Handyman on Call: Crack in concrete causes concern
Q. I have a peculiar crack in my concrete foundation. It goes horizontally from the low corner of one basement window to the low corner of another window about six feet away. My daughter noticed that it is getting bigger. Is there anything really wrong?
RICHARD SMITH, Wellesley
A. Although a horizontal crack is unusual, I don’t think anything is wrong. You could put a chalk line across the crack to see if any more movement occurs. Being high up the wall, I think extreme cold caused the concrete to contract, putting extra pressure on that short run of concrete. The crack widened as the concrete expanded and contracted again. Keep monitoring it, and put your mind at ease.
If the crack gets a lot wider, have a foundation engineer check it out.
Q. I would like to put a floating hardwood laminate floor on the concrete floors of my family room and breezeway. Would that work?
ANN MARIE JOYCE, Milton
A. Yes, that will work and is the best you can use on a concrete floor. The floor comes in panels of a hardwood veneer on a sturdy plywood (I think) base, which are interlocked and the whole shebang floats on the concrete. Floating? Yes, it is not fastened down.
Q. Two of the lights in my bathroom fixture keep flickering on and off, but do not trip the circuit breaker. They are two 40-watt bulbs. What’s wrong?
RACHEL A. A first guess is a loose wire connection in the fixture. Second guess is the loose connection is in the wall switch that controls the fixture. To investigate, trip the breaker to cut off all power to the fixture and switch. Take down the fixture and see if any wires are obviously loose. Do the same with the switch. If you can find nothing and all seems normal, call your favorite electrician.
Q. I read your column recently about a gas burner causing a lot of water vapor that condensed in the chimney and under the metal chimney cap, running down the chimney and rusting out a steel smokepipe leading to the heater. I converted to gas two years ago. I have a stainless steel flue liner and see no indication of moisture in the flue or rust in the smokepipe. Should I be concerned?
CONCERNED, ANYWAY A. No need for concern. If you have no chimney cap, that is probably the reason you have no moisture. The water vapor rushes up and out of the chimney and condenses in the air. You could check the cleanout at the bottom of the chimney in the basement to see if it is wet. If it is, keep that cleanout open, screen it if necessary, and the water will evaporate, eventually.
Globe Handyman on Call also appears in the Sunday Real Estate section. He’s available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton (photton@globe.com) also chats online 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. Go to www.boston.com. 
