Handyman on call

EUNICE HITCHINSON, Covington, La.

A. Since the tiles are applied over concrete (the slab), the cracks may be due to uneven concrete. For example, if there is a slight rise in the concrete, like a shallow ridge or hump, tiles put on that ridge could rock when stepped on, resulting in the crack. If you merely replace the tiles, you’ll probably get more, similar cracks. The large size of the tiles is a contributing factor.

If you took off the cracked tile you might be able to grind down the concrete so it is smoother and more even, then put in new tiles.

If the cracks are hairline cracks, then why not leave them? They are causing no problems, and are impossible to fill.

If the house is still in warranty the tiler should rip out all the tile, smooth out the concrete slab and relay new tile with thin-set mortar, using smaller tiles (6-by-6- inches) instead of the big ones (12-by-12-inches). They will resist cracking.

Q. My lawn gave way beneath my foot. I expanded the hole by stepping on the adjacent lawn to test if it was solid. In the end I have a 5-foot-deep hole that is about 5 feet in width. The lawn was just sitting on this hollow section of lawn. There is no debris or rotting material in the hole. It’s a nice clean hole. This happened in another section of my lawn about five years ago and I filled it with stone and then topsoil. Over the last 10 years, my entire lawn seems to have sunk. The house is in a suburban setting and was built in 1970. Our soil is generally sand with no rocks. My neighbors do not have my problem. What professional can I contact?

SUSAN EKIERT, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

A. One reason your sandy soil has collapsed more than once is that it was not compacted very well when it was filled after the house was built. Thirty-nine years is a long enough time for sandy soil to compact itself by collapsing. The only reason your neighbors do not have the problem is that the contractor got lazy when he filled in your yard around the foundation, and elsewhere in the yard. It is possible that a lot of wood debris - construction wood, trees and trunks and roots - was in the fill, and rotted away to nothing in 40 years. If your earlier filling worked, then you can try again with the present hole. An excavator is the professional to call.

Q. Two years ago I vinyl-sided my house, which gets a lot of wind-blown rain from Nor’easters, especially the east wall. The other day I found a mushroom growing between sections of the vinyl. That means water is behind the vinyl, but what should I do about it? The vinyl is a premium type that looks like shingles.

RICK CANTOR, Gloucester

A. Just cut out the mushroom, which probably is the only spore that grew from that moisture. You may not have to do anything else, if there is a vapor barrier such as Polyethylene, tarpaper, or possibly Tyvek, behind the vinyl. These vapor barriers will keep the water from penetrating to the wood sheathing and other wood parts of the house. The premium vinyl is probably better at keeping water out than standard vinyl clapboards. Wood shingles, exposed 4 to 5 inches to the weather, wood clapboards, or fiber-cement clapboards all may be more effective in keeping water out, at least on that east side.

Q. Every year my storm windows get harder to move up and down. How can I make them easier to move?

ELLY, in Hotton’s chat room

A. Maybe you are not as strong as you used to be, and that is meant without malice. Here’s a way to ease them, Spray the grooves with WD-40 or a silicone lube. Sometimes prying with a screwdriver will give them a start.

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