Q: My house is on a hill, built in 1923, and seems to be falling apart.
It is a two-family, and I hear crashing noises, as if something is breaking. Wide cracks are appearing in woodwork; my walker rolls down tilted floors and the rugs even slide down to the other end. Is the house settling? I have had two people inspect the house, from the outside, and they told me nothing is wrong. I am concerned. — Margarety McKinney, Brookline, Mass.
A: I think you should be concerned. Those symptoms are too severe to be ignored, and inspecting just the outside will not cut it. Call a structural engineer, or an architect; most architects are engineers.
Q: I have an old teak table with a top that is worn down, scratched and in bad shape, with very little finish left. It was my mother’s, so I want to keep it. How can I make it look good again? I can’t do any of the work, so who can I hire to do it? — Florence Armstrong, Malden, Mass.
A: You can restore that table top so it will look like when your mother had it. It is simply a matter of sanding it to the bare wood. This will take off the finish and reduce the scratches to nothing. Use power so the work will be faster and easier. An orbital sander will be slow, but a belt sander might be too fast for you to handle. Three sandings will be needed: coarse, medium, and fine. Then apply two or three coats of a urethane varnish. You can do it; you won’t know until you’ve tried. If you really can’t, find a handyman, someone who knows a little about a lot of things.
Q: We bought a house that has had a heating pipe running through an unfinished and fairly cool room. Because of this the prior owner put antifreeze in the pipes. We have finished off that room and it is warmer.
Is it still necessary to continue with the antifreeze? — Anonymous
A: Unless you vacate the house for a time in winter and shut it down, there is no need for antifreeze in the pipes. Since it is already there, leave it in. The antifreeze in the heating system should be a nontoxic type.
