Show Notes
Today, we reveal how to choose a new garage door that boosts both safety and security. Then, we break down the benefits of buying ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and give tips on early detection of roof leaks to prevent costly repairs. Plus, we answer your top home improvement questions to get your DIY projects done right!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Garage Doors: Protect your home by choosing a safe and secure garage door.
- ENERGY STAR Ratings: Find out why ratings matter when buying appliances that are energy-efficient, reliable, and affordable.
- Roof Leaks: Stop leaks before they happen by knowing what to look for on your roof.
Top Questions & Answers
- Patio Deck: Steve’s floating deck is getting uneven and covers a cistern. He gets tips on taking the deck apart, reframing it with better footings, and adding an access panel.
- Ceiling Stains: Pat had the roof leak repaired but wants to cover the ceiling stains. Insurance should cover the cost of priming and painting the whole ceiling.
- Plumbing Pressure: When the shower runs on one floor, the water gets cold on the upper floor. Tammy should check the pipes for corrosion and the water pressure from the street.
- Garage Insulation: Todd’s garage workspace is getting chilly! Adding spray foam insulation and weatherstripping is a great way to seal and warm up the garage.
- Stump Removal: A raised garden bed is surrounded by tree stumps. Courtney gets options for removing the stumps with a chainsaw, with chemicals, by burning, or with a small stump grinder.
- Lighting: When Darrell turns on his kitchen lights, they cause static on his stereo speaker. We don’t have a solution for this odd issue, but we may find answers online.
- Carpenter Bees: Carpenter bees keep coming back even after the area was treated. Louise needs a pest control professional with the right tools and pesticides to guarantee success.
- Dryer Vent: Cody noticed that the dryer vent in the attic got disconnected. He must find the gap and direct the vent outside because it’s a fire hazard and could cause moisture in his insulation.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:05 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit, home Improvement Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:05 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:05 | TOM: And we are here to help you take on the projects you want to get done on what is hopefully a beautiful summer day and you’re part of the country. If you’ve got questions on a project that you need to do, one that you’ve already started, one that you got stuck on, or maybe it’s something that you need to hire out for, you want to know if you’re paying the right price, if you’re asking the right questions, all of those are great reasons to reach out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974, or just go to MoneyPit.com slash ask. Coming up on today’s show, if your family is like most, you depend on the garage door as pretty much your front door, right, for reliable access. Everybody goes in and out of that garage, but it also protects you. However, if your door is old, if it’s worn, it could be unsafe, operationally that is, but it could also be providing easy access for intruders while you’re away. So we’re going to share tips on why that happens and what to look for in a new garage door. |
| 00:01:33 | LESLIE: And also ahead, does an ENERGY STAR rating really matter when you’re buying a new appliance? Whether you’re shopping for a new fridge, dishwasher, or washing machine, or really any other appliance, we’re going to explain why that little blue star does make a difference in helping you select the best performing and the least expensive appliance for your home. |
| 00:01:52 | TOM: And also ahead, if you’ve ever had a roof leak, you know that getting it fixed fast can qualify as a minor emergency, but what you don’t know is that leak may have begun to form long before you spotted it. So we’re going to share how to spot leaks early in the process in today’s roof review tip presented by Roof Maxx. |
| 00:02:09 | LESLIE: But first, our focus is you. We want to know what you want to know, so if there’s a DIY project in your to-do list, let us help you make it a DI done project. What are you working on? Are you planning a small project for this weekend, or perhaps are you looking down the road at a bigger, larger project? Well, whatever it is that you have planned, we are here to give you a hand. So give us a call at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:02:34 | TOM: Call us right now, 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974, or go to moneypit.com slash ask. So let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:02:46 | LESLIE: Steve in Iowa is on the line with a decking question. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:02:50 | CALLER: I’ve had my deck on my house for, it’s been probably at least 15 years. Part, it’s a floating deck, so it’s not attached to the house. And the only problem with that is, is part of the deck has a cistern underneath of it. |
| 00:03:02 | TOM: Oh, so it’s covering this old cistern. Okay. |
| 00:03:05 | CALLER: Yes. But the cistern is still, I don’t use it often, but it is nice to have, so I don’t want to take it out. Okay. Because my deck is settling at different levels, and the cistern, above the cistern, obviously I can’t put any post holes in to stop the heaving. Yeah. |
| 00:03:20 | TOM: How do you actually get to that cistern when you want to get to it? You have to pop deck boards up, or is there a hatch? |
| 00:03:25 | CALLER: No, there’s a pipe that runs outside the deck, and you just dump the water into there. |
| 00:03:30 | TOM: Well, if the deck is heaving, if it’s structurally moving, then there’s nothing that you’re going to do short of basically replacing that with a better foundation that’s going to stop that from happening. How big is this deck? |
| 00:03:41 | CALLER: 20 by 12. |
| 00:03:42 | TOM: Yeah. Is your concern that the deck is moving and that the floor is getting uneven, or is your concern that the lumber is moving? The lumber is cracking and checking. What’s your big concern with it? |
| 00:03:52 | CALLER: The deck is very uneven. By the house, it has settled probably maybe eight inches, and then where the cistern’s at, it hasn’t settled at all. |
| 00:04:02 | TOM: And this cistern, this is not like an open well, is it, where somebody could fall into it? This is a pipe that comes out? |
| 00:04:06 | CALLER: No, it feeds directly into my basement. There’s a concrete lid over the top. |
| 00:04:10 | TOM: So you really do need to have some sort of a structural cover for this. So I guess what I would do in this case is I would probably take the old deck apart and rebuild it. I would reframe it, and… And basically do it all from scratch, and put in some better footings for this. Now, you can use columns in the ground, but they have to be on their own footing. So what you might want to do is dig down and sink posts, like six by six posts into the ground, and kind of do this almost like it’s a pole barn, but you’re really only doing this to support the girders and the beams for the deck, and then you’re stringing new joists across from that. And then I would think about using composite decking on top of this, and I would definitely build in an access panel, which could be, you know, sort of like a hatch that lifts up, or just the panel that lifts out to give you access to that cistern space in case you want to use it. |
| 00:05:01 | CALLER: Would you ever consider pouring concrete first, and then put building the deck over top of that? |
| 00:05:08 | TOM: No. I mean, if you were going to do concrete, then you would just do a concrete patio, but isn’t that going to make it hard to get to the cistern and access the space? |
| 00:05:15 | CALLER: Yeah. I would just thought… I didn’t know if pouring concrete… Yeah. I would just thought… I didn’t know if pouring concrete… Yeah. I would just thought… I didn’t know if pouring concrete… …all the way around the cistern first would work, and then pour the deck on top of that, or… |
| 00:05:22 | TOM: No. No, no. No, no. You don’t need the concrete to make this deck structurally strong and to stop it from wobbling. If it’s designed properly from the get-go, you’re not going to have this issue. I suspect it was not when it was built. And that’s why it looks like it does now. Okay. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:05:42 | LESLIE: All right, Pat in Michigan, tell us what’s going on with the leak. |
| 00:05:45 | CALLER: Yes, we had some shingles that blew up and the water got underneath and it leaked onto my ceiling. You know, we had high winds with, like we call, side, you know, and so I’ve had the roof repaired, but I still have some leaked water stains on my ceiling. And I’m trying to figure out how to cover them up, you know, without having to paint all of the ceiling. And my ceilings have never been painted. It’s just raw drywall, but it’s been textured. |
| 00:06:20 | TOM: Now, since this was storm damage, did you think to call your homeowner’s insurance company? |
| 00:06:24 | CALLER: No, because it’s, there’s only three little, like one is a dime size and one is a quarter size and the other one’s like a dollar bill size. |
| 00:06:32 | TOM: Well, just for future reference, whenever you have shingles that blow off and leaks occur, that is why you pay for homeowner’s insurance. So small or big, that’s the kind of thing that’s covered. You know, if it was a worn out roof, that’s one thing, but if you have storm damage where shingles blow off and water gets in, then you could have had that whole ceiling repainted at the expense of your insurance company. But okay, we’re past that now, so the question is how do you deal with those stains? Whenever you have a water stain on a ceiling, you have to prime that spot. Since they’re small spots like that, you can spot prime it, which basically means just to prime over those little spots themselves. And then you’ll paint over that. You’ll have to. If you don’t have some of the original paint, you’re going to have to pick up something that matches. |
| 00:07:12 | CALLER: There is no paint. This is just drywall, textured drywall, and they did not paint the drywall. |
| 00:07:18 | TOM: They never painted the drywall? No. |
| 00:07:21 | CALLER: Ceilings here are not painted unless you ask for it. |
| 00:07:24 | TOM: Okay, well, all I can tell you is if you want to get rid of the stain, you have to prime it. You have to prime on top of it. If you don’t prime on top of it, anything that you put over that is going to leak right through. So it might be time to think about painting the ceiling, Pat. |
| 00:07:38 | CALLER: Oh, boy. Okay, well, thank you very much. I certainly do appreciate your time. |
| 00:07:43 | TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:07:48 | LESLIE: Hey, Money Pit Podcast fans. You want to help us out? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and we’re going to give you a virtual high-five. Plus, you’ll be helping us spread the word about our show. |
| 00:07:59 | CALLER: Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review. |
| 00:08:06 | TOM: Now we’ve got Tammy in Philadelphia on the line who’s looking for a better shower. |
| 00:08:10 | LESLIE: How can we help you today? |
| 00:08:11 | CALLER: Hi. I was calling in because I wanted to find out. I have an old Victorian house, and I have three stories. I have a bathroom on my third floor and a bathroom on the second. And if someone’s in the shower on the second floor, and then someone takes a shower or runs the water upstairs on the third floor, the shower goes cold. And I’ve been x-raying my contractors and my plumbers, and I’m not getting a consistent answer. So I like to remedy that since I’m doing remodeling. Okay. |
| 00:08:38 | TOM: So are you opening up walls as part of this remodeling? Yes. |
| 00:08:41 | CALLER: I’m completely stripped down to the studs. |
| 00:08:44 | TOM: Okay. Great. So first of all, the reasons you have reduced water pressure in older homes are generally because you have old steel pipes that suffer from internal rusting. And they clog. They close down, kind of like a clogged artery. And then you can’t push enough water through it. And that could be your main water pipe. It could be the supply pipes that are inside the house or a combination of them. And so since you’re taking the walls apart, the general rule of thumb is that whenever you expose these old steel pipes, you want to replace them with copper pipes or with PEX, which is a newer type of plumbing pipe. Now, the other thing is that you may not have enough water pressure coming in from the street. |
| 00:09:22 | CALLER: Well, the pressure is not that big of a deal because I think that the pressure is kind of okay. It’s just that, like, basically, we have two bathroom in the house, and you can only use one at a time. Like, the water completely goes ice cold if you’re in the shower and somebody comes in and uses the same water. |
| 00:09:36 | TOM: Well, that’s because the pipes may not be supplying that hot water. They may not be moving enough hot water. What size water heater do you have? |
| 00:09:44 | CALLER: 40 gallons. |
| 00:09:45 | TOM: All right, well, that’s a minimum size, but it should be okay for two bathrooms. Okay. And is it an older water heater? |
| 00:09:51 | CALLER: No, I just replaced the water heater. |
| 00:09:53 | TOM: When you replaced it, did they change any of the plumbing around it? Is it still going through the steel pipes? |
| 00:09:57 | CALLER: I think that they changed the pipes around the – no, I don’t think so. |
| 00:10:01 | TOM: So you need to talk with your plumbers about what kind of pipes you have, whether or not that’s contributing to the problem. And you need to know what the water pressure is at the street. Because if you’re not getting enough pressure, that could be the whole cause of it. Okay. |
| 00:10:12 | CALLER: Now, I Googled it, and I saw something online called a pressure balance valve. Would that remedy the issue at all? |
| 00:10:20 | TOM: So a pressure balance valve is designed to be used primarily in a shower. And what it does is it keeps the mix between hot and cold balanced so that you don’t get scorching or freezing cold waters when the pressure drops. So if somebody was to, say, run hot water downstream, and now rob all that hot water from the upstairs shower, it would not change the balance of water from the mix of water between hot and cold. So the flow would be less. You’d have less of a stream. But it wouldn’t be – the temperature wouldn’t change. Okay. |
| 00:10:49 | CALLER: Right. Okay. |
| 00:10:50 | TOM: So, no, that’s not it. I don’t think that’s the cause. I mean, that would certainly be a good thing to have and something you should consider. But I don’t think that’s the reason you’re not getting hot water on the second floor. I just don’t think you’re moving enough water up there. Okay. |
| 00:11:01 | CALLER: So, basically, what I need to do is tell them to check the piping around the water heater. Yeah. |
| 00:11:05 | TOM: And the plumber should know this, not only around the water heater, but basically, if you’re going to open up those walls, what kind of pipes do you have? And are they corroded? And should they be replaced to help alleviate this? Okay. And if all else fails, you could always get a second water heater upstairs. You could get a tankless water heater, which would be a really small unit, and it would supply additional water to that second floor bathroom. |
| 00:11:28 | CALLER: Oh, okay. Okay. That’s interesting. Okay. Well, I think that kind of remedies the problem. |
| 00:11:33 | TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:11:38 | LESLIE: Todd in Utah is on the line and is looking for some help in insulating the garage. Tell us about it. |
| 00:11:43 | CALLER: Well, what I’ve got is I’ve got a garage that I work out of, and I like to do woodworking and just all around playing around with whatever project I have. But it gets cold here in Utah, and I like using my rafters to put boards and extra equipment, pontoon boats. You know, a little bit of everything out there. But I want to be able to inflate it to save a little bit of the heat so it’s bearable in the winter. And I was hoping that there would be a way to maybe spray the upper inside of that with a spray foam or a spray insulation. Or what do you suggest to be the best without having to sheetrock and lose all that space? |
| 00:12:23 | TOM: Well, you certainly could use spray foam insulation. In fact, I personally used Isonene insulation in my attic, and we did just that. We sprayed in between the rafters. We coated the rafters with the insulation, and then we coated it with a thermal barrier. And with eight inches of Isonene insulation, we were able to pick up R30, which is a substantial amount of insulation. So you could hire a local dealer to add spray foam insulation to the underside of those rafters and seal that in nice and warm. And it also will seal drafts, which is the other benefit of spray foam insulation. But remember, you’re also going to have to add some heat. Once you keep that area insulated, you’re going to have to add some heat. And just insulating itself is not going to make it warm enough. And then I would expect the weakest link in the house would be around the garage. So you’re going to at least have to do some significant weather stripping to try to keep those drafts down. |
| 00:13:15 | CALLER: That’s exactly what I want to do. I like to use my time and being retired. I don’t want to look out the window during the winter. I’d rather be doing something. |
| 00:13:23 | TOM: All right. Well, that sounds like that’s your man cave. Yeah, it is right now. All right. Hey, well, thank you. You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIP. |
| 00:13:31 | LESLIE: Well, if your family is like ours, you depend on the garage as your real front door for reliable access as well as protection. But if your door is old and worn, it could not only be unsafe, it could be providing easy access for intruders when you’re away. Here’s what you should be looking for when shopping a new garage door. First of all, garage door designs today, they’re amazing. I mean, it used to be that you had to choose from heavy wood doors that needed a lot of upkeep to metal doors that were cold and prone to rust. But today, there are a wide variety of composite and fiberglass material doors out there, and they look amazingly like wood but need virtually no care at all. Plus, the doors are better insulated and can keep those drafts out of the garage, which is especially nice if you like to use the space to do some work in. |
| 00:14:19 | TOM: That’s right. But in addition to better doors, we also now have much better door openers. Today’s garage door openers have fully integrated smart home technology, and that enables you to open and close them from your smartphone. They can even trigger an alert if you’ve left the home and left the door open. The openers themselves are also safer than what they were years ago with improved auto reverse mechanisms that prevent injury, as well as battery backups that can be super handy in the event of a power failure. Major changes have happened in the last decade with garage doors, and if yours is old and dated and has any of those worn-out symptoms, now is a great time to consider a new one. Yeah. |
| 00:14:59 | LESLIE: And you know what? The highest return on investment of all projects is your garage door. I mean, who knew? It’s really a great way to add some bang for your buck to the house and make it look great and keep it more secure. We’ve got Courtney in New Jersey on the line who’s dealing with a lot of stumps in a garden. Well, maybe the stumps are standing in the way of a garden. What’s happening? |
| 00:15:18 | CALLER: I’ve got a garden bed that is raised, surrounded by brick, and unfortunately it has about five tree stumps that are taking over. So, I’m wondering what your suggestion was for removing the tree stumps. Because it’s a raised bed, getting a grinder in there I think might be hard. Plus, it would be difficult to maneuver around all of the other landscaping. So, didn’t know if you had any suggestions. Thanks so much. |
| 00:15:51 | TOM: Hey, Courtney. So, thanks for reaching out. Let me see what I can do to help you with this problem. Four stumps? Wow. That’s a lot of wood. So, first off, yeah, I can understand that getting a grinder in there is going to be difficult. I mean, there really are four ways to get rid of stumps. And the first, of course, is that stump grinder, but it is a massive machine. I’m not so sure whether there’s smaller versions available for tighter spaces. The other ways would include manual stump removal, which is basically doing it by hand, which requires you to cut that stump down from the top. I’ve done it with a chainsaw as deep as I can get it into numerous pieces. Then, just sort of chop it out. It’s a heck of a lot of work, and I don’t envy you for having to take that on. But I list it because it is an option. And then, there’s chemical tree stump removal, which I’ve also had success with. However, when you use the chemicals, basically, you drill holes in the trunk and you pour these chemicals in. You can find them at home centers and hardware stores. What will happen is that will break down the stump. It takes a while, like months, if not a whole season, but it eventually breaks it down. The problem is it can have a negative effect on the soil. You mentioned this is a tree stump. This is a garden area, so you may also intentionally kill some of those plants and vegetables or whatever you’re growing. And then, the last way is to burn it. There’s a burning tree stump removal process where, essentially, you carve out the inside of the stump. You start a small fire there. You drill holes underneath to feed that flame. It’s got to burn for like between 12 and 24 hours. Obviously, you have to be very, very careful about what’s around that. It has to be monitored constantly to make sure the fire doesn’t go out. The fire doesn’t inadvertently get out of control and start burning something it’s not supposed to burn. So it is an option, along with the other three that I mentioned, for you to consider. So I hope something in there helps you. I would start by seeking out a stump grinder from a tree service. Find out if they can get in there with the machine they have or if there’s a smaller version of what they have, and then maybe take it from there. Good luck. |
| 00:17:51 | LESLIE: Darryl in New Jersey is calling with a lighting slash electrical issue or perhaps a poltergeist. What’s going on at your house? Hi. |
| 00:17:59 | CALLER: I purchased some LED lights from my home to be energy conscious, and I put them in my kitchen in the hi-hats. There’s about 12 of them in the kitchen, and they work great, and they’re on a dimmer. It’s great that they conserve energy, and you don’t have to replace them for like 20-something years. But I also have a Bose radio in the kitchen. And right after I put them in, I noticed that the majority of the radio stations are complete stat, and when I turn the lights off, the radio works fine. So I called up the light bulb company, and they said, well, it’s probably your dimmer, and they recommended certain dimmers that work with the lights. I went out and purchased a dimmer, and the same problem. So I called the bulb manufacturer again, and while I had them on the phone, I let them hear the radio with the lights off, and then turn the lights on, and they heard the static. They said they would get back to me, and I never heard from them again. I did some research on the Internet and found out that I’m not the only one that has this problem, but I haven’t found a solution. So I went out and I bought another set of light bulbs, a different brand, and put those in other rooms in the house where I don’t have radios. And the new brand that I got, the same problem. So I’m sort of wrestling with what to do here. And I thought I’d give you a little bit of advice. I thought I’d give you a call and see if you had some ideas. |
| 00:19:28 | TOM: Have you considered using CDs? |
| 00:19:35 | TOM: Gee, I’ve never heard of that, and apparently the bulb manufacturer didn’t either. Who was the manufacturer? |
| 00:19:43 | CALLER: F-E-I-T. |
| 00:19:45 | TOM: Not familiar with them. |
| 00:19:46 | CALLER: Yeah, they’re pretty popular. I bought the bulbs in Costco, so I could return the bulbs, but I’m pleased with them, and they save energy. And like I said, I tried others. I don’t know. I’m just in the same problem. And when I did the research on the internet, I found out I’m not the only one, but I haven’t found anyone that has a solution. |
| 00:20:04 | TOM: In fact, I just did the very same project. I replaced all of the light bulbs in my hi-hats with a product that was called TCP, and they were like these one-piece inserts that basically you screw them into the socket into the hi-hat, and it’s an LED, and it’s a very flat and flush look and very clean. And dimmable. So it’s a nice project to do. I’m afraid that I don’t have a solution for you on this, but I would love if you would post this question in our community section, Daryl, including all the details on the manufacturers that you’ve had this problem with, because we’ve got some relationships that we can tap into and see if we can identify what’s going on, both with the bulb manufacturers and with the dimmer manufacturers, to find out if this has been an issue before and why it could possibly be happening. I think it’s a really interesting question, an interesting problem, and I’d love to dig deeper into it on your behalf. Great. Well, that’s good. All right. Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, you guys have heard us recommend ENERGY STAR as something to look for when you’re buying a new appliance, but if you’re wondering why, well, it’s because it’s a government program that works, basically. They set the standards for energy efficiency years in advance, and manufacturers all compete to meet those as soon as possible. So let’s look at how this applies to you. We’re talking about a dishwasher. So a dishwasher that’s ENERGY STAR certified costs about 50 bucks per year to run, and it can save you about 5,800 gallons of water over its lifetime compared to non-ENERGY STAR dishwashers. |
| 00:21:42 | LESLIE: That’s right. And dishwasher technology has improved dramatically over the last decade, and new ENERGY STAR certified models include several innovations like soil sensors, improved water filtration, more efficient jets, and dish rack designs that reduce energy and water efficiency. |
| 00:21:57 | TOM: And by reducing water consumption, well, ENERGY STAR certified dishwashers can also protect lakes and streams and oceans because you’re using that much less water. |
| 00:22:08 | CALLER: So just one example of why looking for that little blue star, looking for the ENERGY STAR developed technology, it’s the power of the ENERGY STAR technology that you can then use to It’s also really, really powerful. So, one of the things about ENERGY STAR is that it’s really powerful and it’s very different than any other technology that we’ve ever used before. And it’s absolutely fantastic. And how about being creative? Well, ENERGY STAR technology is a very fast and smooth path in sound design. It’s also a very fast-paced, slow-paced process. And it’s a very powerful machine. |
| 00:23:12 | TOM: Subtitles by the Amara.org community The knowledge and the pesticides to effectively eliminate carpenter bees with a reasonable guarantee of success. So if you have such a serious problem as this, I would definitely suggest that you go find yourself a new exterminator, maybe from a national brand company like Orkin. You’d have better success with that. Now if you want to do this yourself, the reason that the bees form those holes is because they’re nesting. And so the way they’re treated is you spray pesticide inside those holes. You can also spray something that’s petroleum-based inside the holes because they don’t like that. There’s lots of ways that you could try this yourself. But given the severity of the problem, I would suggest you find a good exterminator that can treat it with the right type of pesticide and you not have to worry about it. |
| 00:24:17 | LESLIE: Well, by the time most of us spot a roof leak, that water is usually dripping from the ceiling somewhere. But roof leaks actually start forming. And that’s why we’re going to share how you can catch leaks in the making in today’s Roof Review Tip presented by Roof Maxx. You know, there are a lot of ways that roof leaks can form. But the vast majority of them happen at points where the roof sections intersect. Now this is where the roof gets the most movement in terms of expansion and contraction. And all of that movement can definitely lead to a leak. |
| 00:24:49 | TOM: Now here are some great examples. Roof valleys, right? Now this is where different sections of roof surface come together. Now typically they form a V where this happens and they’re either going to have metal flashing that lays at the bottom of that V or the shingles will overlap and sort of lock together. Now because this is an area where water collects on its way to your gutters and an intersection of two big sections, we frequently find that leaks will form when the flashing of the shingles wears out from all of that movement. Yeah. |
| 00:25:19 | LESLIE: Now plumbing vents are another area, I mean you probably noticed all those pipes that are sticking out of your roof. Those are the plumbing vents and they share a very common form of rubber sealed flashing. It’s kind of like a boot that goes over the vent and under the shingles. And the problem here is that rubber seal can wear out from exposure to sunlight and then that forms leaks and it usually shows up in your bathroom or your kitchen ceilings just below that pipe. |
| 00:25:45 | TOM: Well finally, let’s talk about chimneys. If you have a brick chimney that goes through the roof, the flashing system is made up of two parts which we call flashing and then counter flashing. Now. They form a sort of sliding joint that allows for the normal movement of the chimney due to wind. But unfortunately when the flashing systems leak, lazy repairs are common like trailing roof cement on top of the whole thing instead of properly rebuilding the original flashing and then it leaks again. |
| 00:26:10 | LESLIE: That’s right. Now while all of these solutions can cause big leaks, they’re pretty easy for a pro to spot early on. Companies like Roof Maxx offer a maintenance package that focuses on the most leak prone areas of your roof. And Roof Maxx’s experts will inspect your roof and make minor repairs to the most common issues that are going to help protect your home. |
| 00:26:29 | TOM: And that’s today’s Roof Review Tip presented by Roof Maxx. A Roof Maxx treatment restores flexibility and waterproofing protection of aging asphalt shingle roofs, extending life by as much as 15 years. Roof Maxx treatments come with a 5-year flexibility guarantee and they’re purchased through a nationwide network of factory trained and certified dealers who also apply the treatment. To learn more, set up an appointment with your local Roof Maxx dealer today. Roof Maxx is offering a free tune-up completed prior to applying treatment which has a $859 value. They take care of all the need maintenance, like for example when you have loose nails, you have loose flashing, they seal the cracked shingles, they take a look at all those vents where they come through, the exposed nails are all fixed, all of that is taken care of before the treatment. Learn more at Roof Maxxx.com, that’s Roof, M-A-X-X dot com. |
| 00:27:23 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Cody in Texas who’s got a safety question. The dryer vent has become disconnected. Yes, Cody, this is dangerous. |
| 00:27:30 | CALLER: Hey, so I was up in the attic the other day and I saw some of the insulation blowing. The dryer was burning at the time. And I walked over there and I could feel the air from the dryer blowing in from between the walls, you know. And that kind of concerned me. It seems to me like it’s not connected within the wall and it’s blowing out. And I’m wondering, is that a big deal? Do I need to go in the wall? And replace that or is it going to be fine the way it is? |
| 00:27:56 | TOM: No, it’s not fine at all the way it is for two reasons. Number one, it’s a fire hazard because all that dust is being trapped inside that wall cavity that’s a major fire hazard. And secondly, all of that moisture from your wet clothes is being blown up in the attic and then insulation. And once it makes the insulation damp, the insulation does not work. If you even add a minor amount of moisture to insulation, it loses about a third of its R value. So you want to figure out what went wrong. And get it fixed. It can vent up into the attic, but it has to continue through the attic and out to an exterior wall or out to the roof or out to a soffit. You need to figure out why it disconnected, what happened, and get it fixed in the easiest way possible. But get that dryer vent pointed outside as quickly as you can. |
| 00:28:40 | CALLER: Okay, I’ll do that. There’s some cabinets hanging above the dryer, so I guess I need to pull those off and cut into the sheetrock to try to see where the disconnect is. |
| 00:28:48 | TOM: Well, maybe. Why don’t you just pull the dryer out to begin with? Stick a light in that bed. If it’s a duct, then see if it tells you anything, and then go from there. Try to minimize the exploratory surgery, Cody. |
| 00:28:57 | CALLER: Yeah, okay. I’ll do that. I appreciate it. |
| 00:29:00 | TOM: The more you cut open, the more you got to fix, man. |
| 00:29:02 | LESLIE: Debbie wrote in to Team Money Pit saying, a painter stained her deck and dripped the oil-based stain on the patio below. She says, we’ve tried mineral spirits and scrubbing with barkeeper’s friend powder, but the stain is still there. Do you know of any way to remove oil-based semi-solid stain from concrete? Oof. This probably got super-absorbed super-fast. |
| 00:29:23 | TOM: Oh, man. Yeah. You can say that again. I mean, concrete is like a sponge. Whatever it hits, it just soaks right up. So I really, literally don’t see any way of extracting that solid stain, especially something like, I mean, if you get grease out of it, you got half a chance, you know, oil stains lifting those. But, you know, that’s semi-solid stain. I’m sure it’s a good product. It’s designed to stick. So you’re really going to have a hard time here. So I think you need to think about how you can cosmetically deal with it. Now, patios can be stained, by the way. There are products out that are concrete stains that are designed to color a patio. So that’s one option to think about doing that. The only thing I might try in terms of a stain lifter, Leslie, I’m thinking about TSP, right? Making a paste of that. |
| 00:30:06 | LESLIE: I mean, it’s worth the shot before you go and stain the entire concrete to match those drips. |
| 00:30:10 | TOM: You got nothing to lose, really. But I’d say that that’s a good option. |
| 00:30:15 | LESLIE: I mean, and can you use like a wire bristle brush? Like if you make a paste of the TSP and let it sink? Can you sit on there and kind of draw up the stain, and then can you scrub it with a brush? |
| 00:30:24 | TOM: I mean, you certainly can scrub it with a brush. I don’t think it has to be wired, but you can scrub with the brushes to make sure it’s sort of pressed inward, right? But here’s one other idea. You know, Leslie, years ago, you used to do painted patios. Remember? You used to paint rugs on them and all sorts of stuff like that. I wonder if there’s an option like that. Talk about that for a bit, would you? |
| 00:30:39 | LESLIE: You know how it goes. You paint something on the concrete. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to repaint it on the concrete. So are you opening yourself up to a whole other host of problems down the road? Possibly. But in the meantime, you could have something super stylish and fun. You can do a painted rug. You can do a painted pattern. You can do a fun painted graphic detail. You don’t say, Deb, how large this patio is below the deck, so it could be a quite large space. But I’ve done where you kind of tape out the rectangular pattern of a rug. You put down a base coat. You have to make sure you use a concrete floor paint. Pick out the colors you like. You can buy assorted stencils online or at the craft shop. You can use tape to just make some interesting, more graphic patterns on there. So what you would do is you put out your base color, and then you go ahead and overlay anything to make those patterns. I mean, you can even paint tassels on the edge, and then you could seal it with something without sheen just to kind of keep that paint in. But truly, it’s concrete. It’s not going to keep paint on it forever and ever. It will keep it for a while. So you’ve got to think about how much work maintenance you’re going to have to do to get that paint out of the way. So you’ve got to think about how much work maintenance upkeep you want to do. But there are ways that you can conceal this sort of stain quite creatively and have a fun time doing it. |
| 00:31:50 | TOM: You know, I thought I wanted our idea, too. You know, PaveStone makes a thin brick. It’s a paver brick called Milano, and it’s designed to cover a patio. |
| 00:31:58 | LESLIE: But it’s like a veneer? Yes. |
| 00:32:00 | TOM: It’s a veneer brick. And you can use like a construction adhesive to seal on the outside row of the pattern, and then you just lay them in between. So it’s a very easy job to do, and it looks really terrific. So that’s another option for you to cover it with a veneer paver brick. So there you have it. Sorry this happened to you, but there’s a bunch of ideas that you’ve got to work through to figure out how to make that disappear for good. Or if it won’t disappear, I can tell you this, you’re probably the only one that sees it. Of course. And I know you see it a lot because it’s probably the first thing you’ll look at when your eye casts across that patio, but that’s just the way it goes. |
| 00:32:30 | LESLIE: Ah, Debbie, good luck. I know it seems like a terrible project, but you can do something really fun. You know? You know, when you thought you were kind of not going to have a great-looking patio, now you’re going to have an awesome one. |
| 00:32:43 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey guys, thank you so much for spending this part of your summer weekend with us. If you’ve got questions and didn’t get through, we are available 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit. You can always reach out, leave us your questions, and we’ll call you back the next time we are in the studio. But until then, I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:33:02 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:33:03 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:33:05 | 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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