Q: I have lived in my townhouse for 10 years, and just in the past six months, a pantry cabinet in my kitchen somehow received a burn mark. I’m not sure how it occurred. Is there a home remedy that will remove the burn mark or something I can use to lessen its severity?
A: The underlying problem is that the end panel of the pantry cabinet is directly against the range. A stove with gas burners, which you have, needs to be set back from an adjoining combustible wall or cabinet if the cabinet is taller than the range. Otherwise, there is a high likelihood of just this kind of damage, or even a fire, especially when the heat is turned up under a wide pan.
It's not possible to identify the model of your range from the picture you sent, but the brand, Frigidaire, is readable. In its installation advice for ranges with gas burners, Frigidaire ties the width of the required gap to the output of the range. One that pumps out 17,000 BTUs or more needs to be at least five inches from a wall or tall cabinet, while one with 9,500 BTUs or less needs a gap of just two inches. If your stove's output is between those extremes, three inches is the minimum.
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So what to do now? If your kitchen is arranged so you can simply scoot the stove away from the cabinet, definitely start by doing that. Otherwise, the best first step would be to switch to a narrower stove or to remove the pantry cabinet and replace it with one that is countertop height. For additional storage, you could also add an upper cabinet over the new base cabinet, as long as you leave an 18-inch-high gap between them and choose an upper cabinet that is no more than 13 inches deep.
Covering the end of the cabinet with tile might seem like another option, but this wouldn't make a cabinet or even a wall built of 2-by-4s and drywall noncombustible, as heat can still transfer through. There is no acceptable substitute for leaving the gap, according to online advice from the American Society of Home Inspectors.
Because you’ve lived in your home for 10 years with no problem until recently, you might decide to keep your current setup — at least until you decide to sell and an inspector working for a potential buyer makes an issue of it. However, you should definitely minimize the risk of fire by avoiding heating wide pans on the burners closest to the cabinet. Warn guests to do the same.
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And about that scorch? Burn marks can’t be bleached away; you have to remove the burned fibers and then stain or finish the remaining wood so the newly exposed fibers match the surrounding surface. Solid wood is relatively easy to treat, as long as the burns don’t go too deep. But end caps on cabinets often have just a micro-thin layer of veneer wood, backed up by particleboard or perhaps plywood. If you wear through the top layer, you could easily wind up with something that looks worse than what you have now.
If you want to attempt a repair, start by scrubbing with a Magic Eraser, in the direction of the wood grain. If that isn't enough, move on to fine steel wool (No. 0000) or very fine sandpaper (no coarser than 220 grit). If the burn mark disappears or at least significantly lessens and you haven't worn through the top layer, you're in luck. Dab on a little stain if the treated area is lighter than the surrounding wood. Let that dry, then brush on a clear, water-based finish. Once a second coat is completely dry, lightly buff with fine steel wool to help even out the sheen.
Another option — maybe not your first step but a good backup if you wear through the top layer — is to replace the end panel, which is typically just an eighth of an inch thick. A store that sells kitchen cabinets should be able to order one for you with approximately the same wood and finish color as what you have now. At Home Depot, the price could range from $75 to $125, depending on the wood. (The website lists only white and unfinished oak as options, but you can order other styles through the kitchen design staff.) If you don’t want to install a new end panel yourself, ask before you order whether the store can do the installation. This service is available through Home Depot.
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Q: We built a custom, high-end home in 2013. Mysterious, lint-like fine dust builds up on the floor and all over the furniture in two downstairs bedrooms — but only in these two rooms. The dryer vents outside, on the opposite side of the house. We called our builder, who sent the company that installed the heating and air-conditioning system. The company found nothing wrong. But three years later, the problem persists. The same HVAC company checked again, and the builder got the ducts cleaned last week. But we are still getting fine dust in these two rooms. I think the dust might be insulation. How can I get it tested and this problem resolved?
A: Often, when fine dust shows up inside a house, the first step isn't to commission testing of the fibers. A building inspector or other professional who understands air movement in buildings can often figure out the problem by carefully inspecting the house for a problem such as a dryer that vents indoors. But because you have already had your contractor and the HVAC installer check, you might indeed learn something by having the fibers analyzed.
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One person who does this and who has a deep background in building construction is William H. Campion, a biochemist and industrial hygienist whose email is billcampion@comcast.net. He was recommended by Don Vannoy, owner of Vannoy & Associates (301-593-1003; vannoyassociates.com), an engineering consulting company in Silver Spring that specializes in forensic investigations of building problems — the serious ones that often result in lawsuits. Vannoy said his company calls in Campion for problems involving dust, mold, soot and similar problems. Typically, the first step is to figure out what the dust particles are and whether they are hazardous, he said. "Then Bill can zero in on where it's coming from. Once he does his work, he develops a protocol to deal with it. Then we get a bid from several contractors. They do the remediation. Then we have Bill go out and sample again.
“But a homeowner could hire him directly and probably save money,” Vannoy said.
Campion, reached by email, suggested mailing him an envelope with a “small batch” of the fibers so he can take a look under his microscope. His address is P.O. Box 275, Point of Rocks, MD 21777-0275. Then he could schedule a visit to look at the layout of the house and ductwork.
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“My thinking right now is that, if there are fibers accumulating in only two rooms in the home, there must be some common pathway of delivery of the fibers to those two rooms,” he wrote. “It is likely that there is a leak in the dryer exhaust vent inside a ceiling space. I have seen recently built homes in which the dryer exhaust ducting has been run 20 or 30 feet across the basement (above ceiling finishes) to the outdoor exhaust, and sometimes they cram the ducting into spaces where it doesn’t really fit, causing kinks and restrictions and back-flow issues.” He recalled one situation in which a small animal got inside a dryer exhaust duct and made a nest. That not only trapped the exhaust air inside the house, but it also could have led to a fire.
The fibers are unlikely to be insulation. “I have never seen fiberglass insulation work its way out of wall insulation into a room in quantities sufficient to become visible,” Campion said. “The microscopic exam would be able to rule that out quickly, as fiberglass is easy to identify.”
Be sure to discuss pricing before you proceed. Depending on how complex the issues are, forensic investigations can cost thousands of dollars. But with luck, your situation will turn out to be easier to untangle.
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