Q.I have had a washer for five years now, and am getting a horrible smell from it - so bad I have to keep the lid down. It smells like rotten socks. What is wrong and what can I do about it? The washer drain goes into a vertical metal pipe that goes directly into the concrete floor. The house is on a slab.
SMELLY SOCKS
A. I suppose sewer gas has a lot of different smells, and rotten socks can be related to sewer gas. Before doing anything, have your appliance man check to see if the washer is draining completely. Wash water left standing can get pretty obnoxious. If that is not the case, that standing pipe may not have a trap, which it needs to prevent sewer gas from coming up through the drainpipe and into the washer. Since the pipe goes into the concrete floor, finding a trap, or a lack of one, is tricky, and a plumber is needed. If no trap can be found, I think a trap can be installed on the standing pipe.
Another possibility: The pipe under the slab may have broken, which could bring sewer gas into the washer.
One more possibility: A sock or socks might be trapped in the washer, and they can smell pretty bad. I have actually taken socks out of a washer. Ah yes, one more time. That rotten sock smell may be hydrogen sulfide in the water, which can be a natural occurrence.
Q. The kitchen floor in my 20-year-old house flexes when walked on, the ceramic tiles are wavy, and some are cracked. What is wrong and how can I fix it?
J.S., Hollis, N.H
A.The joists under the floor are a bit small for their span; for example, 2-by-8s on a long span. It is probably within code, but just barely. The cure: Install larger joists, 2-by-10s or even 2-by-12s against each old joist. Make sure the new joists are supported at each end. You can nail the new to the old.
Another way that is less expensive and that will work better if you do not use the basement for living space: Set up a heavy beam under the joists, and at right angles to the joists, midway along their length. Make sure that beam is well supported at each end. This will reduce the span by half, and will stop the flexing.
Don't worry about the cracked tile; if the cracks are hairline and the tiles have not moved laterally, you can still wash the floor without damage.
My basement gets damp in one corner during and after a heavy rain, enough to soak the rug and pad. Would this solve the problem: Take out the rug and pad, and install a floating floor?
HAVERHILL
A.No. The seepage results from a high water table, the level of water under the floor raised by the heavy rain. This water under the slab is under pressure, and forces its way onto the floor. Since the seepage is minor, a good way to fix it to install a sump near that corner, which is a hole in the floor that will fill with water before it floods the floor. A pump in the sump hole pumps the water away.
In severe cases, a French drain would be required, which is a pipe inside the perimeter of the basement, leading to the sump pump.
I have a summer place with a badly rusting steel front door. What can I use as a replacement that will not deteriorate like the steel door did? The house faces the ocean; in fact, it is virtually on the ocean.
SAD OVER BAD DOOR
The problem with steel doors is their owners seldom keep them in good repair and well painted. Proximity to the ocean and salt spray don't help. I don't think steel doors should be used at all - especially when better materials are available, such as wood and fiberglass. Both are often costlier than steel, but I suggest you buy a fiberglass door. You can stain it with a semitransparent stain or paint it. If it is a flat gray color, it is already primed. Finish with two coats of a latex solid color stain.
Pesky basement floors
In recent weeks, we wrote extensively about cupped and buckling hardwood floors on concrete. Here is how Linda Albert of Lowell handled her problem:
Your response to Lois Blatter in New Orleans about her newly installed hardwood cupping was right on.
Here's a fifth choice, one that I just finished on my basement floors. I have a 1950 Cape Cod; the basement previously had carpet glued to floor. Ripped it all up, scraped and washed all that junk off. First I used Sherwin Williams Block Filler, then faux-painted the floor to look like Tuscan stone/tile. It came out fantastic! Only used one scrub brush, and some rags for the effect.
I chose Sherwin Williams, because they were the only ones who had cement paint in high gloss, and, most important, you can have a custom color mixed in quarts (not gallons like all the other brands). I originally bought four colors, and ended up using only two; at least I wasn't wasting money on gallons of colors I didn't use.
Sure the floor has some small "craters," and it's not really level in some spots, which only lends to the "feel" of old stone. I have had nothing but compliments on it! I also used area rugs for warmth.
Another success story with imagination. Thank you, Linda Albert.
Q.My tub faucet rusted out, and I was able to unscrew it and buy a replacement. Trouble is, there is plumber's putty on the threads of the pipe, and it is very hard, preventing me from screwing on the new faucet. How can I soften that putty?
JACK McSWEENEY, Andover
Sometimes you can screw the faucet on and break up the putty; it certainly is not as strong as steel. Or, try coating it with paint thinner. That might dissolve or soften it. Or call a plumber who might have some ideas. If you find that the spout will screw in a bit but gets harder and harder to turn, try this, if the spout is not angled wrong on the pipe: Stick the handle of a hammer in the spout mouth and twist. If you find you are distorting the pipe, stop, reverse the twist and see what you can do to dissolve the putty.
One more little thing. Some putties do not get hard. Yours, which is very hard, may be a plumber's epoxy. A solvent for epoxy: abatron.com or westsystem.com. If push comes to shove, call your favorite plumber.
Q.My plaster-on-wood lath walls and ceilings in two rooms are in very bad shape. I have had two bids to fix them and paint: One man would skim-coat the walls and ceilings with joint compound, then paint, for $700 per room. Another man would gut both rooms of walls and ceilings and put up 3/8-inch plasterboard on ceilings and 1/2-inch plasterboard on walls for $2,500 for both rooms. What do you think?
BRYAN, from Methuen
I think it would be nice to keep the old plaster and skim-coat it, but the chances the skim-coat would break up are too high. So I think gutting of the rooms and installation of drywall will make two brand-new rooms, which even in an old house is good, because the old plaster sounds beyond repair, and worth $1,250 a room. I have forgotten if this includes painting, but whether it does or not, it is still a bargain.
Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton is also in the Styles Section on Thursdays. He is available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton also chats on line about house matters 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. To participate, go to Boston.com Hotton's e-mail is photton@globe.com.
