Handyman on call
Unwanted visitors coming into house
Q. I’m hoping you can tell me what’s happening. My wife and I live in a well-constructed home that’s 12 years old. About two weeks ago, I found a dead gray mouse in the first-floor toilet and last week, I found a foot-long red snake in my second-floor bathroom (I scooped it up in my shirt and let him go in the garden). A plumber friend told me that they came up through the sewer pipes into our home and suggested that we not worry about it. I’m wondering if these animals can really live in the sewer and make their ways to the interior of our house! Every morning, I check the bathrooms and toilets. When we leave for a week or so on business or vacation, is there going to be a free-for-all of little animals romping in our bathrooms?
NORTH SHORE ZOO KEEPER A. I think your plumber friend is right, that critters can indeed live in sewers, and there really is not much you can do about it. I see no solution unless you have the plumber put in a one-way valve on your main sewer line, one that will allow water and debris to go through but will prevent anything coming in the other way. I am not sure that is possible because the sewage flow is not under pressure, but your plumber friend can give you a quick answer. I don’t think a screen, even a very coarse piece of hardware cloth with half-inch mesh, would allow debris to go down. It is not uncommon to have critters in the sewer system, and I think yours were trying to get out.
Q. The tilers took off the old tiles in my bathroom, and put up new ones that were thinner than the old, so now along the tub edges there is a rusty strip on the tub, and the caulking in the opening is in bad shape too. How can I remove the rust and fill that opening which is nearly half an inch wide?
FRUSTRATED A. For the rust, use any rust-busting product that contains oxalic acid, or try rubbing it with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. That opening is way too wide for efficient filling, but here is what you can do: Buy sanded grout, and put it in the opening in two layers, letting the first layer set before putting on the second. As you put on the second layer, smooth it off with your finger or thumb to produce a neat cove for good water runoff. Then seal the joint with a masonry sealer.
Q. I am reorganizing my garage, which is 16 feet wide with a double-wide door. I would like to store an extension ladder above the door on the inside. Would that be too much weight?
FROM BRAINTREE A. Too heavy? Not at all, as long as you clear any door mechanisms.
Globe Handyman on Call also appears in the Sunday Real Estate 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. 
