Corner boards keep shingles in place
Q. My house has white cedar shingles that are old and are beginning to have wide gaps between them and are lifting and curling a bit. The shingles are woven at the corners, where the lifting is quite severe. Can I put up my own corner boards?
STEVE CURTIN, Lakeville
A. You sure can, and it will make a big difference in the style of the house. It won't make the other shingles lie down, but maybe before too long you can put new shingles on the house. If the house has two stories, you can make the corner boards of a 1 x 8 board (7 1/2 inches wide) and a 1 x 8 board cut to 7 inches wide. Nail them together to form an "L," and the sides will be even. When the corner board's completed, nail it lightly to the corner and then use the edges of the board as a cutting guide to cut the corner shingles. There is likely to be tarpaper under the shingles; if it is intact, keep it. If it is torn, put another piece of tarpaper in its place.
Q. My neighbors have a heat pump, and I think it is interfering with my electrical system. I can sense it. What can I do? When I was inquiring what to do, a man said to call GE.
JERRY, from Malden
A. If GE built the heat pump, that's who to talk to. At any rate, call the manufacturer. I have found most manufacturers are eager to fix a problem.
Q. I am getting mold in my attic. There is an A/C unit in the attic, with air running over a cold coil and then distributed throughout the house. There is also a tube that takes the condensate (water) to a tray under the unit. How can I keep the mold away?
M.S., Middleton
A. First the brilliant designers put hot air furnaces in attics, and wondered why they got ice dams. You can insulate a furnace, you can insulate heating ducts, but you cannot insulate an open gas flame. The result is a warm attic and the inevitable ice dams. The same goes for A/C units, which create a lot of vapor that condenses into water on cool attic parts; ergo, mold! This can happen even in a well-ventilated attic with a ridge vent and soffit vents. If you have such vents, install an exhaust fan in one gable end. This might work. What will work is moving that unit to the basement where it belongs.
Q. My brick and stone stairs are 20 to 30 years old. The bluestone treads began to spall (thin slabs came right off), so we replaced them with granite. I think the treads are secured with mortar. Now there is so much efflorescence appearing on the brick risers that it looks like they're white-washed. I tried muriatic acid, which did nothing. Now what?
STEPHANIE, from Newton
A. It's strange that the muriatic acid did nothing, but maybe the solution you used was too weak, or maybe it's not efflorescence, which is lime leached out of the mortar by water. Try a solution of one part muriatic acid and one part water. If no go, try straight bleach on a small area to see if it is mold. If the bleach treatment removes it, it is indeed mold. If still no go, try pressure-washing.
Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton also appears in the Sunday Homes Section. He's available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton (photton@globe.com) also chats online about house matters 2-3 p.m. Thursdays: Go to www.boston.com 