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.
QUESTION: I want to install some of that new luxury vinyl tile plank flooring in my home. But I have to pull up the carpeting and I have to level the concrete flooring underneath first. My home is an older one, built in the 1950s. So how do I level the concrete floor, which seems to be really wavy?
ANSWER: You need to visit a building and masonry store to buy a self-leveling overlay product to use on the concrete. Be sure to read and follow instructions carefully. After pulling up the carpet, you apply the product with a spreader; it will feather out over the floor and fill in all the wavy spots and indentations. Most of these products are applied at thicknesses of one-quarter of an inch or more so that they can cover flaws and compensate for height differences. It should not take too long for this coating to dry and cure so that you can install the tile.
Q: I live in a 17-year-old house that is partly carpeted and partly covered with tile? I want to get rid of the tile areas. Can I pour concrete over the tile in order to do that?
A: Some people will tell you that you can, and others will say no. In my opinion, there will be a lot of complications if you use concrete to cover the tile. You’ll raise the level of the floor so it will be harder to open doors, and you’ll cover up the toe-kicks under cabinets. I understand that it can be miserable and ugly to chip away the tile if this is a DIY project. You may want to hire a tile-demolition expert for the job.
Q: I have a lot of fungus growing in my grass. The things that grow look like slimy mushrooms. I’d like to get rid of them. What caused this?
A: This problem could have started because of an old tree that’s rotting away underground. You should start by carefully scraping up the growths, putting them in a bag and throwing them away. You should probably cut back the amount of watering you’re doing during irrigation. You might also want to work in some soil sulphur into areas that have been affected.
Q: White flies keep infesting my raised-bed vegetable garden. They’re particularly bad in the summer and in the fall. So how do I get rid of them?
A: You can buy a neem-oil-based spray that is safe to use on edibles. But you have to apply this compound on the underside of the foliage of your plants every three days. Neem oil is a vegetable oil pressed from fruits and seeds of the neem tree.
Q: I have a mesquite tree with a single trunk that split into two trunks while the tree was growing. At first it seemed OK, but now the trunk at the bottom seems to be splitting apart. I can’t remove one of the trunks. So how do I save this tree from falling apart?
A: An arborist can try to fix this by drilling holes into each side and putting in bolts with washers so as to hold the split section together. However, this has to be done very accurately or the tree may be lost.
