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Home & Garden readers might also want to read Keep it Green, a gardening column by Michael Womack.

Saturday, August 4, 2001
Garden Q&A

Q. Our wood-frame house got rather cold during the winter, and I want to make it more comfortable. I would like to insulate the exterior walls myself by blowing fiberglass into the wall cavities. Can you give me any tips? Should I also insulate the crawl space?
   A. Probably the best tip I can give is to not try to blow insulation into them yourself. Blowing insulation into wall cavities is tricky work and, if you want it done, I suggest you hire an experienced contractor.
   On the other hand, insulating a crawl space is relatively easy and should quickly pay off in additional comfort. Use blanket-type fiberglass insulation at least 6 inches thick (R-19), which can be tucked between the joists of the floor over the crawl space.
   Use insulation with an attached vapor barrier, which should be on top (toward the living area). Hold the insulation blankets in place with lengths of stiff wire jammed between the joists at 18-inch intervals.

   Q. My hobby is refinishing furniture. I would like to try tung oil as a finish, but don't know how to apply it. Can you help?
   A. Tung oil, like other oil finishes, such as Danish oil and linseed oil, is applied by "flooding" the surface of the wood with a thick coat of oil and allowing it to soak in for several minutes. Excess oil is then wiped off with clean rags. The oil can be applied with a regular natural bristle, a foam brush, or a rag.
   Pure tung oil is not often used as a furniture finish because it takes longer to dry than other oil-type finishes. Some tung-oil finishes are treated to quicken the drying time. Check the container for application and drying information.
   I think Danish oil is the best of the oil finishes. Danish oil is very easy to apply, dries rather quickly, and is excellent for bringing out the beauty of the grain of hardwoods.

   Q. We have a Hotpoint refrigerator with a top freezer. Whenever the compressor stops, we hear a sharp thudding noise. This noise first appeared about three months ago as a quiet thud and has gradually gotten louder. Now the refrigerator has started to rattle. We're afraid it might explode one of these days. Will it? And, what should we do to quiet it down?
   A. There's no danger that your refrigerator might explode, but your thudding and rattling noises sound as if one of the internal suspension springs that mount the compressor might have broken. What you are hearing is the motor and pump assembly on its subframe hitting against the side of the compressor case that surrounds the entire compressor assembly. The only real cure is to have the compressor replaced.


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