QUESTION: We use our fireplace a lot in winter, but now with the warm weather we have shut it down. We are getting a horrible smell of burnt wood in the house, even with the damper closed. How can I stop that odor from coming down?

ANSWER: It's an old story that arises every spring. When the heating shuts down, the air goes down the chimney, bringing the sooty odor with it. And it stinks. There are several cures. A simple one is to light a kerosene lamp and put it in the fireplace (or stove) to get that air moving up.

Or, light a few votive candles in the fireplace. You can buy metal brackets that hold a bunch of candles. It looks nice and you get no smell, because the air flow is reversed.

Still another way is to seal the firebox opening with a gasketed cover. This is harder than it sounds, but it's doable.

QUESTION: On a home designer show, I saw a glaze paint that can be put over ceramic wall tiles. What is it?ANSWER: It might be an epoxy paint, similar to the finish that reglazers put on old bathtubs and sometimes ceramic tile. You could check with a paint store (not a hardware store) to see what it can offer.But you can do well with less esoteric materials: Sand the tiles with a power sander to reduce gloss and roughen the finish, apply a latex enamel undercoater, and finish with one or two coats of a latex satin or gloss enamel or an oil-based enamel. Do this on wall tile, not tub surrounds, shower stalls, or floors.

QUESTION: My dog is a 15-pound poodle who thinks he's a Rottweiler, and I am hard put to keep him in my kitchen and out of the living room and other living areas of the mobile home I just bought. I plan to put up vinyl 4-by-4 posts and set up plastic lattice as a neighborly fence in the 7-foot-wide space between living room and kitchen. How can I secure the posts to the plywood floor?ANSWER: You can buy many kinds of fasteners at Home Depot or any good hardware store. The first popular fastener was the joist hanger. From there the manufacturers branched out to many kinds, including post bases, which are metal boxes that hold a 4-by-4 post. These boxes have a flange on all four sides that can be nailed or screwed to the floor. Then drive screws through the box into the sides of the PVC post. Most are made of galvanized steel, but some come in decorative wrought iron. Fifi will stay put.

QUESTION: My bathroom ceiling has a thick, heavily textured (coating) that is starting to fall. I would like to take it all down but the ceiling material is heavily scuffed and torn, not easy to paint. What do I do?ANSWER: Take down the rest of that textured material, which was probably put up to cover the already-beaten-up ceiling. That junk is heavy, hastening the fall. With it down, put up new dry wall (3/8-inch-thick plasterboard), driving nails or dry wall screws into the strapping just under the old ceiling. With two thin coats of a latex ceiling paint, it will last 100 years.

QUESTION: My dining room table top has been stained and varnished. After 10 years, the finish is so soft that newspapers stick to it. I stripped it, but the new finish with two coats of stain does not look good; I think I put one shade of stain over a different color. How can I remove the stain and start over?ANSWER: Before you go any further, give a small area of that table top two coats of a semigloss oil-based polyurethane varnish. You might find the varnish finishes off the stain very nicely. If so, finish the job with the varnish.If not, you have to sand off that stain, because stain penetrates the wood and no chemical stripper that I know of will remove it. Use a power sander; start with pretty coarse paper and work your way up to fine.Apply one coat of an oil-based penetrating stain of your favorite color, and finish with two coats of a semigloss oil-based polyurethane varnish. Thin coats are best.

QUESTION: Is it OK to trim the top of my lilac bushes now?ANSWER: Sure, but it'll be better to wait until after they bloom and fade.

QUESTION: I was given a set of highly polished pewter salad servers. They were put in the dishwasher and now they are very dull. How can I restore that high-polished look?ANSWER: Any brass polish will do well on that pewter. Noxon and Simichrome are good. The fact that the pewter dulled in the dishwasher indicates that it is not lacquered, so the brass polish will work well.Another technique also can work on polished brass, copper, and pewter, but not on pewter that is naturally dull: Mix 1 cup vinegar, one cup salt, and 1/4 cup flour to make a paste. Apply this paste, wait an hour, and rub it off, then wash and polish with a soft cloth. Use this treatment only on bare metal, not lacquered.Handyman on Call Peter Hotton is available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton also chats on line about house matters from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursdays. Go to www.boston.com. Hotton's e-mail is photton@globe.com.By the Boston Globe