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Home Improvement Library, Plumbing
Q: Why are my cold water pipes sweating?A: Your cold water pipes are a classic, summer humidity occurrence. Fear not, a minor issue when corrected! The cold pipes are sweating, or condensing the moisture out of the very “wet” air in the basement. This is just like a...
Home Improvement Library, Plumbing
The cause of the sound is the water flowing on both sides of a faucet washer, o-ring or a shut off washer. Water flows on both sides of the faucet washer; the washer vibrates and makes a sound similar to a clarinet in a woodwind orchestra, and resonates that sound...
Home Improvement Library, Water & Moisture
Brick Steel Lintel Caulk Gap at Bottom Yes, paint the steel to limit the corrosion of the steel. Do NOT caulk the gap between the steel lintel and the brick or masonry stone, EVER! The space or gap between the steel and the brick functions as a weep hole or weep space...
Appliances, Home Improvement Library, Remodeling
Standard clearance for a microwave-hood combination appliance is 18″ above the range top which is 54″ above the the finish floor. The 30″ clearance above your stove top is for a cabinet or flammable & combustible surface. The National Kitchen...
Cleaning, Home Improvement Library, Plumbing
Q: How do you get rid of black streaks in a toilet bowl? A: You have a lime-like mineral build up from the many little holes under the toilet bowl rim where the water flows during flushing. These water paths have left a mineral residue over the years and that...
Cleaning, Home Improvement Library, Water & Moisture
Q: How can I remove mildew spots from my bathroom ceiling? A: Put a timer on you bath vent fan so that it runs for 20-30 minutes after a shower to better remove the moisture. The spots are from mildew growing on the surface of the paint, most likely from condensation...
Doors, Home Improvement Library
Tempered Glass Storm Door Failed Tempered glass, or heat tempered glass, is a safety feature for glass. Tempered or safety glass is required and wise when the glass is in a door or is within 2 feet of a door, and several other applications. It is designed to shatter...
Brick & Masonry, Home Improvement Library, Insulation
Insulate the Inside Walls of a Solid Masonry Brick House Yes it will. It will also diminish the size of the room the thickness of each wall you build. You will need to fir out the jamb thickness of each door, window, and base board that gets re-installed. As the wall...
Home Improvement Library, Plumbing
Your house will typically retain enough heat to keep water pipes from freezing for about two days after losing power and heat. Conserve the heat inside your house by keeping doors and windows closed and running only properly vented gas fireplaces and gas logs. DO NOT...
Home Improvement Library, HVAC
Q: Why is my ductwork making a ticking sound? A: The noise inside your wall is your metal ductwork as it expands & contracts from the change of temperature inside your walls which is supplied by your forced air furnace. It is a noisy nuisance but not a big threat...
Cleaning, General Construction & Repairs, Home Improvement Library, Plumbing
Sewer gas smell indicates a potentially serious health and safety threat. The simplest and more common solution to stop the smell is to pour water into the drains of all your plumbing fixtures to replace any water that has evaporated from your drain traps. Plumbing...
Home Improvement Library, Venting & Circulation
Opening a window is a good idea while operating any gas appliance especially if you feel tightness in your chest, dizziness, headaches and irritability while operating an appliance. These are symptoms of carbon monoxide toxicity and can be deadly, so prudence and...
Electrical, Home Improvement Library, HVAC
Q: How much electricity does a gas furnace need? A: A gas fired, forced air home furnace typically requires a small amount of electricity to ignite and operate in your home. Most gas heat furnaces use less than 600 watts of electricity, or less than half of a typical...
Cleaning, General Construction & Repairs, Home Improvement Library
The white dust you describe may be from several sources and also may be a little bit from each. If there is any carpet in the house there will inevitably be dust from foot traffic which usually shows up as “white dust.” Opening the windows for spring and...
Home Improvement Library, Siding
I strongly advocate removing all the old siding, installing a wind/moisture membrane like Tyvek over the wall sheathing, and then applying the new siding. Current building technology experts advocate and promote this critically important practice of removing old...
