Renovation & Design

Renovation & Design

ASK THE INSPECTOR: Repairing garage easier than fixing problem

QUESTION: I have quick question about my house, which was built in 1990. The inside walls of my garage foundation are crumbling. The wall against the house is just like new, but the two outside walls are crumbling. I can take a broom and sweep against them every three or four months and it seems like a small layer of cement is coming off them every time. I was wondering if there is anything I can do to prevent this from happening.-- Al Cournoyer

ANSWER: Your situation is a common one with attached garages on newer homes and is typically due to moisture in the garage that attacks the surface of the concrete, causing a condition known as spalling. There may be a few things that you can do to minimize the damage, but regular maintenance may prevent the issue from becoming serious.

Deterioration of the concrete in the short grade beam in your garage is one of the few situations in your home where you have to regularly do minor repairs to keep it from becoming a bigger issue.

Attached garages are unusual areas in homes, as they are not normally heated or air-conditioned spaces, but may be finished or insulated similar to the interior of the home. Because they are attached to the home, they will also be less prone to heat loss than detached garages. This makes these areas very convenient for vehicle and utility storage, and normally eliminates the need for block heaters. But this can have negative consequences related to moisture.

The true cause of the deterioration to the surface of the concrete in your garage grade-beam foundation is from moisture and excessive condensation. This moisture may sit on the surface of the concrete or penetrate this porous material. If enough moisture penetrates the surface in the winter months, it may freeze and thaw continually, causing expansion and damage to the concrete. This can certainly lead to the problems you are experiencing, which may continue or get progressively worse as the concrete deteriorates.

Any time this is observed and loose material is seen on the floor, it should be repaired with a high-quality concrete patching compound to prevent further deterioration. These products are available at home centres and building supply stores and may be easily mixed with water and additives and applied in thin layers to smooth and seal the uneven surface of the damaged concrete. If these minor repairs are done every year in the warm months, it may limit the damage significantly and prevent a major concrete repair.

Preventing condensation on the concrete may be much more difficult than fixing minor damage. The cause of this moisture build-up is the actual usage of the garage. Most of the time, the garage vehicle door remains closed and there is minimal air circulation and moderate temperatures inside. In the dead of winter, this interior garage temperature may be just below freezing, but still considerably warmer than outside. The exterior of the grade-beam foundation will be very cold, while the inside will be cool.

When the door from the home is opened for access to the garage and when warm vehicles are pulled inside, the temperature and relative humidity in the garage is quickly raised. This warm air from the home and vehicles carries considerably more moisture than the freezing outside air and will raise the relative humidity in the garage, often near the point of saturation. Melting snow and ice from the cars on the garage floor will add to the problem.

As the garage air slowly cools down after the vehicle is shut off and the door to the house is closed, the moisture in the air will condense on colder surfaces such as the outside walls, windows and the cool foundation grade beam. This moisture may freeze and build up significant frost, which will melt and run down the walls and top of the grade beam when the garage heats up again. Some will absorb into the concrete.

Since water expands rather than contracts when it freezes, it can cause the surface of the concrete to crack and blister and crumble onto the floor.

A partial solution to this problem is to try to eliminate the drastic heating and cooling of the garage, as much as possible, while minimizing moisture intrusion. The best way to do this is to leave the garage door open for a few minutes after pulling the vehicle inside, after the door to the house is opened, and a few times during the day when the weather is well below freezing. This will allow excess warm, moist air to vent out the large door and allow dry, fresh air to enter the garage, preventing excess condensation on the cold surface of the concrete.

Ensuring that the self-closer and weatherstripping on the door to the house are in good condition will also help prevent warm air leakage from the home. But even with these preventative measures, regular patching and sealing of the concrete surface may be necessary to prevent the grade beam from serious damage that may require costly replacement.

Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the President of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors - Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be e-mailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.

trainedeye@iname.com

Ari Marantz
November 21

Renovation & Design

MIKE HOLMES: Avoid a Christmas reno ho-ho-horror story

Homeowners always want renovations done in time for the holidays -- there's this big rush to make sure the house looks good when company comes. And, this year there's added pressure to take advantage of the home renovation tax credit before the end of 2009. I'm even hearing ads from big box stores: "It's your last chance to save the tax."

I'm never in favour of rushing a job -- not to save money, not to impress your guests -- because odds are if you rush the job, it'll cost you more in the end.

The question of whether or not it's a good idea to renovate just before the holiday season has to be answered by you, the homeowner. If you're the sort of person who gets stressed out by the holiday season, a renovation project might put you over the edge. In that case, waiting to start any major home alterations would be the way to go.

Is there any good reason to renovate in the weeks leading up to December 25? The best one I can think of is contractor availability. Many homeowners don't want to get into a renovation project in December, so this turns into a typically slow period for certain types of contractors who are otherwise booked solid the rest of the year. For this reason alone you might choose to chance it and hope it gets done in time, or this may be the only time slot your preferred contractor has until next December 2010 -- so it becomes a take it or leave it situation.

So let's say you are going to go for it -- here are a couple of points to keep in mind.

The holiday season can get you where it hurts the most -- in the wallet. And there's almost nothing more expensive than a big reno project. A common situation occurs when the renovation budget gets slashed at the last minute because of a cash flow problem caused by the overlapping events.

The month of December is a busy social time for homeowners and contractors alike. If your project is running behind schedule (and by that I mean it's not ready for the day your 26 family members descend on your house for Holiday dinner) don't expect that your contractors will miss their own family obligations to get your project done in time. Your contractor has a life and family and the holidays can also be a stressful time for them too.

If you are renovating a part of your home that is critical to the success of your holiday get-together, like your main bathroom or your kitchen, make sure the completion date has loads of contingency built into it. Be prepared for the unexpected -- things that could throw your reno schedule out the window -- like snowstorms or backlogged custom ordered products. At this time of year, Santa's workshop is working overtime and so are many suppliers and retailers. If a shipment is ever going to get lost, you know it is going to be at this time of year. If something critical is required for your renovation, it's wise to order it well in advance of the start date, and not rely on it arriving on time.

If your holiday renovation project includes demolition, sawing wood or sanding drywall (and show me a renovation that doesn't), you can bet there will be dust. Unless you like the idea of a dropsheet over your tree, it might be wise to delay putting up all the inside decorations until construction is complete. But then again, a sprinkling of white drywall dust all over the house might look just right at this time of year.

If your contractor makes the effort to be as clean as possible and you've left a margin of safety in the construction schedule, a pre-holiday reno can be smooth sailing. You just need to make sure that you've left nothing to chance, so you can save your holiday stress for the shopping mall and your 26 visiting relatives.

But on the other hand, you have some family always overstaying their welcome, there's nothing like a home in the middle of a renovation to get Aunt Matilda to take the first available bus back to her Florida condo. I'm just saying.

 

-- Canwest News Service

 

Catch Mike in his brand-new series, Holmes Inspection airing Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. For more information visit www.hgtv.ca

 

 

Mike Holmes
November 14

Renovation & Design

SOLUTIONS: Remove that busted light bulb with a spud

QUESTION: I was trying to replace a burnt-out light bulb in my overhead kitchen light fixture, and the bulb broke, leaving the socket and some broken fragments behind. How do I get this out? Moira, Winnipeg

ANSWER: Turn off the electrical power, put on leather gloves and safety goggles. Slice a potato in half and jam the exposed white potato into the socket. Turn and pull. Or insert pliers into the base and spread the handles apart. Rotate the pliers clockwise until the base comes out. Or insert a screwdriver between the base and the socket. Insert pliers and gently turn the base counter-clockwise until it comes out.

QUESTION: My daughter's washing machine has some black spots on the inside of the machine and on the rubber part. I believe that it may be mould, but am not sure. I leave my washer door open all the time so it dries out. She doesn't, and I think that these spots are from a buildup of moisture. Is there a safe way to remove these black spots? Val, Winnipeg

ANSWER: You are right about leaving the door of the washing machine open between uses. As for mildew on the seal, your daughter's best bet is to scrub the top of the seal as well as underneath the seal with 50/50 bleach and water. Following a good cleaning, soak the empty machine with one cup of bleach once a week. Leave bleach in the machine overnight and rinse in the morning. If you are hesitant to use bleach (like I am), vinegar is a great substitute.

QUESTION: How can I clean the non-slip flooring in my bathtub? It is going grey. I have tried Javex, Vim and vinegar but nothing has worked. Darlene, Winnipeg

ANSWER: I, too, am going grey but the following solutions won't work on me. Here are a few tricks with which readers have had success; make sure to test all solutions on an inconspicuous area first because you don't want to damage the finish. A mixture of salt and turpentine can return the bathtub non-slip flooring back to its original colour (ventilate when using turpentine). Other products to try are: Iron Out, toilet bowl cleaner or washing soda, a scrub with a green scrubby pad, not an S.O.S. pad. Rinse well between product uses!

QUESTION: I put tinfoil in the bottom of my oven to catch spills. Some pieces are now baked-on. It is a self-cleaning oven. How do I get the pieces of tinfoil off? I enjoy reading all your tips. Thanks, Jane (St. Andrews, Manitoba)

ANSWER: I guess it's too late to mention that foil should never be placed on the bottom of a self-clean oven for this exact reason. In my opinion, the best solution for you is to do very little because there isn't any safe way to quickly remove the foil without damaging the porcelain finish of the oven. You can use a plastic scrub pad, some liquid dish soap and a plastic scraper to remove what you can, this is best done when the oven is warm (be careful not to burn yourself). When you are wiping out the oven periodically, use a plastic scrub pad and each time more will come off. The great news is that the self-cleaning oven feature will eventually remove the foil; but it may take several cleaning cycles and a bunch of patience. Extra tidbit: "The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it." -- Arnold H. Glasgow

QUESTION: I have been having "fun" with those little black fruit or plant flies the last several weeks. They are from my houseplants and I have tried putting them outside and spraying the plants with a bought spray but nothing so far has worked. I was wondering if you had any ideas I could try. Thanks so much, Glenda, Winnipeg

ANSWER: You are at war with an insect but it may not the infamous fruit fly. The bugs that you are describing sounds like a fungus gnat. Sure, they disguise themselves to look like fruit flies but they are a cousin to the much-loved mosquito and sometimes bite.

Fungus gnats are caused by over watering and decaying material on the soil of houseplants. The fastest road back to happiness is to dump the infested plant soil into a garbage bag and re-pot each plant with fresh soil. Don't delay -- these little critters multiply quickly and will make their way into coffee cups, soup bowls and other food products.

If you think that you are dealing with fruit flies, you can make a fruit-fly catcher by putting a piece of banana in the bottom of an empty jam jar. Cover with plastic wrap; make a small hole for fruit flies to enter. Or fill an empty pop bottle one-quarter full with pickle juice and leave open on the counter. Or fill several coffee cups half-full with apple cider vinegar. Leave overnight where flies tend to congregate and in the morning they will be floating on the bottom of the cups.

Fabulous Tips of the Week:

* If you leave a metal can like shaving foam on the side of your bath, you will end up with a ring of rust from the base of the can. Combat this problem by covering the bottom of your shaving can with clear mailing tape.

* Are cockroaches in your home driving you nuts? Try this tested trick. Fill a large bowl with cheap wine and leave it under the sink. The pests will drink it, fall in the bowl and drown.

I enjoy your questions and tips; keep them coming!

Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org. You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., ROA 0C0.

 

Reena Nerbas
November 14