An old straw rug is stuck to the wood floor
Q. My sisal (straw) rug has been down a number of years, without a pad. When I took it up recently, part of the rug remained on the floor. Water removed most of it. How can I remove the rest?
MIRIAM PORTER, Newton
A. More water will probably get rid of the sisal that bonded itself with the wood, but more water is not a good idea for a wood floor. So, wet the sisal with a bit of paint thinner, wait a minute or so, then scrape with a wood scraper or rub with a rough cloth. Use plenty of ventilation when using paint thinner. Oil also will do it: Apply a bit of any kind of oil (
Q. My two exterior doors are unusually wide (4 feet). Weather-stripping on the bottom of the doors, next to the wood sill, has broken. I can get 3-foot-long replacement strips, but not any 4 feet long. What can I do? The doors leak air like crazy.
CATHERINE GAROIAN, Natick
A. There are several possibilities. First is to buy three of those 3-footers and cut them so they fit each door.
Second is to buy door weather-stripping, which includes 7-foot aluminum strips with a vinyl bulb; you could cut one of those strips and nail or screw it to the bottom of the door. It might not last very long, with the bulb constantly rubbing on the wood sill, but it will make a tight enough fit to stop the air leaks.
Third, if you know the manufacturer of the doors, see if it has replacement strips available. Being 4 feet wide, it is a pretty good bet that the doors were custom built, although there are some commercial doors that are 4 feet wide. Or, check Elegant Entries, a door manufacturer in Auburn. It may have door sweeps.
Also, the Brosco catalog lists door sweeps that are 4 feet long. Order them through a local lumber store.
Q. I have natural-finished hardwood floors that are about 10 years old. I just put in a new oak railing. How can I match it to the floor? Can I stain it with a natural stain?
MARIE, Peabody
A. A natural finish (varnish only) might do it. To determine how the railing will look when it is varnished, wet a part with a bit of water. The wet railing will look as if it was varnished. If there is a match, apply three coats of an oil-based polyurethane varnish. You can use a water-based polyurethane instead, but it will be considerably lighter than the oil-based polyurethane.
The floor has darkened somewhat over 10 years, and if the oil-based polyurethane is lighter than the floor, you can apply a light stain. Minwax makes good oil-based stains, but you will have to pick and choose until you get the right color. If you find a match with a stain, apply it; any polyurethane varnish that you apply is unlikely to make that stain darker.
Q. I am in a new condo, the first in the unit. It is heated by gas. My neighbors said I should put in a gas detector. The people at the gas company said they never heard of gas detectors. Should I put one in?
A.C.L., Norton
A. Sure, if you can find one. They seem to be pretty scarce. I checked one hardware store and one big box chain store, neither of which carries gas detectors. A spokesman at
One thing you can do is ask your neighbors if they have gas detectors, and if they do, find out where they got them. Or, check the code in your town to see if they are required or recommended.
Q. I have an apartment in a brownstone, where a washer and dryer are right in the middle of the unit, and the dryer was vented into the ceiling above. We changed that, but now it is vented into the apartment. How can we vent it to the outdoors?
K.D., Boston
If it is a gas dryer, it must be vented outdoors. If it is electric, you can cut down on its use. The big problem with venting into the apartment is that the vented air is loaded with moisture and lint. The moisture may not be too bad, but the lint can be a problem. I think you can put the vent hose into a bucket of water, which will capture most of the lint.
Or, relocate the dryer to the back of the building and vent it through a window.
Q. When I had a sunroom installed, the walls and ceilings were covered by square-edged boards that were not cured. Last year I put in a ventless heater (one without a chimney but with an oxygen depletion detector that shuts off the heater if oxygen gets low), and now the boards are opening up, creating gaps between them. How can I cover those gaps? Are the gaps causing loss of heat?
INEZ NICHOL, Indiana, Pa.
A. If the walls and ceiling are insulated, you are losing little if any heat. The boards dried out and contracted, creating the gaps, which are unsightly at most. But you can cover them to create what is called board and batten. Cover them with a 1-by-2 board (1 inches wide and inch thick) or a lath, a board 1 inches wide and to 3/8 inch thick. Nail it into one board, not two; that way the boards will expand and contract under the battens without disturbing them. If you stain or paint the battens to match the wide boards, do it before putting them in place.
Q. I have a small bungalow, and I plan to put the air handler of an a/c system in the small attic (with the compressor outside) and air ducts distributed from the attic through the house. There is not much insulation between the attic floor joists under the floorboards, so I plan to put extra insulation right on the floorboards. Will that work?
JAN
A. No, no, a thousand times no. While extra insulation is always welcome, putting insulation on the floorboards is not the way to do it. The right way to do it (alas, it's more work) is to take the floorboards up and add enough insulation to reach the top of the joists. Then, install 2-by-6 joists at right angles to the original joists, and put in 6-inch fiberglass insulation. Then you can put the floorboards on those extra joists, just enough to hold the air handler. This will give you an insulative (R) value of 38, reasonable in this climate.
While you are at it, make sure no insulation goes into the soffits (the roof overhang). And again, while you are at it, make sure there are soffit vents and a ridge vent.
That sounds like a lot to do, but it is the right way.
Q. I used your formula (tablespoon of oil in a bucket of warm water) for removing plaster dust from floors, and while it worked fairly well on painted basement stairs, it did not work very well on a concrete floor. Am I doing something wrong or is it the concrete that is causing the problem?
JOSH LEVINE, Needham
A. You are doing everything right, so I think it may be the concrete that is causing the problem, making it harder for the oily water to pick up the plaster dust. It is also the first time in many recommendations to use the formula (and I have used it myself) that it hasn't worked perfectly.
So keep doing it and hope for the best. And if you see plaster dust still on the floor after it dries out, vacuum before trying the formula again. For those who do not know how to work the formular, it is this way: Mix a tablespoon of any kind of oil in a gallon of warm water (it doesn't mix well, but that is OK); dip a sponge in this mess, squeeze it out, and wipe off the plaster dust.
Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton 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.
