Bathtub Installation

Q: I need some advice, I have a small bathroom that needs repairs. The shower tile is coming up among other things. I have decided to renovate the whole bathroom. My question is this, which would be easier to install a clawfoot style tub or a drop in tub? I have 4 feet 8 inches width and about 40 inches in depth. I have experience in tiling, plumbing and electrical work.

A: Both style tubs require the same basic effort - possibly a little more with a drop in as you have to build a frame. However, if the clawfoot tub is going to be in the middle of the space it means that the plumbing - hot and cold water - will be seen running to the faucet. Hence, in my opinion, you have to use chrome or nickel plated water piping and your pipe sweating abilities should be perfect.

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Bathtub Installation

Q: I need some advice, I have a small bathroom that needs repairs. The shower tile is coming up among other things. I have decided to renovate the whole bathroom. My question is this, which would be easier to install a clawfoot style tub or a drop in tub? I have 4 feet 8 inches width and about 40 inches in depth. I have experience in tiling, plumbing and electrical work.

A: Both style tubs require the same basic effort - possibly a little more with a drop in as you have to build a frame. However, if the clawfoot tub is going to be in the middle of the space it means that the plumbing - hot and cold water - will be seen running to the faucet. Hence, in my opinion, you have to use chrome or nickel plated water piping and your pipe sweating abilities should be perfect.

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Sanding Hardwood Floors

Q: I want to get someone to refinish my hardwood floors about 400 sq. ft. How much should I be charged I don't want to get ripped off. And what kind of sander do I need to rent? I really just want the trade to do the sanding part not really the staining and everything.

A: It depends somewhat on where you are located. But you should budget $1.50 to $2 a sq. ft. for sanding, they will supply the sanders and sandpaper. That should also include doing the hand work in corners, but will not include stairs. The big box home improvement centers offer this service.

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Can't Afford To Refinish My Hardwood Floors

Q: I too need to have my floors refinished but it isn't in the budget. Could I just clean the floors really well and then put a polyurethane on them to hold me over until "someday" comes when it might be in the budget?

A: Their are two problems with adding a coat of urethane over your hardwood floors. The first is that you will seal in any dirt, grime and other marks. The second is that if there is any wax or varnish on the floor the urethane will not adhere to it.

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Removing Staples From Hardwood Floors

Q: I took the carpet out of my home a few years ago and I have hardwood floors underneath. They had stapled the pad down. I pulled up a lot of staples that I could get a hold of with the needle nosed pliers, but there are still a lot of staples still in the floor. Is there a secret to removing them with out gouging the floor too badly?

A: You can remove the nails by using a very thin straight screw driver or 7" mini pry-bar and "carefully" push the edge of the tip under one end of the staple, twist and the staple should lift. Try using lineman's pliers they
have a wide set of jaws and by placing the head of the jaws straight up on the floor, one jaw on each side of the staple. Needle nose pliers don't provide the necessary grip.

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Gate Hinge Problems

Q: I have six probably antique, matching strap hinges holding up my three gates. They are about 28" total across. The problem is that one is bent. I can find nothing remotely like them. The hinges are nice looking, unique, and I want to keep them all, not to mention the hassle of removing them from the gates.

The bent hinge is a big hinge and is not bent badly. I bent it forcing the gate open when I was in a hurry. I'm thinking if someone has a press of some type, maybe they can flatten the hinge back straight. What type of business would I go to for this?

Also, I used paint stripper to take off the paint on the hinges. My fence is off-white and I want the hinges black. Now the hinges are displaying rust. What do I use to get rid of the rust? Do I need a rust remover then a black paint or is there a paint that will do both jobs? What kind of paint do I need?

A: I would think you need a metal fabricator - they would need a press, possibly a brake to straighten it. A company that makes metal ducts would have the tools also a good auto body shop.

For the paint, I would use a wire brush to take off any loose rust, wire wheel on a dremel tool would be better. I would use Rust-Oleum grey metal primer (spray) and then you can apply a finish coat also spray.

Tearing Out Part Of A Plaster Wall

Q: How can I be sure there are no wires back there until I start tearing the wall down? I don't think there is but I can't be sure that no wires were run in the walls there. Also there is no plumbing around that area so I wouldn't think there are any pipes back there. I am really looking forward to doing this and the change it is going to make. I am just worried I will get started and find problems so I want to try to cover everything that could go wrong before starting.

A: You can never be 100% sure until you take off the drywall, that is why I suggest that you take off a layer instead of cutting through both walls at the same time.

Things to check are - electrical outlets on that wall - if you take the covers off the outlets, pull the outlets out and check to see how many wires are in the boxes. There should be a max of 2 sets of wires - coming in to
the outlet and going to the next outlet. If there are more than 2 sets, the question is where is the other wire running to? Same with switches - look at the direction of the light fixture that a switch controls - if you were
running the wire would you run it through the space you want to remove.

If you have a basement see if any unaccounted for wires seem to run up that wall.

If you have an attic see if any wires are coming through from the top plate of that wall into the attic. If you are reasonably sure that there are no wires or pipes, then take off one side of the drywall.

The worst thing that can happen is that you have to replace that piece of drywall and paint!

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Radiator Heating Problem

Q: I have forced hot water heat and I have the old cast iron radiators. My problem is this, I have a couple of heaters that don't want to heat, (they are located directly above each other). When I first moved into the house, these heaters worked fine the first winter, while the ones in the bathrooms didn't work. Then the second year the ones in the bathrooms worked , but these two don't. I really didn't do any work on them between the two years. Any ideas?

A: If they are directly above one another it sounds to me as if you have an air
bubble in the line and the lines need to be purged or bled.

Getting Sick When Furnace comes On

Q: It seems like when the furnace first came on this year, my nose was running like a tap and I was feeling lousy.Then we had a warm spell and it cleared up. Now it's cold again with the furnace coming on again and my problem has returned.We have had mice in the house and I wonder if their droppings are in the ducting causing illness. I'm wondering if I should bring in somebody that does air quality testing and have the ducts cleaned?

A: You could have mold in the air ducts and when the furnace comes on it is blowing the spores throughout the house. However, a worse problem could be that your flue is damaged and you have carbon monoxide entering the home. It is probably worth having someone come in and check the furnace and the duct work.

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Crown Molding Installation

Q: I watched a couple of DIY shows where they installed crown molding. It looked like it would not be too difficult but in both shows they mentioned that crown molding is a little tedious to do. How tedious would it be? I have a small, simple home & I thought that a little, simple crown molding would dress it up a lot.

Any suggestions?

A: It is a somewhat tedious because corners in a home are not true 90 degrees. So the tedious part is generally getting the corners to fit nicely. Depending on what type of trim you are planning it can be relatively easy or
more complex. If you are painting the crown molding, then you can repair gaps in joints using a wood filler or DAP product and no one will ever see them. If you want a stained wood, getting the joints to fit properly becomes much more critical to the finished appearance.

If you take your time, measure twice, you should be able to produce a respectable finish. Personally I think crown molding is worth the effort!

New Washing Machine Causes Noise In Pipes

Q: I just had a new washer machine installed I it running well except when the drum fills with water the shutoff mechanism is so hard that is caused the pipes in the basement to shake -- the noise is so loud the dogs bark and think someone is in the basement. It is like the water shuts off so hard that it causes a reaction in the pipes.

Do you know if this is something that will go away or should I call Sears to check the problem and possibly bring me another machine - Maytag model.

A: I don't think the problem is in the machine. Your description sounds like "water hammer".

"Water hammer (or, more generally, fluid hammer) is a pressure surge or wave caused by the kinetic energy of a fluid in motion when it is forced to stop or change direction suddenly. It depends on the fluid compressibility where there are sudden changes in pressure. For example, if a valve is closed suddenly at an end of a pipeline system a water hammer wave propagates in the pipe. Moving water in a pipe has kinetic energy proportional to the mass of the water in a given volume times the square of the velocity of the water."

Most modern homes have devices called water hammer arresters ( they're called various things such as air chamber, air cushion, water capacitor, etc.) . They are air filled chambers connected to the plumbing that let the pressure wave dissipate harmlessly into a cushion of air. If your banging has been happening forever you may not have one.

Sometimes these arresters become waterlogged. Try this. Turn off the water to the house at the entry. Find the lowest faucet in your house--often this is an outdoor garden hose faucet--open this faucet and then open a few of the indoor faucets at high locations such as upstairs or at a wet bar and let the low faucet drain for 5 minutes or until it stops dripping, whichever takes longer. Close all the faucets and turn the main back on. Note: When you first start using water again there will be air in the lines and it may spit and sputter with some vigor.

If the piping makes a 90 degree turn to enter the washing machine, you may be able to solve the problem by adding a "T" in place of the 90 degree elbow and putting a 18" capped piece of pipe on the top of the "T". This will act as your arrester - it is filled with air and provides a cushion.

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Cleaning Air Ducts

Q: My air conditioning unit doesn't blow as good as it used to. I cleaned the coils and it is blowing colder air but still not blowing very hard through the vents. I heard that they can come blow out the ducts and wondered if this was a good thing and is it as costly as it sounds like it would be? Does it really help? I was thinking it would help with any allergies if nothing else. But trying to keep everything going myself I don't have a lot of extra money for things that won't make much of a difference.

A: You would have to have a lot of dirt build-up in the ducts to affect air-flow and I would think this is highly unlikely. Cleaning the ducts will remove dust, and other allergenic compounds. Things that can affect air flow are usually related to the return air coming into the furnace or clogged air conditioning heat exchangers (coils).

Replaced the air filter?
Have you placed any furniture in front of return air ducts?
New Windows?
Sealed the house?
New Doors?
Removed a fireplace or blocked a chimney?

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Adding Curtain Rods To Window Trim

Q: Just had trim added to new windows don't want to use wrong nails and cause split in the wood -- been there / done that in the other rooms. Where do I put the current rod bracket - the metal piece that goes into the wall and uses two nails to hold them in place? How do I avoid having heavy draped add too much weight to the curtain rod and thus pull the nails out and the whole thing is on the floor basically -- how to hang curtains and have them look nice / flush with window trim and make them stay in place not crooked either.

A: Put the curtain rod brackets beside the window trim, through the nails away and use number 6 self tapping screws, 1" long with pan heads (available at any hardware store). Use #6 plastic anchors, which will require a 3/16" hole in the drywall. Place bracket on wall, mark holes, drill holes in drywall, tap in anchors, screw the brackets into the anchors.

How do I maintain a wood burning stove?

Q: I have a wood burning stove sitting in the back, used once. Its starting to get a slight not quite rust or oxidation thing going on. I would like to spruce it up and sell it.

A: There is a spray paint made especially made for barbeques and wood burning stoves. Should be available at the big box home improvement stores.

Deck Preservation

Q: I have heard a lot of different opinions on what I should use on my wooden deck to preserve and seal it. First I heard use Thompson's Water Seal then I heard "Oh no...... never use that crap." Please help me. Background info: I live in Piedmont area of North Carolina, the deck is about 15 years old, make of Southern White Pine. About 5 years ago I used a Behr Semi-gloss stain on the deck.

A: The Behr product is a urethane based product and should have sealed the deck. I like the Thompson's Water Seal but not over urethane based products. If you want to reseal I would use clear a urethane based sealing product. Make sure the deck is really clean before application.

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