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Why is the grout in the backsplash flaking?

3 min read

Q. I put a new Carrera marble tile backsplash in my son’s home two years ago. The grout is secure but it flakes like salt. If you touch it it comes off like salt particles and even if you don’t touch it, it is all over the countertops. Can you offer some advice on what to do?

A. From the behavior of that grout, I think you used sanded grout and just plumped it in willy-nilly, so it started to deteriorate from day one. Also, if you used a small trowel, you might have worked the trowel back and forth, pulling water out of the grout and making the mix even more unstable. Take all of that stuff out, buy sandless grout, and pack it in very compactly. Use a small pointing tool, an elongated S-shaped tool that makes compacting grout easier. The joints should be as thin as possible, even one-sixteenth of an inch.

Q. My husband and I bought our house in 2012, and in May 2013 we replaced the boiler, a coal-to-oil-to-gas conversion, wrapped in asbestos, and very inefficient. We replaced it with a Williamson unit that was able to vent out the chimney flue like the old one, working well with the existing venting. One of first things we noticed during the subsequent heating season is that the basement is no longer mildly temperate, but is very, very cold. This tells me that all the generated heat is moving up to the living spaces and not leaking into the basement. All good! We have a new problem, though. When the boiler has circulated enough hot water to satisfy the demand in the living spaces and the unit shuts down, we then hear a loud CLANG. Sometimes it’s almost immediate, and sometimes it takes about 10 seconds to clang. It sounds like someone popping out a very large dent in a car door. I suspect that this is the metal casing of the unit reacting to the hot inside and the cold outside the unit, but this is all speculation. Any thoughts? If it is indeed the metal reacting to the changing temperatures inside and outside, is there any way to mitigate it? After this long winter, the CLANG has become rather jarring.

A. You are right. The efficient unit made all metal parts and pipes heat up and cool down quickly, causing expansion and contraction quickly, causing one helluva CLANG. There is little you can do, but the unit is less than a year old, so call the installer to see if he can make any adjustments.

Q. Our house sits on a hill facing north. Nor’easters with winds gusting over 40 miles per hour drive snow up under the eaves. When the snow melts it stains the bedroom ceilings. The roof is in good condition. Is there any way to keep the snow out, e.g., install screening under the eaves? This has happened only a few times in 20 plus years but the big nor’easter earlier this winter means we’ll have to have several ceilings reprimed and painted.

A. It sounds as if the eaves (soffits) are open, allowing snow to swoosh straight up and onto the attic floor. Yes, sturdy screening will stop the snow, either insect screening or 1/4-inch steel mesh called hardware cloth. Make it neat and sturdy, so it stops the snow but does not stop venting the attic.

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