Home Maintenance For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Carey, James

  Siding: A Raincoat to Keep You Dry

  Water can attack and damage wood siding. Stucco walls crack when the house shifts as winter rains expand soil. Metal siding dents easily. Vinyl siding pits as it oxidizes. Even bricks chip and crack with winter freezes and summer ground settlement. No surface is perfect; no material perfectly withstands the rigors of nature and the force of the elements. But you can do a thing or two to add life and beauty to your home’s siding.

  Aluminum siding

  Think of aluminum siding in the same way that you think of a car body. It’s a smooth metal surface covered with paint that needs to be regularly cleaned, polished, and waxed. Really, think about it. Aluminum siding is metal that is formed and polished and given a factory paint job just like a car body. So what automobile paint job do you know of that will last forever? The fact is that aluminum siding, like all the others, needs to be maintained and occasionally painted.

  Taking care of chalked paint

  If you want to see a good case of chalked (oxidized) paint, then get up close and personal to a 20-year-old home sided with aluminum that has never been cleaned or painted. So, how do you prevent chalking? You can’t, but you can make light work of getting it to disappear. All you have to do is attend to it on a regular basis.

  Pressure-wash regularly (once or twice a year), and don’t forget the laundry detergent. (Most pressure washers have a plastic “suction tube” that can draw the contents out of any container and blend it with the pressurized water. It’s a great accessory for incorporating cleaning chemicals and detergents into the jet spray. Follow the pressure-washer recommendations for diluting the detergent — it’s usually one part detergent to one part water.) Your aluminum siding will remain bright and shiny for years. And the task won’t ever seem overwhelming.

  Painting aluminum siding

  When your aluminum siding begins to look worn and tattered, painting is in order. Follow these tips:

  Don’t scrape aluminum siding. Aluminum has a smooth surface and should be sanded with a finer 400- to 600-grit sandpaper.

  For bare aluminum, prime with a zinc-oxide primer (metal primer).

  Spray-paint the aluminum surface for best results.

  If you have to patch the surface, use a filler made especially for metal (like Bondo, which is made for cars).

  Vinyl siding

  Vinyl siding doesn’t warp, split, or buckle and, according to what several manufacturers espouse, it doesn’t ever have to be painted. Actually, it can’t be painted — paint simply will not stick to vinyl in the same way it sticks to wood or aluminum.

  Like all types of exterior siding, vinyl does have its shortcomings. Over time, its surface oxidizes. As the surface deteriorates, the pitted result causes the material to become dull and prone to stain. The only way to combat this problem is to regularly clean the siding. Twice a year is good — once in the spring and then again in the fall. Use a pressure washer with laundry detergent to get the surface sparkling clean.

  Keeping the surface of the vinyl clean won’t prevent it from oxidizing, but it will prevent corrosive chemicals in the air from attacking the surface.

  Stucco

  Stucco is cool stuff. It doesn’t rot, and compared to other types of siding, it’s relatively easy to maintain. Stucco is very porous and holds on to paint better than most other kinds of siding. Also, it’s one of the easiest surfaces to prepare and paint. So, if you have stucco, count your blessings.

  Caring for cracks

  The most challenging stucco maintenance is crack repair. Stucco’s tough but brittle surface sometimes can be a drawback. When the house shifts, rigid things crack.

  You can turn your home into an interstate road map of ugly, obvious crack repairs if you aren’t careful. When it comes to stucco crack repair, less is more. Don’t try to patch every crack. Hairline cracks and those that you can’t get your fingernail into should not be patched; in fact, paint usually will fill those cracks. Wider cracks (those up to ¼ inch wide) should be filled with a high-quality, exterior-grade, acrylic latex caulk. Have a damp sponge handy to wipe away excess caulk that escapes.

  Just follow these simple steps:

  1. Clean all loose debris from the crack.

  The V end of an old-fashioned can opener and a vacuum cleaner work wonders here.

  2. Use a paintable silicone caulk — and your finger — to make an invisible repair.

  Don’t use a putty knife, because it prevents you from matching the existing texture. And don’t use just any caulk; use the 50-year kind, which really does hold better and longer than the other types.

  3. With a damp sponge, wipe off the excess caulking in all directions.

  4. While the caulk is still wet, place fine texturing sand into the palm of your hand and, holding your hand in front of the caulking, blow across the sand to scatter it onto the surface of the damp caulk.

  The sand makes the patch less obvious and prevents the road-map effect by helping the caulk blend into the surrounding finish.

  Taking a chunk out of gouges

  You can repair wider cracks and gouges with a stucco patching compound. Follow mixing instructions carefully because the amount of water you use can change the properties of the compound. If the properties of the compound change, it may not hold as well.

  Follow these steps:

  1. Clean all loose debris from the crack or gouge.

  2. Use a latex patching product and a putty knife or trowel to fill the area.

  3. Apply a second coat to match the surface texture.

  Thin the patching compound to a pancake-batter consistency. Dip the end of a paintbrush into the mixture. Holding your hand between the wall and the paintbrush, slap the handle of the brush against your hand. The patching compound splatters onto the surface, matching the texture of the stucco. If the texture is flat, wait for the splattering to become slightly firm and then wipe it to the desired flatness with a putty knife or a trowel.

  Painting stucco

  To paint stucco, use a roller for small jobs; for larger jobs, use an airless sprayer. A brush is not recommended for painting stucco, but you can use one to add texture: After you spray the paint onto the surface, use a deep-nap roller (3/4 inch to 1 inch) to work the paint into the surface and to achieve a uniform texture.

  Although one coat may do the trick, stucco usually will require two coats, due to its high level of absorption and to conceal cracks and other repairs.

  Really porous stucco absorbs gallons of paint. If you’re painting stucco for the first time, save paint by using a water hose to completely wet the surface of the stucco before painting. The water fills the pores in the stucco and prevents the stucco from absorbing excess amounts of paint. Wait for surface water to evaporate first and then begin painting.

  Wood siding

  When wood’s moisture content reaches 20 percent to 30 percent, fungi deep within its fibers begin to grow and flourish, causing dreaded wood rot. To prevent wood rot, treat your wood siding with an application of oil, stain, or paint. These materials act as a barrier, preventing water from coming into direct contact with the wood.

  Which finish you choose is mostly an aesthetic choice, although practical-ities like ease of application, how long lasting the finish is, and so on are also factors:

  Oil, a clear finish, is absorbed into the wood and fills all pores and voids, displacing water that would otherwise be absorbed. It’s easier to apply than paint, and if the oil is clear (or almost clear), mistakes are nearly impossible to detect. In addition, oil doesn’t split, chip, or blister. Unfortunately, oil has a tendency to evaporate and doesn’t last as long as paint.

  Oil stain is the same as oil except that a pigment has been mixed into the oil. The added pigment makes application of oil stains slightly more difficult (mistakes show more readily). But the pigment also helps to filter out more of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays. Like oil, oil stains don’t split, chip, or blister.

  The more wood that yo
u can see when the job is complete, the more often you can expect to redo the finish.

  Paint penetrates and protects in the same way that oil does. Additionally, paint coats the surface of the wood with a thin, durable waterproof hide. Paint certainly lasts longer, but it is the most difficult to apply and is more prone to chipping, splitting, and blistering.

  Everything’s a trade-off. With oil you won’t ever have to sand, scrape, or chisel the surface to prepare it for another application. But be ready to reapply a new coat every several years. With an oil stain, figure about three to five years of lasting quality. A good grade of paint, applied to a properly cleaned surface, lasts seven to ten years or more.

  Paint experts agree that 80 percent of a good oil, stain, or paint job is in the preparation. But the exterior of your home is no small area, so when it comes to preparation (removing old layers of loose paint, a tattered layer of stain, a discolored layer of wood, or just plain dirt), you can expect to do some major work. Fortunately, tools like sand blasters, soda washers, and pressure washers are available at home centers, paint stores, and rental outlets; these tools help make cleanup and removal an almost fun job. All these tools involve some degree of work on your part, but they’re a breeze to use compared to a hand scraper, a hand chipper, or a blowtorch. Our personal choice is a pressure washer.

  Preparing painted surfaces

  To prepare surfaces for repainting, follow these steps

  1. Completely remove all old loose paint and sand the spots where a painted surface meets a bare spot.

  A new coat of paint won’t stick any better than the old paint below it; that’s why removing all loose paint is so important, and tapering or feathering these transition points makes them less visible and guarantees a nicer looking finished product.

  2. Prime all bare spots with a high-grade oil-based primer.

  Tinting a standard white primer a shade or two lighter than the finish coat can improve coverage. For example, a light-brown finish coat covers a beige primer more effectively than it covers a white primer.

  3. Caulk all joints with a high-grade, 50-year, paintable silicone or polyurethane product.

  Doing so prevents water from getting behind the siding.

  Now you’re ready to paint.

  Preparing oiled surfaces

  To prepare an oiled surface for refinishing, clean the wood with a pressure washer, apply a coat of wood bleach, let it stand (following the manufacturer’s instructions), and pressure-wash again. At this point, the wood is ready for a fresh coat of oil or oil stain. Your oiled siding will look so good, you won’t believe you did it yourself!

  Chapter 6

  Windows, Exterior Doors, and Insulation

  In This Chapter

  Maintaining the comfort of your home through insulation

  Caring for windows

  Getting the most out of your doors, inside and out

  Most home-maintenance projects save you money over time. But only a few of them produce an immediate and measurable return. Maintaining your home’s energy envelope is one such project. The floors, walls, ceilings, doors, and windows of your home combine to make up its energy envelope. When the energy envelope is properly maintained, your personal comfort level reaps the benefits by better protecting you from the elements. And your wallet also notices a difference when you aren’t paying such high heating and cooling bills.

  Saving Energy with Insulation

  If your home is like most, your attic and exterior walls are insulated. If you’re really smart, you also have insulated floors. But if your home is at least 20 years old, you may need to perform a little maintenance on your insulation. How will you know? Well, if you’re freezing, your furnace is running full bore, and there isn’t a window open in the house — well, you know. The good news is that insulation is pretty easy to maintain, as the following sections explain.

  Looking at different types of insulation

  Before you start adding insulation everywhere, take a few minutes to find out what kinds of insulation exist so that you can make a good decision about what you need and understand what you currently have.

  Here are the basic categories of insulation:

  Loose-fill insulation: This kind of insulation is made out of small individual chunks of fibers. It’s also known as blown insulation because it’s installed with a blower, a giant vacuum cleaner that works in reverse.

  Batt insulation: With batt insulation, insulative fibers are woven together to create a continuous blanket of material. Batt insulation is available in 16- and 24-inch-wide rolls (or 8-foot strips) to fit standard spacing between ceiling and wall framing members. A paper or foil moisture barrier is glued to one side of this type of insulation.

  When installing batt insulation, always place the side with the backing toward the inside of the home. For example, with ceilings, the backing goes down, and for floors, the backing faces up.

  Rigid insulation: Insulative fibers are tightly sandwiched together between two layers of foil, creating a solid insulative material that looks a lot like a thick sheet of plywood. Rigid insulation, typically used between the roof sheathing and the roof covering when no attic exists, is available in different thicknesses and insulative values. It can be used anywhere the batts or loose-fill insulation can be used, but rigid insulation isn’t always practical because of its rigidity and high cost.

  Spray-foam insulation: Spray-foam insulation works in the most convoluted and irregular places, expanding into places that other types of insulation can’t reach. The expanding foam also acts as an excellent water seal. Unfortunately, this type of insulation can only be installed into an open wall, so it’s an option only when you’re remodeling a room or adding on.

  Radiant-barrier insulation: Radiant-barrier insulation is nothing more than a lightweight aluminum fabric that blankets existing attic insulation. Radiant barriers have hundreds of thousands of teeny-tiny holes that allow vapors to pass and prevent condensation from occurring at ceiling level. These barriers also reflect heat from above during summer, while at the same time holding in heat during winter. You install the barrier as a single sheet.

  Duct insulation: The fabric of duct insulation is soft and pliable like so many other types, but it’s only 1 inch thick, comes in 1-foot-wide rolls, and is specifically made to be corkscrew-wrapped around ducting.

  Pipe insulation: Preformed, tubular, foam-pipe insulation has a specific use: to insulate water piping. This material is most available for 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, and 1-inch piping; is usually sold in 6-foot lengths; and is easy to cut with scissors or a razor knife. Each section of insulation is split lengthwise to ensure quick installation.

  Getting the lowdown on insulation materials

  Many of the categories of insulation noted in the preceding section are available in a number of insulation materials: fiberglass, rock wool, cellulose, and more. They all work. And you can mix and match them. If you have cellulose insulation, for example, and need more, you can add any type of fiber you want. You can also use batts over loose-fill material and loose-fill material over batts.

  Here’s what we think about each type of insulation material:

  Fiberglass: Fiberglass insulation is the most popular and widely available type of insulation. You can buy it as either batts or loose fill. It’s relatively inexpensive, and the batts are very easy to install. It’s nonflammable and resists damage from water.

  The fibers can irritate your skin and lungs, so take precautions while handling it. In addition to wearing protective clothing and goggles, take a cold shower after working with fiberglass insulation to help remove tiny fibers that make their way to your skin and cause you to itch. (Why a cold shower? Because a hot shower opens your pores and allows the pesky fibers more opportunity to make you uncomfortable.)

  Rock wool: Although it’s similar to fiberglass insulation, rock wool (also called mineral wool) is a little more expensive and somewhat more difficult to find, but it doesn’t usually provoke the
same itchy reaction that fiberglass does. It looks a lot like dryer lint and can be just as dusty when handled. Rock wool can be blown in or poured in place. Rock wool can cake when wet and naturally settles over time, conditions that diminish its insulative value.