Fungus is concern with mulch near house
Q. My son wants to put wood mulch on the entire side yard, right up to the foundation. Is there any concern about it harboring bugs?
WORRIED MOM
A. Not really, but there is one problem with wood mulch so near the foundation. It’s artillery fungus, which hides in the mulch and fires spores up to 15 feet away. If the spores hit the house, they are the very devil to clean off. So, keep the wood mulch 5 to 10 feet from the foundation, and put stone mulch in its place.
Q. The wood gutters on my house are 40 years old and rather shabby looking. My husband wants to put up aluminum to save hours of oiling and maintenance, but I am concerned that their style is not appropriate to the nice old bungalow we have. Would aluminum be OK? Also, all the neighbors put in the all-in-one piece extruded gutters on their houses, and they are constantly pop-pop-popping. Why do they pop so much? Is there a way to prevent this?
MILTON
A. Ah, me. So many problems, so little time or wisdom. But I do have an idea. First, aluminum gutters can give a wood look; their contours are a little sharper than wood, but properly installed, they will look pretty good. Or, try vinyl, which may have a look that is too modern for your stylish house. But those popping gutters intrigue me. I have never heard of any popping but your mention of those full-length gutters gives me this idea. The one-piece gutters are so long, and are very light in weight, that they tend to expand quickly when they warm up and contract when they cool down, popping all the time.
The cure is to install aluminum gutters that come in sections. They are heavier than others, and the sections make them more resistant to expanding and contracting so they’ll be quieter than the one-piece gutters.
Q. I tore a big piece of wallpaper, and have no paste to glue it back on. What can I use? Also, I would like to re-side my house which has shingles that must be 50 years old and are beginning to curl and warp. I would like to use cedar shingles, but I would also like to know the difference between white and red cedar shingles.
JIM KIMBALL, Lexington
A. The wallpaper one is easy. You do not have to buy a pint or a quart or a gallon of paste. You can invest in a cartridge of adhesive caulk. Phenoseal and Polyseamseal are two good brands. Slather it on very thinly, and press it in place. If you use too much of this stuff, the paper will be lumpy, so make sure it is spread super thin. The adhesive caulk may come in tubes that are smaller and cheaper than the cartridges.
The shingling is a little more complicated, but worth doing because you can do it yourself.
First, white cedar: Actually, the wood is probably juniper, but cedar or not, the shingles can be installed and left unpainted, unstained, and untreated in any way. They will weather to that familiar Cape Cod silver, and will last 40 years, or until your grandkids can put up new ones for you! The top grade of white cedar is called Extras, and comes in two ways: kiln-dried and green. The kiln-dried ones have 90-degree corners making them easy to install. They also cost twice as much as the green ones, which are full of water and shrink when they dry out. The green ones often need trimming to make sure they butt tightly together and their bottoms are level.
Top grade red cedar shingles are called Perfections, and are harder and more durable than the white. They do not weather very well and are best stained with a semitransparent stain. Choose a dark color so the dreaded cedar bleed and mold will not show as much.
White cedar shingles should be no more than 5 inches “to the weather,’’ to resist warping and curling. Red cedar shingles can be exposed up to 8 inches.
More details may be found in two of my books, “So You Want to Build a House’’ and “So you want to Fix Up an Old House.’’ They are out of print but I heard that some entrepreneur put them on
Q. I have had an infestation of large ants in the house for six weeks. I hired an exterminator, who sprayed on the outside of the foundation for $300 and told me they were carpenter ants. I then paid him $600 for a maintenance program. I don’t feel comfortable with that maintenance program.
ALICE
A. The $300 for spraying seems high, but I would let it go. But you can cancel the maintenance program. I don’t think the spraying will do much good, especially in the long run, because carpenter ants nest in the wood but don’t eat it. The exterminator should look for the nest and destroy it, and then replace any damp, punky wood in or on the house.
Handyman on Call also appears in the Globe’s Style & Arts section on Thursdays. Peter Hotton is available 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair; call 617-929-2930. Hotton chats online about house matters 2 to 3 p.m. Thursdays, at Boston.com. Hotton can be reached at photton@globe.com. 
