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’re about to put our house on the market, but we have some west-facing windows that look as if someone sneezed inside the window. I don’t want to replace them; I just want to repair them. Can they be cleaned out?
ANSWER: Unfortunately, you will have to replace the whole glass panel. The old insulated dual-pane panel is removed, and the new one is then put in. Your problem is a result of a break in the seal between the two pieces of glass. You have air leaks in and around your current dual pane windows and there is condensation or fogging in between the panes. That fogging means that the seal between the panes has deteriorated and all the gas insulation is gone. Moisture leaks into the pane and etches the glass. It looks sort of like frost on the window. Reputable glass companies can typically do the replacement with no problem.
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Q: I have a stationary kitchen window in my house that has an exterior glass pane and a pane of acrylic inside. The acrylic has cracked. Do I have to replace both panes?
A: You can replace only the acrylic pane. The reason that this happened is that heat has dried out the acrylic over time, and it has lost its resilience.
Q: Is it possible to replace my old shower stall with a new one that has a low barrier on the floor or none at all? That way, of course, it will be easier to get in and out of the shower?
A: Putting in a zero threshold on a shower usually means breaking up concrete to remove the barrier or curb. Then the floor of the shower area needs to be lowered to allow for the zero entrance floor with the new concrete sloped to the drain. It is a pretty large project that may be best suited to a qualified tile contractor unless you happen to be very handy.
Q: I have a very nice gardenia in a pot in the house, but it never seems to bloom. What am I doing wrong?
A: A gardenia will probably never bloom inside a house, because it can’t get enough sun. They need more direct sun than is available from a sunny window. In order to bloom, they also need good drainage and acidic soil conditions. But if you put a gardenia outside, avoid an area with a hot, dry wind because that wind can dry out the flower buds.
Q: I have a 4-year-old mesquite tree that was doing well, but the rabbits ate out 12 inches of bark off the bottom of the trunk. Is it going to survive?
A: Rabbits will eat anything, of course, so that can be a problem. If the rabbits have completely girdled the trunk, the tree might not do very well even if it continues to grow. You need to buy a tree guard or an arbor guard — a little sleeve that can be put around the bottom of the trunk to protect it.
Q: I want to paint some stained wooden cabinets in my house, but I can’t seem to get any consensus on how to do it. Can I use a roller and what kind of paint can I use?
A: You don’t want to use a roller, you will use a brush or a paint sprayer. However, if you’re confused about the process, you should remove one of the doors of the cabinet and take it to a paint store where they can be specific about what paint to use. Probably you have a urethane coating on the doors and you’ll have to sand them down before you paint.
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or more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona homebuilding and remodeling industry expert for 29 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 from 9-11 a.m. on KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.
