Don't let carpentry get you down; try again
Q. My breezeway is enclosed with shingled walls. Due to recent renovations, I have a 3-inch vent pipe running up one wall that I would like to box in. I tried to fit a 1-by-6 board against the wall to scribe the shingle shape onto the board, but when I cut it out, it was horrible. Wood hates me. Is there an easier way?
CB - NORFOLK, in Hotton's chatroom
A. Be patient. You will come to terms; wood is very forgiving. The only easy way is to have a talented friend do it for you, without laughing too much. But before you give up, try nailing the board to the wall so it will not move when you scribe it. You can toenail the board very nicely, which means you can drive the nails at an angle.
Q. I want to put a Formica plastic backsplash behind my sink and behind my stove in place of the ceramic tiles there now. The tiles of the backsplash behind my sink came off OK, but those behind the stove are not coming off at all. Can I put the Formica over the tiles behind the stove?
ANXIOUS TO DO IT
A. If the tiles behind the stove are quite even without some sticking out a bit further than others, you can put the Formica laminated plastic on the tiles, using contact cement. There should be enough contact area on the tiles for the contact cement to work quite well. If it does not work, you can secure the Formica to the tiles with an adhesive caulk or construction adhesive (Liquid Nails). But try the contact cement first.
Q. Do you remember my question how to handle rusty nail heads on clapboards. A friend told me that I could paint the nail head with Rustoleum, then repaint. You said that will definitely not work, so I guess it is back to clap tap: Prying up the clapboards and tapping them back, to expose the nail head, which can be pulled. My contractor tried that but it didn't work. What will work?
CYNTHIA LEE, Boston
A. OK, this will work, and I should have told you in the first place. This will remove the nails once and for all, and after that you can replace them with stainless steel nails. Pry up the clapboard, revealing the shaft of the nail; then grab the shaft with needle-nosed pliers, then tap the clapboard back. The head will be exposed enough so you can grab it with a hammer claw.
Q. I screened in my deck and built a roof over it, with a plasterboard ceiling. The paint on the plasterboard is constantly peeling and flaking. What is wrong and what can I put up that will not peel?
CHUCK, Wayland
A. The plasterboard and paint were designed for indoor use, and that ceiling is definitely outdoors, and the plasterboard is constantly moist. A quick fix might be to sand off as much of the paint as practical, then apply two thin coats of a solid color latex stain. A better fix is expensive: Apply 1-by-6 cedar boards, tongued and grooved, v-jointed boards. They may show water stains, but they will continue to look good. If you can find ceiling tiles that are water resistant and do not need painting, this might be less expensive. You can put them up over the plasterboard if you nail furring strips (1-by-3) at right angles to the joists through the plasterboard and into the joists. Then you can staple the tiles to the strips.
Q. We moved into a house this winter with a large farmer's porch. It is about six years old, and there are areas where the wood is rotting. We are trying to prioritize house expenses and wonder whether the porch needs to be attended to this summer.
PORCH LADY, in Hotton's chatroom
A. Any decay in just six years means the wood is not pressure-treated (which it should be) and something is wrong, such as a joint that holds water but does not drain it. If it is a small area of decay, you can make repairs using pressure-treated wood. Left alone, the decay is sure to continue. If the floor boards are rotting, tend to that ASAP. It will not do to fall through the floor. That is very painful, as every handyman knows, because there is not a handyman alive or dead who has not fallen through a floor or a ceiling. I know.
Another thing to check. The decay might have been caused by carpenter ants, which tend to nest is damp, punky wood. Have an exterminator check it out.
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 e-mail is photton@globe.com. 
