(00:00:00) And it is five minutes past eleven o'clock. Minnesota public radio's coverage of issues related to education is made possible in part by a major Grant from Ashland Oil Incorporated and it's super America stories throughout the region. Well, it's a pleasure to welcome back to the studios. Gary Branson comes in a couple three times a year to talk about home fix up projects repairs and so on so forth handyman type things handy person type things. I ought to say Gary welcome. Nice to see you. Again. Gary is the author of all kinds of books on home repair. He's a contributing editor as well of workbench magazine everyday home repairs recycling for the home finishing a basement complete guide to recycling barrier free housing for the handicapped a guide to Home Centers and is absolute brand newest book just hot off the press the complete guide to floors walls and ceilings a comprehensive do-it-yourself handbook. So Gary what what kinds of tips are folks going to find on this floor ceiling and wall book? Well, we've got quite a bit on floor. Rings in there on carpeting and resilient flooring or sheet Goods. There's some attention paid to wood flooring and patching and refinishing them the general run of things that people do in the patching line in Walton and ceilings patching plaster wall board and easiest ways to do those things. We have feature in there and New Zealand stick patch that eliminates All That Monkey Business of having to put back her in a piece of screen wire and and reinforce it and you know, somehow knocked a hole through your wall, right? Yeah for a whole anything up to 6 inches in diameter. You can get a peel and stick Band-Aid to put on there and then you just back lower to smooth it wallpapering. I see you got that in here to got wallpapering and we've got some work on know one of the big problems for interior decorators are people doing their own interior decoration is when they have the spray textured ceilings when they try to paint those if you roll just a latex paint. Their latex ceiling paint on there. You'll probably not have much luck because it'll come it'll get all blotchy and Street you get lap marks in it, because that spray texture material is so highly absorptive that it'll it'll have an equal section and it'll that suck up the paint to a greater extent in one spot than another and you get the roller marks. So you have to pay to paint those successfully you can call somebody and have them re-- sprayed or you can first put an oil based primer on there and then you can roll any kind of paint over it and you won't get that streak at appearance. Well, I'll bet folks have got all kinds of spring fix a projects at the thinking about as we move into the warm weather months here. So if you have a question for Gary Branson about outdoor work or indoor work, whatever it might be around your house give us a call in the Twin Cities area 2276 thousand is the number two two seven six thousand elsewhere toll-free 1-800 to for to to 8288 hundred two for two. Two two eight two eight. That number is good by the way beyond the borders of Minnesota to so if you're listening in The Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin, wherever it might be 802 for 22828 is the number and at the moment. It looks like it is available. A lot of folks are going to be doing some painting. I'm sure this summer Gary is a matter of fact today might not be a bad day to get out there in terms of temperature, but it looks like rain across much of the area. Would you recommend doing a little painting project here before the rain sets in or not? Well, if I'd pay close attention to the weather forecast on that, you don't want to paint if it's going to be raining within a couple of hours. The pain application using latex paints is simplified the narrowed the band or expanded the ban more likely of temperature and moisture range because it's not so critical as the oil was in the latex will dry more quickly on a warm day maybe within an hour or two and then a little rain doesn't hurt it, but it's not recommended that you Rain on it that that soon. The other thing is, of course, if you're painting the overhangs are soffits where they would be out of direct line of rain. Well, that's fine. They could do that and then it blows up Ryan. You're not in any trouble. Sure. Okay, we've got a number of folks all set to go with questions here for Gary Branson and we will begin with you. Hi. (00:04:19) Oh, I have a question about Windows. I have the 50 year old windows on my house and they're all relatively good shape. They still have the wooden screens and storm windows and I hear a lot of different opinions about having aluminum storm windows combinations put on as opposed to the benefit of keeping the wooden ones both for aesthetic reasons, and they see people say that they are still warmer than the aluminum kind. And also I just like you to reflect on a lot of people seem to be calling me ask me about deals on replacing the whole sashes of the windows and wonder how much of a benefit That is now hang up and listen. (00:05:02) Okay. Well one of the things the primary thing here, of course is how the kind of shape that you windows in and how well they fit after 50 years of wear and tear we've often find in where they have the old wood screens and storms where they're over the years. They've shrunken and cracked in that and they haven't got a good fit. So you need an absolute almost airtight fit at the edges and if you have that then you're probably all right, as long as your windows are working smoothly and and up here to be tightened. Oh rattle in the in the guides in that way so that they're not leaking a great deal of are now one of the things that has happened. Is that over the I think I would prefer a vinyl retrofit over the aluminum. But over the years there they have raised the standards for air infiltration on all types of windows. So they're much tighter than they were even 10 years ago much less 50 years ago. You're getting a much tighter more airtight. Product and as a consequence, you should be able to save a significant amount of money. The thing that I would look at their is if you are experiencing drafts if your heating bills are extraordinarily High If you experience a draft around the window, one of the things we tell people to do is light a candle or take a piece of paper tissue paper when the wind is from if it's blowing from the north to go the north to North window and see if that paper flutters of the candle flame flutters and you're getting enough air in there to cause a draft. If you are you could probably save yourself some money and increase your comfort level. It's not money alone it you're more comfortable in a draft free house. So those are some of the things to think about before you replace it as for replacing the the old windows all together. Well, what they can do now is they just pull the the pains and stops out and and set a new unit inside the old frame in many instances and there again, it's a question of what kind of shape the windows are in one of the things we haven't talked about neither the color and I is that is the convenience Of just simply not having to do the chore of taking those windows down and and you don't have to climb a ladder to wash them anymore. Most of those are demountables from the inside. And so you can take them apart wash them and put them back and you don't have to climb around and you don't have the work and of course you have a considerable amount of basement storage during the screens and ocean storms in the season. So you've got a space savings as well as convenience and you just eliminate rather owners chore of putting those windows up and you said you'd prefer if you were to get the the new storm screen combinations that you prefer vinyl over aluminum. How come I've seen some of those that were very well fit they're very tight are tight and they are less likely to fail because of neglected maintenance such as lubrication people almost always ignore the windows until they have a problem with them above the you know, you get a little dirt in the track and that sort of thing and we should clean and periodically at This once a year, you should take it window apart and clean the track and all that. But in fact most people don't so the tight track combined with the fact that the vinyl on vinyl is a good combination for so it doesn't need much the way lubrication see those are the things that I was thinking of they're on to our next caller Gary Branson with us today talking about home repair and fix up projects. Go ahead. You're on the air. (00:08:25) Yes. I generally when I do my home improvement project I listen to NPR I was so so glad you guys were on the air this morning cuz I'm doing a project right now. That is driving me nuts. Well great. I (00:08:39) mean great that we're hearing out that you're having trouble. (00:08:42) I I've got another window question. I've got an older home in Minneapolis Minnesota. I pulled pulled out my double hung windows and I'm trying to repair them. And what I'm finding is the most time-consuming aspect of this project is scraping the old putty off the windows. Get the windows out so that I can reseal the wood strip any loose paint off and and that sort of thing. Do you have any suggestions for getting old Putty off of (00:09:14) Windows? I mean the glazing putty. (00:09:16) Yes for glazing putty (00:09:17) exactly. Yeah the thing to do there is to heat that putty up at the best tool to use is a heat gun because you go of you eliminate the problem of a flame you can use a propane torch, but there you have to watch you have to handle very carefully and take obvious precautions to that. You don't set fire to something. If you've got a heat gun or can borrow one from somebody who does they work real? Well and you just kick that heat up to about 1200 Watson and play it over that window putty and it'll soften it right up and you can feel right out. Fantastic. Maybe you saved him hours of work. Oh it does indeed. It's that's a real son of a gun of a job and it's amazing. If you put a little heat on there how I just it just turns back to the point where it's pliable again. Alright moving on now to your question. Hi Gary branches (00:10:01) listening. Well, my question is about my living room and dining room ceilings that I have water stains. I heard that you know through a friend that you know, her painter said that there was something special you could use to get totally rid of the water stain. Now, I had a painted two years ago and the painter said, oh, you won't even see this water stain and it mama you know, and she repaired it and painted it but that's not true. So now I'm kind of back to seeing my water stain and I wondered what I should how I can proceed (00:10:33) now know what you're seeing is the actual stain you are seeing a brown or yellow discoloration that sort of thing. (00:10:40) Is that right? Yes, you're not (00:10:41) seeing that line of the patch what happens most they use a product called kills Kil Z, which is a shellac sealer or shellac products such as been bi n and those are extremely good sealers so that they avoid any bleed through if you have a problem if you had a house fire or grease fire where you get grease in the there in those kind of things, they're hard to cover up with either latex Royal primer sealer. See so you use a fast drying shellac such as kills or been if you get into that sealer and only sealed just the the little stains but itself you may get a less paint absorption over that spot and you get it just a difference in the sheen of the paint. You don't see the actual yellow but you see the difference in the sheen of the paint if the yellow itself is bleeding through you should just give it a coat of shellac based either kills or bin if you're just seeing a difference in the in the sheen of the paint. The ceiling that you should then seal off the whole ceiling and then repaint it and you won't you'll have the same machine all over the ceiling in other words. If you just see other one spot, it will have an entirely different scene on the paint you get that Sheen variation and then you can pick up your spot. So if the Ellis coming through reseal it and paint it but be sure you use a good seal products such as as the been 17 minutes past eleven o'clock. Gary Branson is with us today as we talk about home repair and fix a projects. The author of a number of books is newest one is called floors walls and ceilings. And you're next on Minnesota Public Radio the question. Where you calling from (00:12:19) Minnesota yes, sir. We're considering replacing sighting on our home and how do you react to the various new sightings the aluminum vinyl or steel as compared to the pressed wood that we currently have? (00:12:34) Well, of course the pre-finish citing such as a metals or vinyls are prefinished in the case of the vinyl the colors continuous completely through the product so that all that should ever need is is cleaning if you keep it clean that's very important with air pollution. Now that you power wash those and give them a good cleaning to avoid an attack of the air pollution on the paint code. So the lack of Maintenance reduced maintenance is one of the things that we look at their of the sightings from what I'm learning this spring. I just did some radio scripts on on the sighting choices, and I found that the final was quite a good deal. Cheaper than either wood or wood is usually the considered the premier siding and the most expensive you see so it's the most expensive but between vinyl and stealin and aluminum two finalists less expensive product. So that's the cost consideration. One of the things about reciting of course is that you have an opportunity to insulate that wall thou's wasn't properly insulated when it was built. Once you take the siding off you can insulate the walls and then go back and over a 10 and recite it and it gives you a chance to upgrade your Insulation at the same time. Is there any case to be made at all for reciting with a wood product of some kind all there's the aesthetic some people like the Redwood and Cedar there's no particular advantage that I can see as far as the longevity of the thing one of my books. I did it. I picked up a chart from the National Association of home builders and it showed the life of the various products. Of course, we know if it's properly cared for Bob that would can be Life more than a lifetime you go east where the cities are 200 years old and you see houses stood for 200 years and if they're painted kept up what is virtually forever truly. So the people like the quality and they associate the wood with quality. I think that's more true of us who are with European descent who who had that affinity for wood and Wood Products. I'm doing a ha book right now and log homes and Timber and are pop it area and that's what accounts for that. I think is just wood is to us, you know, that's that's Premier. That's the quality if it is maintained if it that is a considerable maintenance problem that has anyone who's ever scraped the side of a house well knows right? Let's move on. Your question is next high (00:15:09) question about kitchen cupboards. Okay kids are 23 years old, they're stained and over the period of years of normal wear and cleaning. The Finish has worn off around the handles at the pools. Is there any way that I can touch up that area without tripping the whole cupboard door and refinishing it? (00:15:31) It's very difficult thing to do to touch up. The problem is even number one. If unless, you know the product it was put on there to begin with what the original product is. You won't be able to match it that way even if you knew once it has aged and worn for 23 years. If you had you know, a portion of the same product left the varnish or whatever it would not match today because it simply is age down. So it's it's pretty difficult to do that. What you could do would be to do the strip the doors you mentioned which is an obviously a rather formidable job or you might consider refacing the cabinet's their kitchen refacing and companies that come out measure how sub-cut noon to new doors and bring them on board of on there's very simple thing. Not that any expensive but a simple of the cabinets are in good shape. You might consider refacing them definitely cheaper than all new Cabinetry to William. All right moving on another question for Gary Branson. And where are you calling from? (00:16:32) Carlton Minnesota? Yes. Go ahead. I'm planning on the texture spraying a ceiling and it has enamel on a kitchen ceiling and they wanted textured. Do I have to Prime over that inlaid I mean that enamel or don't can I just spray right on (00:16:54) it? Well, the surface has to be clean. If I if I were going to spray over a gloss enamel, I would send it down I touch saying that you know to kill the sheen on the thing and then I'd put on a coat of primer oil based primer Al-Qaeda primer and then I shoot the thing with you know, I don't are using a hopper gun or (00:17:18) other use a regular spray gun and use a texture (00:17:22) spray. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean is this a hopper gun that feeds with a hopper or the spray texture gun? (00:17:27) It's got the (00:17:28) hopper. Yeah, the hopper ringing, huh? They're low pressure thing. They work fine. But I would I would be tempted, you know, you're going over a high-gloss there and you're going to get a little peek through if you use a low pressure gun, like a hopper gun. You don't a demise your product your little ER literal literal each is flashing it up there and I splatter time. Advice so in order to get your background so that you don't get shiny spots bleeding through there. You need to kill that that sheen on there and the best way to do that is to re prime it. Okay, good luck with that project and we'll move on to another caller here at 23 and a half minutes past eleven o'clock and Gary Branson's listing for you now. (00:18:07) Hi. Good morning. I'm calling from Minneapolis. I have a question about a basement wall. That seems to be perennially damp water doesn't come through and pull on the floor, but it's just a concern of mine over the Long Haul. Well that damage the wall and if so, what can I do about it? I'll hang up and (00:18:27) listen it ma'am. Is it damp in All Seasons or is it only damp during the rainy season (00:18:33) seems to be damp in All Seasons. (00:18:36) You probably have its without looking I can't tell for sure but you probably have a condensation problem on that most normally a wall that would be wet in there during spring rains if that's if it's coming from seepage from out. Night, if it's wet only during spring rains, then you can correct that by either changing the grade or putting on gutters on that side of the house and keep the moisture away, but that'll dry up in the wintertime and you won't have the problem most normally after the rain quits and it freezes up. You don't get it dry out during the winter season. So I think probably what you have is an excess of moisture in there and you're getting condensation on that wall. So what would the solution B so then you can dehumidify or you can again go outside? It's useful to check that while it is raining, you know, take your umbrella or your wrinkle and go right out in the rain it and see if water is puddling near the house if there's a low spot in the in the Earth around your house or if digging in flower beds or around planted shrubs has left a little indentation there we can collect water then if you fill those up with dirt so they won't hold water any longer in the water will run away from your house. Then you can eliminate the problem if that is the about problem a seepage. Okay another Question here for Gary Branson. We're talking about home repair and fix up projects today and you're next. (00:19:55) Hi. Good morning. I'm from Minneapolis. I own a small apartment in which I laid down a via a vinyl covering for my kitchen and apparently my previous tenant drop some cigarettes on that vinyl covering. I'm wondering if you have any ideas of how I can fill those little stain cigarette holes in the vinyl without having to replace the whole floor. (00:20:15) Well, there are patching products that the pros use a couple of companies tried patching products where you would scrape away the the charred part from the cigarette burn and then refill that they were having the last time I saw it they were having trouble getting that to stick the pros have a way of patching that so you could have it professionally done another option. If you have any sheet Goods left over is to lay the up scrap piece over the over the damaged portion a position it so that the pattern matches through from the from the existing Lord to the patch and then tape that in place then take a very sharp knife and double cut it cut through the patch material and through the damaged area loosen that up heat it with a heat gun and you can loosen up the adhesive pry that part out and insert a new patch and you can patch it that way if you have some some remnant material otherwise to get a satisfactory patch with you know, with a plastic product you need a professional in there. They can patch the floors. Hmm. Okay, we'll move on to our next caller lots of folks with questions today for Gary Branson on Minnesota Public Radio. And it's your turn next (00:21:25) time. Good morning. I'm calling from rural West Central Minnesota. Hmm. I have a question about attic insulation and ventilation. I have an eight-year-old rural Farmhouse that has no insulation in the attic at the moment in the 1940s. The heating system was retrofitted to a forced air system and they ran the heating vent up through the attic and then down into the Doing of the upstairs rooms. So all that's in the Attic now is of course no insulation and heating ducts that are wrapped with a fiberglass blanket. I'm wondering what happens when I put insulation in the attic and cover up those vents file a problem with heat buildup. How do I ventilate it? Do you have any suggestions on the best way to handle that? (00:22:10) Well your heat build up the the temperature of the air that moves into that duct is not high enough to cause you a problem with heat buildup in the insulation. There are some things such as recessed lighting fixtures where the heat buildup from the bulb can be so high that you can actually cause a fire if you put insulation above and don't allow it to vent but that isn't true in a forced air system if the temperature they're coming out of there is not a problem. So they have putting insulation into that attic is not going to be a problem as far as the ventilation of the attic space once he has escaped through the ceiling it is of no further use to you and you want to get it out of the attic. Quickly as you can so you should have your attic upgraded. You can do that with a power ventilator. Some of them are actuated by humidistat or buy a thermostat so that they start to to ventilate a certain temperature. The best is just a static ventilator where you put a continuous vent at your soffit and at the ridge line of your roof so that you get a continual chimney effect nature takes care of the ventilation of air comes in at the eaves moves over the insulation blanket picks up the Heat and the excess moisture that cat is there and as it is heated from the Sun and so forth. It rises and goes up through the ridge vent and exits and as it does so creates a vacuum in there and pull support fresh air in at the at the soffit level. What would you recommend to insulate an addict like this with fiberglass bats or blown in cellulose or what sort of either bad's or blown fiberglass? I prefer every glass fiber glass in all Instances some of the cellulosic products have even heard of trouble with them for some years, but I got a I got a negative image of those some years ago when they weren't properly treated they treated with acid to make them flame retardant and they used they ran out of the boric acid in our energy Crunch and substitute other types of acid which caused a lot of problems eight up wiring cost house fires dancer thing and I haven't heard of any such thing for some time. But I have a built-in bias. I guess it gets the cellulose and so the fiberglass won't support it won't support Vermin mice and and insects and that don't like to hide in it because of its prickly qualities sure and it won't support fire. And those are two major considerations. And how much would you put in do you think just as much as you can up to, you know up to about a foot in this climate? You don't want to get to the point where your block any air movement from the soffit into the attic and and up an exit. Don't want to block the ventilators many of the new houses. Bob have the they had the trusses jacked up so that it gives you extra room under the roof or a thicker insulation bad. Now, the old houses were not built with that right because there was no insulation available. So you kind of have to judge whether or not if you put enough in Saul you can get in there without blocking off your ventilation is what they didn't need it back in those days back then the heat was cheaper the insulation. But yeah, this was one of the reasons why we built them in those are even up until I remember in the 60s. I was in the building business in the 60s. We were still satisfied with four inches of attic insulation. And that's that's pathetic by today's standard, but the heat was it was exactly true. It was cheaper to waste heat than it was too conservative. Yeah, Gary Branson is with us today as we talk about home repair and fix up projects on Minnesota Public Radio. He's the author of a whole bunch of books on the topic is latest one is called the complete guide to floors walls and ceilings. It is 29 minutes before The clock I'll mention the telephone number again. By the way, the lines are busy most of the time but if key if you want to try to get through you can in the Twin Cities, it's 2276 thousand 2276 thousand outside Minneapolis. St. Paul. The toll-free line is 1-800-218-4243. Try every 3-4 minutes something like that. Who knows you might get lucky somebody 112 million dollars in the lottery the other day so it can happen can happen your next. Hi there. (00:26:19) Good morning. I'm calling from Plymouth Minnesota and I just closed on a home in Minneapolis and an older home and This carpet throughout but there's all hardwood floors underneath. So that's one of the first projects I'm going to pursue. I was wondering what to look for when taking up the carpet and at looking at the floor, I'm considering doing possibly it myself but the floor sander and what kinds of things should I be looking for? (00:26:48) Well, one of the things that we would caution you against if you don't know how to run a floor sander we would strongly urge that you get a professional do that. There are a number of problems that can evolve if you cut too much product too much of the stock away when you're sending that floor, it makes the flooring thinner obviously and weaker and more springy and then you get squeaks and bounce in the floor. So are you want to be very careful about attempting to Saint Flora's yourself? I consider that one of the most skilled projects it that there is around the house and I urge people in most cases to have it professionally done because you almost have to waltz that machine you have to hit a timing with it because if you stop and Running sanding machine in one place. It obviously will send very deep in that one place very quickly. And so you have to wall set thing around keep it moving in a very even speed in order to get an even trim when you're take the up the old carpet you look around in through there. What are the problems that you might encounter would be floor stains, which can be bleached out with something called X Alec acid. You can buy that at most paint stores and it's a wood bleach from people watering a plant sore from pet urine or that sort of thing. Any kind of hardwood floor for is exposed to moisture will turn Black Oak is most notable for that. The other thing is if you start to sand it you want to pull up your your tack strip around the outside the whole Sky put in place and be sure you get all the strip's up because any any nails are tax left in for the tack strip when you hit those with a sander course, you're going to have you're going to tear your paper at the very least and you may throw the tacit injuries off at worst. Those are some of the things that you look, For if the floors are in good shape, you might consider it would save you time and money if you get a professional in there and have them read strip that floor take off the old finish and just lay down a new one unless the floors are badly damaged. There's no really no good reason to sand them. You can take the whole finish up and put a new finish down if they're in good shape. What kind of a new finish would you recommend putting down? And is there anything that will be very very long lasting so that it may never have to be done again. Well, the polyurethanes finishes are extremely hard plastic finishes and those are the that's the kind of finish that is being used today. If you put that down Nevers a long time, if you know if the forever get scratched to that you don't they don't urge you to wax a floor that has a polyurethane finish. They used to tell you to wax everything to protect the varnish with the polyurethane. Say want you to leave the wax off because it interferes with the bonding if you ever should refinish it so you get the polyurethane on there if they ever have to refinish it thing come in and Skip sanded and sand it lightly and come in and lay down a new. Old and started not a very drawn out Labour intensive product project. Okay back to the phones and still more questions here Gary Branson with us and you're on the air. Where are you calling from? (00:29:39) I'm calling from northern Minnesota. Thank you for taking my call. The question I have how would you recommend opening Windows that have been painted shut (00:29:52) there's a good question. That's one of my favorites. I bought a house the old handyman if you can imagine about a house in 1984 and I was so enamored. This guy had was a rose Aficionado. We belonged to Rosa siding. You're so beautiful. I didn't try the windows. I got so caught up on the Roses you'd every window in the house was painted. Shut a hundred percent. Oh boy. It was a record that I has yet to be equal. This guy painted every window shouting had air conditioning in here. So I guess he didn't care but I went to the store and I bought a little number called it by made by Red Devil is called a window zipper and it kind of looks like the edge on a pizza cutter and you just slip That down inside what's happened when they painted that window. They let a little paint run into the crack between the window and stop then of course when that dries you've an effect glued the window shut and you can take that window zipper and walk around those cracks cut that paint bond between the citation that noog opened right up. It's it's a tremendous little Gadget and it's about three four dollars. Would there be any reason why you couldn't try taking just a razor in doing that the you could the problem is that your blade on a razor knife may not be long enough to reach all the way down short of the pink problem, right? Yeah, I unstuck the every window in my house with it. And I want them gave me a bit of problem. But but the others came free very easy. Yeah, and I bet it didn't take very long either with a no. No, huh. It's just a matter of walking around and getting the paint film in each of the cracks on window sighs. Okay. Well glad we saw that one. Let's move on to your question. Hi and you're calling from where today (00:31:24) many ornaments on it. Being restored in some years ago, the walls were painted over with with I think and enamel paint and we discovered that what it was painted over with calcium. I'd in the Walter all beginning to peel the paint. Is there anything that can be done about that (00:31:43) time? How much area do you have? Is this whole (00:31:45) house? Yeah, it's quite a bit area. (00:31:48) Oh, well, that's It did There's you know, you could use you can use a paint remover on there obviously and with the calcium iron, we might mention to folks is the old whitewash of Huckleberry Finn Fame the whitewashing offense, you know, they didn't have much binder in that and the old castle mine paint was just really a whitewash product and it was a lime or some kind of a Whitener like titanium mixed with water and very little Bluer binder in there. So then you had a you know, it was nice and clean but it would not support your next paint code when you put the oil or whatever on there. I spray textured one of those one time and I was really proud of it did it for the old farmhouse and I was packing up my spray machine to leave when I heard this sound behind me going plop plop plop, and I look I look back in the room and his lady was saying. Oh gee, that's really nice. I you did a nice job and about that time that councilman start turning loose. So I know exactly what you're speaking of you can scrape the stuff. Obviously, you could put a paint remover on in which would be a tremendous, you know undertaking. Or the last thing would be to cover the old walls over with a new layer quarter inch wall board and just start fresh screw new wall board over that thing and refinish it. Would that be the easiest of the bunch probably would be the easiest of the thing because scraping that much if you know, that's why I asked if there's quantity you can fight a wall or to even one room. But if you've got a whole house full of a boy, it gets to be a lot of work man. Of course, if you got a whole house, you could look into the big expense to to oh, yeah, all that sheetrock. Well, so it goes on to the next question. Hi Carrie branches listening for you (00:33:22) and thankful stucco on our house is painted about 20 years ago was sort of a buffer like David oyelowo and mostly it looks pretty good. But there are three places around the house for wind has blown drippings from the guttered against the wall in your spaghetti little pair spotty little patches where the bear stucco shows through. Well, we have to repeat the whole stucco which I recommend that or (00:33:50) The painted the stucco was (00:33:51) painted Tucker was painted. And mostly it looks fairly good except for these places will buttermilk acquire gutter locations. Whether one was tripping was blown against the house (00:34:05) the drips are they leaving a stain is (00:34:08) is it (00:34:10) just removes some products? Some of the (00:34:11) paint I see (00:34:15) painted stucco is kind of a chancy thing in Minnesota. We urge people not to paint stuck always painted. If you go to California someplace where they don't have the weather problems that we do moisture will travel through that wall and it travels through the stucco and if it travels unimpeded with by any paint film or anything, everything is cool is working as its supposed to we tell people to called. Mr. Donnelly over there totally stucco and Andre daesh that wall because they put a new layer of Portland cement product on there and reach the tree daysius decal. If you put paint on then of course, you stop the moisture migration through there and give it a barrier and then it starts peeling paint and you get a problem. The only thing I could tell you to do then If it's very extensive, you might be able to touch it up repaint the wall. I would go to Fred bolts or frege Anderson or whoever is closest to you in a major pain supplier and ask them what they might recommend for a paint to redo that they've got some you know, obviously they've got paints that are formulated for masonry and stucco and I would urge you to use that product if you're going to repaint it, but if you got unpainted stucco don't paint it on Peanut my advice is in like I say California and Phoenix, they painted all sorts of color and they get away with it because they don't have the cold but we get the moisture migration through stucco so called a man and have it read ashed. You can even do that yourself. If you're you know, if you're that ambitious you can buy that stucco product from any any supplier masonry products and put on yourself my next-door neighbor young couple. They just redid there's last summer wouldn't it be great to have you as a next door neighbor while just think let's take your question next. Hi there. (00:35:48) Good morning. I'm calling from Minneapolis. Yes. We're considering buying a house that has asbestos. Fighting the house was built in 1965 and it's a rambler with a walkout basement. I'm wondering if you could comment on the the durability of asbestos siding. That's that old and also the potential health hazards of it. (00:36:11) Well, there's best is of course was haddock a number of properties one of which being it was a good insulative product and you find in the siding. You also find it inside houses that particularly those have boiler steam boilers are hot water systems. They they wrap the pipe with asbestos. What you have is is as long as that asbestos is intact, we like to stress to folks because people get nervous about Asbestos and they're even you know, getting buildings all sorts of weird things for asbestos. And as long as that isn't asbestos is intact and is not Airborne, there is no problem. It is Airborne particle that Cal causes you trouble with your lungs as long as it's intact the Environmental Protection Agency tells you Alone, and don't bother it. So from a from us standpoint EPA also has tested buildings that we had asbestos insulation and found no higher incidence of asbestos in the air inside the building then they did outside on the sidewalk. The precaution of you know of everybody going wild for asbestos is overblown in my aunt's in my thinking because unless it's Airborne the guy who was at risk. What's the guy like myself? You know, we used to sand that sheetrock mud, and it was full of asbestos. And we breathe that fiber every day of Our Lives or the fellow who did break jobs with asbestos brake linings and breathe the dust every day. He was the guy who got hurt, but they were the first of living in the house of that Bess. I wouldn't worry about it from that standpoint. There's as far as the as far as the desirability of it, it's outmoded and outdated. Of course, there's the you can paint it and get a new paint job on it, but I'm assuming that this is an asbestos shingle or Shake die. Of a thing. So if you're satisfied with that, if you have to you can just repaint it if it needs it. If you have to remove it, then I would get somebody who is expert because I don't think really that we have in Minnesota of some particular place to dispose of this stuff, but you would have to get an asbestos abatement contractor and you can call your local building department or the Environmental Protection office and ask them who will do that. Well, if you want to do have a new sighting put on there and get rid of this has bested setting could you just put the new on over the old that you could do in this is often what we are two people do as in for example, if the removing vial of the older Nolan Floor Covering had some Asbestos and just leave it there put down a quarter inch of of Luan mahogany plywood over the top of it and then put your new floor covering over that don't try to remove it. It's disturbing it and getting them if I were Airborne that causes the problem in every instance right about 16 minutes before twelve o'clock Gary Branson with a son Minnesota Public Radio today talking about home repair and fix a projects and Phone lines are still absolutely jammed. Your turn is next high. (00:38:59) Yes. I live in Cottage Grove and I'm finishing my basement and have a question about carpet. We have a real dry basement. So I don't foresee any moisture problems, but are there any restrictions on the type of carpet to use and the amount of padding you can use underneath the carpet? (00:39:19) Well the carpet the question of carpeting is only you know, number one as you mentioned. You want a good dry basement cause you don't want any kind of moisture problems no matter what kind of covered under but if you get a man-made fiber, which is all of the Antron and and and your nylons and those types of fiber, you see they don't support mildew and they don't fade from the colors continuous throughout the filament in those nylon carpets. So that's what you want to do is to put in a product you'd want to stay away from natural fibers, obviously like cotton or wool carpet or that beyond that you can Your dealer can advise you on a particular place you want to know if it's indoor/outdoor if it's going to get a lot of wear and tear you would you know Berber is a nice high pile carpet. And if you've got a walkout level basement, you might want to go with something luxurious like that. Otherwise, you might want to go with a little something little bit tougher and a little more juice want to go with a man-made fiber that won't fade. It's not subject to fade and it's not that doesn't support Mill doing that sort of thing with their messy ass. Would there be anything that would particularly limit the thickness of the padding you could put down? I know I'm an applique. I know of nothing to limit the pad there the you can use the can go back or the phone back carpet where the pads already attached or you can get into your Lay down a there again. That's plastic foam product. That is a separate separate from the carpet. And as far as the padding and limiting it if there's no moisture. The only thing I can think of that might be a barrier there would be the presence of moisture and then you've got eliminate that before you do anything right? We've got time for a few more here your next. Hello. Gary Branson listening. (00:41:06) Thank you. Go ahead. Where you calling from? Oh, I'm calling from evlist Minnesota and I have a factory built house year old and the factory steam. It has wood paneling on the site outside the factory stained the wood a almost there. Like I'd call it a rose-colored very light stain and I would prefer to change it over to a dark stain almost like a walnut and I wondering if it's possible to do that. I'll hang up (00:41:35) then. Well, you could probably I guess he went he did I was going to ask him questions up the question being you can always go back behind the The spirea or the rosebush is someplace in and try a stain on a little piece and make sure it's absorbing if they did a real bang-up job of stain and got a sealer on their to the won't take any more material. You might have a little problem there in most cases. If you let that we're down a year to let a weather down here to you can go right back over the top of it with a darker lighter of course is an obvious problem. But darker is a very doable thing and in most cases you could get a stain that would go right over the top of there and you might want to leave it this season for another year or or test it to be sure that it will, you know will accept a new stain product. Next question from Eveleth to your call. Where you at? Where are you (00:42:26) today? I'm an international fault. All right, great, and I'm calling because I have a wet basement to and I've heard of this Beaver treatment, but I don't know anyone in the area that does it. Do you know anything about (00:42:38) that? Yes, ma'am is I'm matter of fact, I do the owner of that company is friend of mine. I did a story on that product when he was local here in he's in st. Paul and we did we got an awful lot of national press out of that. The beaver system is a system of channels that you installed at the juncture where the wall basement wall meets the floor almost often. That's where the moisture comes in of course are running water comes in what you do. If you have a concrete block wall. It'll be like a silo it'll fill up our cistern. It'll fill up with water in the hollow block and then it'll seep forever and what you do with the beaver system is just punch holes in the bottom and there with a concrete like a star Punch or or where the concrete. All and open that up. So the water can run out of that wall. If you can't get it away from your wall any other way and then you put the channel the beaver channel in their Nets glued down with a special adhesive and they direct these channels to a sump pump so it can run or floor drain. So the water can run out of your house and what we urge you to do is to check outside. Make sure that water cannot be stopped in any other fashion. What we're doing is letting the water enter into the basement and then pumping it out. The obvious thing would be to try to stop the water from entering gutters on the house checked your the flow of your land around there and make sure that the you have a grade this efficient so that the water runs away from your basement not towards it. It's amazing how many times you will see there where the water in fact runs off the roof and runs back towards the basement runs out, but the beaver if you cannot control the water any other way, you should try to keep all the water out. You can't if you can't do it any other way, you can install a beaver system and if you want to call them, I don't know the number offhand. Although I did just write some literature for mr. Cotton over there. You can call Beaver basement water control in st. Paul. I call that their information number and they'll give you the number there sure ten minutes before twelve o'clock Gary Branson with us today on Minnesota Public Radio home repair and fix up projects are topic and it's your turn. Thanks for (00:44:43) waiting. Hi. I'm calling from Minneapolis. And my question is we are moving into a home and we need to remove all the wallpaper throughout the house and we're beginners and I was wondering if you could give us some pointers as to equipment ways to go about the actual removal and sanding down walls if we need to do that as well. (00:45:02) Well, that's another one of my favorite subjects to do because I'm very lazy by nature and most people fight that wallpaper. They want to scrape it off and he wanted off right now and a rather than and Steamers are messy and can be painful and you know, they can be a hard to handle in very few instances. Will you need a steamer if you take Mom floor mop us punch warm-up or a large sponge like they sell for boats and autos and get yourself a wallpaper removal product from any paint store and you can add that to hot water pail full of hot water and that will help to soften the adhesive and what you must do is get that adhesive wet so that it just the paper peels off as opposed to being half dry in your chipping it off. So just keep soaking over and over and over again. You can so quite a large area and we even have gone through and done to three bedrooms and soak the whole the walls down in two or three bedrooms go back and keep repeating that until walls glistening with moisture. You want to put some newspapers down first. You also want to do it on day when the humidity is high or put a humidifier in the room or put carpet or scrap Carpenter Rags or something under the door keep that moisture in the room and get it good and Soggy so that it just literally falls off the wall and that's what you got to do. Is don't fight the wallpaper paste get it wet enough that it will turn back liquid and you can you can peel it off there and sheets now once you've got the wallpaper off in this kind of a situation do you need to do anything further before either painting that wall or repay purring with a different pattern? Yeah, what you want to do. Once you get all of that down is to take again. You can use like diff for one of these wallpaper removal products. You can use a solution to that and clean pail of water and watch the old glue off the wall and be sure to get all the old glue residue off there. If the wall is in good shape and has been painted and and appears to be sealed. You can go right out back over. If not, you may want to prime it or put on a coat of sizing sizing helps to keep the paper wet holds the wall from absorbing the moisture from the glue so you don't get a premature drying there and you can give you more time to slide the paper on the wall and make it fit wallpapering is one of the topics covered in Gary Branson's newest book the complete guide to floors Walling floors. Walls and ceilings. All right, it's seven minutes before noon. And it's your turn to put a question to Gary. Hello. (00:47:28) Hi. I'm calling from Minnetonka. Yes. We have a house that we built in 1979 in the kitchen sink is dull and stained and scratched and I would like it replaced but someone told me about a something that can be done rien a mold as opposed to buying a new sink. What is the feasibility of this (00:47:49) process? They re enameled on a sink? Well, there's a fella that's got a company called surface Specialties. He's the guy you see quoted in the newspapers and then they recalled bathtubs and and I presume they would do a sink if you want to do that in place. I don't know what the cost of be. I know a bathtub can cost you 250 $300 to have that redone with an epoxy. All that of course is a bargain compared to having to tear that bathtub out. You might call them they'll be an in the Yellow Pages. In the company if I memory serves right its surface Specialties of the owner's name is Wayne McCloskey. And that's the business they're in and they will come in and they're able the advantage. I might add the advantage of having this done as opposed to doing it yourself is they use very strong acids that are not sold to the public because they're dangerous to work with and you have to be careful. But those acids are the key to getting a good finished product. I get a good and clean. So the new finish will stick to it and that's key to the whole question. I suppose with a sink. You're not talking about nearly the cost of replacement so it could very well be that economically be better off to just simply replace probably would be in the case of a Cinco Gary. We've just about run out of time. I want to thank you once again so fast our here it goes very very quickly indeed and really appreciate you coming in and time have a good summer and we'll see you in a few months. Alright, thank you so much Gary Branson on home repair and fix a projects today. He has a number of books to his credit. The newest one is called. Complete guide to floors walls and ceilings. Thanks to Dorothy Hanford for dealing with the telephones today and our engineer is Alan Baker. This is midday on Minnesota Public Radio the time now five minutes before twelve o'clock.