Ask Rosie: Bigger AC not better; smoke alarms; paving

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: My two-story, 1,300 square-foot townhome has air-conditioning problems and probably the whole system needs replacing. My current unit is about 20 years old and occasionally it makes screechy, metal-on-metal noises. I’ve never bought an air conditioner before, so what do I do? Should I buy a new unit or a used one? What should I watch out for?

A: It’s unlikely that you will be able to find a good supply of decent used air conditioners on the market. You’ll probably have to install a new system. One thing to keep in mind is that many air conditioning contractors will try to sell you a larger size system. But bigger is not always better. You probably don’t want to go smaller than the system you now have, but today’s air conditioners are much more efficient, and you won’t have to install a larger unit.

An oversized AC stops and starts more often; that costs more kilowatt hours and could lead to mechanical breakdowns. Oversized air conditioners do not run long enough to dehumidify the air. A smaller unit will run longer and perform more efficiently.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

 Q: I have about 200 square feet of ceramic tile flooring that I want to replace. Is there anything that I can lay on top of it without removing the old tile first?

A: If the old flooring is absolutely solid with no cracks on it, you may be able to put something very thin on top. However, it would be very difficult to put more tile or anything that’s very thick on top of the old flooring. The thresholds at doorways could end up about a half-inch taller than the flooring in adjoining rooms. You might have to trim all your doors to get them to open and close over the thicker flooring. You might even have trouble getting your current dishwasher out if you ever need to install a new one. It’s not impossible, of course, but sometimes it becomes harder to leave the tile where it is than it is to take it out.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

 Q: I have an 18-year-old house that has been hard-wired with smoke alarms. There are about nine of them and many of them are about 15 to 16 feet up on the ceiling. I want to replace them now, but what do I do? If I change one, do I have to change them all? Do I have to hire someone to come in to work on the wiring for new alarms?

A: It’s probably time to replace all the alarms. Unless you feel confident about working on them while you’re up on a ladder, you probably should hire a contractor to do the job. Many security companies will do this kind of work. You might also call your local fire department to get some advice.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I bought my home about a year ago. The water pressure seems to be terrible here, but only when I turn on the hot water. It’s so bad that you can use only one appliance at a time; if you’re using the dishwasher, for example, you can’t get hot water anywhere else. The house was built in 2005, so it’s not that old. The cold water faucets in the house seem to have good pressure. So what’s going on?

A: First you need to check the shut-off valve on your water heater. Generally, this valve is a lever at the top of your water heater and is located on a pipe leading into your house. On some water heaters, it may look like a screw-type faucet. The problem is that this valve may not be completely open. If it is not, move it to the fully open position. If that doesn’t make any difference involving your hot water flow in the house, then you probably may need to call a plumber. There may be some obstruction in the water heater or in a hot water pipe.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: Eleven years ago, I bought a plastic blister pack that contains three smoke alarms. I never opened it up to use the alarms. Can I use them now? Are they still good to install in my house?

A: You can’t install those alarms now, even if you’ve never opened the package. Ten years is the limit on the life of a smoke alarm. In that time period, the technology has improved significantly. So what you buy now will be a lot better than what is in your unused package. Always check the expiration date on the package label.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-7

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I have a small paving project that I want to do myself in my backyard. I have about 300 to 400 square feet of space where I want to install pavers. About 150 square feet of that is concrete and I want to keep the concrete and lay pavers on top of it. Paver experts tell me that for the concrete part of the job, I have to put a layer of geo-textile cloth down and then put sand on top of it. Why can’t I just fasten the pavers to the concrete?

A: Their advice is right; the best way to go with the concrete area is to lay the cloth down, then the sand layer, and finally the pavers.

But on the edges of the concrete area, you can put down a layer of thinset and then lay pavers on top of that. Instead of thinset, you could use concrete adhesive.

On the bare soil areas where you’re laying pavers, you probably need to dig out the area of the patio and also lay down the geo-textile cloth, then a base layer followed by sand. The pavers need to be compacted into the sand.

Laying pavers can be a complicated process. To do it yourself correctly, you may need to study up on the necessary techniques before starting the job.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I have an older manufactured home that needs its forced-air heating system replaced. But instead of continuing with forced-air, I want to put in a hydronic heating system with a tank- type water heater, hot water radiators in the bedrooms and some radiant heating in the floor in the bathroom.

I plan on doing the work myself, but I need to get some design help from an expert on this. Who can help me?

A: Radiant heating does have its advantages; because it doesn’t use blowers and thus doesn’t circulate dirt, dust, pollutants or allergens throughout the home. It’s possible that some heating and air conditioning companies in the Tucson area might be able to help you, but you may also want to call a company in Flagstaff where use of hydronic or radiant heating will be more common. They might be able to talk you through the issues and offer assistance with buying equipment.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: A few weeks ago, I noticed water coming into my kitchen from a leaky pipe behind the microwave. It damaged the wall and my cabinets. It turned out that the problem was a nail that had been driven into a pipe 19 years ago, and there had been a slow leak for a long time. I had a recovery firm come in and everything was thoroughly cleaned up. But when I filed a claim with my insurance company for the clean-up costs, they said that the water had to have been visible some time ago, and we did not react quickly enough to mitigate the damage. So they’re going to deny my claim.

A: After you get a written statement from the insurance company denying your claim, you can take it to the state Department of Insurance and make an appeal. Unless you had seen a big stain on the wall or a pool of water on the floor, I’m not sure that you could have known about the situation before the real flood took place in your home.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I have a 2,200-square-foot house that used to have a sunken living room, but we put a plywood structure down and then carpeted over it so that all the rooms would be at on the same level. Now we’d like to take all the old flooring out so that we can have a concrete subfloor throughout the house. How do we do that?

A: You’ll have to start by taking out the structure that you built in the living room first. After you empty the living room and any flooring on the slab, you have to ensure that you find no evidence of termite damage on the walls surrounding the slab. In fact, you might want to have a termite inspection and perhaps even treat the floor before filling in the living room just for safety’s sake. You may have to hire a contractor for this job because it’s possible you have to make some adjustments in the surrounding walls as well. Eventually, you’ll have to bring in an aggregate course of new concrete to fill in the hole you created.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I have a peach tree and a couple of citrus trees in the middle of my lawn. They’re doing OK, and they are well watered by my sprinkler system, but every summer I think maybe I should paint the trunks with tree paint to protect them. Are the trees getting enough water with this irrigation system?

A: If the trees are healthy and doing well, and they dry out between waterings, I don’t think you have to worry about the sprinklers. The paint is generally used when the trees are younger and the bark is tender. But you can paint them if you want to.

A good product to use is natural-style bark-colored paint instead of white. You also do not have to paint citrus trees if you let them grow into a bush shape – their natural formation – because the foliage will protect the trunk.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I bought my home about a year ago. The water pressure seems to be terrible here, but only when I turn on the hot water. It’s so bad that you can use only one appliance at a time; if you’re using the dishwasher, for example, you can’t get hot water anywhere else. The house was built in 2005, so it’s not that old. The cold water faucets in the house seem to have good pressure. So what’s going on?

A: First you need to check the shut-off valve on your water heater. Generally, this valve is a lever at the top of your water heater and is located on a pipe leading into your house. On some water heaters, it may look like a screw-type faucet. The problem is that this valve may not be completely open. If it is not, move it to the fully open position. If that doesn’t make any difference involving your hot water flow in the house, then you probably may need to call a plumber. There may be some obstruction in the water heater or in a hot water pipe.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero's radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

QUESTION: We own a 40-year-old masonry home that’s covered with stucco, and periodically, we have it repainted. Now we’re repainting again, and I wonder if I need to have the house re-stuccoed because it has a lot of little hairline cracks, about the width of a pencil lead, on the stucco surface. A little stucco is also peeling off at the roof line on one wall. But none of the painters who gave bids on the job seem to think it needs new stucco.

ANSWER: So long as large chunks of stucco are not de-laminating or peeling off the walls, you probably don’t need to re-stucco the entire house. Reputable painters would not want to paint over faulty stucco because it would mean more trouble for them later on. You will just need to have some elastomeric patching done before you repaint. Remember to have your house repainted every seven to 10 years.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero's radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I have an old concrete patio in my backyard and I want to redo it. I’m thinking of covering it with black slate. Would that work?

A: Dark-colored slate could get very hot in the summer. In addition, slate is not a very good surface outdoors. It can get slippery when it’s wet, and it could look very dusty in the summer. Sometimes thin layers of stone keep peeling off slate tiles. A better choice would be to buy light-colored or white concrete pavers. You can lay them right on top of the concrete and the light color will keep the pavers cooler in hot weather.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I have a home that was built using the Integra block system. But now I have been surprised to find termite tubes on one side of the house at the foundation level. I didn’t think that they could eat my masonry walls. What does it mean?

A: The Integra system, of course, has engineered masonry walls that use tension rods, foamed-in-place insulation and masonry blocks. It’s true that termites can’t eat the masonry, but they’re building those little mud tubes to get past the parts of your house that they can’t eat in order to reach your drywall and the 2-by-4 studs in your walls and roof structures. So you do need to treat your home for termites despite its sturdy block construction.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona homebuilding and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning “Rosie on the House” radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 1-888-767-4348.

Q: The water in my house doesn’t feel “soft” any more. I had a plumber at my house to check the water softener, and he said that I need new resin beads in the tank. It’s a 10-year-old system and it’s going to cost $450 to make this replacement. Is that a reasonable price?

A: If your water softener isn’t putting out soft water properly, it is often because you have a damaged resin bed — something that can happen after 10 to 15 years. The bed in your softener’s tank is filled with small beads. When the softener is working properly, hard water flows through the beads and an ion exchange takes place. The hardness ions in water – generally calcium and magnesium – are exchanged with soft ions on the resin beads. As a result, you have soft water. Although replacing the resin may be costly, having a brand-new softener installed can cost about $1,100.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I have lived in my manufactured house in Tucson for six years and have never drained my water heater. What are the proper steps to take? Can I drain the water that comes out of the heater into the plants outside?

A: You should drain your water heater at least once a year, and if you’ve never done that, you may not be able to do so because of the build-up of sediment in the tank. But in general, if you still want to try, first turn off the power or gas to the water heater and turn off the cold water supply of water into the heater.

Hook up a garden hose to the drain valve near the bottom of the tank and run the hose out to the yard. Open the drain valve. If the water does come out, you can drain it anywhere, provided the water is fairly cool; you don’t want to drain hot water on your lawn or plants. If nothing comes out when you open the drain, you can remove the hose and perhaps try to clean out the opening with a wire hanger or similar device. In that case the sediment may actually rush out suddenly onto the floor of your garage or closet. If, after all that, you succeed in getting the heater drained using the hose, you might try to run more water into the tank of the water heater so that you can drain it again and remove more sediment.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I’m painting a burnt adobe red block home that has major cracks in between the bricks. What do I use to fix that before I paint? How do I caulk the cracks that follow the grout joints?

A: Before you start, take a 7-in-1 multipurpose painter’s tool and clean out or V-out the joints first to really clean up the damaged areas. Then blow out the debris with an air compressor to make sure the joints are really clean. Then you need to seal those joints with caulk so that they can withstand weather. I’d use a urethane elastomeric caulk that has some texture to it so that when you put it in with a caulking gun it will match the grout. Put in a bead of caulk in the crack and then feather it out so it spreads into the joint.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I’ve been having a lot of trouble lately with desert pack rats making nests under my car and chewing on the wires in the engine. I’ve tried some home remedies like putting mothballs in cheesecloth patches around the area, but they just chew up the cheesecloth and leave the mothballs behind. How can I stop this problem?

A: Your basic problem is that the numbers of pack rats may have increased in your neighborhood, and now they’re looking for new territory where they can build their homes. If you’re parking your cars outside and don’t have a garage, you should keep moving the car every day and park in new places. You can also try putting some landscape lighting in the area near the cars. Those lights may keep those rats away because they like to nest in places where they’re not noticed. You can also try putting a light under the hood of the car at night. But if all that fails, you probably have to have an exterminator work on reducing the population of desert rats by trapping them and removing them from your property.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I am resealing my granite countertops one year after they were installed. At the time, the fabricator recommended a sealant that is supposed to be applied to clean countertops and then allowed to sit for five minutes before you wipe it off. I followed the instructions exactly, but now there is a haze that is difficult to get off. How can I remove that haze without buffing for hours? I don’t want to take off the new sealant.

A: This is a common problem with granite. Generally, over time the haze goes away after you wipe down your counters as you clean periodically. But if you want to act now, try using a damp towel followed by a dry towel to remove the haze. If that doesn’t work, a mixture of dish soap and water applied with a microfiber cloth should clean it up. And finally, we notice that some sealing compounds recommend using more sealer on the granite to soften up the haze and remove it.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: We are building a new home, but cannot afford to build a slump block house that has a 2x4 wall inside. Instead we are using a 2x6 frame with stucco. What would you recommend for improving on this wall system that could be affordable – foam board, vapor barrier, wall insulation?

A: The kind of stucco system that you’re having built is often called the “Western One Coat”; it’s pretty much the industry standard here in Arizona. To click it up a notch or two, we like a little better vapor barrier that allows water vapor to pass through it, thus keeping the wall assembly dry while stopping liquid water from passing into your home. Tyvek is a very good product; it’s more durable than the 7-pound tar paper normally used and it has better permeable characteristics.

So starting from the inside, the wall assembly will consist of: half-inch dry wall; R19 fiberglass batt insulation, your 2x6 framing members, the Tyvek material, one-inch foam board, the stucco finish coat, one coat of Eff stop primer, followed by two good coats of 100 percent acrylic house paint.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.

Q: I live in a two-story condo building with another homeowner living above my unit. We have a drop ceiling with metal framing over part of my unit that is used to house the air-conditioning ducts. Do you think that blown-in cellulose insulation used in that area would help reduce the noise from the neighbors walking around in the unit above us? We have heard of various other products, but we’re not sure if the neighbor would work with us to install it. Any suggestions?

A: Unfortunately, the process you have in mind will not make a noticeable difference in the foot traffic noise you are experiencing. That’s because the entire floor-ceiling assembly is acting like a large speaker cone, transmitting vibration. Adding insulation to that void space will not stop the vibration from being transferred from the floor above via all the connections in the structure.

The best place to stop the vibration from occurring is — as you say — by installing a deadening material under the flooring upstairs. Many condominium associations have a requirement that such material be installed under hard-surface flooring before installation. But, of course, that may not solve your current problem. You may want to check with the condo management company to see if the managers can help you out.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

QUESTION: What’s your opinion of the red push pistache tree?

ANSWER: They’re very beautiful trees that provide lots of fall color, as you probably already know. In the autumn their foliage turns a brilliant burnt-orange. They’re fairly drought-tolerant, and they grow up to be good-sized shade trees. So you should always plant them in a large-sized yard with plenty of room for the tree’s canopy. Since they’re deciduous and lose their leaves in winter, pistaches are good to plant on the west side of your house. They will shade the house in summer, but allow more light in your home when their limbs are bare. As you may know, many of these trees are grown locally at the Arizona Pistachio Nursery in Marana that has a long history in this area.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Q: I’m interested in buying a solar generator. But would a generator like this work when the power goes out in your house?

A: A solar generator might be useful at a camp site or in a disaster area. For example, it could help power refrigeration for protecting your food supply in the great outdoors. But if you’re looking for equipment that’s more dependable for providing power in your home in an emergency, a gas or propane-powered generator would work better.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Q: I had solar panels put on my roof. But now for some reason, my roof has been damaged and needs work. So what do I do now?

A: Solar companies should always have a roof inspected before panels are mounted so that any repair work can be done in advance of the solar installation. On a flat roof, the solar installers can leave a space underneath the panels for work to be done. But with a pitched roof, any problems need to be fixed first. If you need repairs on a pitched roof, there will be a cost to take the panels down for reroofing and then putting them back up on the roof.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.

Q: I had some recent storm damage on my tile roof. The concrete at the ends of the tiles fell off and two tiles came down. They were still in good shape, so I screwed them down into the wood and caulked them back in place. Will this repair work?

A: It’s hard to say without seeing the job you did, but it should last for a while. Some caulks or adhesives don’t work all that well on the roof of a house because they can’t take the heat in summer.

But it sounds as if you did a good job. If you have problems later on, all you’ll risk is having to try again. One adhesive that might work is Liquid Nail.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard locally from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.