Show Notes
- DIY or Hire a Pro?: Do you have the DIY skills or should you pay for a professional contractor? How to decide.
- Tap Water Safety: Tests can determine how safe your water is for cooking, drinking, and bathing.
- Insulation: Cooler weather is a great time to find out if your home has enough insulation.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Rusty Washing Machine: Sherry’s washing machine dispenser is rusting. If it’s not that old, it’s worth getting a replacement part and having it repaired.
- Insulation: Ed wants to insulate the gap between the drywall and masonry. It would be more effective to seal any drafts and add insulation to the attic.
- Popcorn Ceiling: Can you clean a popcorn ceiling? Margaret won’t be able to clean it, but gets tips on how to remove the popcorn texture or repaint it.
- Retaining Wall Materials: Should Robert use blocks or poured cement to build a retaining wall? Blocks are more attractive and less work but need to be installed properly for the retaining wall to last.
- Weed Removal: Kim is fighting a weed problem and gets info about using plastic sheets, weed block, and spray products for her lawn.
- Leaning Wall: A brick retaining wall is leaning forward from the soil that’s expanding and pushing against it. Howard gets options for replacing the wall.
- Leaking Windows: Rain and bugs are coming inside Georgia’s leaking windows. They should be sealed with better flashing under the exterior siding.
- Cracked Drywall: Drywall cracks are a common problem, but Patrick gets tips on using fiberglass tape and how to spackle over it to stop the cracks.
- Woodpeckers: Knock, knock. Who’s there? Barb gets advice on how to scare away woodpeckers that keep tapping at her house.
- DIY Fire Pit: James wants to build a DIY fire pit. We recommend a fire pit kit that includes all the materials he needs.
- Cracks in Brick: A crack going up a brick wall may have many causes. Unless it’s an active crack, Judith can use silicone sealant to keep out damaging moisture.
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 0:00:24 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show on Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:00:30 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:00:31 | TOM: We are here to help you taking on projects that you want to get done around your house. If you have a fix up to do, if you’ve got a repair to make, you’re tackling some remodel. Or maybe you want to plan for a décor project. Whatever is on your to do list can be slid right on over 2 hours. When you reach out with your how to questions and how to do that is simply to go to moneypit.com/ask, click the blue microphone button which you’ll find pretty much on every page and then post your question to us. Coming up on today’s show DIY or get a guy or get a gal if you want to tackle a project yourself will be the first ones to cheer you on. But how do you know when hiring a pro is the best way to go? We’re going to tell you how to think through it all before you pick up a hammer and get yourself in a jam. |
| 0:01:21 | LESLIE: All right? And you drink it, you cook with it. You bathe in it. But are you sure that it’s safe? You know, tap water can be deceiving because it looks and tastes harmless, even when it’s not, which is why it’s a good idea to test it, to find out. So we’re going to tell you how. |
| 0:01:35 | TOM: And also ahead, it may still be warm outside, but colder weather is not far off, making now the perfect time to check out your insulation. We’re going to tell you how to determine how much insulation you really need. |
| 0:01:46 | LESLIE: That’s right. But first, do you love your home? But sometimes you feel like it’s an endless pit that you’re throwing money into for home improvements and repairs. Listen, we get it and we can help. So let us know what your plans are. What are you working on? What are some of the projects you want to tackle? Maybe you don’t have to tackle them all at once. Maybe you can do them in baby steps. Let us help you figure out the best way to do these projects effectively and economically. So call us. |
| 0:02:10 | TOM: Reach out right now. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or better yet, post your questions to moneypit.com/ask for the fastest possible response. Let’s get to it Leslie who’s first. |
| 0:02:26 | LESLIE: Share in Texas is on the line with a question about a rusty washing machine. How can we help? |
| 0:02:31 | CALLER: I am I moved into a condo about a year ago and it came with a washer and dryer. The washing machine is a Kenmore Elite top loader and it has a liquid bleach dispenser in the top area on the left hand side. Well, clearly, it looks to me as though when you pour the bleach in, it must be eating from the inside out because it’s rusted and I don’t know what to do if I can do anything about it. So I thought I would give you a call and see what you think. |
| 0:03:00 | TOM: How old is this washing machine? |
| 0:03:01 | CALLER: Well, I’m not 100% sure. I moved in a year ago. It’s got to be maybe, you know, three or four years at least, if. |
| 0:03:09 | TOM: It’s, you know, less than five, it probably should have, you know, some number of years left on it. It’s probably worth fixing. The nice thing about Kenmore machines is they’re very, very good with repair parts. So there’s a good chance you can find repair parts to replace whatever is rusted out. The downside is, of course, this is really not a do it yourself project unless you’re super handy. So you’re going to have to have an appliance repair pro, you know, do the work for you. But I would say that if it’s a young appliance like that, then it’s probably worth it. If it’s if it’s, you know, an older appliance or one that’s, know pretty economically inexpensive appliance, then you might just kind of want to live with it as long as you can and then replace it. You know, SpeedQueen is a brand that we’ve been recommending a lot the last few months because they kind of blew us away with the fact that these machines are tested to 10,400 cycles, which is 25 years of normal use. So if you say a new one, take a look at that brand. |
| 0:04:01 | CALLER: Okay. Okay. So best bet is to contact Kenmore and see what they can offer me or help me out with. |
| 0:04:08 | TOM: Any repair person will have access to those parts. I know how to get those parts as well. You don’t necessarily have to work through Sears. Okay. |
| 0:04:14 | CALLER: Okay. Okay. Well, thank you. |
| 0:04:16 | TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:04:21 | LESLIE: Ed in Delaware is on the line with an insulation question. How can I help you today? |
| 0:04:25 | CALLER: I’ve got a house built at about 1950. Masonry brick, and there’s about a one inch air gap between the inner part of the masonry and the drywall. No insulation. Obviously, I want to insulate that, but I have a couple of questions around it. One would be, since it’s a true masonry house, it’s not bricks over a stone frame, it’s brick. The joists rest in pockets in the brick. If I put insulation around there, am I going to have wrought problems on the end of the choice? |
| 0:05:09 | TOM: How are you going to insulate the wall. |
| 0:05:11 | CALLER: With a low pressure foam? |
| 0:05:13 | TOM: Mm hmm. Okay. |
| 0:05:15 | CALLER: Well, such was my thought. Yeah, it’s very rough in there, so I don’t think I can do any kind of blown insulation. |
| 0:05:22 | TOM: Right? Yeah. You don’t have a lot of space. I got to tell you, typically, believe it or not, those spaces are not insulated where you have that. Just very narrow space in a brick wall. And what folks typically concentrate on would be insulating the attic. Extra, extra, extra. Well, so to speak. I mean, having 15 to 20, 25 inches of insulation in the attic is actually far more effective because that’s where most of the heat loss occurs. To your original question, whether that will contribute to any degradation of the Joyce that are sitting in pockets, I doubt it, but I just don’t think you’re going to get much of a return by trying to insulate that space because you don’t have that much cavity to insulate. It means the amount of R-value you’re going to get in there should be pretty small to begin with. |
| 0:06:03 | CALLER: That’s true. Part of the issue, and I can solve this by sealing the basement and the attic, which I haven’t gotten completed yet, is that there’s literally a breeze that blows up and down there, depending on the direction that the wind blows. So at the very least, I want to close that off so I don’t get air infiltration, for example, through the few plugs that are in the outer wall. |
| 0:06:27 | TOM: That make sense. I think that’s a good idea. |
| 0:06:29 | CALLER: But I was thinking, even if I can only get an inch in there, that’s an inch versus. |
| 0:06:34 | TOM: Nothing if they’re not rotting now, I don’t think it’s going to happen when you insulated, you’re not going to be, you know, doing anything. It’s going to contribute to adding moisture there. I just think that if you were to seal those drafts from below and focus on insulating and you had the areas you can get to, I don’t feel like you’re going to get a lot of return from what’s left, which is just this very narrow space in that net exterior wall. It’s solid masonry. Otherwise. Okay, so why not do it in stages? Why don’t just do the seal at seal address first, see what happens? Because the hardest part of this is obviously getting into that wall. But if you seal the drafts, you find out that maybe you don’t have such an issue anymore, you would have saved yourself a lot of aggravation. |
| 0:07:11 | CALLER: Well, that is true, particularly since the wall is open at each joist. So I’d have to cut into the seals and seal that anyway. Otherwise I would be insulating the floor, which. |
| 0:07:23 | TOM: Does a lot of work. So I would hit it in stages and see what the result is. |
| 0:07:28 | LESLIE: Hey guys, if you’ve heard a helpful tip or two while listening to our show, please help us help even more home improvers by dropping us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:07:37 | TOM: That would be awesome. And you might even win a copy of our book My Home, My Money Pit, Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure. Just go to Money Pit Tor.com slash review. |
| 0:07:47 | LESLIE: Margaret, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 0:07:50 | CALLER: Yes. I’d like to know what I can do about my popcorn ceilings. They’re getting dirty. They’re 20 years old. |
| 0:07:57 | LESLIE: Well, there’s a couple of solutions. Do you like them and want to keep them or you just want them to not look so dingy? |
| 0:08:03 | CALLER: I would not rather I would not like to keep them no more. |
| 0:08:06 | LESLIE: All right. Well, generally, with popcorn stealing, if it’s truly a popcorn ceiling and not like a texturizing stucco, what you can do to remove it is you can get like, you know, one of those garden sprayers or like, you know, those light duty paint sprayers put water in it and you spray the ceiling to sort of saturate the popcorn, and then you take a wide spackle blade like as wide as one you can find, and you sort of gently start peeling away at the popcorn ceiling, at the popcorn texture, I should say, from the ceiling. And that generally does a pretty good job, cause if you’ve ever tried to paint it, if you don’t have the right roller when it gets wet, it starts to peel away from the ceiling. So by getting it, what you’re being able to remove it, you just want to make sure with your blade or your scraper that you’re not digging into the drywall below it. Because keep in mind, whatever’s left underneath there is what you’re going to paint and then. |
| 0:08:54 | CALLER: See, okay, how do I go about cleaning? If I decide to go it, just go ahead and keep this. |
| 0:09:00 | LESLIE: Well, you wouldn’t clean it. You would paint over it. |
| 0:09:02 | CALLER: Oh, no, no. |
| 0:09:03 | TOM: Yeah, There’s actually a special roller for that. It’s like a slit it roller. It’s a very thick roller that’s got slits in it. It’s designed to squeeze the paint into that popcorn area. And that’s exactly what I would do it. I would paint it. It’s going to look a lot better than cleaning it. You just can’t clean that stuff. There’s nothing cleanable about popcorn ceiling. You got to paint over it. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:09:26 | LESLIE: Robin in Washington is on the line and needs some help building a retaining wall. Tell us about your project. |
| 0:09:30 | CALLER: 50 feet of retaining wall. It’s tapered. It’s eight feet on one end and four feet on the other. And I’m comparing trying to compare the engineered blocks, £2,000 blocks in price to a cast in place and really haven’t found any place to give me a good idea. |
| 0:09:50 | TOM: So, Robert, I think that, you know, trying to decide between those very, very heavy retaining wall block structures and poured concrete is going to kind of be a wash. I think that the that the blocks actually can be more attractive and probably a little bit less work to install. But also, you know, there are other options. You could build wood retaining walls that can be structurally very, very sound if they’re done right. And you could use smaller, lighter weight blocks, landscaping, bricks that again, you know, they’re not £1,000, but they’re probably 75. And you can stack those up in the right way. The most important thing is really the structure of this wall and how you grade to it, because you have to make sure that you have stone behind it for drainage. You have to make sure that the soil at the top slopes away from it. Most retaining walls fall foul, not because the material is wrong, but because the installation was bad. So as long as it’s installed, well, following the best building practices for retaining walls, you’re going to have success with this. For example, with wood walls, you know, there’s a technique called a dead man, which is basically when you put pieces of railroad tie or six by six or eight by eight timber that go back into the retaining wall, into the dirt itself. Two can tie the wall together. So sometimes we don’t see enough of those installed and that makes the walls fail, you know, with a block or brick. Sometimes we see people build them. Absolutely vertical instead of tilting back into the wall so that whenever there’s a frost, he because there’s not enough drainage behind it, it will push the wall you know and it caused the buckle. So the techniques that you use to build this wall or even more important than the selection of material itself. So I hope we’ve given you some options. Robert, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:11:34 | LESLIE: Well, doing home projects and improvements yourself may seem more cost efficient than ever, but how do you know when to tackle home improvement projects yourself and when hiring that professional contractor is best? |
| 0:11:46 | TOM: Well, step one, I think last is to keep your eyes on the prize. I mean, before you start stocking up on tools and choosing paint colors, you’re first do it yourself or project is really think about the exact end result that you’re going after. Now, once you do that, you can work your way back through all the knowledge, the techniques, the elbow grease involved, and doing whatever research is required to sort of fill in the blanks. |
| 0:12:07 | LESLIE: Yeah. And next, I think you really honestly need to assess your own abilities. You’ve got to decide whether or not you are the best person for the job. So consider that every project requires a certain amount of preparation and a sliding scale of time to accomplish, neither of which is obvious in many popular home improvement TV shows that come around these days and they edit all of that time, days, weeks, months, all of that hard work. I mean, they squish that down into 22 minutes, 44 minutes, whatever that show length is. And so you’re not really getting a sense of how long some of these projects take. And, you know, I’m guilty of it. We did this for ages on the shows I’ve worked on, but we really did all that work behind the scenes. It just got compressed. So you got to think about the time. Now. |
| 0:12:53 | TOM: Once you’ve gone through that, it’s time to actually build a budget. So before you begin that hiring search for a contractor, you want to compile the best possible estimate of potential cost. Now, this is going to take a bit of research, but it does need to be done so that you’re well acquainted with what’s involved and can sort of determine your financial limitations before those bids start rolling in. You also want to think about including a reserve of about 20% to cover the inevitable project surprises and additions and line up your financing accordingly. |
| 0:13:22 | LESLIE: All right. Now, lastly, think about getting the help that you do need now, whether you’re looking for a handyman or remodeling contractor to hire personal recommendations or those from past customers, they’re really helpful to getting you the right match. Services like Angie can help you find those pros for all of those projects or just part of the job that you feel least prepared to go at it alone. For example, you might feel fine building the deck, but running new wiring and lighting isn’t a job that you’re comfortable with. So leave that part to the pro. There’s so many different approaches, so really think about how you want to handle it from start to finish. Kim in North Carolina, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 0:14:01 | CALLER: Well, we have trouble with we and it was never a trouble before, but it is. We have had trouble finding what we used to have and want to know if it is outdated or no longer safe in use for the environment. |
| 0:14:21 | TOM: Oh, you mean your weed killer? |
| 0:14:22 | CALLER: Well, no, it’s in weed jokes. We try not to put anything down in the ground other than to kill the fire. |
| 0:14:29 | TOM: But your goal here is to eliminate weeds. |
| 0:14:31 | CALLER: We used to use the black plastic. The black plastic would keep the weeds gone. This literally gone, and the plants would actually flourish from the root system being gently baked. We’ll use the terms, but narrow. All you can find is that thin fibers. |
| 0:14:56 | TOM: Well, listen, if it’s worked for you in the past, I don’t see why it won’t work for you in the future. And certainly it is available and it’s safe. And you’re talking about weed. BLOCK That’s a different material entirely. And weed block is, you know, basically designed to cover the whole surface or to be just below the surface. I mean, it will work as well. But generally we block you put slits in it, and that’s how the plants grow through it. They don’t grow under it. Now, if you’re talking about a lawn, there are other ways to deal with a massive influx of weeds. If your lawn is in really bad condition and completely like full with weeds, then I would recommend a kind of radical step called a roundup restoration, where you essentially spray the entire lawn with a roundup product in the fall. By the way, in the fall you spray the entire lawn and then as that lawn starts to die out, you put seed on it and the seed comes up through the original dead lawn. And then by next spring, you have a beautiful new green lawn without a lick, a weeds in the whole place. So there’s a couple of ways to approach it. But either way, I think is fine. If you can identify the plastic and use it again, I see nothing wrong with doing that. If you want to use the weed block, that’s fine, but you have to have cuts in it for the plants to come on. Or if you just want to restore the entire lawn that go with the roundup restoration. Kim, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:16:16 | LESLIE: Howard in Texas is on the line with a brick wall that’s heading for Humpty Dumpty to have a great fall. What’s going on is leaning forward. |
| 0:16:24 | CALLER: House is old, about 30 years old, and I assume the retaining wall is probably similar in length, that there are two walls, there’s one about six bricks high and then a three foot deep flower bed and then another brick wall about landscaping brick wall about four bricks high with another three feet behind out of shrubbery, no flowers. And it’s yeah, it’s been lean and I noticed it last year and I thought it might go away and it’s not See. |
| 0:16:51 | TOM: The thing is what happens here is over time that soil is going to fill up with water. It’s going to be moist and damp and it’s going to expand and push on the wall. And that sort of ratcheting action from the frost, he won’t come back from that. So every season, season after season, it pushes a little more and a little more, a little more. So it’s not a structural issue because it’s landscaping brick, but it’s eventually going to have to be replaced. |
| 0:17:18 | CALLER: Okay, so you mean tear it down and rebuild it? |
| 0:17:20 | TOM: Then there are other types of retaining walls that can be constructed that are designed not to lean. For example, there are different types of a block wall, fancy block wall and precast concrete block walls that go together like puzzle pieces, one on top of another that sort of lean back as you go because you stack one up and the next one doesn’t stick out quite as far. And the next one top of that, not quite as far as one blow. And those are rather permanent when they’re installed, but just a basic brick wall like that. Yeah, that’s eventually going to lean fall over. |
| 0:17:50 | CALLER: Well, when I say brick, it’s probably 4 to 5 inches thick and. Yeah. |
| 0:17:55 | TOM: No, I hear you. |
| 0:17:56 | CALLER: Well, that makes sense. |
| 0:17:57 | TOM: Same thing. |
| 0:17:58 | CALLER: Okay. Thank you. |
| 0:17:59 | TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. |
| 0:18:02 | LESLIE: Georgia in Georgia is on the line with a question about Windows. What we do for you? |
| 0:18:06 | CALLER: Well, I have a problem with windows that are leaking every time it rains. Okay. I have water intrusion and bug intrusion coming in, and the corners are at the window shell. And I was wondering what you might be able to suggest. |
| 0:18:20 | TOM: To have water and bugs coming in the corner, the window sills. Talk to me about what kind of siding do you have on your house. Is it like vinyl or aluminum or is it wood? What do you got? |
| 0:18:30 | CALLER: I have vinyl siding and I was originally told that I’d have to buy new siding after it was taken down and the windows could be repaired. But then I found somebody who could remove the vinyl siding, but. And put it back. But he didn’t know how to fix the windows. |
| 0:18:50 | TOM: Well, if the windows are leaking, they have to be sealed from the outside, and that would probably best be done underneath the siding. There’s a couple of different types of flashing that they use that would make this transition. One is the head flashing, which basically goes under the siding and over the top of the window. And the second is the flashing that basically seals the sides of the window. That’s particularly important in your case because it sounds like you may be getting driving rain in. And this presumes that the water is coming in around the window. You can prove that by taking the garden hose and just strategically sort of holding it along the side of the window. See if you could make it leak. The other places could be coming in is between the window panes themselves or not the window panes for the window sashes themselves. And if that’s the case, then the windows defective and probably needs to be replaced. And again, you could do it the same way, but now you want to move the hose to the inside portions of the window as opposed to the outside, around the trim of the window. But if you do both of those tests, you ought to be able to narrow this down. But it’s clearly an issue, most likely an issue with the flashing not being right under that siding and around that window. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:19:57 | LESLIE: Well, we’re fortunate here in the United States to have some of the cleanest water in the world, but that doesn’t guarantee that your water is safe. Now, water contamination, it can’t be seen, it can’t be smelled and can’t always be tasted. But it is easy to find out for sure because you can easily test your tap water. |
| 0:20:15 | TOM: Yeah. And I would start by contacting your water provider. I mean, presuming here that you’re on city, City water, they’re required by law to make test results available to consumers. And these reports are going to detail the results of water testing in your area. Now, even if those results come back clean, do note the testing date of the results. If it’s been more than a year or so, you might want to take a few more steps to make sure your water is still okay. |
| 0:20:38 | LESLIE: Now next, you can hire an independent certified lab to test your tap periodically, and this can be done for as little as $30. And it covers threats ranging from lead to pesticides to bacteria to radon. And there’s also a number of DIY kits out there. But be cautious if the free kit comes with a hard charging salesman, that’s not going to be a lot of fun. And that’s really not the best way to learn what’s in your water, because that testing company obviously has a conflict of interest. They want to sell you something. So think about it before you get that one. |
| 0:21:09 | TOM: Now, if a contaminant is found, you can treat the water as needed. There are a wide range of water treatment products out there and systems from something as simple as a filter pitcher to whole house systems that are installed at the main water valve where water first comes in the house and then cleans all of the water that you’re using for cooking, for bathing, pretty much for everything. But do the tests to find out what you’re working with and if it turns out you have contaminants, then a good water treatment company can advise you on what systems are going to work to fix any problems that were popping up. |
| 0:21:41 | LESLIE: Patrick in Wyoming is on the line with a question about cracking drywall. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 0:21:46 | CALLER: I have a recurring a problem with cracks in the walls and I spackle them four or five times and I spread the spray rubber ceiling over them and they just keep returning. |
| 0:21:58 | LESLIE: And when you’re talking about cracks in the wall, do you mean like by the door, by trim work, by windows or like, smack in the middle of the wall? |
| 0:22:05 | CALLER: Both. I have. I have one by our front door that keeps reoccurring. And then I have one in a stair. Going down a set of stairs. |
| 0:22:15 | TOM: Well, by the stairs is pretty typical because you get a lot of movement. |
| 0:22:19 | LESLIE: And the front door to. |
| 0:22:20 | TOM: Yeah, a lot of movement in that space. So I think he’s just not fixing it, right. Leslie. |
| 0:22:24 | LESLIE: Well, the issue is, Patrick, whatever you do to fix them, it’s not a once and for all thing because you’re dealing with movement that continually over time could eventually lead to whatever you’ve used to fix that crack to dry out. So there’s got to be a way to fix it. |
| 0:22:38 | CALLER: Now, the hardware store sold me this rubber spray compound that’s supposed to flex and give with the wall, and it doesn’t seem to work. I just wondered, what’s the best solution? Paneling? |
| 0:22:53 | LESLIE: No, I mean, I. I’ve never used a rubber spray compound, But what I have done in areas where I have a crack or any sort of seaming, instead of using a paper tape like you would do when you’re putting two sheets of drywall together. I use a fiberglass tape and it looks almost like a sticky mesh. And you use that to go over your crack and then you put the compound over it and feather it out, you know, try to make it smooth and then let it dry and sand it. And you do a couple of applications of that, allowing it to super dry, sanded, smooth, add another layer. And that does the trick because that fiberglass tape that’s sort of messy looking does its best to span the cracks, spread the surface over it and makes it adhere much better than you would with a paper tape or no tape at all. And that should give you a much longer time. |
| 0:23:38 | TOM: All right. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:23:42 | LESLIE: Heading out to Alaska with Barb on the line who’s got a situation with woodpeckers. And I imagine living in a log home, woodpeckers probably like your house very much. |
| 0:23:51 | CALLER: Well, I don’t know if there’s a product that can help me with other than just shooting them with a good bullet. But I’m afraid I’m afraid it might ricochet off the building. |
| 0:24:01 | TOM: I’d be bad. Yeah. |
| 0:24:03 | CALLER: Yeah. So what have you got in your repertoire that might help me? |
| 0:24:09 | TOM: Well, there’s a couple of things that you can do, Barb. First of all, if you were to take. You basically want to scare them away. Okay, So if you were to take some strips, long strips of plastic that could kind of flutter in the breeze like take out like a hefty bag and a black garbage bag and cut it into, like, foreign strips and then tack some of those strips around with the woodpeckers are loving to pack backpack at your house that will have a detrimental effect and hopefully break the habit of them coming back to the same spot. And the other thing that you could do is you can take some tin pie plates, do the same thing, try to tie them that area, let them blow around a little bit, and that will kind of freaking out to what we found over the years is that if you can scare them not to come back to the place that they’re eating away at your house out, then they may be happy to go back in the woods and chew on the trees that are there, as opposed to the trees that were used to build your build your home with. Does that make sense? |
| 0:25:05 | CALLER: Oh, that’s a great idea. And sometimes I tie fishing lures on I’m fishing string to keep the birds from hitting the windows. So maybe that would be a little bit of wind activity. Or maybe some windmills or something. |
| 0:25:17 | TOM: Yeah, anything that moves around like that will deter them from coming back to visit you. Anything that’s shiny is particularly helpful. |
| 0:25:26 | LESLIE: James in Illinois is on the line and is looking to make a fire pit at their money Pit. What’s going on? |
| 0:25:31 | CALLER: Oh, I used to live in this way to build a fire. Appeared in the ground. Would you use fire or would you feel like it was galvanized to rain? |
| 0:25:40 | TOM: You know, there’s a really nice fire pit kit that’s on the market now at Home Depot that’s made by Pave Stone. It’s called the Rumble Stone Fire Pit kit. I like it because it contains everything that you need. It’s got the stone which you can use to create the round fire pit itself. And then it also has a metal insert and a screen. So basically everything you need is in the box and you can pick it up and put it together. And they’re pretty good about giving you instructions and step by step. Why don’t you take a look at that? I’ve got to tell you, I have a fire pit now, but if I was doing it again, I would pick up the Rumble Stone around Fire Pit, Get it? Home Depot. |
| 0:26:14 | CALLER: Which is a metal ring that goes around here. Felsic is it in when it rust? And you’d have to replace it in a couple of years. |
| 0:26:22 | TOM: I’ve had metal fire pits for a number of years and I find that they’re good for five or six or seven years. So I don’t think it’s an every year kind of thing. And this one in particular is made of heavy steel. |
| 0:26:32 | CALLER: What’s the price of that? |
| 0:26:33 | TOM: I think it’s around 400 bucks, maybe four or 450 bucks, something like that. But it includes everything. So it’s all in there, you know, the brick, the stone, the metal ring and so on. |
| 0:26:42 | CALLER: Okay. Well, I thank you very much. |
| 0:26:44 | TOM: Well, if you avoided going up in your attic all summer long because it’s just a bit too toasty, you’re going to need to head up there right now because now is a good time to add attic insulation. It’s going to save your money throughout the fall and winter because you know what? Just like your body loses heat through your head. Your home loses a lot of heat through that attic. |
| 0:27:02 | LESLIE: Now, the EPA’s EnergyStar program recommends at least 12 inches of insulation for most homes. But if your home is in colder climates, you really need more about 16 to 20 inches. Now, when you’re shopping for insulation, you’re going to see something, a number with an R in front of it. And that stands for resistance to heat loss or R-value. The higher the R-value, the better the installation’s ability to keep a heated air from escaping. And that’s going to keep you warmer in your home and it’s going to keep your energy bills down. |
| 0:27:30 | TOM: Now, if you want to find out exactly how much insulation you should have in your part of the country, just go to Energy Star dot gov. If you answer a couple of questions about your home’s heating system and the climate you live in, Andrew Star will actually help you calculate the precise level of insulation you need for your part of the nation that’s always online. Again, an energy star. Dot gov. |
| 0:27:50 | LESLIE: Judith in Arkansas is on the line and need some help with some brickwork. What’s going on? |
| 0:27:54 | CALLER: Well, we’ve got a little crack and it’s going up the wall and we don’t know exactly what’s going on. We’d like to just repair it and not reboot the whole side of the house. Does that seem to be a foundation issue? And I’d say that because there’s not any stress cracks from the inside anywhere. |
| 0:28:16 | LESLIE: So the crack that you’re seeing is on the brick itself, within the brick or in the mortar. |
| 0:28:20 | CALLER: It starts in the mortar, but then it crosses the brick. |
| 0:28:24 | TOM: Is it surrounding a window? |
| 0:28:25 | CALLER: Mummy looks as I’m walking out here to look at it. No, there is no window on this side of the house. |
| 0:28:31 | TOM: And you’ve never seen a crack. Is this brand new? Like how new we thought this is. |
| 0:28:35 | CALLER: We bought this house in 2008 right before they gave the tracks the tax credit that you didn’t have to pay back. We got the one that you had to pay back. Okay. |
| 0:28:45 | TOM: So it’s new since 2008, right? Look, there could be a lot of reasons that that’s happening. And it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a problem with your foundation. I mean, it could be a poor drainage condition around the house. That’s making it cause more movement. What I would do is unless it’s absolutely active, means it’s continuing to grow, I would simply seal it. I would choose a silicone sealant that would closely mimic the color of the brick in the mortar, and I would seal it because the more water you let get in there, the faster it’s going to freeze and break and expand and get worse. Almost all brick homes and masonry foundations have some kind of crack in them. So it’s not unusual. But I would seal it and then I would monitor it. And if you think it’s continuing to grow at that point, I would have either a professional home inspector or a structural engineer. Look at it. Okay. |
| 0:29:34 | CALLER: Okay. All right. Thank you so much. |
| 0:29:37 | LESLIE: Ron wrote in and he says, I’m the maintenance officer at a county jail. We have concrete floors in the cells that are just polished and sealed. And one cell floor was graffitied with mustard and is now etched with racist propaganda and about a two foot square area. Ron also says that he plans to tape off this area, strip and reseal just that affected spot. Is it going to work? What do you suggest? Also, once started, I must complete that project as quickly as possible, preferably within 24 hours. Start to finish as I need to open the cell back up to the inmates. Wow, man, this is a job. |
| 0:30:15 | TOM: It is. And it’s a first for us. Listen, Ron, let’s see what we can do to help you out here. First of all, I didn’t actually know that mustard could be used as a paint. |
| 0:30:22 | LESLIE: Apparently, there must be an acid in there or something that, like, etched it. |
| 0:30:26 | TOM: Well, listen, here’s what I think you should do. In this case. I wouldn’t try to just clean this two square foot area. What I would suggest you do is to pressure, wash the whole floor of this cell area. And once it’s thoroughly dry, what I would recommend you do is to use an epoxy concrete paint. Once you mix them together, they have a very finite working time. They usually will. You can only work with them about an hour or so after that, and they cure really quickly and they’re incredibly durable and tough. So you put a real good finish on this floor. They come in different colors, grays and tans and even clear. You can do the second layer clear to seal it all in if you want, although I really don’t think that’s necessary. It will enable you to get this covered up properly. You have a real durable finish in the space going forward. So good luck with that project. I hope that we were able to help you get this done quickly and efficiently and get back to business at the county jail. |
| 0:31:21 | LESLIE: Geez, Louise, Ron, you were doing a pretty serious job over there and we thank you for it and good luck with everything and good luck with the project. |
| 0:31:30 | TOM: Well, after the long summer, is your outside furniture looking a bit dirty or maybe moldy? Well, Leslie has tips for the easiest way to clean away the dirt and grime in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. |
| 0:31:42 | LESLIE: Leslie Yeah. I mean, now is really a good time to clean that outdoor furniture because chances are you going to use it a few more weeks. You might have to give it a good brush up just before, but then you’re wrapping it up and putting it away for the season. So let’s start and we’ll talk about your plastic furnishings. They can get stained and they can get pretty nasty looking. But what you need to do here is really just make a great cleaning solution yourself. And you probably have everything in the house right now. Dish, soap, borax, peroxide, and a gallon of water. Mix those together, use a soft nylon brush and scrub down those furnishings. Now, if you’ve got metal furniture, it’s really just going to be soapy water and a lot of elbow grease here. It’s going to take a lot of your strength there to keep cleaning that furniture. But you can also remove any rust and stains with sandpaper or a wire brush and then go ahead in prime and repaint those spots or repainted a whole new color. Try something different for the fall and love it again in the spring. You never know. I mean, and this is going to help you avoid any further rusting that could occur over the season. And if you’ve got wood furniture, just wash it down with an oil soap like Murphy’s Oil Soap and then just let it dry really well. Also, it’s a good time to think about anything that needs to be refinished. If you do it now, when spring rolls around, you’re going have this awesome looking furniture and would be like a surprise. Like you got something new. |
| 0:33:02 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. Coming up next time on the program, one home improvement that consistently delivers the best return on investment is a new kitchen. But how do you actually get started on planning such a major makeover? We’re going to walk you through the step by step. On the very next edition of The Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:33:23 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:33:24 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 0:33:26 | LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. |
| (Note: The above referenced transcript is AI-Generated, Unedited and Unproofed and as such may not accurately reflect the recorded audio. Copyright 2023 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.) |
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