Ask the Carpenter: Advice on getting rid of textured ceilings, cooking odors
Carpenter Rob Robillard offers tips for plastering over a swirled ceiling and for keeping out a neighbor’s cooking odors.
Q. Our home has textured ceilings (swirls), which make it look very dated. They are sound. Is there an economical way to turn these into something smoother?
DMW, Middleton
A. We do this all the time with swirled ceilings: Our plaster contractor applies a bonding agent (Weld-O-Bond) to the ceiling, and then plasters over it with a basecoat. He then applies a smooth finish. This technique is good if you are trying to save your crown molding or are concerned about ceiling height. Otherwise, it costs almost the same to board over the old ceiling and plaster it smooth.
Q. I have water leaking into a corner of my kitchen cupboard and onto the counter. It’s a slight, steady drip. The kitchen is below a bathroom, but there’s no leak when I run the shower. The water comes in only occasionally, usually after a long, heavy rain, but the ceiling and walls of the upstairs bathroom don’t show any signs of water getting in. How can I find the source of the leak? Should I crawl up in the attic with a flashlight and look around? Thanks.
JOE S.
A. Yes, look in the attic when it’s leaking. If it happens only when it rains, I’d look closely at the roof above this leak and 15 feet in every direction. Check any flashing, roof-to-wall connection, chimney, vent pipe, and window.
Q. I live in a town house-style condo with a common wall between my unit and my neighbor’s. Our kitchens are back to back. She cooks a certain food with very strong spices. To her credit, she uses the stove hood, but it is no match for this particular dish. I have sealed every possible opening and crack from the basement to the second floor. The odor is strongest in the kitchen and basement. I have added insulation in the basement at the sill between joists and have insulated outlet boxes. I have even put tape over outlet plugs. It’s a condo, so I can’t install an exterior vent. Any suggestions?
T.S., Attleboro
A. That’s a tough one. It’s possible that the stove-vent pipes are leaking the scent at the seams in the walls, or maybe it’s venting properly but coming back into the condo somehow? You mentioned that you installed insulation; just be aware that fiberglass will allow air to travel through it. Your goal should be to seal all air leaks and gaps with spray foam. If that doesn’t work . . . short of applying spray foam in your common wall, I’m at a loss. Readers?
Dear Rob
Nancy and Bill DelOrfanto of Ipswich: We had the same problem as the reader from Wayland (“How to fix doors that are warped or won’t stay open,’’ April 16); the door to our guest bath would close on its own. We had to use a stopper to keep it open. We made several valiant attempts to fix it, but the door stopper always wound up back in place. The trick to bend one door pin worked. The job took 15 minutes. Thanks!
Rob Robillard is a general contractor, carpenter, editor of AConcordCarpenter.com, and principal of a carpentry and renovation business. Send your questions to [email protected] or tweet them to @robertrobillard. Subscribe to the Globe’s free real estate newsletter at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp.
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