Jun 7, 2014 5 min read

Q. I have a house built in 1950, and all the wood floors are original, with no polyurethane on them. Water comes through the screens on my breezeway, and this has darkened the floor to black. I tried sanding it in small areas, but the resulting color is much lighter than the original. Is there any way short of sanding the whole floor to remove the black and get down to the original wood?

A. In the 1950s, bare hardwood started getting a highfalutin new treatment: a waxing and a buffing to a fair shine. It was a nice finish, but relatively soft and prone to damage – and to mold, like your floor, because yours got wet. This treatment was short-lived because it required the floors to be stripped of wax and new wax to be applied and buffed.

Ordinary varnish is the way to go, but today it is polyurethane-based. Treat the black mold (it might be black from wear, not mold, mind you) with one part bleach and three parts water. Let dry, then sand the breezeway floor and apply two or three coats of a water-based polyurethane varnish. If the other floors look OK, leave them alone. If not, give them the same treatment.

Q. We moved into a new condo several years ago that has granite countertops. My husband and I used glass cleaners to give the top a shine. We then found out that what he used destroyed the surface of the granite and has left it looking dull. We have tried granite-cleaning products without much success. Should we just seal it as is, or should we try to restore the shine first?

A. Sorry, you did virtually everything wrong concerning granite. Have a granite dealer come over, strip it, and then seal it.

Q. I e-mailed you awhile back requesting the name of a silver polish you recommended in one of your Globe articles. Since I have not received a reply, again I request this information.

A. Sometimes there is no room for all of my column. Try Maas silver polish, available on Amazon.

Q. I have HardiePlank siding on my house and for the most part it holds paint quite well. However, in locations where it meets moisture it peels off and often in large pieces. Those locations are where it meets the deck, where it meets roofing shingles, even though they don’t touch, and corner end molding at the bottom. Before repainting with the latex paint, what do you recommend?

A. If the planks are as close as 1 or 2 inches from the deck and other surfaces, I think it’s close enough to allow excessive water to erode the paint. Make sure there is more space between deck and planks.

â(euro) ƒAnother thing you can do is put in a pressure-treated board at the bottom of the siding, taking off 1 or 2 clapboards.

• As for repainting, if you did not originally apply a primer, then apply one thin coat of a latex exterior primer and one or two coats (thin ones!) of latex house paint should do it.

Q. We would like to put a patio in our yard. With New England winters do you recommend stamped concrete or pavers? We have heard concrete is less expensive, but that pavers are the best choice because repairs are easier. Size of patio is about 20 by 30 feet.

A. Try for pavers, which are thick blocks of stone or concrete blocks. The concrete will last 20 to 40 years, the stone forever. But I suggest you opt for brick pavers, which are not pavers at all but a hard brick called City Hall Pavers that will outlast concrete. Be sure to put in a border of concrete blocks or pressure-treated timbers, put in 2 inches of sand and tamp it thoroughly. Then put in the bricks so they are touching each other in any pattern you like. Then sprinkle beach sand in the cracks.

• I put in such a patio 40 years ago, 20 by 20 feet, and it still looks great. I did have to pick up the bricks and sand 20 years ago to get it back to the right level.

• The only problem you may have is moss growing between the bricks, which is OK because it gives the patio an antique look. The other problem is weedy grass growing between the bricks. The weeds can be cut out with a linoleum knife, but better yet, douse the patio with vinegar to kill the weeds in late spring and make them easier to remove.

Q. Any tips on the best way to stain some aged pine trim to match new trim? We installed one new casement window about four years ago and never stained the inside pine trim. We have now installed another large casement window and two sliders in the same room, all with pine trim. It’s time to stain everything. The older trim is darker. Experimenting with a few other aged pine samples, they also seem to be much drier and absorbing stain easier.

A. That pine trim may have been treated with a wood preservative, so now you can apply a sanding sealer to all the wood. Pine is notoriously difficult to stain evenly, and the sanding sealer is designed make the application easier and more even. Use a water-based stain carefully, but with practice you can do a pretty good job. Finish with two coats of a water-based polyurethane varnish.