#2456 – Mold or Mildew? Key Clues to Stay Safe | Invasive Plant Danger | Seal Gaps with Spray Foam

Show Notes

Today, we’re talking about mold vs. mildew and why knowing the difference matters. We’ll also cover an invasive plant that’s threatening property values. Plus, discover how spray foam can help you seal gaps and save on heating costs like never before. Listen in for all this and more expert advice for all your home improvement questions!

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Podcast Transcript

Mold vs. Mildew: Is it mold or mildew? Get key clues to know the difference and keep your home safe.
Invasive Plants: This invasive plant species is causing serious problems for homes and properties across the U.S.
Spray Foam: A DIY spray foam kit offers an effective solution for sealing drafty gaps and saving energy.

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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00:00:24	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
	And I’m Leslie Segrete.
	And we are here to help you get projects done that you’d like to do around your house. You need help getting started with a project, you got a repair you’re working on trying to solve a little home improvement problem, got a decor dilemma, what’s on your to-do list can be easily transferred to ours when you reach out with your questions. Couple of ways to do that, simply go to MoneyPit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button or call us right now at 1-888-Money-Pit. Coming up on today’s show, do you guys know the difference between mold and mildew? You know, they might seem similar, but one can actually be a lot more serious than the other. So we’re going to break down how to spot the difference and why it matters for your home safety.
00:01:22	LESLIE: And also ahead, a fast growing plant could be threatening your home’s foundation and its property value. We’re going to share what you need to know about how this new invasive species is spreading across
00:01:32	TOM: the US. And one of the most effective ways to reduce drafts and lower home heating costs is to seal spaces where cold air leaks in. Now, spray foam is a great way to do that. So we’re
00:01:44	LESLIE: going to share tips on a new product that makes that job easier than ever. Plus, if you’d like to resurface your sidewalk, your patio, even your porches with granite, we’re giving away a good product that does just that. It’s called Spread Rock and it’s made by Daich Coatings.
00:01:58	TOM: Yup, it’s worth $150 bucks and it’s going out to one listener drawn at random who reaches out to us with their home improvement or decor questions. So make that you. Reach out right now at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:18	LESLIE: Kathy in Arizona is on the line and needs some help cleaning the garage. What can we do for you?
00:02:22	CALLER: Well, we bought this house last fall and the garage floor is, I’m sure, grease from the cars, but I don’t know how to clean it up. I’m just wondering if I can do that myself or if I’ve got to hire somebody to do that.
00:02:35	TOM: I think you can do it yourself. What you want to do is pick up some trisodium phosphate. It’s known as TSP. You’ll see it in the hardware store or paint aisle of a home center. Mix that up into a paste-like consistency and cover the area. The stain, let it sit for a while and then wash it out. Now, old oil stains are among the most difficult to take up, but it will brighten it up a bit. And if you want it to be cleaner than that, what I would do is I would wash the floor, let it dry really well and then paint it. You could use an epoxy painting garage floor painting system. It’s a two-part epoxy that’s chemical cured. So you mix the two parts of the paint together, you apply it to the floor, then you wait an hour or two and it basically hardens right up for you. And then it’ll be
00:03:22	CALLER: a lot easier to clean after that. Okay, but so I can still put that epoxy
00:03:26	TOM: over if I don’t get all this grease up? No, once you clean up the grease, as I mentioned, the grease may be up, but it might still be stained. And if you wanted to make
00:03:35	LESLIE: it look nicer, then you could paint it. Yeah, because the beginning part of this kit is usually like an etching compound that sort of prepares the floor to receive the coating. So if you can just get the actual grease off, even though the stain is there, it’ll prepare it so
00:03:50	TOM: that it will adhere to it. All right. All right. Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. You’re very welcome. Thanks so
00:03:55	LESLIE: much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Nathan in Alaska is on the line and needs
00:04:01	CALLER: some help heating up a chilly home. I’m looking at, actually I put an offer in on the home that has in-floor heating and the only utility bill that the home has is electric. So there’s an electric boiler for the in-floor heater. The house also has a wood stove, so I was curious if using the wood stove to heat the in-floor heating would be a feasible option.
00:04:22	TOM: So basically you want to know if you can have a wood-fired boiler. Correct. I mean, wood-fired boilers are used to heat entire homes. I see them a lot in rural parts of the country. Sometimes I’m driving down the road and you see what looks like a shed that’s 15, 20 feet from a house, except it’s got a little chimney on it and it’s blowing out some wood smoke and that’s a wood-fired boiler. So they’re usually outside the house and they’re pretty much like regular boilers, except that they’re just fired. They’re operated by wood. They usually have to be fed, obviously, once or twice a day to keep that heat up. So it’s a lot more work than having a fuel system like oil or gas, but certainly it’s an option.
00:05:06	CALLER: You had to make a choice between investing in a wood-fired boiler, investing in an oil-fired boiler, or staying with the electric, which would you suggest?
00:05:16	TOM: I would go with an oil-fired boiler. If that was my choice, as you put it, between wood, electric, and oil. Electric is going to be prohibitively expensive. Wood’s a lot of work and also I would be concerned that even though I may enjoy the benefits of a wood boiler, if I want to sell my house in the future, the future buyer may not find that quite as attractive as I do, because now they’re thinking they’ve got to buy wood or they’ve got to cut wood and they’ve got to be around to feed the boiler and so on and so forth. They just might not be at all into that and that could make them buy someone else’s house instead that doesn’t have that. So I would use a wood-fired boiler. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a wood-fired boiler
00:05:51	CALLER: but I would use a traditional oil boiler. Okay, that’s something I will look into then. And I guess the second part of my question would be, do you recommend putting or having a percentage glycol in the heating lines or do you think sticking with 100% water would be a better
00:06:07	TOM: option? Well, most homes just have 100% water. So unless there’s something unusual about your home and if it’s very prone to freezing and you have a centralized heating system and you’re not going to be sort of mothballing the home for any point in time, I don’t see any reason to have any type of
00:06:26	CALLER: a glycol additive to your heating water. I was just asking because I’m up here in Alaska, north of Palmer a little bit, so it gets pretty cold in the wintertime and I just didn’t know if
00:06:36	TOM: it would be a better option with the outside temperature. I would talk to local HVAC contractors. Is it typical for them to use an additive in a hot water system there?
00:06:46	CALLER: I was just doing some research online and people didn’t seem to be a fan of it because of the glycol. Being thicker, it puts pretty good wear and tear on the pumping system.
00:06:54	TOM: Yeah, I’d be interested. I mean, it’s an extreme environment and so I obviously don’t have experience in that. If I was moving into that area, I would do a little research with local HVAC contractors and find out what the best practice is.
00:07:06	CALLER: Okay. I can definitely look into that. Okay. All right. Well, thank you for your time.
00:07:09	TOM: All right. Good luck, Nathan. Stay warm up there in Alaska.
00:07:12	CALLER: I’ll work on it. Thank you.
00:07:13	TOM: All right. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Hey, if you guys have a surface that’s concrete around your house and you want to put a lot of porch, a patio, a pool surround, maybe a driveway and it doesn’t look so great, well, there’s a product out that can change that. It’s called Spreadrock and it’s a granite stone coating. Now, Spreadrock is an actual layer of rock that can be applied easily to floors or walls. And we’ve got a large container of this, a three gallon size, going out to one listener drawn at random. If you’d like to take advantage of this offer, call us right now with your home improvement questions. It comes in seven colors. It’s impact resistant. It’s super durable and it’s going to really spruce up the look of your concrete surfaces. The number again is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. You’ll get the answer to your home improvement question and a chance at winning Spreadrock from Daich Coatings, which is also available at daichcoatings.com, homedepot.com and lowes.com.
00:08:17	LESLIE: All right. Now we’ve got Anna on the line who needs some help with some door improvement. Tell us what you’re working on.
00:08:22	CALLER: Hi. Yes, I have one metal door and three fiberglass door that I got a guy to paint it and not knowing when I got home, he actually painted with the spray can paint. So when the heat hits the door, I can’t open the door because it’s sticking to the door jam.
00:08:40	TOM: What a mess.
00:08:41	CALLER: How do I repair that?
00:08:42	TOM: Well, even though he painted it with spray paint, it should still work. I mean, it should dry. The fact that it’s spray paint is not making it any more or less tacky than perhaps if you use paint out of a gallon. But the fact that it’s sticking might mean that the door needs a bit of adjustment inside the opening. Are all the doors sticking?
00:09:01	CALLER: All the doors sticking, right on the rubber of the door jam. It’s like, I think that it’s a shoe shoe can paint. I’m like, you sprayed what to the door?
00:09:09	TOM: What kind of paint did he use?
00:09:11	CALLER: I call it a shoe shoe, regular can paint. Like he went to the hardware store, got a spray can paint and sprayed it.
00:09:18	TOM: Well, look, what you should do now, if you’ve had, a bad paint job, is you really have to pull that old paint off. So I would take the doors off of the hinges, lay them down horizontally, use a paint remover to pull off the paint that’s there. Once you get it back down to where it was, where you started, then I would prime the doors first. And I would use an oil-based primer. That’s going to give you good adhesion to both the metal and the fiberglass doors. And then I would put a good top quality finish coat on that using a semi-gloss paint. Then let them dry really well and then reinstall them.
00:09:49	CALLER: So, Ike, is it a good idea to do that? Is it a good idea to do that? Is it a good idea to do that? Is it possible then to, this is on metal and fiberglass, to get a paint remover for this thing?
00:09:55	TOM: Yes. There’s paint removers. The citrus-based removers are the most effective. So use the citrus-based paint removers, pull off the old paint, prime the doors, and then repaint them. You should be good to go. Okay, Anna?
00:10:06	CALLER: Thank you so very much again.
00:10:08	TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:10:13	LESLIE: All right. Now it’s time to chat with a pro out of Iowa. We’ve got Ed on the line who wants to get some information to put some issues. What’s going on, Ed?
00:10:22	CALLER: I’ve got a homeowner in the Omaha area that is doing an extensive remodel. We’ve removed an awful lot of walls in the home. And obviously, there’s a lot of new sheetrock and texturing taking place. Typically, when I do a job like this, obviously, you know, you’re plasticking off various rooms to keep dust under control. But you know how dust can move around, regardless of how you try and capture it with blankets and so forth. This particular issue, I’ve asked the homeowner to regularly check and change their furnace filter. Okay. And when she changed the filter, unfortunately, I saw one of the cheapest, those blue fiberglass filters that you have.
00:11:11	TOM: Right. Yeah, we call them rock stoppers.
00:11:14	CALLER: That’s about it. They’ll stop and dock and not much more. Okay. Now, unfortunately, the response I got from this gal was not what I normally get. And here’s the deal, Tom, her brother is a salesman for heating and air conditioning equipment in the Omaha market. Okay. He tells her, Lori, do not buy an expensive filter. Buy the cheapest filter that you can buy because the new, highly-rated efficiency furnace
00:11:56	CALLER: Audio
00:12:09	TOM: So here’s what I would tell Lori, I would say Lori you either put in a high efficiency filter or you become a high efficiency filter, do you want the dust stopped at the filter itself or do you want the dust stopped in your lungs because that’s exactly what’s going to happen and beyond that whenever you’re doing a project that’s generating this level of dust this is the rare circumstance when I will recommend a duct cleaning when the project is done but you’re wise to try to limit the dust up until that happens but look if she’s got a family member that’s planting this in her brain you’ve given her your best advice I mean you just got to walk away I wouldn’t get between her and her brother but I think that you’re correct I think she is incorrect I’ve never ever seen any data whatsoever that said that high efficiency filters cause shortened blower lives and I’m sure I would have heard of this by now considering for how long we’ve been talking about these and studying them you know if she doesn’t put a good filter in what’s going to happen in this case and if she doesn’t clean it if she’s got a central air conditioning system that evaporator coil where all the air is being pulled through is going to get caked solid with all that dust and then she’s going to have a very short life for an air conditioning compressor which isn’t terrible news because let’s face it she does have a brother in the business who can buy her a new one and that’s what I would call poetic justice.
00:13:32	CALLER: I very well said and I just wanted comfort in knowing that in all the years I’ve been encouraging people to do this and I’ve been encouraging people to do this and I’ve been encouraging people to use high efficiency filters and going forward am I giving as a contractor good advice or am I not?
00:13:46	TOM: No I think you’re giving excellent advice keep it up don’t let one bad experience dissuade you. Thank you Tom, thank you Leslie. All right good luck thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well one of the most common questions we get from homeowners is how to tell the difference between mold and mildew. Now they’re both types of fungi but knowing which one you’re dealing with is the key to handling it properly. So today we’re going to break it down for you so you know what you’re up against and how to deal with it.
00:14:13	LESLIE: That’s right Tom you know both mold and mildew can show up in damp areas of your home like your bathroom your basement and even just around windows. Mildew is typically white gray even a light yellow and it grows on the surface of moist flat areas it’s often powdery and it’s easy to wipe away with the right cleaner.
00:14:31	TOM: Now mold on the other hand can be a bit trickier it comes in various colors black green even red and it tends to be fuzzy or slimy it doesn’t just sit on the surface either mold can penetrate your walls your carpets even the structural components of your home causing bigger issues if it’s not dealt with quickly.
00:14:50	LESLIE: Exactly and you know aside from the visual differences another key sign is the smell mold tends to have a strong musty odor that mildew usually doesn’t and if you notice a persistent musty smell in your home it’s probably mold and you’re going to need to take some immediate steps to clean it up before it goes in spray.
00:15:08	TOM: Now don’t forget mold can also pose health risks especially for people with respiratory issues or significant allergies now if a mold problem is extensive it really is best to call in a professional because if you try to take it out yourself and you don’t do a great job you can actually spread it and make it worse.
00:15:24	LESLIE: Absolutely you know the National Association of Realtors House Logic website they’ve got a great guide on the differences between mold and mildew and how you should be handling them now if you do suspect that you have mold take it seriously and act fast.
00:15:38	TOM: So whether it’s mold or mildew knowing what you’re dealing with is the first step towards keeping your home safe and healthy. Check out HouseLogic.com for more tips and advice.
00:15:48	LESLIE: Sue in Rhode Island needs some help removing paint from something what’s going on?
00:15:53	CALLER: I have a large deck that’s probably 12 by 30 and for the first couple of years we had oil based stain on it and then we accidentally put a latex over the stain.
00:16:04	CALLER: But that didn’t work out too well considering that oil and water don’t usually mix.
00:16:08	CALLER: Oh I know I thought it was the right stain when I put it on but none the less we ended Yeah and it’s probably peeling up right?
00:16:15	CALLER: Is it peeling up like crazy right now?
00:16:17	CALLER: Oh it was horrible so I power washed the heck out of it I probably power washed it three four five times I’ve used paint remover on it you know that you would use when you when you refurnish something and I probably got about three quarters of it off but the rest of it is not coming off.
00:16:37	TOM: So it’s not coming off. There’s no way it’s coming off you’ve scraped it you can’t get it off even with a hand scraper?
00:16:43	CALLER: Even with a hand scraper.
00:16:44	TOM: All right well then let’s assume it’s got good attachment to the deck and now we got to get a new coating of stain on there so the most important thing you have to do right now is you have to use an oil-based primer on that entire deck you got to put the primer on first and then you can put an oil-based stain on top of that get good adhesion stay in the same manufacturing family so if you’re going to use Sherwin or Ben Moore just you know. Make sure you stay within that same family of products and use the recommended primer for that type of stain but if you’ve tried everything to get that old stain off it’s not coming off and I think we can safely assume that it’s in for good and you just got to get a new coat on there but you want to prime it first because the primer is a different characteristic than the stain it’s going to make sure you have good adhesion that entire deck surface and stop the peeling from happening again does that make sense?
00:17:29	CALLER: All right oh that’s been really helpful I can’t wait to stain my deck.
00:17:33	TOM: All right good luck with that project Sue thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-4.com.
00:17:37	LESLIE: Hey there we hope you’re enjoying this episode of our podcast if you are you know what would
00:17:42	TOM: totally make our day is if you leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts absolutely just go to moneypit.com review and let the world know how much you enjoy our home improvement
00:17:53	LESLIE: tips and tricks and you might even win a copy of our book all right now we’re going to take a call from Spokane Washington where we’ve got Dave on the line what’s going on at your money pit?
00:18:03	CALLER: I have a house and my electric heat was kind of expected. It was expensive and I checked some insulating ideas and I used Frost King pipe wrap insulation tape behind the electric baseboard heat and I used it with a foil side against the heater I’m not losing the heat into the long heats the heat is working about 30 to 40 percent more efficient my question is it fire safe?
00:18:27	TOM: That’s an interesting question so you took this insulating tape now describe the tape to me is it the foil faced sort of rubbery like insulation that Frost King makes or what does it look like?
00:18:37	CALLER: It’s Frost King pipe wrap insulation tape it’s an eight to seven inch thick it’s two inches wide it comes in a 15 or 30 foot roll it’s sticky on one side then it’s got a foil on the other side the foil is what reflects the heat away from the heater and away from the wall out into the room the heat doesn’t go into my wall now I had an infrared done by the fire department and most of the heat used to go back up into the wall almost none of it’s in the wall now and the heat is a lot more efficient. I don’t know how to get the material approved but it does work my insulating material works and it’s very inexpensive it costs about ten dollars a heater and be a whole lot more efficient.
00:19:18	TOM: Yeah well that’s really interesting now I would say first of all we’re definitely dealing with what is termed an off-label use in other words the manufacturer would never sell it for that particular purpose to your core question is it safe I can see a couple of ways where it could potentially be not safe in particular the heater is designed to release a certain amount of heat to the back wall of it and if because of the reflective qualities of the foil it’s now not doing that and basically reflecting that heat more into the room I guess it’s possible that some of the electrical components inside the heater itself could work could have to work there at a higher temperature than they normally would and therefore potentially be unsafe. I would think that in both cases both using the tape from the Frost King manufacturers perspective and even from the electric baseboard manufacturers perspective I don’t see any scenario where they would recommend those to be worked together. So even though it’s not it’s off-label you know is it really unsafe are you really at a risk hazard I really can’t tell you for sure but I guess common sense would dictate that. If you’re using anything that’s burning or anything seems to be working poorly in any way you know you may want to continue to use it but keep an eye on it so I’m afraid I can’t completely put your mind at ease because it’s kind of a solution here that you sort of made up yourself that’s not going to be recommended by either the baseboard manufacturer or the insulation manufacturer you know that said there are probably other materials that would more likely be designed. To go in that space perhaps a foil insulation which is more typical of a baseboard space so I would say if you’re going to keep use it using it keep a close eye on it because it is potentially unsafe David thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
00:21:21	LESLIE: Well there’s a new threat to homeowners and it’s not something that you can easily spot until it’s too late according to a recent article from the New York Post an invasive plant species is spreading across the United States causing serious problems for homeowners and even affecting the environment.
00:21:37	TOM: That’s right now the plant is called Japanese knotweed and it’s no joke this fast-growing plant can damage foundations sidewalks drainage systems and it grows aggressively and once it takes root it’s extremely difficult to get rid of.
00:21:51	LESLIE: Now the article reports that knotweed can grow up to 10 feet tall with roots that extend more than 60 feet underground it’s so invasive that some banks in the UK have refused to offer mortgages on homes where the plant is present and now that plant is spreading across the US.
00:22:07	TOM: Yeah it’s crazy and it’s not just the structural damage that’s really concerning the New York Post notes that Japanese knotweed can decrease property values by up to 15 percent since potential buyers are scared off by the plant’s destructive nature and the high cost of removal.
00:22:21	LESLIE: So what can homeowners do if they spot this plant on their property well the key here is just early detection and then aggressive removal. Experts recommend cutting it down applying herbicides and even digging up the soil to remove the roots. In some cases you might need professional help just to get it under control.
00:22:39	TOM: Yup and it’s definitely not something you can ignore once knotweed is established it can spread rapidly even growing through concrete and damaging a home’s foundation.
00:22:47	LESLIE: So the best thing that you can do at this point is to be proactive. If you suspect knotweed is on or near your property you want to act quickly to remove it before it gets out of hand. Don’t let a fast growing plant like this take root in your yard or worse your foundation. Now we’re going over to Alaska where Mary has a question about siding. How can we help you today?
00:23:09	CALLER: We recently sided our house with concrete siding underneath is plywood and then Tyvek. We use 4×12 panels that are pre-painted and they’re attached to the plywood walls.
00:23:22	TOM: Okay.
00:23:22	CALLER: My question is do I need to caulk where the batten attaches to the panels and secondly do I need to caulk the nail holes on the batten?
00:23:32	TOM: Well you wouldn’t caulk. With the batten attaches to the panels you might use an adhesive in that area if that’s recommended by the siding manufacturer. In terms of the nail holes generally you don’t have to caulk nail holes you know as long as you’re not smashing the nails in and breaking the siding they’re usually tight enough around them where you do not have to caulk each individual nail head.
00:23:52	CALLER: The nail holes have broken through the painted surface.
00:23:55	TOM: So if they broke through the painted surface it’s not a bad idea to touch them up with a little bit of caulk but I wouldn’t be too concerned about it. Okay.
00:24:02	LESLIE: Thank you very much.
00:24:03	TOM: You’re welcome Mary. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:24:06	LESLIE: Reach out to Team Money Pit with help on all your home improvement projects but also for a chance to win a great prize. We’ve got up for grabs the Spreadrock Granite Stone Coating System and it’s an actual layer of rock that you can easily apply to the floor, to the walls, pretty much anywhere you like. You can use it inside or out to resurface porches, steps, patios, walkways, garage floors, bathrooms, basements, I mean so much more. It’s available in six different colors. It’s impact resistant, it’s super durable and it’s a great price at $149.95 for a three gallon size.
00:24:39	TOM: It’s available at DaichCoatings.com, Home Depot and Lowes.com as well. But we’ve got three gallon size of Granite Stone Coating going out to one lucky listener at random. Make that you. Call us right now at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974.
00:24:56	LESLIE: Now I’ve got Scott on the line who needs some help rearranging a door swing. What’s going on?
00:25:00	CALLER: We just bought a new place. We’re going to make a new door swing. And in our downstairs bathroom, the door now swings in for the left, but the problem is the light switch is then behind the door.
00:25:11	TOM: Oh yeah. So you got to walk in the bathroom, close the door in the dark, fumble with the light switch and turn it on.
00:25:18	CALLER: Yeah, that’s pretty much it. So I’m just curious if there’s a way to switch the handing of the door without replacing the whole casing.
00:25:25	TOM: Not easily. It’s probably easier to run a new light switch on the other side than it is to change out the door because the hole is drilled where the hole is drilled. And if you were to change the hand, you’d basically have to put a new hole on the other side, I would think. Sure. Yeah. Doors don’t flip right and left too easily. Unless you’re talking about the door in your washing machine that’s designed to do that. An interior door doesn’t turn very easily. So I would suggest you just run a new switch on the other side and you could just put a blank out plate across the one that’s there now. Frankly, nobody’s going to see you. All right. Thank you very much. Well, one of the most effective ways to reduce drafts and lower home heating costs is to seal spaces where cold air leaks in. Now, spray foam is a great way to do that. And DAP has just launched a new spray foam system that’s perfect for builders, remodelers, and serious DIYers.
00:26:19	LESLIE: That’s right. You know, it’s called the DAP Wall and Cavity Foam with Wide Spray Applicator. It’s portable. It’s self-contained, one-component polyurethane foam dispensing kit, and it is perfect for sealing those gaps in your wall and floor cavities. As well as the attic, basements, crawl spaces, you name it. Yeah.
00:26:35	TOM: And unlike the two-part spray foam systems that require mixing separate components, the DAP Wall and Cavity Foam is an easier-to-use, one-component solution that can be applied in a wide temperature range of between 40 and 120 degrees.
00:26:48	LESLIE: You know, the kit’s also really easy to use both for pros and homeowners during repairs, renovations, even for new installations. They effectively air seal and insulate homes and buildings while enhancing the R-value and providing Class A for the home. It’s great for repairs, renovations, and new installations.
00:27:06	TOM: Now, the formula is pre-mixed, portable, and easy to set up. Plus, except for overhead applications, the responsive wide spray applicator can spray horizontally and vertically. DAP’s Wall and Cavity Foam has truly revolutionized spray foam application with the first one-component broadcast spray foam. Learn more at DAP.com. That’s D-A-P dot com.
00:27:28	LESLIE: All right. We’ve got Esther on the line with the gutter question. How can we help you today?
00:27:31	CALLER: Well, we need to replace our rain gutters, but our shingles on our dearly beloved old house are Portland cement shingles. And the first three people that are the first three companies that I’ve talked to about replacing rain gutters, they tell me how simple it is to just lift up the asphalt shingles and put the strapping in underneath and fasten it. And I think, okay, asphalt is flexible, but I think the cement shingles might crack. So, how do I find something? How do I find someone who knows how about preserving the shingles and putting up your rain gutters?
00:28:04	TOM: Well, I think there are a number of ways to install gutters. You can put straps that go up under the asphalt shingles, but they can also be attached directly. So, what you’re going to want to do is attach those gutters directly to the fascia. And instead of using nails, you’re going to want to use gutter screws. They’re very long lag bolts, lightweight, thin lag bolts. Usually, they have a hex head on them. And the nice thing about these gutter bolts, so to speak, is that once you put them in, they don’t pull out. Sometimes, the nails, the gutter spikes that they use, will pull out. But these gutter screws will not pull out. So, you just need to use a different fastening system. And have you physically had somebody at the house that saw this configuration, or are they just kind of telling you this on the phone? No.
00:28:49	CALLER: We had just moved to the area, and I was just going down the yellow pages, you know, trying to get in.
00:28:55	TOM: Well, once they get to your house, they’re going to figure out the best ways to attach the gutter. But rest assured, there’s a number of ways to do this. And we’re going to have to figure out how to do that. We’re just going to have to figure out how to do it. No, you don’t have to take your shingles apart. And by the way, as long as those shingles, those roof shingles, look good, then there’s no reason to replace them. You know, the cementitious roof shingles are very durable. The reason that most people replace them is they tend to grow a lot of algae and moss, and they can look nasty after a while. But if they’re still looking decent, and it’s not leaking, then you’re good to go. Yep.
00:29:22	CALLER: We’re good, and there’s a whole pile of, or a little pallet, probably two or three hundred of them down in the basement, so…
00:29:28	TOM: Oh boy, so you are good to go.
00:29:30	CALLER: If we have another hand storm, we should have some shingles.
00:29:33	TOM: Alright, Esther, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. So yesterday, Leslie, I had to pull out some fence posts that were really old, and they were filled with concrete. Oh my god, it was so incredible. We were looking at the pictures before, and I was sharing with Jim, our engineer, that it looks like two bags of concrete were used on each post. So what I did was, I got a come-along, which is like a winch. I tied one end off of the tree and the other end off of the post, and I sort of winched them out, one at a time. But man, even doing it with that, it still was hard to move them around.
00:30:01	LESLIE: It’s a lot of work.
00:30:02	TOM: It really was. So if you’ve got a project that’s been a lot of work and you need some help, some tricks to get it done easier, reach out to us with your questions.
00:30:09	LESLIE: Alright, Jerry in Minnesota reached out to Team Money Pit saying, I have a 1980s modular home built on a concrete block. Some of the exterior siding comes close to the ground, overlaps the foundation, and has rotted. We replaced some, but we then found a lot of insects in the wall. I don’t understand why this is happening. Can we seal the space where the siding overlaps that foundation with caulk? You know, it’s interesting. You know, like how comfy and cozy you feel when you’re all bundled up in a warm blanket? Well, I guess that’s kind of how insects feel when they’re surrounded by all that damp, tasty wood.
00:30:41	TOM: Oh, they’re very happy. Exactly. So, Jerry, I have a good idea of what’s happening here. So it sounds like, first of all, the grating around your wall. The grating around your house is too close to the siding. Underneath the siding, optimally, you want at least 12 inches between the bottom of the siding and the grade, the level of the soil, because if it’s too close to the siding or if it covers the siding, you’re basically kind of giving all those insects a bridge into that. Plus, the siding doesn’t dry very well. I’m going to guess this is composite. Maybe it’s wood, but I think it’s probably composite that you have. And if it doesn’t dry properly, then it deteriorates very, very quickly. So I’ll give you a couple of suggestions. First of all, what I’ve done in situations like this is if I can’t lower the grade, which is option number one, right, lower the grade so you have a bigger gap, if you can’t do that, what you could do is kind of create what’s sort of like a retaining wall, maybe about a foot from the foundation where you use some 4x4s or some 6x6s and you lay them in the grade. And then the area between the 4×4 and the siding is dug down. So that you have that 12-inch gap. And this provides sort of an airflow that can get in there and dry it out. So it’s pretty common when that’s the problem that it’s an issue of having to get that air to flow in there. And I think if you were to create a sort of faux retaining wall, that would solve that. Now, secondly, with these insects already embedded in there, you probably have termites or carpenter ants or both. I couldn’t tell without seeing the actual damage. But what you do need to do is have this treated professionally. This is not something you can do yourself. You need to have a termiticide or an insecticide applied that the insects are going to take back to the nest and completely eradicate them. So two steps. You want to create that air gap around the siding and you want to have the insects treated.
00:32:32	LESLIE: All right. Now, Peter in Florida wants to know if there’s a simple way to tell if a wall is load-bearing or do I need to find those blueprints to my home?
00:32:39	TOM: Well, that would be optimally the best way to tell. You know, typically, bearing walls are usually parallel to the front and back walls of a house, especially of a ranch. If it’s a ranch or a two-story or a bi-level, but not always. Okay. So that’s why it’s really important to make sure you have blueprints or you have a contractor or a pro look at it. And just because the wall is load-bearing, though, it doesn’t mean it can’t be changed. It just requires some engineering. So there’s ways to insert beams that are flush with the ceiling that would carry that second floor. Yeah, it’s a lot of work and it’s not cheap, but it can be done. So always best to check with a pro before working on bearing walls or suspected bearing walls. Because gravity sucks.
00:33:19	TOM: You’ve been listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show, and we are so glad that you are. If you guys have questions and didn’t get through to today’s episode, remember, you can reach out 24-7 when you go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:35	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:33:36	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
00:33:38	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.)