#2454 – Cooking Light: Kitchen Lighting Tips | Insulate Against Energy Loss

Show Notes

In this home improvement episode, get bright ideas for kitchen lighting, learn how to stop energy loss with efficient insulation, and find ways to reduce pet odors in your home. Plus, hear expert answers to lots more DIY questions to create your best home ever!

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Top Questions & Answers
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript

Kitchen Lighting: Brighten up your cooking and dining with attractive and efficient kitchen lighting.
Insulation: Stop wasting energy by choosing the right insulation for your home.
Pet Odors: Enjoy tail-wagging snuggles that pass that sniff test with 7 tips for reducing pet odors.

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	ANNOUNCER: Money Pit is presented by RumbleStone by PaveStone and Super Flapper by Fluidmaster. Now here are Tom and Leslie.
00:00:33	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:00:40	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. Can’t believe it’s October. It’s a great time to do projects around the house. It’s not too hot. It’s not too cold. You can work inside. You can work outside. It’s still far enough away from the holidays where you can actually get something done before all of your friends and family show up. But whatever’s on your to-do list, we can help you get it done. So call us right now at 1-888-Money-Pit because that’s what we do. 888-666-3974. Coming up on today’s episode, is your kitchen feeling a little dim? Well, we’ve got the bright ideas you need to transform your space with our top kitchen lighting tips just ahead.
00:01:15	TOM: And if you’d like your home to be more energy efficient, one of the first things you need to do is stop wasting the energy you’ve already got. Insulation is the key to doing just that. So we’re going to share some tips.
00:01:26	LESLIE: And you love your pets, but not the odors? Well, we hear you. We’re going to share expert tips on how to keep your home smelling great while still being a very cozy space for you and your pets.
00:01:36	TOM: All right, so let’s get started. From gardening to garages, we are here to help you create your best home ever.
00:01:43	LESLIE: So call us right now. That number again is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or for the quickest possible response, go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue. Microphone button. Let’s get started. Leslie, who’s first?
00:01:58	TOM: Bella from Bristol, Virginia, is joining us here at the Money Pit. What’s going on at your house?
00:02:03	CALLER: We stained our deck with a solid stain a year ago and not long into the year, the stain started coming up or chipping. So is there a reason for that? And how can you prevent that?
00:02:16	LESLIE: That’s too bad. You know, was this deck new when you did this?
00:02:20	CALLER: No, no. It’s about 20 years old.
00:02:23	LESLIE: Normally, the reason that happens is because the deck was too wet when the stain was put down. If it was damp and not fully dried out. And, you know, staining decks is tricky because you really got to work with the weather, right? I mean, it can’t be too hot because then the stain actually dries too quick. But if it’s damp, even sometimes like the fall and the spring, you know, it’s hard to get that right time. You’ve got to have a good full day or two of sunshine for it to be right to take that. So at this point, what I would do, unless it really comes down to it, I would do a good full day or two of sunshine for it to be right to take that. And if it’s not coming off in sheets, is what I would do is I would occasionally, you know, every two, maybe three months is I would scrape off the loose spots and then just touch it up and kind of just nurse it along that way. Because, unfortunately, the only real solution here is to strip it all off. And that’s just a big project. And if it’s not coming off in big sheets, I would try to nurse it along.
00:03:12	CALLER: Yeah, it’s not coming off in sheets.
00:03:14	LESLIE: We do get those calls as well. Okay.
00:03:16	CALLER: All right. Well, I appreciate it.
00:03:18	LESLIE: You’re welcome. Sorry we didn’t have better news for you, but that’s the best thing to do right now.
00:03:22	TOM: All right. Time to talk foundation. Foundations with Randy from Missouri. What’s going on at your money pit?
00:03:26	CALLER: A few months ago, I had my foundation jacked up from underneath, and they did a good job, in my opinion. What they recommended me doing is sealing the entire foundation and even sealing the vents. And my vents were the biggest question. They want to seal off all my vents.
00:03:46	LESLIE: So, look, first of all, I hope that these guys were engineers and not just people that are in the foundation repair business, because there’s a lot of guys out there that are, you know, they’re just foundation repair people, and they don’t know as much as engineers. And frankly, in my opinion, a lot of them shouldn’t be doing the repairs they’re doing. But aside from that issue, your question is really about moisture. And sure, a crawl space is going to have dampness, and a basement’s going to have dampness to it. What they’re talking about is to seal the entire foundation and vents from the inside. That’s an approach. I don’t know if it’s necessary for you. If you want to reduce the moisture that’s down there, there’s some very basic things that you can do that will accomplish that. First of all, you would put down, and this is a dirt foundation, a dirt floor?
00:04:30	CALLER: A dirt floor, yes.
00:04:31	LESLIE: Okay, so what you’re going to want to do is put down a plastic vapor barrier, and as few seams as possible, basically cover the entire floor with plastic sheeting that you’d buy at a home center. And buy the thick stuff, because it’s easier to work with, and just overlap it. And then, once you’ve done that, the vents should be open except for, say, November through January. Okay. Okay. And then, what you want to do is reduce the amount of moisture that gets down there in the first place. And for that, you’re going to go outside and look up at your roof line and your gutters. They’ve got to be clean. They’ve got to be free-flowing. If you can get out there in a really nasty rainstorm and see what’s happening with water that’s getting into those gutters, you want to see all of it coming out those downspouts and not overflowing in any way, shape, or form. If we know the gutters are working really well, then we look at the downspouts, because typically, most downspouts are discharging within a few days. If you’ve got crawl space moisture, you want to get those out four, five, six feet. So, you get some leader material at the home center, attach it to the end of those downspouts, do a good job, screw the sections together, and then that water will discharge away from the foundation and not find its way back into that crawl space area. And lastly, take a look at your grading. If the soil around the house is flat or if it’s retaining water, because sometimes we do things like have landscape borders and things like that. The goal here, Randy, is to move the water away from the foundation through all the methods that we suggested. And it’s as simple as that. If you do that, that will do a lot to reduce the humidity and the moisture in that crawl space. If you want to do one more thing, you could put in a crawl space dehumidifier. I got one down in my crawl space. It’s made by Santa Fe. It’s not the kind that sits on the floor with the bucket that has to be emptied. It basically hangs off like a sort of an ingenious suspension system. It’s not the kind that sits on the floor with the bucket that has to be emptied. It’s not the kind that sits on the floor with the bucket that has to be emptied. It’s designed with their systems and it hangs from the underside of the floor joists, actually. So when it comes on, the vibration doesn’t bother you or anything and does a good job. And then that just pumps right outside. So those are the sorts of things I would do rather than seal the entire foundation at this point.
00:06:37	CALLER: Okay, thank you, Neb.
00:06:38	TOM: Hey, you want to support our podcast and help us grow? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and we’ll be forever grateful. Plus, you’ll be helping other homeowners discover our show. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review.
00:06:52	LESLIE: Hey, here’s a great solution to an annoying problem. Have you ever had a toilet just start to run or ghost flush on you? Well, if that’s the case, the reason it’s doing is because the flapper is leaking. Well, Fluidmaster is out with a new product called the new Super Flapper. It stops noisy running toilets from wasting water and flushing your cash down the drain. It’s easy to install. It retails for $14.98, but we’re going to give away three, a package of three to one. One lucky listener that calls us with their home improvement question. So do that right now at 1-888-Money-Pit.
00:07:26	TOM: All right, let’s head down south to the Sunshine State where we’ve got Judith in Florida on the line. What’s happening?
00:07:32	CALLER: Hey, well, I’ve got a house that was, it’s an old Florida house. It was built in 1958 and the original owners were, I guess, more on the high end of lifestyle. So I was told by many contractors that that happened. The house was built with all of the best materials. The problem is terrazzo floors. I don’t know. That’s what they put down in airports now. They’re very expensive and they’re super durable. Yeah, sure. But I found, I found a fracture, hairline fracture, and it started having some kind of moisture come up through the hairline fracture. Not, it doesn’t go throughout the house. It’s just in this one section. But it comes up. And it’s, I’ve tried to call companies that can do like, like I wouldn’t call it water testing or laboratory testing to see what it is. I’ve called, you know, I just reached out to every aspect. And I heard you guys on the radio. There’s a moisture coming up and it doesn’t, it’s not, it doesn’t come like dry and fuzzy and cobwebs like someone said it was something. But it’s like. It’s like. It’s like, I’m going to put you off, take you off. It comes up like a, an oily substance and it almost smells like vinegar, very mild. And, and when you touch it, it has like a little bit of an oily substance feeling and it’s not like it pours out. It comes up and it’s, and over a period of time, it’ll like, I’ll wipe it down and it comes up like the size of a, it’ll pull up like a quarter.
00:09:14	LESLIE: Here’s what I think is going on. The reason you have the stain. This moisture. You’re coming up where the crack is because that’s the path of least resistance. I don’t think that there’s any kind of leak directly under it. I think there’s probably leaks or not leaks, but there’s probably high moisture under the entire house. But wherever you have a void, it’s going to find its way up. So there’s two ways we can address this. One is we could try to reduce the amount of moisture you have around your house. And that’s actually fairly straightforward. And it involves looking at the angle of the soil at the perimeter, making sure soil slopes away. But, but since Florida soils. Tend to be more sandy and very porous, the more, the more important thing to do would be to look at your gutter system and make sure that there’s no gutters discharging anywhere near that area. So if the gutter is clogged, if the downspout is not run at least four or five, six feet away from the foundation, if you can keep that first few feet around the house dryer by managing that roof water through the gutters, there’ll be a lot less water to push up into where that crack is. And then the second thing is you could potentially. Sealed that crack. I’m not sure exactly what product I would recommend for that, but I think if it was me, I’d try to clean it real well, let it dry real well. Is the crack open at all?
00:10:30	CALLER: It’s a hairline, like, so you can’t, um, I mean, it’s, it’s literally a hairline.
00:10:37	LESLIE: I’d probably try to seal it. I’m not quite sure what product I would do. I’d probably experiment with something, but I, I think what I would do is I’d probably try, I’d try taking a little silicone and I’d rub it in. Into the crack to see if I can push it down into the crack a little bit and seal that crack off just a tad. And then you can wipe it off the surface, um, with, uh, with, uh, like a mineral spirits dinner. It will take any excess silicone away, but do it sort of like in a dry fashion. In other words, don’t put too much mineral spirits or wash it out. I think I might try a little silicone in that crack and see if I can seal it off or slow it down. That plus improving the, the, uh, amount of water that collects at the foundation perimeter, I think will make a difference because generally, you know, we’ve seen cracks. We have little geysers show up, like in the middle of a house that’s built, like on a slab and it turns out it’s a downspout, downspout 20 feet away that was just misdirected or dumping too much water near a part of the foundation and found its way in and the pressure forces to come up in that area. So I think usually when you have a crack and you have water, that’s what causes it. Thank you so much. You’re welcome. Good luck with that project.
00:11:38	TOM: Well, you know, when it comes to kitchen design, one element that often gets overlooked is lighting, but it’s actually one of the most crucial aspects of that kitchen design. Right. A well-lit kitchen is not only going to look amazing, but it also makes cooking and entertaining so much easier. So today we’re going to dive into some bright ideas for kitchen lighting that can really transform your space.
00:12:00	LESLIE: That’s right. And the key to good kitchen lighting is layering. You don’t just want one type of light. You want a combination that covers all your needs. So let’s break it down. First, you need to have your ambient lighting. This is your general task lighting. Think of it as the foundation. Recess lights are a great option. And don’t forget about dimmers so you can control the mood. Absolutely.
00:12:21	TOM: But you can’t forget about task lighting also because this is what really helps you see what you’re doing when you’re chopping, cooking, reading those recipes. Under cabinet lights are perfect for this because they shine right onto the countertop and that’s where you actually need the light the most.
00:12:36	LESLIE: And then there’s accent lighting, which is kind of like the jewelry of your kitchen. It adds that extra sparkle. So think about pendant lights over an island or inside glass front cabinets. These not only highlight certain areas, but they also add a little bit of extra sparkle to your kitchen. But they also sort of add a touch of style and some personality to your kitchen, too. Exactly.
00:12:52	TOM: And, you know, speaking of style, don’t be afraid to mix and match different fixtures. A combination of metal finishes or even styles can absolutely add some visual interest. And then that goes and makes your kitchen feel more cohesive.
00:13:04	LESLIE: Now, another tip is to think about your kitchen’s color palette when you choose your lighting. If you have a lot of cool tones like blues or grays, you might want to go with warm lighting to kind of balance it out and vice versa. Yeah.
00:13:16	TOM: And don’t forget about energy. Energy efficiency. You know, LED bulbs are a fantastic choice. They last longer. They use less energy than traditional bulbs. Plus, they come in a variety of color temperatures, so you can really customize the feel of your space.
00:13:29	LESLIE: So whether you’re remodeling or maybe just looking to update your kitchen’s look, paying attention to your lighting can make all the difference. It’s a really small change that can have a huge impact.
00:13:38	TOM: That’s right. And remember, lighting isn’t just about function. It’s about creating a space that feels welcoming and beautiful. So get creative. KitchenShine.
00:13:48	LESLIE: For more tips on kitchen lighting and other home projects, head on over to our website at MoneyPit.com.
00:13:55	TOM: Heading out to Rhode Island, we’ve got Stuart on the line. What’s going on in your money pit?
00:13:59	CALLER: I’ve got about a 3,000-square-foot home. And when I built the house, I put a hot water heater in the basement. Just one hot water heater for the whole house. It’s more to one side of the house than the other, so obviously I’m getting hot water pretty quickly. I went in, I’m the other end, and it takes forever. I’m wondering how I can split that up. Should I install another regular hot water heater on the other side of the house? Right now, I have an electric one on a timer. Or should I put in a Tinkles hot water heater, or is there some other way to go to put in hot water on the other side of the house?
00:14:29	LESLIE: So, yeah, the problem you’re describing is common, and you have diagnosed it correctly. It’s a matter of the time or the speed or the distance that water has to travel. And if you have the water heater, you know, in the middle of the house and your bathroom’s on the end of the house, you’ve got to wait for that hot water to make its way through the pumping system before it starts to warm up. Now, the two options are, yes, you could put a second water heater nearer that half of the house, and that will shorten the distance, and a tankless is a good option for that. The other option, though, is to use a hot water recirculating system. Check out those by Watts, W-A-T-T-S. The Watts hot water recirculating system consists of a pump that basically will take that hot water line and rotate or circulate the water through it between the water heater, and the fixture, and it does so on a timer. So, for example, if you’re usually waiting for water for that first early morning shower, you can have the recirculator come on, you know, a half hour before that and warm up the water so that when you turn the faucet on, it gets hot right away, and then go off after that, because you don’t want it to run all the time for two reasons. Not only does the recirculating pump use electricity, but the water heater does as well. If it’s electric or if it’s gas, it’s got to run more often to keep that water warm. So, check out the hot water recirculating systems. By Watts, I think that’s a good solution in this particular situation.
00:15:52	TOM: All right, now we’re going to talk to Cindy, who’s got a question about a mysterious toilet ring. What’s going on?
00:15:56	CALLER: We’ve got a strange thing that I clean the bathrooms and clean the toilets, and within about three days of cleaning the toilets, both toilets in the house come up with a residue around the water ring, and it looks like dirt. I’ve never had dirt come up to a water ring in my toilets before. I’m wondering if there’s a problem with that. I’m wondering if you might have an idea of what the source is of this.
00:16:21	TOM: Hmm. Now, Cindy, I’ve never heard of dirt. I mean, I’ve heard of getting a ring because the water is sitting there. Perhaps it’s not a toilet that’s used very often. But if you do have a toilet that just needs constant cleaning, and I sort of went this route because I have boy children who are gross in the bathroom, I got a Vormax Plus. This is American Standard. A Vormax Plus toilet, and it sort of has a built-in cartridge that you put in, and it’s got like a Lysol-based cleaner, so it freshens the toilet but also sends out this kind of oxygenated foam every time you flush, and it kind of scrubs the toilet on its own. It gives you a leg up on cleaning everything, and that may do the trick. I mean, otherwise, Tom, could it be something that’s decaying in the tank, maybe something with like the ball valve or something?
00:17:09	LESLIE: I mean, I guess it’s possible, but I think the Vormax is a good idea. It’s sort of a self-cleaning toilet, and I think in this case, that’ll make it go away. I don’t know. I don’t know if you’ve ever used another type of commercial bowl cleaner, but you could try that as well if you don’t want to change the toilet out, but I like the fact that with Vormax, you basically just dumped into the bowl every time you flush. Of course, the downside of that is you have to keep, you know, ordering them and replacing them, but I think that’s a great option.
00:17:34	TOM: I mean, I do get the packs of the insert cartridges like a six-pack online, so it’s like I’ve always got them sticking around. All right, now we’re going to chat with Jim, who’s dealing with a problem with a cracked wall. What’s the problem, Jim?
00:17:47	CALLER: problem with a brick wall behind my garage, long back wall with a vertical crack that’s six feet long, separating a quarter to three-eighths of an inch, and I need to know how to diagnose it or find out what’s really going on behind that, whether to seal it or get a contractor.
00:18:08	LESLIE: Well, Jim, if you have a crack that’s open three-eighths of an inch, that’s a lot on a vertical crack, so we need to know, first of all, whether it’s active or not. Active meaning is it’s still getting bigger, or is it just something that happened and sort of settled down? Why it happened? There could be lots of reasons. There could be debris in the soil that rotted away that often happens around garages where they leave construction debris that gets buried by soil, and when it deteriorates, the soil will sort of settle in and cause voids, and that causes some movement. It could be a drainage problem. I don’t know, but we’ve got to know whether it’s active or not. If it’s not active, then it could be sealed just to keep water. But if it is active, then you might need a structural repair. Unfortunately, while a lot of contractors will claim to have the expertise to do this, only a structural engineer can really give you the accurate advice that you need, especially when it’s something of a severe nature like this now. So I would suggest that you hire a structural engineer to evaluate it, and based on that advice, make the repair or have a contractor make the repair so you know it’s done right.
00:19:12	TOM: Well, if you’d like your home to be more energy efficient, the first thing you have to do is get a water pump. The first thing you have to do is stop wasting the energy that you’ve already got. So let’s talk about insulation because that’s what’s key to doing just that. Now, roughly 40% of the average home’s energy usage is attributed to heating and cooling, so anything that you can do to lower the amount of energy that your HVAC system uses is definitely going to help lower those costs. Now, insulation is your home’s best defense against high heating and, of course, high cooling costs. It’s going to keep the heat from escaping your home, but it can also seal those water pipes, and it’s going to keep the heat from escaping your home, but it can also seal those water pipes. It can also seal those air leaks to make sure your HVAC system isn’t wasting energy by pumping air outside.
00:19:52	LESLIE: Now, when choosing insulation, you have a few options. Fiberglass is a great option, and now we have the pink next-gen insulation from Owens Corning, which makes it really easy to use this material. It’s not nearly as hard to work with as it had been in the past. Other options are loose-fill fiberglass, and for that, you can rent an Atticat machine from Owens Corning and do that yourself, and for that, you can rent an Atticat machine from Owens Corning and do that yourself, or of course, you could also hire a pro for all of these things. And then cellulose insulation is still out there and still popular it’s made from recycled materials which makes a nice environmentally friendly option but
00:20:24	TOM: that needs to be installed by a pro. Now spray foam is going to be the most modern type of insulation and as that name suggests it’s sprayed onto the walls where it then rapidly expands to fill every nook and cranny and spray foam isn’t going to sag or slide down over time like other insulation materials can and it also improves your home’s air quality because it reduces outdoor
00:20:45	LESLIE: allergens and pollutants. Yeah we use spray foam to insulate our very very old home and it made an amazing difference in the energy efficiency. If you’d like to see more how we use spray foam and what the options are with other types of insulation we have a complete insulation guide on our website so just check out
00:21:03	TOM: the Money Pit Guide to Insulation. It’s on the homepage right now. Heading out to Wisconsin, Char’s got a decorating question, well dilemma here, what’s going
00:21:11	CALLER: on? In our living room, kitchen, and hallway leading down to the bedrooms we have laminate which is a kind of a golden oak color. I don’t know what to put in the bedrooms which go in to open up into the hallway. I want to put a brown because we don’t want to put the same thing we can’t find it from the rest of it and my husband wants to put gray. Can
00:21:36	TOM: you tell us what would be best? We’re going to do a vinyl. All right with that golden tone whoa I hate that golden tone I’m so sorry to say it because I’m sure it’s all over your house and you love it but it’s to me it’s always a difficult challenge because the golden has like these weird warm tones but then still some sort of like yellow hint to it so trying to match something to it or coordinate with can be challenging. On one hand I like the idea of a gray but it’s got to be the right gray it has to be sort of in that same warmish family with maybe some brown undertones that they won’t clash but will kind of blend together and also depends if that golden tone of yours is on the warmer side or on the cooler side I mean you really have to get a sense of that color. I don’t love the idea of the golden with a darker tone I feel like there’s nothing in that dark tone of wood flooring that kind of picks up any of that. That said maybe it’s not a wood look floor at all maybe it’s a tile maybe it’s a carpet maybe it’s you know something different but the golden is
00:22:40	LESLIE: always challenging. What do you think Tom? I agree with you I think that sometimes that golden gets really too bright and it is hard to pull it down and gray I kind of like the gray idea but only it has those wood tones in it those warm wood tones it’s gonna blend it. What you really have to do here is go to your flooring supplier you can go to a store like LL Flooring and get some samples and lay them in there against that golden color that you love so much and I think the answer will become apparent once you put enough samples in front of it you’ll get a real good feel for what the possibilities are. If you happen to have some of that existing golden flooring even better yet you can go to the store and hold your current floor against a bunch of different options and that you know you said you wanted to go with vinyl I think that’s a great choice today you have so many different extruded vinyl plank products luxury vinyl plank products they’re just absolutely beautiful super durable and take a look at the Duravana which is a type of stone hybrid also 100% waterproof super durable product and very very affordable that you’ll find in LL Flooring and I think once you find the one that has the right sort of connection with that golden floor you have right now you’ll be all set and you’ll both be happy. Hey guys if you have a toilet that’s been a hassle for you because it’s noisy it runs it’s wasting lots of water we can solve that with today’s giveaway we’ve got a set of three super flappers from Fluidmaster it is a new flapper valve that does an amazing job on both two inch and three inch toilets and it fits just about every toilet imaginable and includes a new water adjustment feature that allows you to customize the water level in your tank to maximize your flush and save water super easy to install Fluidmaster is the best at doing videos to help homeowners install replace the valves inside the toilets it really is a pretty easy plumbing project and you can check that out at Fluidmaster.com but we’ve got a set of three going out to one listener drawn at random so make that you can update all the toilets in your house the number again is 1-888-Money-Pit 888-666-3966 747-4433
00:24:43	TOM: well if you’ve got pets you definitely love the snuggles the playtime and of course all the joy they bring but maybe not the odors that they can also leave behind to help here are seven effective ways that you can reduce pet smells and
00:24:57	LESLIE: keep your home fresh that’s right so first up good ventilation that’s really key so opening windows using fans to keep the air moving can make a big difference letting that fresh air circulates helps minimize those unwanted pet odors that
00:25:12	TOM: linger in your living space so keep that air moving yet next having a regular cleaning routine is super important you want to make sure that you’re consistently cleaning the pet bedding the litter boxes other areas where those pets love to hang out and the more you stay on top of the cleaning the less
00:25:27	LESLIE: likely that those odors are to settle in yeah and here’s a big one air purification you want to make sure you’re using high quality air purifiers and that’s the kind that have the HEPA filters it’s gonna really help these purifiers can catch pet dander hair and airborne particles that definitely contribute to those
00:25:44	TOM: stubborn smells now another pro tip is to place air purifiers strategically especially having one near your pets favorite spots so if you’ve got a litter box maybe their food bowl their bed this is going to help tackle those odors
00:25:56	LESLIE: before they get a chance to kind of spread out through the house that’s right but let’s also talk about grooming because a well-groomed pet sheds less and is less likely to bring allergens and outdoor odors into your home plus
00:26:08	TOM: it’s great bonding time for you and your pet as well that’s very true next you don’t forget about those odor neutralizing products that are available enzyme based cleaners for example don’t just mask the smell they actually break down what’s causing the odor those molecules right at the source so then
00:26:25	LESLIE: those odors are gone for good and finally consider using washable and reusable fabrics for pet bedding and furniture covers you know you can find beautiful fabrics that are pet resistant opt for odor resistant materials that can easily be thrown in the wash and this is going to help you keep those odors in check through regular cleaning all in you and your pet
00:26:46	TOM: will be much happier as a result yeah now we can’t help with your pets breath but that’s another story heading out to New Hampshire we’ve got Debbie on the line who’s looking for some help in learning about a product called roof max
00:26:58	CALLER: for her roof what’s going on I’m trying to find out about a company called Roof Maxx and a they are saying they have a spray to help seal up your tiles your roof five year warranty cheaper of course than putting on a new roof five years would at least help me raise the money for a new roof so I’d like to see if they are
00:27:27	LESLIE: legit and how that works yeah I definitely can save you money because the application on roof max is a lot less expensive than replacing your roof but what that is is basically it’s a rejuvenation treatment they apply it to the roof and it’s like a mask well it’s an oil right that soaks
00:27:43	TOM: in yeah it’s like a hair mask you put the oil in your hair and it makes your
00:27:47	LESLIE: hair all smooth and luxurious and healthy again I don’t use a hair mask so
00:27:52	TOM: I didn’t know about yeah I mean that’s basically the premise of it when your hair gets dried out you put an oil base or some sort of mask on and it rejuvenates and that’s kind of what roof max does for your roofing shingles yeah
00:28:04	LESLIE: these guys have been out a long time that came from the roofing industry they knew that there were millions and millions of tons of asphalt shingles being dropped in the landfills and that if the shingle itself could be rejuvenated if it could be sort of moistened in a way that they could get some additional years out of it so they developed a product that does just that now full disclosure roof max is a sponsor of the show and that is frankly the reason we know so much about it because we’ve looked at the company we’ve looked at the research and they’ve got a good reputation now it doesn’t work for all roofs you have to have the roof max dealer come to your home and look at it and see if it’s within the range where roof max treatment will work but when it does work and if it is qualified you know you can get at least five years out of this and in your case as you said I’ll give you some more time to save up for roof replacing because Leslie I don’t think that that’s anything that people do they kind of wait for the big event
00:28:59	TOM: oh for sure and they all of a sudden gotta find the money well I also don’t think people realize that this roof rejuvenation from roof max was even an option you know so it’s so great to learn that there is something that you can do if the shingles are in the right state that can be rejuvenated and you can
00:29:14	LESLIE: extend the life of that roof which is fantastic and a huge cash saver so we’re fans good luck with the project let us know how you make out
00:29:21	TOM: and from New Jersey reached out to team money pit and is asking I want to have a storm door and exterior door combination installed what product information can
00:29:32	LESLIE: you give me you know back in the day when the main door was made of wood and was not insulated because wood has a very minimal amount of insulation by itself storm doors were a good idea and they did help but then as we became more familiar with steel doors they weren’t as helpful and then when you had steel doors that had lights in them the window lights the glass then what happened was the storm doors due to sort of, if you think about this like the greenhouse effect when the sun comes through the storm door glass and then strikes that metal door, it heats up and the trim around the window panes would literally melt. I’m talking melt. So the bottom line is that you really don’t need a storm door today. If you buy a good quality steel or fiberglass door, these are going to be far more energy efficient. The weather stripping systems are all integral to it. You know, if you put that door in and it’s straight and square, you’re going to have no gaps around any of the sides of the top or the bottom. So I don’t think you need a storm door. What you might consider is a good quality screen door. That’s what we have, a nice screen door, because this way you can have the door open and get some ventilation. But you definitely don’t need a storm door. And if you do put one in, especially if you have a metal door, you could have problems with it.
00:30:45	LESLIE: All right. Good to know. Now, Steven wrote in saying that my door, another door question, my door has a metal threshold that was previously connected to the cement foundation with glue. The threshold has come loose and there’s a large crack in the cement that expands the entire width of the door from jam to jam. How do you deal with that? I’d like to avoid buying a whole new door just for the threshold.
00:31:04	TOM: Yeah, I think filling that crack in seems like a good first step, Steven. However, you want to make sure you do this with a good quality epoxy patching compound rather than just regular cement, because the regular cement is just not going to stick. Second, have you thought about Tapcon fasteners? Have you heard of Tapcon fasteners? Tapcon fasteners are really an amazing invention. They can be drilled right into the concrete and they have excellent holding power in concrete. Or in the epoxy repaired areas, so you could attach the threshold directly to the concrete and it’s also going to give you a lot better holding power than any adhesive would.
00:31:42	LESLIE: Yeah, a Tapcon, I mean, truly is sort of this workhorse of anything you might need to do with masonry involved. So I’ve used Tapcons to put up shelves onto like a brick wall or something that you really have difficulty getting any other type of screw in. And what’s so interesting is that they really do grab a hold. But they are so hard to get in. Super sturdy, super strong workhorses. And if you ever find that the masonry is starting to crumble, you can take like a little bit of metal wire and kind of crumble it up and stick it in the hole first and then drive the Tapcon in. And that kind of acts like a spiky anchor that goes and grabs a hold.
00:32:16	TOM: Good trick. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Thank you so much for spending a little bit of your day with us. We hope you picked up a trick or two to help you take on some projects around your house to help you fix, to help you maintain your home, your appliances, your heating, your heating systems, so you are totally ready for the winter, which is coming. Here’s fall, it’s just fall now, but I mean, winter’s gonna be coming. We’ve had some really cold nights already, and so it’s a great time to get those jobs done. Maybe insulation, whatever’s on your to-do list, though. If you’ve got questions, remember, you can always turn to us 24-7 by calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit. Leslie answers the phone. She never sleeps, always gives you a great answer every single time. We appreciate that, Les.
00:32:57	TOM: Yeah, I’m definitely not sleeping at weird hours, right, Tom? I’m always answering the phone.
00:33:03	LESLIE: Absolutely. That’s it for us. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:07	TOM: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:33:08	LESLIE: Remember, you can do it yourself.
00:33:10	TOM: But you don’t have to do it alone.

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