Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romeroβs radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona. Here are questions about home maintenance and improvement from the Southern Arizona area.
Q: We are moving soon to the Tucson area to live full time, and we have a classic car that we are going to park in our garage. But the garage does not now have any kind of cooling system. Iβm worried that the heat will bake the tires, fade the paint, and damage the dashboard. How can I cool off the garage? Should I cut a hole in the wall or door to provide vents for cooling?
A: You can only cool off that garage by βconditioningβ it in some way. You can use an evaporative cooler, or better yet, a mini-split air conditioner. The mini-splits have come down in price, and can easily be installed to cool off one room in a house or a garage. They are fairly small in size, and can be installed at the top of a garage wall. Cutting a vent in a door would do very little to cool off the garage when the air outside is hotter than that inside the garage. Much of the air coming in through a vent would also be very dusty; that wouldnβt be good for the car either.
Q: Southwest Gas came into my yard recently to replace some old gas lines. In the process, they had to dig a lot of trenches. Because of that, they severed a lot of roots on a big beautiful pine tree in my yard. Iβve been giving it some extra water, but Iβm wondering what will happen to my beautiful tree.
A: Be sure to put a little water on some of the trenches. The tree would also benefit from a little sand and mulch on top of those trenches. You might also buy some root stimulator at a nursery that you can apply to help encourage new root growth. However, it seems likely that your tree, which was well-established before the work was done, can withstand this problem. Since they waited until the end of the summer to do this project, the damage to new growth on the roots should be minimal.
Q: Iβm rebuilding two valve boxes for my irrigation system because the parts were getting very old. But when I opened up one of them, I found a lot of slime mold inside. On the Internet, it says to let the area dry out, and Iβm doing that. But I also wondered if I need to treat the soil. What do you think?
A: Clean out the box and the nearby area very carefully. Be sure to put any mushrooms or mold that you find into a garbage bag immediately so that you do not spread the spores around in the surrounding area. Once the box is cleaned and dried, scatter some soil sulfur into the box regularly. You might also excavate a little under the box and put some porous granite underneath. That can help improve the drainage from now on.
Q: We have a large concrete driveway, and weβre wondering if we can install concrete pavers on top of that area without removing the concrete itself.
A: Paver overlays like that are done all the time on backyard concrete patios, and sometimes on walkways. But you should have a licensed paver installer come look at your driveway and decide whether to lay pavers on top or not. They may have to remove all or part of the concrete to make the new driveway work.
