By DWIGHT BARNETT, Scripps Howard News Service
Homefix: Trust the SEER of electrical efficiency
Q: I have a quick question after reading a recommendation you made to a couple in Fort Myers, Fla. We have a 2-1/2-ton air conditioner with a low SEER efficiency that is 10 years old. The residence is a condo. While we were away from the condo, the air conditioner started making loud noises, so the neighbor turned it off. When it was turned on again, it made the same sound.
Homefix: Don't cut corners when it's time to replace shingles
Q: Our home is 23 years old and has a pitched roof with common shingles. The roof does not leak, but the shingles are starting to curl and are just plain ugly. We have received different opinions on what to do, and the cost difference makes me want an unbiased opinion. The roof has just one layer of shingles.
Homefix: Water leaks in a condo
Q: We had a major water leak in our 9-year-old, two-story condo that caused us to have to tear down an entire side of the house to the sheet-rock walls to repair enormous rot and black mold.
Homefix: Dealing with algae stains on shingles
Q: I look forward each time to your Home Fix column and have been a reader for a long time. I appreciate your writings.
About algae on shingle roofs ... Is there a best time or two during the year to apply a recommended cleaner with a garden sprayer?
Homefix: Choosing a home inspector
Q: I was watching a DIY show that featured a home inspector answering viewer's questions. The home inspector stated that the No. 1 problem with homes is drainage, yet when I asked local home inspectors I got different answers. Is there no set rules or guide for home inspectors -- or, for that matter, the public -- to know what a major problem is? How do you find a qualified inspector?
Homefix: More about bricks
Q: I read your article about brick walls and I have a question about a very old brick home. The basement foundation is made of solid bricks that seem to be in a good condition, but sometime ago the bricks were covered with stucco in an attempt to waterproof the basement. Now that some of the stucco is coming off I would like to know what I should use to patch the walls.
Homefix: Maintaining your bricks ... hot water flow
Q: I have brick walls in my courtyard and every year a few more bricks "go bad." The facing comes off. I paid a man hundreds of dollars to solve the problem. He sprayed the walls but it did not help. I just wasted my money.
Homefix: Right and wrong ways to insulate exterior walls
Q: We are trying to sell our home and the buyers hired an inspector to investigate. After going in the crawl space, the inspector told the buyers there was no insulation and that they would lose a lot of heating through the walls.
Homefix: Humidifiers
Q: My wife gets sick when the humidity gets too high in the summer. We have a central heating and cooling unit. What type of humidifier do you recommend? Thank you. -- Augusta, Georgia
Homefix: Correcting ceiling leaks complicated, expensive
Q: My house was built in the early 1920s. I bought it in 2000 and have done a lot of work on it. The roof was replaced in 2003 by friends of friends who worked in construction. They weren't licensed roofers. Just because we wanted to save some money, it ended up being a nightmare!
