Show FIRST AID to the AILING HOUSE JL by by ROGER B WHITMAN 1 roger roeer B whitman features feature you lon may a no not be a all able 0 o replace worn warn ot or broken broke household equipment pro ont th this 3 1 I war government priori priorities ties come g fir farst so take care rawena ot f what wh you have a q well as you possibly can iru this his colu column ly by t the h e ets lt friend rland tells you how FENCE POST question in building a fence the tha posts were driven into the ground I 1 and a concrete walk and pavement were then laid around them the posts have rotted and must now be renewed how can the new posts be made tight in the holes in the concrete so that they cannot be move moved d up tip and down how can the underground part of the posts be treated to prevent decay answer the inside of the holes through the concrete should be gouged and dug with a cold chisel or a pointed hammer so that the tha new concrete will have rough surfaces surface S with which to bond give the underground parts of each post a heavy treatment of tar or creosote return to position and then pour fresh concrete into the holes single flue chimney question I 1 would like to replace a sidearm side arm gas water heater with a coal fired heater could I 1 connect this to the single flue in my chimney that serves the tha furnace if so should the connection be close to the furnace connection at tire the chimney answer As a general thing two fires should not be connected to a single flue because each fire will interfere with the draft of the other I 1 however Io wever with a tall chimney c and one connection much smaller than the other as it would be in your case there is a good chance of success connect the new smoke pipe close to the old one at the chimney loose cement coating question last year I 1 knocked off the loose cement coating of m my basement foundation wall and put on a new quarter inch cement coating I 1 find that in several places the new coating will not stay on but bulges and falls off how can I 1 treat these so the new coating will adhere answer cement is not adhesive and holds on a surface by hardening around the surface rough nesses clean off the bad places and then roughen them by gouging with a cold chisel or a pointed hammer at the time the new cement goes on the old walls should be thoroughly soaked with water dusty path question A path that was formerly hard surfaced is now dry and dusty I 1 am now wondering if it wo would uld be advisable to put oil on it if so what kind and how much answer I 1 should not advise using oil for it would inevitably get into the house and make trouble with floors and floor coverings you can get a good dust laying effect with calcium chloride which is low priced and on common sale scatter it on the path in the proportion of a pound to the square yard even on a dry day it will absorb enough moisture from the air to become liquefied and will then combine with the dust on the path to form a crust paint remover question I 1 have bought a can of paint and varnish remover for use on furniture but find that it works slowly it also is expensive I 1 am thin thinking k ing of using the remover that you have recommended three pounds of phosphate dissolved in a gallon of water I 1 should first like to know if this is likely to bleach the wood answer no it has no bleaching effect put it on boiling hot with a dishmon or brush the paint or varnish will quickly soften and can be wiped and scraped off finish by rinsing with clear water to take off all traces of the remover attic insulation question some time ago I 1 insulated my attic with rock wool in batt form I 1 placed the insulation against the roof boards with the paper on the outside that is facing me Is this the proper way to place the batts I 1 have heard that if not placed correctly there is a possibility of condensation Is the paper on the batts sufficient to prevent condensation answer you have installed the batts correctly and no more covering is needed white lead question what kind of white lead is used to give wood a pickled pine finish answer ordinary white lead paste thinned with turpentine to the consistency of a thick paint is used i |