Weekly Columns

Both current and archived weekly newspaper columns. The date of the column and a teaser of the column appears below. Click on the date to see the entire column.

September 7, 2015

 

            Dear Ken: I have hollow core doors in the house. Some are dented or have small holes. Can these be fixed? Charles

August 31, 2015

                      

     Dear Ken: Every winter we have a chilly basement when the furnace isn't running. The heat from the sun keeps the thermostat warm, so the lower level doesn't get heat. Is there a small gas unit we could use to heat the basement?   Jan

     There are several varieties of gas fireplace/stoves that would take the chill off your...

August 24, 2015

 

            Dear Ken: Most mornings we have lukewarm water from our water heater. Once we get up and start using it, things get back to normal. Any idea what’s going on? Jay

            Your water heater cools down overnight—basically from disuse. That is, without any throughput of incoming cold water the burner doesn’t come on, so you have hot water at the bottom while at the top of the tank...

August 17, 2015

            Dear Ken: I have a Kidde brand smoke detector. The instructions insist on only specific brands and types of batteries. Does this sound logical to you? Mary

            Yes it does. This probably reflects their aversion to the courthouse. If they weren’t specific, then their customers might stick any old battery—even non-alkaline varieties—in the detector. Then if it were to fail...

August 10, 2015

        

August 3, 2015

                       Dear Ken: We fertilized the lawn about a month ago, but it didn’t seem to help. Should we try it again? Or is it too soon? Barbara

July 13, 2015

            Dear Ken: We have a ranch style home with air conditioning and we sleep downstairs. My husband wants to run the ceiling fans upstairs. What do you think? Pat

            I’m with him. Ceiling fans can help the A/C system do its job more efficiently. How? If you run the fans on low speed blowing downward, they will force the hot ceiling air down toward the return air grilles so it can make...

July 6, 2015

 

     Dear Readers: The spate of rainy weather over the past several weeks is a good time to remind you about mosquitoes--and the rare but worrisome potential for West Nile virus. These pesky critters breed in stale water, so here are a few tips on eliminating these areas around your house:

     * Remove any standing water collections--like in buckets, boats, and wheel barrows. 

   ...

June 29, 2015

            Dear Readers: It’s time to service the air conditioning system. This can be an every-other-year procedure at your house. Why? Our cooling season is so short here that our A/C systems aren’t especially overworked. Your furnace, however, is another story. If it goes bad, it can let dangerous fumes into your house, so it needs an annual check, clean and service. Incidentally, some HVAC companies will give you a special price—usually less than $100...

June 22, 2015

            Dear Readers: In light of the recent tragedy in California, I’d like you to take a look at your deck—escpeailly since we are entering the outdoor entertaining season. When a deck fails it almost always detaches catastrophically from the building that supports it—that is at the wall connection. Take a look at the ledger board that is screwed to the house (this is the flat board which lies against the house and supports the joists). Poke it with a...