When Power Fails, Check Fuse, Breaker

Question: Our home is 40 years old. In my bedroom bath we have a four-way lamppost light fixture that holds four 60-watt bulbs.

I was blow-drying my hair using a 1,500-watt dryer, and I heard a pop. All electricity in the bath cut off, and now nothing comes on. No other part of the house was affected. Can you tell me what happened and what to do?

Answer: If your hairdryer and the lamppost were plugged into the same receptacle, chances are you blew a GFI circuit-breaker or a fuse.

If you have checked the fuse panel and found that all is OK, look for the GFI breaker that controls the circuit for your bathroom. A GFI receptacle contains its own breaker system (two plugs with two buttons in the center). One button tests the circuit and the other resets it.

If you’re unsure what a GFI breaker looks like, go to a hardware store and ask to see one. Then finding it in your own home will be easier.

If possible, leave that light fixture off when you are drying your hair. Better yet, get four compact fluorescents and reduce the 240 watts being used by your pole lamp to 54 watts. You’ll have the same amount of light as before, but you will be using 75% less energy.

Several Coats of Stripper Needed to Remove Paint

Q: I have stripped the paint from and sanded the woodwork in my bathroom. But I am having a problem with a small amount of paint bleeding through the stain. It was not visible before I applied the stain, but appears as the stain dries. How can I solve this problem?

A: It is difficult to completely remove all the paint from wood. In fact, two to three coats of paint stripper must be applied and brass-brushed away after you are certain that you’ve removed all the paint.

This is because narrow strips of paint always remain beneath the surface and between the wood fibers.