Show Notes
Today, get ideas to upgrade your deck with stylish, budget-friendly trends and learn how to add a leak-proof skylight to brighten up your home. Also, discover a new product that can extend your aging roof’s lifespan and get answers to more home improvement questions from Money Pit’s expert team in this episode!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Skylights: The sky’s the limit when it comes to installing leak-free skylights to brighten up your home.
- Deck Space: Add style to your outdoor living with these affordable trends for backyard deck space.
- Roof Repair: Old roofs gain new life with a rejuvenation treatment at a fraction of the cost of roof replacement.
Top Questions & Answers
- Bathtub Cleaning: Mary gets tips on how to remove bathtub rust stains through light abrasion with an auto rubbing compound.
- Duct Cleaning: Is duct cleaning really necessary? It’s generally not needed unless Steve has done some heavy renovation, but we do advise using quality air filters.
- Washing Machine: Why is the washing machine making that banging noise? Holly gets tips on leveling the appliance, using anti-vibration pads, and installing a water hammer arrestor.
- Toilet Valve: The shut-off valve handle broke off behind Greg’s toilet. We explain how to easily replace it with PEX fittings, even if he needs to cut into the drywall.
- Deck Cleaning: Is there a recipe for a solution to clean decks? Nancy learns how to mix a bleach, detergent, and water solution to apply with a stiff brush.
- Balcony Railing: Jonas wants to replace his surface-mounted railing with a flush-mounted one, but we don’t think it’s worth removing the gutter to gain such a small amount of space.
- Structural Beams: Bill wants to hang a projection screen in his basement, but was surprised to find steel beams in the wall. He gets ideas for what to do next.
- Sandbox: Laurie is excited about creating a sandbox for her grandkids, but asks if she should look for an alternative to sand. Sand is not a problem and a cover will protect it from animals and rain.
- Windows: Condensation inside Don’s double-pane windows is causing mildew. He’ll need to clean and maintain them until he’s ready to get replacement windows.
- Water Pressure: Krista has a shared well but her water pressure is much lower than her neighbor’s. She gets advice on looking for a restriction somewhere in her plumbing.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:30 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:36 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:37 | TOM: And we are having a beautiful day here in our part of the nation, which means it’s home improvement time. I can’t wait to finish the show lesson, head outside, because I got a fence to paint today. That’s my project. What’s your project? What are you guys thinking about? What are you doing? What are you tackling? If you need some help getting it done, you can reach out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit or go to moneypit.com. We’ve got a great show planned for you today. First up, if you’re thinking about sprucing up your backyard deck space, we’re seeing more and more trends emerge that can deliver style without a big expense. We’ll share those tips in just a bit. |
| 00:01:12 | LESLIE: And skylights are a way to enjoy more of the sun all year long, but some leak more than others. We’re going to tell you which one leaks the most and share a tip on the easiest way to add a skylight to your home in just two hours or less. |
| 00:01:25 | TOM: And if your roof is more than 10 or 15 years old, you might. Be thinking that it’s going to be time to replace it soon. Well, maybe not. We’re going to share a new product that can add five years of life to your roof with a single treatment. |
| 00:01:38 | LESLIE: All right. But before we get to what we want to talk about, we want to hear what you want to talk about. Whether you’re planning a small decor project or diving into a full-blown renovation, we have got you covered. |
| 00:01:49 | TOM: That’s right. From fixing leaks to sprucing up your space, we are here to help you every step of the way. So let’s get to it. That number again is 1-888-Money-Pit or go to moneypit.com. Ask, click the blue microphone button and leave us your question. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:02:04 | LESLIE: Heading out to Ohio where we’ve got Mary on the line who needs some help cleaning a bath. What’s going on? |
| 00:02:09 | CALLER: I live in an apartment and my bathtub is the plastic, sort of generic plastic for an apartment. And it’s got rust stains from like bobby pins. And no matter what I’ve tried, I can’t get it up. So I was wondering if you can help me. |
| 00:02:26 | TOM: I think what’s worth trying is a little. Very light abrasion. And the way you’re going to do that is to pick up some rubbing compound. The kind that you use when you’re trying to get a scratch out of the paint finish of your car. You’ll find it at auto supply places, you know, Pep Boys, that sort of thing. And it’s a very, very fine abrasive that’s in sort of like a creamy, soapy texture to it. And what you want to do is take a wet sponge and a little bit of that and just start gently rubbing maybe one of those areas. I would sort of say test it first. You know, a small area and see how you do. That might be enough to dig into that finish enough to lift off some of that deep set stain. Does that make sense? Awesome. |
| 00:03:09 | CALLER: Yeah, thank you. |
| 00:03:11 | TOM: And then when you’re done with that, you can go polish your car. You’ll have the compound. |
| 00:03:14 | LESLIE: appreciate it. |
| 00:03:15 | TOM: Good luck with that project. |
| 00:03:17 | LESLIE: We’ve got Steve in Arizona on the line who needs some help cleaning the ducts. That’s duct CT, not CK. What’s going on? |
| 00:03:25 | CALLER: I hope I have my ducts in a row. Well, I was just curious. First of all, enjoy your show and learn a lot. |
| 00:03:31 | TOM: Thank you very much. |
| 00:03:32 | CALLER: Well, you’re very welcome. And I just wanted your take or what your feeling is about getting your air ducts cleaned, if that’s something we should consider. |
| 00:03:41 | TOM: So my feeling on that is that duct cleaning is generally not necessary unless you’ve done something with the house that’s caused a lot of dust to accumulate, like maybe a renovation or something of that nature. What I would advise is have… You know, if you have much better quality filters than most people are willing to invest in, you know, if you use a filter that’s a fiberglass filter or one that’s like an accordion filter, you really want to find something that’s got a pretty high MERV rating, and that’s going to determine its efficiency. It really ought to be 11 or 12 or more, and that will keep the ducts and keep the dust down in the house. And incidentally, the EPA has weighed in on this a number of times, and they have… I’ve gone so far as to say that there’s never been any proof that cleaning your ducts makes you any healthier in the house or prevents disease or anything of that nature. So I really don’t think it’s a necessary expense. I think what you should do is make sure you have good filtration whenever possible and spend that money on something else. |
| 00:04:45 | CALLER: With that higher rating. Oh, great. Well, that’s great news. I appreciate it. |
| 00:04:48 | TOM: All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks for calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit. You’re welcome. |
| 00:04:53 | CALLER: Bye now. |
| 00:04:54 | All right. We’re going to help Holly in Kansas out. It seems like there’s a very noisy Washington. machine involved. What’s going on? |
| 00:05:00 | CALLER: I replaced my old washing machine with a fancy new whirlpool. And now whenever I do a load of wash, there’s a banging noise that I did not have before. And I don’t know what’s going on. We thought maybe some pipes were banging. So we put up some padding and it was still banging. So it kind of sounds like a big thud, bang type. Like something’s shutting off with a great force when I’m doing laundry. So I have no idea what to do about that and why it’s doing it. It never did that before until I got my fancy, nice washing machine. |
| 00:05:41 | TOM: I’m going to be willing to guess here that this is a high speed washing machine, a high efficiency washing machine, which basically spins at much higher speeds. So I’m going to give you a couple of things to try here. First of all, if the machine is not perfectly level, it’s going to be noisy. And it’s not uncommon for folks to complain about vibration sounds associated with this. Now that is not what you’re describing, but I’m going to cover it anyway, just in case, because there’s a simple solution here. And that is number one, level the machine. And number two, you can pick up these anti-vibration blocks. They’re specifically designed for washing machines. And they’re usually about an inch thick and they’re like a stiff rubber. And you can think of them as shock absorbers for the washing machine. They go under the four corners. And they really do. They do a good job stabilizing this. Now, I think most likely by your description that what we’re talking about here is something we call water hammer. And that’s because the machine is different than what you had before. It’s opening and closing these valves very quickly. And as the water is filling towards the machine, heading towards the machine, the valve closes. The force, the inertia of the water in the pipe keeps pushing the pipe forward and then results in a very loud banging sound. And if you have copper pipes, well, it tends to echo. So, making it sound even worse. Generally speaking, it doesn’t damage anything. But there is a plumbing device called a water hammer arrestor, which is like a shock absorber for your plumbing system that will dampen that and stop that from happening. So, based on your description, it’s probably one of those two things. It’s either the machine is maybe at a level and or needs vibration damper blocks underneath the feet or you simply have a water hammer issue, which is not difficult to fix. But we will have to hire a plumber to take care of it. |
| 00:07:29 | LESLIE: Hey, you want to make our day? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and we’ll be jumping for joy. Plus, you guys, your feedback helps us make the show even better for you. Just go to moneypit.com slash review. Heading out to Louisiana where Greg is on the line having a toilet issue. What’s going on? |
| 00:07:46 | CALLER: The shutoff valve handle broke off. |
| 00:07:50 | TOM: LESLIE: Okay. |
| 00:07:50 | CALLER: Of course, the water is still flowing through it. I don’t have a leak or anything like that, but I was trying to figure out the best way to… You know, I know I’ve got to cut the water off to the house, but I didn’t want to damage my pipe and stuff, you know? Right. |
| 00:08:07 | TOM: That’s very frustrating. And I know exactly what you’re dealing with because I’ve seen that myself. I’ve talked to people that have had that issue. When those valves get older, they just get really difficult to turn. And some types of valves that are… The handles are a little thinner. They’ll either strip or they’ll just actually physically break. And when that happens, there’s really no… There’s really no fix here other than replacing the valve. Now, that said, I presume you have copper pipes here. And I’ve had great success with Pex fittings that are designed to be used with copper pipes. They have valve-to-pipe connections and they have pipe-to-line connections. And if you follow the instructions, it’s actually a very simple plumbing project to install one of those valves. I did a no-solder valve just about two weeks ago for a kitchen sink. Where I had to tap into it with a Y-valve. So I had two spigots where I had one before because we were feeding the sink and a dishwasher. And it was a tough spot. And I did not want to use a torch in there because it was inside a cabinet. And I just cut it off really clean with a small pipe cutter. I just spun it around and I did a little bit of a sanding with the memory cloth, sort of polished it up. And I put that valve on and I tightened it up and it worked perfectly. In fact, I had to actually reposition it a few days later. And it didn’t cause any leaks and it works well. And these valves are not expensive now. You can pick them up in the home center. The only challenge is you got to have like enough stub on the pipe to make that cut. So if you don’t have it, you may have to go into your wall a little bit. But I think that’s the easiest way to remedy this for the long haul. |
| 00:09:45 | CALLER: Yeah, that’s what I was concerned about because the amount of space between the wall and where the valve made the 90 degree upwards, there’s not a whole lot of space. That’s why I was concerned about maybe… Not having enough room to work with. |
| 00:10:00 | TOM: Is it a tile wall or is it a drywall wall? No, it’s a drywall. |
| 00:10:04 | CALLER: It’s sheetrock. Okay. |
| 00:10:07 | TOM: So in a worst case scenario, you may have to cut open that drywall to get enough pipe to make this repair. Right. It’s not a terrible job to fix it. And I’ll give you a trick of the trade on that. When you’re doing a patch like that, don’t just cut out the little tiny area around it. Try to go from stud to stud and make your cut right down the middle of the stud. Try to cut out where one side of the stud is and the other side. Try to make your cut down the middle of the stud vertically and then side to side. And then you could put that very same piece back in and you can re-secure it with drywall screws right back to the studs that you pulled it out of. And then go ahead and tape and spackle it and touch up the paint from there. Okay. That’ll work. All right, sir. Well, good luck with that project. And for what it’s worth, you’re not alone. A lot of folks have had that issue. |
| 00:10:53 | LESLIE: Oh, my gosh. This happened to me. Do you remember last year? It was like… I just wanted to change. I just wanted to change the fill and flush valve. And I was like, let me turn off the thing right in my hand. |
| 00:11:01 | CALLER: Well, I appreciate you guys. Y’all have been a great blessing today. And thank you for sharing that information with me. |
| 00:11:06 | TOM: You got it. Good luck. |
| 00:11:08 | LESLIE: Well, if you’re thinking about sprucing up your backyard deck space, we’re seeing more and more trends emerge that can deliver style without a big expense. Now, for decks, we’re seeing a return to a throwback style, including spindles and balusters, even latticework, railings, overhead coverings. I mean, that serves both practicality and decorative. The purpose is there. And the railings improve safety for everybody. That lattice, it adds some privacy. And overhead coverings provide shade, plus are the perfect spot for you to grow some wisteria. Absolutely. |
| 00:11:38 | TOM: And lighting is also very important. It definitely serves the purpose of setting a cozy, lively, or sort of ethereal mood on a deck. The right lighting is also going to make use of your outdoor space safer. And there are dozens of built-in and standalone options that you can add now, all made a lot simpler and a lot brighter. Thank you. Thank you. The ever-going advances in LED technology. |
| 00:12:01 | LESLIE: All right. Now, another trend is specialized tables that feature fire, ice, or even plants as a centerpiece. And each table type adds its own functionality or special ambience to your space. I mean, I love a fire table because they include a fire pit that’s surrounded by a tabletop that’s large enough to hold glasses. Some of them are even large enough to be like a dining table and serve a full meal on. |
| 00:12:23 | TOM: You know, they’re amazing. When they first came out, we would only see them, like, I don’t know, like, fancy hotels and bars and places like that. Now, it’s not unusual for one to pop up on sale at Costco. You know what I mean? They’re just out there, and they’re really inexpensive, and they’re definitely fun. Now, one more thing, and that’s what we call the polar opposite of fire tables, ice tables. These include a built-in cooler, which gives a sort of fun vibe to that area while keeping your beverages icy cold and in easy reach. So, very cool stuff in more ways than one. There’s really no limit to the possibilities for function. And beauty in all your outdoor living spaces. |
| 00:13:00 | LESLIE: Now, we’ve got Nancy in Michigan on the line who’s looking for help cleaning a deck. |
| 00:13:04 | CALLER: What’s going on? I was listening to you for the recipe to use detergent for your deck, but I couldn’t write fast enough, so I need to know how much powdered soap I use. |
| 00:13:17 | Yep. Now’s a good time of year to be doing some deck cleaning. So, here’s the recipe that you missed. The way you do this is you use a five-gallon bucket, and you mix about three-quarters of water with one quart of bleach and a half a cup of detergent. Make sure the detergent does not contain ammonia, because if it does, it mixed with bleach can be dangerous. Now, mix the solution in the bucket, and then what you want to do is apply to the deck using a stiff floor brush. And this is key. Let it sit for a few minutes so it does its work, and then rinse thoroughly. You want to also be sure, Nancy, to cover any nearby vegetation before using this method, because the bleach can be detrimental to your plants. And for a little extra cleaning. It’s okay to use a power washer, but be careful, because if you use too much pressure, you might damage the soft wood surface. |
| 00:14:03 | LESLIE: And you know what, Nancy? It’s better if you work on this project earlier in the day, because as the day gets warmer, it’s a lot harder to clean a hot deck. So, this is a good project for early in the day, and it’ll be nice and dry for your supper outside. |
| 00:14:14 | TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. |
| 00:14:17 | LESLIE: Now, we’ve got Jonas from Washington who’s looking to do some work to a balcony to try to gain some more room with the railing. What’s going on? |
| 00:14:23 | CALLER: We have a balcony that is above our porch. And currently, we have a surface-mounted railing, and we try to get that replaced. My question is, and one of the thoughts are to get a fascia-mounted railing instead. The problem is that there’s a gutter in the way. We can’t really lower the gutter because there are some beams. And my question is, what if we take that gutter out? What can be the complications? |
| 00:14:50 | TOM: What is the gutter itself draining? Is it just the balcony? Is there a roof above it feeds into? And how much water? Is it collecting in that gutter? |
| 00:14:57 | CALLER: Yeah, there are gutters above about half of the balcony. The water that is coming down from the balcony is about half the balcony. The balcony itself is about a 13 by 10. |
| 00:15:07 | TOM: So it sounds like you’re moving quite a bit of water through there. And I would not tell you to remove that gutter because gutters have a lot of important purposes. Not only do they keep spaces below drier, they can also secure your foundation. You put a lot of water around that, it tends to make the building move. So I don’t think this is a good idea. Plus, you’re only talking about, you can’t be talking about more than six to nine inches of additional depth that you pick TOM: up by doing this to go from a surface mount to a flush mount. I don’t think it’s a worthwhile project, Jonas. I understand what you’re trying to accomplish, but it doesn’t seem like the cards are in your favor on this one, my friend. |
| 00:15:43 | CALLER: Gotcha. All right. Thank you very much. |
| 00:15:46 | LESLIE: Hey, Bill, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:15:48 | CALLER: I’m trying to hang a projector screen in my basement. It’s a finished basement, and there’s a beam going across. |
| 00:15:55 | TOM: There’s an opening here that after drilling into the drywall, it found out that it must be steel or iron of some sort. Not a good surprise. Yeah. Okay. So you’re kind of wondering how you can attach this. So this projector that you want to hang, I guess it’s got some weight to it. |
| 00:16:14 | CALLER: Sorry, it’s a projector screen, so I’ll need to be able to pull it up and down. |
| 00:16:17 | TOM: Well, the drywall is going to be maybe attached to something aside from that one steel beam. The beam’s probably used to support the ceiling joist or the floor joist. But what’s holding the drywall up? It can’t be all on steel. |
| 00:16:29 | CALLER: Yeah, I’m not sure. Since it’s in a finished space there, I’m not able to climb underneath it. |
| 00:16:36 | TOM: Well, this may be a case where you have to do some investigative surgery there by removing a piece of drywall, because I think it’s unusual that you have a beam. I mean, certainly not unusual to have a beam, but having a beam that’s taking up that whole space would be unusual. We need to figure out another way to get this thing attached. I guess what I would probably recommend… What I would recommend you do is, if you are going to attach it to the steel beam, I would drill through that beam and attach a wood block to it, and then attach the screen to the block, so it’s easier for you to work with the existing fasteners and hardware that comes with it. As long as you have a secure connection there, then it should work. It doesn’t seem to me like just a screen that would pull down is going to take all that much support, but certainly it can’t be just in the drywall. Okay. But you need to figure out what else is behind there aside from the drywall. How old is your house, by the way? I’m curious. |
| 00:17:26 | CALLER: Let’s see. The house was built in the mid-’50s. I’m not sure when the basement was finished. It was probably sometime in the late-’90s. |
| 00:17:34 | TOM: Yeah, mid-’50s is a very good age for a house. I bet you have a lot of lumber in that house that’s yet to be discovered. You just got to figure out how it’s being run so that you can get into some of the beams there. You know, a good quality stud finder can help you detect all that. Okay. See, another trick, too. If you hold your flashlight, a really strong flashlight, like parallel with the ceiling, I mean, almost right on it, you’re going to see almost every nail fastener. Or every screw fastener that’s going through that drywall into a joist above it, and you’ll know exactly how it’s run. It’s not going to be obvious when you just look up with your eyes. But if you get up there with a ladder, hold that flashlight so that the light goes right across the bottom surface of that beam, like parallel to it, that ceiling, you’re going to see exactly where all the fasteners are. And right behind the fasteners is the wood. Okay. |
| 00:18:15 | CALLER: And I suppose if I could see the joist, I could probably put some screws into the joist instead. Exactly. |
| 00:18:21 | TOM: Yep, exactly. Correct. And once you find the first one, remember, the next one’s going to be, they’re 16 or 24 inches apart. Leslie, I mentioned before that I’m going to be working on painting a fence this weekend. And, you know, one tip for fence buildings, we’re actually installing these sections after we paint them, that will actually make it last a lot longer is to not put fence sections down close to the grass. You want to have them up about six inches, and here’s why. First, the posts will settle, so the sections will move down. And if they get wet all the time, they rot really quick, and they also get infested by ants and termites. So by keeping the fence sections up, you will find that you will almost double the life of that fence. There’s my tip for today. |
| 00:19:02 | LESLIE: Lori in Ohio is on the line and needs some help in the yard. What’s going on at your money pit? |
| 00:19:06 | CALLER: Hi, this is Lori, and I actually have my grandson, Garrett, with me. Hi, Garrett. |
| 00:19:13 | TOM: Well, Garrett, welcome to The Money Pit. |
| 00:19:15 | CALLER: Say hi to him. Hi. Oh, hi, sweetie. I actually have two grandsons. He’s almost seven and one. He’s almost two. He’s almost two. He’s almost two. He’s almost two. They’re excited for summer and want to do a lot of things outside. We want to do a sandbox sort of thing to play in, but we’re kind of leery about using sand because we’ve heard about, you know, a lot of spiders, bugs, cats getting into it. And I just wonder if there’s any kind of alternative out there that you know of that we could use instead of sand. |
| 00:19:44 | TOM: I mean, what’s a sandbox without sand? |
| 00:19:47 | LESLIE: And the kids do love it so very much. |
| 00:19:49 | TOM: That’s true. Well, listen, I mean, we had sandboxes when our kids were small, and we never had a sandbox. We never had concerns about that. Now, I did have one that had a cover that went over it, so that kept the cats out and that kind of thing. But I can’t recall that we ever had any issues with insects or anything like that. I mean, the worst thing was if you forgot to put the cover on, you got a rainstorm and it flooded, and that would take a lot to get it dried out again. But I don’t know that it’s ever been really an issue. Maybe things are different down in Ohio, but I’ve never had an issue with it. Leslie, what about you? |
| 00:20:22 | LESLIE: I will say that when the kids were little, especially Charlie, when he was at his pre-K, so he was three, four, they had a sandbox. And my kid and one other kid were always the only kids in the sandbox, and I always felt the judging looks from the other parents. Like, they’re in the sandbox. That’s disgusting. It’s like, what? They love it. |
| 00:20:41 | CALLER: Get that. |
| 00:20:42 | CALLER: So, I mean, maybe I’m missing something on why people are so grossed out by them. That’s what I’m getting. Like, you know, when my two sons were smaller, yeah, that was okay, and no one thought anything twice about it. But now, but I’m a grandma, and there’s this new generation. Oh, get ready to be judged, grandma. |
| 00:20:59 | TOM: You’re welcome to the judge generation. |
| 00:21:01 | CALLER: Look online, and, you know, there’s different stuff, but nothing that, |
| 00:21:05 | TOM: I just don’t know about it, you know? I would trust your decades of experience as a grandma, your decades of life experience you went through to get there, rather than any of this newfound advice from these new experts, also known as millennials. |
| 00:21:19 | LESLIE: Listen, the judgy looks only last so long, plus you can turn around. That’s true. Yeah, that’s true. |
| 00:21:25 | CALLER: Okay, well, I just come up on your program one evening as I was driving to my grandson’s karate class, and I thought, you know, this is the perfect, it was going through my mind, and I thought, I’m just going to call in. So, I appreciate your opinion, and thanks for listening to me and giving me advice to stick to the old saying. |
| 00:21:47 | TOM: Well, we think Garrett has an awesome grandma, making sandboxes and taking the kids to karate. Very cool. He’s a lucky boy. Well, thanks so much for calling us. |
| 00:21:58 | LESLIE: Thank you so much. |
| 00:21:59 | TOM: All right. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. |
| 00:22:01 | LESLIE: Well, skylights were a hot design trend that quickly faded, and it wasn’t because homeowners didn’t enjoy the extra sunlight, but it was because they became notorious for leaking. But these horror stories don’t mean that skylights are off-limits. You can still get the vitamin D without the high risk of water damage with a curb-mounted skylight. |
| 00:22:21 | TOM: Yeah, curb skylights are easier to make, watertight, because they sit up off the roof by about four inches, and they’re then sealed to become part of it or flashed with different types of flashing materials to become part of it. They’re really the best bet for homes being retrofitted with a skylight because they’re the easiest type to install. You know, adding a curb skylight to the top of a skylight shaft is kind of like putting a cap on a bottle, except if you do it the right way, you’re not going to deal with leaks. The kind that leak are the ones that are flush with the roof, those cheap plastic bubbles that are flush with the shingles. Those leak like crazy, but curb skylights, not so much. |
| 00:23:00 | LESLIE: Yeah, and you want to make sure that the options you go with definitely have a low-E, high-performance glass that will reflect the heat of the sun back outside so that added sunlight isn’t going to do a number on your cooling bills. And for the fastest, easiest way to add a sunlight to your house, like in under two hours, think about adding a sun tunnel. I mean, these are cool. These kind of remind me of what, like, Egyptians did with the pyramids, like how they got the light through. |
| 00:23:25 | TOM: They’re like light shafts, right? Yeah. Yeah, so what a sun tunnel is, if you’re not familiar with this, they’re like mirrored tubes. The mirror is on the inside of the tube, and the tubes can be like 12 inches, 18 inches, even 24 inches wide. And they go up to the underside of the roof, and they have a cover over them that sits up off the roof that lets light in. The light travels down the sun tunnel, the shaft itself, and then there is like a flush-mounted reflector that’s flush with your ceiling, say, in your kitchen, or wherever. And it brings in a ton of light, and you don’t have to physically build that sort of square shaft from the roof to the ceiling, because it’s a lot easier to go in really fast, like under two hours. If you had to build that shaft, man, you had to build it, you had to drywall it, you had to put three coats of spackle on it. It takes you forever. Sun tunnel, real quick, real efficient, and they look fantastic. |
| 00:24:14 | LESLIE: Don in Colorado is on the line with a window question. What is going on at your money pit? |
| 00:24:18 | CALLER: My house has a window. It’s a vinyl double-pane window that sometimes, somehow or another, collects lots of condensation. And this happens typically in the winter. And what happens is this condensation has kind of created some mold and some mildew in the channels of the window inside. And I’m wondering, what’s the best way or what’s the best solution for a powder or product that I could use in that thing to clean that mold and mildew up? |
| 00:24:49 | TOM: Well, first of all, the cause of this is that the insulation, the insulated glass in your windows is not really doing a very good job. So when you have the temperature from the outside basically chilling that entire window, we’re making its way across that insulated space to the inside. And then the warm, moist air inside your house strikes the glass and condenses. That’s what causes the steady stream of moisture. And one of the things that can happen when things get wet is it can grow mold. So basically what you have now is kind of a maintenance headache. And it’s just a matter of time. It’s just going to be a matter of keeping that clean. You asked, what can you use to clean that, to treat that? You know, you can use something natural like vinegar or you can use something natural like borax, but it’s basically a maintenance job. You’re always going to have to be cleaning and drying those spaces out because unless you change your windows or reduce the amount of humidity inside the house, you’re always going to have this problem. Now, what you might want to think about doing if you decide to tackle windows is just do the ones that are the worst. First, typically they’re on the north and east sides of the house. That’s usually the coldest sides of the house and use replacement windows instead of new construction windows, which are going to fit into the old window openings. And they’re a lot easier to install than new construction windows where you have to tear off siding and reflash all around it. So that’s really your option here. That’s what’s causing it. And then that’s kind of what you’re up against. It’s basically going to be a maintenance issue until you replace those windows. |
| 00:26:20 | CALLER: Thank you very much for the suggestion. |
| 00:26:22 | TOM: You’re very welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Thank you. Bye-bye. |
| 00:26:29 | LESLIE: Well, if your roof is more than 10 or 15 years old, you might be thinking that it’s going to be time to replace that roof soon. And you might be right. You know, as a roof ages, that shingle dries out and then it loses their water resistance. And this is especially true today because most shingles have less asphalt in them than before, which means they dry out all that much faster. And when that happens, the shingles need to be replaced, which can be pretty expensive. |
| 00:26:56 | TOM: Well, that’s right. But now there’s another way you can extend the life of your roof. And this is a product that I have used. It’s called RoofMax. And it’s a roof rejuvenation treatment that restores the flexibility and waterproofing protection of aging asphalt shingle roofs. It can actually save you 80% over the cost of a traditional roof replacement. |
| 00:27:16 | LESLIE: Now, RoofMax’s new technology uses natural plant-based bio-oil for a full-time job. It’s called Asphalt Shingle Restoration. I mean, this is going to give your shingles flexibility and it instantly adds five years of life to your roof. |
| 00:27:29 | TOM: Yeah, it’s kind of like when you treat like an older deck or a driveway to add life to your investment. RoofMax does something very similar for asphalt roofs, only they use a revolutionary new technology that soaks the old brittle shingles with millions of microbeads of all-natural bio-oil to restore their flexibility and prepare them to better protect your home. I use RoofMax on a home that my mom owned in Florida that had a 16-year-old roof. And guess what? The insurance companies didn’t want to renew because it was 16 years old. Well, we added RoofMax. We had an inspector check it and we got our insurance. And we also got the roof to last another five years for very little expense. It cost about 20% of the cost of a full new roof. And it was done in an afternoon. |
| 00:28:16 | LESLIE: Yeah, and you know what? What’s really great is that each of these RoofMax treatments comes with a five-year flexibility guarantee. So with three treatments possible once every five years, RoofMax can add up to 15 years of added life to your existing asphalt roof. I mean, that’s huge and a big savings. |
| 00:28:34 | TOM: To learn more, set up an appointment with your local RoofMax dealer at RoofMax.com. They can do a free assessment and decide if your roof is a good candidate for a roof rejuvenation. That’s RoofMax, M-A-X-X dot com. |
| 00:28:48 | LESLIE: Krista in Vermont is on the line and is dealing with some very low water pressure. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 00:28:54 | CALLER: I bought my house about a year ago and I’m on a shared well with my two other neighbors. And they both have great water pressure, but we have really awful water pressure. Like it takes three hours for the washing machine to run. We can’t use our garden hose. And we’ve had some plumbers come take a look and they said that there must be some kind of restriction in the water pipe since the other neighbors both have really great water pressure. |
| 00:29:21 | TOM: This is not well water. You’re on street water? We’re on well water. We’re on well water. And the well serves all the neighbors? |
| 00:29:27 | CALLER: Yeah, it serves the two neighbors that live north of us. Okay. |
| 00:29:30 | TOM: Well, I mean, they’re right that there could be a restriction. The restriction could be a valve that’s partially closed. It may look open, but maybe it’s really closed. It could be, if you have old pipes, do you have old pipes there? How old is the house? |
| 00:29:44 | CALLER: Yeah, it’s from 54. |
| 00:29:46 | TOM: Yeah, old for plumbing is like, you know, 20s, 30s, 40s when it’s steel pipes. So 54 is going to be copper and decent quality copper. So here’s what I would do. I would start testing that water pressure at different points. If you can test it close to where it comes into the house, that’d be the first place to check it. You may have to put a tap in the pipe to do that, like an extra little valve to do that. But I would start checking at a different point to see if we can kind of narrow down where the restriction is. Okay. You have to do a little detective work here. You’re going to find that some point that’s restricted could be the main water valve if you’ve got one. Sometimes, well, systems don’t have those. Right. |
| 00:30:24 | CALLER: The valve in our house was just replaced, but I don’t know about the valve at our neighbor’s house where the wellhead is. And we were also told by one plumber that we could put a water pressure tank in the house to fix it. And then another plumber told us that wouldn’t work at all. |
| 00:30:37 | TOM: That’s not going to work. There’s a booster that you could put in, but I would start trying to figure out if this is a problem at the point where the water comes into the house, because that’s going to change the discussion. It’s not your plumbing. It’s the well system. And I imagine you have some rights since you’re sharing a common well here to get the same pressure as everybody else. |
| 00:30:59 | CALLER: Yeah. |
| 00:30:59 | TOM: And that’s going to have to be a discussion you’ll have with the people that are involved. Okay. But you’ve got to figure out what you got. You don’t know that yet. And that’s the way to do it. Does that make sense? |
| 00:31:07 | CALLER: All right. Yeah. Sounds good. Thank you. |
| 00:31:09 | TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. |
| 00:31:12 | LESLIE: Rich from Anderson, South Carolina, wrote into Team Money Pit and says, we’ve got this long section in our house. It’s all ceramic tile, and it runs from the kitchen to another part of the house. We’re not happy with the color, and we want to replace it. Should we chop out the old tile and scrape what’s left, or should we just put new tiles over the existing ones? |
| 00:31:33 | TOM: So I don’t think in the case of old tile that’s well installed and not loose that you have to take it out. Sure, the floor may be taller as a result, and you have to maybe make some adjustments. Like, for example, if it goes through a kitchen, you want to make sure that you’re not sort of tiling in or flooring in your dishwasher because you need room for that to slide out. But generally speaking, Leslie, I don’t really think it’s necessary to tear it out, especially because today with all of the either laminate or the stone hybrid flooring products that are just incredibly durable, and they have some thickness to them, you can lay it right on that tile. These are floating floors. They don’t need to be glued in place. You just do some trim at the edge, and you’re totally good to go. What do you think? |
| 00:32:20 | LESLIE: I mean, I almost even think this is a place to put something more of like a luxury vinyl plank that looks like a big, beautiful wood plank because it’s such a long run of a hallway. You know, that would really look lovely, and it makes me feel better as far as stability because I’m not sure if that tile that’s there has like a rounded edge or the grout dips down. You know, at least then you get more stability than trying to put another tile over it. And there’s truly a million choices. |
| 00:32:46 | TOM: Yeah, and I’m about ready to put the stone hybrid product. It’s called Duravana. You can find it at L.L. Flooring down in, this is my second or third kitchen using it. And one of the reasons I like that so much is because it’s very, very stiff, like you say. So if you’ve got some soft spots in the floor, you don’t really have to worry about it so much. I mean, they’re not going to, they really don’t want you to put it over some soft spots, but you’ve got to use your own judgment. And I found that it really locks together really, really nicely. And man, is it to hold up. I mean, I’ve had that stuff down like two, three years now in one kitchen, and it’s not, I don’t even have a scratch in it. |
| 00:33:18 | LESLIE: All right, well, now let’s try to help David in Texas who wrote in, I need some advice on handling insulation cowboys. He says he’d like to add blown-in insulation to my attic, but getting prices all over the map from these insulation cowboys. I’ve never heard this term, but I kind of love it. How do I get a good job at a fair price? |
| 00:33:37 | TOM: Yeah, so that’s, it’s tricky. So here’s how you get a good job at a fair price. First of all, you need to spec out exactly what your expectations are. And by that, I mean, you’ve already decided on blown-in fiberglass. What exactly is the thickness of the blown-in fiberglass? When are they going to come? When are they going to finish? You know, how much is involved with that? You need to make sure you’re, first of all, finding people that are qualified, and you do that by checking reference. And secondly, you need to be real sure about what they’re going to do, because if you don’t have that certainty, you’re not going to be able to compare apples to apples. You’ll have to compare apples to oranges when you’re comparing insulation contractors. So you really want to spec it. This goes for any home improvement. If you don’t spec it, if you don’t figure out exactly what you want, you get so much variety in pricing, it makes it really hard. So first, check the references. Secondly, make sure there’s a really clear expectation as to how much insulation you’re going to get and how they’re going to do the job, how long they’re going to take, and so on. And thirdly, compare those quotes once you get them with other pros, and you’ll be able to make an easy choice. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at moneypit.com. We so appreciate you taking some time out of your day to listen to the show today, and we hope that we’ve been helpful giving you some tips and ideas to take on projects you want to get done, around your house. If you get stuck on something, if you’re in the middle of a project and you don’t know what to do or you need to do some planning of a project for perhaps the summer ahead or the fall beyond that, you can reach us 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit or moneypit.com slash ask. Until next time, I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:35:11 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:35:12 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:35:14 | 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 2024 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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