May 3, 2014 2 min read

Q. I live on the second floor of an antique Colonial, two-family house and have been happy here for 10 years until a new tenant moved in downstairs who acquired a dog that the tenant admitted has a skin odor problem. The dog’s odor comes up through my forced hot-air floor vents when I turn on my separate oil heating system. What type of heating system would totally seal off the odor from downstairs?

A. Other than any moral or legal issues, try to determine how your separate heating system is connected to the other separate heating system, and a heating specialist should be able to seperate them. Or, replace your system with a hot water system with baseboards and close all vents and returns. Both can be very expensive, and as a tenant you should not be liable.

Q. Our question at this time has to do with thermal-pane windows. We have a deck house that is loaded with a lot of windows of all sizes. We are getting moisture between some of the windows. We have replaced a few of the windows, but it is quite expensive. Is there anything that can be done to remove the moisture without replacing the windows?

A. There are many brand names for double-glazed windows like yours, and any that have moisture between the panes are still insulating at maximum ability, so you can tolerate the moisture without losing more heat. Some years ago, some people tried this to take out the moisture: They drilled a small holes on the outside lower corners, left and right, then used a Water Pic to clean the inside. This is rather risky to do, even with a special bit for your drill. And never try this with tempered glass, because it will explode into many dull shards of glass if drilled, cut, or tapped in any way.