Show FIRST AID to the AILING HOUSE faby by roger hoge C whitman QUEST QUESTION ION our wallpaper Is comin coming g loose above our radiator we papered three years ago this spring we took all the old paper off and then than gave the walls a good coat of glue sizing could y you 0 u suggest something we could use that will not loosen the paper we have vapor heat ANSWER As you say the paper loosened above the radiator but evidently did not loosen anywhere else I 1 make maka the guess that the heat was in the radiator at the time of papering and the heat dried out the glue size too quickly so that the paper did not make a good bond if you are planning to make sure that the radiator is cold at the time you paper that part of the room QUESTION our dining room furniture has white spots on the legs probably caused by striking the legs with shoes Is there some way I 1 can touch them up I 1 do not want to refinish the entire piece unless I 1 have to ANSWER I 1 suppose the pieces are made of a white wood such as maple and the varnish has been scuffed off I 1 believe you will find it more satisfactory ta to do a good job rather than touch up the pieces with preparations for hiding the damage however hoever perhaps you would rather do st it this way it if so ask your hardware dealer for one or two of the new products made for concealing scratches and cthel blemishes on furniture or ask at it a furniture store QUESTION there ts is a corner crack in our bedroom wall and the ceiling has cracks we have used a preparation for fixing cracks but after a severe winter the cracks show up agate again la Is there any other material besides paper that would be pretty and not crack down at the corners comers our room Is fk finished in calcimine would that have to be removed if covered with other material ANSWER A corner crack needs a somewhat different tre treatment adment from a crack inthe in the straight wall the plaster should be removed down tothie to the lath on each side of the corner for a distance ol of 4 to 6 inches then a metal corrier corner lath is nailed in place and that part of the wall then is re plastered if yen vu cannot got get comer lath you may ay be able to get metal lath in strips 8 to 12 inches wide bend the strips at right angles to fit the corner comer and fasten in place it would be advisable to have a plasterer plaster erdo do the job fo the ceiling crack can be undercut to make it wider at the lath than at the surface eThe the plaster crumbs should be clean cleaned e d out cut a and n d t the h e groove wet with water it then can be filled with patching patchin g plaster almost to the top and allowed to dry it win shrink a trifle in drying it then should be fined filled to the surface and smoothed level with the surrounding plaster surface |