Weekly Columns

Both current and archived weekly newspaper columns. The date of the column and a teaser of the column appears below. Click on the date to see the entire column.

June 21, 2010

Dear Ken:   I have those hard calcium buildups around my faucets.  I've tried everything.  Any other ideas besides replacing them?    Eleanor

               Have you tried steam?   You can buy small, portable steamers at home      centers, linen stores and even on the Web.  They are quite effective when     all else fails for these pesky hard water stains.

June 14, 2010

            Dear Ken:  We have a 1974 home.  It has the old glitter and popcorn ceiling.  Ugly.  Is there asbestos on this ceiling?       Vicky

June 7, 2010

            Dear Ken:  I have an unusual odor in my master bath area.  I think I've checked everything, like the vents and the traps.  It all seems OK.  Any other ideas?      Paul  

May 31, 2010

      Dear Ken: Our rear fence blew over, and I noticed a great deal of erosion between me and my neighbor's house. What can I do? Will it be expensive? Janette
      I hope you and your neighbors are good friends. If this erosion is pretty much right on the property line, you could split the cost of a retaining wall with them. Instead of poured concrete, we now use those precast, lightweight concrete blocks. They are relatively cheap, and the wall goes up quickly because there's no mortar between the joints. That's why many...

May 24, 2010

            Dear Ken:   We've got a new furnace and air conditioning system.  We've just started cooling our house, and are disappointed that the basement is ten degrees cooler that the upper level.  Any ideas to even it out?      Susan

May 17, 2010

      Dear Ken: We have a townhome with a major dust problem. Should we have the ducts cleaned? Add an air cleaner? Replace the carpet or what? Bob
      Before you spend chunks of money on new systems, let's check the envelope you live in. Many times there isn't enough "makeup" air. That's the air that replaces what you exhaust outdoors through the bath and kitchen fans, fireplace, and dryer vent. That produces a negative air pressure inside, which is made up for by sucking air through unintended openings (we'll get to...

May 10, 2010

     Dear Readers: Time for my annual lecture about the drainage around your home. Before the summer rains come, you need to reanalyze just what happens to the water that lands on top of and around the foundation. About three quarters of this water runs into the gutters and down the spouts. The ends of all downspout extension pipes should be discharged well beyond the concrete foundation. I recommend ten feet, minimum, or to the nearest gravity outfall, that is down the slope to the neighbor's house or towards the street. And make sure the way. First openings are always...

May 3, 2010

            Dear Ken:    Some pipes have been leaking under my kitchen sink.  Now there's some feathery black stuff (mold?) under there.  Is it dangerous?  Should I be worried?    Please help.   Nel

            We need to treat this as soon as possible, but it's almost never a health issue you need to worry about.  Only about 15% to 20% of the population is allergic to mold spores, anyway, and their reactions are...

April 26, 2010

            Dear Ken:  Our shower drain seems to ALWAYS smell like sewer gas.  Is it something that can be fixed easily, like maybe a clogged drain?    Kathy

April 19, 2010

            Dear Ken:   When is a safe date for turning on my sprinkler system?     John

            A hard date rule of thumb that seems to work year after year is to wait until Mother's Day.  Before that, there is always a risk of a sudden freeze.  That's why I recommend that you have a quick on/quick off setup for your sprinklers-so you can water during these seasonal transition times-plus you can easily winter water, which an...