It’s time to find replacement windows – BurlingtonFreePress.com

Henri de Marne, About the House 12:46 a.m. ET Feb. 11, 2017

About the House(Photo: Getty Images)

Q. Dear Sir: May I start by remarking how we have enjoyed and learned from your articles over the years. My wife and I hope your new endeavors bring you much joy and maybe a bit of relaxation. Thank you for everything. Now onto our question.

In pondering some replacement windows soon, we recall some choices you have mentioned, especially companies that back their product and quality. Of course we are at a loss as to remembering your printed wisdom. We should have saved the info. We currently have mostly Air Tight windows and have been pleased, but our 2nd story garden window is in need of replacement (not an Air Tight product) and with so many companies out there we would appreciate your input. Thank you in advance. Respectfully submitted. Illinois via email

A. Thank you for your kind words. It is rewarding to know that I have been helpful over the years.

If you are satisfied with Air Tight windows, you may wish to contact them and replace the garden window with the appropriate Air Tight product. I have had no experience with these windows.

My many earlier comments on windows over the years made reference to Marvin Windows (and doors), which, over the years, I have found to be a quality brand with exceptional service and very competitive pricing.

Q. Can I use Kaboom with OxyClean on acrylic surfaces? Via email

A. Kaboom with OxyClean is recommended for use on ceramic tile, porcelain, plastic, but is not recommended for use on marble, fabric, carpet, brass or aluminum.

Acrylic surfaces are a form of plastic, so you should be OK.

Q. My home was built in 1937. My cellar has both a cement floor and cement walls. I call it a wet cellar because after a very heavy rainfall water appears on the floor of the cellar. I leave nothing on the floor and the moisture eventually leaves on its own. The fact that the furnace is down there helps.

Here is my question. My painter wants to paint the cellar floor. I might be selling the house in a year or two and he thinks that painting the floor will help the cause. I am afraid that the paint will slow down the ability of the cement floor to dry after taking in water. Should I paint the floor? If so, what kind of paint should be used? Thank you. Really like your column. Rutland via email

A. Painting the concrete floor is likely to turn into a disaster and make the sale of your house more difficult. The leakage you are experiencing would simply cause the paint to peel.

Moreover, concrete is a somewhat porous material, its porosity depending on how it was finished.

It is most likely that, in a house built in 1937, when technology was not as advanced as it is today, the concrete was poured directly on the soil without the proper stone bed and plastic vapor retarder.

Capillary attraction, not broken by stones and plastic (or XPS foam, used today as a vapor retarder), is causing moisture to travel through the concrete and evaporate in the cellar, which would cause the paint to peel.

My advice is to leave the slab alone.

The leakage after a heavy rainfall may be the result of deficiencies in grading and water disposal around your house.

Most houses suffer from flat or negative grade around the foundation. In heavy or long-lasting rainfall, and when snow melts, water percolates down to the footings and finds a way inside.

Final grade should slope gently away from the foundation to drain water away from it, and be covered with a healthy stand of grass. Flowerbeds and shrubbery are best planted a few feet away from the foundation, as they encourage water retention.

Downspouts need to discharge on splashblocks that follow the grades gentle slope. Patios, walks, driveways, etc. must slope away from the foundation as well.

If all those elements are properly done, the chance is great that leakage will be eliminated unless you are experiencing an underground spring or rising water table after a deluge.

Q. I sent you an e-mail last year about the icicles hanging from my gutter on my attached garage which is unheated. There were also icicles on the gutter near the front door and above the back door from the heated laundry room. Your reply indicated that the icicles were forming due to the heat escape from the house.

In the fall we removed the gutter guards (white plastic with screening and another layer of plastic with 3/8-inch diameter holes). We then cleaned whatever garbage was left in the gutters that the gutter guards did not filter out and left them uncovered for the winter.

Interestingly, this winter after heavy snow and below freezing temperatures here in Illinois in December, nary an icicle had formed on these gutters. It appears that the gutter guards were the problem although I dont know why. I wonder if this icicle problem occurs with any type of gutter guard.

Thought youd be interested to know what I discovered. Illinois via email

A. Icicles form when the snow cover on a roof begins to melt, either from natural causes (warming temperatures or the suns action) or from an attic in which the temperature is above freezing.

In the case of icicles forming at your unheated garage, they are the result of natural causes.

As the melting snow travels toward the eaves and meets colder surfaces, it freezes and turns into icicles. If there are gutter covers, it freezes on top of them and continues outside the gutters.

If there are no gutter covers, the gutters and the downspouts fill up and icicles will form as the subsequent water overflows.

If you havent yet seen any icicles this winter, it is either likely that the conditions have not yet been met for their formation or that the gutters are not yet full of ice. Time will tell.

Send questions via email tohenridemarne@gmavt.net or mail your questions to Henri de Marne, c/o Dennis Redmond, Burlington Free Press, 100 Bank St., Suite 7, Burlington, Vt. 05401. Henri de Marnes book, About the House, is available at http://www.upperaccess.com and in bookstores.

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It's time to find replacement windows - BurlingtonFreePress.com