January 30, 2012
Dear Ken: My furnace is acting funny. It comes on and heats normally most of the time, but sometimes the burner and the fan will come on and off at odd times. What do you think is going on? Fred
This is called "short cycling". There are many causes, but let's start with the easiest ones first. Make sure your thermostat's batteries are fresh. Sometimes the thermostat will act up in strange ways when it's running out of juice. A more likely cause is inadequate air flow to the furnace. Make sure your filter is nice and clean and that all of your vents are open. There can also be issues with the furnace's computer and sensors, or the flue venting system. If the most obvious fixes don't work, you'll need an HVAC contractor to take a look.
Many furnaces will flash a code which will help the service tech diagnose the problem. Look for a small (usually) red pilot light flashing a series of dots and dashes. Count them and then look in your owner's Manual for the corresponding code. When you call to make the appointment, the company will appreciate knowing which code is flashing.
Dear Ken: I'm building a deck out of treated lumber. I have two questions. Can I stain or paint this stuff? And how long should I wait before I apply it? Ken
Yes, you can stain or paint treated lumber. My preference is a good stain; I like the linseed oil based products, like SuperDeck and Behr, but there are many other good brands to choose from. Treated or not, you should wait at least 30 days before applying a finish coat on any lumber outside. These materials come to us from other parts of the country - -mostly places with higher humidity than we have here. So install the lumber and let it sit outside and season and adjust to our strong Rocky Mountain sunlight and low humidity. There will be some shrinking, so be careful not to space the boards too far apart. A good rule of thumb is about 1/8 inch. One deck contractor told me that they use as a guideline the thickness of a nickel. But the point is that the gap will be wider after the 30 day seasoning period.
Speaking of decks....
Dear Ken: I want to replace my deck boards. What do you think of TREX? Pat
There are many brands of composite decking material. Composite is usually defined as a combination of PVC plastic and wood chips. Check out the selection at a deck store where you can learn all the pros and cons of each particular brand. Many of these vendors have displays weathering outside so you can see how the particular material you like holds up under our harsh ambient conditions. I like versions of this material that have no screws on the face of the deck boards. They are installed using invisible clips, so that you don't have any holes puckering on the surface.
Since you're installing these new boards over an old framework, make sure you replace any of the joists that are rotting. Also, protect the top of each joist with a strip of plastic, metal or ice and water shield to discourage rotting.
Dear Ken: Our basement has one unfinished room that we're now using for storage. I'd like to turn it into a nursery, but there are no windows in this room. What do you think of that idea? Lauren
Not too much. The building codes all require light and ventilation directly from the outside in so-called habitable rooms. These rules grew out of the deplorable tenements around the turn of the 20th century where immigrant families were crowded into airless and windowless warrens. The number of windows and their size is dependent upon the square footage of the room.
Back to your case: a nursery would be a bad idea. Babies need light and fresh air even more so than the rest of us. Why not turn it into a small office, sewing, laundry, or hobby room. That way no one will actually be sleeping in this small space.
