March 14, 2020
Dear Ken: I have spilled some wax on my couch. Is there any way to get it off? Peter
Wax is always best handled when it's cold. Dry ice works best here, but it’s become quite hard to find. Big box discount stores used to have it, but I suspect it became a liability issue. You could call a local ice company for a possible referral.
Absent that, try cooling down the spot with a few ice cubes in a plastic bag. Then try popping it off with a kitchen knife. If there is a residual stain, cover it with an old white wash cloth and run a medium-warm clothes iron over the area. Hopefully the stain will get absorbed into the cloth as it warms up.
If the results are still disappointing you could try some rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or our old friend Goof Off solvent, blotted with paper towel as you go. But make sure to test the fabric in an out-of-the-way spot first!
Dear Ken: My door bell buzzed all the time, so I installed a new unit. That one buzzes, too. Any ideas? Bill
Take a look at the button near the front door. It may be partially shorting the circuit. These buttons are pretty flimsy and break down quite easily. You can tell what's going on pretty quickly by unhooking the wires and "ringing" the bell by touching the ends of the wires together. If you have access to a small volt/ohmmeter (no workbench should be without one, they only cost about $15), check the voltage on the doorbell transformer. It should read around 16 volts.
If you are still stumped, do what I did at my place. Purchase a wireless doorbell. My transformer quit, but it was up in the attic and hard to get to, so I decided to abandon the system all together. I found a wireless system for less than $30 online that uses 4 D-cell batteries and of course a wireless button; it works great and was a breeze to install.
Dear Ken: I would like to ask you about cleaning the rock on the front of my wood burning fireplace. There is quite a bit of black soot, and it just smudges when I try to wipe it off. Can you recommend something to clean it with? Sarah
Soot particles are so fine that they invade the tiniest pores in whatever they get on to. That's why it's so hard to remove it when it gets on your skin. Rock is similar--lots of microscopic holes and crevices--and so the soot clings to it with a vengeance. One answer is to use detergent and a metal scraping brush, like painters use. A few drops of liquid dish soap makes water "wetter"--that is reduces its surface tension so it can get into smaller places to help release the black stuff; try several scrubs before you give up.
Another more drastic approach is to literally burn it off. A propane plumber’s torch will work, but be careful. Too much heat applied in a small area can cause fissures in the brick face, which may then slough off.
If you get desperate, you can always paint the rock, say a muted gray, then apply a darker color in the mortar lines between the rocks. It actually looks better than it sounds, and it will allow you to touch it up any time you want.
Dear Ken: We have a 57 year old house. Cracks around the door between the kitchen and living room have been filled several times, but they keep coming back. There is a jack under this area. Do you think that's related? Wil
Filling a crack before the underlying structural anomalies are addressed is a waste of time. The post under this area has probably settled, so check to see if it's under load—that is, is it tight against the floor? Even if it is, I'd turn the head (counterclockwise when looking down at the post) about a half turn to raise the wall back into position. Take it slow: two quarter turns 24 hours apart.
Then fill the crack with drywall taping mud one more time as a stress gauge. Within a week or so you'll know whether or not the settling has quit. For the final coat, use one of those metal mesh taping kits you can find at the hardware or paint store. It's stronger than the paper variety.
Dear Ken: I have two pie-shaped windows in our townhouse. One of them has condensation inside. Can it be fixed without replacing it? Sandra
Probably not. The only sure-fire way to fix it is to replace it. But an unusually-shaped like yours is usually pretty expensive. Try some low-e plastic window film applied to the inside pane. You can buy it in rolls at the hardware store, and it's easy to apply
yourself--providing you have an assistant. The reflectivity of the coating will help hide the vapor.
By the way, the energy efficiency of the window is little affected by the leaking frame seal, since it's the air gap between the panes--whether dry or wet--that gives the window its insulating qualities.
