Homeowner Forum / Repair / February 2008

I bought some nice looking octagonal oak surrounds for my basement
poles.  I've glued them up and they look pretty nice, albeit a bit
70's (but I'm not looking for decorating advice).  How do I attach
these things to the posts?  I thought about using an expanding foam,

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My question pertains to the ridge part of a new roof just put on by
some respected pros in the area....However, if you could indulge me
with a "bit" of background...
About 12 years ago, I replaced a shingled shed roof with roll roofing.

I have recessed lights along the exterior soffit every 10 feet or so.
The soffit runs from 10' above ground to about 20' above ground at the
highest point then back down.
There is a light at about 13' up and another one about 18' up, about 3

I would like to repair a hundred-year-old horsehair plaster ceiling by
attaching new 3/8" blueboard and then skim coating over it.  The old
ceiling has some rather large holes in it (too large to repair), so
I'd just like to go over it with new materials.

I have a 48,000 Grain water softener that I bought and Installed.
Everything worked great, and It worked fine with the settings "out of
the box" i.e. 15 lbs of salt and 854 gallons before a new
regeneration.  Obviously, that is excessive salt use for a family of 4

Howdy all. Does anyone have a tip for working in an attic covered with
cellulose insulation? We have knob and tube wiring in the attic
covered with mounds of insulation at least 18 inches thick. I need a
way to get the cellulose insulation out of the way so I can trace the

A friend tells me he smelled gas in his apartment and told his
landlady, and she tells him that 3 gas company cars and a fire engine
showed up.  They told him there was nothing wrong with smelling a
little gas at startup of the water heater.

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OK, so I'm delving into an area that I know little about now...
DECORATING.  Weekend before last, SWMBO and I ran up to this salvage
place and found a door for my bedroom closet, along with some doorknobs
and rosettes to match the rest of the house.  Now in the rest of the

I have a double-flue chimney that has a leaky cap.   It gets saturated
with water, then drips down into the wall cavity.   I don't think it has
yet caused any real rot (hope not anyway) but I need to seal it from the
elements.   I tried cleaning it with bleach/Jomax .. let it dry ...

I'm really tired of people (housemates, friends, and family) taking my
tools without permission and then failing to return them. I go to get
some pliars or something and they're not there, it's really annoying.
I need a small portable toolbox/hand box for my tools and need an

I have a 30 year old septic system and the guy who pumped it out
recently tried to sell me on having a separate leach field installed
for the washing machine.  He says it would prolong the life of the
main septic system, espeically now that our kids are getting to the

Yesterday with air temp of 9 degrees F and 15-25 mph breeze, my worn
out 64-year-old a.s tried to replace the shingles that were torn off.
At the very least, the underlayment is covered.  In several places, I
had to simply nail shingles and so the roofing nail heads are exposed.

Does anyone know of any other good (non-sales-pitch) sites on replacing
rotten wood around windows?
This house is 40 years old - mostly in good shape, but previous owners
didn't keep the windows seals.  Water has gotten in, followed by termites,