In this week’s radio show, we’re talking about exterior issues. Here are solutions for common, and also some unique, home problems.
Painting Aluminum Siding
Yellow “age spots” keep popping up on the aluminum siding of Keith’s Illinois home. He’s having trouble cleaning them and wants to know how he can paint the siding.
To paint the siding, you will need to clean it. The best product to use is trisodium phosphate. This is a powerful chemical compound that will strip the age spots and any chalk-like dust that’s on the surface.
Use exterior-grade acrylic latex paint compatible with metal as a primer, then top it off with a satin or flat finish (sheen) paint. You don’t want anything too high-gloss because the shiny finish will be reflective in any dent in the aluminum siding.
You can do this yourself by using a paint roller. Roll the paint on, then back brush it lightly to even out the paint strokes.
Depending on the size of your house, however, you might want to consider hiring a professional to spray the whole house.
Skip to [25:06] for the full segment on the Today’s Homeowner Radio Show.
Filling a Hole Under a Metal Roof
When Remy from Alabama had a metal roof installed, a static vent cover had to be removed along with the old shingle roof.
When he was in his attic recently, he noticed a 12-inch-by-12-inch square-cut hole in the roof where the vent was. Water has been condensing on the exposed underlay and dripping down onto the insulation above the kitchen.
The simplest way to fix this is to take a piece of three-quarter-inch plywood and cut it to fit into the hole. Secure it into the hole with construction adhesive and prop a two-by-four up against it to keep it in place in the rafter.
Next, screw the plywood in with a screw gun and caulk around the perimeter to keep moisture out.
Once this is done, no more moisture should leak out from the hole.
Skip to [18:56] for the full segment on the Today’s Homeowner Radio Show.
Sloping Concrete Away From an Entry Door
Keith from Louisiana is looking for a solution to a drainage problem at his entry door.
When his house was built in 1995, an entry door was added after the slab was complete, and the concrete was not cut down.
Now, when it rains, water flows toward the house since the concrete is sloped toward the house.
The easiest way to remedy this is to add a thin layer of concrete on top of the existing slab. Before laying the extra concrete, caulk around the threshold of the door with silicone and thoroughly clean the concrete.
Then, apply Quikrete Re-Cap Concrete Resurfacer, as directed on the bag. Create a half-inch downward slope away from the door to keep the water away. And lightly brush a broom over the concrete to create an anti-slip finish.
Doing this will save you the hassle of removing the existing concrete to create that downward draining slope.
At least, this would be the process if the only issue were a concrete slab that needed slope adjustment.
This homeowner has a unique problem because there’s also a brick lip that’s an inch higher than the concete, so even if we slope the concrete down, the water will still pool, and maybe even back up into the house with a very heavy rain, due to that lip.
For this unique situation, Keith should remove the row of bricks and use resurfacer to pitch the concrete slab.
Skip to [43:22] for the full segment on the Today’s Homeowner Radio Show.
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