QUESTION: My dad's condo has a paper-thin common wall separating his living room from his neighbor's. The wall is 23 feet long, and sound transmission is severe. While we are ready to paint, this would be a good time to address this issue.

One thought is to put up a second layer of plasterboard (5/8

inch?); another is to blow insulation into the wall (would this work?); a third is to build a second wall separate from the first.

Here is what I thought might be good: Strip off the existing plasterboard. Add new studs between the existing studs but position them so that they extend a fraction of an inch in front of the existing studs. Insulate, and add new plasterboard. What type of insulation should we use?

ANSWER:

You have good instincts, or you have been reading up on sound control.

Building a wall about one inch away from the existing wall will give you good sound control. Fill it with 3½-inch fiberglass insulation and put 5/8-inch plasterboard on the new wall. Caulk all joints. Incidentally, insulating the exisiting wall will do almost no good.

While the above is the best way to control sound transmission, your idea of staggering studs is nearly as good, and is standard practice in sound control.

But you want to do it a bit differently. After taking off the finish of the wall, add a 2-by-3 board to the 2-by-4 base plate (the 2-by-4 on the floor under the studs), about one inch away from the base plate. Then install alternate studs on this new base plate, each new stud right in the middle between the old studs. Then weave 3(DD)-inch unbacked fiberglass insulation, going in front of the original studs and behind the new studs. Do this horizontally, and staple wherever needed.

Apply 5/8-inch plasterboard, tape all joints, and cover joints and nail heads with joint compound.

QUESTION: When my wife was using the clothes dryer, the main circuit breaker tripped. I turned it back on and it lasted a week. Yesterday it happened three times, all of which times my wife was using the dryer. What's wrong, and is there a way I can fix it?ANSWER: It sounds as if the dryer is not on its own 220 breaker, so there is an overload that trips the main breaker. This is a job for an electrician.

QUESTION: My daughter bought a bigger house in Wallingford, Conn. It has electric baseboard heat. Can the electric heat be converted to gas? And what are the pros and cons concerning electric and gas?ANSWER: For starters, electric heat cannot be converted to gas or anything else. If you want to convert to gas, you must pull out all those electric baseboard heating units and install a hot air duct system throughout the house with a furnace, or hot water pipe system with a boiler. This can be expensive.Electric vs. gas (or oil)? There is no argument. Electricity is by far the most expensive heat you can get, althoughI have gotten some rather irate replies from users of electric heat who have found it manageable. But I have gotten more responses from electric heat users who find their bills way out of sight.If you are skeptical, wait till the end of the season to see how much it costs to heat the house in Wallingford. Compare it with a gas- or oil-heated house in the same community, then decide if the expense of converting is worth it. I say it is.Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton is available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton also chats on line about house matters 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. To participate, go to Boston.com. Hotton's e-mail is photton@globe.com.