Show F FIRS FT ID ae tr AI li Z T by y roger JB whitman i released by western newspaper union painting doors I 1 IT T IS not always easy to paint doors when hanging normally for the paint is likey to streak along the edges of the panels and in the moul dings the job is much simplified by taking the door off its hinges and laying it flat on boxes or on something else that will bring it to a convenient height in taking off a door it should first be opened so that the outer corner can be blocked up with pieces of wood or books to relieve the hinges of the weight in all modern hinges the two parts are held together by pins which can be driven out to separate the hinge halves the lower hinge should be the first to be separated it if the upper hinge is separated arst first and the door should tilt the leverage would be so great that the lower hinge would be bent or even broken in replacing the door the upper hinge should be the first to be put together with the door laid flat paint or other finish goes on smoothly and evenly with little chance that tears or beads will form attaching wood to concrete it is often necessary to attach shelves or other woodwork to concrete walls and the job may be something of a problem one sure method is to drill holes an inch or two deep in the concrete making use of a star drill which can be had at a hardware store the hole is then plugged with a piece of soft wood into which a screw can be driven in place of the wood the thread of the screw cabbe wrapped with a thin piece of sheet lead hardware stores carry prepared plugs for the purpose usually sold with a drill these plugs and drills come in different sizes for a thin wall as in the case of concrete block or lath and plaster bolts with hinged ends known as toggle bolts can be had the hinged end is pushed through the hole and turns at right angle which gives a solid support when the nut is screwed down new floor over old question can a new hardwood floor be laid over an old floor or should the present floor be removed and the new one laid on the answer the new one can be laid on top of the old one which will save labor the old floor should first be made smooth protruding nails either driven in or pulled out and rough nesses of the floor planed or scraped down at lumber yards you can get flooring intended to be laid over an old floor it comes completely finished so that no further finishing will be needed after laying it is thinner than ordinary flooring for it serves only as a finish cleaning a cellar question what is the best way to clean an old cellar in which there is a h hot t air furnace answer everything in the cellar is probably coated with coal and ash dust and the first step should be to loosen this by brushing then followed with a vacuum cleaner concrete floor and walls should be scrubbed with a strong solution of washing soda in water followed by rinsing all wood parts should be finished by painting for masonry walls use cement paint while the floor should have a kind of paint that is pr proof bof against injury by lime for the wood parts you can use casein paint artificial flowers two of my readers describe methods for restoring faded artificial flowers one says that they can be brightened and made to look like new by using common wax crayon with which I 1 have recently bated a bouquet of cosmos the other recommends spraying them with a dye made for tinting fabrics that can be had at a drug store she used her perfume atomizer which she says works perfectly as it did not allow too much of th the liquid to get on the flowers they dried quickly |