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: I am painting the outside of my house in Sierra Vista. My problem is that there are a lot of minor cracks in the textured stucco on my walls. When I caulk them and paint over them, I still see the cracks plus the caulking lines. How can I get rid of all that?
ANSWER: First buy some textured latex caulk from a good quality paint store. Next use an air compressor to blow air into all the cracks to clear out any loose material. Then force the latex caulk into the cracks. Finally, daub the entire surface with a damp sponge and use your fingers to feather out the edges. After the paint dries, the caulk lines will disappear.
People are also reading…
Q: On the west side of my two-story home, I’d like to plant a tree to provide more shade. I’d also like it to be a deciduous tree. It’s a small space — about 25 feet between the house and a concrete wall. I want it to be upright in growth. What kind of tree should I plant?
A: It’s going to be a challenge to find the right tree. The shoestring acacia and Texas live oak are both good possibilities for upright growth, but they’re evergreen, not deciduous. But since the tree is near a wall, you should probably plant an evergreen tree because deciduous trees tend to have more aggressive root systems. A Texas live oak seems like the best choice even though it’s not deciduous.
Q: I need to install a water softener, but because I don’t have an existing plumbing loop for the installation, I will have to install a whole house system. What I want to know is: Will that water be safe to drink? My wife is very concerned about the possible sodium deposited in the water.
A: An 8-ounce (237-milliliter) glass of softened water generally contains less than 12.5 milligrams of sodium, well within the Food and Drug Administration definition of “very low sodium.” Most sodium in the average diet comes from table salt and processed foods. If you drink 12 glasses of softened water, you will not consume as much salt as is found in a slice of bread. However, if your wife is very salt-sensitive, you can install a reverse osmosis system under your kitchen sink in order to take sodium back out of the drinking water. That’s what many people do.
Q: I have little bugs coming out from under an electric switch plate on the wall in a bathroom. A friend suggested that I could buy an insulated plate that would help stop this. But I’m afraid to take the plate off to find out what’s going on. Could this be a termite problem?
A: Call a pest control company to your home to remove the plate and decide what kind of action needs to be taken. If the problem is termites coming out of the walls, the company may have to treat various areas of your home. If it’s some other kind of insect, they can use a powdered insecticide on the specific area involved.
Q: There are dwarf citrus trees, aren’t there? What about planting a dwarf palo verde? Is that possible?
A: There is no such thing. Plant growth hormones can be applied to a tree to regulate its size. The hormone will spur growth on the roots of the tree rather than on the trunk above ground. Compounds like these are not directly available for homeowners. You need a licensed arborist to provide and apply them if you’re fighting to keep the size of a tree under control.
For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building 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.
