Question: I bought several pieces of furniture for my new office. These come in kits with sections that I have to assemble myself.

I live in an apartment and have only a few tools, including screwdrivers and a hammer.

However, some of the pieces do not fit together as easily as I expected so I have to force them together by pounding with a hammer. I’m afraid this will mark up the finish on the wood. Any suggestions you can offer?

Answer: You can cushion the blows from the hammer by using a block of wood between the hammer head and the surface of the furniture. Or better yet, at a local hardware store or home center, buy a rubber crutch tip (also called a chair leg cushion) that is large enough to fit snugly over the head of the hammer.

Then you can slip this on before pounding on the wood. The rubber tip will soften and cushion the blows without denting or damaging the wood or its finish.

Question: We had a wood deck built a few years ago and it was finished with a redwood colored sealer.

This year we built on a new addition to this deck and have not yet sealed or stained it.

How can we get the new and the old wood decking to match each other in tone?

Answer: You will have to remove all of the old redwood sealer first using a semi-paste paint and varnish remover.

Then sand both the old and new decking down to the raw wood and clean with a wood “brightener” or “restorer” sold for use on wood decks.

If the color of the new and the old deck then match you can apply two coats of a sealer or stain in the color of your choice.

However, if the colors of the raw wood on the two sections are still noticeably different, then you will have to use a semi-opaque deck stain to paint both sections so the finish will match.

Question: My dining room buffet has a beautiful, high gloss finish, but somehow it has recently been accidentally scratched on the top.

This fine scratch is quite noticeable and using a liquid “scratch remover” or polish does not hide it completely.

I’ve been told that professionals fix such scratches with colored shellac. Is this possible?

Answer: You are probably referring to shellac sticks, rather than liquid shellac.

These come in a wide variety of wood colors and are often used by professionals to fill in scratches on furniture finishes.

Not many local paint or hardware stores carry these shellac sticks, but they are available from dealers who specialize in furniture finishing supplies, as well as from mail order houses that sell furniture finishing supplies to home craftsmen.

You use them by heating a flexible palette knife with a cigarette lighter or alcohol lamp, then press the hot blade against the end of the shellac stick to melt it.

The softened shellac is allowed to drip into the crack, then the hot blade is used to smooth the shellac into the crack and level it off.

Question: Our basement walls are made of cement block and there is a long crack in the mortar joints in one of the walls.

How can I repair this?

Answer: Cut the crack out to widen it slightly, then remove all crumbling mortar and dust.

Make it slightly wider on the inside than it is at the surface.

Buy some two-part epoxy patching cement and use this to fill in the crack, following directions as to mixing and application.

If the crack comes back in a little while then you may have a structural problem that should be checked out by a professional contractor or engineer.

Questions about home-repair problems should be addressed to Bernard Gladstone, care of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corp., 122 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10168. Questions of general interest will be answered in this column; Mr. Gladstone regrets that unpublished letters cannot be answered individually.