Show Notes
Today, we’re talking about carbon monoxide safety tips for the heating season, how to track down a reliable contractor, and prepping your windows for winter. We’re also giving expert advice to DIY callers seeking home improvement success!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Window Care: Winter-proof your windows with these simple tips for cleaning, storing, and sealing.
- Hiring Contractors: Get your next project done right by choosing the best contractor for the job.
- Carbon Monoxide: Learn how to detect and protect against the silent threat of carbon monoxide poisoning in your home.
Top Questions & Answers
- Bathroom Tile: Dawn is retiling her bathroom and gets tips for installing a shower pan and tiling around it to keep water from running out of the shower.
- Water Pressure: Sam has low water pressure in just one bathtub. The problem may be clogged steel pipes, a valve issue, or a bad faucet.
- Deck Finish: Half of Teresa’s wood deck is new pretreated lumber and the other half is painted. She needs to scrape off the old paint before staining the entire surface.
- Fire Pit: What is the best way to build a fire pit? James gets recommendations for an easy DIY fire pit kit from RumbleStone.
- Wood Flooring: Diane is having trouble installing a wood floor over an uneven subfloor. She needs either a carpentry fix or a floor-leveling compound.
- Window Condensation: There is condensation around the edges of Steve’s new windows. He should contact the manufacturer and the installer to have them fixed.
- Moisture Odor: Odors are coming from moisture in the crawlspace. Bridget should lay down a plastic vapor barrier and install a door to close the crawlspace from the basement.
- Log Home: The inside of the exterior log cabin walls have unsightly cracks. Nina can try using a wood filler but it will keep happening, so she should embrace the rustic look.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:24 – 00:0 | ANNOUNCER: The MoneyPit is presented by DAP Wall and Cavity Foam and SpreadRock by Daich Coatings. Now, here are Tom and Leslie. |
| 00:00:32 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:37 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:38 | TOM: Look around your house. What’s a project you need help with to get done? Well, you can turn to us right now for answers to those questions. If it’s a project you’re planning now, it’s a project you’re doing now, it’s a project you’re planning for the weeks, the months ahead, all great opportunities to reach out to us for some tips to help that go smoother. Two ways to do that, you can call us at 888-Money-Pit, that’s 888-666-3974, or you can post your questions at moneypit.com slash ask. Coming up on today’s show, your heating system could be hiding a dangerous secret, carbon monoxide. Now that it’s the heating season, we’re going to explain what to look for and how to keep the silent killer out of your home. |
| 00:01:18 | LESLIE: And we often hear from listeners asking if we can recommend a good home. We’re going to share some tips and tricks to help you find a good contractor for their projects. While we can’t always suggest somebody specific, we do know how to help you find a great pro no matter where you are. We’re going to share the step-by-step just ahead. |
| 00:01:31 | TOM: Plus, if you’re changing from screen windows to storms or you’re updating windows for the winter season ahead, we want to make sure your windows are ready to keep out those winter chills. So we’re going to share some solutions on how to do just that. |
| 00:01:44 | LESLIE: Plus, if you’d like to resurface your sidewalks, your patio, or your porches with granite, |
| 00:01:51 | LESLIE: we’re going to give you a chance to do just that. It’s called SpreadRock, and it’s made by Daich Coatings. |
| 00:01:55 | TOM: It’s worth $150 and going out to one listener drawn at random who reaches out to us with their home improvement or decor question. So make that you. Call us now at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974 for the answer to your home improvement question and a chance to win SpreadRock from Daich Coatings. |
| 00:02:14 | LESLIE: All right, now we’ve got Dawn in Nebraska on the Money Pit. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:02:18 | CALLER: Well, we’d like to redo a bathroom that has an old tub. And the shower that’s got the kind of a plastic sheeting. It’s not plastic, but some kind of that gross stuff you glue on the wall. We’d like to take all of that out, including the bathtub, and then tile the shower and the shower floor. My question is, if we tile the shower floor, do we have to put a lip to keep the water from coming out? Or is there some way, if we tile the entire bathroom floor and shower the same, would you recommend some kind of elevation drop just a little bit into the shower so the water doesn’t run out? Or is that just a no-no if we’ve got to have a lip at the edge of the shower? |
| 00:03:11 | TOM: Okay, you’re missing one critical component of the bathroom makeover you described, and that’s a shower pan. Right. And so I would recommend you do that. You purchase a shower pan and use that to install the bottom of the shower and the drain of the shower. There are shower pans that you can tile over if you don’t want to see the shower pan. But frankly, it’s so small, and when you tile a shower pan, it’s just such a maintenance hassle because all the water sits in there and ends up making the grout look nasty. I would just use a standard shower pan and then tile right down to the pan. You can connect the drains to the shower pan. The shower drains all be integrated. Then you tile right down over the lip of the shower pan, and this way you have a nice waterproof seal. |
| 00:03:55 | CALLER: Okay, that sounds good. If you do the soap dish or I’m not sure what else to call it in the wall and you want to recess it in so you’ve got like an 18 by 18 area to put your shampoos and such, can that be on an outside wall? Will you not smoosh your insulation to where it doesn’t work, or does it have to be an inside wall? |
| 00:04:19 | TOM: Yeah, that’s a good question. I would tend to avoid that, I think, because, yeah, you would have no insulation in that space. It would end up being very, very cold, and I think I would tend to put that on an interior wall. |
| 00:04:31 | CALLER: Okay, very good. |
| 00:04:32 | LESLIE: Thank you. |
| 00:04:33 | TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:04:37 | LESLIE: Sam in Tennessee is on the line with a water pressure question. How can we help you today? |
| 00:04:41 | CALLER: Yes, I have just purchased a home that is about 75 years old. And we’re refurbishing it. And we’re trying to refurbish it. And we’re trying to keep everything as original as we can. I have great water pressure in every room that has water but my bathtub. |
| 00:04:59 | TOM: Sam, does your 75-year-old home have steel water pipes? |
| 00:05:02 | CALLER: It has the old. We’re eventually going to replace all the water system, but we’re having to live in part of the home now and redoing the other half while we live here. |
| 00:05:16 | TOM: . If you have the original steel water pipes in a 75-year-old home, they are absolutely going to suffer from interior rusting. What happens with steel is it rusts and expands inward, so it kind of clogs like an artery, so to speak. And the older it is, the more that can occur. It’s possible that you may have a bad pipe on the way to that tub, and that’s why you have such a slow fill out of that. The other possible issue is the valve itself is feeding water. In that same bathroom, I presume you have a sink and a toilet. Do you notice any water pressure problems with those appliances? |
| 00:05:55 | CALLER: No, sir. We have, like I said, great pressure everywhere except for that one stick. You know, the hot and cold runs into one. |
| 00:06:04 | TOM: I mean, the other thing it could be is a bad, it also could be a bad faucet on that tub. But, you know, if the pressure is pretty good everywhere else, it’s not likely to be rusted just at the bathroom. At the one fixture itself. So I would suggest that maybe you want to replace that tub, that set of tub valves. Because it’s probably obstructing there. Right. |
| 00:06:23 | CALLER: Well, actually, it’s got the old Tommy Butterfly controls on it, and we was really wanting to keep it. |
| 00:06:30 | TOM: You can find those valves today. There’s a lot of sources of antique plumbing, and some of the new fixtures and faucets are designed to basically be used in a retrofit situation like that. So you can find modern versions that look old. |
| 00:06:43 | CALLER: Yes, sir. Thank you. |
| 00:06:45 | TOM: Sam, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Have a great day. |
| 00:06:49 | LESLIE: Hey, you’re tired of living in a money pit? Well, we’re here to help. And if you want us to help out, it would be awesome if you could leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Just go to moneypit.com slash review. It’s only going to take a minute, and it means the world to us. Reach on out. Send us a question. Let us know what you are working on because we’re going to help you get that project done right the first time. But we’re also going to give away a great product this hour to one lucky listener. We’ve got the Spreadrock Granite Stone Coating System that actually lays a layer of rock easily applied to your floors, your walls. You can use it inside or out. It’s available in seven colors, and it is impact-resistant and super durable. Be sure to check it out at daichcoatings.com. |
| 00:07:31 | TOM: So worth $150 going out to one listener drawing at random. Make that you. Call us now with your question at 1-888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:07:39 | LESLIE: All right. Now we’ve got Teresa on the line who wants to change her deck from paint to steel. Hi, Jane. What’s going on at your money pit? We have a deck. |
| 00:07:46 | CALLER: We have replaced half of the deck with what do you call it? Pretreated lumber. |
| 00:07:53 | CALLER: Yep. Treated lumber. Okay. |
| 00:07:55 | CALLER: And I really don’t know what to do because half the deck is now, you know, replaced, and the other half is still painted with paint, not stain. |
| 00:08:04 | TOM: Are you planning on replacing the painted lumber as well or not? |
| 00:08:08 | CALLER: Well, I was actually willing to use some type of solid stain. Because I think they’ve come out with some new stuff now. And maybe I would use it over all of the deck. Yeah. |
| 00:08:18 | TOM: The thing is, since it’s been painted, you’re really going to have to get that old paint off. You can’t stain over paint because there’s nothing for the stain to soak into unless it’s so worn that it’s exposed sort of the pores of the wood. But you’re talking about a solid color stain. It has a lot of pigment in it. It kind of looks like paint. It just doesn’t have the glaze to it. But it gives it a lot of protection. And since the pressure treated side is brand new, I would say it’s a good idea to use it. I would tell you to probably wait until next spring to tackle that because the first year, there’s a lot of chemicals in that pressure treated lumber. We like to let them evaporate out a bit first. |
| 00:08:50 | CALLER: Oh, okay. Because I had heard a couple of different things. I was a gun hole ready to go. Now, and you think that the part, see, part of the deck is actually covered. So, you think I need to strip that off of there? |
| 00:09:03 | TOM: I’d be concerned because I don’t think the stain is going to stick on top of the paint. I mean, the idea of stain is it soaks into the wood. You can paint over stain, but you can’t stain over paint. Okay? Okay. |
| 00:09:12 | CALLER: So, what products are out there that wood, maybe? Paints. |
| 00:09:16 | TOM: I mean, like I said, paint would work for all of it, but then you’d be painting the rest of the deck. Unless you just wanted to have it be sort of a two-tone or at least one, you know, one is painted and one is stained, you’re going to see a difference between the two. But maybe you can figure out a way to make that work from a decor perspective. |
| 00:09:32 | CALLER: Well, thank you so, so much. I’ll do that. |
| 00:09:35 | TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:09:39 | LESLIE: James in Illinois is on the line and is looking to make a fire pit at the fire pit. What’s going on? |
| 00:09:44 | CALLER: Oh, I just wanted to know what’s the best way to build a fire pit in the ground. Would you use fire brick or would you get one of those galvanized rings? |
| 00:09:52 | TOM: You know, there’s a really nice fire pit kit that’s on the market now at Home Depot that’s made by PaveStone. It’s called the RumbleStone fire pit kit. I like it because it contains everything that you need. It’s got the stone, which you can use to create the round fire pit itself, and then it also has a metal insert and a screen. So, basically, everything you need is in the box, and you can pick it up and put it together, and they’re pretty good about giving you instructions and step-by-step. Why don’t you take a look at that? I’ve got to tell you, I have a fire pit now, but if I was doing it again, I would pick up the RumbleStone round fire pit kit at Home Depot. |
| 00:10:27 | CALLER: Well, with the metal ring that goes around there, how thick is it, and would it rust, and you’d have to replace it in a couple of years? |
| 00:10:35 | TOM: I’ve had metal fire pits for a number of years, and I find that they’re good for five or six or seven years. So, I don’t think it’s an every-year kind of thing, and this one in particular is made of heavy steel. |
| 00:10:45 | CALLER: And what’s the price of that? |
| 00:10:46 | TOM: I think it’s around $400, maybe $450, something like that, but it includes everything. So, it’s all in there, you know, the brick, the stone, the metal ring, and so on. Okay, well, thank you very much. Hey, guys, it’s time to talk about something every homeowner should be thinking about as the cooler months roll in, servicing your heating system. You know, keeping your furnace, your boiler, and any heating equipment in top shape is more than just about efficiency, it’s really about safety, too. |
| 00:11:13 | LESLIE: You know, that’s right, Tom, and one critical risk that comes with neglected heating systems is carbon monoxide poisoning. Now, carbon monoxide, or CO, is a colorless, odorless gas, and it can be deadly if it builds up inside your home, and it can happen without any warning. |
| 00:11:28 | TOM: Exactly. So, how do you avoid that? Well, first off, regular maintenance of your heating system is key. Having a pro service your system annually, make sure that it’s running properly, safely, and efficiently. They’ll check for any cracks in the heat exchanger, faulty connections, or blockages, all of which could lead to CO leaks. |
| 00:11:47 | LESLIE: Yeah, and you know, beyond servicing, it’s just as important to have carbon monoxide detectors installed on every level of your home. These devices are your first line of defense, and they’re going to alert you if carbon monoxide levels start to rise. So, you want to make sure those detectors are placed in your bedrooms and check their batteries regularly. It’s a simple step, and it can save lives. |
| 00:12:06 | TOM: Yes, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for warning signs that may occur. They’ll show up for the first time and tell you in the next few weeks or so that something could be wrong. Things like soot, yellow burner flames instead of a blue one could indicate that your system is not burning fuel properly, which can lead to high quantities of carbon monoxide and potential leaks. |
| 00:12:20 | LESLIE: So, the takeaway here, guys, get your heating system serviced every year, and install and maintain those carbon monoxide detectors. It’s a small effort for a big impact, keeping your home safe, comfortable, and free of dangerous carbon monoxide. |
| 00:12:34 | TOM: Absolutely. So, stay warm, stay safe, and remember, regular maintenance is the best way to prevent a fire. We’ve had problems before they start. |
| 00:12:41 | LESLIE: Diane in South Dakota is on the line with a flooring question. What can we do for you today? Yes. |
| 00:12:45 | CALLER: We’ve had a problem with trying to put some wood flooring down on our floor and when they delivered the wood and they went to lay it down, they said that our floor was not flat. We had some ridges or bumps on it and that they could not put the flooring on because it would pop up and wouldn’t hold. Okay. And I’m just wondering if there’s any way to rectify that. |
| 00:13:10 | TOM: So what type of subfloor do you have that they were trying to put this new flooring on top of? Is it plywood? |
| 00:13:15 | CALLER: It’s plywood, yes. |
| 00:13:16 | TOM: Yeah, sure. A good flooring installer would know this, so I’m surprised they didn’t tell you what had to happen. But there’s a couple of things you can do. There’s a carpentry solution and a carpentry solution may involve, it depends on how far out of whack it is. I mean, they’re right. These new flooring products, they have a certain range that they’re designed to work with within and if your floor is out of level above that range, then certainly you could have adhesion problems. So there’s the carpentry solution might involve working on the floor joist to actually get them to lay down. Sometimes you get a joist that is crowned and sort of rises up. There is actually a way to go into the basement, cut that beam in half, put a new solid beam next to it and bring it down and that will help it lay down and eliminate that bump. So that’s a carpentry solution. And the other solution you can use is to apply what’s called a floor leveling compound. Now this is a liquid, very thick compound that gets poured onto the floor and then it’s self-leveling and it’ll level and it’ll keep everything nice and flat and that takes up the dips and the rises in that floor and gives you a very flat surface to work on. Probably not a do-it-yourself project, something I would have somebody do that has some experience with it because it’s got to be done right. Then once that dries, the new floor can be laid right on top of it. So there’s a carpentry solution and then there’s the floor leveling compound which is designed exactly for situations like this. Okay. |
| 00:14:46 | CALLER: I actually think that we’d probably have to go the carpenter route because I asked them about that product. I said, isn’t there some kind of a leveling product that you could pour on the floor and they said it wouldn’t work in this situation. Okay. |
| 00:14:59 | TOM: Well, I’m not sure why. They probably should be giving you more information on that and sometimes when a contractor says it won’t work. What they mean to say, that’s what comes out of their mouth but what they’re saying is I really don’t want to do it. Okay. |
| 00:15:10 | CALLER: Okay. |
| 00:15:11 | TOM: Maybe they didn’t want to do it. Don’t take that to heart. It may be that it can in fact be done, you just don’t have the right person involved yet. Okay. |
| 00:15:17 | LESLIE: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate your calling me back. Heading to North Carolina where Steve’s on the line with a window question. What’s going on at your money pit? Hi. |
| 00:15:26 | CALLER: I have a 30-year-old home where I put vinyl replacement windows in and here in North Carolina, of course, we have very hot windows. It’s very humid and humid nights and one thing I noticed in the mornings that there would be condensation around, well, you know, Scott, the cross pieces in the panes of glass are internal, not external, but I would notice some condensation like around those and around the edges and even some mornings they were, one, but it’s a trial level house and the downstairs is on a concrete slab and even some of those windows are completely kind of covered with condensation and I just wondered is that normal or is there something wrong with the installation? |
| 00:16:18 | TOM: So it’s not normal, Steve. What you’re seeing is a result of a lack of efficiency of either the glass or the window frames themselves. What’s happening here is the cool that you’re generating inside the house, that air-conditioned air. It’s basically chilling the windows themselves. Then when the warm moist air on the outside of your house strikes them, it condenses because if you think about it, as you cool the air, it releases the water. Same thing happens when you walk outside with a glass of iced tea and you get water that forms on the outside of it. It’s because of the condensation. It’s because it’s the warm air striking it. So it does point to a potential inefficiency of the windows. Now because the moisture is forming on the outside and not on the inside, you don’t have to worry about leaks and damage. But I don’t think you should be seeing as much as you are. It does speak to an issue that’s potentially wrong with the windows themselves. Okay. |
| 00:17:10 | CALLER: I guess the, you know, if I contact the manufacturer, because they are Argon Gas, I believe, the manufacturer, is that who I would contact, or the installer, or? |
| 00:17:25 | TOM: So if the windows are covered by a warranty, I certainly would reach out to the manufacturer as well as the installer. I would reach out to both of them. I would reach out to them and raise the issue, explain it very clearly, send some photographs if you can, and see if they’re willing to do something about it, because I sense that the windows are not insulated very well, because that should not be happening. Okay. |
| 00:17:45 | CALLER: All right. Well, thank you so much for your help. Love your program. Listen to it every Saturday night. |
| 00:17:50 | TOM: Thank you so much, Steve. Good luck with that project. Well, one question we often get from listeners on this show is whether we can recommend a good contractor for a project. Well, we can’t always suggest a specific contractor. We can always suggest a specific pro, however. We can always explain how to find one who will do the job well anywhere in the country, and that’s where Angie comes in. |
| 00:18:10 | LESLIE: That’s right. You know, Angie and the Angie app are your one-stop shop to find, compare, and research local service pros, book home services, and request project quotes, and it’s all for free. |
| 00:18:22 | TOM: And today, we’re very excited to have the woman who started it all, Angie Hicks, with us. Welcome to the Money Pit, Angie. |
| 00:18:27 | ANGIE HICKS: Thank you. It’s great to be here. |
| 00:18:28 | TOM: You know, it is tough to find a contractor, and although I appreciate the fact that our listeners think that across our 465 stations that we have a mental index of all the great contractors in those areas. |
| 00:18:40 | LESLIE: We know everybody. |
| 00:18:41 | TOM: Of do. We certainly don’t, but it always gives us comfort to be able to send them to your site or your app to help find a good contractor. Why do you think it’s so difficult today? It feels like it’s more difficult than ever to find pros when you need one. |
| 00:18:56 | ANGIE: For one, you know, a lot of pros are small business. So, they may not have, you know, huge marketing budgets where they’ve got a billboard or signage or television ads or things like that that make it easy to find. So, you know, identifying them can be difficult at first, and then once you identify them, knowing if they’re an expert in the type of work that you want to have done becomes the next challenge. You know, do they have the experience installing asphalt roofs, or are they more a slate roof company? And going through all of those details. And as a homeowner, our home is small. It’s our biggest investment, and, you know, but there’s lots of things about a home that we may not know anything about, and, you know, but we want to make good financial decisions. So, how do we make that decision? And that was really why we started Angie’s List, which became Angie. You know, it was really to help homeowners figure out what companies are providing great service. So, based on feedback from real consumers who have used the company. So, you know, understanding that track record can really make a difference in being able to find the right pro for your job. |
| 00:19:57 | TOM: It seems like there’s a real need for a homeowner to be able to find the right pro for their I mean, you know, there’s a real shortage these days as well with kids that are going to college instead of going into the trade. You know, before I started my construction business, before I was a home inspector, and before I got on the radio, I was a shop teacher. And we don’t have shop classes anymore. And it wasn’t like every student was going to go into the trades. But most people learn what end of the hammer to hold with. You know, you bang with the metal end and not with the wood end. And now, you know, we don’t have that anymore. So, I feel bad sometimes from the young homeowners that call us because they don’t know what to do. They don’t have any knowledge in how to maintain a home and really turn to us for a lot of that information. Of course, turn to the internet, turn to the YouTube videos, which, of course, everything comes out perfect every single time when it’s a video, right? |
| 00:20:41 | ANGIE: Like, my favorite is going to the television shows that show kind of a complete remodel in a 30-minute show. And you’re like, not that easy. |
| 00:20:49 | TOM: Yeah, Leslie, you have a little experience with that, don’t you? |
| 00:20:53 | LESLIE: I’m like, that was the one complaint people would say to us when we would run into folks in the home centers. They’d be like, I don’t know. Like, you get so much done in a short amount of time, and I’m like, sure, it’s boiled down to 30 minutes for you, but it’s two to three days for us, and even that is pushing it. So, I think people really have an unrealistic expectation to how long things take, the skill level required, the tools required, and Tom’s right, you know, this sort of missing link of an education gap on this whole genre of skill set is detrimental to people. |
| 00:21:28 | ANGIE: It absolutely is, and Leslie, you bring up a good point, it’s advice I usually give for people who are thinking about DIYing, and I ask them to be very honest, like, do you have the tools, the talent, and the time to do the project, because those are the three key important components, and if you’re saying no to one of those, it’s probably best to leave it to a pro, but you all are right about the fact that we just have a labor shortage in the trades, and I think it does stem from less education early on and exposure to the trade that we saw, you know, a few decades ago, but it’s something we need to solve, and I think, you know, we did a recent survey with pros, what we found was, like, 90% job satisfaction rate. Like, that is a crazy high number, and it’s fantastic, and I think it comes from the, really, the intrinsic value in the, you know, of the work that they’re doing. It’s something they’re proud of, you know, they can drive by and say, hey, I put that kitchen in, or I installed that roof, plus the flexibility of being an entrepreneur, and, you know… And, you know, really kind of, you know, setting your time, setting your schedule, which can create a lot of satisfaction for folks. |
| 00:22:34 | LESLIE: Well, and it’s interesting, because the good ones are always super busy, so it’s super important that we’re able to help folks really understand who the good ones are, why they’re the good ones, and how to find them. And why they might be worth the wait. |
| 00:22:47 | TOM: That makes so much sense. Angie Hicks from Angie, thank you so much for spending some time with us here on The Money Pit today. Angie, really good to talk to you. Thanks for all the work that you’ve done to help… Thank you. …homeowners find contractors to do their jobs well. There are so many out there, and you are the key to connecting us with those pros when it’s time to take on a project. Angie Hicks, thanks again. You know, Leslie, I know that you love to decorate for Christmas. I was driving around town the other day… |
| 00:23:15 | LESLIE: Oh, no, somebody’s already for Christmas? |
| 00:23:17 | TOM: No, but what I saw was one of our local exterminators had a sign up. They were hiring help for holiday decorating. So these guys are smart. When it gets slow in the middle of winter, they… They basically hired themselves out as professional decorators for your house. But here’s what was shocking. They’re offering 35 bucks an hour for people to work for them. I’m like, wow, they must charge a lot to pay that kind of wage, huh? |
| 00:23:40 | LESLIE: And like, they climb up on your roof and they do everything so fast. I mean, I have my Christmas lights professionally put up every year. I used to do it myself. I used to climb up on the roof and run it along the gutters and try to get… And like, it was dangerous and stupid for me to be doing that as like a single parent. I was like, this is really dumb. Right. I also had a big desire to do the tree on the front lawn, like every branch like you see on Fifth Avenue in the city, like at Christmas time. And while I priced that out and that was way too much money, I did a smaller version of that plus the perimeter of the house. I own all the lights. They maintain everything. Like, it’s great. It’s definitely worth the price every single year. |
| 00:24:18 | TOM: Reach out to us with your questions at 1-888-MONEY-BIT. Two things will happen. Number one, you’ll get the answer to your home improvement question and get you moving on that project once again. Plus, you’ll get a chance to win spread rock granite stone coating from Daich Coatings. Now, this is an actual layer of rock and it can be applied to floors or walls so you can use it inside or out to resurface porches and steps and patios and walkways and even floors. It works in baths. It works in basements and more. It comes in seven colors. It’s worth $150. We’re going to send out a three gallon size to one lucky listener. So make that you. Call us now with your questions at 1-888-MONEY-BIT. That’s 888-666-3933. We’ll see you next time. Bye for now. Bye. Bye. Bye. |
| 00:25:00 | LESLIE: Bridget, Illinois is on the line. What is going on with that musty odor at your money pit? Tell us about it. |
| 00:25:05 | CALLER: Well, my crawl space is about a 15 x 15 foot area and it opens up into my basement that I bought an older home and the addition just has the crawl space. Okay. So, right now, it’s just dirt and I see some, they’ve laid some cardboard in there but I heard last week that cardboard breeds more and more people. |
| 00:25:27 | TOM: www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com |
| 00:26:57 | CALLER: www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com |
| 00:27:57 | TOM: www.audiocast.com .audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com |
| 00:28:09 | LESLIE: www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com www.audiocast.com |
| 00:28:27 | TOM: Subtitle you want to allow the window screen to dry completely before replacing it in the window. So don’t even think, by the way, about using a pressure washer. That’s a really bad idea. Because if the windows are closed and they’re still in the frames, you could actually damage them and the window behind them. |
| 00:28:42 | LESLIE: Now, you can put the screens back in or if you prefer you can store the screens during the winter months. You want to make sure that you keep them upright or flat and don’t lean them against anything or put anything on top of them. |
| 00:29:18 | TOM: www.audiocast.com Audio |
| 00:29:29 | LESLIE: in Arizona has got a log home that’s cracking up. What’s going on? |
| 00:29:33 | CALLER: What can we to fill that in and make that look better? |
| 00:29:43 | TOM: You can fill them in with there’s various types of wood filler out there that that you know can be colored and stained to match that, but I think you’re going We’re going to be chasing it over and over and over again, so you might want to proceed cautiously. |
| 00:29:55 | CALLER: Oh, wow. Okay. So there’s really no solution for it? |
| 00:29:59 | TOM: I think you’re better off kind of accepting that that’s what that’s supposed to do. I mean, it’s not like finished hardwood furniture or something. You know, it’s a log, so it’s supposed to have that rustic look to it. |
| 00:30:08 | CALLER: Okay. That’s kind of what my husband said, so… |
| 00:30:10 | TOM: Oh, you see? You should have listened to him, Nina. You just thought he was trying to get out of work, didn’t you? |
| 00:30:16 | LESLIE: Okay. Well, thank you very much. Jack in Chicago wrote in saying, I have bubbled walls and ceilings from a leak in my upstairs bathroom. The leak is fixed, but how do I repair that ceiling? |
| 00:30:27 | TOM: Ah, so glad that’s fixed. In terms of the bubbling, what you need to do, if it’s actually really saggy, because the water may have sat above that drywall for a while, what you’re going to have to do is cut out that bubbled section and replace it with a new piece of drywall. Now, if it’s not physically deformed, maybe just has a lot of stains on it, you can get away with just priming it. You need to probably prime the entire ceiling. Otherwise, you’re going to have a different type of sheen by painting over the area that’s primed versus not primed. But to avoid the situation next time, if you get a leak and you see it coming through that ceiling, you want to poke some holes in it, because if you poke holes in that ceiling, it’ll drain out and it won’t sit on top of that drywall and swell it. If you let that water drain, it will drain away, the drywall will not expand, and you’ll just be able to make that minor repair and then prime and paint, and you’ll be good to go. |
| 00:31:16 | LESLIE: Yeah, because when that bathroom ceiling gets rusted, really saturated like that, it becomes a much bigger problem. And also, it’s like just so yucky to look at, because let’s be honest, we’re not going to get to it like the second we notice this thing happens. You got to have to deal with it for a couple of days. So definitely perforate it. It helps it dry out. You’ll be so much more thankful with this extent of the repair you have to do. |
| 00:31:35 | TOM: Well, if you think a few leaves and twigs in your gutters are harmless, think again, regular gutter cleaning. Regular gutter cleaning is the single most important key to avoiding major and expensive home repairs. |
| 00:31:46 | LESLIE: Yeah, you know, by following these simple gutter cleaning tips, you can help avoid major and expensive home repairs. So first of all, safety first. If you’re not comfortable with heights or you’re not used to using tall ladders regularly, cleaning gutters probably isn’t a job for you. You can consider hiring a handyman who can help. If you decide to do the gutter cleaning job yourself, you want to watch out for hidden hazards like electric lines and bees’ nests. You also, when you’re cleaning the gutters, you want to use a ladder, you want to wear work gloves, have a hose. You clear the gutters beginning at one end and then move all the way to the other. And you always want to work from the ladder and not from the roof down. Now, if you do find that you have any loose gutter sections, now’s a great time to tighten them up. Do this as you go along. You can add gutter screws to help really keep it into the fascia. Great way to make sure it’s secure. Next, you want to spray the downspouts. You want to make sure that the end of the gutter spray, the hose that goes down the gutter spout, and make sure it’s clear. You want to spray it as best you can. If that spout is clogged in any way, you may need to take that spout apart to kind of clear it out. Once that spout is clear, you want to make sure that the water coming out of it sort of is discharging four to six feet away from the house. So if your gutter is too short on that downspout, you can extend it to get that water away from the foundation. Now, we just did this a few years ago and talk about life-changing is gutter guards. I mean, they are great. There’s a ton out there. There’s a lot of different gutter systems you can use. But once you’ve got your gutter system clean, everything’s adjusted, everything’s flowing correctly, think about installing gutter guards. This makes sure nothing kind of builds up, gets into the downspout, sits in the gutter. It’s really a game changer. And you want to make sure that you get the one that’s kind of more perforated than sort of a harsher screen because it doesn’t sort of macerate the leaves. It kind of just kind of brushes them off in the rain the other way. So definitely an awesome addition to your house. |
| 00:33:38 | TOM: We’ve got an article on MoneyPit.com that highlights all different types of gutter guard designs. And it helps to share some information on which ones work best and which to avoid. So you can check that out at MoneyPit.com. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time in the program, this is the time of year that many of us are taking on that last round of outdoor cleaning. And if that’s you, a pressure washer can make short work of that project. We’re going to share some advice on what to consider when purchasing one on the next edition of the Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:34:10 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:34:11 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:34:13 | 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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