Show Notes
Should you DIY or hire a pro? In this show, we’ll guide you through the decision-making process. Plus, with winter on the way, we’ve got top tips for sealing those sneaky drafts. And if you’re looking to add a granite finish to your floors or walls, we’ll show you how. Got a home reno or décor question? Listen in for expert advice!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Hiring a Pro: Should you DIY or hire a professional for your home improvement project? How to decide.
- Drafts: Stop the breeze and save on energy bills by tracking down and sealing off chilly drafts.
- Granite: This durable granite coating gives the beauty and strength of natural stone to any surface.
Top Questions & Answers
- Odors: When the attic fan turns on, why does the house smell like sewage? Shelby needs to add ventilation to the attic to avoid the risk of carbon monoxide being pulled through the house.
- Cleaning Cement: Will scrubbing with a vinegar solution clean sidewalk stains? Julian may need to use a pressure washer and more effective cleaning products.
- Driveway Repair: Susan’s asphalt driveway was resurfaced, but was not pitched correctly and water is pooling into the house. She should install a curtain drain to divert the runoff.
- Pole Barn: Larry wonders about the durability of the posts of his old pole barn garage. If they’re ground contact pressure-treated wood and aren’t shifting, they should last just fine.
- Water Heater: Nancy wastes water waiting for it to get hot due to the distance between the water heater and the faucet. She has options, but they may not offer a good ROI.
- Staining Siding: The solid stain on Paul’s clapboard siding is bubbling up. He’ll need to remove the stain in that area and start over with an oil-based primer before re-staining.
- Plumbing Odor: Anthony noticed a sewer smell after getting a new washer and dryer. We’ve got tips for extending the trap so it holds more water to prevent bio-gases.
- Squeaky Floor: The floor under Pam’s carpeting is squeaking, but she learns an easy trick of the trade to find the floor joists and how to use the right nails to stop the squeak.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:15 | ANNOUNCER: The MoneyPit is presented by Owens Corning. Now, here are Tom and Leslie. |
| 00:00:29 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit, home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:34 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:36 | TOM: What are you working on this beautiful fall weekend? If it’s your house, you are in the right place, because we would love to help you take on projects that you want to do around that space. You want to tighten it up so you don’t pay so much in your heating bills. Maybe you want to build a project outside now that it’s nice and cool. It’s a great time to take on doing a deck or doing a patio. Maybe you want to work on a kitchen before the holidays get here. A lot of folks are doing that. Whatever’s on your to-do list, slide it right over to ours by reaching out with your questions. Two ways to do that, go to MoneyPit.com slash ask. Just click the blue microphone button and record your question. Or you can actually call us right now at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Now, if you are taking on a project, one question you might be asking yourself is DIY or get a guy or get a gal, get a contractor. If you want to tackle a project yourself, we will be the first ones to cheer you on. But how do you know when hiring a pro is the best way to go? We’re going to tell you how to think it all through before you pick up that hammer. |
| 00:01:38 | LESLIE: All right, now that Tom’s rhyming session is over. I love it when all of our intros feature a lot of rhyming words. So it’s always a lot of fun. But also coming up, guys, now that it’s heating season, yeah, I know, it’s like October. We’re like starting to get super chilly and put the heat on. But I think there’s one thing we need to help first before we keep reaching for that thermostat. And I’m talking about all of those chilly drafts. We’re going to have tips on how to track them down and seal off every draft in your house just ahead. |
| 00:02:07 | TOM: And are you looking for a way to give your floors or your walls a rock solid finish? We’re going to share a durable granite coating that brings out the beauty and strength of natural stone into your home. Both inside and out. |
| 00:02:18 | LESLIE: But before that, we are here for you. So if you need help with a renovation, a repair, a decor project, reach on out. Because we’ve got tips, ideas, and inspiration to help you avoid the perspiration when it comes to improving your space. |
| 00:02:32 | TOM: The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it. |
| 00:02:38 | LESLIE: Heading out to Missouri where we’ve got Shelby on the line who’s dealing with a weird sewer smell when the attic fan goes on. Those seem completely disconnected. All right, tell us what’s going on. |
| 00:02:48 | CALLER: I have an attic fan that when it turns on two stories down, the floor smells like sewage. And I don’t know where to start looking for the problem. |
| 00:03:01 | LESLIE: It seems like one couldn’t affect the other. I mean, they just seem so far apart. Am I crazy? |
| 00:03:06 | TOM: No, you’re actually not. But what’s happening is if you think about it, what goes on when you turn on an attic fan, right? It starts to draw air from the attic and exhaust it through the fan to the outside. Well, if the attic doesn’t have enough incoming ventilation or the house is very tight, it’s going to reach down into the living space and it’s going to depressurize the entire house. And if you depressurize it enough and you’ve got an open trap for a sewer pipe, what’s going to happen is it’s going to pull sewage gas right basically out of that plumbing system. And that’s what she’s smelling through the house. So I think the concern here is that it’s actually… My concern is actually not what you’re smelling, but it’s what you’re not smelling. Because if your depressurization is such that you’re pulling sewage gas out of vent pipes and out of sink traps, the other thing that you’re going to be pulling is carbon monoxide from your heating system. Because when your heating system is on or your water heater is on, basically that exhaust goes up a vent pipe into a chimney and out of your house. But if the house is depressurized, the fan is going to pull it back in. It’s going to reverse all of that gas back into your house. So you need to be very careful here. And if you use that attic fan, you’ve got to add additional ventilation to the attic. Having said that, I will tell you that I’m not a big fan of attic fans because they tend to depressurize and they take a lot of heated air out or cooled air out that it shouldn’t. So basically what’s happening then in that case is it’s driving up your heating costs in the winter certainly because it shouldn’t be on then and certainly driving up your cooling costs in the summer. A better option is to use passive ventilation, ridge vents and soffit vents instead of an attic fan. But in an extreme situation, if you depressurize that attic enough, you can go right down to the house and not only pull sewage gas in but pull carbon monoxide in, which is very dangerous. So hop on that and I hope that helps. |
| 00:04:55 | LESLIE: All right. We’re going to head to Tennessee to chat with our friend Julian who needs some help cleaning the sidewalk. Tell us about it. |
| 00:05:00 | CALLER: Well, I just wanted to know if I could do something which didn’t involve a power washer. Namely, using a sturdy nylon brush and one part vinegar. Vinegar, one part water. Put that on my sidewalk, which isn’t that long, and let it wait about 15 minutes. |
| 00:05:22 | TOM: So it won’t be as effective as using a pressure washer. But if you want to do it without the machine, what I would recommend is two things. First of all, Clorox actually makes a wash that is designed specifically for siding and for sidewalks. It’s a bleach-like substance that you can mix up according to label directions and put that on. That’s going to be far more effective than vinegar for sure. And the other thing is there’s a product called Spray and Forget. And when you’re done cleaning it, after it’s rinsed and it dries, put a coating of Spray and Forget on it. You can get this kind that works with your hose and basically you wash the sidewalk down with Spray and Forget. And it has like sort of a stick-tootedness of it in that it sits on the sidewalk and it has an ongoing mildew side effect, which will keep the sidewalk from regrowing that mildew and algae as quickly. |
| 00:06:10 – 00:0 | ANNOUNCER: Okay, fine. All right. I appreciate that. That does sound a lot better. |
| 00:06:15 | 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. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review. Susan in Montana is having some drainage issues with the driveway. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 00:06:34 | CALLER: I had my office driveway resurfaced with asphalt. And I thought that the people did a really excellent job until we got a monsoonal rain and all the water was collecting. And I had to leave to go down to Colorado. And I got a frantic phone call from my husband telling me that the water was backing up into the house and it was like a big pool. And I called the asphalt people and they’re not responding to me. |
| 00:07:07 | TOM: Well, listen. If they just resurfaced the driveway, they’re not going to do anything to change the pitch. |
| 00:07:11 | CALLER: That’s true. They did do it. But they deliberately, supposedly, they had the pitch so that it would drain off into the lawn. |
| 00:07:19 | TOM: And they didn’t quite get that right. So how do you fix that? Yeah. If the water is draining down the driveway back towards the buildings, in other words, it’s never really draining off to the lawn anywhere, then what you have to do is you have to put a curtain drain in the driveway itself. And in a driveway, basically, it’s the same thing. It’s a job where the driveway is essentially sliced in half. They slice out a chunk of driveway that’s maybe six inches wide. And you drop this trough into it so that as the water falls down the driveway, it drops into the trough. There’s a grate on top. And then it runs out the bottom of the trough. And, of course, that requires some additional plumbing, so to speak, because you have to hook it up to drain pipe to take it to the lowest place on the property to get rid of the water. But that’s how you drain a driveway that’s not pitched. And typically, that’s put, like, right near the house or right near the garage lip or something like that so that it catches the water, you know, at the lowest possible spot. |
| 00:08:16 | CALLER: So who would I call for something like that? A plumber? |
| 00:08:18 | TOM: You’re going to need a general contractor that can install that for you. I mean, a driveway sealing company is not going to do it. A general contractor that could do that, you know, it’s kind of a handyman project. It’s not a difficult project. It’s not a really time-consuming project. But you essentially have to cut into that driveway and install a drain. You’ve got to catch that water. You’ve got to manage it. And that’s the only way to do it, Susan. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:08:41 | LESLIE: We’ve got Larry on the line who’s working on his pole barn and wants to know that it’s in good shape. Tell us about it. |
| 00:08:47 | CALLER: The garage is 33 years old. And we had the pole barn people put the studs right into the ground. How long will they last sticking in the ground? |
| 00:08:56 | TOM: I assume you’re talking about, like, a pressure-treated wood beam. Yes. And typically, that’s going to be installed on top of a concrete footing. So you’d pour the concrete first, then you’d set the beam on top and build up from there. But in terms of longevity, it depends on the level of pressure treatment. If it’s ground contact, which it sounds like it is, it’s going to have the most protection. |
| 00:09:17 | CALLER: Well, it’s at 30 years now, 33 years. |
| 00:09:20 | TOM: Let me ask you this. Do you see any evidence of the building moving or shifting? No. I think you’re good. I mean, at 30 years, if a thing is not moving, the doors are closing normally. If there’s any windows, they’re not shifting. You know, you’re not seeing slopes. I think you’re good. I think you guys did a good job when you built the first time, and there’s no reason to be concerned about it further. Okay. Thanks for calling the Money Pit. |
| 00:09:42 | LESLIE: While doing home projects and improvements yourself may seem more cost-efficient than ever, but how do you know when to tackle projects yourself or when hiring that pro contractor is the best idea? Well, step number one is to kind of keep your eyes on the prize here. Before you start stocking up on tools and choosing paint colors, your first do-it-yourself project is to think about the exact end result that you’re after. Then after that, you’re going to work your way back through all of the knowledge, the techniques, the elbow grease involved, doing whatever research is kind of required to fill in all of those blanks. |
| 00:10:16 | TOM: Now, next, you want to assess your abilities honestly. I mean, really, you’ve got to be honest with yourself here so you can decide whether or not you’re really the best person to do this job. Think about every project because it requires a certain amount of preparation, sort of on a sliding scale of time, to accomplish, neither of which, by the way, is obvious by the many populations. Like, the popular home improvement TV shows that edit days and weeks and months of hard work down to a few minutes of home improvement bliss. Now, you also want to ask yourself how much time realistically do you have available to devote to this project? And remember that mistakes add hours and expenses that can easily wipe away any DIY savings. Yeah. |
| 00:10:55 | LESLIE: Next, you’ve got to build a budget. You know, before you search for a contractor, you want to create a detailed estimate of all of the potential costs, and you want to start by defining exactly how much you’re going to spend on a project. |
| 00:11:34 | TOM: Subtitles by the Amara.org community Whether you’re looking for a handyman or remodeling contractor to hire, personal recommendations from family members and friends are critical to finding the right match. You can also use a service like ANSI. They can help you find pros for all or just part of the job you feel least prepared to go it alone on. For example, you may be fine building the deck, but running new wiring and lighting to it might be best left up to a pro. |
| 00:11:58 | LESLIE: Nancy in Pennsylvania is on the line and having a hot water issue. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 00:12:02 | CALLER: Well, my hot water is not working. My water takes so long to, or my water takes so long to get hot when I turn on the spigot and washing the dishes by hand makes that, I, you know, waste a lot of water that way. |
| 00:12:16 | LESLIE: Nancy, is this a new problem or has this always been the situation? |
| 00:12:20 | CALLER: No, it’s an old problem. |
| 00:12:22 | TOM: Yeah, and it has to do with the physical distance between the faucet and the water heater. The farther they are apart, the longer you have to wait for the water to heat up. Now, newer water heaters today, and especially the tankless water heaters, they’re going to be very small. And so, the way a lot of builders are addressing this is they’re putting in multiple water heaters closer to the bathing or the washing areas of the house. So, typically you’d have one for, you know, the kitchen and maybe the laundry area and you’d have another one for bathrooms because these water heaters are so small and so efficient they can, you know, literally squeeze into anything that’s smaller than a closet. Now, in your case though, it’s just a matter of the distance that the water has to travel. Unfortunately, if you go to a water heater and you want to use a water heater, you’re not going to be able to do that. So, unfortunately, in a house like this though, I would say that it’s unlikely you will save enough money in water cost to make the installation of an additional water heater worthwhile, Nancy. |
| 00:13:15 | CALLER: But is there anything else I can do? Like I have been told different times that insulating the pipes wouldn’t help or some people say it would. |
| 00:13:26 | TOM: Well, the only thing that insulating the pipes will do is it’ll keep the water that it’s in the pipes once it gets there warmer longer. But again, it’s a distance thing. You turn the faucet on, the water starts to move from the water heater where it’s hot to the faucet and it has to purge all of that cold water along the way. Once it purges, it’ll stay hot but it just takes a certain amount of time for that amount of water, that amount of volume of water to move through the pipes. Does that make sense, Nancy? |
| 00:13:51 | CALLER: Yeah, it does. So, there’s basically nothing I can do except different water room. |
| 00:13:56 | TOM: Well, except moving a water heater closer to the unit. I mean, there are recirculators that like sort of take water and recirculate it back all the time. But again, that costs energy too and that costs plumbing expense too and I just don’t think you’re going to save enough to make it worthwhile. Nancy, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:14:13 | LESLIE: Paul in Connecticut, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:14:16 | CALLER: We’re working on a paint job where we’re covering rough cut cedar clapboards with Benjamin Moore Arbor Coat, solid stain that’s self-priming. We painted over a product that was previously sprayed. Primer. It was probably about, I’m guessing, seven to eight years ago and what we’re running into is just on one side of the house, we’re getting bubbles, you know, like moisture bubbles. They receive, you know, it’s morning sun on that side of the house, but we’ve never seen a stain, you know, a solid stain bubble up like that, you know, with paint, not solid stain. |
| 00:15:02 | TOM: Well, cedar has to breathe. Yeah. And sometimes when they install cedar siding, they don’t leave enough space under it for it to breathe and so it tends to get clogged with moisture and I’ve seen that lift stain before. You mentioned that you’re using a product that both primes and stains. I am not a fan of doing that with a staining product. I just in fact repainted my entire cedar sided house and I did it the same way we did it over a dozen years ago. And that was we oil primed it. We used an oil-based primer first because we had good adhesion with the oil-based primer and it really stuck well the cedar and then we put the solid stain on top of that. So once the paint starts to bubble, anytime you have a failure of adhesion, there’s no way to put that back together. If that continues to get worse or if it looks bad enough already, you’re going to have to take that stain off and start again because you’re just, it’s never, you can’t stick good paint over bad paint. If there’s moisture in there, it’s just going to lift that paint right off again. So sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I wouldn’t have done it that way. I would have used an oil-based primer first and I would have put a solid color stain on top of it. Right. |
| 00:16:13 | CALLER: We’re getting that just on one side of the house. Yeah. |
| 00:16:16 | TOM: Maybe it’ll just end up being on one side of the house for whatever reason, but at least on that side of the house, you have to pull that stain off and start again and scrape prime, scrape it and prime it properly with an oil-based primer and then you can stain on top of that. |
| 00:16:30 | CALLER: What would you suggest for an oil-based primer? |
| 00:16:33 | TOM: I think. I think if you stay within one family of products, I would use the same oil-based primer that that particular manufacturer makes for solid stain, but as long as it’s oil-based and not acrylic or water or latex based. |
| 00:16:45 | CALLER: So now to remove that, to remove that stain that’s on there now, you’re going to lose that rough cut finish. |
| 00:16:52 | TOM: Well, if you wire brush it, perhaps not. You may be able to pull it off with a pressure washer, it depends on how well adhered it is. I mean, when we did my project, we had an unusual problem with the shutters. Yeah. We were using a product that the manufacturer said did not need to be primed and it worked well, but it took a long time to cure. And so some of the shutters were sitting around for an extra week before we put them back up and all the paint peeled off of those. And so we had to actually strip all that paint off and start again. So it even happens to the pros, but once that paint separates, you got to pull it off. There’s just no way to save it. |
| 00:17:28 | CALLER: All right. Thank you. Thank you for your help. |
| 00:17:30 | LESLIE: We’ve got Anthony in Virginia on the line who’s dealing with a sewer odor. Tell us what’s going on and where you’re seeing it. |
| 00:17:35 | CALLER: Well, the house is about, we’ve been there about five years and didn’t have any issue until I got a new, very basic washer and dryer. It makes no sense to me because the trap isn’t clogged or anything where the water comes out of the washer, so I don’t see the connection, but used it for at least six to nine months with no issue. Then a subtle sewer smell. When I opened the door, The washer or just going down to the basement got worse and worse until something had to be done. And I tried the bacteria things you can buy online, and that seemed to help along with periodic hot water with vinegar and Dawn. And that really seemed to help for a couple of days, and then it kind of, it’s kind of intermittent now. It’s not as bad as it was, but it’s just not going away. I don’t have a clue what to do. |
| 00:18:28 | TOM: Tell me how the, how the… How the washing machine is draining. Is it draining into a sink? Is it draining into a pipe? |
| 00:18:34 | CALLER: Uphill into a little trap and directly out of the basement into the sewer. |
| 00:18:38 | TOM: How are you able to get that water drain uphill? |
| 00:18:40 | CALLER: I don’t know. It’s, I thought it would leak. But the force from the washer does it very well to the tune that I had to actually duct tape where the exhaust hose goes into the trap, because it would force it up and splatter out. So I put duct tape around it. |
| 00:18:55 | LESLIE: And is this the same sort of system for draining the washer that you had with the washer? Is this a previous washer? Or is this a completely new system? |
| 00:19:03 | CALLER: No, no, no. Same thing. Yeah. Same even, same water line. Same setup. |
| 00:19:08 | TOM: Yeah. So very often, first of all, very often when we get those very strong sewer smells, there’s one of two causes. One is there is not a proper trap in the line or not deep enough trap in the line, or it’s dried out, which it’s not dried out in this case, but I don’t know how deep your trap is. You know, the trap is the part, like if you look at it under a kitchen sink and you see that U-shaped pipe, that’s the trap. And all of a sudden, that’s the trap. All plumbing fixtures have them. |
| 00:19:31 | LESLIE: And there’s usually some water sitting in it, correct, Tom? And that’s what kind of is trapping those odors from getting back up into the house. Exactly. |
| 00:19:37 | TOM: The water provides the seal. So if that pipe is not sealed properly, then that can happen. The second thing is something called biogas, is when you have bacteria that forms in the pipe or very often in a drain or with a washer, it very often forms around the seal. We’ve heard many times where there’s bacteria that forms around the drain. So what do you do with that? Well, you know, we use a lot of steel, especially with the high-speed washing machines today. |
| 00:20:02 | LESLIE: Did you go from like a top loader to a front loader, different efficiency? |
| 00:20:06 | CALLER: No, no, it’s just side by side. |
| 00:20:09 | LESLIE: And it’s the same top loader just like last time? |
| 00:20:11 | TOM: Yeah, yeah, same style. I think the next thing I would do is I would make sure that I am extending that trap now, so it holds more water, see if we can get to the bottom of it that way. But the fact that you’re putting in, you know, essentially, which is sort of a mildew side, that’s killing that bacteria temporarily and making it smell better. And then it comes back again is expected because, you know, it’s going to continue to grow. So I think you should try to extend that trap and take it from there. |
| 00:20:36 | CALLER: Okay, great. I’ll try that. I wouldn’t have thought of that. But I appreciate your help. |
| 00:20:40 | LESLIE: Well, now that heating season has arrived, you can expect those big heating bills to also start showing up very shortly, sadly, guys, I hate to tell you. But there is one thing that you can be doing now to sort of keep them in check, and that’s to hire a pro to track down the source and seal off all of those drains. |
| 00:21:00 | TOM: That’s right. Now, energy efficiency is an ongoing job for any homeowner, and there are many parts of your home that can be changed to lower heating costs. But some areas that are frequently frustrating to track down and fix are those areas that are causing drafts to leak in and send a chill down your spine. Yeah. |
| 00:21:18 | LESLIE: And, you know, these drafts, they don’t just kind of make you feel chilly if you’re kind of in the path of that draft. If your heater is blasting warm air, but the room never seems to get any warm air, you know, it’s not going to get any warmer, it’s also most likely a result of air leaks. With all of that cold air leaking in, the real indoor temperature can never be accurately sensed, and then that’s going to overtax your heating system in the winter, and of course your cooling system in the summer. |
| 00:21:41 | TOM: Now one way to find the most obvious drafts is to check the exterior walls around windows, doors, and even electrical boxes. I like to do this by running the back of my hand around each area. You’ll find that the skin on top of your hand is actually more temperature sensitive than your palm, and you’ll quickly ID the worst spots. Then you can work on sealing them. Now for windows and doors, check the weather stripping for gaps, and then caulk both the inside and the outside of moldings. For outlets and switches, just remove the cover plates and add a foam gasket. You’ll find these in home centers to seal off any leaks. |
| 00:22:15 | LESLIE: Yeah, and if you want to track down the source of every single drafty spot that you’ve got at home, you can also hire a professional home energy auditor. Now a home energy auditor is going to have the tools and the knowledge to see where the biggest offenders exist, and they’re going to use tools such as blower doors, which can pinpoint the source of the drafts, and infrared cameras that can even find spaces where insulation could be missing or maybe you don’t have enough. So this really does help pinpoint the areas that are the problem, so you know exactly what to fix. |
| 00:22:43 | TOM: Yeah, that is really, really helpful because the blower door doesn’t lie. It shows you exactly where that air is coming in, and it does so with certainty. So that’s going to make your home a lot more comfortable and a lot less expensive to heat and to cool. And now’s the perfect time to do this, fall when it’s not too hot and not too cool. Work on finding those drafts and sealing them up. You definitely will be more comfortable, and you will save money. |
| 00:23:08 | LESLIE: Pam in Colorado is on the line. How can we help you today? |
| 00:23:11 | CALLER: We have floors throughout our house. Most of them are carpeted that squeak, like bedrooms, hallway, living rooms, stairs, things like that. And then a bathroom that has the vinyl flooring, the laminar flooring. Okay. And we’ve tried, there was a little kit that you could buy at Ace Hardware where you find the floor joists and then you put screws every so often down into the joists, I guess, and that didn’t work. It only made it worse. |
| 00:23:44 | TOM: So you’re trying to fix a squeaky floor that’s under what kind of flooring material? Carpet? |
| 00:23:48 | CALLER: Yes, carpet. I’m sorry. Yes, carpet. |
| 00:23:50 | TOM: All right. It’s wall-to-wall carpet? |
| 00:23:52 | CALLER: Yes, it is. |
| 00:23:53 | TOM: All right. All right. So here’s the trick of the trade, Pam. You ready? |
| 00:23:55 | CALLER: I am ready. I’m so ready. |
| 00:23:57 | TOM: What you want to do, the first thing you need is a good stud finder. You’re going to get like a Stanley stud sensor so that you can use a device, electronic device that will allow you to sort of peek through the carpet and identify exactly where the floor joists are below. And once you identify the floor joists, what you’re going to do is take a number 10 or number 12 galvanized finish nail. And we say galvanized because it’s a little rougher than a regular plated finish nail. It tends to hold better. And then you’re going to drive that at a slight angle, like about a 15-degree angle, right through the carpet and right through the subfloor and right into the floor joist. Now, when you do that, you’ll notice that the carpet sort of sags down and gets like dimpled where the nail head goes through. The trick is to grab the nap of the carpet right around the nail head and pull it through the nail head. It’ll pop through and then you sort of brush the carpet and that nail will disappear below it and you won’t see it again. So you can get away with actually fixing a squeak through carpet with this trick of the trade. |
| 00:25:08 | CALLER: Oh, wow. That would be awesome. And again, could you tell me the type of nail one more time? Yeah. |
| 00:25:12 | TOM: Number 10 or number 12 galvanized finish nail. Okay. |
| 00:25:15 | CALLER: Number 10 or number 12 floor joists at a 15-degree angle. |
| 00:25:19 | TOM: Yeah, but you got to find that joist or you can’t be nailing in the air. You know, you want to make sure you’re nailing into the floor joists, okay? Okay. |
| 00:25:27 | CALLER: Thanks so much. You have an awesome show. |
| 00:25:29 | TOM: All right. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:25:34 | TOM: Well, guys, if you’re looking for a way to give your floors or your walls a rock solid finish, we found a great product that does just that. We’re talking about spread rock. It’s a granite stone coating that’s made by Daich Coatings. And it’s a very durable coating that brings the beauty and strength of natural material. You can even get your own natural stone into your home, both inside and out. |
| 00:25:53 | LESLIE: Yeah, that’s right. Now, spread rock is an actual layer of real stone which you can easily apply in a thin, uniform layer to just about any surface using a scraper, a trowel, even a floor squeegee. Now, whether you’re looking to enhance your porch, the pool deck, the garage floor, or even your bathroom or shower area, this is the product that can do it all. |
| 00:26:15 | TOM: Yeah. Now, it comes in seven colors. They have anvil, brownstone, flint gray, mocha, ice gray, sandstone, and Santa Fe. So, you’ll be sure to find a shade that fits your style. But what really sets this spread stone product apart is its exceptional durability and protection. You know, it’s water-resistant, it’s impact-resistant, abrasion-resistant, and it even has freeze and thaw protection, making it perfect for those harsh winter months. |
| 00:26:42 | LESLIE: And not only that, it resists hot tire pickup, chemical damage, mold, and mildew. And it won’t become brittle under UV exposure. And because it’s 100% real stone, it gives you great traction, water repellency, and it’s resistant to extreme cold. I mean, talk about heavy duty. This stuff is industrial strength. |
| 00:27:02 | TOM: It definitely is. So, for best results, you want to make sure to clean and prep the surface first. Now, prime it with a textured primer or you can use TrackSafe. It’s an anti-slip color coat. Then apply the spread rock and then seal it with TrackSafe anti-slip sealer. Or you can use a garage and driveway sealer. |
| 00:27:18 | LESLIE: Now, spread rock is available in both one-gallon and three-gallon sizes, and it’s priced at $54 and $149, respectively. And you can get it with free delivery from Daich Coatings’ website or through Home Depot and Lowe’s. |
| 00:27:32 | TOM: So, if you’re ready to bring the elegance and toughness of granite to your home, head on over to daichcoatings.com or check out your nearest Home Depot or Lowe’s to grab your spread rock today. We know you’re going to love this product. |
| 00:27:45 | LESLIE: All right. We’ve got Godslow on the line who’s looking for some help with a basement ceiling. |
| 00:27:49 | CALLER: So, my fall and winter project will be to revamp our basement. I’m going to start with the ceilings. Right now, we have the old school drop-down ceilings, which we’re not fond of, and we’re not looking to put in the newer stylized drop-down ceilings either. So far, my idea has been to put drywall to drywall the ceilings. However, my wife is really trying to convince me to not put anything and just leave the wood exposed. |
| 00:28:24 | LESLIE: All right. Yeah. Basement ceilings can be tough because, you know, you were given limited height, you kind of want to finish off the space, and there’s lots of things potentially that you need to hide in a basement ceiling, plumbing, electrical, wiring, all that kind of stuff. So, a couple of things. You can tidy up the wiring that’s in there, maybe tuck it against those beams and paint the ceiling if you just want to leave it as is. But, I mean, you say no to a drop ceiling. Drop ceilings can be beautiful. Perhaps you haven’t taken a good look at them lately, and maybe if you and your wife were to look at these together, there’s a lot of options. I mean, yes, you’re dealing with the framework of a drop ceiling, but the tiles that go into them, they can have a coffered style. They can have sort of a tin look. They can have all kinds of looks that feel like a constructed and finished space. So, I wouldn’t poo-poo that idea yet. I’d kind of take a look again. I mean, basements are tough, and you want to make it a usable space. So, really think about ways that you can finish it. If you’ve got the height to put in the drop ceiling, then I definitely think it’s a great option. Nicola in New Jersey reached out to Team Money Pit asking, What is the best method for cleaning the carpet in my home’s main living areas? Chem dry, steam? Should it be done sparingly, or is it okay to clean them as often as needed? Now, Tom, I’m pretty sure you’ve got some really great advice in your new book, Home Maintenance for Dummies. |
| 00:29:43 | TOM: Yeah, definitely. You know why? Because steam cleaning carpets is a pretty big project and can often also avoid or void, I should say, the warranty for the carpet, especially the stain resistance part of it, because it tends to break down those chemicals. But you don’t have to steam clean all the time. You can freshen carpets and deodorize carpets. I’ve got a recipe for that in my new book, Home Maintenance for Dummies. This is for natural carpet fresheners. It needs just a couple of ingredients. You need two cups of baking soda, a half cup of salt, and then a quarter to half cup of mint leaves or lavender buds. Basically, you mix up the baking soda and the salt, and then you add the mint leaves, and then you stir them well. The baking soda is going to help neutralize odors while the salt helps to enhance the deodorizing effect, and the herbs, they actually give you a very nice, pleasant scent. So once the mix is ready, vacuum your carpet thoroughly to remove most of the dirt, then sprinkle the mixture across the carpet. Pay special attention to those areas with strong odors or high traffic. Then you want to wait about 30 minutes. This gives you some time for the mixture to absorb odors and freshen up the fibers. Then just vacuum it one more time. And with that, the funk will be gone and replaced with a fresh, pleasant scent. And this is really easy to do periodically through the winter, and you can avoid using those big carpet cleaning machines. |
| 00:31:07 | LESLIE: All right. Next up, we’ve got a question here from Carol, who reached out and says, My roof is 19 years old, and in one bedroom closet, there’s a total of three water spots. I’ve had contractors look at this, but no one can find out what’s going on, and their only suggestion is to replace that part of the roof. |
| 00:31:24 | TOM: That’s the usual suggestion, right? Just replace the roof. That’ll fix it. |
| 00:31:27 | LESLIE: Yeah, new roof. |
| 00:31:29 | TOM: So listen, it sounds like a minor leak just with three water spots. If I had to guess, I would say it’s most likely from wind-driven rain. This is when you get a heavy rain. You get a heavy wind, and basically it turns that rain sideways. It can blow up under the shingles when that happens. So unless this is active and regularly leaking, I would not worry. I would spot prime the stains, and then I would paint over them. Spot prime means you just get primer, and you just cover just the stains themselves, especially because it’s in a closet. Sometimes if it’s a big, visible ceiling, you have to do the whole ceiling. But with a closet, just go ahead and spot prime them, and then put the finished coat of ceiling paint on it, and you’ll be good to go. There’s absolutely no reason to install a partial or a new roof if you’ve just seen a couple of odd stains like that. |
| 00:32:16 | LESLIE: Yeah, because Carol, I feel like if you start to replace sections of the roof, it really could be traveling from so many other spots. So you could be sort of chasing this down by repairing sections of the roof. So that’s definitely not the right answer to go with. |
| 00:32:30 | TOM: I wouldn’t be surprised if you repaired a section of the roof, and the next heavy rainstorm, it came back. |
| 00:32:35 | LESLIE: So it still leaked. Or it got worse. |
| 00:32:37 | TOM: Yeah. |
| 00:32:37 | LESLIE: And those three spots could be coming from three separate spots of leaks. It’s like there’s better ways to track things down. |
| 00:32:45 | TOM: Gravity doesn’t apply when it comes to roof leaks. Sometimes that water will catch the underside of a rafter, and then run down 10, 12, 15 feet, and then leaks. You really don’t know. |
| 00:32:54 | LESLIE: All right. Hope you find it, Carol. |
| 00:32:56 | TOM: You are listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show, and we are so glad you are. If you’ve got questions as you tackle projects around your house or as you think about tackling those projects, remember you can reach out to us 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit or anytime by going to MoneyPit.com slash ask. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:33:17 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:33:18 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:33:20 | 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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