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Home Sense
With Mike McClintock
Washington Post
Thursday, June 12, 2003; Noon ET
Have questions about how to keep your home fit and trim?
Home Sense columnist Mike McClintock is online every other Thursday at Noon ET to answer your questions about home building, remodeling, repairs and the wide range of home-consumer issues. If it has something to do with the place where you live -- from home security to the latest on appliances, energy-saving and a lot more -- just ask. Mike has the answers.
McClintock's column appears in the Post Home section every Thursday. He is the author of 10 books, including "Alternative Housebuilding."
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
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Mike McClintock: hi and hereŐs the posting to get started with while I dig into your questions--
HOMESENSEŃ FUTURE HOUSESŃ QUESTION
What will the typical new single-family houses be like by the year 2010? A report by the Washington-based National Association of Homebuilders makes many predictions based on "emerging trends".
Can you pick the real prediction from the bogus multiple choices in these basic housing characteristics?
Square footage will be:
1,200, 2,200, 3,200, 4,200?
Lot size square footage will be:
1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500?
Number of bathrooms will be:
2,3,4,5? (well, probably not 5)
Master bedroom location will be:
Walk-out basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, dormered attic
Average sales price will be:
$190,000, $240,000, $290,000, $340,000?
Overall appearance will be:
- mostly plastic coatings
- mostly synthetic masonry
- mostly synthetic wood
- mostly like new homes today
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Need to paint some trim outside -- if we get a couple of non-rain days -- is that sufficient for the wood to dry out?
Mike McClintock: The problem is that moisture under paint can heat up (if the sun shines long enough) and blister, but more often that it generally breaks the bond and gradually causes flaking and peeling. You see this on older houses without vapor barriers: interior moisture works through the wall, and through the paint surface, breaking it up in the process. So long story short: test a small section, or just wait a few days; also consider penetrating stain instead of paint that lies on the surface.
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Washington, D.C.:
Hello, I just bought a house with oil heat (via radiators) and natural gas for hot water and stoves. What, if any, are the benefits/drawbacks to the oil? I have heard you can switch a newer furnace (which mine is) to gas. Is this expensive? What sort of contractor should I be looking for?
Thanks
Mike McClintock: It's unlikely to make sense to switch fuels if you have a new furnace, and i don't see how you could rebuild the basics to make it run on gas instead of oil; the burners are completely different. And top-line new gas furnaces are a little more efficient than oil, but not so much that it would pay you to switch. And oil is ok, generally requires more frequent maintenance than gas-- and delivery, of course.
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Washington, D.C.:
Hi: Mineral deposits build up on chrome
plumbing fixtures and soap scum does
the same on tiles in the shower and
elsewhere so much that I’m thinking
about a softener system. But how hard is
hard water, how soft does it need to be
before these problems go away, and how
can I measure the hardness without
getting involved with a high-pressure
salesman from a conditioning company?
Mike McClintock: Under three grains per gallon (gpg-- the way companies measure hardness) is considered soft, seven gpg is a mid level (the hardness rating of water from most utlities), over seven is hard-- anything over 10gpg should seem significnalty different after softening, which reduces mineral content. To find the level, ask you water utility company (all produce an annual report comparing their water to EPA standards), or have your supply privately tested, or conduct an approximating test yourself. Add ten drops of liquid detergent to a large glass half filled with tap water, cover and shake. If suds are high and foamy you have relatively soft water; if suds are low and like a curd itŐs relatively hard. Other signs of hard water are reduced flow in pipes (built up deposits reduce their diameter), a percolating sound in the water heater, and more of thosescaly deposits (the dried minerals). If you go ahead, donŐt soften water fed to outside spigots or kitchen sink, as beneficial minerals are good for the garden and essential for decent taste.
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Missouri:
Mike,
I need your advice -- desperately. Closed on a house three weeks ago. The house has four rooms (840 square feet)is 53 years old brick with cinderblock foundation. I knew the roof was old and my inspector told me that it leaked at one time -- like all roofs. After closing I walked in the second bedroom that has a closet that butts up against the bathroom and the furnace chimney and looked in the closet and saw a 8" x10" inch patch of greyish mold (flat -- not fuzzy) that had a long spider crack going down the center of the circle. So I clearly have a problem. I cleaned the mold. I still smell a musty smell in teh closet and am scared of the room in general. I know the chimney and the leak my uncle has since found and fixed in my toilet vent stack are the likely culprits. What do I do besides get a new roof. I am scared of mold and my house clearly has a water damage issue. If it helps in answering the question -- the people who lived there -- who neglected everything (including the gutters that were FULL of debris)oddly enough performed an extremely poor homemade tuckpointing job on the chimney. This appears to have been done after my inspection. I have had plasterers in and they all say I have no big problem. They seem to think that it will air out and be fine. Huh? Dont they want my good money for cutting in the wall and fixing the musty water issue that I think must be there? I know this is long -- but I am so concerned -- even a morsel of advice will be a huge help.
Mike McClintock: Mold thrives in closets because there is little ventilation. Doesn't sound like a huge deal-- and when contractors say that and don't think it needs repair, hey, you're ahead of the game.
So try a solution of 1/2 bleach and half water (no bleach with detergent containing amonia), and appplly as much ventilation as possible. Repeat the cleansing as needed.
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Fredericksburg, Va.:
Mike,
I am taking estimates on having my basement finished. I have a couple of questions about some of the options. I was hoping maybe you could help.
1. Wood vs. Metal framing. Any real difference?
2. Dry wall vs. Drop ceiling. Which is better?
3. What should I look for in picking a contractor.
4. What are some upgrades I should consider that will really set my basement apart?
Thanks
Mike McClintock: No real need for metal, unless the place is a swamp, in which case you need to correct that; wood's fine.
Drywall is easy, but not if the ceiling has lots of pipes, ducts, beams, etc. protruding; that gives lots of corners, increases time/money; dropped ceiling often is lower but flatter, and you can add insulation above.
Contractor picking is long and difficult subject to do here thoroughly. Nutshell is: recommendations, interviews, checking refs, asking about license and insurance, and on and on.
Upgrades? just finishing it sounds pretty good.
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Annandale, Va.:
When is a knocking pipe something to be concerned about? Whenever I take a shower or run a lot of water in the upstairs sink a pipe knocks on the main floor of my townhouse. It is an inside wall, so not accessible from either side. What are possible causes?
p.s. I love you.
Mike McClintock: Knocking is also called water hammer and generally comes from two things. One can be pipe shifting as hot water pushes standing tepid water through the line, but this is more cracking than hammering. The real heavy-duty stuff comes from water bumping into pipes that have air inside them. Thats often caused by air suctioning back into the system through waorn washers, so you could replace them where you see a drip. There are anti-hammer devices (like small shock absorbers) you can install on pipes that will help.
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Olney, Md.:
Our 1972 split-level has wood siding, and we are probably going to replace it some time over the next few years, and probably with aluminum or vinyl. My question is, I know that most siding has insulation (Tyvek?) underneath it. Will there be any problems adding insulation to a house that had wood siding and seems to have no insulation underneath the wood? The southwest side of our house gets VERY hot on the inside, and I'm hoping that new siding will help lower our cooling costs.
Thanks!
Mike McClintock: Doubt that a 1972 house has no insulation (and tyvek is an air-infiltration barrier, just a sheet of gauzy paper under the siding) below that is likely plywood sheathing, and below that is the wall frame. So before you make too many plans about new siding, open up the wall somewhere and be sure what you have. You can increase insulation somewhat when residing, but there are likely better fixes.
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Arlington, Va.:
My first time to submit a question on your chat! What's the best way to get rid of the moss that is sprouting up between the bricks in my front sidewalk? How about moss on wood patio and balcony?
Mike McClintock: I'd leave the moss between the bricks; don't a lot of people transplant to put moss there? But on the wood you can lose it (by hand) scrubbing with stiff brush and the 50-50 water-bleach solution, or (byu power) with a pressure washer.
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Clifton, Va.:
Owens Corning has a system for basement finishing. Looks quick an easy to install
and provides easy access in case of any future problems. Includes ceiling and walls etc.
Mike McClintock: worth a look at least
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Our 41 year old house has old wooden windows, including those with the "hand crank." Our heating bill was astronomical for two people in a ranch. Should we replace the windows now or wait until we remodel the house in a few years?
Mike McClintock: You mean wood casements I guess. Many of them have little slots for clipping in storm panels, which makes the unit double glazed. You could do that, and next winter try adding heat-shrink plastic for triple glazing. Hard to imagine that the glass/plastic would be much below room temp, in which case you might not need replacements at all. So wait and test.
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Fairfax, Va.:
Is there a way to shorten the fill up time and lower the noise level when flushing a toilet?
Mike McClintock: Not really, not unless you modified some plumbing parts. On an older toilet (ball and arm) the float switch (fill valve) could be clogged a bit and replacing it would increase the fill rate some. Nothing you can do the the fixture to reduce noise; that's an issue to handle in walls with insulation to deaden sound.
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Insulation:
Mike, we are doing similar to the writer above, replacing aluminum siding with vinyl. We need to have our insulation upgraded, what are our options?
Mike McClintock: You can add volumes of insulation-- but
as the wall gets thicker all the trim will seem to recede, and that can make residing jobs look fairly terrible, as house trim should stick out (the phrase is "proud") of the siding. You can also replace what's in the wall now with better insulation by R-value.
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Memphis, Tenn.:
Hello Mike and I thank you in advance as I really don't know what to do!
Last night I was trying to hang a mirror over my fireplace on my plaster walls. I pre-drilled holes and started drilling in the molly bolt. When it was almost flush, the head of the bolt came off, leaving the plastic bolt inside of the wall!
Do I now, use another bolt in the same place inside the first bolt?
Or do I now somehow remove the bolt left in the wall? if so, how?
Mike McClintock: Oops. Sounds like the molly is maybe partially expanded so you can't pull it out, and there's no bolt head to unscrew. So you could try unbscrewing it with a needle nose pliers, or try a screw extractor bit (you drill it in and it grabs so you can unscrew), or just move up or down a few inches (you can adjust the mirror hanger) patch the molly as a hole and go again
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Washington, D.C.:
Answer, then question:
Square footage will be:
4,200?
Lot size square footage will be:
1,500,
Number of bathrooms will be:
3,
Master bedroom location will be:
1st floor,
Average sales price will be:
$290,000,
Overall appearance will be:
-- mostly like new homes today
What's your experience with honed black granite? Do you recommend its use at all? If so, do you find a color enhancer and/or sealer helps reduce staining?
Thanks.
Mike McClintock: You have 3 right, not bad.
Never have used it, and black in general around water tends to show even the least hints of mineral deposits. Have installed some thick basically gray varietoes that seemt o have help up well.
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Berwyn Geights, Md.:
Hello. We have a 50 year old split level. Considering expanding a bedroom on the third floor the length of our sunroom on the second floor. Is it likely that the reinforcement needed of the sunroom roof and support beams will render this thought impractical? Thanks much.
Mike McClintock: A sunroom ceiling is likely to need bigger or more reafters to become joists. But the isse gets more complicated because you have to figure the new load of the new room down to the foundation, and who knows what the sunroom walls are like. But you can get or make beams today that will span way more than a couple of standard 2x12s from the lumber yard. So without knowing the details-- sure it's possible, and yes probably a little impractical, but still probably much less expensive than building the same space from scratch as you would with an addition complete with foundation and all.
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Mold in Missouri:
Mike,
Thanks for posting and the response. But -- don't you think that if mold appeared in the first place I have a water damage issue that I need to get to the root of? I just don't want the stigma of a mold house at resale time and I obviously don't want my possessions to be ruined. Is it bad to put possessions in a room/closet with a musty smell? Can't the spores infiltrate ones belongings? I guess what I am asking is -- what is mold hype and what is the mold reality in an older home? Can you seperate fact from fiction for me and my fellow clicksters?
Mike McClintock: Thought you siad before that your uncle had found the leak, so i assumed you had that issue under control. Sure, mold will grow again if the water keeps coming.
There are two home sense column on mold, fairly recent and probably in the archive. But what you describe as one spot with mold caused by a leak is not a major problem, or even much of a minor problem. Mold court cases (and there are some whoppers) generally stem from whole-house growth due to improper siding, venting, insulation, etc.
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Drain in Basement:
Mike,
You have taken questions about root intrusion in pipes in the past. I am wondering if you can give an inexperienced home owner some advice on why the basement drain to the sewer SEEMS to drain slowly. I look in there after laundry or dumping the dehumidifier water and there is water in there from the last time I looked. During washing soap suds spill out of the drain also. Is that normal? My boyfriend's basement drain does not do that.
Mike McClintock: Could be roots, a cracked pipe, blockage of some sort-- all kinds of things. So when it's so slow that water is standing and suds spill back, have it cleaned out for a start. If that doesn't help and you notice the same problem, it's likely to be a crack or break that lets in more silt and gradually starts clogging the cleaned line. So try the least expensive step first, and the most expensive one( digging and replacing) last.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
We've just moved into an older home and realized that the owners had a cat or two. There is mildewy and musty odors in the sunroom and garage. We've bleached the place to death! It was suggested that we use a concrete cleaner. Can you suggest something to get rid of this totally, not just mask the odor?
Thank you.
Mike McClintock: After cleaning and cleaning, the next step is to lock in whatever is left, maybe with masonry paint on the floor and a flat enamel on the walls. But the lingering odors may be wafting in from a place you haven't cleaned yet.
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Columbia, Md.:
Hi, I need to paint my new fence once it stops raining, but someone told me that I shouldn't paint it until it's been dry for awhile since if you paint too soon there is a risk of sealing moisture into the wood. My question is how can I tell when the fence is dry enough to paint? is it enough for the surface to be thoroughly dry? Thanks.
Mike McClintock: Same answer as early on about exterior trim, but why not consider staining? It soaks in, fades away gradually, and you can get stain that's white, bright red, whatever.
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Falls Church, Va.:
Square footage will be: 3,200?
Lot size square footage will be: 1,000,
Number of bathrooms will be: 4,
Master bedroom location will be: 1st floor,
Average sales price will be: $290,000,
Overall appearance will be: -- mostly like new homes today
Mike McClintock: Price and bedroom correct-- and lot size, which is the stumper because it will getting smaller
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Springfield, Va.:
We are planning to add a carport (not covered, just cemented) on the side of our house. The area right now is covered in grass. Do we need to get a permit to build a carport? No HOA to worry about. Thanks.
Mike McClintock: So you don't mean a carport (they are covered) but just a slab of concrete? Likely that you would need a permit (depends on the local jurisdiction; they have different rules) because you'll be needing a driveway, changing the use; pays to check for sure.
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Bethesda, Md.:
My concrete walkway steps have lost some of the concrete on the side. Can I patch this with some kind of pre-mixed concrete? Is this tricky?
Mike McClintock: Bigger breakaways are often easier to fix than very shallow ones. The basics are: wire brush the broken surface, drive in several concrete nails so they stick out a bit but not past the patch area, tack or brace form boards around the area, then trowel in the cement patch material and let it sit until hard.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
I noticed the corner of my basement is damp and I see a couple of small patches of whitish mold. I sprayed the mold with bleach and bought a dehumidifier. My question is should I pull the rug up and get rid of it? Or will the dehumidifier take care of the problem? Thanks.
Mike McClintock: Rugs are like mold farms left alone after a soaking, so peel it back, take it outside, raise it on boardss an ventilate, and then maybe you can rescue it with a vac-wash. That whitish mold could be mold, but very likely efflouresce, which are salt deposits that come through the wall with water during a leak, then dry on the surface. You can scrape them away without bleaching but need to fill the crack to prevent the problem.
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Mike McClintock: Don't think i was typing fast enough today, becasue that's the hour already. So here's the posting and answer and some other stuff---
HOMESENSEŃ FUTURE HOUSESŃ QUESTION
What will the typical new single-family houses be like by the year 2010? A report by the Washington-based National Association of Homebuilders makes many predictions based on "emerging trends".
Can you pick the real prediction from the bogus multiple choices in these basic housing characteristics?
Square footage will be:
1,200, 2,200, 3,200, 4,200?
Lot size square footage will be:
1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500?
Number of bathrooms will be:
2,3,4,5?
Master bedroom location will be:
Walk-out basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, dormered attic
Average sales price will be:
$190,000, $240,000, $290,000, $340,000?
Overall appearance will be:
- mostly plastic coatings
- mostly synthetic masonry
- mostly synthetic wood
- mostly like new homes today
HOMESENSEŃ FUTURE HOUSESŃ ANSWER
Square footage will be: 2,200
Lot size square footage will be: 1,000
Number of bathrooms will be: 3
Master bedroom location will be: 1st floor
Average sales price will be: $290,000
Overall appearance will be: mostly like new homes today
See you next time-- and a brief note about that: it would interesting and useful to include with your question just a couple of words about the one or two topics you most need/want info about-- maybe service contracts, home insurance, hiring contractors, refinishing floors, buying tools, whatever. If youŐre inclined and remember, I (and probably other chatters) would be interested; see you.
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