#2458 – Managing Moisture: Dry Basement Tips | Buying Pressure Washers

Show Notes

On today’s show, we’re drying out damp basements with solutions for moisture problems. We’ll also share advice on choosing the best pressure washer. Plus, find out how to get all your DIY supplies in one place and save big! We’ll also answer calls on DIY projects, both big and small, so listen in!

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Podcast Transcript

Wet Basements: Manage moisture with 3 key strategies to prevent wet basements before they start.
Pressure Washers: Spray smart with tips for buying the best pressure washer.
DIY Shopping: Nail your next project with this one-stop source for all your DIY supplies.

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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00:00:00	ANNOUNCER: The MoneyPit is presented by FindTape.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
00:00:30	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:00:36	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:00:37	TOM: And we are here to help you take on the projects you want to get done around your house. What are you working on? It’s a beautiful fall weekend here in the Northeast where we are, and we hope it’s pleasant where you are. And fall, man, fall is the best time of year for working on your house because you can work inside. You can work outside. So we call it the Goldilocks season. It’s perfect no matter where you are. So if there’s a project you want to get done, reach out to us. We can lend a hand at 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974. Coming up on today’s episode, did all that summer and early fall rain find its way to places that it shouldn’t be, like maybe your basement? We’re going to have the easy solution. A drive-by car. We’re going to tie up those damp places.
00:01:21	LESLIE: And this is the time of year that you’re going to take on that last round of outdoor cleaning, and a pressure washer can make short work of that project. We’ve got advice to consider when buying one.
00:01:31	TOM: And are you tired of running all over town to find the right supplies you need for your DIY projects? We’ve got a solution that brings everything you need into one place. Plus, it could save you time and money.
00:01:41	LESLIE: But before we get to what we want to talk about, we want to hear what you want to talk about. So whether you’re planning a small decor project or you’re diving into a full-blown project, we have got you covered.
00:01:52	TOM: That’s right. From fixing leaks to sprucing up your spaces, we’re here to help every step of the way. So reach out to us right now with your questions. You can call us at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or better yet, for the fastest possible response, just go to MoneyPit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Your question will come right to us so we can get back to you. So let’s get started. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:16	LESLIE: We’ve got Rivela on the line who wants to talk about painting furniture. How can we help you with that?
00:02:19	CALLER: We just bought some outdoor furniture and we restored it by adding some spray paint to it. But it already started to chip in. It’s the outdoor spray paint. So before I paint it again and it’s the winter months coming, I don’t know what would be the best way to protect the furniture for the winter from it chipping even more.
00:02:38	LESLIE: All right. So you’ve already painted it and it’s just not holding up. Where are you located? Pittsburgh. Okay. So you’re going to get a colder winter. Are you able to store the furniture in a garage? Or do you have to store it outside?
00:02:49	CALLER: It has to be outside. There’s not enough room in the garage, unfortunately. Okay.
00:02:52	LESLIE: So if you can stack them or get them sort of clustered together, I would just put them with a furniture cover over them just to sort of help keep them from snow and ice and water just sitting on it all winter long. And then once the weather does warm up, I would sort of give them a good wire brush to sort of get away whatever’s chipping and cracking and then lightly sand or sand as much as you’re going to need to, to sort of even out those edges. And then once you get it to a nice feel, Krylon actually has a great spray paint. It’s called the Dual Superbond Paint and Primer. So it’s all in one product. And when it goes on, it really bonds to those hard to adhere to surfaces. It works really well on metal, even plastics. And it comes in a lot of fun colors, which is what I always find challenging when you’re dealing with spray paints. And we’ve had great results with it.
00:03:45	CALLER: Okay. Yeah. I’ll definitely get that brand to try. Maybe there’s a brand I’m using. Who knows?
00:03:48	TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:03:52	LESLIE: Mike in Ohio is on the line and needs some suggestions with heating a home in the event of a power outage. Welcome, Mike. Yeah.
00:03:59	CALLER: Yes, we do. Indeed. Because of the terrible winter weather, especially December, January, February is bad. So it’s three months and yeah, emergency sources and safe, especially safe sources of indoor heating. A little bit of a surprise. Yeah. Uh-huh. All right. We’ve got a lot of good news. We’ve got a lot of good news. All right.
00:04:22	TOM: Well, right now we’ve got a fire.
00:04:24	CALLER: We’ve got a fire. We’ve got a fire. No, I do not.
00:04:26	TOM: All right. So, let me just suggest then, that the safest indoor heating source is your furnace, which can be made operable through the installation of a standby generator. Do you run on gas? Yes.
00:04:42	TOM: So what we would recommend is that you invest in a standby generator Leslie just put one of these in I’m actually putting in in fact I met with the Kohler generator representative today to size one for my home I had a smaller one that actually got me through Hurricane Sandy speaking of natural disasters and now I’m ready to upgrade to a bigger one and I gotta tell you the prices have come down on them they’re very efficient and in in some cases depending on the size they will repower your entire house because if you lose power you know you’re going to be able to restore some heat maybe if you had something like a kerosene space heater but I’m not going to tell you that’s safe it’s not there’s thousands of fires that happen all the time every year because of things like that so I would recommend that you think about investing in a standby generator now you can either get one that covers the entire house or Kohler also recently had a line that came out that is as small as an 8k a 10k or a 12k generator so they have a smaller generator line a larger generator line all permanently installed standby so basically they come on automatically when the power goes out that is definitely the safest way to repower your house
00:05:57	CALLER: reheat your house in an emergency what would we do in the case that the furnace actually broke and say they couldn’t get apart through expedited mail for a day or two and worst case scenario you know we’re looking at 10 to 15 degrees below
00:06:13	TOM: zero you’re in trouble Mike because there is no space heater that is going to be able to heat that entire house you know you can have portable electric heaters you can have some kerosene heaters but you’re never going to get the same level and same of comfort you’re going to get in that house and frankly I doubt that that would ever happen you’d have to have a really oddball furnace because most furnaces have pretty standardized parts and it doesn’t take days or weeks to get them fixed
00:06:41	LESLIE: ok thank you hey you want to make our day we’ll go ahead and leave us a five-star review on apple podcast and we’ll be jumping for joy plus you guys your feedback helps us make the show even better for you just go to moneypit.com slash review now we’ve got Janice in Kansas on the line who’s got a question about grout what can we do for you today
00:07:01	CALLER: I had installed a porcelain tile it’s a heavy-duty tile so I used epoxy grout on the floor and all throughout the shower the floor is a ceiling the walls and what I’m wondering is do I need to seal it if I need to feel it what kind of
00:07:20	TOM: sealer should I use on an epoxy grout I don’t think you need to seal epoxy grout because the epoxy is going to prevent things from soaking into it it’s really
00:07:28	CALLER: the sand grouts that we want to seal well I’ve already noticed some discoloration and it was white grout and it’s already sort of a brownish tint oh is that right that’s probably water stains oh I’m sorry you’re going to have to do that Oh, okay. Yeah.
00:07:40	TOM: Usually it’s mineral salts that dry out, so try to wipe it down with a white vinegar solution, white vinegar and water. That might clear it up.
00:07:47	CALLER: Was that a good choice to use epoxy, do you think?
00:07:50	TOM: I think so, yeah. Absolutely. For a bathroom, perfect location for that.
00:07:53	CALLER: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. You have a good day now.
00:07:56	TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:08:00	LESLIE: David Alasky, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:08:03	CALLER: I’ve got a multifamily unit that I own, and I’m having trouble with the floor. The floor is a three-story building, the bottom floor being below ground level, sort of like a garden apartment. The windows are at level. The second and third floor, the floor is cement poured over, I think it’s plywood underneath it. But right inside the door, there’s a large area that’s completely shattered, and it dips down in sections maybe as much as an inch when you step on it. I’m just wondering how to repair this. Would I need to remove the whole floor?
00:08:38	TOM: What I think you’re describing is the fire retardant that is used in multifamily construction. So to repair this, what you need to do is to remove that surface that looks like concrete. I don’t believe it’s actually concrete. I believe it’s a product called Gypcrete, G-Y-P-C-R-E-T-E. It basically goes on as a liquid, and then it dries, and it looks like concrete, but it’s really a fire retardant. So you would tear out the old material. You’d repair the floor, which is obviously water damage being near a door, and then you would restore it with new Gypcrete to fill that area in. And if you do it in that order, you won’t disturb the fire retardancy of the floor construction, but you’ll get the solidity back that you’re losing because of the rot.
00:09:27	CALLER: And the Gypcrete would be the same thickness, because it’s almost two inches thick?
00:09:30	TOM: Yeah, you actually mix it up and you trowel it on. So you’d mix it to fit. Okay.
00:09:34	CALLER: And you say you’d have to repair the subfloor underneath it, so remove the plywood, go back to the joists, and lay new plywood. Exactly. Exactly.
00:09:42	TOM: Yep. That would be a standard construct, standard carpentry repair there, but you’re adding new Gypcrete on top of it to restore the fire protection. Okay.
00:09:50	CALLER: Excellent. That’s what I’ll have to do.
00:09:52	TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:09:56	LESLIE: Well, the basement is a tremendous source of extra space in homes that have one, but many homeowners just don’t utilize them as they could or should. Because there are leaks. Now, the good news is that in most cases, this is a really easy thing to fix. Yep.
00:10:11	TOM: So first, you need to maintain adequate gutters and downspouts. If you want to prevent a wet basement, it actually starts on your roof, which is really the main collection point for water during any rainstorm, big or small. Now, gutters need to be kept clean and clear of the debris that dams up water flow, or it’s going to send that water right where you don’t want it, up against your foundation, where it can leak into your crawl space or your basement. And if you don’t have a crawl space or basement, it can even saturate the slab and work its way up into your walls of the house. Yeah.
00:10:41	LESLIE: Now, next to your gutter problems, the angle of the soil around a foundation’s perimeter is the second major cause of having a wet basement. So that soil should slope away from the house so it doesn’t allow that water to flow back toward the house and then collect against the outer walls.
00:10:55	TOM: And lastly, don’t do anything to sort of trap water against the house. I used to find this all the time when I was a home inspector. For example, you might see brick or wood edging in place, and it’s too close to a home’s foundation and that like holds water against the building. It’s kind of like building a pool or a moat around your house. And the same thing happens if you have very heavily overgrown bushes and trees. So let that water run away and don’t retain it. Yeah.
00:11:18	LESLIE: You know, keeping your basement and your crawl spaces dry is surprisingly easy. You do not need to spend a ton of money on expensive sump pump systems. You just keep the water away from your home’s perimeter and let gravity do the rest. Yup.
00:11:31	TOM: And here’s one final point. If you really want to see why this is happening, next time you get a bad storm around your house, grab your umbrella, go outside, and look at what’s happening to all of that roof water. Are the gutters overflowing? Is the downspout cut off? Is it dumping water right back against the foundation? It’s so obvious when you go out in the rain to see what’s going on, and those are the problems that you need to fix. And if you do, that water will never end up under your house.
00:11:57	LESLIE: Steven in Arkansas, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today? I’ve got this porch.
00:12:01	CALLER: It’s got really, really old wood. I guess it’s about 15, 20 years old. Anyway, I cut it up to make a long, shorter porch. And I weather protected it about two years ago with Thompson Water Seal, which it did a job. It just turned pretty looking wood into ugly wood. And I water treated it. Now I’ve got my wood back, and I want to treat it again, but I don’t want it to go ugly on me.
00:12:27	TOM: You don’t want it to go ugly on you, huh? Right. You don’t want it to go ugly on you, huh? You don’t want it to go ugly on you, huh? Well, what kind of wood is the floor, Steven?
00:12:33	CALLER: I’m pretty sure it’s pine. Pine.
00:12:34	TOM: Okay. So what I would recommend you do is apply a solid stain to that floor. Because a solid color stain is going to have enough pigment in it where you’ll see the grain come through it, but it’s not going to wear off and go ugly on you, as you say. Solid color staining is what we use on decks. It’s also what we use on porch floors. It’s not like paint. It’s stained, but it’s going to show that grain. Okay.
00:12:59	CALLER: So I don’t need to water seal it after that?
00:13:02	TOM: You do not. It’s all built in. All right. So look for solid color wood stain, and that’ll do it.
00:13:08	CALLER: Oh, man. I appreciate that, because I was dreading it, you know, because, I mean, it’s just pretty to look at. It’s got nice, good textured wood, you know, and I just remember what happened, and I said, man, I just don’t want to do that again, you know? Yeah.
00:13:20	TOM: It’s a lot of work just to use the sealer and stop right there, because what happens is the UV radiation from the sun gets to it. It breaks down the wood fibers, and it starts to gray out on you. So if you use a solid color stain, and you can go right on top of what’s there now, just make sure it’s clean. You’ll be good to go. Yeah.
00:13:39	CALLER: We just got through pressure washing it. That’s what got all the tons of water still left. Yeah.
00:13:44	TOM: Just make sure it dries thoroughly before you stain it, okay?
00:13:48	CALLER: Hey, man. I appreciate y’all. I listen to y’all all the time. Y’all great.
00:13:51	TOM: All right. Thank you so much. Good luck with that project.
00:13:54	LESLIE: All right. Now we’re going to take a call from Tim in Arkansas. Who’s got some concrete issues with his patio in his garage. You know, maybe he wouldn’t have these problems if his friends didn’t help him with it. What’s going on, Tim?
00:14:06	CALLER: When it rains, it’s busting it and causing it to have holes in the concrete. And it’s just like it’s forging it away. And then I do have a four-inch slab, and the concrete is cracking.
00:14:23	TOM: All right. So the patio is a four-inch slab. The concrete is cracking. Are there a lot of cracks in it? Like, is it sincere? Like, is it sincere? Is it severely deteriorated?
00:14:29	CALLER: Well, no. But it’s like, I don’t know, it’s kind of like going to the center of the garage. And it’s like it started from the 8×8 pole. And it’s just kind of, you know, I don’t know, just cracking. I don’t know how deep it is, but it’s just kind of cracking all the way across.
00:14:49	TOM: So is the concrete slab inside the garage, or is it next to the garage? Right.
00:14:53	CALLER: Right. Yeah, it’s just inside the garage. It’s built over there.
00:14:55	TOM: So look, there’s no easy way to fix this. All you can do is seal the cracks and cut down the concrete. And then you can seal it down on the moisture that’s getting through there. Generally, when those slabs crack, it’s because there was some organic material underneath them that rotted away, or perhaps the soil wasn’t compacted enough when it was first installed. Replacing the slab is a project, not probably as big of a project as you might think, but it is a project. But unless it’s so cracked and so deformed that it’s causing, you know, a tripping hazard or some other concern like that, I wouldn’t do anything further than just sealing it and moving on. Okay.
00:15:27	CALLER: Well, yeah, well, it’s just, you know, like a hairline crack, yeah, you don’t think it’ll get any worse, do you?
00:15:32	TOM: It could, but, you know, it’s not unusual for these slabs to have hairline cracks.
00:15:38	CALLER: Okay, okay. I mean, it’s not bothering anybody. I just, you know, don’t know how deep it is or…
00:15:43	TOM: Yeah, I wouldn’t panic over it. It’s not a structural issue because the floor is basically just there to give you a surface to drive on. It’s not tied into the foundation of the house. Tim, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:15:58	LESLIE: Now, we’ve got Michelle in Washington on the line who’s dealing with some flooring adhesive. What’s going on?
00:16:03	CALLER: We have pulled up our vinyl off our concrete floor. We have a slab floor and want to replace it with tile, but we have the residue left from the vinyl being pulled up. I want to know the best way to get that up, there’s any kind of chemical or just boiling water. I know it’s going to be scraping, but I didn’t know what I could put on it ahead of time.
00:16:25	TOM: The adhesive goes down easy. It sure doesn’t come up that way.
00:16:28	CALLER: No, it doesn’t, and it’s probably been there for 20 years or so.
00:16:31	TOM: Yeah. Is it fairly smooth or is it lumpy?
00:16:35	CALLER: Oh, it’s fairly smooth. The vinyl came up, but it left the paper backing.
00:16:40	TOM: So, if it’s fairly smooth and it’s well adhered to the concrete, you might be able to just glue the tile down right on top of that, because I got to tell you, it’s really hard to get that adhesive up. It’s not like you could cover it with boiling water or vinegar or something like that. You might be able to use a citrus-based adhesive. Right. fabric remover. And that might help you a little bit, but if it’s already well adhered to the concrete slab, then I don’t see why you couldn’t go on top of it with the new tile mastic. Okay.
00:17:11	CALLER: I did that in my kitchen. I went right over the old tile, because it was very flat. But now I’m doing another area. It’s not a big area. It’s an entryway, but we’re doing a whole big room that includes the entryway and a ceramic plank. And I was concerned about the…do you use a different mastic? Because I understand what the ceramic plank You’re okay. I’m sorry. Okay. I knew what the plastic blank is.
00:17:34	TOM: You’re about to ask me about it a minute ago. Okay. Thank you so much. And you can talk to me about your topic, because I’m very
00:17:57	TOM: about it. There’s also a way to grind it off, but it’s expensive and you need some specialized equipment.
00:18:02	LESLIE: Great, I’ll try that. Thanks for taking my call. John in Minnesota, you’ve got the money, but how can we help you today?
00:18:08	CALLER: Yes, I have a sauna in my basement that I have to transfer over to a shower.
00:18:14	TOM: Okay, you want to convert it to a shower?
00:18:16	CALLER: Yes, and I’m wondering what I could put on those walls to dress it up, like some paneling or panels, or do I have to use
00:18:28	TOM: tile? Okay, well, first of all, before we talk about what you’re going to put on the walls, how are you going to drain this? Is there a drain below the floor?
00:18:36	CALLER: Yes, I have a cement floor and there’s a drain right in the middle of the in the room there.
00:18:41	TOM: Yes. Now, do you know if that drain is connected to the plumbing system of the house,
00:18:45	CALLER: or is it just a basic floor drain that perhaps goes outside somewhere? It is hooked up to the
00:18:51	TOM: my sewer system. All right, terrific. Well, that’s the hardest part. That’s solved. So now it just becomes sort of a decor question for you. And you say that this was a sauna at some point in time? Yes. So I guess the sky’s the limit here. I mean, what do you like? Do you like tile? Do you like solid surfacing materials like Corian? I mean, you can pretty much do anything at this point. You’re going to start with the floor, and you’re definitely going to put tile on the floor, I would think, and place that drain with a cover that’s built into the tile base. And then from there, you’re going to build it up. So you could do really anything you want to do at this point. You could put tile on those walls. You could put solid surfacing materials on those walls. Or if you want to keep it funky, you could leave it as wood. I’m presuming it’s probably cedar
00:19:36	CALLER: or some other type of moisture-resistant material. Well, the walls are that clay tile.
00:19:42	TOM: Oh, the walls are clay tile? So then it has to be covered. Yeah. So then the right thing to do here, if it’s basically sort of a raw surface right now, is you’re going to need to put in a shower pan to start with, and then build up the bathroom from there. Now, if you’ve already got walls that are sort of creating this, how big is the space that the sauna was in now? Eight by eight. Okay. Do you want an eight by eight shower? You want it to be pretty much a drive-in shower there? It’s a pretty big shower, but you want it to be that big?
00:20:09	CALLER: Well, I was going to probably have like 80% of it the shower. I wanted to put a double, like a double two-headed shower, or one on the, have a rain shower on top,
00:20:17	TOM: and one coming out the side, and then the other. Yeah, like a car wash. Yeah.
00:20:21	CALLER: Exactly. Then the other part, just kind of a drying area.
00:20:24	TOM: So, John, this sauna area, this eight by eight area, this is made of the terracotta clay tile? Yes. And I think you can glue a ceramic tile right to that with a good quality tile adhesive, as long as it’s fairly flat, because the tile’s not going to bend. But if it’s a flat surface, you should be able to adhere the tile right to it, since it’s already a water-resistant back, and pretty much go up from there. Now, the floor, you have to build up a shower pan, there, so you get good drainage down to the hole in the floor, so to speak. But once you get that established, I think you could adhere ceramic tile right to those terracotta walls, and go right from there. Now, make sure that you have ventilation in that space, you need an exhaust fan, of course, do all your plumbing ahead of time, and the last thing you’ll do is lay those tile walls in. Does that make sense? Okay. Yes, it does. All right, John, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, a pressure washer is a great way to do that. It’s a great tool to have for outdoor chores, not to mention the fact that it’s super fun to use. You can clean sidewalks, driveways, decks, siding, just to name a few. And if you don’t own one, though, it’s also a pretty good investment, because it’s something you’ll really find
00:21:33	LESLIE: you’re using on a regular basis. There are, you know, guys, though, a few things that you have to consider when you’re buying a pressure washer. The first is the water pressure itself. Now, a light-duty pressure washer with about 1,300 to, say, 2,000 PSI, or pounds per square inch, is going to give you about 20 times more pressure than what just comes out of your garden hose. And that’s great for things like your car, siding, a boat. If you need something a little bit stronger, you can choose a medium pressure washer that goes up to about 2,600 PSI, and that’s good for cleaning grease and grime. Heavy-duty pressure washers really are best used for stripping surfaces, because if you go with too much pressure, you could find yourself in trouble. So kind of really think about what
00:22:14	TOM: you’re using it for. Now, you also want to consider the gallons per minute, or GPM number, and the larger the GPM, the more pressure you’re going to be using. So if you’re using a lot of water, you’re going to want to think about the amount of water that you’re going to be using. And finally, think about price. Price is going to be a big factor. You can expect to pay anywhere from about 200 bucks to a couple thousand. You can go to our website at moneypit.com and search pressure washers to learn more about the key differences between those models.
00:22:38	LESLIE: Linda in Rhode Island is on the line and needs some help with winterizing the AC unit. What’s
00:22:42	CALLER: going on? Well, I was wondering if someone could give me this proper procedure to shut down the unit for the winter, because it was not successful last winterizing it, and I was wondering if someone could help do a lot better. Well, look, I did find out after a short break on that message or I ended up with a problem when I went to stat it up in the spring, so I thought perhaps I had not done something that maybe should’ve been done that I wasn’t aware of.
00:23:00	TOM: Probably just bad luck, Linda. You know, when you have an outside central air conditioning compressor, there’s really not much to be done in the winter, except that what we generally recommend is that you turn the power off to it, and then you cover the top of it. one thing you don’t want to do is cover the sides of it because you have to let moisture move in and move out. If you completely replace the condenser, you’re not going to get If you completely wrap it up, I’ve seen people completely wrap them up like a holiday package. Bad idea, because that traps a lot of moisture inside, can cause condensation and corrosion. You really just want to cover the top to kind of keep leaves out. But other than that, you just leave it exposed, and nothing
00:23:36	CALLER: should happen to it as a result of that. Oh, very good. Well, I certainly will follow that this year, because I did exactly what you said. I wrapped it up like a package,
00:23:45	TOM: thinking I was protecting it. And maybe that didn’t work out so well. So, yeah, I think you maybe gave it a little bit too much to it. So, just cover the top to stop the leaves from getting in, but leave the sides open so it can air out properly, okay? So, it can ventilate properly.
00:24:00	CALLER: Well, thank you, Emma, so much.
00:24:02	TOM: Linda, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:24:05	LESLIE: Brett in Rhode Island, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:24:08	CALLER: We have the 1890s Victorian home in Wakefield, gut rehab, put an 8×14 master bath in with Frank Lloyd Wright, arts and crafts, style tile in it. And there’s a shower in the corner that’s a step-in shower. And over the last eight years, because the plastic floor of the shower wasn’t supported, it started to crack from the flexing. And I’m not sure how I can take care of those cracks without ripping out all the tile
00:24:44	TOM: around the lip of the plastic floor of the shower. So, there is one way to do it, and it’s not real pretty, but you can do it this way. And that is that plastic base is made of fiberglass, and you can use a fiberglass repair kit and basically cover the split area with a fiberglass patch. And essentially, that means you’re going to put down resin, and then you’re going to put down fiberglass itself and press it into the resin. Once that dries, you’re going to put down more resin and then more fiberglass in it, and you’re going to kind of crisscross it. And essentially, you’re going to build up kind of a patch across that crack. Now, of course, that’s going to be painfully obvious, but maybe you don’t care about that. Maybe you’re thinking, I’d rather have a fiberglass. Maybe you’re thinking, I’d rather have it just be patched and watertight than have to tear out the tile. Because, yes, replacing that kind of shower pan will require that you remove that tile around the first 8 to 12 inches all the
00:25:34	CALLER: way around to be able to get that pan out. I’m not sure that it’s fiberglass. I think it might be just hard molded plastic. I got it at a big box store.
00:25:43	TOM: The only way to try to repair it is with fiberglass repair kit. And you can pick that up at an auto parts store. It’s like a body repair kit. And essentially, it’s just those two things. It’s basically the resin itself and the fiberglass material. It may have some sandpaper with it, but you’ve got nothing to lose. You might as well try it. I did it once in a house that I owned. Bought myself a year before I got around to tearing out the shower pan. It worked great.
00:26:07	CALLER: Okay. It’s a great idea.
00:26:09	TOM: Well, one question we get a lot here at The Money Pit is where to find quality supplies for DIY projects. We’ve got just the place for you, FindTape.com. Now, you might be thinking, isn’t that just for tape? Well, not anymore. FindTape is going to be a great place for you. tape has grown into a one-stop shop for all kinds of DIY, arts and crafts, sports medicine, and even cleaning supplies. So whether you’re working on a home repair or organizing your office, they’ve got what you need.
00:26:34	LESLIE: That’s right, Tom. With over 7 million rolls of tape sold and more than 6,500 products in stock, they’ve definitely come a long way from just selling tape. And they carry some of the biggest and most trusted brands like 3M, Duck, Gorilla, and Command. And they’ve even got specialty items like Swingline staplers and Fiskars shears, all things that you wouldn’t expect from a store called FindTape.
00:26:57	TOM: And for the pros out there, FindTape.com is also great because their website offers detailed product information, including bulk pricing and data sheets. Plus, most orders ship the same day, even custom-sized tape. And that kind of service is hard to beat.
00:27:12	LESLIE: Yeah, and they even have a real-time service. They have a reward program that gives you points on every order, which you can use to save on future purchases. With over 20% of their business coming from repeat customers, it’s clear that people love the service and the quality.
00:27:25	TOM: So whether you’re sealing up an attic or crafting a project, FindTape.com has got you covered. Head on over to FindTape.com and stock up on supplies for your next project. And hey, Money Pit listeners will also receive 10% off your first purchase when you use the promo code Money-Pit. That’s FindTape.com. And you can get your first purchase for connecting everything. Make sure to use that promo code Money-Pit to save 10%.
00:27:49	LESLIE: Wendy and Georgia, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:27:51	CALLER: I have two drafty doors, and we opted to use the peel-and-stick foam insulator. Okay. And it didn’t work that well. And it just created more of a gap, it seemed like. It just didn’t work at all. And I’m just wondering what kind of solution can we use instead of the peel-and-stick filter?
00:28:12	TOM: So when you say the peel-and-stick foam, you mean when the doors close, you get drafts that come through them, and you use the peel-and-stick weather stripping? Yes. Do you want to operate these doors in the wintertime?
00:28:25	CALLER: Mm-hmm. Definitely.
00:28:26	TOM: And what kind of doors are they? What are they made of? Are they metal doors, or are they…
00:28:29	CALLER: It’s a metal door.
00:28:31	TOM: So it’s an old metal sliding glass door.
00:28:34	CALLER: No, it’s a regular door. It’s just, and it goes out to our patio, but it’s not a wood door. It’s made of metal.
00:28:41	TOM: Oh, it’s a metal door. It’s a regular metal door. Yes. Are the drafts coming in around the sides and top of the door, or are they coming under the door?
00:28:48	CALLER: Under the door and on the sides, right where the door locks.
00:28:52	TOM: If the door is out of alignment, in other words, if you close the door and it doesn’t evenly strike the jam all the way around, it’s going to be almost impossible to get a seal from that type of weather stripping. It’s got to strike the weather stripping and then compress it a little bit to give you the seal. Now, I would take a look very carefully, closing that door, like, you know, open and close it from the outside, bringing it to where it just starts to touch the jam, and see if it strikes evenly all the way around. If it doesn’t strike evenly, then you need to adjust the door, and that’s usually done by moving the door jam one way or the other to get it to basically hang better so that it will strike evenly. In terms of the door at the bottom… The door saddle might be replaceable, or in the alternative, you could do something that’s probably even easier and less expensive, is you could put a door sweep on the bottom of the door. Now, a sweep attaches to the face of the door, and it basically goes right down to the floor. It looks kind of like broom-like. It has bristles that are really tight together, and that actually will help a lot of the breeze that’s coming through and under the door. Okay. And then, of course, you could always go with a storm door, and that’s another way to approach the whole thing. Okay?
00:30:07	CALLER: That sounds perfect.
00:30:09	TOM: Let’s talk about that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:30:13	LESLIE: Lizzy from Upstate New York reached out to Team Money Pit saying, My house was built in the 1960s, and there are no exhaust fans in the bathrooms. I would like to put up crown molding in there, but is it going to swell from the moisture? Is there a certain type of molding I should be using?
00:30:28	TOM: So let’s first address the issue of no exhaust fan in the bathrooms. You know, most building codes require either an exhaust fan in the bathroom…
00:30:37	LESLIE: Or a window.
00:30:38	TOM: Or a window.
00:30:39	LESLIE: And that does not do the same thing. Like, do people not realize this?
00:30:42	TOM: And it’s okay if you live in Florida or South Carolina or Texas, where it doesn’t quite get as bitterly cold as it does here in the Northeast. Yet, there are towns in the Northeast that have no exhaust fans, but they’ve got windows and we’re expecting for people to open those windows, which makes no sense. So if you don’t have an exhaust fan, my first advice would be to try to figure out how you can install one. You can run that vent a number of feet. If it’s a second floor, it’s really easy. If it’s first floor, it could go right out of the exterior wall with a good damper on the outside. It won’t let cold air get back in, but exhaust fans are really, really important. Now, in terms of the molding itself, certainly with crown molding and many other types of molding, you can purchase it made from wood, which is of course expensive and frankly difficult to put up, especially if you’re not a really good carpenter, because you have to cut compound angles. A better option is to use the foam moldings, usually made of some type of extruded foam, much like some of the other exterior trim products. Now, with the foam products, you simply put this up there with construction adhesive, and it sticks in place. And of course, because it’s foam, it looks like wood. If I were you, I’d be like, oh, it looks just like painted white sort of primed wood. You can paint it any color you want, but it’s really easy to put up. It’s really easy to cut. They use special blocks in the corner, so you don’t have to worry about cutting compound angles, and it looks really attractive.
00:31:59	LESLIE: that’s a great option for you. All right. Next up, we’ve got Sarah in Virginia who writes in, I’ve never cleaned out my gutters in the 12 years that I’ve lived in my home. There’s not a whole lot of trees around, but my gutters and roof are unusually high and very difficult to reach. The last big rainstorm, I noticed sheets of water falling from the gutter onto one side of my home. What could be causing this, and what is the best
00:32:20	TOM: way to clear it considering the difficulty of reaching the gutters? So you haven’t cleaned your gutters in 12 years. I think it’s timeless. As we’ve seen over the years, it’s not only leaves that get in the gutters. I mean, you can have kids in a neighboring yard that just happen to hit a tennis ball up there or stick a toy that they’re fooling around with and throw up on the
00:32:39	LESLIE: roofs. I mean, we’ve seen all sorts of crazy reasons that gutters will clot. Lots of things
00:32:43	TOM: find their way into those downspouts. It happens. Yeah. So you definitely need to clean this. And if you’re saying that you don’t have a lot of trees, you don’t have to clean often, I’d say you better hire a pro to do that. Don’t get up there yourself. I mean, if you’re only doing this once a decade, then what’s the big deal? I would definitely get a pro up there to make sure that gutter is totally clean. It would not overreact. I would just get it done. Now, by the way, in the house I lived in, I didn’t clean my gutters for the last 10 years, but for an entirely different reason. The reason was I had lots of trees, but I had the forethought to put in a large gutter. Most gutters are five-inch gutters. They’re called K-style gutters. I put in the six-inch side. And by doing that, I had much bigger spouts that had a big opening at the top and they just didn’t clog. And so I haven’t had to clean them out in over a decade.
00:33:27	CALLER: That is very clever. It’s like, I feel like you skirted the system there a little bit.
00:33:31	TOM: Crack the code. You This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at moneypit.com. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:40	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:33:41	TOM: As you look around your house, we know there’s projects you’d like to get done. Remember, you can reach out to us 24-7 at 888-Money-Pit or by going to moneypit.com-slash-ask. We hope that we’ve given you a tip or two to help make your home improvement projects more successful. And if not, let us know exactly what you need and we will handle it on the next edition of The Money Pit. For now, that’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:34:03	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:34:04	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
00:34:06	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.)