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Show FIRST-AID I AILING HOUSE by Roger B, Whitman ( Roger B. Whitman WNU Service. I Starting Up the Heater. A NY kind of a heater should be thoroughly cleaned inside before starting it up in the fall. The inside flue passages should be scraped and gone over with a steel brush, of a kind made for the job. The smoke-pipe smoke-pipe should be cleaned out, for it is only too likely to catch ashes and soot. All of this work can best be done with a vacuum cleaner, of a kind intended for the purpose; coal dealers can do the job, or can supply the names of concerns specializing in it. The chimney flue should also be cleaned as often as is necessary. Doors of the heater should fit tightly; if rust has collected on them, this should be scraped off. Doors that are too greatly warped to make a tight fit should be replaced, re-placed, for leakage of air around them will interfere with the draft. The smokepipe should make a tight fit in its hole in the chimney, which usually calls for a packing with asbestos as-bestos or other fireproof cement The same kind of cement can be used to close an open joint between the bottom of the heater and the floor. If the water gauge of a steam boiler shows that the water is dirty, the boiler should be emptied and refilled re-filled to the proper level. If the water is clean, there is no need to replace it. This applies also to boilers boil-ers of hot water heating systems. Cold Extension Question: A two-story brick extension ex-tension is exposed and very cold in winter. The upper part is a kitchen. kitch-en. The dish closet is as cold as the refrigerator. We have hot air heat, but heated air does not come into the kitchen until the kitchen air is heated by the stove. What can you advise? Answer: In the first place, you should have an outlet by '-which the cold air can escape from the room and get back to the heater. This would set up a circulation that would bring the hot air into the kitchen. For insulation, the kitchen walls can be lined with stiff insulating boards, which are one-half inch thick and would occupy but little space; the boards could be nailed directly to the plaster. Cork-board might also he used. Construction in Winter Question: I am interested in a corner house, one of a row of houses to be built during the winter and completed about May. I am told that houses built in winter are not as strong and do not stand up as well as those built in warm weather. Is this true? Answer: The durability and quality qual-ity of construction are entirely dependent de-pendent on the reliability of the contractor and the care he uses in his building operations during freezing freez-ing weather. Of course, construction construc-tion during warm weather eliminates elimi-nates some of the hazards. Kitchen Table Top Question: I wish to finish a new wooden top on a kitchen tabic in a color, with a serviceable surface. sur-face. If this cannot be done in color, col-or, what other method should I use? Answer: A linseed oil treatment will be more satisfactory. Give the table a soaking coat of raw linseed lin-seed oil. Wipe off the excess oil on the surface after an hour or so. After three applications the table top will be resistant to stains and will not be liable to warp. Covering Insulation Question: I have an unfinished attic at-tic which is about four feet high in the middle. There is no flooring in it, but I have four inches of insulation insula-tion between the beams. Would it be advisable to cover this insulation with some sort of material such as a rigid insulating board, making a floor of same? Answer: Insulating board is not hard enough for flooring; use plywood. ply-wood. Clinkers. Question: I am told that burning garbage in my furnace helps to form clinkers. Is this so? Answer: Yes. Burning garbage and other rubbish in the furnace is one of the commonest causes for clinkering. Ash from the garbage prevents the even flow of air through all parts of the fire-bed; this concentrates con-centrates the air in a few parts, which overheats the fuel to the melting melt-ing point. Burning Garbage Question: Is it wise to burn waste paper and garbage in a furnace during dur-ing the winter season? Answer: No; for it will interfere with an even draft and is one of the common causes for the formation of clinkers. Water Heating Question: Is it possible to heat water in an oil-fired hot air furnace? Answer: It is not very satisfactory. satisfac-tory. Use a separate unit for heat-ng heat-ng water. 1 |