Winterize your home, but take your liquor
Q. Our plumber drains water and gets our house ready for the winter when we leave for warmer climes. But what can I do with liquids such as cleaners, other liquids, and booze, especially in sealed bottles in danger of exploding? I have been carting them to a warm place, but it requires quite a bit of work.
CHARLES OLIVER, Lancaster
A. Keep carting. But you can time your supply of booze so you have only a bit left to consume the day before you leave. Liquor might survive in the house because it is 40 to 50 percent alcohol. But beer won’t and wine shouldn’t.
Q. Are there any good reasons to install a cage-type chimney cap? What are they for? And does a fireplace glass enclosure save much heat if it is fairly tight?
BILL MARDEN, Nahant
A. It sounds as if a chimney sweep tried to talk you into installing one. There are three reasons: To keep critters out of the chimney; to keep water out; and to improve the draft. If you have no problems, you don’t need a cap. A glass enclosure or doors on a fireplace will save about as much heat as the damper will.
Q. Is there anything I can buy to make the 10-inch diameter pine stumps decay faster than nature takes? I have quite a few stumps just 3 inches high.
LARRY, Cape Cod
A. Too bad you cut down the trees. The Cape can use all the trees it can get. It will take five to 15 years to rot the stumps. I checked Google and came up with using saltpeter or sulfuric or nitric acid to speed the decay. Drill holes in the stump and fill them with the chemical. The only faster way is with a stump grinder. You have to hire it done, and it is a huge dangerous machine. Or, cut the stumps below grade and bury them.
Q. My painter said he could paint my house in two weeks, which brings the job to Oct. 27. Is that too late? When is a good cutoff date for painting outdoors? If I postpone it, when is the starting time next spring?
A LITTLE ANXIOUS
A. Some painters will paint through the winter if they can get the work. I think you can paint up to Nov. 1. The true criterion is right on the label of the paint can: Do not paint outdoors below 50 or 55 degrees. Some of the new paints can be done at lower temps, but you would have to check with the manufacturer. There are also maximum limits; do not paint at temps above 90 degrees. So, if you are concerned, wait until spring. The start date in spring is May 1. These rules apply locally only. Other parts of the country have different rules, but the “do not paint under 50 or 55 degrees’’ is universal.
Q. How is furniture best cleaned? My cherry dining room set is very dirty and some of the chairs are sticky. Also, a big farmer’s table at my house on the shore has been buffed with butcher’s wax, and is now pretty dirty, mainly along the edges. How can I clean that?
SAL SCARPATO, Newton
A. Clean with paint thinner (Is that like mineral spirits? Yes.), which is as good dissolver of dirt as anything. Four tablespoons of baking soda in a quart of warm water will work, too. Or, try one of the citrus cleaners. Or, denatured alcohol.
Q. I am having new roof put on my house. The roofer said he could put 3 to 6 feet of ice and water shield to help prevent leaks from ice dams, but for $1,500 more, he would put the shield on the entire roof. Is this OK, and is the price right?
FRAMINGHAM
A. Yes, it’s definitely OK, and while the price seems high off hand, it is reasonable. I had the shield put on my entire roof, and I don’t know what he charged me, but I don’t care because I have had no roof problems since. Go for it.
Q. My brick path has multiple areas in which the bricks are falling in and causing an uneven walkway. The bricks are laid over sand, which is over I don’t know what. When I lift the fallen bricks up, I see burrows in the sand causing the collapse of the walk. The burrows are about an inch and a half in diameter. I see lots of chipmunks - and the usual gray squirrels - in the area, but have no idea how to stop it. Spreading crushed stone under the affected bricks doesn’t seem to cure the problem.
ALEX HANNENBERG, Wellesley
A. Chances are the culprits are chipmunks. Squirrels are too big, and chipmunks do burrow. One thing to do is keep filling in the holes and putting the bricks back so they are safe. Chipmunks come and go. I had a lot last year and very few this past summer. Another idea is mine. When you go to refill the holes with sand, mix in a couple of boxes of D-Con with the sand. Being rodents the chipmunks may go for the D-Con. Animal rights people are invited to lay off.
Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton is also in the g section on Thursdays. He is available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton also chats online about house matters 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. To participate, go to www.Boston.com. Hotton’s email is photton@globe.com 
