Sep 27, 2014 7 min read

Q. My toilet has taken leave of its senses and is flushing all by itself, during the day and at night. What’s going on? It’s weird and scary. Can I fix it?

A. Ah, the phantom flusher strikes again! And indeed, you probably can fix it. That’s good, because untreated, it is costing you hundreds of gallons of water. How it occurs: When the toilet is flushed, the ball or flap cover over the drain outlet in the tank lifts, letting water into the bowl in a great flush. Then it drops back on the outlet, stopping everything and allowing the tank to fill up for the next flush. But if it does not seat properly over the drain, it leaks a bit; the longer it leaks, the closer you get to the phantom flush.

To fix it, lift the tank lid and adjust the ball properly so that it doesn’t leak. Modern toilets have a cylinder instead of a ball or flapper and are less likely to do a phantom flush. If yours does and you can’t adjust it, call your favorite plumber.

Q. I am redoing my fancy front porch, which is not too much work except for the spindles on the railing: Several need replacing. They can’t be put on a lathe, so they are more complicated to re-create. Trouble is, who would do that? A carpenter, but what kind?

A. Those spindles are balusters, and together, connecting the top and bottom rails, they form a balustrade. (I looked in the dictionary for the right word, but found it in one of my own books. Talk about dense!) You need a finish carpenter or a woodworker. Take one baluster with you so the carpenter can make copies.

Q. My hip-roofed ranch is 120 feet long and 34 feet wide, including the garage. The ridge vent is 80 to 85 feet long, and I replaced it with an improved one. The soffit vents are 16 3/4 inches wide and are perforated plastic (vinyl) with nothing between the outside and inside the soffit. A man installed two roof vents about three feet below the ridge along with a humidistat and thermostat. There are 4inches of fiberglass insulation on the attic floor. I am still getting ice dams. Now what?

A. If there are no leaks in the attic or into the house, you probably do not have ice dams, so there is little you have to do. The 4-inch-thick fiberglass insulation on the attic floor is sparse. You can add up to 40 inches of fiberglass batts, each layer set at right angles to the other, but do not block the soffit vents.

Q. All of my windows are double glazed, but one has a cracked panel. Whom should I call to replace the sash or entire window?

A. Contact the installers for a replacement. Some might be too hoity-toity to do just one, but others might.

Q. When I shut off the tap in my bathroom vanity, I hear gurgling. Anything wrong?

A. Nope, its water going down the drain and passing another outlet in the plumbing. Forget it. I have had gurgling in my house for 50 years.

Q. Last year, my basement was very humid, and the kitchen door leading to that space stuck and was hard to open and close. This year I installed a dehumidifier, and the door doesn’t stick anymore. Why is that?

A. Un miracolo? No, your dehumidifier dried out the basement, and the door shrank to its original size. A good thing to remember is that wet expands and dry contracts and heat expands and cold contracts. The only thing that defies this rule of thumb is water, which expands with cold. You can keep using the dehumidifier, or better yet, open your basement windows for cross-ventilation. Costs nothing. Put in burglar bars if you have to.

Q. I have a slab (I believe it’s concrete) in front of my fireplace, and it has become stained over the years. What do you think is the best way to clean it?

A. Try this: Ventilate the area well, apply a mix of one part bleach and three parts water, and let it dry. After that, scrub with detergent and water. After it’s cleaned up and dry, apply a masonry sealer.

Q. Many of the vinyl windows in my house are very difficult to open, and some never stay that way (they came with the house, which we purchased in 2004). Two questions: 1) I would love to fix them but have no idea how they work nor is it obvious who the manufacturer is. Is there some way to determine the manufacturer? 2) I use all kinds of things to hold them up but would love to find window jacks with multiple settings. Is this the correct term?

A. There are so many types of windows, more than enough to make your head swim. Check everywhere for the manufacturer’s name. Often it is on the latch mechanism or etched into the glass. Short of that, call The Window Medics, which can provide names and parts for many windows: 603-703-3338.

Q. We have carpeting that’s musty and marked by cats a decade ago. The baseboards are stained and smelly. We’re going to pull out the musty carpet and replace it with wood flooring, but how should we deal with the baseboards so the odor doesn’t persist? Will paint or polyurethane “put a lid” on this?

A. Getting animal odors out of a room rarely works without replacing all of the smelly stuff. Ditch the carpet, but you also need to treat the subfloor and anything else that got wet. Yes, the baseboards can be saved. Ventilate the room, and wash the baseboards and subfloor thoroughly with one part bleach to three parts water. Let them dry. Put a latex interior primer on the baseboard, and then add two coats of a latex interior finish. Deodorizers do not work if any source of the odor is present.

Q. I just had two sets of steps built with brick risers and sides. The treads and platform are granite. Does the brick or granite need to be sealed? If so, what is a good product to use? Thanks.

A. You can seal the granite, but I don’t think it will do much good. Definitely cover all brick surfaces with a masonry sealer.

Q. I did not get to choose my bathroom floor; it was in the condo when I bought it. I loved it until it got spotty, and I was told it was because of the porous nature of marble tile. I do not put a lot of wear and tear on it. I even put down little rugs. I have tried to find a marble polish. One that does a nice job on granite hasn’t done much for these tiles even though it says it’s great for both. Can you suggest a product that will make it shine?

A. When I was little boy my mother sang me songs. One was “A Beautiful Lady in Blue.” Another had the line “I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls.” I forget the title of the latter, but I liked it. I’ve never bought floors, walls, or anything else made of marble. And you are not to blame for your disastrous floor. Marble is very absorbent and impossible to keep clean, especially when it’s used on floors, which get dirt scuffed into them day in and day out.

Don’t even try to keep a marble floor clean. Do the best you can, and some day you can rip it out and put in old-faithful ceramic or porcelain tiles.