Cracks in the ceiling; hardware for a hutch
Q. I had my walls and ceilings painted six weeks ago. Now, cracks are appearing on the ceilings and one wall. I called the painter, but I have not heard from him. What can I do? The house was built in 1926.
C.B., a little angry
A. Stop being angry, because those cracks are probably in the paint, not in the plaster. They appeared because the paint was put on too thickly. The cure is to sand the cracks lightly and apply one more coat; a THIN coat. I cannot imagine the cracks are in the plaster, because the house has finished settling a long time ago. But if there are cracks in the plaster, you can fill them by applying a bead of adhesive caulk on the crack and pressing it in with your fingers. Scrape off excess and wipe off residue with a wet sponge.
Q. I have a lovely old hutch, but it lacks hardware. Where can I get some old ones, especially to match what is on there now, or if there are no pieces of hardware at all, how to get the right hardware for such an old piece?
PAT, from Nahant
A. There are a lot of old hardware outlets, but sometimes we are hard pressed to find any. Here are several: Restoration Hardware , Boylston at Exeter; Crown City Hardware (catalog is $6), 626-794-0234 ; and Van Dyke's Restorers (catalog), 1-800-558-1234 .
Q. I have one granite step leading to my front entrance, and it is a lulu, 6 feet long, 10 inches thick, and 15 inches wide. It must weigh 700 pounds. It now slopes down toward the house, pouring rain water onto the sheathing and siding wood. How can I reverse that perilous slope?
PHIL BREWER, Concord
A. If the entrance is under a roof drip-line, a gutter would keep most of the water off, but any water is a hazard, not only flowing in the wrong direction but also making the step slippery. The question is how to lift that sucker so you can add or subtract the underlayment sand to adjust its position. The cheap way is to find a half-dozen young huskies (boys), who could lift it and put it on supports until you make the adjustments. I did this when I had to move several heavy walls of a tool house I was relocating, and all I had to pay was one huge meal of pasta, sauce, and meatballs. A pricier (but not too much more) way is to have a landscaper lift the slab with a back hoe or small crane.
Q. Painters working on my house spilled paint on my roof. Is there a way to remove it? If not, what can be done?
W.J., Cohasset
A. You cannot remove it because any removal method will take the asphalt shingle with it. If it does not show much, you can let nature remove it, although by that time a new roof will be needed. You could replace the painted shingle, if you can get a match. If there are a lot of shingles involved, this can get pretty tedious. So you can disguise it; buy an aerosol spray paint of a similar color and paint the old paint, graffito style, whenever it needs it.
Q. We recently moved here from Virginia and bought a contemporary house with lots of windows. Do window films work at retaining heat and keeping down heating bills? Should they be installed inside or outside? Is this a job I can do myself, or does it require professional installation? Will they damage the seal between the panes of glass in double paned windows?
Also, our home's hot water is heated at the furnace, then stored in a relatively small tank that feeds the pipes. That tank is warm to the touch. Should it be wrapped in insulation to retain heat and keep it from heating the house in the summer?
A. Window films not only retain heat inside the house but also resist heat from entering the house, depending on the season. Some are tinted, others are not. They are usually applied on the inside and you can do it yourself, but you are probably better off with a professional installation. They will not damage the seal between panes of glass.
Among dealers are ENSA of Newton , Uni-Trim of Shirley , and Sonny's Glass Tinting of Saugus . For others, check the Yellow Pages under Glass Coating and Tinting.
As for that storage tank, since it is warm to the touch, it is losing heat, and it will not hurt to insulate it. Use 2-inch-thick duct insulation and tape it with extra-strength duct tape or insulation tape.
Q. What is the cleaning solution for routine maintenance for aluminum and vinyl siding?
ANTHONY CADO, by e-mail
A. Wash the siding with a strong detergent solution, and try to let the solution sit on the siding for a minute or so before scrubbing and rinsing. Be careful with power washing; do not do it if you cannot slow down the power flow. If water gets behind the siding, it will take a long, long time to dry out.
Handyman on Call also appears in the Globe's Real Estate section on Sundays. Peter Hotton is available 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair; call 617-929-2930. Hotton chats online about house matters 2 to 3 p.m. Thursdays, at Boston.com. Hotton can be reached at photton@globe.com. 
