#2430 – Custom Outdoor Building Blocks | Green Upgrades Add Home Value | Lush Lawn with Less Water

Show Notes

Join us to learn how green home upgrades can enhance your selling price. Learn how to use convenient building blocks to create custom outdoor spaces, from patios to outdoor kitchens. Plus, find out how to keep your lawn lush without wasting water. And hear expert advice for more home improvement projects on your DIY list!

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Top Questions & Answers
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript

Building Outdoor Structures: Custom building block kits make it easy and affordable to create patios, planters, benches, and more.
Green Upgrades: Going green with the right eco-friendly upgrades can add value to your home.
Lawn Care Savings: Get tips for growing a lush, green lawn while saving water and money.

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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00:00:30	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:00:35	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:00:37	TOM: Reach out to us with your questions right now because we’re here to answer them and get you back to doing what you love, which is fixing up home sweet home, or at least fixing up your home so you can start to love it just a little bit more. If you’ve got a question about a project that you are doing now or one that you’d like to tackle, now is a great time to reach out to us and ask that question. You can do so by calling us at 888-Money-Pit, that’s 888-666-3974, or you can go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Got a busy show planned for you today. We’re going to keep you jumping. First up, making environmentally friendly upgrades to your home can definitely increase its value. So we’re going to share how to maximize these improvements and fetch a higher selling price.
00:01:21	LESLIE: And did you love playing with building blocks as a kid? Well, now you can do the same with that same creativity you used to love by building a wide array of outdoor features like patios, planters, even an outdoor kitchen with those little blocks. We’re going to explain everything just ahead.
00:01:38	TOM: And do you want a green lawn without wasting water? We’ve got some tips to help you cut water costs without losing a luscious lawn in the process.
00:01:46	LESLIE: But before we get to what we want to talk about, we want to hear what you think. And what you want to talk about. So whether you’re planning a small project, a decor project, maybe you’re diving into a full-blown renovation, we have got you covered.
00:01:59	TOM: That’s right. From fixing leaks to sprucing up your space, we are here to help you every step of the way. So call us right now at 1-888-Money-Pit. Let’s get started. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:10	LESLIE: Heading out to Louisiana where we’ve got Patricia on the line who’s thinking about a bathroom upgrade, a bidet, which are awesome. Let’s talk about it.
00:02:18	CALLER: I was just wondering, before I spend the money on it, is it something that everybody thinks works real well? Is it the best thing to do to buy a commode that has the bidet built into it?
00:02:31	TOM: So you have so many options today. You don’t have to buy the bidet as a separate appliance because, of course, that needs to be drained separately and that’s really expensive. What you could do is buy a commode that has one built in or there are also add-on bidets that fit on commodes today. Some of them even are smart in terms of the fact that they’ll see you come in and raise the seat and all that sort of stuff. There’s a lot of options today for it, but I think it’s personal choice. But, Leslie, what do you hear? I mean, the folks that I know that have these ones, especially with the seat warmer, really love them.
00:03:03	LESLIE: So without being like TMI, and I don’t know the exact model, but my boyfriend bought one for his apartment. And first of all, he loves it. I think it’s great. I mean, it doesn’t have heated water because we didn’t go that route. It wasn’t adjusting the plumbing. So it is a bit of an eye-opener when you use it. But it’s especially great and an affordable way to kind of see if this is something you even like, are going to use. Does everybody like it in the household? And it was definitely, I know the one he picked was definitely like less than $100 and super easy to install yourself.
00:03:37	CALLER: Okay. So you suggest I try out an add-on one before? Yeah.
00:03:42	TOM: I think that makes a lot of sense. You may find that that’s all you need. Okay.
00:03:45	CALLER: Yeah.
00:03:46	LESLIE: Heck yes. Okay. Thank you. Doug in Nebraska is up next with some questions about, well, air conditioning. Kind of need some advice, whether a traditional unit or a split ductless or windows, whatever. Let’s talk AC. What’s going on?
00:03:59	CALLER: I was wondering your opinion on multi-split air conditioners for a home. Would you go with that or back to an outside unit?
00:04:09	TOM: Well, hey, Doug. Thanks for reaching out to The Money Pit. Here’s the situation. You can use either system to cool your house. Today, split ductless is very, very efficient. And especially due to the inverter technology, they really run more inexpensively than ever before. So certainly that’s an option for you. You have to be strategic about how many units you need and where you place them. And if you want to do it yourself or you want to hire a professional. On the DIY side, there’s companies like Mr. Cool that have systems that are designed for do-it-yourselfers. The lines are pre-charged. So if you’re handy, you certainly could do that yourself. Or you could hire a pro. Now, split ductless is very, very efficient. If you want to go with a conventional system, you could do that as well. The difference there, though, is you have to run the ducts. If you don’t have the duct system in, that becomes very, very difficult and expensive. So if you’ve got a duct system, then I think you may want to lean more towards the conventional because you’re really just adding to the system that you have. But if you don’t have a duct system, then I would give mini split ductless a shot. I think there’s a lot of advantages to that today. There’s a lot of portability to it in terms of how you use it and where you use it. And I think there’s a great opportunity for you to have efficiency and comfort at the same time.
00:05:14	LESLIE: Hey, there. We hope you’re enjoying this episode of our podcast. If you are, you know what would totally make our day is if you leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.
00:05:23	TOM: Absolutely. Just go to moneypit.com slash review and let the world know how much you enjoy our home improvement tips and tricks. And you might even win a copy of our book.
00:05:34	LESLIE: We’ve got Rena on the line who’s dealing with some raccoons. Well, they’re cute. Maybe you don’t want them hanging around. What’s going on?
00:05:47	CALLER: Some pool. Oh, no. At the bottom of the pool. They were hanging around our stairs. Yeah. Husband had to get the shop back. Did it that way. Oh, boy. And we’re trying to figure out what is the best way in our pool.
00:06:06	TOM: Yeah. Well, it’s funny you mention that because that’s what they do. They go in the water to wash their food, but, of course, they leave it more disgusting as a result of that. Right. Like the Centers of Disease Control has a lot of advice on this. It’s surprisingly a big problem across the country, and they recommend fences around the pools. Of course, you know, that’s not always possible. The other reason the raccoons will like a particular area is because they feel comfortable to find food out. So folks leave pet food out. They leave uncovered trashed out. They don’t secure waste in trash cans. This kind of thing can make them very pool happy for a year of space. But the other thing that you might want to think about doing is using a Havahart trap and simply trapping the raccoons. Have you thought about that? Do you know what a Havahart trap is?
00:06:47	CALLER: Is it a steel you can buy? Yeah.
00:06:50	TOM: It’s a metal trap, and what you want to do is take some bait, which I would use like an apple. I usually take it, and I will wire it inside the cage, like towards the far end. Use a piece of copper wire or something like that, sort of thread it in there. And that is so that the raccoon has to go all the way into the trap in order to get the food. And when that happens, the trap door will close, and then you can take the whole trap out some distance from your house, find a wooded area, and just release them. And that should do it.
00:07:15	LESLIE: We’ve got Andrew, who’s got a leaking hose faucet with water kind of showing up in the weirdest places. What’s going on, Andrew? How can we help?
00:07:23	CALLER: I have a finished basement tile. And right outside the exterior wall, there’s a lot of trash. And the tile is a spigot. When that spigot is running, when it’s being used, water will come up through the tile in the basement. It happens to be in the kitchen in the basement. When the water is off outside and not in use, there’s no problem. Just wondering what causes that to happen. And I think the only solution is maybe to actually jack up the slab underneath that tile and repair it. I’m just wondering why it only leaks when the water is in use at that outside spigot.
00:08:05	TOM: Well, that is kind of a strange situation. The only reason I can think that that’s happening is possibly because the valve itself is not sealed properly. You can get like the packing around the valve, and sometimes when you open the hose bib valve, you get a little bit of water that comes out from around that shaft between the handle and the valve. And that water… That water will then, of course, drip there right against the foundation perimeter, and then it’ll go right down the wall and show up where it is in the basement kitchen. So I would take a very careful look at that hose valve and make sure…or really any other place on the hose. Sometimes when you have sections of hose that come together, it can be leaking from those sections which are just not noticing it. Make sure that when you open up that hose valve on the outside, that there’s no other water coming out except through the end of the hose where it should be coming out. Because I suspect that there’s some leakage there. And it’s getting into the ground, and that’s what’s showing up in the basement as a leak. It doesn’t make any sense that it would be any other piece of the plumbing other than that valve itself.
00:09:08	LESLIE: Well, in the years that you’ve owned your home, have you made some energy-saving or other improvements that have upped its green factor? Well, those kind of improvements are popular, and they could help you sell your home more quickly than the competition.
00:09:22	TOM: That’s right. Now, if you’ve lived in your home for a number of years, you’ve probably made some improvements to make it more energy-efficient or make it more efficient. Or maybe taken on some projects to reduce maintenance. Or perhaps you chose materials that were produced in a way that limits any negative impact to the environment. Well, if you’re doing improvements like these, they can add to your home’s greenness and are potentially a valuable consideration for a homebuyer, but only if they know about them.
00:09:46	LESLIE: Yeah, and that’s why it’s smart to create a green inventory of those elements. You’ve got to list every improvement that have reduced your home’s impact on Mother Earth. Now, it could be a new appliance. A faucet that you use. Less appliances. Less water. LED light bulbs that use less energy. And don’t forget about building materials that last longer, need less maintenance, like fiber-cement siding instead of wood. All kinds of things like that. Composite decking. You know, think about it in those terms and make a list.
00:10:15	TOM: Yeah, so just list out each element in a sort of green inventory and have that available for review by potential homebuyers. You can bet the neighboring homes you’re competing against won’t do this. Buyers will definitely pay attention. They’ll be impressed. And you might just get the sale over some of those competing homes in your neighborhood.
00:10:32	LESLIE: We’re going to help Darlene in Texas out with a patio situation. What’s going on?
00:10:36	CALLER: We just bought a house. And in our backyard, they laid down quite a lot of flagstone to, I guess, be a patio. The problem that we have now that we bought it is that there’s nothing in between the stones. So, obviously, they’re pretty much flat, I guess, or even. But there’s a couple of them that just kind of stick up. And I know there’s some kind of sand that you can brush on it or put in the cracks. But I just want to make sure it’s done right this time because there’s like nothing in between the cracks. It’s just, I mean, there’s sunken gravel that is quite a ways down, like an inch.
00:11:13	LESLIE: I mean, it seems to me, Tom, like the surface underneath those pavers was not properly tamped or leveled. And so, you’re getting some movement there because she does mention that there’s some unevenness. And I think that should be corrected first, right?
00:11:27	TOM: Yeah. Absolutely. You know, no matter what you do on top of this, the fact that they’re wavy and sticking up and just not settled in there well means that the base has moved. So, I think you’re going to have to decide whether or not you just want to repair the areas or reset those that are kind of out of level and deal with this or you want to take it all up and do a properly tamped base here and then relay it down. In terms of the space between the patio, between the pavers, I imagine these are fairly wide gaps. Usually, with flagstone, they’re like a half inch or three quarters of an inch or an inch or even a quarter of an inch. So, I think you’re going to have to decide if you want to make it more or even more. And the problem is that if you put mortar in between that, it’s just going to crack it to a bunch of little pieces. I think what I would use is you crush gravel because crush gravel, you can sprinkle it in between those pieces. It’ll kind of pack down and do a pretty good job of filling in that surface. And if it starts to wear away, you just put more in place. It starts to get weeds that come up through it, you’re going to have to treat it with a product like Roundup, which will kill the weed at the root. But that’s another sign that the base wasn’t solid enough. So, wouldn’t panic over it. It’s just going to be more of a maintenance headache than most patios would be. But that’s how I think we should address it.
00:12:31	LESLIE: All right. Now, we’ve got Jules on the line who’s dealing with some cracked up plaster. What’s going on? How can we help?
00:12:37	CALLER: Got an old home that has lots of cracks and wondering if it’s best to rip it out or patch it somehow. What your expert opinion was.
00:12:47	TOM: Hey, Jules. Well, as a guy and a gal who own very old houses, we have both seen our share of cracked plaster. And I got to tell you, I’ve done this a couple of different ways. When I moved into my current home, I decided I had to renovate this. It used to be like sort of a mother-daughter apartment and became my sort of office slash studio. I decided to take all the old plaster off the old stud walls. And man, what a mess that was. Oh, I can’t begin to tell you how much of that junk we had to take out. It was so dusty. It was dirty. And when we got all the walls down, you know, looking at the walls, the framing, sure it was the original solid full two inch by four inch studs, but they were not as straight as normal studs would be. So even at that point when I went to put drywall up, I had to kind of shimmy and pad and do a few things to make it look right. So having had that experience, then as I moved on to the rest of the house, I decided I would try something different. And instead of taking the old plaster down, I just put drywall over it, right on top of it. Made the walls and the ceilings a little thicker by doing that. But oh my gosh. It was so much easier because the plaster was already flat because remember when that’s put on, it’s put on wet. So there’s any bow in the walls underneath, it’s going to be straightened out by the tradesmen that put it on many, many years ago. And I just found that going on top of the plaster was really a much easier, faster way to go. Now, the only thing you need to know about this door, remember, is that when it comes to like windows, sometimes you have to do extra trim around them because the wall now is thicker. Electrical outlets, light switches. You have to put extension boxes on that. You have to make sure that the wall is now thicker and has to be brought forward. But even though you have to do that extra work, I still think it’s a heck of a lot easier than tearing out all that old plaster. So good luck with that project and I hope that helps you out.
00:14:37	LESLIE: All right. Well, not all projects go exactly as you have planned. We’re going to chat with Oraleigh here from Wisconsin who’s dealing with a masonry project that’s just gone awry.
00:14:47	CALLER: What’s going on? I was doing a Google dive here about contractor stuff and came across your page. And I was like, what’s going on? I’m and I’m dealing with a situation right now with a brick mason who has been pretty straight up incompetent and doing a really crummy job and has absconded with $6,000 of mine and kind of left me hanging with an unfinished project that hasn’t been done right.
00:15:16	TOM: Oh, Oraleigh, that is awful. I hate hearing these stories, Leslie, where folks get taken advantage of by contractors who start the project. And then just disappear. You know, I’m thinking that this is not just a matter of a contract issue. This could be theft, right? I mean, you pay a contractor to do a job and the contractor doesn’t show up. And I don’t know the details about how far this got, but if he didn’t show up, if he did a little bit and left, I mean, that’s theft. That’s fraud. And my first stop might be my local police department because I have found over the years that when contractors pull this garbage, they are very happy to kind of get away with it. They kind of jerk you around in a small claims court and all that kind of stuff. But when they think that there’s a risk of a criminal prosecution, that changes their tune really, really quickly. So I would look into potentially pressing charges against the contractor. You’re going to have to talk with the local police department about this and see if they will do this. And if not, why not? But other than that, your only option here is really just to take the guy to court. And that’s very difficult to do because sometimes these guys, you know, don’t really own anything and there’s no motivation for them to do it. You want them to show up or not show up. I would also wonder whether or not there were contractor license laws in your area that perhaps will give you some level of protection. I don’t have a magic solution for you to get your 6,000 bucks back. And even if this guy said, oh yeah, I’ll come back tomorrow, I’m not sure that he would want him to come back. So I think this is going to be chalked up to a life experience. And just in the future, for those that are ever dealing with situations like this or thinking of hiring contractors, it’s really critical that you only pay them. For the amount of work that they do, you have to keep a balance between the money.
00:16:58	LESLIE: Or in phases.
00:16:59	TOM: Well, definitely in phases, but only for a reasonable percentage of the job based on certain things that are completed.
00:17:07	LESLIE: What’s been completed or materials purchased for the next phase or something like that.
00:17:12	TOM: Yeah, exactly. Or you buy the materials yourself because once these guys get the money, you know, they’re just trying to juggle a bunch of jobs and maybe they just don’t want to go back and they figure they can get away with it. And people do let them get away with it. And I don’t want you to do that. So I want you to look into potentially pressing criminal charges against this guy and good luck with the situation. I’m really sorry this has happened to you. I appreciate that you found us online with some of the posts that we have about this topic. But once you get deeper into it, if you learn anything new, please reach out.
00:17:42	LESLIE: Chatting with Ed, who’s got an old house foundation issue. What’s going on, Ed?
00:17:46	CALLER: Well, I’ve got a, it’s an 1880s home, say colonial, or not colonial, I’m sorry, say Victorian. It’s a Victorian. I have a foundation that’s brick. It was put in in brick and I thought I just needed to tuck point it. But as I started looking at it, I realized that some of the bricks are actually starting to bow out. I probably need to fix it. But when I looked into it and started looking into it, the bottom part of the foundation is only a single layer of bricks thick, like from, you know, the basement, from the bottom of the cellar up about four feet. And then they dealt, then they basically made a normal brick wall, two brick thick, two bricks thick, you know, with an interlocking brick and everything. But the bottom part is only single brick. And because it’s starting to bow, I’m like, I really don’t want to try, I mean, I can just tuck point it, but it’s going to hold the bow in place. I’m not sure how I go about fixing that.
0:18:36	TOM: Do you think it’s possible that this was a Yankee basement in other words? It used to be The double thickness of brick was maybe the original home and then they dug out the basement and put the additional layer in When they built that part of the foundation So what I think a couple of issues here first of all just in terms of Repointing the loose mortar that’s gonna probably be necessary no matter what you do and the most common mix For mortar is four to one which is basically four parts sand to one part cement There are sometimes variations if you’re if an old brick if it’s really really a soft brick Sometimes they go five to one or six to one six parts sand and one part cement and one part lime The lime tends to make it a little more sticky. It might make it easier to handle So that’s the kinds of Mixes you would use for mortar But I think I would go ahead and repair the loose mortar where it exists, but in terms of the reinforcement I can only imagine how many different opinions are getting here But the only opinion that I think really counts is going to be the one that comes from a structural engineer Because and here’s really a really important point No matter what you do to fix this if you don’t have professional direction on this It could potentially impact the value of your house If you’ve got some serious cracks like that and you’re trying to address that make sure it doesn’t happen again a structural engineer Is the one that should be designing that repair because when you go to when you go to sell the house Once the repair is done you want to be able to prove the potential buyer That the repair was done under professional supervision and not just the combination of a bunch of contractors opinions of what they think ought to be done It’s really a better way to go. It’s kind of having a pedigree on the repair So I’d fix up the loose brick as best you can but I really would get a structural engineer to specify exactly how to How to reinforce that part of the wall that’s bowing. I think that’s really important to protect the value in your home.
0:20:23	LESLIE: Well when you were a kid, did you love playing with those building blocks, you know? You’d stack them up and the only limit there was your imagination and that’s the idea behind a new product called rumble stone wall blocks Now rumble stone is basically the adult version of building blocks these rustic looking stones They come in project kits and make it super easy fast and affordable for homeowners and even contractors to build outdoor features
0:20:49	TOM: Yeah, and they’re perfect for creating outdoor kitchens or fireplaces Pits grill surrounds planters benches and lots of other outdoor projects assembly is super easy, too So whether you’re using a kit or customizing your project the rumble stone units just stack together like building blocks You just follow a predetermined pattern to build all of those popular outdoor features and the design makes construction
0:21:13	LESLIE: Really easy even for beginners. Yeah, and just like those building blocks from your childhood They really do offer endless creativity You can mix and match different sizes And shapes to totally customize your space exactly how you can imagine it and they even can be used for traditional paver projects like a patio You know a wall even landscape borders So as much as you want you can imagine it and you can build it
0:21:37	TOM: Rumble stone wall blocks provide both strength and an aesthetic appeal and make sure your projects stand the test of time To find a pavestone retailer near you visit pavestone.com. That’s p-a-v-e-s-t-o-n-e.com
0:21:50	LESLIE: All right now we’ve got Janie on the line Who’s calling us from Washington state and she wants some help with a project for her 92 year old aunt. What are you working on?
0:22:00	CALLER: Well, my aunt lives by herself still she does very well for herself and she lives in eastern Washington state where it gets pretty cold. She has a house that she’s been in since 1963 when it was built and she wants to see if she needs to upgrade the heating system because she’s talking about selling her house She’s got a radiant heat in the ceiling And a couple of the rooms the heat doesn’t work
0:22:26	TOM: So she’s talking about maybe getting a heat pump or something like that radiant heat’s really expensive gosh in Washington She must be paying an arm and leg for her electric bill I would definitely think and you mentioned she’s on a full basement I would definitely think that a heat pump is probably going to be a more affordable and efficient way to go But since she’s selling the house, I know that when you sell a house You know sometimes you’re like tempted to try to do all the things that you’ve been putting off over the years to make it more attractive but frankly right now It’s a very hot market for homes She may not have to do this work if you do want to get some ideas of what needs to be done What you could do is you could have your own Professional home inspection done so home inspectors typically work for buyers But smart sellers often get the inspection for themselves so they can see What the home is going to look like in the eyes of a buyer’s inspector and home inspectors with good experience of doing hundreds of thousands of Inspections can you know give you a good sense as to what you might want to update and they have no Conflict of interest on like a realtor or a contractor might so that’s one way to kind of figure out sort of where you’re at But I don’t know that I would spend a lot of money on it because with the market as it is right now There may be people lining up that are happy to buy it exactly the way it is and then do the work themselves Perhaps as a part of some other work that they’re going to get done
0:23:42	CALLER: Yeah, that’s what we thought because what is a Washington State University, so my mom always called it a university with the town instead of a town with the university So there is plenty of people who want to buy a house and then with a full basement They rent out the basement to one student, and they’ll rent out the house part to somebody else Yeah
0:24:02	TOM: I think you may want to speak with a good Experienced real estate agent in the area and ask them the opinion as well as long as you get somebody you can trust Because I don’t see it being probably worth your aunt’s while given the market that it is today To go ahead and replace the entire heating system Just because she thinks it needs to be done if she was going to live There I’d say yeah go for it, but she wants to sell the house She wants to get as much money as she can you know let’s save her some money on the heating system. She may not need
0:24:28	CALLER: Yes, I agree. That sounds like a good idea. All right. Good luck Jamie. Thanks so much for reaching out to us. You’re welcome. Thank you
0:24:35	TOM: Well if you love a thick green lawn, but would like to get that long without wasting a ton of water when where and how much you water can mean the difference between a lush lawn and
0:24:48	LESLIE: Unfortunately an empty wallet yeah, but cutting those water Costs without giving up the green lawns We love is actually pretty easy and it doesn’t require that many steps First of all you want to make sure that you’re watering your lawn early in the day and that’s going to prevent evaporation If you water at night and then leave that lawn wet that grass could develop a fungus disease Also, you want to make sure that you adjust those sprinklers to avoid wasting water by having it directed away from your driveways your sidewalks Basically don’t water things that can’t grow guys
0:25:22	TOM: Oh, I see that all the time because the only thing that grows when you water your sidewalk is your water bill, right? So you want to make sure to use timers on your sprinklers to limit water usage to only what’s needed Maybe two or three times a week is better than daily which can actually honestly over water your grass now A good rule of thumb is to make sure your lawn gets one inch of water a week Smart timers can help you can pick one up and adjust the water based on rainfall So whether you use an in ground sprinkler system? Or one that uses hoses you can use timers to control the amount of water that that lawn is Receiving save money and still have a green lawn
00:26:03	LESLIE: Joey from Illinois is on the line and has a question about a roof. How can we help you?
00:26:07	CALLER: Yeah, I need to replace my roof because it’s like 22 years old. Okay. I kind of want to do it myself because I’ve done other home improvement projects, but I just don’t know the proper way to do it.
00:26:22	TOM: So what kind of roof are you thinking about doing? Asphalt? Shingles? Or something else?
00:26:27	CALLER: No, I want to do a metal roof so I don’t have to do it again. Okay.
00:26:31	TOM: Do you plan on spending many, many years in this home, Joey? I mean, like 30, 40, 50 years?
00:26:37	CALLER: Yeah, I think so. Okay.
00:26:38	TOM: Because, you know, metal roofs are much more expensive than asphalt roofs, and they’re, you know, what the industry calls an investment grade. In other words, it’s going to be around a really long time. So if it’s done well, you won’t have to do it again. Does this roof have a good pitch on it? Like, do you know what the slope of the roof is?
00:26:55	CALLER: It’s a bungalow house, so it’s not really a steep pitch on there, no.
00:26:59	TOM: What’s involved in this project is, regardless of whether you put asphalt shingles back on or not, I would recommend you take the asphalt shingles that are there off and get down to the sheathing. Make sure the sheathing is in good condition, and then you’re going to put an underlayment on top of that. Now, Grace makes a lot of good products that are designed for this better than tar paper kinds of stuff that you would put down first. And given the fact that you’re in an area where there could be a significant snow, you’re also going to want to use a product called Ice and Water Shield, which goes along the bottom three-foot edge of the roof. And what that does is, if you get ice dams that form like in the gutters and start to melt and push water back up under the roof, it stops the leaks from coming in. All that work is important, and it would be done regardless of the type of roofing material that you use. If you want to install a metal roof, you know, it’s generally not a DIY project. Because it requires a lot of sort of special skills and practice. If you’re super handy, you probably could do it yourself. You may even need some tools, like, for example, a brake, which is a big tool for folding metal that people that do this all the time would have on the back of the truck. It might be something that you can rent. But if you decide that the metal roof is too much work and too expensive, you could put asphalt shingles back on, and what I would do is I would use, like, a good 25-year shingle. You can use one that has a nice pattern to it. It could look like cedar shakes or slate. And I would make sure that I have very good roof ventilation, because typically older homes that are that age don’t have enough attic ventilation, and so the attic tends to overheat, and that shortens the roof life. So what you would want to do is install a ridge vent down the peak of the roof from end to end to open up the roof. Open that up, and then couple that with soffit vents at the overhang, so that 24-7, 365, you would have a washer of air in the soffit vents under the roof sheathing and out at that peak, at that ridge, which will keep it very even temperature, keep it at that ambient temperature, which makes the shingles last as long as possible. If it’s done well, you could get a roof that lasts you 25, 30 years easy. Okay. Well, thank you. You’re very welcome. Good luck with that project.
00:29:21	LESLIE: Renny reached out to Team Money Pit and says, I’d like to replace… Old sheet vinyl flooring in a bathroom with new vinyl plank molding. The old vinyl looks moldy, so I’m wondering what should I do to make sure that it doesn’t come through the new flooring? I love the show. I listen every Saturday with the headphones on while I’m mowing the grass, so it helps me to do my projects. All right. What do we got going on here with this floor?
00:29:44	TOM: Perfect way to listen to the show, right, while you’re mowing your lawn. Okay. So first of all, what you’re going to do, what I would recommend you do is to remove the toilet when you do this. This new floor. And then spray that floor area with a 50-50 solution of bleach and water. Because it’s got old vinyl floor there, it probably has built up some mold over the years, and it may not even be active, but this is kind of a just-in-case thing. So spray the solution of bleach and water down. You want to wait about 15 minutes, and then rinse it. Otherwise, it’s really going to smell for a long time. Then you can reinstall the toilet, but this time you’re going to use a brand-new wax seal, because over the years, the wax seals get kind of smushed and don’t always do a great job. And the wax seal that’s new is going to make sure it doesn’t have any leakage anymore. And then what I would do is install the new vinyl plank floor, Renny, right up against the toilet, and then caulk around it. Use a silicone caulk. And by the way, another thing to do is to upgrade the bath exhaust fan, because if you have that thing running for 10 or 15 minutes after you’re done with a bath or a shower, it’s going to reduce the humidity in the room. And that can also reduce. the amount of mold that you’re seeing.
00:30:55	LESLIE: All right, next up, we’ve got one here from Lynn in New Hampshire, who’s got a home with cedar siding. She says, I power washed it last year to get rid of all the things growing on it. And now I want to know, what should I be putting on it this year to protect those shingles?
00:31:08	TOM: So good question. First of all, if you just want to protect them from UV so that the shingles themselves don’t crack, you can use a clear stain on that. However, I will say that if you put a clear stain on it, the cedar is still going to darken. So if you put a clear stain on it, the cedar is still going to darken. So another option is to stain it. And I would use a solid color stain, which is 100% opaque, so you can’t see through it, but you still see all the grains. So it doesn’t necessarily look like paint, but it does last a lot longer than if you use, say, a semi-transparent stain. So either way, semi-transparent will give you a few years. Solid color will give you a few more years beyond that. But you’ve got to do a good job cleaning it, which it sounds like you’ve already done. Maybe even give it another once over to make sure nothing grew since you cleaned it last time. And then go ahead and put on a semi-transparent or a solid color stain. Let it dry super well, and you should be good, probably for somewhere in the area of seven-ish years. But keep an eye on it. The areas that are shady will last longer than the ones that are sunny. Sometimes it’s even okay to do one side of the house at a time to sort of spread out this improvement.
00:32:17	LESLIE: Sometimes And, you know, Lynn, since you’re doing this work on the siding now, look at things. Does something need to be flipped over? Perhaps one of the boards on the shingles is yucky, and you want to fix it with the other side. Or it’s, you know, curving in a different way. Fix those things. Look at the trim. Does anything need to be updated? Are you changing the colors? Think about coordinating trim colors, door colors. This is kind of a good time to kind of revamp the whole exterior, and that whole house is going to look great.
00:32:45	TOM: You’ve been listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. We’re so glad you’re here. We hope you picked up some tips to help you with the projects you’re tackling around your house. If you run into a jam, if you’ve got a question, you get stuck on something, or maybe you just need help planning a project, remember, you can reach out to us 24-7. Best way to do that is to go to MoneyPit.com and click the blue microphone button or call us at 1-888-Money-Pit. Until next time, I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:15	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:33:17	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
00:33:19	LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.

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