Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call our radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. Our goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.
Q: We live in a home that was built in 1953. We’ve been here about 15 years, and I’m beginning to wonder if my aging water lines are ready to break. Should I have the pipes replaced before it happens? There are five of us living here in the house and it would be a major problem if we had to do without water for an extended period of time.
A: Your home is getting close to the time when you might have a break. You probably have galvanized lines that are getting pretty rusty and corroded. If you’re worried about it, you can have a qualified plumber come in and do a pressure test on your plumbing or dig down in your yard to do a visual inspection of part of the line to see what’s going on. You should, of course, assess the actual need for a full repipe before launching into this repair job.
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Q: I’m a maintenance superintendent for an elder-care home. We have a couple of 50-foot fan palms in the yard and we want to prune them to keep falling fronds from becoming a safety hazard for our residents. Is this a good time to have them trimmed?
A: There’s no problem with this time of year, but summer would be better. If you did it in late June through July, you’d be able to get a lot more of the blooms and old fronds off the trunks at the same time. But if you need to do it now, go ahead.
Q: I recently moved to Green Valley to a home that has some thriving peach trees. Last year, we only got some very small peaches because I didn’t arrive here in time to prune the trees before they started blooming. Not only that, but the birds ate almost all of them. How can I improve the yield of the trees and keep the birds away this year?
A: About the time that the fruit sets on the trees, you should thin the peaches out. If you get too many ripening at the same time, you’ll get very small peaches. You also need to prune your trees to a shorter size. That way you can get a proper net that will go over the top of the tree and then reach down to the ground. That net is the only way to keep the birds away. If you don’t put a net on the tree, you have to run right out there as soon as the peaches start to ripen and pick them all.
Q: I have two strips of lighting over my bathroom mirror with six bulbs in each strip. A few weeks ago, the lights started flickering. What does that mean?
A: It could mean that some of the bulbs are loose; so start by tightening them up. But it could also be that the light fixture itself is coming loose or that there is a problem in your electrical box. If you take the fixture down and can’t figure it out, you should call a licensed electrician to come check the switch and associated wiring.
Q: I have a porcelain bathtub that’s in pretty bad shape. Would you recommend painting it in order to keep it going for a while?
A: No, painting porcelain tubs is not something we recommend. The refinishing process can be quite complicated and the advance preparation has to be done just perfectly to make the paint job a success. I understand your reluctance to pull out and replace the current tub. But there are companies out there, however, that can put a new acrylic liner over your tub. It’s a repair that could last a lifetime. It can be done for less money than a bathtub replacement would cost.
For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) and -FM (97.1) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley.
