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Show FIRST-AID AILING HOUSE by Roger B. Whitman (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) Attic Ventilation A HOME owner has just written me of having had his old shingle shin-gle roof covered with prepared shingles. shin-gles. He expected that the greater thickness of the roof would make his attic cooler, and he was much troubled trou-bled to find that the attic was much hotter with the added roof thickness than it had been before. The reason was in the greater tightness of the new roof. The old wood shingle roof was probably none too tight, and air could circulate through it. This I circulation carried off heated air in the attic, and air circulation in an attic is, of course, one of the best methods for keeping an attic cool. The new roof shut off this circulation, circula-tion, so that heated air could not escape. es-cape. One good move would be to put louvres in the attic walk, as high up toward the peak of the roof as possible. My own attic has three peaks, and a year or two ago I put a louvre high up in each one; a kind that has slanting slats to keep out rain, and protected with insect in-sect screening. These stay open all summer. They can be closed in winter by hinged doors. If the owner own-er who wrote me would do something some-thing of the sort in his own attic I am sure that his difficulty would ba overcome. Old Floor Finish. Question: During the years, the floors of our school have accumulated accumu-lated a thick coating of dirt, oil, seals, wax, etc., that we now wish to remove. A floor machine would cut off too much wood. Would some chemical do the job without injuring the wood, which is maple? As we have found floor finishes to be unsatisfactory, un-satisfactory, we are inclined to use the floor bare. What do you think? Answer: If your floors have never been scraped, one scraping with a sanding machine should not weaken them, and would be the best treatment. treat-ment. At a hardware store vnn can get an alkali paint remover and floor cleaner that will take off all the old finish. I would not recommend recom-mend bare wood for such use. You can get excellent results with shellac shel-lac when properly used. Shellac should be pure and of top quality and should not be more than six months old. Age can be told by a date or a code mark on the label. Thin it with good quality denatured alcohol in the proportion of 2 parts of alcohol to 3 parts of shellac. Apply Ap-ply in two coats to bare wood: it will penetrate and the final finish will be hard and resistant. Casement Windows. Question: Will you tell me if casement case-ment windows are practical? Are they better than the wood frame type, which have weatherstrips? Answer: Casement windows are made in steel or wood. One advantage advan-tage of a casement type of window is that it may be opened to the full extent of its area, which may be particularly desirable in the summer. sum-mer. A possible disadvantage of a window of this kind may have in the winter is that it may be difficult to open a small enough area for ventilation venti-lation during very cold weather. Otherwise, there is no particular advantage ad-vantage or disadvantage in either types of windows. All of them can be weatherstripped. For certain architectural ar-chitectural effects it may be more desirable to use a casement than a double hung window. Basement Wall Finish. Question: Some time ago you spoke of a finish containing salt, used for basement walls. Would this be suitable for the walls of a basement apartment, which sometimes some-times are damp? Answer: You probably refer to the use of salt in whitewash, by which ordinary whitewash is improved im-proved and made less likely to rub. Use 15 pounds of salt to 50 pounds of lime for a basement aDartment. especially with damp walls, this would not be suitable. It would be much better to remove all present finish and to apply cement paint, which is intended for masonry, and resists dampness. It can be had in white and in colors. Re finishing Furniture. Question: I have an old birdseye maple dresser and chest of drawers that I should like to refinish in pale green enamel. How? Answer: Go over the surfaces first with medium coarse sandpaper wrapped around a block of wood, and then with fine sandpaper. With all of the gloss thus removed, and the surface smoothed, put on one or two coats of enamel undercoater, and follow with a finish coat of enameL The undercoater and the enamel should be made by the same manufacturer. If the present finish is chipped and marred, take it all off to the barewood with a varnish remover. Directions on the label should be carefully followed. |
