the 99 listed email the home section and i'll dig one or two out of the hopper.

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Baltimore, Md.: Hi Mike, How hard would it be to pull up the pavers in our backyard and put new ones down? The previous owners did an awful job. The pavers aren't smooth, weeds etc. Also any idea how much time and money this will take us to complete? The area is about the size of two parking spaces.
Thanks in advance!

Mike McClintock: Once you expose an edge it's not difficult, usually, to pry them up with a spade. Try removing one edge retainer to start- often a boards backed by stakes, or a rubber edge with a flange that's staked.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Mike,
I've written before and appreciate your advice. I read today's column on soffits and facias with interest since I now own a 50-year old brick rambler that needs some help. Here's the deal -- when I bought the house in 2003, the gutters hadn't been cleaned in years and overflowed in the rain. I cleaned them out and did my best to fix the sagging but they're pretty beat up.

There is no overhang in this design so no soffit. The ancient paint on the facia board is pealing everywhere and has visible mold/mildew stains AND tested positive for lead.

My plan is to pull down the gutters and facia board and replace with all-new materials. I think I'll prime and paint P-T wood before I put it up. Aluminum gutters. And I hope I don't find anything too scary when I remove the old the facial board.

What do you think? Correct to replace? Right materials? Doable by Harry the Homeowner?
Thanks again.

Mike McClintock: Yes to everything, with a few reservations, mainly that you'll need a good scaffold system to do this economically and without wrecking your back. Working over your head is about the worst. Maybe even a couple of scaffold planks between two ladders.
Otherwise, with dust masks and all, I would lose what's there, but be expecting to dop at least some work once the eaves are exposed, probably with insulation and venting.

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Goldens Bridge, N.Y.: Hello Mike: We're redoing a bathroom, pretty much gutting it, and I'm wondering where is the best spot for the fan? It was in the wall before, kind of in the way, and the worst area for dampness and mold was in the ceiling of the shower. But I don't know if there's room to run new ducts from a new spot.

Mike McClintock: High on an outside wall is ok, and that makes the shortest route for damp air and is often the easiest installation in a non-masonry wall. It's maybe more common to install vents (or combo lights and vents) in the ceiling. In that case you can use flexible plastic duct, which is easy to snake through framing (ceiling joists), or rigid galvanized duct, which requires elbows and other fittings to turn corners. The metal is harder to install, but galvanized provides less resistance to air flow and allows the fan to operate more efficiently. If you use plastic, don't leave looping runs.
For a ceiling location, fans are commonly routed up to the roof or sideways to an outlet in the soffit. The sideways run is good because you don't have to cut a hole in the roof, and the vent outlet is tucked out of the way into the underbelly of the opverhang.
It also allows you to slope the duct down to the outlet. That's worth doing because warm, moist bath exhaust can condense when it runs through ducts in a cold attic or crawl space. Insulating the ducts helps. But if condensation does form, it will run to the overhang outlet instead of back into the bathroom.

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Backyard, USA: We have some fence companies coming out this weekend to give us some estimates on fencing in our backyard. What do you think are important questions to ask to ensure we hire the right company? Thanks for any suggestions.

Mike McClintock: Start with the basics, like recommendations, license, insurance, that an established company will certainly have. Also ask them about code issues (you could find that out yourself in advance by calling the local building dept), and probably for a couple of alternatives. instead of one price for the ultinmate job. You also don't have to say yes or no on the spot, of course, and should ask at least one other company for a bid- and also ask the second to bid on the job as speced out by the first.

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Arlington, Va.: Is $700 too much to pay to have a kitchen faucet replaced? The plumber was going to provide a Danze single hole, pull down chrome faucet. I asked how much he would charge if I puchased my own faucet and he installed it -- $400. That seems high to me. We are going to try to install it ourselves, which leads to my second question. Do basin wrenches come in different sizes?

Thanks for your help!

Mike McClintock: If you're not in a same-day rush or plumbing emergency, you can price a specific fisture quickly enough online. (There are tons of plumbing outlets.) That gives you a good idea of what the guy wants for labor- and yes, unless there is a lot of other work involved, just changing out a faucet is not a hard or time-consuming project, and probably one that you can do yourself.
Most basin wrenches have a sort of expanding claw that will handle most fixtures in the hellish little spot. You probablyu will have trouble getting in there, and the plumber who does it every day probably wouldn't. But there's the 3-400 dollare difference.

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Re: Backyard fence: One other question to consider when building a backyard fence: Does your homeowners accociation have restrictions on fencing? A real battle developed in my community between an owner and the association when his fence was several inches too high.

Mike McClintock: Think i mentioned codes, but good that you expanded on that to include issues like height and sometimes the facade (even on the side you don't see) and color and other issues.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Mike -- Any idea of a ballpark cost for installing new windows? I know Home Depot has windows for about $200 each, how much more would installation be? Am I looking at $100 above the cost of a window or $250, $500? Any help would be appreciated!

Mike McClintock: I could say $150 or so, but only a few estimates will tell because it depends on many factors, inclduing what the house wall is made of, and evben more so if the installer can downsize to make an easy installation or has to use the same size windows and piece trim, etc. that looks better but takes longer. All depends- and if you get a flat price over the phone i'd forget it; no way to tell.

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Rotting Wood: Mike,

I notice that the wood around my back french doors (on the outsid) have started to look "chewed away." Then some sort of fungus thing grew all over it as well as the inside. What could this be?

Mike McClintock: Rot; maybe dry rot if it's spongy.
You can dig out spots and add epoxy filler to build up lost areas- if there aren't too many. Otherwise you need to replace the wood.

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Alexandria, Va.: Hi Mike -- a mold question: the caulking around my fron door (on the outside) shows what look like mildew or mold. Should I spray with chlorox? Blast with a powerwasher in the spring? Recaulk? What pressure do you recommend getting when buying a powerwasher?

Mike McClintock: Just to to clean a little mold with a mild solution (maybe no more than 1/4 bleach to 3/4 water), but if it's bad and widespread recaulk.
Powerwashers aren't really the answer here; they work well over big flat surfaces (decks, siding) but when you shoot them at trim they often have so much power that water gets into the wall or trim works loose.
So even if you're thinking about washing decks, drives and such, stay with low-end equipment- and one that lets you dial down the pressure for washing cars and such.

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Arlington, Va.:

I want to install a mantle on a brick fireplace. What kind of wood is good for this, and what kind of tools?

Mike McClintock: Any wood you like is fine as long as it's away from the firebox opening. You could mount brackets, which means drilling holes and installing mollies, or drive larger support bars into the brick and into the mantle to eliminate brackets. Why not also take a look at prefab surrounds that include a mantle.

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Arlington, Va.: How hard is it to replace dryer duct work. We have some metal flex duct that runs about 10 feet, that a friend said was to long for flex duct to be used. I was at home depot contemplating the necessary duct but all the duct work that Home Depot offered was not welded together but appeared to have a groove insert to attach the side walls together. From my view that does not appear very tight in a sealed sense.

I guess my question is how do you install dry duct work and is it a DIY?

Mike McClintock: Rigid duct is the most difficult, then metal flex, which typically provides a good seal, particularly if you wrap the joints. But check the owner's manual, as some manufacturers have very specific installation reqwuirements in order not to void the warranty.
If the space/cavity is fully exposed, you just need to fit the right pieces together (with minimum hard bends)
Also, don't use self-tapping sheet metal screws, even though that's the quickets way. The sharp points are perfect lint collectors. It's harder, but pop rivcets leave a smooth exhaust channel.

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Clifton, Va.: Love your chats. Our pool has a cement deck. Do you know if the deck can be repainted and repaired as apposed to completely redone? Also, what kind of company/business does that type of work? Thanks for all the great advice.

Mike McClintock: Fill the cracks and repait; sure; probably a pool company or a mason.

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Milan, Italy: Mike, PLEASE HELP!; In my bathtub faucet, when I pull the handle to turn the shower on, water continues to squirt through the faucet. I have to tug HARD to make all the water go to the showerhead, how to fix this problem?!; Thanks!;

Mike McClintock: I know there's a Milan, NY, and probably some others where i'm familiar enough with parts and tools and codes and all that- but not quite as much in Italy. But you're describing a probably worldwide problem due to hard water- aqua minerale except not for drinking.
The deposits (minerals) gradually clog the linkage that diverts water to tuib or shower, and one of the best solutions is to spray in a softener (over the counter or a vinegar mix) or even soak the fixture to try to remove some of the deposits.

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Clifton, Va.: I paid $200 a few years back to have a garbage disposal and faucet installed. Could I have done it yes but it would have required several trips to the plimbing supply palce instead of my plumber just going out to his truck. Figure it would have taken me about 5-10hrs with trips to the plumbing supply place. I hate working on kitchen sinks.

Mike McClintock: Good to point out: pros who know what they're doing will do it much faster than a DIYer, and sometimes so fast and seemingly easily that the DIYers thinks it's a ripoff, or just too expensive. But then when they try it, as you say, back and forth, busted knuckles, wrong tools and maybe not the greatest results- and no one to call back except yourself: ugh.

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Baltimore, Md. - again: What is the process for putting down new pavers?

Mike McClintock: Several ways, like leveled in a sand bed, but one sequence is dig out to firm ground, compact, lay a few inches of gravel, level a sand bed, cover with plastic, then set pavers.
Some people put the plastic under the sand, but then rain can gradually wash away the supporting layer.

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Baltimore, Md.: Our Historic neighborhood in NE Baltimore has been beset by daytime break-ins by a someone using a crow bar to the front door frame. We've distributed home security info from the National Crime Prevention Council. Police are stepping up day time patrols and we're encouraging more neighborhood involvement. I'm getting locking storm doors as an extra precaution. Anything else you can suggest we do as individual homeowners and as a neighborhood?

Mike McClintock: Several local departments have a crime prevention unit, and they can send someone out (specially if it's a rash of the same type of break-ins) to give each homeowner specific recommendations.
At a mnimmum, I would pull about half the screws in the hinges and keepers, etc, and install very long screws that travel through the frame, plus the shim space and well into the surrounding studs. It's not hard to do and essentially makes the frame part of the house. If the door then is well securewd to the frame you're in much better shape.

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Potomac, Md.: Any ideas what to do with an old window in the shower/bathtub (used to be just a bathtub I guess). The window is drafty and doesn't open anyway due to all the water.

Mike McClintock: Glass block.

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Arlington, Va.: Hi. I'm about to start remodeling the bathroom in my 1939 home. I'm a bit concerned about asbestos. I'll be doing the remodelling myself (demolition, tiling, etc.). Is it typical for a homeowner to have the plaster walls, tiles, and maybe the basement checked for asbestos? If so, how do I go about finding a reliable person to check for it? Thanks.

Mike McClintock: You could work through local building dpeartments and conmsumer agencies to find a tester, but you're likely to find it either as pipe insulation (white, plaster-like caking) and in old vinyl floor tiles.
The real question, is whether you bury it or remove it- burying now being generally considered much safer than removel because none of the material is distubed and made friable.
I probably would do the white suit thing with massive amount s exposed on pipes because it's likely to shift and move and deteriorate over time. I probably would bury VAT (vinyl asbestos tile) floors.

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Washington, D.C.: Mike,

We are in the beginning stages of remodeling the kitchen of our condo. When it comes to cost vs. value added (for resale), at what point does cost exceed future gain? The current estimates for the work are averaging 25K, is that an amount we would not be able to regian when the time comes to sell?

Mike McClintock: So many different factors to consider, including: If it's what you want you should do it because you live there. But generally if you improve up to neighborhood norms you're ok. So add a garage when most houses have one, but not a third floor when there isn't another on the block; same for number of baths, etc. BUT remember the first part, too.

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Is it possible?: Hi Mike,
My gas heater is 25 years old. I'd like to replace it with a super efficient (95 percent) gas heater that vents straight out through the wall. Big problem is that my water heater vents up the chimney along with my current gas heater. I'm told it won't have enough "draw" to vent on its own up the chimney if I reroute the gas heater. The water heater is only a year old.

Can the water heater be refitted (something to do with the pipes on the top of it) so I can vent it directly outside? Sorry if I have the terms wrong, but I need to know if it's possible, and about what it would cost, to refit the water heater. Please let me know if I have the right info, or if I'm in a homeowner's fog. Many thanks!;

Mike McClintock: Not enough draw sound odd. And yes, you can line any flue (usually it's done because the flue is faulty) with metal flex pipe that can carry gas exhaust- or take that through the wall and use the chimnet for the new furnace. HOWEVER, with a top-efficiency gas unit you are likely to find models that use so much of the heat that the exhaust is tepid and doesn't need anything more than a plstic pipe for benting. Look into them, calle a condensing furnace. They often costmore but aside from saving a lot of fuel, save installation, chimney and other costs up front.

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Washington, D.C.: Answers:
What percentage say they grew up in a home where at least one adult was handy: 80 percent
What percentage of respondents say that their spouse or partner is handy: 63 percent
What percentage say that their home is more of a drain on resources than an investment for the future: 25 percent

Mike McClintock: we're about to see
- and whewne there are too many questions to get to, hope you'll store them up for another sesssion.

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Mike McClintock: HOME SENSE-DIY HOMEOWNERS- QUESTION
What percentage say they grew up in a home where at least one adult was handy: 60$, 70%, 80%?
What percentage of respondents say that their spouse or partner is handy: 63%, 73%, 83%?
What percentage say that their home is more of a drain on resources than an investment for the future: 5%, 15%, 25%, 35%?


HOME SENSE-DIY HOMEOWNERS- ANSWER
What percentage say they grew up in a home where at least one adult was handy: 80%
What percentage of respondents say that their spouse or partner is handy: 83%
What percentage say that their home is more of a drain on resources than an investment for the future: 5%

Incidentally, the survey, though a random sample and all that stuff a survey is supposed to be, also found that 44% said there is nothing at all in their homes currently broken or in need of repair. Yeah? In what castle? Even if you give them the "broken", even if they call the man a lot, I think that if a few of us dropped by we'd come up with a to-do list in, oh, a minute.

See you next time

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