Q.
Someone painted my aluminum storm door white, and now it’s chipping badly. How can I get it back to its original aluminum? If I can’t do that, how can I paint it so it won’t chip? – H.R.
A.
Use chemical paint remover, and if the aluminum is anodized (smooth and shiny), the remover is unlikely to stain it. If it does, sand it. Use a methylene chloride stripper, such as Stripeeze or 5F5. Take the door off its hinges and work outdoors.
If you have to paint, preventing chipping is difficult because the door has a lot of corners and narrow strips. To paint, sand heavily to reduce gloss and roughen the finish, especially along edges. Apply an oil-based exterior primer and finish with oil-based indoor-outdoor enamel or latex house or trim paint. As in all paint jobs, thin coats are best.
Q.
My kitchen sink copper drain pipe has a small crack. Can I fix it without replacing it? – C.Z.
A.
Yes. You can buy a repair kit in hardware or building-supply stores; it consists of a rubber-lined steel sleeve that is slipped over the crack and secured with clamps. Because there is no pressure in such a drain pipe (as opposed to water supply pipes), this patch should last indefinitely.
Q.
I am painting my old wood kitchen cabinets. I know this will help jazz them up and give the kitchen a lift, but is there anything else that could help? – P.D.
A.
Yes. Install new hardware. If the hinges don’t show much, don’t bother with them. But you could put big, bright handles and knobs on and get a big boost from a modest investment.
Q.
I bought foil-backed duct insulation. Then I wanted to know how the foil should go on the ducts – facing in or out – and got two different opinions from salesmen. How should the foil go? – B.B.
A.
The foil faces out; that is, when you wrap the insulation around the duct, you will see the foil.
Q.
I put up pressure-treated lattice last fall, and it still has that awful green color that new pressure-treated lumber has. I thought that it would weather to a gray color. How can I make it look better? – R.W.
A.
Wait. Six months is not long enough for wood to weather. It will turn, eventually. It is a devil to stain. It’s knotty, and the knots will show through the stain, and you are setting yourself up to a regular chore of restaining. But you could apply a bleaching oil, which will hasten the weathering. Or, for “instant” weathering, apply a bleaching stain. With either of these, you may not have to restain it again.
Send questions to Peter Hotton, c/o Home & Garden Section, Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301-2293.
