HGTV's Anthony Gilardi Answers Your Home Repair Questions
November 5, 2008 at 11:45 AM by Cafe Sheri - Comments (15)
Last week on Home & Garden Buzz, you got to ask professional handyman Anthony Gilardi, of HGTV's Myles of Style, more of your very own home repair questions.
This week Anthony has answers to your questions and takes more questions for next week.
Q: Our ceiling is starting to crack. Is there any way it could be fixed? We don't want to spend lots for it. The house will be up for sale soon. We just want to present a well maintained house before we put it on the market.
—butterflybp
A: Hi, butterflybp. Thanks for writing in.
Ceiling cracks are very common. The question I always ask people when they mention that they have cracks in their ceiling or walls is, of course, How bad is the damage?
The most common causes of cracks in ceilings, walls, and even floors are settlement and foundation motion/vibration.
Cracks such as these are easy to fix or maintain, barring, of course, a serious problem with your foundation. You will find settlement or motion cracks at the top corners of doors and windows, near interior stairwells, and in ceilings usually running evenly from wall to wall or where the wall and ceiling meet.
Water damage that had dried over and weakened the drywall or plaster causing it to bow or crack is another problem that will definitely need complete replacement.
What I need from you is some more information on the extent of the damage.
Describe where the cracks are and what they look like.
Let me know if there was any type of natural jolt recently (like an earthquake). Do you live near train tracks, a highway, or a busy street? How old is your home? How long have these cracks existed? Are they getting worse?
If you can send me a picture (via link or PM to Cafe Sheri) of the areas, that would help tremendously.
Once we figure the type of cracks we’re dealing with, we can go over what exactly we need to do to fix the problem.
Don’t worry, the fact that you used the words “starting to crack” leads me to believe it’s not that serious.
We’ll take care of it. I look forward to it.
—Anthony
Q: We are going to be running electrical wiring to our garage and bonus room (previous owners put the structures up but never came close to finishing them). My husband worked with his father doing appliance repair and electrical work when he was younger and feels that he can do what he considers a simple job.
The plan is to connect the new wires to wires that were orignally intended for use in the master bedroom (bonus room is accessed through the master bedroom). We have several outlets that are already connected, but that we have NEVER used.
Is this a feasible plan or should we plan on spending the rather large amount of money (that we don't have right now) for a professional to do the wiring?
P.S. We have already gotten estimates and explanations of what various pros would do, and all have said that they would either do just what we are thinking of, or would go into the attic and track down the wiring that the previous owners put in but never connected (to the breaker OR the bonus area).
Thanks for your time!
—Larisa, Larisa72
A: Nice to hear from you, Larisa.
Okay, sounds like you have a handyman around the house that you may or may not trust with wiring up this room. LOL. I have nothing but respect for anybody, male or female, who take matters in their own hands. Give him a pat on the back for me. If he feels confident in doing this job and the cost of a licensed contractor or electrician is out of you budget, then here’s what I suggest:
The last thing I would cut corners with is electricity. This is not an area I would feel comfortable with advising someone to tackle without being a licensed electrician. Building codes are written and strictly enforced for homeowners' safety first and foremost.
However, you can pull a building permit as a homeowner by drawing up a plan of your intensions, providing a detailed list of everything in your electrical panel (amperage, breakers, etc.) and filling out an application at your city’s building department.
This sounds difficult, but truly it is not. The peace of mind will outweigh the aggravation of playing it this way. It doesn’t sound like a big job so the cost of the permit will be minimal. The biggest reason why I suggest this route is so you can have city inspector come to your home and properly access the situation. When the work is complete, they will make sure your home is up to code (all part of the cost of the permit). This will also help in the long run for home insurance in case of a future problem or resale.
For the record, I do feel your husband can do this if he feels he could.
Just remember, always do it right, and always cover yourself.
Good luck.
Keep me informed.
—Anthony
Q: Hi Anthony.
It's me, rere. It seems that all my floors are slanting more, and everything looks crooked. What shoud I do? Thanks.
—rere, myson11
A: Hey Rere.
How’s my biggest fan? Isn’t this website cool?
Okay, keep in mind the age of your building. Slanting floors could mean a problem in the basement or the foundation.
Do they slant towards the middle of the house or towards the outside walls?
This information is vital to learning what the problem could be (like butterflybp’s problem above). Let me explain how typical foundations work. You have exterior walls which are always weight bearing and depending on the square footage in your home, there will be at least one bearing wall running through the inside of your structure.
If your floors are progressively slanting towards the middle of your house, it can mean your interior bearing wall is slowly sinking at the foundation. If the floors are progressively slanting towards the outside walls, there could be a problem with the foundation perimeter.
Take a good look around and let me know exactly where you’re feeling the slants or sags or any weakness.
Have you noticed it getting worse over time or the same?
No need to panic, Rere. There are simple answers to these problems, such as stabilizing problem areas. Get back to me, and we’ll talk about it.
Thanks Re,
—Anthony
P.S. How’s the weather back home?
Hey CafeMoms, Mr. Gilardi will answer more of your questions next week. Leave your home repair questions below.
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Hi Anthony,
I have a similar issue like Rere. We purchased a home last Oct. It was built around 1875 and the floors are slanting twoards the middle. How big of a project is this to correct and who would we contact to do this? What kind of questions do we need to ask and what should know from the pro doing the work. Unfortunately this is not something that I would feel comfortable doing on our own, so we want a pro but have no idea who to look for.
Thanks,
Jenn
Anthony, I have a question. I want to repave my driveway but don't like the look of blacktop... what can I use (other than straight concrete) and still be able to put up a basketball hoop for my kids? Also - does it matter if I do it before winter or would it be better to wait until spring?
I love the way you answer questions. You sound just like you do on the show! Thanks for the great info.
Part 1 of Anthony's response for butterflybp:
Hello again, butterflybp,
Okay, this is good news. Don’t worry about pictures, I’ve seen this a million times.
Here’s what we’re going to do:
-Before we start anything, keep in mind this is going to make a mess.
-Either clear out the room completely or put plastic over everything that will remain.
-If there are doorways leading to other rooms, you may want to block them off as well because when it comes time to sand, the dust will get EVERYWHERE.
-Next we going to gently chip off any old drywall or plaster of anything that looks and feels like it’s loose and will eventually fall anyway.
-Also, wherever there are thin cracks, you will want to SLIGHTLY widen them to about 1/8 of an inch or so. FYI, a professional would do this with the corner of a trowel to create a triangular channel. Don’t worry if you can’t do this perfectly, we’re only trying to create a nice gap to hold our replacement plaster or joint compound. This is not an exact science.
-Don’t panic if after doing this it looks like you made the problem worse because you didn’t. This is called prepping the area.
-After doing this correctly, we’re ready to patch.
-We’re going to try to do this in one day to be ready to paint the next day.
Part 2 of Anthony's response for butterflybp:
-Keep in mind of course, different carpenters have different styles and use different products. In my experience, this has been what works best for me.
-QUICK TIP, any crack that is wider than _ of an inch will need to be taped.
-I personally like yellow, mesh, fiberglass tape with a backing that sticks to the surface (very common BTW; any hardware store will carry it).
-We’re going to use two different products for patching.
-First, we’re going to use 90-MINUTE JOINT COMPOUND. This comes in powder form and will have to be mixed. Work with about XX gallon at a time and mix with water to the consistency of toothpaste. You don’t want to mix too much at once because once it dries, if you didn’t have time to get it on the ceiling, it’s useless. I like to use a plaster knife at least 6 to 8 inches.
-QUICK TIP, the bigger the knife, the more ground you can cover; however, the more difficult it is to work with, so find a size that suits you.
Part 3 of Anthony's response for butterflybp:
-This is a basecoat, but try to be as neat as possible. The neater you are, the less sanding there will be later. YES, 90-minute compound means that an average coat will take about 90 minutes to dry. You may or may not need a second coat of 90 minute. Once the first coat is dry, give it a light sanding and assess the situation. Keep in mind, this is a base coat and does not have to look perfect. What am I looking for you ask? Well, rule of thumb (and the reason why I like to use yellow tape), if you’ve covered all the yellow areas, you’re ready for the top coat. -Now we’re going use something called TOPPING COMPOUND.
-The good news is this product comes premixed and ready to go. The bad news is this step takes more technique and patience. We’re no longer racing against a product that’s going dry in the bucket. Take your time with this step, spread it out evenly. Remember, the measure of a good job is how little sanding remains. After everything looks even, WALK AWAY, don’t drive yourself crazy, let it dry over night.
-QUICK TIP, the better the room is ventilated the faster the compound will dry, leave a window open, if possible.
Part 4 of Anthony's response for butterflybp:
-Day 2, this is it, we’re ready to sand. Using drywall sandpaper, sand until the entire ceiling is smooth and even. You may have to tweak some areas, that’s okay and very common.
-What I like to do next is; using a DAMP (not wet) sponge, clean all the dust off our ceiling.
-We’re almost there.
-No matter what color or type of paint you’re going to use, you ALWAYS want to prime the area first. Average primer takes about a couple of hours to dry.
-Then we’re ready to paint, and…FINITO!
Believe me, after doing this a few times in your life, you can consider yourself a pro.
Don’t forget to have fun, and reward yourself for a job well done.
Good Luck.
Anthony
Thank -you so much for the help. I will try ansd get this done, right the frist time. Thanks much.
I live in a low income apartment program and they do not have any money to do any kind of improvements or repairs. My front door is similar to an entrance door to an office and it is smoked glass, but it is practically see-through. I have hung blankets up above the door, curtains above the door and on the handle of the door and they just get in the way. I have even tried to velcro or tape different things to the glass on the door. Nothing stays or "sticks". Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Melissa
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ANthony - thanks for the reply about the wiring. SInce we already have a permit to finish off the other items that were left in a state of chaos, I don't feel that it should be too difficult to ammend them if needed. Between my husband and myself, we could pretty much build our own house - if we ever chose to do so. He usually handles anything electrical but won't touch plumbing, whereas electrical work scares the heck out of me, but I can handle the plumbing (I even rerouted pipes so that our LAUNDRY washing machine was OUT of the kitchen and in the cubby area designed for it!!) It was just a simple matter of extending pipes and flipping them through the back wall....but he took one look at it and said to call a plumber!!
I will pass along your advice to him and hopefully we can get moving on this project sooner than we had planned.
Thanks again!!
Larisa72 Nov. 6, 2008 at 10:36 AM