November 30, 2009

     Dear Ken: It was 63 degrees in the house this morning. The thermostat shut off the furnace too soon and it will not warm up. Help!                                      Sharon
     You say that the furnace does come on. That's good news, because it means that the culprit is probably the thermostat. Make sure it has fresh batteries. If it still misbehaves, unhook the two "heating" wires (probably red and white) and touch them together for awhile. Don't worry about a shock; we're dealing with only 24 volts here.     Don't keep this connection for too long-only long enough to verify that the furnace is heating the house normally. If all seems OK, buy a replacement thermostat, and you're back in business. By the way, you don't have to pay a fortune. Thermostats less than $40 do essentially the same job as there $90 cousins. Finally, check the filter. If it's really dirty, that could be part of your problem. Remember to replace it monthly.
     Dear Ken: I have a cabin built on pillars . For quite awhile there was a skunk underneath. Now he's gone, but the smell lingers. How can I get rid of it? Cindy     First, lay some 6 mil plastic sheeting over the dirt. Wait awhile to see if that did the trick before you go on to the next, more drastic, step. Second, you'll then need to seal the under side of the floor above. Use our old friend, KILZ and a hand pump sprayer; you'll need a respirator and significant skin protection for this messy job.      Sealing the underside will probably kill the smell, but there's a slight chance it will want to escape into the room above through the flooring. If so, you'll need to fold the carpet back and spray the topside of the floor with the same primer/sealer.
     Dear Ken: I have older steel siding. It's pretty faded, so I want to paint it. Will paint stick? Would it be better to get new siding? What do you think? Gerry     As with all paint jobs, the secret is in the preparation. A good power wash will remove the oxidized, powdery layers of old paint. Then you'll need just the right primer. Check in with a name-brand paint store for their recommendation. The topcoat is critical for your metal siding. Choose the highest quality (of course, most expensive) material by their particular manufacturer. Why? It will have the best elastomeric qualities to accommodate the inevitable stretching and shrinking of your steel siding as the outside temperature changes.
     Dear Ken: I heard you talk about a protector for the top of the joists on a deck. The lumber yard doesn't know about this. Curt     This is a great idea to increase a deck's longevity. There is a perpetual wet spot at the point where the deck boards sit on the top of the underlying joists. And that's where the first signs of rotting appear. You can buy flashing to isolate these two boards from each other. Go to www.joistjackets.com for a start. This is a rubberized, flexible material that you wrap over and around the top of each joist. Then you lay the deck boards on top of the flashing and attach as usual with zinc coated screws. Composite (plastic) decking, although pretty much indestructible, also creates that wet spot. So the flashing is appropriate here, too.     If you can't lay your hands on this pre-made material, you can create your own out of that sticky ice and water shield, galvanized sheet metal or even heavy duty plastic visqueen sheeting. _