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Cooling a Third Floor Level / Odor From Evaporating Water in Floor Drain / Replacing Old Floor Tiles

In Asbestos Tile, Crawl Space, HVAC on May 22, 2012 at 10:00 am

To all my followers: Please pass along my blog address to all your friends and family. I’d appreciate it!

Q:

I need advice on summer cooling of the third level in my 3100 square foot home. The finished basement is cold, (all vents closed) the eight rooms on the main floor are chilly (most vents closed) and the upstairs is warm with all vents open.

I have heard about mini fans that are installed in ductwork to move along cool air. Is this a reasonably priced alternative that you would recommend?

A:

Fact, hot air rises. The third floor will always be warmer especially in the summer. To make the third floor more comfortable you should start by bringing your attic insulation up to at least R-49 and making sure the attic is adequately and properly vented. You should immediately notice a difference in comfort. Doing so will also save you money on heating and cooling costs.

Q:

The water in the drain of my basement floor evaporates periodically, causing really an unpleasant odor in my house. How can it be avoided?

A:

The floor drain does the same thing as the traps in plumbing fixtures. They’re designed to hold water, which blocks the passage of sewer gas from the sewer or septic tank from entering your home. That is a good thing!

Every time we use a plumbing fixture we replenish any water that has evaporated. But unless the basement floods frequently it’s a good idea to occasionally go down to the basement or laundry room and pour water into the floor drain, since that water also evaporates. When it does evaporate, as you know, you’ll smell an awful sewer gas odor.

If you’re one of those people who don’t like the idea of another periodic task, then you’ll love this tip. Remove the floor drain cover (there may be only a couple of corroded screws holding it in place) and pry up the cover. Now, remove and clean out any debris that you can see. Next, take a ping-pong or tennis ball and place it in the drain opening and replace the cover plate. Measure the opening before you drop in a ping-pong ball. If the hole is too big, use the tennis ball.

The ball should sit perfectly on the drain hole and block any sewer gas trying to work its way into the house. If any water gets onto the basement floor from an overflowing laundry tub, burst pipe or one of those 100-year storms that seem to happen every other year now, the ball will float and the water should still drain. Just remember to test this first by pouring some water into the drain and making sure the ball rises to the occasion.

Q:

I was thinking about replacing my old shabby basement floor tiles. Do you have any suggestions on how I go about doing this?

A:

If you have a house built prior to 1982 and especially if it’s older than that, the floor tiles in the basement, hallways, kitchen or wherever there is tile, may contain asbestos.

Now, we’ve all heard that asbestos is hazardous, but generally those tiles are not hazardous as long as you basically leave them alone. They’re not friable, which is the “catch word” for hazardous asbestos. Friable means the product can easily be broken up and disturbed with hand pressure. If it can be, the invisible asbestos fibers become airborne and we inhale them increasing our risk of lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma.

Keep in mind that not all floor tiles contain asbestos and if you need to know if it does, take a broken or loose tile, place it in a zip-lock bag and take it to one of the numerous testing laboratories that you can find in the yellow pages or on the internet.

In my experience, all 9”x9” floor tiles, as well as the adhesive used to lay them, contain asbestos. If your tiles do indeed contain asbestos, wetting them down lightly so there is no dust disturbance allows you to safely pick up those old crumbling floor tiles. Then use an ice chopper or long-handled scraper to gently pry all the rest of the tiles loose.

Check your municipality, I think you are allowed to double-bag them and dispose of them with your regular garbage.

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Re-sealing a Concrete Patio / Can Alligatoring Paint Be Corrected ? / Vermiculite Insulation

In Asbestos Tile, Q&A, Vermiculite on May 15, 2012 at 12:29 pm

To all my followers: Please pass along my blog address to all your friends and family. I’d appreciate it!

Q:
I have a concrete patio, which was sealed with a 50-50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and kerosene 8 years ago. We are happy with it, and I am thinking of resealing it with the same mixture, but not sure if it requires stripping.  If it does, what kind of mixture do I use to strip it before applying a new coat? Also can this 50-50 mixture be used for sealing stamped concrete patios?

A:

There is no need to remove the previous sealer since it has long worn away due to weather, the suns rays and normal wear. The only thing you need to do is make sure the surface is clean and dry before you reseal it. My recommendation is to wait until it is nice and hot to apply the sealer, otherwise it takes too long to dry.

Finally, this method of sealing concrete is not only recommended for patios, it is also recommended for driveways, porches and walkways as well.

Q:

The paint on some walls looks like the hide of an alligator. Can it be corrected?

A:

Yes, it can be corrected. You didn’t read me say it can be done easily, but I will say it could be corrected and maybe worth the effort to you.

Sometimes numerous random cracks appear over the wall – not straight cracks, but cracks that actually look like an alligator’s hide. These cracks originate within the paint itself. A couple of circumstances contribute to this problem: Applying paint over a surface that’s not clean or is greasy, and most often, applying a flat paint over glossy enamel or a varnished woodwork.

In the future, if you plan on painting over gloss or semi-gloss enamel paints or varnishes, sand and clean the surface prior to painting. Then apply a de-glosser, like Liquid Sandpaper.

To eliminate the alligatoring-paint, you have two alternatives: A temporary solution is to fill and sand each and every crack with spackling compound and repaint. The permanent solution is to chemically strip off all the layers of paint, clean, sand, prime the walls, and re-paint. Keep in mind that most of the paint under the latex topcoats probably contains lead. Lead paint must be removed using precautions. You must be careful not to stir up dust or cause fumes that contain lead. You really should consider hiring a professional since you are going to set up a containment area in each room that you’ll be working in. Containment means removing everything from those rooms. The carpeting and floors will have to be covered with heavy-gauge, six-mil plastic and all seams taped. The plastic should even be taped to the baseboards. The heat supply and returns must all be sealed off and you will need to wear disposable clothing, goggles and protective mask. You can find out more about safety measures by calling 1-800-424-LEAD. Ask for the brochure “Reducing Lead Hazards When Remodeling Your Home.” This brochure explains what to do before, during, and after renovations.

Now that you think about it, those cracks don’t look so bad after all, do they? They sort of give the walls character. And speaking of character, I’m often called one.

Q:
You inspected my house for a purchaser and found vermiculite insulation in the attic. They did not buy the house because of it. Why?

A:
Vermiculite is known to contain hazardous asbestos.

EPA’s recent testing in houses with vermiculite found that for the most part, undisturbed attic air contains no detectable asbestos. If vermiculite is disturbed, or samples pulled from the bottom of the insulation, there is up to 2% of a very hazardous type of asbestos. Since any exposure to asbestos is unsafe a licensed asbestos contractor should remove it.
Another problem with vermiculite is just its existence in the attic. Houses breathe and vacillate between negative and positive air pressure. When your house is under negative pressure you could be pulling asbestos fibers into the air via wall sockets, light fixtures, recessed lights, gaps between the floor and walls, etc.

Vermiculite looks about the size of the eraser on a pencil. The colors vary from silver-gold to a gray-brown. If you think you have it, do not go into the attic.

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Musty Odor From A Crawl Space / Leaking Chimney Clean-out / Wet Crawl Space / Wet Chimney Insulation

In Crawl Space, Odors, Q&A on May 8, 2012 at 2:33 pm

To all my followers: Please pass along my blog address to all your friends and family. I’d appreciate it!

Q:

I have a musty odor emitting from the crawl space. How can I stop the odor from rising through the floor?

A:

Check to make sure that a plumbing fixture or pipe is not leaking into the crawl. The leak could be rotting some of the sub-floor and possibly the insulation.

You’ll need to crawl under the house with a flashlight and look directly under the kitchen and bathroom areas. Check for plumbing leaks or leaking through the foundation walls.

Check the insulation around the perimeter or is it attached to the underside of the floor joists? In either case, it could be trapping moisture or critters and the smell could be originating from either. In both cases, it’s not uncommon.

If you’re sure that neither one of these issues is the cause of the problem, than you’ll have to remove the insulation away from the band joists. That is the insulation stuffed between the joists along the top of the exterior walls. Oftentimes when inspecting houses, I find evidence of leaking, rotting and wood destroying insect activity in that area and it is usually caused by improperly installed door walls, entries or brick flashing on the exterior.

Remember, where there’s smoke there’s fire and in your case, you need to find the leak and eliminate the odor.

Q:

I am confused. My real estate agent said I have to hire a home inspector, but the seller says it must be a licensed home inspector.

A:

There is no licensing for inspectors in Michigan. That’s not entirely bad. I’ve talked to inspectors where there is licensing and it seems to “dumb down” the industry.

The best inspectors are qualified and must undergo ongoing continuing education training. They also must be members of the American Society of Home Inspectors (www.ashi.org) or the National Society of Home Inspectors (www.nahi.org).

Both organizations set standards of practice, require continuing education and establish guidelines regarding ethics for inspectors.

Make sure any inspector is a member of one of these organizations and has errors and omissions insurance.

Q:

I have water in my crawl space. It has a dirt floor that is covered with plastic and I put extensions on the downspouts. There are no problems with rot or mold but there is a slight musty odor.

A:

With time you will have mold and rot so correcting the leak is imperative.

I am assuming the ground around the exterior is sloped away from the house and not toward it.

Your next step would be to either waterproof the foundation walls and install a drain tile system on the exterior or put in a drain tile system to a sump pump in the crawl.

Whatever you do is expensive, but necessary. Check in the yellow pages under basement waterproofing companies.

Q:

My water heater and furnace are in the basement and exhaust into a mutual chimney quite apart from the fireplace. There is an ash clean-out door at the base of the chimney. In rainy weather or at a thaw, through this door comes a pretty good flow of water.

A:

First, install a metal chimney cap and screening on top of the flue. Also make sure the wash at the top of the chimney is not cracked, broken, rusted through and/or leaking.

While those are the common sources of leaking, your problem may be because the chimney below grade is cracked and water is getting into it and leaking through the clean-out door.

If that’s the case, basement waterproofers should be able to repair the problem.

Q:

When it rains, water drips into our basement under the fireplace. The contractor who installed the fireplace for us has told us, that the water coming through the chimney has also ruined the insulation inside the chimney. He says the cold drafts we get in our living room each winter coming from the firebox are the result of the insulation having been soaked and no longer doing its job. I’m trying to decide what to do.

A:

I agree that the insulation is most likely ruined. The leak probably originated from the chimney wash. If it is masonry, (which I doubt) it can be patched with vinyl concrete. If it’s a metal pan, it is a poor design and prone to leaking.

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