Question: Someone put a suspended ceiling in my foyer, lowering the ceiling from nine to seven feet. I took it out, and I like the high ceiling, but taking it down revealed some pretty ugly green and brown plywood paneling.
How can I cover the paneling so I can paper it, and how can I best separate the paneling below from the wallpaper above? There is already large molding at the ceiling-wall connection. — Michael Steiner, Brighton, Mass.
Answer: You have several situations here, which we'll tackle one at a time.
1. To cover or fill the grooves of the plywood, you can apply Coverall, a type of wall covering sold in wallpaper shops that is meant to smooth over rough areas, including grooves. Then paper over the Coverall. Or, fill the grooves with joint compound.
But you have to do it three times, just as you would the seams on drywall. If you do not, the grooves will ghost through paper or paint.
The handyman filled his grooves only once or twice, and it was perfect, until he put up wallpaper through which the grooves ghosted.
It drove him bananas until he took down the whole wall for another project.
2. To ease the transition between the old paneling below and wallpaper above, glue or nail a picture rail or other type of substantial molding to mark the difference.
What's a picture rail? It is an old-fashioned molding, still made, designed to hold pictures hanging from long wire.
A flat hook fits into the space behind the rail to hold the wire. You can use any style molding; whatever appeals.
3. Paint the molding — all woodwork — a color in the wallpaper, or any color you like, or leave it natural.
Question: My fiberglass tub/shower has developed a crack on the floor, where it is soft and punky.
I was told it would have to come out and a new one installed, for big money. Another company said it would cost $2,500 to fit a new shell over the old.
Still another said he would fill the space under the floor with foam, and reglaze the bottom of the tub for $500. I have heard of fabricators who could fix it at a nominal cost. Do you know of any? — Peggy Fay, Falmouth, Mass.
Answer: You can't spend much less than $500, and the foam treatment under the floor is a good idea to reduce flexing, which caused the crack in the first place.
Then reglaze the tub. Any fiberglass treatment is expensive, so I don't think you'll get any more bargains.
The handyman himself (horrors!) has a bouncy shower floor, which makes a peculiar groan when stepped on.
He can get to the bottom of the shower through the floor below, so he might try the foam trick.
Question: You wrote about putting vinegar on weeds growing up between bricks on a sunny walkway. Can I get a copy? — Joe Rosen, Lincoln, Mass.
Answer: I could not locate the item but I can tell you what it was. Sprinkle vinegar on weeds as they start to grow in the spring. That will control them until autumn, at least. The vinegar is basically acid rain, which is very hard on growing things. The amount you use, and the location, should not add substantially to the acid rain problem. I don't think it is as hard on the environment as salt or bleach.
Question: My son just bought a house with a kitchen counter top of yellow and gray ceramic tiles.
He would like a white top, but doesn't think painting will be a good idea. What can he do? — Lorraine Jimenez, Ipswich, Mass.
Answer: He could paint them, but it is very iffy.
Even with a latex enamel undercoater, which is supposed to adhere to shiny surfaces, it is risky because there is so much wear and tear on a counter top.
But here are two ideas: Put new tiles over old, using a thin-set mortar. He'd have to lift the sink, but if nothing else is in the way, that will work.
Or, pop the old tiles; they are probably applied with an adhesive, and if they are more than a few years old, tap a wood chisel under a tile edge and pry. They often will pop up.
Question: I am stripping the paint off an old house, indoors. I got 3/4 of it off, but the last coat is miserable, yielding to nothing, I think it may be milk paint, which does not yield to standard paint remover. You mentioned a company that sells such a remover, but that telephone number is no good. Is there another seller of milk paint stripper? — Jerry Smart, Roxbury, Mass.
Answer: Try this one: Yankee Powder Paint Stripper: Viking Mfg. Co., West Bridgewater, Mass.; 800-892-6533 or 508-580-5888.
E-mail: hotton@globe.com