Dear Ken: We can’t get our bathroom lavatories to stop smelling. We’ve tried Liquid-Plumr, baking soda and vinegar, even bleach. Can you help? — Roger

Answer: Did you remember the overflow? That’s the hole in the front of the sink that drains water if you forget to turn off the faucet. Sometimes it fills with gunk. Use a turkey baster to squirt a mixture of 50% Clorox and 50% warm water into the hole. This will flush out and disinfect the channel.

Also, it helps to clean out the pipes under the sink. Unscrew the trap and let it drop into a bucket, then use a plumber’s snake or a bent coat hanger to scrape out the horizontal pipe that goes into the wall.

Finally, clean the pop-ups. They collect all kinds of gunk. If you can’t remove yours, here’s the remedy. Unscrew the lifter arm under the sink and pull out the rod part way so you can lift the stopper from the hole. Soak it in a bucket with strong detergent. At the bottom is a scored mark, indicating where you can break off the plastic tab around the lifter hole with pliers so it no longer captures the rod. Put everything back together, and you’ll have an arrangement whereby you can lift it out for cleaning whenever you want.

Around the House: Window film good for saving energy

Dear Ken: I have a 1973 house with gable vents. Would you recommend adding some square roof vents up high? — Dan

Answer: The gable vents are pretty efficient as they let in cross breezes. Make sure you cover the most north-facing one in the winter to keep out snow. Square, high vents are OK, but they come with built-in snow screens on their undersides so they don’t handle much air (that’s why new homes, which rely mostly on this type of vent, get so hot in the summer). Because of the convection tendency of warm air, I would instead add a couple of rotating turbine vents up high on the rear side of the roof. They create a negative pressure when they rotate, expelling lots of hot air. They, too, can be covered in the winter with a garbage bag and bungee cord.

Around the House: Time for a check of your sprinkler system

Dear Ken: I have a glass top stove, and I have a hard time keeping it clean by using only that liquid that came with the stove. Anything else I can do? — Laura

Answer: I’m not sure what brand you’re using, but I’ve grown to appreciate the Weiman brand Stove Top Cleaner. Anyway, it’s important to wipe up and remove spills before you cook again — especially any spills involving sugar. If you’ve created tough spots, use a single-edge razor blade inside a dispensing handle to gently remove excess spillage. Don’t use it dry, though; that same liquid can help lubricate the blade’s action. Let it sit for 10 minutes before you start to scrape.

Around the House: Don’t get heated over air conditioning issues

Dear Ken: Do you remember a warning when we were kids not to drink hot water from the tap? How come? I like a cup of tea now and then, and it’s so convenient to just turn on the faucet. — Sam

Answer: Some of those old proscriptions, we now find, make lots of sense. Hot water dissolves contaminants more readily than cold. That can mean lead contamination or extra iron (which can be toxic to kids) can make its way into that hot drink. Lead pipe solder was still used into the 1980s; it has since been replaced with copper or antinomy. So, if your house is younger than that or if you have the newer plastic water pipes, there should be no problem.

You could check with the county health department to see if they can help you arrange a water test. Otherwise, my tea-drinking friends rave about those instant electric hot water boxes you install under the sink.

Around the House: How to keep a wandering washer off the dance floor

Dear Ken: I have a carafe and tumbler set that is very cloudy from our water up here in the mountains. How can I clean them up? — Brad

Answer: Try Bar Keeper’s Friend — an oxalic-based cleanser that folks swear by for these tough, hard water stains. Sprinkle some inside each piece, and then use a wet sponge and some gentle pressure to release the stains.

Nancy has a similar question: Is there any easy way to remove the price tags stuck to stuff you buy?

If simply soaking the bottoms in warm tap water doesn’t work, try Goo Gone (and don’t confuse it with its similarly named cousin, Goof Off solvent). It is great for sticky things such as crayon, lipstick and glue residues. If you’re using it on plastic or other non-glass products, try a test spot first to check for compatibility.

Around the House: Is your garage too hot in the summer? Here’s how to chill out

Dear Ken: The drain at the bottom of my water heater drips. Can it be fixed or do I need a new tank? — Terry

Answer: Rather than try to replace it or otherwise mess with it, you could simply screw on a cap. You can find brass versions in the hardware store that have those coarse hose threads inside. Wrap a little Teflon tape around the drain and then screw the cap on fairly tight. Bottom line: for a couple of bucks, voilà, your leak is no more!

Ken Moon is a home inspector in the Pikes Peak region. His call-in radio show airs at 4 p.m. Saturdays on KRDO, FM 105.5 and AM 1240. Visit aroundthehouse.com.