Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s 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.
Q: I need to replace all my windows in my stucco home. There are a number of different installation methods and I need help determining which are OK to use. Should it be “nail fin,” “flush fin,” or “Z bar frame?” There are also so many contractors doing window work. I am just not sure which construction method I need to stay away from.
A: There are several methods used by various window replacement companies and as long as their process guarantees a leak-free installation, you’ll probably be fine. But the process we recommend includes removing the stucco from around the perimeter of the window about 6 inches to 8 inches on all four sides.
This needs to be done rather surgically as we want to keep the chicken wire and building paper under the stucco as intact as possible for future stucco repair. The window flange of the old window will now be exposed and all the fasteners can be removed and the old window taken out.
The new window is now installed to the framing of the home via the attached flanges and properly flashed on both sides and across the top of the new flanges. We also recommend that an aluminum drip-flashing be installed across the top of the window to divert water away from the window itself. Then a qualified stucco company needs to come in and make sure the building paper is properly installed in the area where the stucco was removed, the chicken wire is put back in place and the repair area is re-stuccoed to blend with the existing stucco. You’ll want to wait about 30 days for the stucco repair to fully cure before you prime and apply 100 percent acrylic exterior house paint to the repaired area.
In case you’re wondering about the terminology, “nail fins” are strips of metal used to attach a window frame to a stud opening. “Flush fins” and “Z bar frames” are similar; they are vinyl fins surrounding the window frame that are flush with the exterior frame of the existing window.
Q: How often should I drain my water heater?
A: It’s good to drain your water heater once a year, but if you haven’t drained it in seven or eight years, don’t do it. Too much sediment will have built up in your water heater that the draining process might mean your water heater can spring a leak.
Q: Is there any way to keep sediment and calcium from building up in your water heater except for installing a water softener?
A: No there isn’t, especially not in the Tucson area. The problem is that Tucson is at the end of the supply line for Central Arizona Project water. So by the time that water reaches Tucson, there has been a lot of evaporation; that, of course, leaves the CAP water much harder. Then that water is mixed with ground water which is even harder. The only way to handle the problem is by installing a water softener. Water softening can benefit your water heater as well as other equipment and appliances in your home, like your dishwasher, clothes washer and faucets and fixtures.
