| Show FIRST AID aida to the AILING HOUSE by ROGER B WHITMAN 0 roger B whitman service tar on porch floor I 1 have an open porch Q QUESTION with no roof over it and a one inch thick cement floor was laid last tall fail I 1 noticed a few cracks and to prevent leaks I 1 painted it over with root roof tar it never dried and with warm weather the tar is very soft can the tar be removed it if nothing can be done can I 1 put down another one inch coat of cement mortar answer it is practically impossible to remove the tar entirely the advisability of laying another cement floor over the present one will depend largely upon the strength of the beams supporting the porch floor A well known manufacturer of insulating boards makes asphalt saturated board specially for use as a flooring on roofs and open porches it is light alighi in weight ask your lumber dealer about it in the meantime cure the stickiness with a scattering of sand house centipedes A correspondent is greatly distressed over finding centipedes in her house there were two small ones about one inch long with a great many legs but I 1 was terribly frightened to see one the size of a mouse 1 I assure you it is not my imagination how do they get in how can I 1 get rid of them are they injurious to health answer if it were not for their looks house centipedes would be welcome guests for they live on other insects and go tar far to keep a house free of uninvited insect pests they are not harmful to human beings there are never many and one sure way to get rid of them is is to swat each one as it appears they breed in damp places in the cellar such places can be scattered with hydrated lime gummed paper A correspondent writes 1 I find gummed paper invaluable in my household one of the many uses is the sealing of packages against moths gloves wools furs etc are washed or sunned and brushed wrapped in newspaper and then packed in large paper bags saved from groceries these bags are then sealed with gummed paper tape two inches wide I 1 have never had moths molest anything in these bags answer gummed paper tape certainly is useful not only as suggested but also for covering all joints or of paper wrappings around ru rugs gs for sealing cracks in boxes arid and chests to make them mothproof etc I 1 am glad to recommend it curling rug question how can I 1 keep my dining room rug from curling at the corners it is a constant source of annoyance not to say danger answer for a temporary remedy turn over the curling rug dampen slightly and press with a hot iron for a more permanent cure clean on both sides with your vac cleaner and then brush the back with shellac thinned with an equal quantity of denatured alcohol stiff stiffening ening chintz A housewife noted a recent suggestion of the use of starch tor for glazing chintz and tor for stiffening fabrics for this purpose she recommends a thin solution of tapioca which she used on a pleated georgette ruffle and it never changed a pleat in applying the solution stretch the curtain or iron it under a cloth this will keep pleats in shape in all weathers corrugated iron roof question what can I 1 do about leaks in a corrugated iron roof I 1 recently built a shed 50 by 50 feet rain comes in at quite a lot of places would it do to go along all the seams with tar answer fill all the seams or joints between the sheets with an asphalt roofing cement A coat of liquid tar or asphalt over the entire roof will keep it in good cond condition itic |
