#2445 – Stay Current: Electrical Panel Upgrades | DIY Fire Pits in Five Minutes

Show Notes

In this show, we’ll offer tips for a successful home addition, reveal a surprisingly easy method to build stone features like fire pits and garden beds, and discuss the benefits of upgrading your electric panel. Plus, we’ve got expert advice for callers with home improvement questions you’ll want to hear!

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Show Notes
Top Questions & Answers
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript

Electrical System: Find out 5 shocking reasons to stay current with an electrical panel upgrade.
Outdoor Masonry Ideas: Building outdoor features is as easy as stacking blocks with this innovative DIY system.
Home Additions: These are 3 things to consider when planning the right home addition.

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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00:00:26	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:00:20	TOM: And you’re listening to episode 2445, 2445, so listen when you want by following the show at MoneyPit.com slash podcast. But let’s get to what we are doing here because it’s our job to help you take on the projects you want to get done around your house. So what are you planning for this weekend? Is there a project you’d like to get done? Is there help that you need solving a DIY dilemma? Do you have a decor situation you need some challenges? Are you tired of staring at the paint chips? That’s what happens to me, Leslie. Stare at the paint chips and make a decision, and the next day I look at them and I make a different decision. So that’s why sometimes I call you for advice on that. But whatever it is, whatever’s on your to-do list, you can move it right to ours when you reach out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit or just go to MoneyPit.com slash ask. Coming up on today’s show, if your home is getting tight for your growing family, in addition could be a great move. We’re going to share tips on how to plan for that project to make sure the new space serves you and your family for many years to
00:01:37	LESLIE: come. And if you’ve ever wanted to build a fire pit or a raised garden bed or a seat wall out of stone, well you’d probably be thinking that these projects would be way out of the question. But we’re here to help you get out of your DIY comfort zone. But you guys, there’s a way to create these masonry masterpieces that’s super easy. I mean, just like stacking blocks. We are going to share that new product innovation with you in a bit.
00:01:59	TOM: And if your home’s electrical system is straining to keep up with demand, a new electric panel might be in your future. We’re going to share five reasons why upgrading the panel in your home may make perfect sense.
00:02:10	LESLIE: But first, do you feel like you’re in a constant game of tug-of-war with your house and your house is winning? Well, we’re here to help you take advantage of your new electric panel. Take back the lead, from advice to answers to new products, we are your one stop shopping for all things DIY.
00:02:24	TOM: So call us right now, that number again is 1-888-Money-Pit that’s 888-666-3974 or better yet, just go to moneypit.com/. ASK click the blue microphone button, you can record your question it will come instantly to us for the quickest possible response. So let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:43	LESLIE: Cody in Texas, you’ve got The Money Pit how can we help you today?
00:02:46	CALLER: Yes ma’am, I was called last week, I was asking about this new product and I was Well, because I’m having a problem with scorpions and bugs and stuff, and I was going to see if you could recommend an economical way to treat them both inside and out. You know, we’ve used commercial businesses in the past to come in and spray. That’s just not in the budget right now. And I’ve tried 7-Dust granules outside and just wanted to see if you could recommend anything that would be good inside and out.
00:03:09	TOM: Well, if you’re concerned about spiders, there’s a new product out called Ms. Muffet’s Revenge that’s made by the Wet and Forget company that’s inexpensive and can keep them out for a year. But I don’t think that’s going to keep the scorpions out. Okay. You know, one natural product that folks have reported good success with is boric acid. And boric acid can be applied a number of ways. You can sprinkle the powder. You can mix the powder with water and spray it. But you have to remember that it doesn’t kill on contact. It essentially kind of messes with your skin. It messes with the skeleton system of the scorpion and causes them to die from dehydration. So it’s more preventative than it is sort of an immediate use, an immediate result product.
00:03:51	CALLER: Spray it around the foundation on the exterior of the home. Obviously, I wouldn’t want to spray that inside. Or would it be okay to spray inside?
00:03:56	TOM: Well, you could spray it inside as well. I mean, it’s pretty safe to spray inside and outside. Yeah.
00:04:02	LESLIE: Another natural oil that they just don’t seem to like for whatever reason is cedar oil. So if you mix cedar oil with water. And then spray that around your perimeter. Or if you’ve got gaps or cracks, you know, in your foundation or on your interior, you can use that as well. They also don’t like lavender. So if you plant some lavender around your foundation, they’ll tend to stay away.
00:04:21	TOM: Awesome. I appreciate the help, guys. Y’all have a great rest of the day. Cody, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:04:28	LESLIE: All right. We’re heading out to Delaware where Mary’s got a question about a roof. What’s going on at your money pit?
00:04:33	CALLER: I have a two-story house with three-tab shingles that are 25 years old. And I’m about to replace them with the architectural. I have an attic fan currently. It’s about 30 years old. And I don’t really have to keep that. But my question is regarding a replacement attic fan versus the ridge vent.
00:04:55	TOM: So we would definitely recommend a ridge vent over a replacement attic fan for a lot of reasons. Here’s why. In the summer, many times folks will install attic fans to try to cool their attic. Thinking that it will lower their cooling cost. But what generally happens is when an attic fan kicks on, it will depressurize your attic. And then it needs to replace that negative pressure. So what will happen is it will reach down into your house and actually pull some of that air-conditioned air up into the attic. Now how that happens is interesting. It’ll pull it out from gaps around, say, where your attic door is. Or it’ll pull it through the walls through gaps around plumbing pipes or electrical wires or outlets that go through. There’s usually some sort of thermal connection between the inside and the outside. And by using an attic fan, you’re going to potentially drive the cooling cost up, not down. A better option is a ridge vent, a continuous ridge vent that goes down the peak of the entire roof. And that will exhaust attic air. But the ridge vent should always be matched with soffit vents at the overhang of the roof. So that the air will enter down low on the roof, roll up underneath the roof sheathing, and then exit at the ridge. And that sort of conductive loop. Will do a much better job of keeping your attic cool than an attic fan. And it will not drive up your cooling costs.
00:06:12	CALLER: And you close off the current attic fan.
00:06:15	TOM: That’s right. I would actually, if you were going to be replacing your roof, I would simply take that whole fan out, tap off the wires, and disconnect it. You don’t need it. Okay.
00:06:23	CALLER: The other question is I also have a whole house fan, which I rarely use. Can you still use a whole house fan with the ridge vent?
00:06:32	TOM: Yeah, absolutely. Now. Let’s talk about the difference between a whole house fan and an attic fan. An attic fan is just that. It draws air out of the attic. A whole house fan is mounted generally on the ceiling of the upper floor of the house. And it’s going to draw air from your house itself, push it up into the attic where it will be exhausted. Now, the key with a whole house fan is you have to have enough exhaust ventilation up in the attic. If you end up having a continuous ridge vent and continuous soffit vents, I think you probably will have plenty of exhaust ventilation up there in the attic. I would suggest, if you don’t have it already, to put that whole house fan on a timer because it’s really effective, especially at night when you can set it for an hour or so when you’re going to sleep, to kind of keep that air moving through the house. And then it will just go off by the time you fall asleep and the air gets cooler.
00:07:18	CALLER: Vents in the eaves of the house, which were built in the house, are they closed off when you get the ridge vent?
00:07:25	TOM: Generally, yes. Those small vents that are on the ends of the gable walls, you do want to close those off and make sure you have continuous soffit vents. Soffit and ridge vents because you’ll get some turbulence between the ridge vent and that end gable vent that can impact the flow of the air. All right, Mary?
00:07:42	CALLER: All right. Hopefully, that’s what I need and I’m about to call a contractor tomorrow.
00:07:48	TOM: All right. And now you know what to get done. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:07:53	LESLIE: Do you love learning about home improvement on our podcast? Well, we love bringing you all the latest tips and tricks.
00:07:58	TOM: And if you want to make us smile, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review. Hey, guys. If you reach out to us right now with your home improvement question, we will put your name in the Money Pit hard hat for a great product we’re giving away. It’s from Daich Coatings. It’s called Spread Rock Granite Stone Coating. It’s an actual layer of rock that can be applied easily to floors or walls. And you can use this inside or out to resurface porches, steps, patios, walkways, garage floors, even baths or basements and more. It comes in seven colors. It’s impact-resistant and super durable. It’s worth $149. It’s a three-gallon size. And it’s available at DaichCoatings.com, HomeDepot.com, and Lowes.com. But we’re giving away the Spread Rock Granite Stone Coating to one lucky listener. Make that you. Reach out to us with your questions right now at 1-888-Money-Pit.
00:08:52	LESLIE: Bob in South Dakota is dealing with a drywall issue. What’s going on at your house?
00:08:56	CALLER: We have a 1990s home. And we had… We had sheetrock nails that were put in that began popping mainly toward the ceiling area and corners, inside corners especially. And we had a contractor redo some. We redid some ourselves. One of the things they did and we did is we just drove the nails in and covered them and put a screw maybe two to three inches from it. But the nails reappeared after we did it. What’s the answer?
00:09:34	TOM: Well, it would if he just drove it back in and didn’t put a second nail that overlaps it.
00:09:39	LESLIE: Well, and then it’s in the same hole. So it’s given the same movement area. Now, what Tom mentioned with the second nail is you’re right putting a screw in. A screw is a great way to do that. But if you’re putting the screw in, I would have taken out the nail instead of giving it the space to come back out. But what you can do if you see the nail to start backing its way out, you can take a second nail and overlap it. So that, you know, the two heads would overlap. So when you drive in the second nail, it pushes that first nail back down with it and will keep it in its place because the new nail is in fresh wood. So it’ll stay there. And then you go ahead and, you know, cover over and sand it and spackle it, everything, make it nice and smooth to prime and paint. But a screw really is the best way because those won’t back themselves out.
00:10:19	CALLER: What do you think in your professional opinion? I’ve listened to your show a lot. And just as a plug for you guys, thanks a lot for all the helpful hints. But what do you think has caused those screws to pop like that? Or nails, I should say.
00:10:36	TOM: Normal expansion and contraction. You know, the nails that are used to attach drywall have a glue coating on them. They’re like a rosin coating. And when you drive the nail in, it’s supposed to kind of stick on the wall. But it doesn’t. And as the walls expand and contract, they very often will back out. It’s really typical. It would be unusual, frankly, for it to not happen. But the key is that when it does happen, if you just drive it back out, it’s going to stay there. If you drive it back in, it’s going to happen all over again. But if you were to overlap the old nail head with the new nail head so that you’re now creating sort of a second nail and a second nail hole that’s holding it in place, that’s effective. Or you pull out the drywall nail altogether and replace it with a drywall screw and it will never pull out. The fact that you put the screw two or three inches from the old one, you know, will help keep that board tight. But it’s not going to stop the drywall nail from expanding, contracting, and pushing itself back out, as you’ve learned. You just really need to sort of keep that board tight. You just need to sort of reinforce it by overlapping the heads with a new nail. Okay.
00:11:32	CALLER: That sounds good. And I think from what I’ve seen, if we pull the old nail and put a screw in a ways away, I think that’s the best solution. Because then we don’t have any possibility of anything happening there again and doing away with the situation completely.
00:11:49	TOM: Trial and error is the best, right? Absolutely.
00:11:51	CALLER: Thank you guys so much. Thank you for the great show.
00:11:53	TOM: All right. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:11:56	LESLIE: Well, adding on to your existing home, you know, maybe making the kitchen bigger, adding a bathroom, a family room, enlarging a bedroom, giving yourself a study, all of these can be a great way that you can stay in your home and your neighborhood for a lot less of, you know, hassle, time, expense. All of that is involved with moving and buying a bigger home. But it is a project that needs careful planning to make sure that it goes smoothly. We’ve got some tips on how to plan a beautiful new addition that’s going to serve your family for years to come. Okay.
00:12:27	TOM: So to get started, there are three things you need to consider. First, dig out your home survey and review your property lines. The distance between your home and the property line will likely be restricted by local zoning laws. So understanding how close to the line your new addition can be will tell you how much space you have to work with.
00:12:46	LESLIE: Now, next, planning makes perfect. So bring on a design pro to help you make sure that the new addition complements your existing house. A good architect, a design build pro. They can help. They can definitely help. Don’t just think about how you want to live in your addition. Also consider how it architecturally affects the look of your home from the outside and what it’s going to do to your home’s value. Plus, it’s a lot less expensive to move those walls around on paper than it is once you’ve got that new foundation set. Definitely.
00:13:14	TOM: And once the design is set, your pro will be able to create a detailed set of drawings that list every element of the project, from precise measurements to a list of materials and products that will go into the home. Now, this is a really important key step because with a set of carefully developed plans in hand, you’ll be able to seek bids from qualified builders for the project. And most importantly, you’ll know that every pro is bidding apples to apples. So you can fairly compare those estimates and make a decision.
00:13:42	LESLIE: Linda in Ohio, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:13:45	CALLER: Well, I had an old garage torn down. So I had a prior cement pad and I had a steel building put up. I have gaps now from the steel building is not the metal is more like a corrugated. It’s got a little ripple in it and where it meets the floor. And they put a like two by four base around the inside to screw the metal to it. I’m getting chipmunks in there and everything like that in between. What can I use to seal it, but still keep it so when the cold weather comes, it expands like it needs to.
00:14:27	TOM: You must be having some pretty big gaps there if the chipmunks are getting into that.
00:14:31	CALLER: Yeah.
00:14:33	TOM: How much space are we talking about?
00:14:35	CALLER: Some spots it’s not very big at all, but some it’s like maybe two or three inches high.
00:14:41	TOM: Oh, wow.
00:14:41	CALLER: Because the cement pad was not really leveled or throughout the years too, it could have sunk down in certain areas. I don’t know whether to put like another board. Yeah.
00:14:52	TOM: So listen. If you’ve got two or three inches of gaps, you’re going to have to add some additional sort of siding type materials to cover that gap. You could actually use additional galvanized metal and form it to fit in that space. If you have smaller gaps, those could be filled with say spray foam insulation or you could use steel wool. Sometimes when we’re trying to plug up little gaps, especially when it comes to rodent prevention, I’ll have folks put steel wool in there that they’re not apt to chew through. But you can’t have a gap that big and not expect that. You can’t expect those types of animals to get by. Awesome.
00:15:25	CALLER: I’ll try that. The steel wool on the foam.
00:15:28	TOM: Good luck with that project, Linda. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:15:34	LESLIE: Peter in Alaska, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you?
00:15:37	CALLER: Well, I’m having trouble with my soil stack on my house vent, the main vent going out. In the wintertime, it freezes solid and I don’t know what to do about it.
00:15:47	TOM: Let’s see. Tell me about the structure of your house. So the soil vent goes from your bathroom up through your attic. Through the roof and out? Correct.
00:15:56	CALLER: And it’s a two-story house. It’s very well insulated. I have R32 walls and R83 ceiling. And I have double walls in my house. And the attic is vented along the ridge. And it also has gable vents.
00:16:14	TOM: And is it freezing over it across the top of the vent? No.
00:16:18	CALLER: It’s down a little bit. And my vent is up high. I’ve got it about four feet down. It’s down from the peak of the roof. And it stands about four foot up from the roof.
00:16:27	TOM: I wonder if you were to insulate that soil pipe whether it would be warm enough to prevent the freezing from forming down deep in it. If you were to insulate it right up to the point where it exits the roof.
00:16:39	CALLER: I thought about that. I did that for our vent that’s over the stove because I thought of the heat going up through there might condensate with the cold metal. So I did insulate that. So I was thinking maybe that would work. I don’t know.
00:16:54	TOM: You know, that’s a really easy thing to do. I would definitely think about giving that a shot because, you know, the moisture that’s getting out there is, you know, obviously a lot of water vapor. And if we can keep that pipe from freezing, the less chance you’re going to have to get that ice buildup. And then probably what happens is you get gurgly pipes because you’re not getting any air out of it. Things don’t flush right and all that.
00:17:14	CALLER: Exactly. Yeah. We’re concerned about it. And everything is heated. You know, our toilets are hot water. I would try that.
00:17:20	TOM: I would insulate it. It’s a very easy thing to do. And you’ve already got a terrifically insulated house. So why not just extend it up the underside of the roof? Yeah.
00:17:27	CALLER: All right. Thank you very much. I’ll try that.
00:17:29	TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:17:34	LESLIE: Well, if you’ve ever wanted to build a fire pit or a raised garden bed or even a seating wall out of stone, you’re probably thinking that these projects may be way out of your DIY comfort zone. Yup.
00:17:45	TOM: And most of the time, you’d be right. But none of you build these projects using Ladera wall blocks by PaveStone. So with Ladera, creating these masonry masterpieces is really as easy as stacking blocks. With us to explain how the system works is Allison Hunt. Allison is the marketing director for PaveStone, which is a Quikrete company. Welcome, Allison.
00:18:06	ALLISON HUNT: Hey, Tom and Leslie. Thank you so much for having me today. I’m excited to talk about Ladera.
00:18:10	TOM: Now, you can’t resist any product that’s as easy to build as stacking blocks. We all grew up stacking blocks as a kid, and that’s something that I think we never left the enjoyment of. But with PaveStone and Ladera, we’ve been able to do a lot of things. You can dry stack stone into a lot of amazing configurations, and it seems like it takes a lot less time than pretty much any other masonry project. Absolutely.
00:18:31	ALLISON: So our Ladera line was literally designed with that in mind, kind of translating that childhood joy into an adult project that you can use in your day-to-day life. And Ladera specifically, it kind of gives the appearance of dry stack stone. You do glue it together with some construction adhesive, but it’s more stable, it’s easier and faster to put together. That fire pit that you were talking about earlier can actually be done in less than five minutes.
00:18:56	LESLIE: Oh, wow.
00:18:56	ALLISON: We timed our guy, Ted Woods, doing it. It was crazy.
00:18:59	TOM: Wow, that’s amazing.
00:19:00	LESLIE: Do you need any sort of interior structure that you’re then surrounding this with? Are you building something first, or are these sort of structural in their own right?
00:19:08	ALLISON: They’re structural in their own right with limitations. So the fire pit actually comes with like an insert just to protect from heat, those sorts of things. If you’re building a raised garden bed, we do suggest landscape fabric, that sort of thing. We’re building just for the flow of water and all that kind of good stuff. But other than that, there’s no special cut, tap, corner blocks required to complete the project.
00:19:30	TOM: So pretty much you have to prep the base and then start stacking and leveling the stones. And that’s basically it, right?
00:19:36	ALLISON: Exactly. Yeah. The biggest piece is going to be to make sure that that base is stable and level on the bottom because any kind of changes are going to reflect through the higher and higher you go with the wall. But as long as you’ve got a stable base, you should have a great project.
00:19:49	LESLIE: And you always have to glue them together? Or if everything is pretty stable in your structure for this fire pit or that seat, you can leave it as is?
00:19:56	ALLISON: Everything is durable and can stand up to the elements, but we always do suggest and recommend to glue them together with adhesive for sure.
00:20:04	TOM: And let’s just clarify that because we’re not talking about smearing the entire block with a whole bunch of adhesive like you would if you were saying doing a floor tile. I mean, you’re basically using a construction adhesive that comes in a caulk gun and you’re laying down a couple of beads, right? Exactly.
00:20:18	ALLISON: Just to run a couple of channels that point the connection. That’s what we’re doing. That’s really all it is, and it just adds a layer of stability. But those blocks, once they’re stacked, they’re stable.
00:20:27	TOM: We’re talking to Allison Hunt. She’s the marketing director for PaveStone about a product called Ladera that allows everybody to basically enjoy being a mason without the hassle. I mean, you can basically build fire pits. You can build kitchens. You can build walls. What are some of the cool things that you see people doing with Ladera?
00:20:46	ALLISON: One of the projects that I just saw put together was really awesome. It was actually a bar. That’s right. They had used a granite countertop and then Ladera as the structural base for it. Another really cool project that I saw put together in Florida of all places was a seat wall, and it included some natural stone elements as the base of the seat to cover the interior seam. These pieces are cool. They come in one nominal size but have seven different face fronts that all kind of incorporate false joints. So they mask any pattern repeat and make it really easy to get a customized look fairly quickly.
00:21:18	LESLIE: So you don’t kind of have to pre-map out which pieces you’re grabbing as you’re putting things in on the face? No.
00:21:24	ALLISON: Just as long as you’re not putting two identical pieces next to each other, it’s really just grab and go. Glue and stack, if you will.
00:21:30	TOM: So where can we find Ladera? Where are they sold?
00:21:33	ALLISON: So we actually have a where to buy located on our website, and that website is www.pavestone.com.
00:21:39	TOM: All right. Pavestone.com. Alison Hunt, thank you so much for stopping by the Money Pit. This sounds like a really fun project to do.
00:21:47	ALLISON: It absolutely is. And I can’t wait to see what people do with it outside of what we’ve just suggested.
00:21:51	LESLIE: All right. Alison Hunt from Quikrete, thank you so much for joining us here on the Money Pit. Here’s a great reason to reach out to us here at the Money Pit. We’ve got an awesome prize up for grabs that’s going to help you make your home look fantastic inside or out, depending on where you choose to use it. We’ve got the Spreadrock Granite Stone Coating, which is an actual layer of rock that can be applied easily to your floor or your walls. You use it inside or out. You know, I think your patio, walkway, garage. It’s a great product. The bathroom, the basement, so many places you can use this. It’s available in seven colors. It’s impact resistant and it’s super durable. If you buy it, it’s $149 for a three-gallon size at Daich Coatings, HomeDepot.com, and Lowes.com. But we do have it up for grabs to one lucky listener drawn at random.
00:22:38	TOM: Make that you. Reach out to us with your questions right now at MoneyPit.com slash ask. Well, a new electric panel might not be on your radar. But it could benefit you in some unexpected ways. We’ve got five reasons that considering upgrading that panel is a good idea. First is enhanced safety. Now, older electric panels may not meet current safety standards and could pose a fire hazard. So, a new panel with circuit breakers that trip reliably can definitely help prevent electrical fires and reduce the risk of electrical shocks.
00:23:09	LESLIE: Another reason is increased capacity. You know, a lot of older homes have electric panels with lower capacity. You know, a lot of older homes have electric panels with lower capacity, whereas modern households typically require more power due to increased use of electronics, appliances, HVAC systems. A higher capacity panel, like a 200-ampere system, is going to help your home handle that electrical load without overloading the circuits.
00:23:32	TOM: Now, you can also pick up some energy efficiency because new electrical panels also have new designs that include, for example, better insulation and improved wiring, which can reduce energy loss. Plus, there’s a whole host of innovations you can take advantage of, like my favorite one, or the arc fault. Circuit breakers, they can step up panel safety by actually preventing electrical fires caused by arcs or shorts in the wiring.
00:23:54	LESLIE: Yeah, another benefit is having lower costs because some insurance companies may actually offer lower premiums for homes with updated electrical systems because they pose a lower risk of electrical fires or failures. In addition, your purchase could qualify for up to a 30% or $600 in federal clean energy tax credits.
00:24:13	TOM: Finally, let’s talk about selling the house. If you’ve got an upgraded electrical panel, it definitely puts you ahead of the competition. A modern panel is really an attractive feature to potential buyers for all the reasons we just said. So, if you decide to sell your home, it’s a good idea to upgrade that panel. Just be sure to consult with a qualified electrician before you take on this project to determine the best options for your particular place.
00:24:37	LESLIE: Wendy in Arkansas, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:24:40	CALLER: Recently, I had a leak in my roof in my bedroom. And it started out just… A water stain on the ceiling. It’s approximately 12 inches wide, 24 inches long. But here recently, in the past few weeks, it looks like it’s growing mold. It’s a spot about the size of a dinner plate that… It’s real dark black mold, so I’m concerned that it may be black mold. And I don’t know if… Is there something that I can do to fix this? Like with primer or paint? And… You know, maybe bleach or something to kill the mold? Or is it something… Am I going to have to replace the sheetrock in the ceiling?
00:25:23	TOM: Well, first of all, do you think that you’ve dealt with the leak, that there’s no more… There’s no longer a leak there?
00:25:28	CALLER: Well, I have a metal roof, and I think what has happened is the rain, it became a really, really bad storm, and it was blowing all different directions. And I think the water actually blew under… It blew up under the metal on the roof. I don’t think it’s actually a leak, because I haven’t ever had…
00:25:46	TOM: So here’s what you need to know, if your ceiling gets stained like that from a leak, you can’t just paint over it, because the stain will come through. So what you have to do first is you have to prime it. So get an alkyde-based primer or an oil-based primer, water or oil-based, it doesn’t matter, and paint over that spot. Then once you’ve painted over with the primer, then you can paint, put the finish coat on top of that. But the paint… The primer has to be done first. If you’re concerned that it’s mold and you want to make sure it’s not, then I would take about a 15% to 20% bleach solution. So maybe like one part bleach, three parts water, something like that can make it a bit stronger. Spray it down in that moldy area, let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes, and then clean it off. And then proceed with the primer and the paint. Okay.
00:26:36	CALLER: Like I said, I’m concerned I can’t see the other side of the sheetrock, because there is no attic space.
00:26:44	TOM: Well, right now it’s a fairly small spot. So let’s just deal with that and then move on. I wouldn’t make a bigger problem out of it just yet. We think the leak was a one-time situation, so now we just have to deal with this. It’s most likely a leak stain that you’re looking at and not mold.
00:27:01	CALLER: I’m pretty sure it’s mold. One spot, it does look fuzzy, like it’s a white…
00:27:10	LESLIE: There is a product called a five-minute mold test. And it’s actually a swab within almost like a little tubey thing, and you just swab the area that you think is mold and pop it in there, and you’ll actually get a reading within five minutes telling you if it’s mold. And I think, does it also tell you the type of mold, Tom?
00:27:25	TOM: I think it might. And they have a consulting service too that will follow up with you on the result and
00:27:29	CALLER: tell you what they recommend you do about it. Okay. Well, great. That certainly helps. I’ll give it a try.
00:27:34	TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:27:39	LESLIE: Now we’ve got Harry in Arkansas on the line who wants to talk about water heating. What can we do for you today?
00:27:43	CALLER: Well, I heard you talking about the waterless water heater the other day, and I was curious, supposed to, you know, that I understand the principle of it, but I’ve got a family of about six or seven, eight, and plus the visiting, plus the home folks. And I’m wondering about the recovery on those. How rapid can they recover to take care of, for example, everybody taking a bath in the morning before running off to school? Yeah.
00:28:10	TOM: They actually recover quicker than a tanked water heater. And there’s no problem with using them for a big family. I mean, heck, they’re used for hotels all the time. And the nice thing about tankless water heaters is that they’re essentially on demand. So as long as you’ve got water flow, you’re going to have hot water flow. And you just want to make sure that it’s sized correctly because they’re like any type of water heater. They’re purchased based on how many bathrooms that you have and how many other, you know, points of plumbing in the house that are going to need it. Whether you have, you know, one kitchen, you have a tub and a slop sink, perhaps in your laundry room, that kind of thing. So as long as it’s sized properly and installed properly, you won’t have any problem. Now do you have natural gas on this home? No.
00:28:54	CALLER: No. We are in an electric home.
00:28:57	TOM: Ah, okay. That changes the answer. So electric tankless water heaters are not going to deliver near the efficiency that a gas-fired tankless water heater would. So I would not recommend an electric tankless water heater. In that case, what I would suggest you take a look at is a fairly new technology called a heat pump water heater. Now a heat pump water heater uses the same heating-cooling technology in traditional heat pumps, but they use it to cool, excuse me, to heat the water in a water heater. So that can give you a pretty healthy supply of water, of hot water that could stand up to, that could serve all of those bathrooms in your home, but it will keep the cost down.
00:29:38	CALLER: Mm-hmm. Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate your answer.
00:29:41	TOM: You’re welcome, Henry. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:29:46	LESLIE: David reached out to Team Money Pit saying, my kitchen tile has a small chip in it. I have no more tiles left, so how can I repair that chip without replacing the whole tile?
00:29:56	TOM: That’s an interesting problem, and it’s certainly one that happens to a lot of us. So I’ll give you a trick of the trade for this, David, and it comes down to this. Porcelain glaze. If you go to a home center or a hardware store, or a hardware store, or a hardware store, or someplace that sells recycled plumbing fixtures, they’ll have this as well, and go and find the collection of porcelain glazes. They usually have glazes in all the standard colors, and they’re designed for tubs and sinks, but they work perfectly on ceramic tiles. Now if you can’t find the exact color, remember you can mix two colors together, and once you find one that matches, you can use that to fill in the gap. Now if the chip is deep, you want to do it in two applications. But it’ll give you a hard durable surface that will really adhere well to the old tile, and it will last quite a long time.
00:30:39	LESLIE: You know, David, I think it’s important to say we’re talking about a glazed tile here. And you know, for everybody out there, there’s differences. There’s glazed tiles, there’s unglazed tiles, which are definitely just the clay body, and then that sort of takes on that natural look. But a glazed tile does have this layer of glaze on top of that clay, and that’s what’s chipped off. So definitely using this porcelain glaze and building it up in layers to sort of fill in that chip is hugely helpful. I mean, in a pinch, I remember one time chipping a tile in the bathroom right before a party, and I had a nail polish that was white, and I just kind of filled it in little by little. You know, did it last forever? No, but it did the trick.
00:31:15	TOM: Well, do you guys need a new vacuum? It may not be the most glamorous thing you can buy for yourself, but this purchase can make your life a whole lot easier. Leslie has tips to help pick the one that’s best for you in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. Leslie? Yeah.
00:31:29	LESLIE: First of all, you want to start with your floor type. If you’ve got wall-to-wall carpets, a classic upright is probably going to do the trick. Now, a canister vacuum is probably going to do the trick. A canister vacuum is a good choice for homes with a mix of carpet and hardwood, but they can be tough to lug around, and you’ve got to consider attachments when you’re making your purchase. Now, you also need to think about what affects the vacuum prices, and those attachments definitely could do so, so if you don’t have drapes and you don’t need that drapery attachment, don’t get it. Now, from there, know about the filtration. Vacuums that collect to a bag offer almost none of it. If keeping particles out of the air is important, you want to look for a vacuum that has a high-efficiency particle air filter. You’re going to know that as a HEPA filter for short. It absorbs more than 99% of larger particles, which is great if you have a household with allergies in there. Also, speaking of allergies, you want to steer clear of those bagless vacuums if you’re prone to having allergies, because emptying that vacuum’s bin is just going to expose you to all of the collected dust and debris. And finally, make sure that you test drive the vacuum before you buy it to make sure that it pushes and pulls all the ways that you like to use it. Because once you get that vacuum, you’re going to be using it for a long time, so make sure you love it.
00:32:41	TOM: Yeah, and you want it to last a long time, too, so it’s worth splurging a little bit and getting a really good quality machine.
00:32:46	LESLIE: Do you know, Tom, the vacuum I have, you bought for me.
00:32:49	TOM: I did?
00:32:50	LESLIE: You gave me a gift card a million years ago for my birthday or for Christmas, and I swear I have had this vacuum, I’m going to say, 14, 15 years.
00:33:01	TOM: Awesome.
00:33:01	LESLIE: And I love it. And what was that?
00:33:02	TOM: Was that the Miele?
00:33:03	LESLIE: It’s the Miele? Miele? Miele? Miele?
00:33:06	TOM: Yeah, M-I-E-L-E. Yeah, exactly.
00:33:07	LESLIE: It’s a canister one. It’s awesome.
00:33:09	TOM: Yeah, I think we have the same one. It works great. And you know how I can tell, especially, and you can as well, is when you have to empty it and see how much pet hair is in that darn thing, right?
00:33:17	LESLIE: Yeah, it’s a good one.
00:33:18	TOM: It really works well. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time on the program, speaking of floors, hardwood floors are one of the most desirable floors for both durability and the value they add to a house. But the finishes do wear, and they need to be replaced from time to time. And that can be a big project that might best be left to a pro. We’re going to share tips on how best to get that project done on the next edition of the Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:44	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:33:45	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
00:33:47	LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.

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