Evening star., 1939-05-27
First Aid
For the
AHing House
BY ROGER b. WHITMAN.

Question: The paint on our
weatherboarded house scales con-
tinually, and we are considering
putting on a shingle overcoat. What
kind of shingles do you recommend?
Answer-The scaling of paint on
your house indicates that moisture
Is getting into the wall, for damp
ness in the wood is practically the
only reason for the loosening Of
you are likely to get into trouble
with rotting. Leakage is probably
through the outside joints between
window frames and walls, and your
first move should be to have these
closed. Do the job with caulking
compound, put in with a tool called
a caulking gun. For overcoating,
you can use top quality wood shin
giles, or asbestos shingles as made
by f1rst-class manufacturer. which
are waterproof and practically per-
manent. Heavy weights are prefer
able to the light weight, and can
be had in so close an imitation of
weathered wood shingles that from
a short distance they cannot be
told apart.
Papering PIywood.
Question: My stairway is sep
arated from my living room by a
plywood partition. Can this parti-
tlon be papered with the rest of the
room? How would l do it? 1t is
stripped and has been shellacked.
Answer-Certainly plywood can be
papered, The Shellac acts as a size:
but If the surface is very glossy. you
should first dull the gloss with sand
paper. The strips can be papered
with the rest of the wall, or you can
paint them to give the effect of
paneling.
Warped Table Top.
Question: Some years ago I
bought a high-quality dining room
set. The two top boards of the
ouf1et have warped out of shape.
The wood is quartered white oak,
and is perfect except for this. Can
/ have the board straightened?
Answer-That job can be done by
any good cabinetmaker. He will
use some process for the gradual
dampening of the boards and bv
Keeping them in a press, will
straighten them little by little.
Smoking Fireplace.
question: For many years a fire
place in constant use has given no
trouble. The chimney has recently
been cleared, and now. no matter
what the weather. the fireplace
smokes most of the time. 1t has its
own f1ue. What can you suggest?
Answer-Are you sure the damper
is wide open? 1t may have tapped
down when the flue was cleaned.
II 1t is even partly closed, the smok-
ing would thus be accounted for.
Another possibility is that when the
f1ue was cleaned, the SCOT and debris
that was loosened has gathered on
the smoke shelf above the damper,
1he only way to get rid of the SCOT
Will be to reach in with some kind of
a tool and scrape out the accumu-
latlon. This will be a filthy job.
Test for Gold.
Question: I have some fixtures
that are said to be gold. What test
will determine this?
AnsWer-At drug store get a
small quantity of nitric acid in a
bottle with a glass stopper. Touch
the metal with drop of the acid
on the end of the stopper; if it is
gold there will be no reaction; but
any base metal will show blue tint.
Do not let the acid touch your hands,
as 1t is very caustic and will make
severe burns on your skin. Wear
rubber gloves. If a drop should
touch your skin, wash Immediately
with plenty of water.
Kitchen Table.
Question, Would water glass be