HANDYMAN\If you can't stand the heat, air condition the kitchen.

Byline: Peter Hotton

Q: I'd like to cool my kitchen in summer without a window air conditioner, but there's no place in the exterior wall to put in a sleeve unit (one that mounts in the wall, not in the window). Would it be OK to install a unit in the wall between the garage and the kitchen? I would make sure the garage is well ventilated.

A: It should be OK, since the unit does not exhaust fumes, only warm air. Make sure the garage is well ventilated by keeping windows open, and the door too, if practicable.

Q: The roofer putting on my new roof shingles, after stripping the old shingles down to the wood sheathing, is not using paper or roofing felt under the new shingles. He said if he put paper down he couldn't see where to nail. Is that OK?

A: It's OK, but the roofer's reason not to put paper down is silly. A better reason is that paper under the shingles may trap water vapor under it, and if it condenses, it could cause wrinkling in the shingles, called smiles, but nothing to smile about. Actually, the smiles generally do not cause leaks, until they are very severe.

However, there is one caveat: The shingle manufacturers recommend felt (paper) under the shingles, and they give this cute warning: If paper is not use, the warranty is negated.

So, take your pick. The handyman does not believe in felt or paper under the shingles, and he has his roof to prove this hypothesis: It is more than 20 years old without paper, and the shingles are as flat as the day they were installed. And no leaks, either.

If your attic is very well ventilated, the shingles will be less likely to curl if they are laid over paper.

Q: I have gaps up to 1/8-inch wide between my window frames and the wall. None is wider than 1/8 inch. I feel a draft of cold air in the gaps. How can I fill them? The frames are stained; the wall is painted.

A: You can fill the gaps with a brown caulking compound to match the stained frames. Put masking tape on the wall before filling the gaps; this way you will keep the caulking off the wall. Be careful when pulling off the masking tape that you don't pull off the caulking. If you get a bit of caulking on the wall, you can always touch it up with paint. The caulking comes in a cartridge; put it in a caulking gun and cut the nozzle to as small an opening as possible. When you have inserted caulking into the gaps, it might look OK; if not, you can smooth it off with a wet finger.