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You’ll have to determine this (what it is finished with now, and what the bookshelf is made of. How old is this piece? etc.
Since you provided no information, can’t guess for you.
If for example, it is finished with polyurethane, one might clean it first with mineral spirits (hoping it was never cleaned with a silicone containing product like pledge for example), rough up the finish slightly with fine or super fine steel wool; then refinish with a wipe on polyurethane with pigments (like a gel-stain) or a glaze.
Some folks prefer the easy route using a staining wax product like Old English.
Then there is the route of using a furniture refinishing system like Formby’s Furniture Finish Restorer first.
Again, you have to know what the item is finished with and what it is made of.
First of all no one can SEE asbestos with their naked eye.
Second this contractor is pulling your leg, so to speak, if that’s what he told you.
You can get an asbestos test done if you are concerned.
Now, if there is a chance that your fiberglass batts are over top of panels or vermiculite – and you mis understood your contractor….have you been up there yourself to take a look?
Meantime his non-answer that someone told him, or he has some sort of secret knowledge and can’t even identify the manufacturer he’s referring to, KICK THIS GUY OUT BY THE SEAT OF HIS PANTS.
Call your state EPA office and complain, call your state’s or district’s attorney CONSUMER FRAUD division also. Complain to any licensing board for contractors you might have. Also your State’s Attorney General FRAUD division about this “contractor”.
Meantime move on, do some research on the http://www.epa.gov site, find ASBESTOS links….read up…and work forward. Anything you suspect get tested by an EPA certified laboratory. Expect $10-60 per sample if negative initially, expect an additional $50-150 for confirmatory burn and post-burn analysis and reporting for confirmation of a total negative (first test/report always higher, additional samples tested at the same time are less money per sample).
If its a tub/shower remove the overflow plate, and remove the stopper assembly then snake from the overflow, remove whatever gook is there, then flush with water, also flush from the drain side, then replace.
If shower stall, the drain cap should be removable with a special tool.
Then you can clear the clog.
Did you use a chemical clog clearer or some scum/mineral scale remover in this area recently?
at least 100 cfm possibly stronger depending on the size of your bathroom, vented to the outside, and used whenever moisture producting activities take place and continuing to be ran until the moisture has been vented completely. Opening a window might have helped but is rarely adequate especially for the long hot showers modern teenagers are known for.
Until the walls have dried out and kept dry, any surface repair wouldn’t work.
usually you don’t use a portland based but a slaked lime base.
The back (stucco side) of the clay tiles should have deep grooves, there might have been some corregated metal or other ledgers mortared into the mortar joints between every few tiles every few courses of tile also, before the clay tile was parged.
Thing is, these tend to rust away if the cavity had condensation/moisture issues, or if someone used a portland/cement based stucco cement to repair the original lime based mortar or parging it tends to bust up the surface.
First you need to excavate an area to the clay tile – it may or may not have been fired. Scrape some samples of the mortar, and of the original stucco parging and take them to a brick yard they should be able to help you determine the type and a close if not exact formula for you to mix and repair.
If it turns out that you have cement type mortar and parging and not a lime based – then keep in mind you don’t attach the lath to the clay tiles at all. What you do is hollow out some of the horizontal joints intermittantly – and place a support there, which you mortar in when you re-point the joint – this ledger/clip extends out- this is what you would attach your lath system to.
There are some non-metal lath systems on the market now – similar to what is used on the exterior of basement foundation walls – looking sort of like waffle board out of a plastic type material. There are also certain foam panel systems that can be used with a stucco look-a-like systems. These foam panels from closed cell foam also add insulation value and if closed cell-provide a vapor barrier/air barrier.
If the wire insulation is rubber and the paper layer wasn’t treated to prevent moisture uptake, then no you can’t because it doesn’t meet the DEFINITION of AC which IS acceptable to use as ground.
Bill STILL DOESN’T get IT that the wiring MUST have THERMOPLASTIC INSULATION for it to be OKAY to use as ground.
Also the BONDING wire has to have INTIMATE contact with the ARMOR – if all you have is a single thin bonding RIBBON – then NO you are NOT ALLOWED TO use it as ground.
Early 60’s vintage BX wouldn’t have thermoplastic insulation, and likely would only have a bonding RIBBON, which DOES NOT QUALIFY.
Bill just pretends to know how to apply “the code”. He is a desk jockey, gives out erroneous advice all the time – he has NO CLUE about APPLYING it IN REAL LIFE.
His statement about how flexible metalic conduit not being used in homes except for whips JUST PROVES THAT HE HAS NO REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE.
ASK YOUR LOCAL CODE ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY, or a REAL LICENSED ELECTRICIAN.
If you can’t tell the difference between 60 and 90 wiring insulation, or Rubber versus thermoplastic nip off an inch and bring it with you to a REAL electrician and ask him.
I realized I forgot to say that you place the pans of activated charcoal in the fridge and freezer compartments while the compartments are empty, but the fridge itself (and freezer) are ON, and the doors closed.
Activated Charcoal. You’ll want to have an open pan or two (glass pie pans work best) of very fine activated charcoal in both the freezer and refrigerator compartments. Use this with them completely empty, and just after you have completely cleaned everything inside and out. Don’t forget the air-returns the underside of the freezer door, and the lower door side gasket (all the folds, nooks and crannies).
Also clean the refrigerator section, removing all drawers, clean the drain port, and clean and sanitize the condensation/drain pan at the underside (usually behind a face plate/grate on the face/front, under the refrigerator door).
Pulling the fridge out and cleaning the floor behind/below good idea too in case moisture or melting goods leaked out or overflowed the drip pan.
Neat thing about the activated charcoal is that you can re-charge/de-stink/re-activate it over and over again by baking it in the oven. You’ll need to cycle with freshly activated charcoal the pans every few hours at first, throughout the day, slowly increasing the amount of time, then over-night, then a fresh cycle in the morning.
After a while the odor should be reduced (assuming there wasn’t a leak down into the insulation cavity or there is a source of stink that was missed in the cleaning process).
When it seems less stinky, you can return to the baking soda for maintenance. In the first few days you’re going to want to change out the boxes again, then another set for a week, then back to monthly – building up to the 3-months or so as needed (you need one for the fridge and one for the freezer).
Same smelly if using all cold or all hot water?
Is this sink the only location you have the smell?
If you plug the sink bowl before you turn on the water – do you still get this smell when you first turn on the water?
Did you forget to install a P-trap for the new sink?
Try taking some pipe cleaners to the overflow running them down to towards the sink’s drain. If you get a lot of slimy goop – it might be bioslime in the overflow – might not have lined up the drain assembly correctly with the overflow drain hole.
Was this the type of bathtub drain/stopper situation, where you have a hair catcher on the face of the drain, and a lever on the overflow cap, which on its back, has a cotter pin attaching to an adjustable assembly where at the end is a round brass tube which is dropped into the drain from above (via the overflow pipe) to plug the tub, and lifted to allow it to drain?
If so…first remove the center screw on the hair catcher over the drain opening and carefully remove it (don’t let it fall down the drain), and remove the hair catcher.
Next, you’ll need a flexible hinged or continuously coiled/bendable snaking type tool to help you reach down the overflow tube and catch the assembly arm.
Sometimes what works is a very short, narrow drain snake, these usually terminate in a spiral coil designed to twist/drill through clogs, you don’t want to use that coil end to try to retrieve your assembly, but instead, get yourself a piece of wire – a little heavier say than a wire xmas ornament hook, (sometimes a simple drapery hanging hook and a pair of pliers works well to fashion this) and fashion like a fish hook and loop it through and secure it to the end of the coil on the drain snake.
The total distance from the overflow is usually less than say about 16″ or so (its much less usually), try to catch some part of the assembly and draw it up towards the overflow opening. At some point this will be hinged (usually two eye-loops or a hook end into an eye-loop) so be careful to not force it, carefully angle it up and out, twist slightly as you draw it up.
If all of the assembly originally came out, and just the brass weight/stopper remains, there is usually a cross in the center of it, and something to hook to within the inner diameter of the stopper. Also snaking some heavy gauge electric grounding wire (solid not stranded) down the actual drain might help to find the bottom edge of the stopper and lift it slightly to help you catch it using the hook on the end of the snake from above overflow opening.
If you have a different type of assembly, please advise.
From shaw’s web site:
Use a DAMP cloth to BLOT up spills as SOON as they happen. NEVER allow liquids to stand on your floor.
DO NOT WASH or WET MOP the floor with soap, WATER, oil-soap detergent, or ANY OTHER LIQUID CLEANING MATERIAL. THIS COULD CAUSE SWELLING, WARPING, DELAMINATION, and JOINT-LINE SEPARATION, AND VOID THE WARRANTY.
More information can be found here:
http://www.shawfloors.com/Tips-Trends/Laminate-Care
Installation:
http://www.shawfloors.com/Tips-Trends/Laminate-Installation
Warranty:
http://www.shawfloors.com/Tips-Trends/Laminate-Warranties
Laminate Construction:
Necessary spaces between walls and flooring, not afixing the quarter-round to the floor, just the wall plate. (this expansion zone required even if a nailed or glued manufactured flooring, and especially if a click or glued floating floor or monolithic floor.
Exceeding maximum runs or a U-shaped design without expansion joints (usually covered with T-mould transitons), etc. are the usual culprits when seams buckle. Also not maintaining conditoned zones both at and below the floor (too dry when installed, too humid later). Sometimes problems evidence themselves if the flooring wasn’t conditioned properly prior to installation, even if all else in the installation was executed perfectly according to specifications/manufactured flooring recomendations.
Using manufactured flooring in damp or wet areas usually not advised – often requiring inter-gluing/sealing even if a click type floor or nailed in place – and almost always fails in very damp/wet locations (i.e. bathrooms, or in kitchens, especially near dishwashers.
licensed structural engineers.
They are qualified to examine, test, and determine structural worthiness, design, materials, etc. and can draw up exact specifications and design remediation plans.
Sometimes something as simple as dry simple old-fashioned clay cat litter is enough to draw.
You’ll find some simple stone poultice procedures usually at marble and stone care sites under how to remove stains.
you didn’t mention the type of stone, nor the type of paint.
you need to be able to control the lights over the basement stairs from both upstairs and downstairs – you cannot have a situation (as you describe your plans this is where it is deficient) where someone at the top of the stairs can snap the switch turning off the lights, and the person downstairs can’t flip a switch to turn ON the lights – hence the need for at least one light on at least a 3-way switch loop that can be controlled from either the top landing of the stairs to the basement or the bottom of the landing of the stairs to the basement (assuming of course you have more than, what is the code on that…THREE? steps down to your basement)
