#2424 – Stone-Cold Facts about Stone Countertops | 5 Home Filters to Check

Show Notes

Listen in as we discuss the allure of natural stone countertops vs. the upkeep they demand, five critical home filters that play a vital role in home health and efficiency, and how a timely roof inspection can prevent leaks and costly repairs. Plus, we have expert tips to help callers with more home improvement questions on this Money Pit episode!

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Podcast Transcript

Stone Countertops: Get the stone-cold facts on the pros and cons of natural stone countertops.
Filters: These are the top 5 most important filters you should be checking for home health and efficiency.
Roof Maintenance: These roof inspection tips will help protect against damaging roof leaks.

Ask Your Home Improvement Question

Do you have a home improvement or decor question? Call the show 24/7 at 888-MONEY-PIT (888-666-3974) or post your question here.

Podcast Transcript

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00:00:23	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:00:34	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:00:36	TOM: And we are thrilled to be here with you today, helping you take care of home sweet home. If there’s a project on your to-do list, we invite you to slide over to our to-do list because we’d like to help you get started on it. We’d like to help you complete it. If you run into a project that’s a problem, we’ll talk you through it. But you’ve got to help yourself first by reaching out to us with your questions. To do that, the easiest thing is to go to MoneyPit.com slash ask. Just click the blue microphone button and you can record your question and send it to us for the fastest possible response. Or call us 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit with your questions. That’s 888-666-3974. Coming up on today’s program, natural stone countertops. We’re going to talk about them because they are a very popular choice for kitchens. But they’re also very high maintenance. So a lot of folks wonder, is the beauty and durability of those tops worth the hassle? We’re going to highlight the pros and the cons and the easiest way to keep them clean.
00:01:35	LESLIE: And also, Ed, you know, there’s one maintenance task that you should be doing, but it often gets overlooked. But it’s crucial for the health and efficiency of both you and your home. And we’re talking about cleaning your home’s filters. We’re going to share the top five most important filters that you need to check.
00:01:51	TOM: And summer is a season when roofs can get really dried out and start to crack. And when that happens, leaks will not be too far behind. That’s why now is the perfect time for a roof inspection. We’ll tell you what that should include in just a bit.
00:02:03	LESLIE: But first, do you feel like you’re in a constant game of tug of war with your house and maybe your house is winning? Well, we’re here to help you take back the lead. From advice to answers to hot new products, we’re your one-stop shopping for all things DIY.
00:02:17	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 do that right now. Give us a call at 1-888-Money-Pit or go to moneypit.com slash ask. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:30	LESLIE: Heading over to Alaska Anchorage, in fact, where we’ve got Tommy on the line who’s got an issue with cold water. I imagine you don’t normally have issues with cold things since you live there. What’s going on?
00:02:41	CALLER: Not typically. We own a duplex. We’ve got about six to seven total faucets in the whole unit. And we only have one specific faucet that’s causing cold water to have super, super low pressure. And that’s just in our kitchen in the main house. And we do live on a well. We do have pretty clean water.
00:03:04	TOM: The pressure’s good with the rest of the faucets? It is, yep. Have you taken the aerator out of the kitchen sink faucet?
00:03:09	CALLER: I did. Probably about three months ago, we actually replaced the whole faucet itself.
00:03:15	TOM: Usually when that happens, the aerator has the… The smallest amount of, like, smudge that gets in there, you know, from the pipes, dirt, little chunks of metal that fell off a well from the pipe seams, that sort of thing, can do a really good job at blocking water flow. But if you’ve taken that aerator out and you can run the faucet and you still get poor flow, we have to look somewhere else. So that sounds like what’s going on. Is that correct?
00:03:41	CALLER: Right. The lines that run from the, like, main house, and then it goes into those flexible faucets. Kind of like braided?
00:03:49	TOM: Yep. Pecs.
00:03:51	CALLER: So where it connects into there, there is a screen that I was wondering if I should take apart and kind of take a look in that. Because that one is isolated to just the cold water side.
00:04:00	TOM: Any place you have a screen, you want to make sure it’s clear. Now, the other thing that could be causing this is a valve. I mean, if the valve is not fully opened, I’ve seen valves go bad. In fact, I had one in a dishwasher that was really giving me a hard time because I couldn’t figure out why the dishwasher wasn’t working. I was getting all sorts of kinds of error message. And I did not expect that even though I had the faucet fully open, I wasn’t getting any flow. So the valve actually broke down internally. So, I mean, it could be a valve and those are other things that you can check. But I would definitely start with the faucet aerator and that screen you mentioned and go from there.
00:04:33	CALLER: All right. Well, that sounds great. It’s a good place to start then.
00:04:36	TOM: Okay. Well, good luck with that project.
00:04:37	CALLER: Thank you so much. I appreciate the call.
00:04:39	TOM: You got it.
00:04:40	LESLIE: Barbara in South Dakota is on the line and having a problem with a renovated bathroom at Hermione Pit. What’s going on?
00:04:45	CALLER: We had our bathroom remodeled about three years ago and maybe six months after we noticed that the tiles were kind of shifting a little bit when we’d walk in the most prominent places. And then pretty soon the grout started coming out. And I was wondering, do we have to replace all of our tiles or is there something we can put in there that would move with the grout or with the tiles? It’s a heated floor.
00:05:09	TOM: How is it heated, Barbara? Hydronic heat? Is it hot water heat under the floor or is it electric heat? What kind of heat is it? I’m really sorry to hear that. You know, I mean, this was a mistake that was made in the installation. Where that mistake was made, it’s hard for us to tell. But there’s no way that those tiles should be loosening up. And unfortunately, there’s no really easy fix for this. The reason the grout is breaking up is because the tiles are loose. And as the tile loosens, the grout doesn’t really have any structural integrity.
00:05:39	LESLIE: But isn’t that the result of an uneven subfloor?
00:05:43	TOM: Not always. I think it’s the subfloor, Leslie. If these were installed right, there would be enough adhesive or base under them to stop them from wiggling.
00:05:53	CALLER: I think it’s the base underneath that’s not right.
00:05:55	TOM: Yeah, so I guess you have two options, Barbara. One of which is for you to go ahead and do what you may already be doing, which is repairing them as you go. If you find that you have a loose tile, if it’s loose enough to come up, you’re just simply going to add some additional floor adhesive and press it back down again. Or you have to remove the whole floor and replace them. But of course, that’s a big job because you can’t really save the heating coils that are underneath. You’ll probably end up having to replace those as well. It’s really hard when you have a bad tile job, especially one that’s overheating coils like that, to do anything short of replacing it. It does not lend itself well to repair.
00:06:34	CALLER: All right, thank you so much.
00:06:36	TOM: All right, sorry. I wish we had better news, Barbara, but thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. And that’s why we call the show The Money Pit.
00:06:45	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. Let’s talk to Paul in Illinois who’s dealing with an old home with some roofing issues. Tell us what’s happening.
00:07:04	CALLER: Plate roofs, having a hard time. Gutters, they’re backing up. The roof’s 30-foot tall, so I’m having a hard time getting up there and cleaning them myself. This time, it’s hard to get anybody out here to do it.
00:07:17	TOM: What kind of gutters do you have?
00:07:19	CALLER: These are the box gutters that are built into the house from the slate.
00:07:23	TOM: Okay, so basically the roof is sort of flat at the front edge and has a trough built into it where the water’s supposed to collect and then run down towards the downspout?
00:07:32	CALLER: Yes, and I have probably a three-foot soffit underneath it. You know, I mean, like a big overhang.
00:07:38	TOM: They probably clog up at the spouts then because those holes are pretty small, even though you’ve got a big, wide, built-in gutter system there. One of the things that you can do and is typically the repair that you do when you get tired of this type of a gutter, built-in gutter, is you add to the front edge of the roof. So right now, you have a flat section and then you have a pitch section, right? So generally, what a roofer will do is they’ll build the pitch section over the flat box gutter and then put a traditional gutter on the outside of that. And in doing so, you’re avoiding the whole box gutter because the other problem, you’re concerned about backups and having to get up there and clean it. But usually, those built-in gutters will wear out pretty quickly compared to what a metal gutter would last. And when that happens, you end up doing a lot of patching and you get leaks through the gutters and so on. So to avoid that, and I actually did this to my 1886 house. We used to have a Yankee gutter like that built into the roof edge on the long sides of the house. And basically, we built up the roof there from the front edge of that fascia all the way up at maybe a 15, 20-degree angle and up underneath. In our case, it was asphalt shingles. In your case, it’s slates. It’s a little more complicated. But you’re kind of avoiding the problem that way. I don’t have another suggestion that’s going to help you avoid the labor that you’re talking about. But I know that if you did that and if you added gutters to the outside. What I strongly suggest is don’t put in a traditional 5-inch K-style gutter. That’s the average gutter you see around. You want to go 1-inch bigger on that, 6-inch. And the reason you do that is because the downspouts are much bigger. The gutters are much bigger and they virtually never clog because they can pass most of what accumulates on a roof right down those gutter leaders.
00:09:17	CALLER: Yeah, I think you’re right on the path. The problem is that my downspouts are not big enough. I don’t have enough on the house, actually. I got a big old house. I only got like four or five downspouts.
00:09:26	TOM: Any obstruction whatsoever causes that to back up.
00:09:29	CALLER: Yes. And I got big trees, of course, like everybody else. Do you know what I mean? And they don’t take much to plug them up. Really appreciate your help.
00:09:36	TOM: You got it. Good luck with that project.
00:09:37	LESLIE: Well, natural stone countertops have been a popular choice for kitchens, but they’re also very high maintenance. And I don’t think a lot of people realize how much work you do have to put into them. So is the beauty and durability of these stone tops worth the hassle? Well, here’s a few pros and cons to help you consider.
00:09:55	TOM: Well, first up, stone countertops are somewhat indestructible. I mean, most can take a hot pot. They’re not going to dent. They’re not going to chip. Homebuyers absolutely love them, usually because they’ve never had them before and don’t know how much work they are to maintain. But I mean, given the popularity, you can argue that they’re going to add to your home’s value. And of course, the stone is beautiful. It comes in a lot of colors and patterns, and the finish is almost always clear. So all that natural beauty shines through every time.
00:10:22	LESLIE: Yeah, but on the minus side, those stone tops are costly. And compared to solid surface and, of course, laminate, I mean, really, really costly. Now, prices are going to vary based on other types of stone, with quartz and granite usually at the top on that pricing side. Marble can sometimes be less, but you have to remember that marble surfaces are softer. Even though they are very hard, they’re still softer. And therefore, they’re not going to wear as well. They’re going to darken with age. And with marble, if you spill lemon, olive oil, wine, it is going to stain if you do not clean it up immediately. So you’ve got to think about a lot of that stuff. Now, in terms of maintenance, granite tops do demand the most because they’re sealed the second they get installed. But we hear a lot from listeners who are dealing with the stains, again, from tomato sauce, coffee, vinegar, grape juice, all of that. If they soak in and they can soak into the granite, they can become very, very difficult to get out.
00:11:14	TOM: Now, Leslie, I don’t know how you feel about this, but I would say that if I had to choose one type of stone top, so you have the natural beauty of the stone, but have one that is a little bit easier to clean, I’d probably go with engineered quartz. Now, you can find engineered quartz in many different brands like Caesarstone and Silestone. It’s available in a large variety of colors. But they’re called engineered because they’re made of a mix of natural quartz, dyes, polyester resins, and other chemicals that have the added advantage of being easy to maintain and not requiring sealers. I think so many people start with granite and become quickly disappointed because it soaks up coffee and tomato sauce and olive oil, things like that, like a sponge. And, man, it’s hard to get out when that happens.
00:11:58	LESLIE: Yeah, you know, when my sisters both redid their kitchens, they went with a quartz product, and they’re beautiful. I mean, they really are gorgeous, and there’s so many options out there. And you can do the same edges that you would with any other natural stone surface. So there’s a lot of ways to really have something gorgeous, more durable. Susan in California is on the line and needs some help with a driveway makeover. What’s going on at your money pit?
00:12:18	CALLER: I’m so glad you said The Money Pit because that’s exactly what it is. And now it’s the driveway, about 1,200 square feet. And it’s about 38 years old, and it needs something else done. And I really don’t want to resurface it with blacktop. What are my options?
00:12:39	TOM: So it’s an asphalt driveway now? That’s what you’re starting with?
00:12:42	CALLER: Yes.
00:12:43	TOM: Listen, I got news for you, Susan. A 38-year-old roadway needs to be replaced, and that’s exactly what you have. Whether it’s a road that goes down the street or a road that’s a highway, nothing lasts 38 years. And if you’ve gotten 38 years out of that driveway, it’s time for a new one. And sure, you can keep slapping sealer on it and patching the cracks and all of that, but at that age, it’s got to go.
00:13:07	CALLER: What’s the best way? Do they just remove the whole thing and then start from scratch, or what’s the best way to go?
00:13:13	TOM: I think that’s the best way. In most cases, that’s the best way. You can resurface it, but if you want to make sure that the base is really solid, you would take off the old. They would put a new base down. They would compact it with machines so it’s really, really solid. And then they would apply new asphalt on top of that. I would make sure I got a specification as to exactly how many inches of this material they’re going to put down so that you can compare apples to apples when you’re looking at different contractors. But I think that’s going to be your best solution.
00:13:43	CALLER: Okay. Well, thank you so much.
00:13:45	TOM: You’re welcome, Susan. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:13:50	LESLIE: Craig in Rhode Island is on the line and he needs some help with a bathroom makeover. What are you working on?
00:13:55	CALLER: Well, actually, my second bathroom in my master, it’s kind of old. It has a Simmons water mixer shut off valve. And actually, I’m looking to replace it. It’s cracked. It has some issues. But I can’t get behind the shower to open the wall up to replace it because it’s actually adjacent to my first bathroom shower. It’s a fiberglass one-piece pop-in. My first thought is take the insert out, tile it, but then I have to put a shower pan in. It’s a lot more extra work and money. And then I heard possibly cutting the hole bigger. And they have bigger back plates. But I mean, I don’t want it to look awkward as well, you know.
00:14:43	TOM: So what exactly is wrong with the valve you have there now?
00:14:46	CALLER: Well, see, I don’t think the mixing valve, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. But the plate on the shut off valve, it’s cracked. I also have well water. I know it’s been taking a toll on the pipes. The home’s 20 years old. I’m pretty sure it’s original to the home as well. Coming up on two years now.
00:15:04	TOM: So you’re basically telling me that it’s a cosmetic piece?
00:15:08	CALLER: It is, but I’m redoing the bathroom and I want to update the fixtures. And like I said, it’s kind of your typical apartment, Simmons, you know, very like a chrome, you know, the kind of cheap chrome finish.
00:15:23	TOM: Well, look, you have the most impossible scenario because you have back-to-back plumbing walls. And typically, you know, design bathrooms so that like one side of the wall is like a concrete wall. The other side is like a closet, you know, where you could go and tear out the back wall and then you could get to the valves. But in your case, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t because you either have to take apart the fiberglass shower or you got to take apart the shower that’s basically getting you started here. And I don’t really have a good solution for you. I mean, I was asking you about the existing valves because I was wondering if maybe sometimes plumbers can rebuild all the working parts of that from the action side, you know, from the inside. And maybe pick up some additional, you know, faucets that will look like they’ll work in there. I mean, I wouldn’t go to the tear out without at least exploring that. I mean, I, for example, recently had a new shower valve that had to really be replaced. And it turned out that the valves were plastic inside. Some of the valve components were plastic, the seats. And we tore them out and we replaced them with brass. And we were able to find those at a plumbing supply store. And so I didn’t have to actually replace the faucet.
00:16:36	CALLER: My next step is going to, I’m going to go to a plumbing supply and see if they just have a updated kind of updated Simmons where I could keep that valve in and everything’s kind of, you know, pieced together as well.
00:16:48	TOM: Right. I think that’s a smart thing. You know what you want to do is take some pictures of that and go talk to a knowledgeable guy behind the counter and figure out what your options are.
00:16:57	CALLER: Yeah, yeah. That’s my next step. And if not, I guess I’ll be tiling a new shower.
00:17:01	TOM: Yeah. I mean, if you can figure out a way to make it passable, I think you should do that because you know what? Nobody’s going to see that space. And I hate to see you spend, you know, a few thousand bucks redoing it if all you’re trying to get is new valves.
00:17:15	CALLER: That’s what I’m trying to stay away from. Well, thank you guys very much.
00:17:18	TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:17:23	LESLIE: Sherilyn in Delaware is on the line with a leaky pipe in a pool. What’s going on?
00:17:26	CALLER: Yes, we have a steel pool built right after World War II. They had a lot of excess steel and they found a lot of pools to build. And we have, it’s somewhere in the pipe, we have a leak. And we’re not sure exactly what the material of the pipe is. We think it might be black.
00:17:48	TOM: This is the pipe that does what? This is the pipe that fills the pool? This is a drain line? What kind of pipe are we talking about?
00:17:54	CALLER: A pipe that either goes to the pool from the pump, you know, returns back to the pool from the pump, or leaves the pool to go to the pump.
00:18:01	TOM: I don’t have a good solution for you for repairing an active pipe like that short of replacing it. Generally speaking, when you have underground lines like that, that rupture, it’s not a matter of repairing it. It’s a matter of replacing it. And it may be that you can leave the other pipe in place and just basically disable it and then install a new line to do the same thing that the old line was doing. But repairing it is not an option. Unless you can get access to it by basically digging down and exposing it. But it’s usually easier to run a new line.
00:18:33	CALLER: Alrighty. Well, thank you. That’s what we thought we’d probably end up having to do.
00:18:37	TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:18:42	LESLIE: Well, there’s one maintenance task that often gets overlooked, but it really is crucial for the health and efficiency of both you and your home. We’re talking about cleaning your home’s filters. Now, they do play a crucial role in keeping your home energy efficient, comfortable, and running smoothly.
00:18:57	TOM: That’s right. So let’s dive into the top five household filters that you should be checking regularly. First, of course, the one you’re probably all thinking of right now, and that’s your HVAC filter, the one for your heating and air conditioning system. Now, this filter traps dust and pollen and other airborne particles, preventing them from circulating throughout your home. You do need to check it monthly, and you need to replace it as needed to make sure you have proper airflow and good indoor air quality.
00:19:25	LESLIE: Next, let’s talk about the dryer lint filter. You need to clean this every time you use that dryer to prevent fire hazards and maintain proper airflow. But don’t forget to inspect and clean the dryer exhaust vent at least once a year to keep that dryer running efficiently.
00:19:39	TOM: Now, let’s add to that list with the refrigerator water filter. If your fridge has a built-in water dispenser or an ice maker, it very likely has a water filter that needs regular replacement. And typically, that’s about every three months. Some refrigerators have a sort of a timer built in that will tell you when it’s time to replace it. But it’s real important that you do replace that because you don’t want to let that get too dirty. It’s just going to stop working, and it could get to a point where you have some sort of growth happening inside of it that you just don’t want.
00:20:08	LESLIE: Yeah. Now, let’s move on to the range hood filter. These filters collect grease and smoke and cooking odors. Most of them can be easily removed, cleaned, and then reinstalled. And if you’ve got a metal filter, you can even run that through the dishwasher.
00:20:22	TOM: Now, there’s actually a filter in your plumbing system that a lot of folks forget about, and it is your faucet aerators. These are very small filters that are screwed into the faucet tip. Over time, they will collect some debris that’s circulating through your water. So you need to unscrew them very carefully and clean them out, rinse them out, and then put them back together. And I will warn you, it’s a bit of a Rubik’s Cube puzzle to take those things apart and get them back in the right shape. So when I take them apart, I carefully set them on the countertop, and I remove the layers one at a time until I get to the screen and put them back in the same order so it’ll just be a little bit easier. There’s been a few times where I’ve had to futz with it for a bit to figure out how to get it back together. So I learned that trick a long time ago. But look, you’ve got five filters now to focus on, right? You’ve got your Ace Vac filter, you have your dryer lint filter, your refrigerator water filter, your range hood filter, and your faucet aerators. If you stay on top of that, your house is going to run a lot better. Because if those filters are neglected, you can get high energy bills, you can get high repair costs, and certainly a less comfortable and potentially a less safe living environment. So stay on top of these checks to keep your home running smoothly and efficiently.
00:21:27	LESLIE: Jeff in South Carolina is dealing with some unwanted visitors to their money pit. Tell us what’s going on.
00:21:32	CALLER: I have a couple of feral cats that are running around in my backyard. I have a birdbath, and the cats stalk the birdbath, and when the birds come in to take a drink or a splash, they jump up and they kill the bird. And what I’ve done is I’ve poured the water out of the birdbath to keep the birds away, but how do I get rid of the cats?
00:21:51	TOM: I mean, there’s a lot of initiatives around the country with organizations that will help deal with the feral cat issue. Many of them run what’s called a TNR program, which is Trap, Neuter, and Return. So the idea is that they trap the cats humanely, like with a Havahart trap or something like that. They neuter them, then they return them to the environment, but hopefully not in your neighborhood where they’re used to finding that source of food. And so I would turn to an organization like that that can help you trap the cats and get them off of your property. And if they have the added support that they can neuter the cats, then that helps the overall community from stopping these cats from reproducing.
00:22:32	LESLIE: And you know what else? We had an issue years ago when there’s a person on our block who feeds every cat in town. Has about like 30 cats and kittens just living in their backyard. And the neighbor next door was doing a ton of work. There was a dumpster with like food scraps and stuff in it. And so all the cats kind of just meandered into my yard. And I had called the village because, I mean, honestly, I didn’t mind the cats being there, but they were killing like a possum. And now all of a sudden I had to clean up a dead possum and birds and, you know, I really don’t want to be doing that. So I called the village and the village referred me to the town. So long story short, I made a bunch of calls to finally get to someone in the county who told me that where I live, feral cats have the same rights as squirrels, which means you can do nothing about them. But if you do find a local cat rescue, they might be willing to come and help you, you know, take the cats, find them, you know, a place to be adopted by. And, you know, maybe if you find a place that you feel comfortable with, you know, a donation might not hurt in helping them to get the cats off your property. So you never know. I might, you know, make a call to your town or your village and see where that goes to.
00:23:34	TOM: Okay. Thank you very much. All right. Good luck with that project.
00:23:39	TOM: Money Pit.
00:23:41	LESLIE: Angela and George is on the line and would love to tackle a painting project. How can we help?
00:23:45	CALLER: We have vinyl flooring in our kitchen and it’s more than 20 years old. And there are just a few areas where it’s starting to yellow and it’s like coming probably from underneath because bleach doesn’t work. And it’s got nicks on it, you know, in it. Anyway, I was thinking I have always wanted to have like a black and white checkered floor. And this pattern is like a grid. It’s like six-inch squares. So it’s already all lined out. And I was, you know, thinking about painting it black and white or whatever color scheme, you know, I decide upon. But I don’t know what type of product to use.
00:24:29	TOM: Yeah. I don’t think painting a vinyl floor is a very good idea. I don’t think there’s any product designed for that, especially a 20-year-old vinyl floor. If you wanted that type of pattern, I would just get a new piece of vinyl. I mean, they’re not that expensive. The yellow that you described is not a stain. It’s a chemical reaction. What happens with vinyl as it ages, especially if it’s had like throw rugs over it or rubber back carpets over it, is it’s oxidation that occurs that changes the color of the vinyl. A lot of people think those are stains, but they’re really not. It’s just a physical change of the vinyl material. But I don’t think vinyl can be painted. I mean, vinyl siding can barely be painted. I don’t recommend that either. There are some high adhesion primers used for that. But, you know, take that to the floor. Now you’ve got to have something that’s really durable. It can take chairs being rubbed across the floor and that kind of thing. So I don’t think painting is a possibility. I would be considering another type of product. And you know what? There are so many new floors today. The prices have come so far down. You can get beautiful laminate floor now that’s super water resistant for under about three bucks a foot. So I would take a look at the new flooring and treat yourself to a vinyl floor. A floor that looks like that pattern that you envision but is much newer and more durable. Okay.
00:25:43	CALLER: Could that new type of flooring just be applied on top of this? Like just right on top of it?
00:25:48	TOM: You can put it on top. If the old flooring comes up easily, I always like to take as much of that up as I can. I don’t like putting layers down. But you know what? If it’s solid and it’s flat and it’s, you know, well adhered, then I think it’s okay to go on top of it. But just keep in mind that when you do that, you make the floor thicker than it was before or taller than it was before. And sometimes, not so much just with vinyl, but sometimes like if you have a dishwasher, if this is a kitchen and you have a dishwasher, you could be at risk of sort of flooring in the dishwasher, so to speak. In other words, you could have flooring that’s thicker than the legs of that dishwasher. So what you really have to do is take the dishwasher out, floor all the way into it, and then adjust the legs and slide it back in again.
00:26:33	CALLER: All righty. Well, all of the appliances probably could be pulled out. Yeah, that wouldn’t be a problem.
00:26:38	TOM: All right. Well, then good luck with that project. The good news is you’re getting a whole new floor. It’s going to be a lot easier than painting the old one, I’ll tell you that.
00:26:44	CALLER: A lot less work, I’m sure. Yeah.
00:26:47	TOM: Absolutely. Yep, now and in the future. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:26:52	CALLER: Thank you.
00:26:53	TOM: Well, summer is definitely a season when roofs can get really dried out, and if they form cracks, leaks won’t be far behind. That’s why now is a really good time for a roof inspection, and we’re going to share how to do just that in today’s roof review tip presented by RoofMax.
00:27:08	LESLIE: Well, the average roof leak takes up to two years to show up inside your home as a stain. Using a pro to inspect your roof once a year is really the best way that you’re going to be able to spot any problems early. However, there are plenty of things that you can be doing yourself to identify signs of potential leaks.
00:27:25	TOM: Yeah, start inside by checking the ceilings on upper floors for any stains or other signs of leaks. And by the way, you ought to pay special attention to the ceilings above bathrooms and kitchens because that’s where plumbing vents will actually pass up through the house and up through the roof above these rooms, and they often break down causing leaks. So also check for leaks above fireplaces, another spot where loose flashing can allow rain to seep in.
00:27:50	LESLIE: Now, next you want to head outside and examine your roof from the ground using either binoculars or you can even just zoom in on your camera. That’s definitely a way you can check. You want to look for loose or missing shingles as well as loose flashing around chimneys, pipes, or where the walls and the roofs come together. Now, if you spot any problem areas, it’s a lot easier to get minor problems fixed now before they become those minor problems. Those major problems later.
00:28:16	TOM: And that’s today’s roof review tip presented by RoofMax. Our RoofMax treatment restores flexibility and waterproofing protection of an aging asphalt shingle roof, extending life by as much as 15 years. And RoofMax treatments come with a five-year flexibility guarantee and is purchased through a nationwide network of factory-trained and certified dealers who also apply the treatment. And right now, they’re also offering a free roof tune-up that will be completed before applying any RoofMax treatment. It’s a $859 value. It’s going to cover things like fixing nail pops, fastening loose shingles, sealing cracked shingles, exposed nails, loose flashing, all of that sort of thing. It’ll be done for free as part of your RoofMax treatment at an $859 value. So, learn more about RoofMax at their website. That’s roofmax.com. That’s roofmaxx.com.
00:29:11	LESLIE: Marlene in South Carolina wrote in to Team Money Pit and is asking, I’m seeing mold behind the refrigerator in my two-year-old house. Marlene says she pulled the refrigerator out and there was mold on the baseboard. It does have an ice maker, but I see no signs of a water leak. Do I need to call a plumber?
00:29:28	TOM: Probably not. I think what you’re seeing is this. You have warm, moist air that’s going to be collecting at the bottom of that refrigerator. And that moisture is going to be enough to feed the mold. If you’re wondering why is mold forming there, it’s because mold will grow on dust. And it’s also an area where you get a lot of dust that sticks to the bottom of the refrigerator and sticks to the baseboard. So, if you had the dust, which is sort of the mold food, and you had the moisture, that’s what’s going on there. You don’t necessarily need to have a leak to get mold to grow. But what I would do is I’d pull the refrigerator out. I’d spray that area, saturate it with a 50-50 mix of bleach and water. Let it sit, then maybe one more spritz of clear water just to clean, take the odor away. And then I think you’ll be good to go. Just keep an eye on it.
00:30:09	LESLIE: All right, now we’ve got one here from Ed who says, We have a deck that gets partial sun during the day, and it has a greenish moss covering it. How do we clean that to get rid of the moss and prevent it from coming back?
00:30:20	TOM: Well, you definitely hit the nail on the head when you talk about partial sun. Because if you had more sun, you would have nature’s mildew side there, nature’s moss killer, which is the sunshine. The more sunshine on a roof, more sunshine on a deck, the less you’re going to have that sort of thing happening. There’s a couple of products that you could work with that will solve this. One is called Spray and Forget. The way that works is you literally spray it on the mossy, greenish areas, and you let it sit. And it takes a while, but it will kill that moss. It will kill mildew. It will kill lichen, all of those green growths that look really bad. It will kill them, and then the rain will wash that away. But it’s not the kind of thing where you just do it once, and it instantly gets brighter like you might.
00:31:00	LESLIE: Oh, no, it’s upkeep.
00:31:01	TOM: Yeah, it’s upkeep. You’ve got to do it from time to time. But it does have the ability to sort of stick around. There’s a stickiness of it to it where it’s not just every time it rains, you have to redo it. You’re going to have to do it every few months. But that is the best way to get started with that. It’s called Spray and Forget.
00:31:14	LESLIE: All right, now we’ve got one from Vivian in San Diego who says, I purchased my first home in December. It’s about five years old, and there’s cracks around a window in my daughter’s bedroom. How can I fix these? But she also says, thank you very much. I love your show. So, yay, thanks, Vivian.
00:31:29	TOM: Just because you love our show, we’ll answer that question. Listen, you get cracks in walls typically around windows because it’s a weaker part of the wall structure, and usually they’ll start at an upper corner and sort of radiate out. Same thing happens with doors. So I wouldn’t panic over this, but what I would do is I would repair it using a mesh fiberglass tape. So you’re going to want to sort of sand it a little bit to make sure you’re getting the surface nice and smooth and pulling out any dirt that’s there. It’s a light sanding. Then I would apply the fiberglass tape, which is like a mesh. It’s sort of sticky. You lay it on top of the crack, and then you follow that up with about three very thin coats of spackle. If you put too much spackle, it’s going to get gloppy and nasty. So the less, the better. About three very thin coats of spackle will cover that. You do a little sanding in between. Then you have to prime it. You have to use a primer, otherwise the paint’s not going to look right. And then you do some touch-up paint. You might end up having to repaint a bigger area than just the crack to make it all blend in nicely. But that’s the steps.
00:32:29	LESLIE: All right, good luck with that project. It’s going to be great, and now could be a really fun time to repaint your daughter’s room a fun new color.
00:32:35	TOM: Know the four most expensive words in home improvement while you’re at it. While you’re at it.
00:32:40	LESLIE: From woes to wheeze? No? Oh, okay. I’m trying. I’m going to get it out there.
00:32:45	TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com, where we make DIY doable. We hope we’ve given you some tips and advice that help you take care of your home. And if you have questions, remember you can reach us 24-7 by going to MoneyPit.com slash ask or calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit. Until next time, I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:08	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:33:09	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
00:33:11	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.)