By DWIGHT BARNETT, Scripps Howard News Service

Q: We just recently renovated our house. It was a rather large renovation: We made a cape a colonial. Now we have really low humidity levels to the point that the floors are separating and the molding is all cracking. We never had this before.
Who is responsible for the humidity level in a new house and what can we do? -- Kristen, Red Bank, N.J.

Q: During the recent severe weather, we had water running in through the ceiling of our bay window. The power was off for several days and I'm worried about mold and any other damage we may not be able to see. The ceiling and wall will have to be replaced, but what about the wood inside the walls? Do you have any suggestions? -- J.H., Evansville, Ind.

Q: My house is about 40 years old, unpainted brick veneer, crawlspace ranch, with 2-1/2 inches of foil-faced insulation in the walls.

Q: My home was built in the late 1970s, and ceiling coils are my main source of heat. I have found that this is not a good source.
However, I have another problem: The ceiling cracks every year. Now I have one long crack and three smaller ones. I have tried sanding, filling, smoothing and other things.

Q: We live in an older home -- say, built around 1905 -- that has the old horsehair plaster on the walls and ceiling. We would like to do over the ceilings and paint the walls.
Would it be best to just screw Sheetrock on the ceiling and then plaster? As far as the walls, how would you recommend to smooth the walls so we could paint?

Q: I want to install a grab bar in my fiberglass shower stall. The problem is that the shower stall was installed when the condo was built. There is about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of "air space" between the fiberglass (which is about 1/4-inch thick) and the drywall behind it.

Q: Our house was built in 1984 and we have aluminum-clad windows (in an aluminum frame) that need to be replaced. The frames were originally bronze-colored but have become faded and scratched, plus the glass has "fogged" in many of the windows.

Fifty-two weeks of the year, and to the best of my ability, I answer questions posed by my readers either in this column or by e-mail.

Fifty-two weeks of the year, and to the best of my ability, I answer questions posed by my readers either in this column or by e-mail.

Q: Are you familiar with a product called Humidex? The air in my home is very dry and the humidity level is 30 percent to 35 percent. A company is telling me that by installing a Humidex I can actually regulate the humidity and I won't have the dry-air problem.