Vermiculite insulation may be troubling

Q. My house was built in 1973 and has about six inches of granular insulation that I think is vermiculite between floor joists. I am thinking of adding a radiant barrier to the attic, or should I beef up the existing insulation?

A. Your immediate concern should be the vermiculite insulation in the attic, which could be a health hazard.

Vermiculite is a lightweight, granular mineral that is obtained by mining and is still used for some agricultural purposes. However, its use as insulation was discontinued in 1990 after it was discovered that most of the vermiculite being sold as insulation, under the brand name Zonolite, came from a mine in Montana that also contained asbestos.

The Environmental Protection Agency says it can be assumed that virtually all vermiculite insulation in attics contains some asbestos. The EPA has compiled some rules for dealing with it.

The insulation should not be disturbed so that it gets into the air of the house and can be breathed. Attics containing vermiculite should not be used for storage, and visits to the attics should be kept to a minimum.

You should not attempt to remove the insulation yourself; removal should be done only by trained, certified asbestos-remediation specialists. You can get more information about dealing with vermiculite insulation at www.epa.gov/asbestos.

Vermiculite issues aside, with only six inches of insulation, your attic is under-insulated. Even if it was safe to work in the attic, I do not think a radiant barrier is the best answer to your inadequate insulation problem.

I think you should contact several experienced insulation contractors, have them examine the attic and make recommendations. Some contractors might feel it is safe to add fiberglass blankets or loose-fill insulation such as cellulose.

But don’t take any steps in the attic until you have checked EPA information and thoroughly understood the possible dangers of vermiculite insulation.

Q. Our deck is made of pressure-treated wood. It is 14 years old and we had no problems with it until recently. We stain the deck regularly. Now a few of the boards are seeping pitch, which gets on our shoes and is sometimes tracked into the house. How can we get rid of the pitch?

A. There are a number of solvents that will dissolve wood pitch and sap, but stronger ones will probably also remove the stain.

Solvents that might work without much damage include rubbing alcohol, mineral spirits (paint thinner) and turpentine. Try any of these first in an inconspicuous place. It would help if you soften the pitch first with a heat gun and scraped off as much of it as possible before applying any solvent.

If the pitch keeps showing up, but only on a few boards, your best bet is to replace those boards with premium-grade, kiln-dried treated wood. You are more likely to find this grade of wood at a lumber yard than at a home center, where most of the treated wood is still soaked with preservative.

Q. I used to be able to buy tracks that fit in the sides of wood windows so they would stay open in any position. I can’t find them now. What are they called and where can I get them?

A. They are called replacement window channels and you can buy them on the Internet at www.windowrenu.com. These products used to be sold at some home centers but became hard to find with the boom in replacement windows.

They are used in double-hung wood windows (two sashes that slide up and down) and will not only keep the windows open in any position by frication, but will tighten loose sashes and make them more energy efficient.

Replacement channels are installed from inside, so no ladder climbing is needed. To install them, the sashes and some moldings must be removed from the window openings.