Handyman on call
Outside caulk is not worth it
Q. We were told to caulk around doors and windows for energy efficiency. I found that there is no caulking outdoors, and I think it would look bad on my natural shingled Cape. Is it possible that I don’t need it?
CHRIS, in Hotton’s chat room
A. Who told you to caulk? Probably the sellers of caulk. Caulking will seal leaks, but if your house is less than 50 years old, outside caulking is not necessary. Outside caulking does not work no matter how good the caulking is, because expansion and contraction of the wood joints will mess it up in a season or two.
But you can caulk the edges of window and door frames indoors. It will not show. You can use a clear silicone caulk or a white silicone caulk or a white adhesive caulk. I have caulked the inside edges of my door and window frames and it has behaved well for 40 years, and it doesn’t show until you get your nose right up to it.
Q. I am having problems with the smell of cooking in my house. It is great cooling, but too much aroma spoils my appetite. My kitchen exhaust fan over the stove does not vent outdoors, and I really don’t want to go through the hassle and expense of installing one that does. How can I reduce the aroma?
NOT HUNGRY A. When the cooking starts, or a little after, open a kitchen window and turn the fan on full blast. That air flow will go directly from the stove to the window. You will feel the draft; it might feel a little chilly in winter, but, hey, you can’t have everything.
Q. I have a big sewer pipe in my basement. It is leaking a bit. It is black cast iron, I think, with metal bands around it. Is there a way to fix it?
WORRIED A. Those bands indicate to me that there is some kind of insulation wrapped around the pipe. You might try one of those sleeves that can be inserted and secured to cover the leak, but I would not, because the leakage is sewerage. Replace the pipe.
Q. My garage floor gets an inch or so of water after a heavy rain - the garage is over 150 years old - and I was advised that it is coming through the ground, and not through any leaks in the walls or roof. Can you suggest any relief, since my furniture is slowly getting water logged.
EDWARD SCHWARTZBERG,
Newton, by e-mail A. The water table under your garage is very high, and is forcing water through the joint where the walls meet the concrete slab. The solution is to raise the garage and thicken the slab. If the walls are in good shape, you can have an excavator lift the whole garage and put 6 inches of concrete on the slab and let the walls settle back down on the new slab. Until you do that, relocate your furniture.
Q. All my cabinet doors were refaced with painted wood panel style doors. After 14 months one panel cracked. A man tinted some Minwax wood putty and tried to fill the crack, but couldn’t get it into the hairline crack. When he removed it, it left a residue on the panel that I can’t get off. What can I do?
JOAN NAIMARK, Brookline
A. Try paint thinner, alcohol, Goof-Off, Ooops, or a citrus cleaner. Before you do anything, call Minwax, someone there might know of a fix.
Globe Handyman on Call also appears in the Sunday Real Estate section. He’s available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton (photton@globe.com) also chats online about house matters 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. Go to www.boston.com 
