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Q What can I do to stop water from coming into my basement in one corner? It looks like there was a sump pump hole there at one time and whoever closed it up did a poor job. I put hydraulic cement over the area that’s leaking and it slowed the water but didn’t stop it.

A The thing about water is that it’s sneaky and persistent. You can try to seal the old sump pump hole more effectively, but I’d be surprised if this would ever work reliably. You may be able to stop water from leaking in one place, but it will find another. Even crack-free concrete itself is often porous enough to let damaging levels of moisture seep through.

A better approach is to get rid of the water altogether before it sees the light of day in your basement. Have you considered putting a sump pump back in the old sump hole and see how that lowers the overall water level under your basement? That would be an excellent place to start, and I suspect it would solve the problem completely.

Q Will the power-buffing technique I’ve seen on your wood-finishing videos create a glass-smooth finish on paint? We’re trying to finish two night stands made of MDF and want a superb finish.

A:Yes, buffing will work on any kind of finish. I even use it on my vehicles to remove superficial scratches. My guess is that your paint will buff up quite nicely, but you don’t want to take unnecessary chances. I’d make up an MDF test sample with the same paint you intend to use (give it at least three coats), then try buffing on that following the procedures you can see online at baileylineroad.com/7619. I think everything will work out fabulously.

Q What’s the best way to tackle a bathroom floor replacement job? Right now there’s linoleum over plywood, but the wood has gotten wet and deteriorated in places.

A The first thing to decide is the level of finished floor quality you want for this job. Ceramic or porcelain tiles are an excellent option, but I also recommend luxury vinyl plank (LVP) or luxury vinyl tile (LVT) as a simpler, more DIY-friendly option. In both cases, products by a company called Schluter make for a much more reliable installation that’s waterproof even before finished flooring goes down.

If you’re going with ceramic or porcelain tiles, apply a product called DITRA to the floor. This is a plastic membrane that greatly reduces the tendency for tiles to crack (and it’s also completely waterproof). DITRA also comes in a version that accepts infloor electric heating cables, to take the chill off your toes. If you’ll be using LVP or LVT, then consider a waterproof fabric called KERDI. It fastens to the underlying subfloor with the same kind of thinset mortar used to install ceramic tiles.

Q Why do pieces of wood sometimes stay apart when I’m joining them with screws? No matter how much I tighten the screw, sometimes a gap remains between the parts of furniture I’m building.

A Your problem is called bridging and is caused by threads of the screw engaging with the wood of the work piece the screw passes through on its way to sink threads in the underlying part. Bridging doesn’t always happen, but it does happen often enough that drilling a slightly larger hole in the “through” piece is always a good policy. If the threads of the screw will be biting into softwood underneath, then you don’t usually need to drill a hole there, but the screw should pass easily through the hole in the wood that the head will rest on.

Steve Maxwell finds that paying attention to details really makes a difference in life. Visit Steve online at BaileyLineRoad.com for articles and videos on home improvements, woodworking and effective hands-on living.

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