November 2, 2009

            Dear Ken:  I  have a couple of doors that just won't stay put.  They swing open by themselves, so we have to use a door stop.  Do we have to call a carpenter?      Scott

            Try this trick:  Take out the middle door hinge pin-or the lower one if there are only two hinges.  Lay it on the concrete floor in the garage.  Then give it a smart smack in the middle with a hammer-not too hard, now, or you'll never get it back into the hinge.  This process deforms the pin a little into a microscopic curve so that there is additional friction inside the hinge.  It may take  two or three tries before you get the pin deformation you need to keep the door open.

            Dear Ken:  This past week, I slipped on the ice on my front walk.  What can I use instead of regular salt on the sidewalk.                Lisa

            You could use some generic kitty litter, but that requires clean-up after the ice and snow are gone.  One of my listeners uses regular bird seed.  She says it not only prevents slipping, but the cleanup is automatically taken care of by our winter-resident feathered friends.

            Dear Ken:   On windy days, the smoke comes back into the house through the front of my fireplace.   Can anything be done, or just don't build fires when it's windy?                Ray

            Make sure you have enough make-up air into the room.  That's the outside air required to replace the thousands of cubic feet that roars up the chimney when those logs are burning;  crack a window near the fireplace.

            Also, have a chimney sweep company check the top of the outside stack.  Is it high enough above the roof so that the  wind can actually carry the smoke away?  Does it need a cap or metal extension piece.  Finally, is the chimney flue clean enough to draft properly?   But, frankly, I'd bet on too little make-up air.

            PS for everybody else:  Whenever you use an open fireplace-whether burning wood or a gas log-open that window in the same room, even if you don't see any smoke.  Otherwise, you risk pulling fumes out of the furnace or water heater flues in order to satisfy that high air demand.  And that can let carbon monoxide into the house.

            Dear Ken:   We moved our refrigerator to do some remodeling.  Ever since, it makes a racket.  What can we do?          B.M.

            You may have jarred the cooling fan.  Unplug the refrigerator and move it out far enough to crawl back there and take a look.  If you can, spin that little fan by hand.  If it rubs, bend the blades slightly to clear them.  Also, vacuum out the inevitable gobs of dust.  Finally, have a helper plug the frig into the outlet, so you can see if the noise is gone, or, if not, at least pinpoint its source.  If it's the compressor, you'll need a service call by a professional.

            Dear Ken:  I have a contractor finishing my basement.  Now when I use the washer or microwave, the lights dim.  Should I be worried?            Donna

            This may be unrelated to the finish work, but why not have the electrician on site check connections in the electric panel and inside the relevant plug and switch boxes?  A little dimming is normal with these appliances, but if this phenomenon is sudden, you need to track it down.   If the inside wiring checks out OK, contact the power company.  Sometimes their connections inside the meter box overheat and misbehave