Evening star., 1940-10-05
First Aid
For the
AiIing House
By ROGER b. WHITMAN.


@. We want to refinish our bath
room. The plaster walls have cracks
and rough edges around a door
that was made larger. 1t is now
papered. How should the wall be
prepared?
A. Before painting, the paper
should be taken off, which can be
done by soaking with water. If the
paper is vanished, cut through the
gloss with sandpaper. With the pa
per of, cracks can be filled with
patching plaster, to be had at
fahrware store; instructions arc
on the label. Rough places can be
smoothed with sandpaper wrapped
around a block of wood. Finish
with enamel, which is glossy, and
will not absorb moisture and dirt.
For undercoats, use enamel under
coater or fat wall paint. Thin this
paint for the first coat according
to the manufacturer instructions.
Damp Walls.
@. My house is stone downstairs
and brick up; succeed The walls
leak so that wallpaper comes off,
7 want to refinish with wallcloth.
What kind of paste can l use that
will be waterproof?
A. 1t is likely that the dampnesS
Is not from leakage, but from con-
densation. To check on this, dig
small hole through the plaster
in some obscure place to learn
whether the plaster is on lath or
applied directly to the masonry.
If there is no lath, condensation is
your trouble, and outside water
proofing will not stop it. Casein
glue, to be had at hardware store
is water resistant, but to avoid
the trouble entirely, you should
replaster over lath. or sheathe the
walls with insulating board With
either one, the inside plaster will
remain warm and there will be no
condensation.
Building a Drive.
O. Our drive slopes to the road
from the garage, where it is raised
two feet We had a farmer fill it
with some kind of fiat stone that
breaks up and which he claims is
all right for a base. But it should
be filled in and covered with some
thing What should be used?
A. The base should be packed
down and then filled with smaller
stones or pebbles with final COW
ering of clay. For best results, each
layer should be we'll packed You
may be able to get the use of
roller from the local superintendent.
He should also be able to suggest
some kind of a binder to apply to
the surface
Cold Exposed Room.
@. My north second-f1oor room
cannot be properly heated when
the wind is from the north or north
west Would it do any good to add
fifty feet more of radiation and to
increase the size of the pipe lead
ing to the radiator?
A. Your trouble is not due to lack
of radiation, but to leakage OF cold
air into the room around the win
dow sashes and to the chilling of
the room air by the cold window
glass. With 20-mile wind,
enough cold air can leak into a
room of ordinary size around the
window sashes to change the air
In the room once an hour Your
best move will be to seal the joints
around the sashes with top quality
ueatherstrip. and to raise the
temperature of the glass by using
well-ftted storm sash.
Clogged Filter.
@. We built wall of single thick
ness brick in our cistern for filter,
For several years it worked we'll.
Now 1t is clogged and water will
not run through. We scrubbed it
on both sides with wire brushes
with no result How can we re
move the clogging?
A. The sand and other material
that has clogged the filter is all
through the brick. No surface
treatment will remove it, nor is
there any compound that will dis
solve it. Your only practical move
is to knock out the clogged brick
and to build new filter.
Sound Proof Wall.
@. The wall between two rooms is
of the ordinary 2x4, plasterboard
and plaster construction. I want
to replace it with wall that will
be soundproof. How can this be
done?
A. In a sound proof wall no part