#2448 – Hearing Crickets? How to Stop the Chirp | Heating System Upgrades | Easy Leaky Toilet Repair

Show Notes

In this episode, we reveal simple tricks to keep pesky crickets out of your house and how to decide if a new furnace is worth the investment. We also introduce an innovative product that makes fixing leaky toilets even easier, and answer home improvement questions to make your other DIY projects easier, too!

• Crickets: Stop the chirp with these tips for cricket control inside and outside your home.
• Heating Systems: Turn up the heat on savings with the right upgrade to your heating system.
• Leaky Toilet: An innovative product will have you flushed with success when it comes to repairing leaky toilet valves.

Top Questions & Answers

• Wax Stains: Sandy spilled hot wax on the carpet and furniture, but learns a neat hack for using a hot iron and a brown paper bag to remove the wax stain.
• Wall Tile: Does John need to replace the greenboard before retiling the bathroom walls? We recommend installing cement board instead, which will last indefinitely.
• Security: Colin wants a secure vault door for the reinforced cinderblock room he’s building. We suggest installing a heavy-duty commercial steel door with deadbolts.
• Sink Odor: There’s a bad smell coming from just one sink in Terry’s house. She gets tips on using oxygenated bleach and a bottle brush to clean bio-gases from the drain.
• HVAC System: Bob’s original hydro-air heating system is working fine, but there’s some condensation on the pump. That’s not unusual and he should keep having it serviced so it can last even longer.
• Lead Removal: How should Margaret remove ceramic tiles that contain lead? She would need an EPA-certified professional, or else she can recoat the tile with an epoxy finish to seal the surface.
• Plumbing: The shower water temperature constantly needs readjusting. Pat should install a pressure balance valve to regulate the imbalance between hot and cold water.
• Attic Insulation: Abraham has questions about ventilating a hot attic that has spray foam insulation and the effect on his air conditioning. He should check to see if enough insulation was installed.  
• Bathtub Finish: The bathtub finish is wearing off and stained. Peggy won’t be able to touch up just those areas, but she could use a product to refinish the entire surface.

Ask Your Home Improvement Question

Podcast Transcript