Evening star., 1940-05-25
First Aid
For the
AHing House
By ROGER B. WHITMAN.

ny "OuEn d. WIN l. N1fAlNs
In my duplex house there is only
an s-inch partition between my
living room and the people next
door. How can I make 1t sound
proof?
All of the noise cannot be pre-
vented, but it can be greatly reduced
by covering your wall with insulat-
ing board; on this put Turing strips
inch thick, covered with a Sec
ond layer of insulating board.
Under the head of each nail you
should put block of thick felt.
Wood Cellar Floor.
want to lay wood floor over my
concrete cellar floor for warmth as
well as for appearance. Head room
is very low, however, and could not
allow more than inches. What
do you suggest?
Your first move must be to cover
the concrete with waterproofing,
which can be one or two thicknesses
OF impregnated felt, stuck down
with tar or liquid asphalt. The
wood floor can be laid on top in a
form of cement called mastic, used
for that purpose. Good floor layers
are familiar with the method. This
will increase the height of your floor
only the thickness of the water
proofing and the flooring; a total
that should be less than 11a inches.
Leather Furniture.
I inherited two dark leather
chairs only 2 years old, of ex-
cellent quality and in good condition.
How can keep them in shape? I
want them to last forever.
Do not put anything on the
leather in the way of furniture
polish or wax, for they would make
1t sticky. Clean the leather when
necessary with saddle soap, which
you can get at hardware or leather
store; directions for use are on the
label. There are leather preserva-
tive pastes that can be had at quail
1ty leather goods stores, or you can
learn about them at your local
library; they are used for leather
book bindings, but are good for
any form of leather. Should the
gloss be dulled, rub with the beaten
white OF egg. Do not stand the
chairs near radiators or wherever
else they might be overheated. Pro-
tect them against the glare of the
summer sun. Life being uncertain,
forever Is long time for anything
to last.
Wallpaper On Plywood.
My bathroom walls are unpainted
plywood. What should be done to
cover them with wallpaper?
Go over the plywood with wall
paper size. Your wallpaper should
be of waterproof variety; pre-
ferably vanished, to prevent the
damp air from striking through
and loosening the paste.
Damp Apartment.
The top floor rear apartment of
a corner house. facing north and
east, is always damp. We have tar
red the outside walls, but the damp
ness remains, so that we cannot
keep our tenants. There are no
leaks on the roof and there is
enough radiation. How can cor
rect the condition.
Look for possible leaks in the
parapet walls above the apartment.
Also, check the flashings between
the roof and parapet wall. All
joints in the wall coping should be
tight. Examine the outside Joints
where the window frames meet the
walls, and If necessary, have them
caulked with caulking compound.
Your liquid tar coating may have
dried and cracked, so that another
coat may be needed.
Outdoor Shower.
What can you suggest for the
base of an outdoor shower?
First, you should provide a dry
well of ample size, connected by a
3-inch brass pipe to the drain of
the shower floor. Support the
shower floor on an 18-inch founda-
ton of stones; large ones at the
bottom, graduated to small ones
above. Make the lower parts of
the walls and the shower floor of
concrete, reinforced with heavy wire
mesh, and pour the walls and floor
at one time.
How can I prevent the copper
mesh Of my screens from streaking
the window sills with green?
Clean the screens thoroughly with
a securing powder. and then with
turpentine. Coat them with a mix
ture of 2 parts spar varnish and /
part each of linseed oil and turpen-
tine. Or you can use a thin kind of
varnish intended for floor dressing
that Is meant to be wiped on with a
cloth. Either of these should give
protection for a year.
Figuring Brickwork.
How can I figure the number of
bricks for the house that I want
to build? How many bricks can
be laid in a day?
The number of bricks needed will
depend on the thicknes of the walls.
and the design of the house. For a
wall 8 inches thick you can figure
Is bricks to the square foot. The
number of bricks laid in a day de-
pendS on local labor conditions.
Inquire of a mason or building con-
tractor.
Verdigris.
A 4-inch copper pipe leads
from the gas water heater in the
cellar through an air shaft and
out through the skylight. In a
seam near the top verdigris forms
and flows down the entire length of
the pipe. I though of scraping it
from the seam and applying some
sealing substance to prevent oozing,
but it occurs to me that this might
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