Q. I installed track lighting four years ago when we bought the house. They have several bulbs in each fixture, all 50W halogen bulbs. The main fixture above the island has eight bulbs. Recently I noticed very dark, almost black areas above each fixture. I tried to clean the soot off with micro fiber and what a mess. I am not so concerned with the ceiling as we are going to paint this year anyway. But there was black soot on the fixtures and even inside. I removed the bulbs and installed 35W.

What can it be? We do cook a lot but no deep frying or greasy foods. We do have propane heat and sometimes I see a film on the windows which I think is from the propane. The only other cause I can think of is my wife. (I hope she never reads this!) She loves candles. She uses the island to melt wax, trim wicks, melt two or three old candles to make a new one and generally obsess over her collection.

A. Those dark areas above the halogen lights are from scorching of the ceiling from the lights. Even if they are rated cooler than older models, they are still hot enough to scorch anything nearby over time. You could lower the fixtures holding the bulbs or put in less weighty and cooler fluorescent bulbs.

That is one problem easily fixed, but the other is worse and hard to fix: All those candles, which cause most of the soot that sticks to everything. Your cooking habits produce little soot, easily handled with a power vent over the stove and blowing outdoors. The candles have to go, which sounds cruel, but at least here’s my idea: Have your wife use a screened porch, perhaps with a low-running exhaust fans. She can do all sorts of things with her candles, but it will depend on the weather. Late spring to early autumn should give her plenty of time in the tear. And don’t let anyone tell you that low-soot candles are the same as no-soot candles. Where there is a flame, there is soot.

Here’s what Judith Barton wrote the Handyman about a blocked bathroom vent: “We had our bathroom ceiling getting a bit of black mold, too. So it was cleaned and repainted. Some months later, the same thing started to recur. But we were having work done on our house exterior and the painter investigated the vent cavity from the outside. It was blocked with hornet nests. Perhaps your correspondent should check on his.”

Q. I have a laminate floor on which a liquid covering has been placed. Alas! Now it has smudged and spotted.

A. If the laminate is wood, sand off the smudges and spots, and apply two thin coats of a water-based urethane varnish. If it is plastic, check with the manufacturer as to what must be done.

Q. I live in a 1998 house, heated via forced hot air. The issue is that two bedrooms, naturally at the end of the house, are getting little to no heat in the winter or AC in the summer. One bedroom has a 2 x 10 heating grate and the other has a more standard 4 x 10 grate. Neither however seems to get much airflow. I’ve had both lines scoped for blockage and there is nothing in there. The few options I’ve come up with are: 1) Install a duct register booster or an in-duct booster fan for both rooms. 2) Have a zoned heating system installed for the upstairs. Or 3) Install a new hot air furnace and hope this model pushes more air through the lines. What are your thoughts on the register booster and induct booster fan? Are they worth it? Or do you have a better idea?

A. I don’t think you need boosters, and certainly not a bigger or another furnace. Every forced hot air system needs a supply duct for air to go to each room, and a return duct for all cooled air to go back to the furnace. Those two rooms do not have returns, so the fan is pushing ineffectively into the rooms that are full already. Have a duct man install a return in each bedroom. If that doesn’t to work or is not done, keep the bedroom doors open.

Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton is available on Tuesdays from 1 to 6 p.m. to answer telephone calls at 617-928-2930. E-mail Hotton at photton@globe.com.

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