Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
SOLUTIONS: How to lure critters away from the garden
QUESTION: We have a problem with red squirrels and chipmunks digging in our potted plants and flower beds. They dig up the plants as well as the soil. Any suggestions as to how to make them leave our plants alone? Carol, Winnipeg
ANSWER: What works for one will not necessarily work for them all, here are the most effective solutions to try. Begin by distracting your furry friends with a bowl of store-bought food made specifically for them. Place the bowl far enough away from the pots but close enough that they will see their food. Wrap chicken wire over plant pots and make holes for the plants. They are unable to chew through the wire. Or secure large rocks over the soil making sure that they cannot lift the rocks. Human hair, blood meal, dog fur and fox urine seem to lose their effectiveness after a few weeks.
QUESTION: I recently removed the filter from my dishwasher to clean it. It was hopelessly caked with dried-on soap scum, so I tried many things to dislodge the scum without success. Finally, I used CLR, which did the trick. Unfortunately, I used my stainless-steel kitchen sink for this cleaning exercise, and I now have a rainbow-colored ring around the sink where the CLR/water was. Is there anything I can do to remove this stain? Erin, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Put the plug into the sink and fill it with hot water and half a cup of washing soda. Leave for 10 minutes and then drain. Rinse well with water, and dry. Polish with olive oil.
QUESTION: My three-year-old son got scribbled with a pen on our new recliner. It is blue ink on fabric upholstery that is mostly light grey. What can I use to get the ink off? Thanks so much. Julie, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Although I don't know the type of textile that you are referring to, my favourite place to begin when it comes to ink on upholstery is by rubbing shaving cream onto the upholstery and scrubbing it with a light-coloured cloth.
QUESTION: What kind of food is recommended for freezing and which foods should be avoided? Amber, Otterburne
ANSWER: With the exception of eggs in shells and canned foods, many foods are freezable. It is important to note some foods do not freeze well. Some foods that change in taste, consistency and texture are; mayonnaise, cream sauce, cream cheese, creamed cottage cheese, sour cream, fried foods, cake icing made with egg whites and raw veggies such as lettuce lose their crispness.
QUESTION: In a previous article you stated that setting plush toys outside and allowing them to freeze for 24 hours kills bacteria. I believe freezing is how laboratories preserve bacterial specimens for research. Also, if that is true, all the meat that we keep in the freezer would become sterile and we would not have to worry about E. coli.
I am writing this because after reading this article, moms would now think freezing plush toys would make them safe. Elizabeth, Winnipeg
ANSWER: You make great points! Some single-celled organisms are harmful to humans and animals while other bacterium is integral in sustaining our everyday lives. Many bacteria organisms require two essentials in their environment; oxygen and moisture. While this is not the case for all bacteria, it is the case for some. The meat you mentioned is rich in moisture and therefore freezing meat will not allow bacteria to die. Furthermore toilet seats, for example, harbour fewer bacteria than cellphones due to the accumulation of moisture on mouthpieces and moist hands.
If you're concerned and would like to take further action to clean stuffed toys, you may opt to wipe them with the use of chemicals such as Lysol wipes or sprays or take them to a professional drycleaner. Heat is also a great way to kill bacteria but not always an option, since the fibers of many stuffed toys shrink with heat and ruin them.
Slimy Tip of the Week
*Get rid of slugs. Open a can of beer and pour half into a plastic container. Place container near damaged plants at dusk. Repeat every evening until slugs are gone.
I enjoy your questions and tips, keep them coming. Missed a column? Can't remember a solution? Need a speaker for an upcoming event? Check out my brand new videos/blog/website: reena.ca!
Renovation & Design
ASK THE INSPECTOR: Beware of lifetime warranty on shingles
QUESTION: I am hoping you might be able to help me regarding roof shingles. I am in a custom-built house that was built in the fall of 1988. We moved into the house at the end of January 1989. We had the house shingled with 235-pound HD asphalt shingles.
In July 1996, a hailstorm went through Whyte Ridge and my home ended up being hit by hail severe enough the shingles and eavestroughs had to be replaced. The shingles were replaced in the summer of 1997 with IKO 25-year Skyline shingles.
What can you tell me about these shingles? From what I understand, IKO no longer makes them. They discontinued making them sometime after 2002 due to problems. The roof on my two-storey house is now 13 years old and the shingles are curling and shrinking quite badly. My neighbour, who didn't go with the 25-year shingles but cheaper ones, had his roof done by the same company prior to mine. The shingles on his house look 100 per cent better than mine and they are not curling at all.
Can you provide me with any information, suggestions or help as to what I should do? Are 235-pound, 25-year shingles not supposed to last 25 years? Were there defects with these shingles? Karen Kublick
ANSWER: This is a very good time of year to answer your question as many homeowners are venturing outside and looking at the exterior of their homes after the long, cold winter. Deterioration to roofing is often noticed after the snow has melted off the roof.
There are many types of asphalt shingles and warranties, but some have issues that cut into their life expectancy.
There are basically two types of asphalt-impregnated shingles available. The first has a paper base, often referred to as felt-based shingles, and the second has a fibreglass base. Both are used as a mat for impregnation with bitumen, which is topped by a coloured granular coating. The function of the base is to provide a substrate for the bitumen to adhere to and strengthen the shingle.
Some older, felt-based shingles had long warranties based on the thickness of the shingle. Thicker or heavier shingles normally last longer because they take longer to deteriorate from the elements. Thicker shingles resist normal shrinkage and curling caused by ultraviolet light and precipitation.
Unfortunately, with some types of roofing the added thickness did not translate into a longer life expectancy. Some types of IKO shingles, and other brands as well, have been known to deteriorate prematurely, and the shingles you have may be one of these.
Some experienced roofers have told me these shingles fail prematurely because of manufacturing or design defects -- specifically, types that have various fancy patterns or colours stamped into the surface. These patterns are done to imitate other styles of roofing, such as cedar shingles. The stamping or pattern design are the areas where the premature wear is seen.
Others, known as laminated shingles, have various layers or thicknesses, and older models have been known to crack, delaminate and deteriorate prematurely.
Many types of new, laminated shingles are fibreglass-based and have superior bonding between the layers, eliminating the previous problems with delamination. They also have stronger adhesives used for self-sealing between overlapping rows.
These two properties may eliminate future problems for newer roofing, but that does nothing for your home. Contacting the installer or manufacturer of the roofing on your home may provide some break in cost for replacement, but it's probably minimal. Most warranties are pro-rated, which means the replacement value decreases with age. With shingles over 15 years old, like on your home, the warranty coverage may not amount to much. But it still may be worth a couple of phone calls or emails to see if there is any special compensation if your shingles have been proven to be defective.
Two other factors that may affect the state of your home's roof relative to your neighbour's are the design of the roofing systems and proper insulation and ventilation. Roofs with vaulted ceilings, south- and west-facing sections with no shade, and inadequate insulation/ventilation are more prone to premature wear. An attic with blocked soffit vents or missing roof vents will cause shingle deterioration and curling within a few years after installation. The identical roof with better attic insulation and venting may not show severe wear until well into the second or third decade.
So, before jumping to any conclusions about your roof, check these areas to ensure they are not an issue.
As with most consumer products, warranties are only as good as the manufacturer of the products they make. If you read the documents that accompany these products, there may be severe limitations on the coverage of any warranties. While you would expect your shingles to last as long as the warranty coverage, that's often not the case. While good companies admit when their products are defective or found to be substandard, that is rarely the case with roofing manufacturers.
The interesting thing is that many shingle makers are now offering lifetime warranties on newly installed roofs. I can only imagine the restrictions in the documents for those shingles. Whose lifetime will be used to gauge the number of years these materials should last?
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors -- Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
