May 22, 2021
Dear Ken: My old fireplace is dark red and doesn’t fit in to my color scheme any more. How do I paint it? What color would you suggest? Jan
This is pretty easy, but as with all paint jobs, the key is in the preparation. Apply a couple of coats of a primer/sealer, like KILZ or Bullseye 1-2-3. You can roll it on if you’d like, but a better idea is to use a small sprayer, after you mask off the area. The primer will help seal the pores in the brick so your topcoat covers more completely—not to mention it will be easier to apply. You could choose a neutral color, like a tan or off-white—perhaps three shades darker than the walls. Or if there’s a favorite accent color in the room, key off of it and use the darker tint. Finally, you could recreate the mortar lines between the bricks with a dark gray or brown paint applied with a small brush.
Dear Ken: We have a Bruce “gun metal” floor that is badly scratched. Also, our doors are dark and also gouged and in bad shape. Can we refinish them? Lisa
You have a factory finished hardwood floor system. There are basically two styles: solid wood and laminates. The former can usually be sanded and refinished with a new gloss coat. But the laminate floor system—consisting of multiple layers of colored veneer and interior unfinished filler woods—is problematic. Sometimes the top layer is thick enough for refinishing, and sometimes it’s not.
The Bruce web site is a little vague on this, so I would advise you to take a sample of your wood to a local flooring dealer for more advice. If you can’t find a leftover scrap, remove one of the heat vent covers and take digital pictures of the edge of one of the boards.
The doors are a lot easier; I would paint them. These old, dark mahogany veneer doors can be primed and painted with a semi-gloss latex paint in a neutral color—like off-white or beige. If they are scratched, apply some wood filler or spackling to the blemishes first.
Dear Ken: Some time ago you reviewed a device to circulate hot water. I can’t find it. Can you tell me again? Billy
Check out the Watts Premier system. It pulls hot water from the water heater and shoves it back down the cold side pipe. That means that you don’t have to wait nearly as long each morning for a hot shower. And that can save thousands of gallons of water at your house each year, since you don’t have to run cold down the drain first. Plus it has a built-in timer, so it only runs when you need hot water. Program it to kick on just before you arise in the morning and you’ll have almost instant hot water. It comes as a kit with all the appropriate fittings, a sensor and supply lines for an easy install; I saw it online for $176 and change.
This recirculating scheme is especially useful if you have a tankless water heater. These take even longer to get hot water to you, because the burner has to kick on first. So a small pump like this will have it at your fingertips just when you need it.
Dear Ken: One of my outside faucets has developed a small dribble. A plumber wants over $400 to replace it. How can I repair it myself? David
Like all faucets, the exterior hose spigots have a washer to control the water flow. In this case, it’s deep inside the sleeve—maybe 10 inches or so--to protect it from freezing. Find the hex nut just under the handle and soak it overnight with a penetrating fluid, like WD-40; then use a fairly good sized pipe wrench to loosen the shaft. Pull it straight out and you’ll see the washer on the inside end. Replace the existing flat washer with a cone shaped version. Why? The metal innards of these older faucets wear out, so the fatter washer will help fill in the gaps and stop the leak.
Dear Ken: I want to add a light to the front of my garage above the door. Should I wire it into the regular light switch or the old fixture itself? Matt
Why not save time (and wire) by connecting it to the nearest garage outlet. It will then be “hot” all the time, but if you choose a motion detector fixture, it will only come on only when it’s needed. Why burn an outside light all night long when, instead, the fixture can be on standby, ready to turn itself on to startle any unwanted visitors?
Dear readers: How’s your disposer smell lately? This the time of the year when bacteria festers inside its chamber and release that unpleasant odor around the sink. It’s the gunk on the underside of that rubber splash guard that can be the source of this stench; use a round toilet bowl brush dipped in ammonia to scrub the accumulated gunk under there and as far inside the top of the disposer chamber as you can reach.
Then throw in several handfuls of ice cubes plus half a lemon, turn on the disposer and let it run for a few minutes to scour out its insides.
On a routine basis, it also helps to dump a half cup of pine oil cleaner into the drain on each side of the kitchen sink. Do it just before retiring and don’t rinse until next morning.
