Holiday Home Improvements #1205161

TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: And what are you working on this fine weekend? We’re here to help you take on your home improvement or home décor projects. Maybe there’s a holiday décor job that you’re working on right now that you need some advice with. Maybe you’d like to plan a project for the days, the weeks or the months ahead. We’d love to help at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Coming up this hour, if happiness and health are at the top of your wish list, listen up because we’ve got the most common causes of seasonal injuries and how to keep them from happening to you in your home. And some of them might surprise you. We’ll have that, just ahead.

LESLIE: Plus, did you know that one of the most common and most destructive sources of plumbing leaks in your home might just be your washing machine? We’re going to have solutions, in just a bit.

TOM: And if an appliance is on your holiday shopping list, you might be wondering if buying an extended warranty is worth it. We’ll help you decide.

LESLIE: Plus, this hour, we’re giving away a set of five Lutron Maestro Occupancy-Sensing Switches, which are super convenient because they give you a way to turn lights on and off hands-free.

TOM: Yep. And they’re easy to install, as well. The Lutron Occupancy Switches retail for 20 bucks each. We’ve got 5 going out to one lucky listener who calls in their home improvement question to us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it.

Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: Denise in Michigan, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

DENISE: I have a front porch. We fixed it last year, the front of it. And the cement that we used fell off. What is the best product to use?

TOM: Well, the reason it fell off is because you used cement on cement or cement on concrete. You need to use a patching product. There are special mixes of concrete products that are designed for patching and they have better adhesion to them. So, take a look at the products available from QUIKRETE and if you can find – you’ll find their patching product sticks very, very well. Generally, you have to make sure that the original surface is clean and then you could apply this. And you’ll find that it has good adhesion and that’s the key.

You just can’t put new concrete on old concrete or new cement on old concrete because it’s not designed to stay. The water gets under it and starts to loosen things up. But if you use the patching compounds, I’ll think you’ll find that it will stick around for quite a long time.

DENISE: OK. Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it.

TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Ron in Virginia is on the line with a window question. How can we help you today?

RON: Yes. I just moved to Virginia from Florida and I bought a house that has single-pane, double-hung windows. We have aluminum storm windows on the outside. And I was wondering if that’s going to be efficient for the wild winters we get here. Or should I look into insulated windows?

LESLIE: Well, you know, generally, when you’re talking about a single-pane window, if it was truly on its own, we’d say it’s not that efficient. But because you have a storm window, that automatically makes it that much more efficient. And a storm window is fairly easy to replace. I mean you can get a new storm window that has a different type of coating on it that could improve its efficiency. Because what you’re doing is you’re essentially creating that space of air between the storm window and the main window and that’s allowing the cold air to stop before it gets into your home. So, especially if you’re able to upgrade just the storm window itself, you’ll really be able to create quite an efficient window within your home and do well for the winter months.

RON: OK. That’s great. And the windows – the storm windows – do look the original and rather lightweight in structure. I do like the wood windows that the house has, so I will look into that. Thank you.

TOM: Great. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: You are tuned to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com.

Well, we are about to dive into the 12 days of Christmas. So, what have you got going on this holiday season? Is there something you’re doing as a special project for a loved one? Let us give you a hand. Or maybe there’s a special tool or something you’re hoping for in your Christmas stocking. Give us a call. We’re here to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Still ahead, keep the holiday spirit alive by keeping accidents and injuries at bay. We’ll have tips to step-up your holiday home safety, next.

TOM: Up until now, you purchased insulation to insulate, to help keep warm spaces warm and cool spaces cool.

LESLIE: But now, Owens Corning has changed all of that with Pure Safety High Performance Insulation. Pure Safety not only insulates but also actually contributes to a healthier, safer and more comfortable environment for your family.

TOM: That’s right. First, it’s a high-density, all-purpose insulation that efficiently fills cavities in your home with a layer of thermal protection. Next, Pure Safety contributes to healthier indoor air. It stays put in walls and floors and produces 50 percent less dust than some other insulation products. That means healthier air for your family to breathe.

LESLIE: Pure Safety is also fire-resistant. In case of a fire, you’re going to have extra minutes to escape to safety. And those are minutes that can make all the difference.

TOM: And finally, Pure Safety reduces noise up to 50 percent. It helps to keep outside noise out and reduces inside noise from traveling from room to room inside.

Pure Safety High Performance Insulation from Owens Corning, a single product that will enhance your family’s health, safety and comfort. Learn more at PureSafetyInsulation.com. Pure Safety, the greatest home improvement you’ll never see.

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: So happy you’re here with us today. We’ve got the answers to your home improvement question. Plus, this hour, we’ve got some cool products to give away. We’ve got a set of five of the Lutron Maestro Occupancy-Sensing Switches.

These are really convenient. They’re hands-free on and off of your lights. They’re easy to install. They really have a big impact. They look great and they sense very accurately when there’s any movement in your room and turn the lights on and most importantly, when you leave the room or in my case, when my kids leave the room. They can’t leave their lights on anymore because it senses that they’re gone and turns them off.

These switches are available at your local home improvement store or through your local electrical professional. You can learn more at LutronSensors.com or call them at 1-888-LUTRON-1. But we’ve got a set of five going out this hour. They’re 20 bucks each, so that package is worth 100 bucks to one caller drawn at random. Make that you. If you’ve got a home improvement question, maybe it’s even an electrical question, we’d love to hear from you at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Sheila in Florida is on the line with a flooring question. How can we help you today?

SHEILA: I have a room that is almost all terrazzo. And the rest of it, when I pull the carpet up, is raw cement. And there’s about a 2-inch deficit between the two floors and a hump in the middle. And I wanted to lay porcelain or ceramic-tile slabs or planks. What do I do? I understand that you can’t put concrete on top of concrete. It’ll crack.

TOM: No. You need to use a floor-leveling compound that’s specifically designed for that. And with that kind of deficit between the floors, I’m not sure that you’re going to be able to get it flat enough to be able to use it for a tile, especially a wider tile. You know, if you’re using a narrow tile, like a mosaic, you can have a lot of flexibility if the floor is not flat. But if you use a bigger tile, like one that’s 12 inches by 12 inches or 18 x 18, that floor has got to be rock-solid flat because those things just don’t bend.

Now, there is a leveling compound that you can use that will adhere to the concrete. And then when you apply the mortar itself, you’re going to want to use a thinset mortar, which is an adhesive that you mix up yourself. And you can build that up just a little bit but you said a 2-inch deficit from one side to the other. I think you really need to plan for the floor to really have almost a step or a décor piece that separates those.

This 2-inch deficit, is that like when one side’s higher than the other?

SHEILA: The length of the room – majority of it is in terrazzo. And then the rest of it, the length is – it goes downhill towards sliding-glass doors.

TOM: I see. So, in other words, it’s not that it’s displaced, like a crack. It’s just that it pitches down towards the door. Is that right?

SHEILA: Yes, yes. But to bring it level, it would be about 2 inches. We would have to add something to bring it level.

TOM: So where this starts to pitch down, is it sort of one point that’s sort of flat, then it turns and it pitches down? Or is the whole floor sort of moved down there? Because the thing is if you don’t have that sort of sharp edge, then maybe you could tile right down to it. It’s slanted down when the carpet was on it. You may be able to have it slanted down with the tile on it, as well.

SHEILA: Well, that’s what I was thinking. Right there where they added the (inaudible at 0:12:09) – and right there where they added it, there is a hump. And then it starts going downhill.

TOM: OK. I think that you’re going to need to talk to a professional tile installer. I will say this: there are ways to smooth out those uneven sections of concrete floors but you’re going to have some limitations as to how you tile this. It may be an installation limitation in terms of where you start the pattern. Because if there’s one point where the pitch changes, you may be able to start the pattern there and have no problem. But if you try to tile over that hump, then obviously you’re going to have cracks.

So, I think this is a little more complicated than a normal tile project. You need to have a really good installer take a look at this and figure out if it can be done. Now, if you’re going to buy the tile from a store, the store might have somebody that they’ll send over to have a look before you get that far. But I think my advice to you is that yes, it can be fixed but this requires the level of skill of an installer that’s a lot more than average, OK? Does that make sense?

SHEILA: Yes, it does. And the terrazzo, do we have to rough it up?

TOM: Not necessarily but again, I would speak to the installer about that. There are adhesives that can be used without you having to do that. Does that help you out, Sheila?

SHEILA: Yes, it does. Yes, it does. Thank you.

TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Well, it’s the most wonderful time of the year but some of the best things about the holidays can also be the most dangerous. Lots of lights, crackling flames and candles mean that you need to be extra careful to avoid any mishaps.

TOM: Well, that’s right. Now, first, you always hear us and other experts always say check the batteries in your smoke detectors. And that’s really important. But I want to add to that and tell you to also look at your smoke detector to figure out how old it is. There’s usually a date of manufacturer stamped inside. And if it’s more than five years old – in smoke-detector lives, that pretty much means it’s worn out and you should replace it. They’re not expensive. So if it’s more than five years old, get a new one.

And of course, with all the candles that we’re using right now, it’s also a good idea to make sure that you have a fire extinguisher handy mounted in a central location. Not stuck on a dark shelf somewhere but somewhere where you can see it and find it in an emergency. And you want to pick up one that says it’s good for Class A, B and C, which basically means it’ll cover all sorts of fires. Whether it’s wood and paper or electrical or grease, the ABC extinguisher is the best way to go.

LESLIE: Now, speaking of fires, if your Christmas tree is artificial, you want to make sure that it’s fire-resistant. You want to keep it away from heat sources, like your fireplace, radiator, even a forced-air vent. And you also want to make sure that any ornaments you use aren’t too heavy for the branches. And then go ahead and hang your breakable and those sentimental ornaments at the top of the tree, where your kids and pets aren’t going to grab at them and break them or get hurt. All those important things.

TOM: And if you have a live Christmas tree, you want to remember that those can turn dangerous once they dry out. So make sure you purchase it fairly close to the holidays. And then cut the trunk at a 45-degree angle. And that gives you more surface area to make it absorb the water. And also, of course, you want to make sure that you’re filling that stand up with water on a regular basis so it doesn’t totally dry out. At least once a day. You’ll find that when you first put that tree in, it drinks a lot of water. Then it kind of slows down after that.

LESLIE: And guys, what we noticed this year as a big trend is vintage Christmas décor. I mean it really is beautiful but you have to remember that those older decorations, they can be really dangerous, as well. So you want to only power holiday lights that feature that UL seal of approval on it. And you want to keep in mind that older decorations, they might lack the nonflammable protection that we’re seeing with all the modern décor. So just pay attention.

TOM: And speaking of vintage décor, I’m reminded of all the folks that use tinsel. And that’s kind of vintage. That’s the way, I guess, we always did our tree growing up.

LESLIE: Yeah.

TOM: And we did that a while ago with our live tree and discovered that it’s a very tasty treat for our dogs. So be careful with the …

LESLIE: Ah, the dogs love to eat it.

TOM: They love it. I don’t know why but they love it. And I noticed that all the tinsel was missing off the first 2 feet of the tree. That’s as far up as …

LESLIE: And coming out of Spot’s butt.

TOM: Right, exactly. So, you might want to think about that if you’re going to put some tinsel on your tree.

Hey, the number here is 888-MONEY-PIT. We’d love to talk with you about what you’re working on in your house. Give us a call, right now, at 888-666-3974.

LESLIE: Alan in Georgia is on the line with a roach question. You’ve already given me the creepy-crawlies. What’s going on at your money pit?

ALAN: I’m having to have a forced move as of eight days ago.

TOM: OK.

ALAN: And so now I’m going to this other house and it is just crawling with both American and German cockroaches.

LESLIE: And you can understand them because of their accent?

ALAN: The bug man came in to spray but I was not here, so I don’t know where he sprayed.

TOM: Well, I think, at this point, you have to trust that he knows what he’s doing and then see if you can get this under control. From an extermination perspective, whatever he’s going to apply is going to kill both of them. The American cockroaches are bigger than the German ones but they’re still pretty nasty. And generally, the advice on dealing with these things is to keep a clean house – I mean a really clean house – and then to use baits and gels and powder insecticides.

And you’re better off having the professional do that because frankly, they can get their hands on the stronger stuff that you can’t. And they know where to put it, they know how much to apply and hopefully it’ll do the job of getting these things under control and completely eliminate them. And then perhaps when you move into this house, that plus improved hygiene – because it sounds like the last occupant was pretty sloppy and may have left food around or had leaks in their plumbing, things that can sustain these insect populations – that that’s not going to happen ago. So I think you did the right thing and it’s just going to take a while for them to go away.

ALAN: OK. Would it do any good to bomb behind it or will that …?

TOM: No, no. No, no. I wouldn’t get involved in that and I can’t tell you how many times we read stories about those bug bombs blowing up houses. Because there’s a lot of people out there that think if one of those bug bombs is good, using eight is better. And it usually ends up with blowing out the front wall of the house or worse. So, yeah, I wouldn’t do that.

No, I would just trust the professional. They’re going to – let’s just assume that the guy put the right material in and then, listen, if you’ve got questions, call the company up. Ask them what they did, what they used. They should be at least leaving you information on what products they put in. And find out if there’s a guarantee. If you see any more roaches, should you call them and how long should you wait to make that call? Because it might take a couple of days for these things to settle down.

ALAN: Alrighty. Well, I appreciate you all.

TOM: Alright. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Jim in Washington is on the line and is having a door issue. What’s going on at your money pit?

JIM: Well, I have, actually, two doors with a similar problem. Gradually, it’s grown worse over the last several years. The door does not fit tightly up against the weather-stripping. And I’ve finally resulted to putting in small wedges. And this is a front door and a door to the garage. To keep it pressed up against there, I have replaced with new weather-strippingtwice but it still doesn’t get up there tight. What can I do to correct that, outside of replacing the door?

TOM: So, if you close the door and you push it tighter closed, does that make the seal?

JIM: Yes. And that’s why I’ve resorted to …

TOM: So then why didn’t you just replace the – why didn’t you just adjust the lock?

JIM: I don’t know how to do that. I didn’t know you can do that.

TOM: OK. So, basically, what you need to do is – where the lock strike is – OK, that’s the metal plate in the jam?

JIM: Yep.

TOM: You need to move that closer to the weather-stripping so that the door has to actually shut more before it latches. Because you need that weather-stripping to compress a little bit before it latches.

Now, does this have a deadbolt on it?

JIM: Yes, it does.

TOM: Well, you could probably just do it with a deadbolt. Sometimes the deadbolt – if you just push in the door a little bit, put some pressure on it, then turn the bolt so you kind of create that seal, that would make a lot more sense than trying to wedge it against that. Because that’s exactly what the lock does: it holds it – holds the door tightly closed. So I would adjust the lock and forget about the weather-stripping for the moment.

Are these wood jambs with the weather-stripping sort of inserted into a groove?

JIM: Yes. Yes, they are.

TOM: So those pieces of trim with the weather-stripping inserted into it, those usually will come off the door. So another thing to do here is you could take that weather-stripping – those pieces – off and actually move that. It’s, essentially, a piece of trim. Move that closer to the door and reattach it, as well.

So, either way, you need to basically get the door closer to the weather-stripping. The easiest way to do it is just to adjust the lock, though. So you’re adjusting the striker, not the lockset. You’re adjusting the strike: that metal plate that’s in the door jamb.

JIM: OK. And because, naturally, that’s screwed into there, do I just fill the old screw hole with …?

TOM: No. What you do here is you unscrew it. You pull it out, right? And then you move the plate closer by a ¼-inch or whatever gap you have to close, OK? You’ll probably have to notch out the door jamb to fit the new one. Then look at how the holes line up. You may be moved over far enough where you actually will have a shot at making a brand-new hole and you can ignore the old one.

If you can’t, what you want to do is take a small piece of wood. I usually use pieces of cedar shingles. I put a little glue on them, I shove them in the old screw hole, break them off flush to kind of create a wood plug and then you can drive a new screw next to it.

JIM: Fantastic. Alright. I think I will try that first. And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll try moving the trim.

TOM: OK. Good luck, Jim. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Just ahead, there are a whole set of advances that are taking lighting into the 21st century and beyond. Scott Caron, This Old House electrical contractor, is joining us with that, next.

MARILU: Hi. This is Marilu Henner from The Marilu Henner Show. And I’m obsessed with these guys. You’re listening to The Money Pit, my buddies Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Up until now, you purchased insulation to insulate, to help keep warm spaces warm and cool spaces cool.

LESLIE: Pure Safety is also fire-resistant. In case of a fire, you’re going to have extra minutes to escape to safety. And those are minutes that can make all the difference.

TOM: And finally, Pure Safety reduces noise up to 50 percent. It helps to keep outside noise out and reduces inside noise from traveling from room to room inside.

TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Give us a call, right now, with your home improvement question at 888-MONEY-PIT.

So, this past weekend, I was over at a condo that we own, Leslie. And I did a project that I think many people should do and that is I replaced the washer supply hoses. And the reason you want to do that is because as they age, they break down. And my neighbor, over in the same development, had had some broken washer hoses and man, what a mess. He was on the second floor and the whole first-floor ceiling came down as a result of it. Because when the hoses go, man, they go.

LESLIE: Yeah. And there’s a lot of water.

TOM: Yeah. Basically, it’s just like leaving a faucet open, 24/7, until somebody, you know, figures it out and turns the water off to the building. So, it’s always a good thing to do once in a while – is to replace those washing-machine hoses. Now, there’s also braided-steel hoses, which are even better. If you can find those, you can put them on. And then there’s a washing-machine supply valve that’s available that basically enables you to turn hot and cold off with one lever. And that’s really convenient. So that’s kind of a good upgrade.

If you’re having a plumber in your house, they can install that washing machine shut-off valve. But something to definitely keep an eye on. The maintenance of those is really, really important because if that rubber hose breaks, it’s going to be quite a mess. And you just don’t want to deal with that.

If you’ve got a project that you would like to deal with, give us a call, right now, at 888-MONEY-PIT because we’re here to help.

LESLIE: Sue in Minnesota is on the line with a mold question. Tell us what’s going on in your basement.

SUE: A problem with mold in a corner of the northwest corner of my basement. I have a dehumidifier and I have downspouts that take the water away from the house. So, I don’t know why I have this problem.

TOM: So, are you still seeing moisture there even though you have made these drainage improvements? Or is it just mold that you’re seeing?

SUE: Well, it’s mold, actually.

TOM: Have you ever treated the mold?

SUE: Treated? Not yet. I’m in the process of doing that now. Hoping it’ll take care of it but I was wondering, even though I have a dehumidifier and the water runs away from my foundation, if this will continue to be a problem.

TOM: Now, you’re calling this “mold” but let’s just confirm if that’s what you’re seeing. This is a concrete block-wall foundation?

SUE: Correct.

TOM: And when you say “mold,” are you seeing sort of whitish, grayish stains on the wall?

SUE: Well, grayish.

TOM: That’s not mold.

SUE: It isn’t?

TOM: No. What you’re seeing are mineral-salt deposits.

SUE: Oh. OK.

TOM: What happens is the wall gets wet because concrete is very hydroscopic; it soaks up water quite strongly. And the water gets to the inside of the basement and then that evaporates. And what it leaves behind are its mineral salts. So, many times when you see the white to grayish stains that stay on those walls, sometimes they even build up. And that’s not mold. And often, if you just brush it with your hand, it’ll flake away. That’s because it’s lime and other minerals that basically just dry there.

Now, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem but it does mean you don’t have a mold problem. I think you’re doing the right things by extending the downspouts, making sure your gutters are clean and making sure soil slopes away and running the dehumidifier. It might be that if this is all you’re seeing, that the moisture may have actually – be out of the wall. And what you’re seeing is just sort of the residual that’s left behind.

But what I would do is I would also paint the walls with a basement paint so that you could stop some of that evaporation into the basement walls – into the basement space – and the mineral salts that it’s leaving behind. So if everything else is working right with the drainage conditions, that’s the one thing that I would just take another look at. And make sure, Sue, that you are doing what you can to stop that evaporation from happening.

Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Well, you could argue that the one invention that changed the 20th century was the light bulb. But lighting has come a long way since Thomas Edison’s day.

TOM: And not just bulbs, either. There are a whole new set of advances that are taking lighting into the 21st century and beyond. Here to tell us about that is Scott Caron, the electrical contractor on TV’s This Old House.

Hey, Scott.

SCOTT: Tom and Leslie, how are you doing?

TOM: Now, is it more than just flipping a switch these days to power our lights? There are so many options that we have at our disposal.

SCOTT: We’re seeing less and less switches that turn lights on. Everyone has a smartphone in their pocket. Sometimes, they go to an app, turn the lights on. Sometimes, they’re on a timer. But yes, it’s not about flipping the switch anymore.

TOM: And let’s start by talking about smart homes. I think the fact that Wi-Fi conductivity has become so commonplace has really made it possible to do almost anything inside of a home. It used to be that we had to have sort of a command center, a control system where all the smart-home features were wired to. Now, if you just have a Wi-Fi signal, you can do things like control lights and outlets and switches and the like.

SCOTT: Yeah. So, Wi-Fi is a common language. There’s very few companies that go elsewhere. Although there are a couple of different types of language, Wi-Fi is the number one. What happens now, you have an app that controls lights or controls outlets, anything you want. They’re controlling heating systems today. And the best part about that is it’s really simple to use and you can use it when you’re away from your home, not just with the Wi-Fi system. All you need is a cellular network.

TOM: So the Wi-Fi, you say it’s the language. It’s basically how these devices talk to each other, right?

SCOTT: You want to turn the heat up or down? You want to turn the lights up or down? If you want to set a timing sequence, you can do that, as well. And they have this other thing like geo-fencing, which basically means that when you walk close to your home, it might open the garage door, it might turn the lights on in the house, it might turn the heat on for you. It’s all these really neat things that are just happening so rapidly.

LESLIE: Now, LED bulbs have been developing rather rapidly. I mean we’re seeing the costs come down but the quality of the bulbs is also going up, right?

SCOTT: One of the best things about LED light bulbs, they use a lot less electricity than an incandescent light bulb. They still give off the same amount of light. They use a lot less electricity. And one of the cool things that’s been pretty common in the last few years, you can actually change the color of the light bulb. Not just the white spectrum but you can play around with some reds and some greens and set different moods with your app on your phone. It’s pretty neat.

TOM: And that measurement is in lumens. So, not only do we have less energy being used, we have bulbs that are – they equate in color temperature, as you say, to what we had with incandescent bulbs. And even beyond that, they can actually operate more efficiently because they can be wired to dimmers.

SCOTT: Tom, one of the things that’s going on right now with these LED fixtures, specifically the ones that have integrated diodes in them, they’re making these fixtures disposable. Now, these LEDs are supposed to last 20 to 50 to 100,000 hours I’ve seen. And what that means is that once that fixture, if it ever goes away – I don’t know if I’ll ever see it – once it’s not working any longer, we’ll take the fixture down and put a new fixture up. No more light-bulb replacement.

TOM: So the old concept was you take out the bulb and replace it but now you’re just pretty much replacing the fixtures.

SCOTT: That’s right.

TOM: Well, I think that that’s going to be more and more uncommon because these bulbs are so durable. It occurs to me that even if you’re just using one that screws into an old lamp, that that switch on the lamp will probably wear out before the bulb does.

SCOTT: I think so. And I like to still change light bulbs, so I’ll miss that aspect of it.

TOM: You’re an old soul. Scott Caron, the electrical contractor from TV’s This Old House, thank you so much for stopping by The Money Pit.

SCOTT: You got it. I look forward to seeing you next time.

TOM: And This Old House and Ask This Old House are brought to you on PBS by The Home Depot. More saving, more doing.

Coming up, if you’ve got an appliance, a TV or some other electronic product on your holiday gift list, you might find that you will be offered the opportunity to buy an extended warranty on those purchases. Wondering if that’s a smart move? We’ll tell you what the FTC says, after this.

TOM: Up until now, you purchased insulation to insulate, to help keep warm spaces warm and cool spaces cool.

LESLIE: Pure Safety is also fire-resistant. In case of a fire, you’re going to have extra minutes to escape to safety. And those are minutes that can make all the difference.

TOM: And finally, Pure Safety reduces noise up to 50 percent. It helps to keep outside noise out and reduces inside noise from traveling from room to room inside.

ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is presented by CliqStudios.com, the smarter way to get a designer kitchen. Visit CliqStudios.com/Free and get a free copy of their Kitchen Cabinets Buyer’s Guide, produced in partnership with This Old House. That’s C-l-i-q-Studios.com/Free.

TOM: Where home solutions live, welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Pick up the phone and give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. You’ll get the answer to your home improvement question. Plus, this hour, we are giving away a set of five Lutron Maestro Occupancy Switches.

This is great if you tend to be like me and you walk around with a ton of stuff in your hands and then, of course, enter the room with no light on. I mean seriously, hands-free on-and-off convenience. They’re super easy to install. It’s a big impact. And the sensors really know when you enter the room and they look super clean, so it’s not like this big, clunky thing in the middle of your room.

Check them out. They’re available at your local home improvement store or even through your local electrical professional. You can learn more about them at LutronSensors.com or even give them a call at 888-LUTRON-1.

TOM: They’re worth 20 bucks each. We’re giving away a set of five, so give us a call right now. Going out to one lucky caller drawn at random. The number, again, is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Well, if an appliance is on your holiday shopping list, you might be wondering if buying an extended warranty is worth it. It’s a question we hear a lot and the Federal Trade Commission says, “Be careful and know what you’re buying to keep from wasting a lot of money.”

Now, first, you want to understand exactly what you’re buying because a warranty is what’s actually provided by the manufacturer. What retailers are selling you is more of a service contract, although they kind of confuse the matter by calling them “extended warranties.” Just remember that the warranties are what’s included in the price of the product. The service contracts are going to cost extra and are sold separately.

LESLIE: Yeah. First of all, you need to compare the coverage. You really need to find out what the basic warranty covers and then see if that extended warranty is truly providing you with enough additional coverage. Also, it’s a good idea to consider the likelihood that your appliance is never even going to need a repair. You know, for appliances, you can actually check its repair reputation at sites like Consumer Reports or the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers at A-H-A-M.org. And there you’re going to see how likely it is that it’ll break down.

TOM: Also, you want to check the duration of the service contract to make sure it actually extends the basic warranty: the one that’s included with the product. For example, some retailers – and this always bugs me – they say they offer a three-year extended warranty. But the fact of the matter is the first year is already covered by the manufacturer. So you’re not paying for that, which means the extension is only two years, not really three years.

LESLIE: Yeah. And you also want to look for those hidden costs. They occur whenever you’re buying that extended warranty. Like insurance policies, extended warranties often have deductibles, service fees or even cancellation charges. So you want to find out whether a technician is going to come to your home or if you’ve got to take the appliance in to be serviced. Because a repair location, it might not be nearby. These are questions you’ve got to ask.

TOM: Now, personally, I’ve only bought an extended warranty once in my life and it was actually for an office copier. And the reason I did that was because we actually researched it and we heard that it had a reputation of needing costly service. It’s a great copier but it did need parts now and again. So, it worked out and it was a good deal for us. And that’s the point. Sometimes, it can be a good investment but maybe even more often it’s not a good investment.

So do your research and decide what you want to do before you’re forced into making a quick decision at the checkout line with a line of impatient customers standing behind you.

888-666-3974. If you’re trying to make some good decisions on your next home improvement project, we’d love to help you at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Linda in Pennsylvania on the line with an insulation question.

Welcome, Linda.

LINDA: We have a two-story house built in the late 1980s. In the winter, it’s colder upstairs than downstairs and especially in the summer, it’s just really hot upstairs. We also – we have a whole-house fan and it’s – I don’t want to get rid of that. The one person that came and talked to us about insulation said we should get rid of that. I don’t know whether the fan has blown some of the insulation over that blocks the soffit vents, that we’re not getting enough circulation. So I guess I just don’t really know what to do about adding more insulation.

TOM: Alright. Well, first of all, a 1980s house probably has a minimal amount of insulation. What you really want is 15 or 20 inches of insulation.

Do you have decent space in the attic? Can you walk around up there?

LINDA: No.

TOM: OK. So how is it constructed? Is it made of trusses, where it’s hard to get around?

LINDA: Yes. And it’s not real high in the center. You can get around but no, it’s not very high up there.

TOM: I would have blown-in insulation installed, because you can easily – a professional can get that where it has to go. Professionals are also good at making sure that the baffles are in place, which keeps it out of the soffits.

And then when it comes to the whole-house fan, you should have a cover for that for the wintertime, just to kind of seal it up a little bit. Perhaps cover it with some sort of an insulation blanket and then you can pull that off in the summertime. It will be a source of energy loss, so you have to kind of take that additional step. But I agree: it’s a great thing to have. But I will say it must have good exit venting, though, too.

Do you have big gable vents on the side walls of the house? Because when you turn that fan on, you don’t want to pressurize the attic. You want to make that air go out.

LINDA: No, we have the ridge vent. And when they replaced the roof a couple years ago, they did put in – they said there is a slightly larger-size ridge vent and that’s what they put in.

TOM: Alright. Well, then, that’s probably big enough to handle the exhaust venting.

So that’s what I would do. I would use blown-in insulation. Now, around the fan itself, what the installer will do is put sort of a wall around that made of sort of like a stiff cardboard or some type of material like that, so that they can pile the insulation up higher against that opening and keep it away from the operation of the fan.

LINDA: OK.

TOM: It’s done all the time, Linda, and it’ll definitely make a big difference in how comfortable you feel in that house, OK?

LINDA: Alright. Thank you very much.

TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Hey, if your kitchen is getting a workout this holiday season, we’re going to share some quick fix-ups that can help it sparkle. We’re sharing those tips, after this.

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: So, if your kitchen’s looking a bit worse for wear – with all of the cooking that we’re doing right now around the holiday season, that can really happen. But there are a few easy fix-ups that you can do yourself that won’t take a long time – certainly wouldn’t break the bank – one of which is just to kind of work on the hardware.

You know, a lot of times the doors get loose, the joints get loose, the drawers – kind of the runners in the drawers sort of loosen up. If you take that drawer out and tighten up all of the hardware, I think you’ll find that they’ll work very, very well. And then grab a can of WD-40 and go ahead and shoot some WD-40 in all those hinges and they’ll quiet themselves down, as well.

And speaking of hardware, another good update is just to replace all of the doorknobs and the hinges because that can really make them sparkle, right?

LESLIE: Yeah. Another thing that really doesn’t require a tremendous amount of work is if you want to update your faucets to match your new hardware. That can easily be done. That’s as much as changing what could feel like an appliance change but it’s simply the faucet.

If you’re looking for a bigger project, you can tackle a new backsplash. I mean depending on what your existing backsplash is, there’s a lot of great options that don’t require a lot of DIY know-how and really create an impactful change. So much you can do in the kitchen without spending a lot of dough.

TOM: Good advice. 888-666-3974. You can also post your question online at MoneyPit.com. And that’s what Danielle did.

LESLIE: Alright. Danielle writes: “I had planned to make photo collages as gifts for my family. But when I tried to remove original photos from frames, I discovered they’d stuck to the glass. How can I get the photos out without ruining them?”

TOM: That is a very tricky situation, because it’s kind of depends on the chemistry of how the photos were printed. But one thing that you can do straight off is to take the glass out of the frame and scan that picture. If you do a good-quality scan on it, you can at least preserve the picture pretty well. And then, of course, you could reprint it, then go ahead and make those photo collages that way.

Now, if you want to try to separate the glass from the image itself, and after you’ve scanned it to kind of preserve as much as you can, you might want to take it to a good photographer because – especially somebody that does their own developing. They can soak that with a solution called a “wetting agent.” And depending on the age of the print, it might just be enough to loosen that emulsion and get it to separate from the glass. It could also potentially damage the image, so you have to kind of approach this very, very carefully. But I think that’s really the two ways to tackle this issue, Danielle.

LESLIE: Alright. Next up, we’ve got a post here from Jonathan who writes: “We have at least one light bulb on our back porch that seems to burn out every two weeks. Our home was built in 1943 but the electrical box has been updated and is not a jumbled mess.” I like that term. “It’s not a jumbled mess.”

TOM: Technical term.

LESLIE: “Any idea what could be causing this?”
TOM: Well, typically, what causes that is vibration, right? If you have a back door that’s always slamming shut, that can have a negative impact on the bulb. But the good news is that a lot of the new energy-efficient bulbs are far more durable. So if you were to switch that out with an LED bulb, for example, or maybe even a CFL bulb, I think you’ll find that it can take that vibration of the door slamming and not break down.

Now, they actually do have an incandescent bulb that’s available for this situation, too. It’s simply called a “rough-service bulb.” That’s what’s – that’s the term: rough service. But I’m not actually sure that you can still find them since a lot of the incandescents are being phased out. So, I think the easiest thing for you to do is just to go out and pick up a $5 or $6 or $7 LED bulb and see how long that lasts. I suspect that you’re going to be pleasantly surprised and you’ll be good to go.

LESLIE: Yeah. And you know what? The benefit of changing the light bulb out is it’s going to last so much longer than the two weeks, anyhow. I’m talking years and years. So you’re going to be all set.

TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com. We would love to help you with your home improvement projects. And if we didn’t get to you today, remember you can reach us, 24/7, at 888-MONEY-PIT or you can post your question online at MoneyPit.com. We hope your holiday planning is going well. We’re here to help you whenever we can.

I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …

LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.

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