How to Get Organized by Tossing What You Don't Need, How to Maintain Your Septic System, How to Determine the Value of Your Home, How to Prevent Frozen Pipes and more

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: Give us a call right now. We are standing by to help you with your home improvement projects. We’re going to solve the do-it-yourself dilemmas. If it’s a project that’s too big for you to do yourself, we’ll give you some advice on how to hire a contractor and how to make sure that you’ve chosen the right materials to make sure that project comes out exactly as you planned.

Also ahead on this hour’s Money Pit, when you make an improvement to your home, do you tell yourself sometimes it will increase the home’s value? I’ve been telling my wife that for years. That’s how I got a shop, a finished basement, new bedroom, new bathroom. Well, the truth is that, sometimes, it does not. How do you know? Well, the Remodeling Cost Versus Value Report has been just released and it includes tips on what home improvements will bring you the most bang for your buck. We’ll talk to the magazine’s editor, in just a bit.

LESLIE: And also ahead, Team Money Pit is back from covering one of the biggest trade shows in the country: the International Builders’ Show. We’re going to have the highlights and our take on the top five trends coming out of that show this year.

TOM: And this hour, we’re also giving away a great prize. It’s the Black & Decker 4 Power-Tool Kit, including lithium-ion batteries and a circular saw. It all comes in a nice bag to keep all your new tools in and it’s worth $179.

Going out to one caller drawn at random, so what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone. Let’s get to it. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: We’ve got Cindy in Michigan on the line who wants to talk about reducing energy costs. How can we help you?

CINDY: Is there a way to lower your electric bills by generating your own electricity? I’ve heard of solar panels and windmills and seems like they cost a lot of money to get them going. And I’m wondering, is it actually feasible, financially, to do something like that?

TOM: Yeah. Well, first of all, the most effective way to cut those energy costs – and especially if we’re talking about heating and cooling energy – is to improve the energy efficiency of your home. And the single most important way or easiest way to do that is by improving insulation. It’s amazing how many people simply don’t have enough insulation. And in a state like Michigan, you’re certainly going to want to have 15 to 20 inches of insulation in your attic.

Now, as to your question about generating your own power, there are some programs that are run by state governments and by utility suppliers that include different sorts of rebates and different sorts of purchase – I don’t want to say “schemes” but sort of plans for getting that equipment to your house.

So, for example, in my part of the country, they have offers where you don’t actually pay for the initial installation. You partner with an energy company that does the installation of solar panels and then as it generates energy, you get to keep some of that and some of that goes back to the utility company and eventually it pays off the cost of that installation. So I would investigate solar programs in your area and rebates that might be available. Start with the utility companies and go from there.

Because if there’s a favorable program, that’s the only way it makes them cost-effective. You are correct in that a lot of these things are very expensive and don’t make a lot of economic sense. But if there’s rebate money available – either locally, at the state level or federally – it does make sense.

CINDY: OK. So you would just call your energy company then?

TOM: I would start there, with your utility company or just simply do some research online for rebates that are available in your area. OK, Cindy?

CINDY: Alright. Thank you.

TOM: You’re very welcome. Good luck with that project.

LESLIE: John in Wisconsin is on the line with a washer/dryer question. Tell us what you’re thinking about there.

JOHN: We were thinking of putting a washer and dryer in our spare bedroom. And where we want to is next to an inner wall. And I was wondering, if we vented it up through into the attic, through the insulation so it’d come out on top, would that be damaging to the – it’d be too much moisture in there or not?

LESLIE: Now, would this still remain a guest room or would this become a new, snazzy laundry room?

JOHN: Yeah, it’d be a laundry room, yeah.

LESLIE: Generally, when you talk about resale value, the amount that you could possible resell your house for directly correlates to the amount of bedrooms and bathrooms that you have. So, you may want to start by talking with a local realtor who’s familiar with home values in your neighborhood, as to what the effect might be to removing a bedroom.

Now, if you have no intention to sell and you’ve got this dream to have just a kick-butt, gigantic laundry room with perhaps a sewing area and enough ironing space, then this could be awesome for you guys.

TOM: Now, in terms of your technical questions, obviously, you’re going to have to get hot and cold water there and you’re going to have to get electricity there for your washer and your dryer and 240-volt if it’s an electric dryer. Venting was the one question you had and can you go up through the wall into the attic? Yes. But you can’t stop there. You have to continue with that vent, John, until it gets outside. You cannot dump the warm, moist, lint-ladened dryer exhaust up into the attic; you’ve got to take it outside.

So, what you should do is only use solid metal piping, not flex ducting. Get it up in the attic and turn it 90 degrees and then run it across the floor, so to speak, above the joists, and then out the side wall of the house, with a proper dryer-vent termination on the outside of it. And the test is when you turn the dryer on, you look outside, you should see the flap open up. You really don’t want to have any restriction. It’s very important you get that lint out, because there’s a lot of dryer fires that happen because people collect too much lint inside those pipes.

JOHN: Oh, I see. Mm-hmm.

TOM: Alright?

JOHN: Yeah. Very good.

TOM: John, good luck with that project. 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. Now you can call in your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Still to come, are you wondering what improvements to make to your home this year? We’ve got tips on the hottest trends in housing, straight from the floor of the International Builders’ Show. We’ll share those, after this.

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TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Standing here holding a beautiful, new Black & Decker 4-Piece Power-Tool Kit, which we’re going to give out to one lucky caller drawn at random from those that reach us for today’s show. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: It comes with a 2-speed drill driver, a 5½-inch circular saw, a reciprocating saw, a flashlight, 2 lithium-ion batteries, a charger and a large storage bag.

TOM: The Black & Decker 4-Piece Power-Tool Kit is worth $179, so give us a call with your question. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Now we’ve got Ron in Virginia on the line who’s got a flooring question. Number-one topic on The Money Pit, my friend. How can we help you?

RON: I have a ceramic-tile floor that’s been down for almost 20 years. Put it down myself. The tiles are all intact. None of them are loose but I have some tiles that are cracked. And I was wondering, rather than take the tiles up, if I could put a laminate floor over top of it.

TOM: Absolutely. The nice thing about laminate floors is that they’re floating floors. And so you certainly could put a new laminate floor together. Most of them are lock-together boards these days. And you can lay that right on top of the tile floor below as long as it’s solid, which it sounds like it is.

Now, of course, it’s going to make that floor that much thicker. I don’t know if that’s an issue.

RON: No, I don’t think that would be a problem. Do I still need to put down that thin layer of the foam? Put that right over top of the ceramic?

TOM: I think it’s a good idea because it cushions the floor and it also quiets the floor. It’s not quite as click-y, you know what I mean, when you walk on it? Now, keep in mind that some of the different laminate-floor manufacturers have the underlayment attached to the bottom of the actual floorboard. It’s sort of like a sponge on the bottom of it. But you definitely want to follow their instructions.

But to answer your real question – can you put it on tile? – yes, you can.

RON: Oh, great. Well, that would certainly save a lot of time and headache trying to take that tile floor up.

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

LESLIE: Laura in Pennsylvania needs some help with a lighting question. What can we do for you?

LAURA: Oh, well, my son gave me some compact fluorescent bulbs because he didn’t like them.

TOM: OK.

LAURA: And I had never used them before and I thought, “Well, I’ll put them in my little lights I use with timers.” Only they all blow out.

TOM: There’s no reason you can’t use a compact fluorescent bulb in an outlet that has a timer. I mean a timer simply automatically turns the light switch on or off, so that shouldn’t have an effect on damaging the bulb.

LAURA: Yes, that’s what I thought. And I have the incandescent bulbs in them now and they work just fine.

TOM: Well, maybe he gave you some bum compact fluorescents, I don’t know. But it’s kind of an odd thing for it to happen to. Compact fluorescents work really well in most fixtures that take incandescents. In fact, you can even have them work well in fixtures that are controlled by dimmers.

There are special dimmers today that are designed to work with compact fluorescents and with LEDs, where you can adjust the range of the dimming so that it doesn’t ever flicker or go out. So, compact fluorescent bulbs are a great option. I don’t know why they’re not working for you but the timer shouldn’t have anything to do with it.

LAURA: OK. Well, maybe I’ll try them again or – I have two left. Or I’ll try and buy some. Maybe he has an off-brand or something like that, I don’t know. Because they should last a really long time, right?

TOM: They should. And you know what I like better than compact fluorescents are the LED bulbs. Take a look at the Philips LED bulbs. These are – they’re very distinctive. They’re yellow. They look like bug lights but they have a very pleasant white light that comes off of them. And they’re going to be more expensive than compact fluorescents but they last forever and they’re super-energy-efficient.

LAURA: OK. I will be happy to. That’s a really good idea. Thank you.

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

Well, every year, Leslie and I get to take a trip to some of the biggest trade shows in the industry, where we get to learn about the newest products and trends. And this year’s International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas was no exception. We were among the 75,000 designers, builders and remodelers that descended on one of the largest trade shows in the industry.

And there are some very clear trends that are emerging about how we live in and use our homes. And these might impact the home improvements being done this year.

LESLIE: That’s right. The top five trends, as uncovered by Consumer Reports, include speedy appliances, which is everything from ranges to ovens to dishwashers that will save tons of time. The high-speed cooking technology available now is similar to what is used in places like Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. So, soon, you’re not going to even have to leave your house for fast food.

TOM: Now, another trend is more connectivity. Controlling your home’s functions with an app is the wave of the future. And many homeowners are already using this technology today.

And along with that goes smart fixtures. We’ve heard of smart appliances? Well, smart fixtures also seem to do the thinking for you, including color-coded displays so you can tell, for example, what water temperature your child’s bath is set at, with one glance.

LESLIE: Now, the high-tech home is here to stay, including ideas for countertops with an embedded, wireless phone charger, so replenishing your battery means simply putting your phone down.

The final trend includes color and gray is the hot hue for this year.

TOM: So go ahead and choose your improvements wisely. If you’re smart, you’ll make changes you can enjoy now and home buyers will covet when it comes time to move on.

888-666-3974. Let’s move on and take the next question on The Money Pit.

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Sylvia in Texas on the line who’s got some bathroom things going on at her money pit. How can we help you?

SYLVIA: Whenever I flush the toilet, I can hear the water running through my sink drain – you know, the bathroom sink drain?

TOM: Right.

SYLVIA: And so I didn’t know if that was normal or not. And then the other day, we had a real windstorm and I could hear the wind under my house, through my pipes, through that same sink. And I have a concrete slab, so I didn’t know – is that normal?

TOM: Probably the wind blowing over the roof and you’re hearing it through the vent pipe. The plumbing system is all connected, obviously. And the water drains down and the air kind of replaces it from the top – from the vent on top. And so when you flush the toilet, in some cases you can hear that water run down through the pipe and it be replaced by air. So that’s entirely possible.

But if it’s behaving properly and you don’t have any odors and everything’s flowing right, I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Sylvia.

SYLVIA: Oh, OK, OK. Thank you very much. I was just worried about it, because I was just like, “What’s going on with my plumbing, right?”

TOM: And the other thing about plumbing is it’s – it really carries the sound. Anyone that’s ever had a second-floor bathroom and flushed it to the horror of everyone that’s sitting in the dining room enjoying dinner time knows exactly what I’m talking about.

SYLVIA: Oh, thank God I don’t have a second floor.

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

LESLIE: Doug in Rhode Island is up next with an electrical question. How can we help you?

DOUG: I did some remodeling work and I’m upgrading the island. And it used to be a floating island. And now that it’s fixed to the floor, I’m considering putting electrical outlets. And I’m just curious as to what might be the best location, as well as what the code – the electrical code – might require.

TOM: Well, are you over a basement or a crawlspace?

DOUG: I’m over a basement.

TOM: OK. Because what you’re going to want to do is run the wire up from the basement below, into the side of the island. Is it a standard kitchen cabinet that you’ve used to create this island with?

DOUG: Yes.

TOM: Because you can mount the electrical outlet, basically cut it into the side of the cabinet. You’re going to want it off the countertop, down below on the side of the cabinet. And the key safety aspect here is you want to make sure that it’s a ground-fault outlet. Those are the outlets that have the test and reset buttons in them for wet locations.

DOUG: I did see something online concerning that.

TOM: Yeah. So as long as you use a ground-fault circuit interrupter outlet and you just bring the wire up from the basement, that’ll be the most practical way to do it. It’ll probably end up not being on the same circuit as the kitchen because, generally, what you do in a situation like that is you grab the closest power source that you can, that’s convenient and safe, and just kind of go up from there.

DOUG: OK. Sounds good. Thanks for your help.

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

PETER: When we had first moved in, everything was cosmetically perfect. And now, all of a sudden, we’ve got cracks everywhere in our hardwood flooring and our crown molding. Now, certainly, we could live with a little cosmetic shifting but it’s so drastic, I’m wondering if there is a greater underlying problem here.

TOM: So the cracks in the molding, where are you seeing those cracks? Corners? Is the top and the bottom of the molding separating from the wall? What are you seeing?

PETER: All in the bottom of the molding.

TOM: OK.

PETER: However, it could be anywhere: corners, middle, anywhere.

TOM: OK. And so you have cracks up at the crown molding, which is between the ceiling and the wall, but you also mentioned you had cracks at the floor. What are we seeing at the floor?

PETER: Yeah, it’s more drastic. On the first floor is all hardwood flooring.

TOM: Right.

PETER: And like I said, it was seamless when we had moved in. Now, over the past two months, I’d say every third board has a gap in it. And the gap may be very slight but some are as large as an 1/8-inch now.

TOM: OK. So you’ve got some shrinkage in the floor and you’ve got some gaps in the wall. I mean the entire house could be shrinking. What kind of heating system do you have, Peter?

PETER: It’s electric heat.

TOM: OK. Electric heat. Forced air or radiators? What do you have?

PETER: Oh, it’s forced air.

TOM: It’s a very dry heating system.

Well, I will say this: gaps around molding and gaps around floor and gaps in the crown molding, especially along the walls, that’s generally not the kind of crack that indicates structural movement. When you see walls – that looks like – that sounds like shrinkage. When you see walls that are cracking at the corners or cracking above doorways, physically cracking inside the drywall itself, that’s usually more of a concern. What you’re describing to me sounds a lot more like shrinkage.

That said, I would keep an eye on it. We’re coming off of cold months. If you had the heating system on, you’re going to get a lot of shrinkage then and you’ll get more swelling in the summer as it gets more moist and humid out.

So, you can either keep an eye on it, see what happens or if you want to get a structural opinion, what I would do is I would suggest that you go to the website for the American Society of Home Inspectors. That’s ASHI – A-S-H-I.o-r-g. And look for a certified professional home inspector – an ASHI-certified inspector – in your area. These guys don’t work on houses, so they’d have nothing to gain by finding things that need to be fixed. They’re just there to diagnose. And I would say an ASHI-certified inspector, because they are clearly the best.

In fact, my nephew was buying a house last week and he’s in the Air Force in Florida. And I helped him find an ASHI-certified inspector there and I saw the report and I’ve got to tell you, I said to him – I said, “You know what the name of my show is?” He goes, “Money Pit?” I said, “You got one,” because there was so much wrong with it.

PETER: Mm-hmm. Right.

TOM: So, I would definitely suggest monitoring it and if you wanted to get an opinion on the structural aspects, bring in a professional home inspector and see what they have to say, OK?

PETER: Alright. Great. I appreciate your time, Tom and Leslie. Enjoy the show all the time.

TOM: Thanks very much, Peter. Have a great day.

LESLIE: Coming up, are you debating between a new kitchen, a new deck or maybe even a new bath? We’re going to tell you which home improvements bring the most return on your investment, next.

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: Well, it’s one of the most expensive and most important decisions you’re going to make as a homeowner: what home improvements to make. But you need to take into consideration your desire for comfort and function in your home but you also have to consider resale value. Which improvements will bring you the best return on your investment?

Here to tell us is Sal Alfano. Sal is the editorial director of Remodeling Magazine. And every year, the team there comes up with a cost-versus-value report and this year, there were a few new developments.

Welcome, Sal.

SAL: Hey, Tom. Thanks. Great to be here.

TOM: Hey. So, I think the first thing that I thought really interesting about your report this year is that in each of the 35 project categories you measure, every single one seems to be doing well. They’re up.

SAL: Yeah, they’re all up. This is the second year in a row that’s happened and believe me, it feels good because since 2008, when the economy took a dive, these numbers have been going down. So to see them coming up two years in a row is good news for the industry.

TOM: Alright. Let’s start with the basics. Explain what we’re talking about when we say “cost versus value.”

SAL: Sure. We look at 100 cities across the U.S. and we take 35 popular projects. Some have two different definitions, so we have a mid-range and an upscale version of about a dozen of the projects.

We take the cost to construct those projects by a professional contractor and then we ask realtors – members of the National Association of Realtors – to estimate what those projects – how much value do those projects retain at resale. And then we divide one by the other and we come up with a percentage, which is essentially your return on investment for that project.

TOM: You know, I think all of us are guilty of making the home improvements that we really, really want – our favorite improvements – and then always kidding ourselves and say, “Yeah, it’s going to add to my house value.” But you guys kind of cut the wheat from the chaff and you tell us exactly how much it’s going to add to our house values.

And to that topic, I was also surprised – well, not shocked but surprised – to see that the biggest gainer of all the things you measured was a backup power generator. I guess the storms had an impact on that.

SAL: Well, I think they did. We’ve been running that for – that project for probably five years or so. And the idea was there were some disasters and we thought, “Well, maybe this a project that contractors ought to be looking at and suggesting to their customers.” It didn’t do well for quite a few years and it still – I don’t know – it’s in the middle of the pack; it’s like Number 25 on the list. But it took a big jump this year and I think the crazy weather we’ve been having the last few years may be convincing people that, hey, this is something they ought to be looking at.

TOM: Now, most of us consider kitchen and bathroom remodeling as being among the top projects that we love to do, the ones that really we feel in our heart of hearts are going to give us a good return on investment. What happened in those categories?

SAL: Well, K and B – you’re right; they’re popular projects. They’re the sexiest rooms in the house. We spend a lot of time in those rooms and they’re a favorite among homeowners.

Minor kitchen remodel, which is kind of a facelift for a kitchen, is the number-one K-and-B project; it came in ranked seventh overall. It’s about an $18,000 project, so it’s less than a car loan. You can almost pay for it on your credit card, which is important for – a lot of the projects that are ranked high are on the lower end.

And so you can get a lot of value out of it, a lot of bang for your buck, because you’re not tearing out everything in the kitchen and moving around the plumbing and electrical systems. You’re just kind of replacing fronts – door fronts, drawer fronts, hardware, new countertops, new appliances – so it’s a shiny, new kitchen. A buyer sees that and it’s got real good curb appeal but you’re not doing a major remodel.

TOM: Yeah, you’re not getting a second mortgage for it.

SAL: Right. Exactly. Bathrooms are also doing fairly well. The bathroom remodel is around Number 17 on the project – on the list. And versus the addition, neither bathroom addition did very well. In fact, additions have kind of taken a hit over the last four or five years, partly because they’re just more expensive projects. Whenever you’re breaking ground and trying to get permits to add onto your building, it’s more complex, it’s more money.

The bathroom remodel takes existing space within the house and upgrades it. So there’s a mid-range project and an upscale project. Both the same size, just different finishes. And they both do pretty well.

But the real winners were the replacement-style projects this year, as in the past few years.

TOM: Yeah. Speaking of which, you don’t have to spend $15,000, $20,000 to get a good ROI. Lots of value here. Under five grand in that replacement category: entry-door replacement, 96.6 percent; garage-door replacement, 83.7 percent; and fiberglass entry doors – an upscale fiberglass door – 70.8 percent. I just put one of those in my house not too long ago and I just absolutely love it.

So, doesn’t look like you need to spend a lot of money to get it back.

SAL: Right. And those are – and what’s responsible for that is the low initial cost. All four of those projects are under $3,000. And the entry door is like an $1,100 project. And you have tremendous curb appeal. If you’re changing the look of your front door or your garage door, that’s something people see from the curb. It makes a big impression – a good first impression – on a homebuyer and I think that’s why the value has been high, really, since we introduced those projects in the last three, four years.

TOM: We’re talking to Sal Alfano – he’s the editorial director for Remodeling Magazine – about the Remodeling Magazine 2014 Cost Versus Value Report.

Sal, spring is around the corner. Wood-deck addition – adding a wood deck – 87.4 percent. Making those outdoor rooms look pretty spectacular right now.

SAL: Yeah, that was a big jump. I think pressure-treated decking is still the most popular, although the composites are gaining market share. But I think outdoor living is back. People feel like their houses are worth a lot more, so they’re willing to spend on what would – really we’d consider a discretionary – you don’t need a deck but you want a deck. And so, people finally feel confident enough to go ahead and build those projects.

TOM: And finally, if you’ve got a lot of money and you want to dump it into your house and do something really fabulous, master suite, 67.5 percent?

SAL: Yeah. Well, it’s a big – yeah, it’s a big project. It’s kind of on the luxury side of things. But again, I think that’s really the big story in this year’s results. You know, the percentage went up last year but it was because costs went down. This year, the ROI went up because the value of housing went up, so I think even big projects like a master suite, people just feel – they feel like their houses are worth a lot more than they were a year ago or two years ago. And so they’re not worried about taking a chance on a big project.

TOM: Confidence is up. The report is called “Cost Versus Value” and that is the website: CostVs – V-s is the abbreviation – CostVsValue.com.

An important piece of work, Sal. Thank you so much for filling us in on this year’s report.

SAL: You’re welcome, Tom. Good to talk with you.

TOM: That’s Sal Alfano, the editorial director for Remodeling Magazine. And their website is RemodelingMag.com.

LESLIE: And while we’re talking about improvements, we also need to talk about something that’s almost more important: home maintenance. How much money should you be setting aside for maintenance each year? We’re going to give you a formula, after this.

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TOM: Making good homes better, this is 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.

One caller we talk to on the air has got a chance to win a $180 four-piece, power-tool kit from Black & Decker. It includes a circular saw, a reciprocating saw, a drill driver, a flashlight, two lithium-ion batteries and a carrying case.

TOM: It’s a great prize from Black & Decker that goes to one caller we help today. The number, again, is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Rick in North Dakota is on the line with a driveway-repair question. How can we help you today?

RICK: I have a concrete driveway that, over the years, it’s started getting little pits in it in some of the areas. It almost looks like it’s where rocks have popped out of the concrete from over time and there’s other areas that little – small, little scales or sheets of concrete have come loose. And I’m just wondering what type of a product I can use to repair those pits. I know I’ve seen, different times, where people have put regular concrete in there and it doesn’t tend to stay very well.

TOM: So, what you want to do is use a concrete patching product. And it’s not just regular concrete or regular cement, because that won’t stick. It usually is epoxy-based. And I know QUIKRETE has a product designed specifically for this and you can go to their website at QUIKRETE.com. That’s spelled Q-U-I-K-R-E-T-E.com. The epoxy-based products will stick to the old, original concrete material and not fall out the first time the surface freezes.

Now, I just want to also point out that being in North Dakota, I’m sure you get a lot of road salt on that driveway and that probably contributes to this. But if you’re doing any salting on your own, make sure you’re using potassium chloride, not calcium chloride. Because potassium chloride is much less corrosive to the concrete surface and will not cause that destruction that you’re witnessing now.

Alright. Does that help you out?

RICK: Yep. That does. Thank you very much for your assistance.

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

So, as you’re setting your household budget, you’re also going to want to include some money set aside for home maintenance and repairs. It just doesn’t make sense for issues to pop up and then scramble as you decide how to pay for them.

LESLIE: Now, a good rule of thumb for setting aside a maintenance-and-repair budget is one percent of your home’s value. So if your home is worth $250,000, you should plan on spending about $2,500 on and over the course of a year.

Now, that doesn’t include big expenses that you should anticipate every once in a while, like a new furnace, air conditioning, roof, even a water heater, et cetera, things like that.

TOM: That’s right. Now, if those components are aging from the start, it’s a good idea to set even more money aside. And lastly, when it comes to appliances, it’s often cheaper to replace them rather than repair them.

For a quick reference guide on which one makes sense over the other, take a look at the article, “Appliance Repair or Replace?” It’s online at MoneyPit.com and includes an easy reference chart.

LESLIE: Tim in Virginia is dealing with some stuck windows. Tell us what’s going on.

TIM: Hi. Run into an issue a lot of times, with some of the older homes that I had, with the windows. For some reason, they are painted shut or nailed shut. But I’d like to know how I can resolve that, as well as some of these windows being dual-pane windows with condensation already in them. Next to replacing them, what can I do to resolve that problem?

TOM: Alright. Two separate issues. First of all, I presume we’re talking about old, wood windows being painted shut? Is that correct?

TIM: That is correct.

TOM: You’re going to need three things. You’re going to need a putty knife, a wood block and a hammer.

Here’s what you do. First of all, you take the putty knife and you run it in between the wood window sash and the frame, all the way around, as many places as you can. Wherever you can get that in there, wiggle it in there, that will free it up.

And you take the block of wood and from the inside, you put it on top of the sash and you take the hammer and you take a – make a quick rap. We’re actually driving the window down, as if you’re trying to close it more. Do that on both sides, on both ends. And what that quick rap does is it tends to break the paint seam that’s sticking it to the sides. So if you run the putty knife around and you take the block of wood, give it a quick rap downward, that should free up the bottom sash.

A lot of people try to get their hands under the window and push up. That tends to pull the wood frame of the window apart. But if you give it a shot down, which is somewhat counterintuitive, that works very well.

Now, as far as the windows that you’re dealing with that are thermal-pane and the seals are failed, can’t do anything about that. When they’re failed, they’re failed. And those windows would have to be replaced if you want them to be clear again.

TIM: OK, OK. Alright. I will certainly put that to use probably within the next week or so with the new unit Pella just purchased. Thank you so very much.

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

This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Up next, are you looking forward to spring? Well, most Americans certainly are after one of the worst winters in recent memory. Your home and yard probably can’t wait, either. So what do you need to do to get them ready? Find out, next.

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: And you can visit our Facebook page, right now, to check out the brand-new Pin to Win Sweepstakes. Now, I know everyone is ready for spring but are you ready for spring cleaning?

LESLIE: Well, we’ve got four great tips to help you get started cleaning. And all you have to do is pin at least one of our tips to your Pinterest board and you’ve got a chance to win one of three gift cards to The Home Depot. We’ve got up for grabs a $100 one, $150 and $250 just waiting on you.

TOM: Check it out at Facebook.com/TheMoneyPit.

LESLIE: Alright. And while you’re online, you can post a question in the Community section, just like Joy in Arkansas did. And she writes: “We had a rough winter, worse than any I can remember, and I’m concerned about the impact it had on my home. How can I check to make sure everything’s in good shape?”

TOM: You know, it’s always a good idea, after a bad storm or certainly the rough winter, just to give your home a really good, careful inspection from the outside. So, what I look for are things like the condition of the paint. Is it cracked? Is it covered with moss or mildew? The caulk around the windows and doors. Is that intact? Is any of that loosened up?

I step back, grab a pair of binoculars and take a careful look at the roof. Look for any roof shingles that are missing. Look for intersections between roofs and walls. Look for flashing that has flown off or plumbing vents that are cracked along the top. Those are the type of items that lead to leaks.

So take a careful look at the outside, a careful scan, and fix whatever is necessary.

LESLIE: Yeah, Joy. It’s not a bad idea to do this after every winter season. Get in the habit now and hopefully, next winter will be better.

TOM: Well, St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner. And if you’ve got a bit of Irish in you – of course, we all do on St. Patrick’s Day – so you’ll probably be wearing green. But let’s say you want to take it one step further. There’s a few things you can do to actually go green in your home, which is a great way to save green at the same time. And Leslie has got those tips, in this week’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

LESLIE: Yeah. These are some really easy ideas and they’ll go a long way in helping you be more eco-friendly.

First of all, bring your own bag. Whenever you’re shopping, not just to the grocery story – I like to bring a tote bag to the mall, the shoe store, everywhere. I keep them in the car, all those reusable bags. I kind of stuff them into one another. I just keep them there and when I’m going shopping, I just grab them and throw them in the shopping cart.

Next, you can drink tap water. Why not install a water filter and forget those bottles of spring water? Now, you can also clean with natural ingredients, like vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and skip all that stuff with chemicals and all those harsh fragrances.

You can use glass containers for storage instead of plastic. In fact, you can even reuse jars from salsa, sauces and other pantry items. Now, they work really well for reheating in the microwave, too, and they’re less dangerous than plastics, which are kind of iffy in the microwave. And you’ve got to wonder about that BPA. Is it in it? Is it not in it? Now, if you do these simple things, you can enjoy going green.

Now, I’ve got a tip for all of our listeners out there who’ve got small kids. If you want to do something really super-fun, which I do with the boys on St. Patrick’s Day, we like to pretend that a naughty leprechaun has gotten into the house the night before. And he turns all of the drinks in the refrigerator green, like the milk and the lemonade and whatever else.

So, keep a jar of little droplets of some green food coloring and you can turn a lot of funny things green. I have friends who do really mischievous things with toilet paper all around the house and stuff. But our leprechaun just likes to turn the drinks green. It’s kind of funny. It’s funny because they don’t also like to drink it. But it tastes just the same, so Happy St. Patty’s Day and enjoy going green.

TOM: I don’t know about the green milk. Everything else, probably OK.

This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Coming up next time on the program, do you have old windows that just don’t stay up? Well, don’t throw in the towel just yet. Most likely, they’ve simply got a broken sash cord or spring, which can actually be repaired without replacing the entire window. We’ll teach you how, on the next edition of The Money Pit.

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.

TRANSCRIPT FOR FEBRUARY 24, 2014, HOUR 1

Hosts: Tom Kraeutler & Leslie Segrete

BEGIN HOUR 1 TEXT:

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 we are here to help you with your home improvement projects. Help yourself first by picking up the phone and calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Coming up on the program, spring is within sight. And if one of your spring goals is to unclutter your house, well, that’s a really big project. Why not just start in the kitchen? We’ll have some spring-cleaning tips to get you going, in just a bit.

LESLIE: And also ahead, a septic tank is the original, green waste-disposal system. But if you don’t maintain it, there could be trouble. We’ll cover the steps you’re going to need to take care of your septic system so it takes care of you.

TOM: And as spring approaches, so does the home selling season. If you’re considering selling your home this year, we’ll have tips to help you figure out exactly what it’s worth.

LESLIE: Plus, one caller that we talk to on the air this hour is going to win a Black & Decker 4 Power-Tool Kit, including lithium-ion batteries and a circular saw. It all comes with a bag so that you can keep all of your fantastic, new tools right inside.

TOM: It’s a prize worth $179. Going out to one caller drawn at random from those we speak to on today’s show, so what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Let’s get to it.

Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: Sparky in Georgia is on the line with a question about cleaning a bathroom. How can we help you today?

SPARKY: I live in a subdivision, about 65 employees out in the country. I actually test the water on a daily basis for the chlorine and report that at the end of the month to the local provider. I’ve got a two-bedroom house. In one bathroom, I’ve got no problem with the water in the tank or the bowl. In the master bedroom, I’ve got the bath where it’s got a black ring – water ring. And I’ve replaced the water line, the inside of the water tank, replaced the entire bowl and it continues to come up. Even after we clean the bowl, we still get that black water ring.

LESLIE: So you’re able to remove it but it comes back.

SPARKY: That’s correct.

TOM: And it only shows up on that bathroom and not others.

SPARKY: That’s correct. And the products that we’ve gotten from the – off the store shelf have not been able to help, either. And we’ve actually gone to the internet and it says the more chlorine you put in it, the more that black ring will come back. But we’ve cleaned the bath – both bathrooms with the same products.

TOM: Are the toilets the same age?

SPARKY: The same age, yes. I’ve called the water company and they said they don’t have a clue. And I said I’d sampled the water and tested it every day for the monthly reports.

TOM: I wonder if there’s something different about the porcelain finish on that toilet. For example, if it – if one toilet’s finish was – maybe it was scrubbed more over the years and as a result, it’s worn off some of its porcelain so it’s a bit more porous and becomes more of a trap for bacteria to kind of grow in. And I’m speculating here. I’m kind of shooting from the hip, Sparky, because I know that you’ve tried all of the sort of normal things. But it’s confusing that it happens just in this one particular bathroom with this one particular toilet.

I guess, given everything that you’ve done, have you considered just replacing the toilet and seeing if that does it?

SPARKY: Well, that we’ve done. In fact, I’ve got to go back and – you may be onto something. Because one bowl is round, which is the one issue that we’ve got. The other bathroom is oblong. So they work – same manufacturer but two different bowls.

TOM: That would be the only thing that seems left, because you’ve done everything else.

SPARKY: I was just wondering if there was some product on the market, other than Coca-Cola.

TOM: Yeah. Look, there’s a lot of products that clean this but it’s not going to stop it from coming back. I mean the go-to product for me is CLR. Have you used that yet?

SPARKY: No, I have not.

TOM: So that’s an old standby. Take a look at CLR; stands for Calcium, Lime and Rust. It basically is the – one of the best toilet-bowl cleaners out there. Inexpensive and give that a shot. But if it continues to develop that issue, I might consider replacing the toilet if it’s really bothersome. Either that or get one of those Ty-D-Bol men with the blue dye so you just don’t notice it.

SPARKY: Correct. Yeah, there you go. Thank you very much.

TOM: Alright, Sparky. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Laura in South Carolina, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

LAURA: We have a deck on the back of our house that we, about two years ago, put a product on it that makes it like an anti-slip texture? And the coating is starting to chip off in big chunks, so we were thinking about using that DECKOVER or OVERDECK, I think it’s called?

And when we were at Home Depot, we noticed that they have something else that was an option. They’re actually foot-squared tiles. They’re like a thick rubber that you actually use a glue to adhere onto the deck and then you cover your deck that way. My concern is if you apply that onto the deck, will that rot the wood?

TOM: Well, Laura, I’m not familiar with rubber tiles but there are polypropylene tiles or plastic tiles or composite tiles that are on the market that are designed to cover old decks. And the way these work is they sit on top of the deck boards and they usually lock together. And some of them are quite attractive. There’s a product called Coverdeck that comes in dozens of different colors and shapes and designs that could look really neat. And it’s not going to be slippery and it’s going to look great.

I am concerned if you’re gluing something down to the wood deck, I agree that something like rubber glued to wood is bound to let some water underneath and it’s certainly not going to evaporate. These composite tiles or the plastic tiles usually have a bit of space under them which allows the wood to breathe and dry out. And then really, that’s the issue: if you hold water against it, you will get decay.

So I would take a look at some of the tile products that allow you to cover these decks and probably avoid anything that’s rubbery that you’re going to glue down.

LAURA: OK. So the glue is OK as long as there’s a gap or some sort of gap between the wood?

TOM: It’s OK to cover it as long as there’s air space so it dries out.

LAURA: OK, perfect. Alright. Thank you.

TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. 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. Now, you can call us with your home repair or your home improvement question, because spring is just around the corner and we want to help you get your money pit in tip-top shape. We’re here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Still to come, realtors will tell you now is the time to get a jump on the spring market. But before you list your home, you need to determine what it’s worth. Find out exactly how to do that, with today’s Real Estate Tip of the Week, presented by the National Association of Realtors. That’s coming up, next.

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: Here to answer your calls to 1-888-MONEY-PIT and give you an opportunity to win the brand-new Black & Decker 4-Piece Power-Tool Kit.

LESLIE: It comes with a 2-speed drill driver, a 5½-inch circular saw, a reciprocating saw, a flashlight, 2 lithium-ion batteries, a charger and a storage bag.

TOM: The Black & Decker 4-Piece Power-Tool Kit is worth $179. It’s going out to one lucky caller drawn at random, so let’s get to it at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Greg in Washington is on the line and wants to heat his home with a wood stove. Tell us about your money pit.

GREG: Well, sure. I heat my home with a wood stove and it’s about 10 years old, the stove is. And it’s a pretty good-quality stove. And it’s the main source of heat for my house but I’ve been really disappointed in it. The house is drafty and when the fire dies down, the house cools down in a hurry.

And I had the insulation checked out, so it’s well-insulated. And I think the problem is the wood stove. Right now, the air intake for the combustion chamber is at the bottom of the stove. And so it’s taking in room air and I think that’s causing a draft. And I’ve talked to a lot of our neighbors – where we live, there’s lots of wood, so a lot of people heat with wood – and they all say that it would make a big difference if I were to hook up a stove to an outside source. I’ll be taking cold air from the outside in.

So I went down to our dealer where I bought the stove and basically, he told me he could sell me what I’m looking for but I’m going to be disappointed. And his reason is that right now, we’re taking air into the combustion chamber that’s about 60 degrees or so. And if I add the outside intake, I’ll be taking air in that’s, say, 20 or 30 degrees in temperature. And I’ll be spending a lot of energy just heating the air from the outside. And he recommended not to do it.

So my question is: is it your opinion this would be worthwhile to do or not?

TOM: Most modern fireplace and wood-stove systems include a combustion air intake. In fact, in some cases, it’s required. So, I wouldn’t necessarily take the dealer’s advice on this. I know that if you improve energy efficiency, it’s always going to include a combustion air intake. Because otherwise, you’ve paid to heat all of that air sort of once and now you’re going to pay to heat it again because you’re taking it up the chimney. Does that make sense?

GREG: Yeah, sure does. Yes.

TOM: So, if there’s a way that you can put a combustion air intake there, I would definitely do that. Because you’re right: that wood stove will depressurize the house and frankly, it’s probably pulling more air in from the outside anyway. You’re probably pulling that cold air in anyway; you’re just pulling it through all the gaps around your doors and windows and other spaces like that.

GREG: Right. It’s really drafty by the doors and windows. You’re right.

TOM: Yeah. Because it’s depressurizing. So why not just give it the combustion air and see what happens?

GREG: OK. Because it – I’ve estimated it would cost about $600 to do this. And probably means it’d cost $800 by the time I’m done, so I didn’t know if it’d really be much difference.

TOM: I think it will probably make you a lot more comfortable.

GREG: OK. I think I’ll try that then.

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

Well, it’s time now for today’s Real Estate Tip of the Week, presented by the National Association of Realtors. And today’s topic is perhaps one of the most important ones, which is how to determine what your home is worth.

LESLIE: That’s right. If you’re thinking of selling your home, you might be fantasizing about how much money you’re going to pocket or how much you’ll need to pay off your current mortgage and still be left with something for a down payment on your next house.

TOM: Well, before your fantasies run amok, you need to realize that in the purest sense, the truest value of your home is only what a buyer will pay.

Now, there are a lot of numbers out there that might be confusing but most of those numbers will certainly not determine the value of your home. And this includes the property-tax assessment, the homeowners-insurance value, the mortgage balance or even how much you paid when you bought it.

LESLIE: A realtor can do a comparative market analysis, also called a CMA, that’s going to help you estimate your home’s value. Now, preparing a CMA is both an art and a science. While it’s based on actual data, it also requires local market knowledge and an intuition about which homes you want to compare.

Now, most realtors will look for a recent sale of homes that are similar to yours, as well as homes that didn’t sell, to compare those values.

TOM: And that’s today’s Real Estate Tip of the Week, presented by the National Association of Realtors. Considering selling your home? Today’s market conditions might mean it’s a good time. Every market’s different. Call a realtor today and visit Realtor.com.

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Joyce in Alabama on the line who’s got a question about a sink odor. What’s going on?

JOYCE: Well, this is in a bathroom sink. It’s about 25 years old. It’s a type that has three air-vent holes in it or overflow holes in it. And the odor seems to be emanating primarily from there. It’s a very musty odor and came down to that conclusion because I finally took some paper and stuffed up those holes. And things smelled much better in the bathroom that way.

TOM: Well, sometimes what happens is you’ll get some bacteria that will grow in that overflow trap. So what I would suggest you do is this: that is to fill the sink up with hot water and add some bleach to it and let the bleach very slowly trickle over that overflow. And so it saturates it and hopefully that will kill that mold or that bacteria.

Now, the other thing that you can do is you could take the bathroom-sink trap apart and clean it out with a bottle brush. Now, some of the traps today are just plastic. They’re easy to unscrew and put back together. Under the sink, sometimes you can clean that. And again, you get that biogas that forms in there. If you clean it with a bleach solution, that usually makes things smell a lot better in the bathroom. OK, Joyce?

JOYCE: Alright. Thank you so much.

TOM: You’re very welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

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

MIKE: Hi. Yes, I was wondering – I’ve got a maple tree that’s growing right near my concrete driveway. And it’s starting to actually crack the driveway. I like the tree. It provides a nice shade for the house and keeps it cool during the summertime, so I was just wondering if I have any other options besides taking it down.

TOM: Well, do you like the driveway?

MIKE: It’s cracked, so I’d like to repair it. And I guess another question would be: if I do repair it, then how much rebar or how thick should it be in order to prevent a cracking in the future?

TOM: Well, the options would be: take the tree down, which you don’t want to do; replace the driveway with one that can grow with the tree, like stone – like a stone driveway. Now, if you want to try to set up a scenario where it’s driveway versus tree then, yes, you would have to use some sort of reinforced concrete. But eventually, if that tree wants to lift it, it will lift even the reinforced concrete; it’ll lift the entire slab. It just won’t crack it.

Now, it could take many years for that to happen but I think those are your options: get rid of the tree; replace the driveway with something like stone, which is going to give you some room to grow, so to speak, with that tree; or if you do replace the driveway with concrete, you’re going to have to reinforce the heck out of it.

MIKE: Suggestion on the thickness of the concrete? How much?

TOM: Probably about 5 inches minimum – 5 to 6 inches, I would think – and with woven wire mesh throughout the entire thing.

MIKE: Alright. Thank you.

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

LESLIE: Debbie in Illinois is on the line with a cleaning question. How can we help you?

DEBBIE: My question is about ceramic tile. What is the very best way to clean the grout? We have a house that’s been – it’s about nine years old and I just need to clean my grout.

LESLIE: So what color has the grout turned? Do you think it’s like a mold or mildew situation or do you think that it’s just dirty?

DEBBIE: I think it’s dirty, just dirty, yeah.

LESLIE: And was it white to begin with?

DEBBIE: No, it was tan. And it’s just a little darker tan. The ceramic tile is tan and so it’s just – it was a coordinating tan that went with the tile.

TOM: So there are a couple of options. You can get grout cleaner or grout stripper, which are commercially available products. And the stripper is a little more aggressive. And you can put it on, let it sit and then you work it with a brush until you get the grout to the color that you want it. But the key, final step is to make sure that once you get it clean and it’s really dry – is to seal it at that point because that will keep it cleaner longer.

The sealers are silicone-based and they sort of soak into the grout and they stop it from being quite as absorbent. And they help you shed some of the dirt and grime that will follow.

DEBBIE: OK. So, I’ve also seen it advertised that a steamer is a good way to do that. Would you not recommend a steamer on it?

TOM: I don’t think a steamer is going to help you by itself. Warm/hot water and steam is not going to make the difference. What you need is the right product to lift the dirt and the debris out of the grout that’s there.

DEBBIE: OK. And would you recommend a certain type of grout stripper?

TOM: You might want to take a look at the products by TileLab – Tile-L-a-b. Those are sold at The Home Depot.

DEBBIE: Alright. Awesome. Thank you so much. I appreciate your help.

TOM: You’re welcome, Debbie.

LESLIE: Wade in South Dakota, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

WADE: Hi. I was curious about calcium deposits showing up in my – recently just my hot-water returns coming out of the kitchen sink, bathroom sink. And I’ve noticed it in my washer inlet hose, as well. Is there a good way to prevent that through – stop that from happening?

TOM: Well, it sounds like hard water and you might need a water softener. That white stuff is mineral deposits that’s trapped inside the water. And as it dries out, it can cake on those fixtures and those faucets and makes them difficult to clean. And in the worst-case scenario, it can clog up some lines, too.

So, you might want to think about water-treatment options. Now, one of the easiest is a product called EasyWater. And it’s a water softener that mounts near your main water line. And electronically, it essentially charges the hard-water particles and magnetizes them in the sense that they don’t stick together anymore. And that helps them sort of flow right out.

So take a look at that product: EasyWater. You can find it online; I believe it’s EasyWater.com.

WADE: Another quick question about – I replaced the anode rod in my water heater and I noticed that some of the similar stuff was kind of chipping off of that – my old rod. Would that have anything to do with it or would that help it?

TOM: No, that’s just more evidence of hard water. That’s just another place the hard water and the mineral deposits collected: on that anode rod. So it’s all sourcing from the water quality itself. You need to address the water quality if you want to address the mineral deposits.

WADE: OK. That makes sense.

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

LESLIE: Coming up, septic tanks, they take care of our plumbing system but only when we take care of them. This Old House plumbing expert Richard Trethewey is joining us with tips, next.

ROGER: Hi. I’m Roger Cook, landscaping contractor for This Old House and Ask This Old House on PBS. If you want to grow more confident in taking care of your money pit, tune in to Tom and Leslie every week for great ideas on saving money and maintaining your home.

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: And we would love for you to check out our new Pin to Win Sweepstakes, which is live right now on our Facebook page. And I know everyone is ready for spring but are you ready for spring cleaning?

LESLIE: Well, we’ve got four great tips to help you get started and all you have to do is pin at least one of the tips to your Pinterest board for a chance to win one of three gift cards for The Home Depot. We’ve got $100, $150 and $250 just waiting for you.

TOM: Check it out at Facebook.com/TheMoneyPit.

LESLIE: So it’s not a homeowner’s favorite thing to do but if you’ve got a septic tank, taking care of it is crucial. Otherwise, you will have a giant mess on your hands.

TOM: Well, that’s possible. And here with tips on how to keep your septic system happy is Richard Trethewey, the plumbing-and-heating expert for TV’s This Old House.

And is this the first time you’ve ever had happy septic systems and your introduction in the same sentence?

RICHARD: That’s right. It’s a good day.

TOM: You know, it is the kind of thing that we like to have out of sight, out of mind. But there could be some signs that a septic system fails. What are we looking out for?

RICHARD: Well, if it’s going to fill that front lawn or wherever the septic system is because it’s no longer going to perc through the ground.

TOM: When you say “perc,” you mean absorb, right?

RICHARD: Absorb.

TOM: Right.

RICHARD: Maybe you should do a little definition that …

LESLIE: Yeah, explain the whole process because I think a lot of people get confused.

RICHARD: OK. So, when the plumbing leaves your house, it’s going to have liquids and solids in it. It’s going to go into a septic tank. And those solids want to remain in that septic tank. And then natural bacteria, fed mostly by oxygen, will break down those solids into a liquid. And then the liquid will continue on through a thing called a “leach field,” which is a series of horizontal pipes perforated, that will be below the ground. And then the remaining water should just be able to drip gently down through the aquifer and down into the ground. And properly used, meaning not overused, not …

LESLIE: Properly sized for the amount of people, the amount of bathrooms.

RICHARD: Absolutely. The natural – and depends on the ground that you’re going into and its ability to hold water.

TOM: Right.

RICHARD: These systems can run and run and run and never have an issue because that bacteria keeps on breaking down the solids and keeping things running. But they can fail and when you do, it’s a crisis. Dig up the whole front lawn. It’s a major impact. You’ve got to call the local health authorities to be sure you can do the new one and everything else, so it’s a big deal.

So, people that have it – I think 25 percent of American houses have some form of septic system. And you just want to be careful of what goes down the building – down the pipes. You never want any paints or solvents or anything that could ever touch that bacteria. That bacteria has to be – stay in that tank to stay hungry. And if you do anything to kill any of the bacteria, all of a sudden you’ve got an issue and you’re going to have to dig it up or clean it up.

TOM: Now, I’ve seen systems where they’ve actually split off the gray water in the house, which is the non-sort of sewage water – water, for example, that comes from the washing machine, where you tend to have a lot of bleach.

RICHARD: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.

TOM: And they’ll put that into a different type of field than the septic and that – the purpose of that is to keep that septic field alive and keep that tank alive and the bacteria alive so it doesn’t have an adverse effect?

RICHARD: Yeah. There’s certainly a better chance of that. It’s all – they do it for two reasons, gray water. They also do it to save water and use it for creative reuse. We did a story in San Francisco some years ago to take the water from the laundry and go out to a nice, beautiful garden out back.

I thought gray water would be a bigger story than it has been. I think, in so many parts of this country, water is not expensive enough yet.

LESLIE: But is gray water also shower water and when you’re washing your hands?

RICHARD: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And so, really, the only thing that’s going to go out in the septic system would be the toilets in the building. And there’s some merit to that, that you could just keep that material going into that septic tank and you know that bacteria will keep running.

TOM: Now, when it comes to pumping septic tanks, that’s something that we hear very common.

RICHARD: Yep.

TOM: There’s folks that recommend they be pumped every so many years.

RICHARD: Yeah.

TOM: Do you think if it’s – everything seems to be working fine, you can just leave it alone? Or do you think it’s a good idea to occasionally open the tank and pump it out?

RICHARD: I don’t know. I wouldn’t recommend to proactively pump it out unless there was an issue.

TOM: OK.

RICHARD: Because if that bacteria is running – I don’t want to get the septic lobby mad at me. But if that – if you’re using it – using the septic system and you’re not overtaxing it and the water is percolating down through the ground and you’ve – that bacteria stays running, it should last for a long time. It should keep running. It’s sort of self-maintaining.

But when it goes bad or when you’ve got a building that’s being taxed – too small of a septic system for too many fixtures inside the building – that tank won’t be able to handle it. And then you call the pump guys and get it pumped out and start again.

LESLIE: Now, what happens when you do an addition like, say, you’re adding a master bath? Will that be accommodated by the existing septic system or at that point, do you have to figure out another way?

RICHARD: Well, the whole – Leslie, the whole building code ties in. The number of bathrooms has to be supported by the size of the septic system. So sometimes, the septic system will limit your ability to add additional bedrooms or add on because you would tax the system. So, that’s sort of one of the measurement devices that the towns have to keep from overdevelopment, because you just don’t want to tax that septic system.

TOM: We’re talking to Richard Trethewey – he’s the plumbing-and-heating expert on TV’s This Old House – about septic systems and how to maintain septic systems and how to make sure they do their job.

Richard, the system designed for septics hasn’t changed a lot in the last 20, 30, 40 years. Are there new systems out, coming out today, that are more efficient in one way or another?

RICHARD: Absolutely. This year, on This Old House, we went down to a test facility for alternative septic systems. And the race is on to find alternatives to the standard septic system. Historically, it was either a cesspool, where you just dug a big pit and dumped it. Then around the post-war era, septic systems were the rage.

These alternatives are quite interesting. We’re going to do a story this year about a self-contained sewage treatment plant that can go into any house. So now, imagine that there is no leaching field and there is no septic system. Everything happens inside a series of tanks where liquids and solids come in …

LESLIE: Which are stored indoors or …?

RICHARD: Indoors. In this case, it’s above ground. And so, goes into the first tank and the solids remain. They add oxygen all the time to sort of keep that bacteria really fed and happy. And then you go through a series of tanks. And by the time you come through the last two tanks, it goes through this membrane that’s so fine that only water molecules can pass through this membrane. And what happens is that the water is so clean on the discharge, it can be consumed; it could be drunk.

TOM: Wow.

RICHARD: So it’s – in the scene we just did, it’s quite an interesting …

LESLIE: Do you take a big swig of water?

RICHARD: I didn’t take a sip of it. I didn’t take a sip of it but the expert did and he’s still standing. But what you could do – now imagine that you could use that water for drip irrigation or lawn irrigation or even use it for the equivalent of gray water, to flush toilets.

TOM: Right. Sure. That’s really interesting. So, there’s a lot that technology is offering us moving forward in the future.

RICHARD: That’s right.

TOM: And we may completely, potentially eliminate the need for the septic tank and the septic field, in the traditional sense, outside the house.

RICHARD: Right. Right. You know, we’ve got millions and millions of lakes in this country and there’s all – everyone wants to have a lakefront property. And there’s a real issue there. How do you let people live near the lake when their septic system could then leach into it? So these alternatives have great promise for those places, where you can protect that natural resource of that beautiful lake but still let everybody live.

TOM: That’s great. Richard Trethewey, the plumbing-and-heating expert on TV’s This Old House, great advice. Very interesting. Thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.

RICHARD: Great to see you.

LESLIE: Alright. You can catch the current season of This Old House and Ask This Old House on PBS. For local listings and step-by-step videos of many common home improvement projects, visit ThisOldHouse.com.

TOM: And This Old House is brought to you by GMC. GMC, we are professional grade.

Still ahead, want to get more organized? Then start tossing. We’ve got a list of stuff that you can get rid of, right now, to get the ball rolling, next.

TOM: Making good homes better, this is 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.

TOM: It’s a great prize from Black & Decker that goes to one caller we help today. The number, again, is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Well, did you make a resolution to get your home a little better organized? Maybe you already tossed out your old clothing, books and other stuff that you just don’t use or need anymore. But did you take stock of what you don’t use in your kitchen? It’s definitely a place that’s left off of the list, for the most part. And the scary thing is not tossing out stuff you don’t use there could be dangerous.

TOM: Well, here are a few tips to help you figure out how to declutter and organize one of the busiest rooms in the house.

First, you want to empty every drawer and cabinet and make two piles: keep and toss. What do you keep? Well, grains, dried beans, pasta and canned goods that are less than a year old. What do you toss? Spices more than a year old, dried fruit and nuts older than six months. And remember, when in doubt, throw it out.

LESLIE: That’s right. And now is a great time to assess if your system is working for you. It could be a good time to pick up some storage containers or devices, like under-cabinet racks or baskets. Take a look at your junk drawer, too. If you’ve got gadgets that you haven’t used in a couple of years, it might be time to get rid of them. Maybe you just need to purge those late-night, impulse infomercial purchases. I know you’ve got them.

TOM: Also, if you’re storing medications in your kitchen, get them in a medicine chest in the bathroom where they belong. And while you’re at it, check the expiration dates on those, too, and toss out the outdated ones. Spend time cleaning before you put everything back and you should be good to go until next year.

And for more spring-cleaning tips, visit MoneyPit.com.

LESLIE: Robin in South Dakota needs help keeping a basement dry. Tell us what’s going on.

ROBIN: What we’ve got going on is I’d like to insulate the basement but before we do that, I’d like to seal it from water. Several years ago, I had dug up all around the outside of the house and put on that tar substance and that didn’t do it. So, I was just seeing if that spray-on poly spray would do both for me: both seal the basement up from some water coming in and also to insulate for me.

TOM: Do you have more water problems when you get a heavy snow melt or a big rainstorm or something like that?

ROBIN: Yeah, that is what’s coming in. It’s the rain. Actually, the rain hitting the foundation wall coming in is what causes it. It’s not groundwater coming up.

TOM: Well, typically the reason the basements leak is because when you have a heavy rain, water collects around the foundation perimeter. And many folks do try to seal walls from the outside or from the inside but we found it far easier and more effective to simply take some steps to divert that water away from the walls.

If you take a look at our website, MoneyPit.com – in fact, on the home page, this is – we have the list of the most viewed articles. This is constantly in the top 10 articles and that is the step-by-step advice on how to stop a wet basement.

But generally speaking, you’re going to do a couple of things. First of all, you’re going to examine the foundation perimeter of your home and look carefully at the grade. You want the soil to slope away about 6 inches over 4 feet. So you want kind of a 10-degree slope. And you want to make that slope happen with clean fill dirt, not top soil because it’s too organic.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, you want to take a look at your gutter system. First, you need to have enough downspouts. You need 1 downspout for every 600 to 800 square feet of roof service. Next, those gutters obviously have to be clean and the downspouts have to be extended 4 to 6 feet away from your house.

Now, most of the time when downspouts are installed, they turn into a splash block and go out maybe a couple of feet. But what happens is the water runs down there, does a U-turn and just saturates the foundation and leaks through the block wall, which is very hydroscopic, very absorbent and will show up as a leak inside.

We’ve seen situations where just one downspout can cause an issue of flooding. And that water can either come through the wall and fall or it can go under the floor and come up. But if your basement is leaking consistent with rainfall, it is always, always, always due to grading and drainage on the outside. So address that and your problem will go away.

ROBIN: OK. Sounds good.

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

This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Up next, as many of us learned this winter, snow on the roof could be pretty to look at but not so safe. Learn how to remove it and protect your home’s structure, after this.

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: And we would love for you to take a look at our brand-new Pin to Win Sweepstakes on The Money Pit Facebook page. If you pin at least one of the four spring-cleaning tips on your Pinterest page, you’ll be entered to win one of three great gift cards from The Home Depot.

LESLIE: And we’ve got tips on stain removal, natural cleaning products and the dreaded grout cleaning. Check it out at Facebook.com/TheMoneyPit and share the sweeps to earn bonus entries.

TOM: And while you’re online, you can also post your question in our Community section. That’s what Joe did from New Jersey. And Joe says, “I recently heard about a brownstone in Brooklyn that had the roof collapse from too much snow. What should I do to make sure that the snow on the roof isn’t dangerous if I’m on the top floor of a rental or multiple-family home? I’m a bit nervous with all the snow we’ve had.”

Well, Joe, you’re smart to be a little nervous. And unfortunately, since you’re a tenant, I’m not sure that you have much control over this. But for those that are homeowners, what we would suggest is this: if you’ve got a low-sloped roof or a flat roof and you get a heavy snow, it is a good idea to get that snow off of the roof.

Now, you can use a snow rake for that which, if you’ve got access, you can do from the roof edge or perhaps even from the ground, if it’s got a bit of a pitch. If it’s a flat roof and it’s got walls that surround it, of course, that’s just an old-fashioned shoveling job. But the reason that you’re doing this is because when you get snow that melts, it gets very heavy. And then especially if a rain follows, well, that’s a perfect storm. Because if rain falls on top of a fresh snowfall, what happens is the rain really can’t drain and it gets even heavier. That’s when we get roof collapses.

So you’re smart to be concerned from inside the house. Keep an eye peeled for any type of structural issues. Listen for sounds of structural movement: the grunting, the groaning, the creaking. And also, if you see any sagging, that’s something you should be immediately concerned about. But best course is to simply get that snow off the roof. If you’re concerned, I would address it to your landlord and I would do so in writing, just in case.

LESLIE: Oh, my goodness.

Alright. Next up, we’ve got one from Priscilla in Georgia who posted: “Our laundry room is in the garage. With the unusually cold temperatures, our pipe that supplies water to the washer keeps freezing. Fortunately, it hasn’t burst. We have to keep a space heater in there, though, just to keep it warm enough that it doesn’t freeze and so we can have a water supply to continue to do our laundry on a regular basis. Is there anything else I can do? I hate leaving the space heater on too long or unattended.”

That sounds so dangerous, especially in the garage.

TOM: And it sounds very expensive, too. Well, one thing that you could do is you could add heat tape to the plumbing pipes in the garage. Now, obviously, it’s not the best choice for a place for laundry but since it’s there, you follow the manufacturer’s instructions exactly. Heat tape will only come on when it gets below freezing and it will keep the pipe warm.

And I just did this on a project for a friend of mine and the manufacturer’s instructions were to apply the heat tape. You can’t cross it; you have to put it against the pipe. You tape it on there and then you insulate around it. It’s designed to work with insulation. And this way, whenever it gets super-cold, you could plug in that heat tape, leave it on through that chilly period.

But don’t leave it on 24-7 when the chilly time goes away; you want to unplug it then. But this way, in the super-cold – if you get one of those polar-vortex situations, you can always plug it in. That will keep the pipes warm and hopefully free-flowing.

LESLIE: Yeah, Priscilla. I really wouldn’t leave a space heater unattended, so definitely look into a secondary option. Because that is just a fire waiting to happen.

TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Thank you so much for spending this hour with us. We hope that we’ve spurred on your home improvement projects with some tips and some ideas. And we are available 24-7 with more of just that at MoneyPit.com or you can also call anytime at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

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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