Vinyl siding crew took shoddy shortcuts

Q. I hired a company whose workers are moonlighting civil servants to put vinyl siding on my house. On the outside it looks nice and I thought it was fine, until the job was being completed. (Yes, I paid the nearly $30,000 bill in full).

But I noticed the lights looked odd as the crew mounted them over the siding. I found out about mounting blocks and ended up having a big fight with the company; they said I didn't need them for the lights or outside electrical outlets. But the outlets kind of dangled on the side of the house and would short out if they got wet. I insisted on getting mounting blocks. (I paid an electrician $400 for a day's work installing the boxes into the siding.) Then the vinyl guys installed blocks to mount the fixtures on.

While I think I'm all set in that area, I'm still trying to get them to install blocks for outside faucets.

I'm also still trying to convince them to cap the corner posts somehow. I can see sky if I look up from the bottom of many of them. That seems odd to me, and most experts I talk to say it shouldn't be that way. What should be done? And one of the posts that's been covered seems to be rotting at least at the bottom.

I still have a couple of gutter issues including one that clearly is tilted wrong. It seems to me I might even need two downspouts. But the company owner says he merely put the downspout where the old one was. I don't know why that's the solution.

Bottom line, is this experience unusual? Is there anything else I can do? I find myself looking at the house wondering what else is wrong that I don't know about. Whenever I call, the owner gets angry and confrontational, and contends that everyone giving me advice is wrong.

UNHAPPY, via e-mail

A. I hope and pray that these bozos are better at their day jobs than they are at putting up vinyl siding. They are not experts, and did you no favors with their slipshod installation. Nearly $30,000 for wrapping the house in Saran wrap? You have a huge mansion or they simply gouged you. I don't know how extensive these rip-offs are, because I don't get a lot of complaints about bad workmanship, bad attitudes, and gouging, etc., but I am guessing the complaints I get are a small percentage of what is actually happening. And from your descriptions, they are bizarre.

All light fixtures and water outlets should have mounting blocks, notched to fit the siding or flat to be inserted in a cut-out opening. I think the crew knows nothing about siding; they just put it up.

The corner boards should be capped. Since one is rotting out, I presume they all are wood. The one is rotting because water is getting behind it. All corner boards must be covered in some way or another by trim, to keep out water. That is simply common sense.

You may have to get a gutter man to straighten out your gutter problem. Gutters do not have to slope much, but they must slope in the right direction and should not sag. The rule for the number of downspouts to use is: one downspout for each 30 feet of gutter. So if you have 40 feet of gutter, you need two downspouts.

These guys don't seem to know much at all, and, what is worse, they don't seem to care.

You might take the company to court, but that too is expensive. With so many things that you point out as obviously wrong, how many hidden defects are there? You could also hire an inspector or engineer to take a look at this job and give you an evaluation.

Q. I am having my cellar done over. It is relatively dry, with insulated walls and a new ceiling. What else do I have to do? What can I do with the floor? There is a poly sheet under the concrete slab.
E.S., Keene, N.H.

A. If the walls are covered with plasterboard or otherwise finished, you can paint them, and the ceiling. With polyethylene plastic under the concrete slab, you lucked out, because that poly is a vapor barrier and does not allow water vapor in the ground to come up into the room. So you can put down any kind of floor: floating laminated wood, Pergo (which is plastic laminate), or anything you please. Just be sure to ventilate the basement from, say, May to October or at least September.

Q. Heavy construction, including pile driving, I think, has been going on near my house for some years, building a high school complex. The vibrations have been heavy, and a number of my 12 exterior sliders cannot be opened or closed. It is as if the header beam over the sliders has dropped just enough to make the doors inoperable. Two windows have broken, but the foundation has not cracked. The house is 20 years old. Teacups have danced right off the shelves. What can I do? The work on the complex is nearly done. I have talked to the builders, and they ask me, 'What do you want us to do?'
GENE RATNER, Sudbury

A. That is not much of an answer, but the company is responsible for the damage to your house. So, keep in touch with the builder or the town to get compensated. It might also be a matter of insurance. As to what has happened, the openings for the sliders have compacted somehow, jamming the doors and breaking glass. Vibrations can do that. Another theory is that the vibrations have loosened the nails in the structure, causing compaction of the slider openings. You can hire an engineer or building inspector to assess the damage.

Q. The Lally columns in my basement are rusting on the outside. My husband wants to sand off the rust and paint them to protect them. I would just as soon leave them alone. What do you think?

LINDA COSTELLO, Dedham

What do I think? I think I would like to keep from getting between husband and wife on a house subject. But heck, why not jump in with both front feet? Besides, you both are right. Linda can leave them alone because they are probably not deteriorating much. And if they are real Lallies (steel posts filled with concrete), they probably are not rusting on the inside.

But husband is right to sand off all the unsightly rust and paint with a rust-inhibiter paint. If they took 30 or 40 years to become that way, it will take another similar period to rust that badly again. This period can be extended if you ventilate the basement in summer to release the considerable buildup of water vapor, which caused the rust in the first place.

Another way, especially if you use the basement for living space, is to sand off all the rust and then box in the posts with wood; this will seal out moisture and look good to boot.

Q. I have been told that an oil tank in the basement has a one-year warranty. I have one that is many years old and it is leaking. Can I repair it or do I need a new one?
OIL SPILL

A. You must replace it, and if it has served you for many years (40, 50 or more), it has served you long and well. But get thee quickly to a tank removal company (in the Yellow Pages under Tanks Installation & Removal); disposal and replacement are expensive, but far less expensive than removal of oil if it seeps under the concrete slab and into the ground. You are responsible for it.

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.