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 where someone lives in Arizona. Here are questions about home maintenance and improvement from the Southern Arizona area.
Q: I want to replace my shingled roof with a metal roof. I have one layer of asphalt shingles on my roof. Can I place the metal roof on top of the shingles?
A: The quick answer to your question is no. And there are some good reasons why. A metal roof is pretty much a lifetime product, and as such, you want to make sure that it is installed so as to never need repairs. When you remove all of the shingles, it’s entirely possible that there may be some sheets of plywood on your roof that are not as sound as they once were for a variety of reasons. Those sheets would have to be removed and replaced by the roofer in question. There may also be some fascia boards that need replacing. Now is the time to take care of that problem, too. Once the roofing system is properly repaired, the new underlayment can be placed and the metal roofing system installed.
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Then you will have a roof that will last almost indefinitely. Please don’t waste your money on a new metal system without having it prepared and installed properly. It’s a decision you may soon regret.
Q: I just bought my house a few months ago; it was built in 2007. During one of the monsoon storms over the summer, I found water inside my garage. It didn’t do any damage, and I didn’t have any serious flooding in the house or in the yard. Should I add some drains to my property which is fairly flat?
A: Probably you shouldn’t rush into action on this problem. This summer was very unusual with a number of 100-year storms throughout the state. You may not see another summer like this one for a long time. Just keep an eye on things for the next year or so to be sure you actually have a problem that requires adding drains to your landscaping.
Q: I have seen mice on my patio and yard and sometimes around the barbecue grill. I don’t think they’re in the house. What should I do?
A: Try putting out traps around your foundations and landscaping and even inside the house. Although you don’t see those mice in the house, they could be inside your walls.
Q: We have a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlet in our garage that doesn’t work and three others on the patio that seem dead, too. Pressing the reset button doesn’t help. Do we need to replace them? We’d like to do the work ourselves.
A: Probably those outlets or receptacles need to be replaced. A GFCI, of course, is an electrical outlet that prevents someone from being shocked in a kitchen, bath, garage or exterior area if an appliance malfunctions or gets wet. Almost every home has GFCIs for safety purposes. But most homeowners don’t realize that eventually they can wear out. They usually only last about 10 years.
But before you start replacing them, buy a GFCI tester and plug it into each outlet to see if there is any power. If you want to replace these receptacles yourself, you still need to turn off the power at your electric panel for the area of your home or yard where the GFCIs are located. Then get a regular voltage detector — not the GFCI tester — and poke the nose of the detector into each outlet to be sure that the receptacles are completely off. If the detector chirps and lights up, do not proceed. Call a licensed and bonded electrician. Remember, any time you want to do electrical projects in your home, you need to proceed with extreme caution.
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) and -FM (97.1) in Tucson and KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.