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: Here to help you with your home improvement projects. Let’s solve the do-it-yourself dilemma. Is it a home repair? Is it a home remodeling question? Is it a décor question? Whatever your challenge is, pick up the phone, let us help you first by calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.
Coming up on today’s program, your kitchen is where you cook, you eat, you pay bills, you do homework and you just hang out. So it’s no wonder that just one type of lighting won’t do the trick. We’re going to have some tips about all the different lighting options you need to consider for your kitchen so that you shed the light right on every task.
LESLIE: And St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and there could not be a more perfect time to talk about greening your home. Coming up this hour, we’re going to talk about types of countertops that are the most Earth-friendly.
TOM: Plus, if you want a quick way to start a neighborhood feud, just put up an ugly fence on the wrong side of a property line. We’re going to have some tips on the right way to fence in your yard, coming up.
LESLIE: And this hour, we’re giving away a copy of our book, My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure. And we’ll even sign it for you.
TOM: So give us a call right now. The number, again, is 888-MONEY-PIT.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’re going to help Bud in Oregon avoid a hair-raising electrical situation.
What’s going on, Bud?
BUD: I’ve got 3 banks of the 2 bulbs each, 4-foot long mounted up in the ceiling, built into a box directly over my cooktop. And during the summertime, when the humidity is higher, if I get any moisture up there, it can take sometimes days before those lights will come on reliably on the first flip of the switch.
Now, in the winter, when I’m burning a wood stove, which means I’ve got lower humidity inside the house, if I’m cooking on the cooktop and don’t turn the lights on before, I get the same problem. Except as soon as the moisture stops going up there and I’ve got 10, 15 minutes, then the lights will start coming back on regularly and be reliable again.
So, what I need to know from you, if you’ve got some suggestions, is before I get up there and start looking for how to do something, I want to know what I need to have in stock. Is there something – a lubricant, a cleanser or whatever – to do something with contacts or got any suggestions?
TOM: I would give up on those fixtures.
BUD: Yeah, I would, too. I think you’re right.
TOM: I would just give up on them. They don’t sound safe to me. I’m not quite sure what exactly is going wrong with them but they certainly shouldn’t be behaving that way. And I would worry about them getting worse and potentially causing a fire.
The cost of a 4-foot, dual-bulb, fluorescent fixture is not very much today. And so I would simply take this on as a project and replace each and every one of them. I wouldn’t try to change the ballast out, I wouldn’t try to clean it, I wouldn’t try to do anything like that. I would just replace them. It’s just not worth it.
BUD: It’s not what I wanted to hear but it’s a good thing and it’s probably cheaper in the long run to spend the $8, $10 per what you – put up 3 brand-new ones.
TOM: Exactly.
BUD: OK. I’ll just look for a good time when I can do it without breaking my neck.
TOM: That’s always important. Bud, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Mary Lee in Washington has a call about radiant heat for the floor. Tell us what’s going on.
MARY LEE: I’m going to remodel my bathroom. It’ll have a tile floor. Some of my neighbors in my condominium have put under their floors and say they love it. But I wonder if there’s any efficiency to it or if it’s just an expensive comfort.
TOM: I think it’s more of a luxury item, because your condominium probably has enough heat with the core heating system.
That said, it is kind of nice to have that toasty floor in the bathroom. And if you don’t mind the expense to install it, you can control the expense to run it because you’re always going to – you’re only going to operate it when you need it. You can put it on a timer, you could heat the floor up just for one particular bath/shower experience. You can really control that usage.
But it is awfully nice to have. There’s nothing efficient about it; it’s definitely going to cost you some money to run because it’s electric. And it’s the most expensive form of heat.
MARY LEE: OK. Thank you.
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.
Well, more and more Americans are looking to sustainable or renewable building materials when they renovate. So coming up, we’re going to have some tips on how to pick the greenest options in countertops, 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.
TOM: Give us a call for the answer to your do-it-yourself dilemma and you’ll be entered into a random drawing to win a copy of our book, My Home, My Money Pit: Every Guide to Home Improvement Adventure. Comes complete with our own personal graffiti, otherwise known as an autograph.
LESLIE: That’s right. We’ll happily sign it for you and of course, increase its value by 35 cents. I’m kidding.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
LESLIE: Now we’re talking to Pauline in New Jersey who needs some help with a countertop. How can we help you today?
PAULINE: I have a lot of counters in both bathrooms and the kitchen. And from the – I have backsplashes, as well. And where the backsplash and the counter meet, it’s coming up white and it looks like dry paste. And also, what’s happened over the last few years – at first, I took a little bit off with my nail but now it’s getting really bad. And it’s – there were splash marks, as though when they put the counter in, they didn’t clean off the – so whatever they used. And it looks like you splashed something on that dried up.
And I don’t want to use anything that isn’t right for the granite and ruin it. So I was wondering if you had a suggestion that might be easy for me to use and get rid of this stuff.
TOM: How long have you had these countertops? When were they first installed?
PAULINE: Seven years ago.
TOM: And they’ve never been sealed since?
PAULINE: No, no.
TOM: Well, granite tops do take quite a bit of maintenance. People think that they’re fairly maintenance-free because they’re somewhat indestructive. But they really do need a lot of care and they need to be resealed from time to time.
And it sounds to me like the white stuff that you’re describing is most likely mineral salt. And what happens is the countertops, when they lose their seal, they absorb more moisture. Then the moisture evaporates off and it leaves behind the mineral-salt deposits that’s in the water. And that forms that white sort of crust; it’s like a grayish-white crust.
Now, what are you using to clean them on a daily basis?
PAULINE: Generally, just water and a little – they told me to use the Windex.
TOM: Yeah, you can make a homemade granite cleaner with rubbing alcohol – standard rubbing alcohol – mixed with maybe a half-a-dozen drops of dishwasher detergent.
PAULINE: OK. Thank you so much.
TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, we’re going green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Only our green may be a little different than most. We’re talking green in terms of eco-friendliness and specifically, eco-friendly kitchens.
Now, one of the easy ways that you can be kind to the Earth is through your choice of countertops.
TOM: Now, you might not get absolutely everything that you want in an Earth-friendly countertop but here are some tips to think about.
First, stone countertops are beautiful, they’re natural and they’re durable but they’re actually not renewable. Mining of any kind affects the land and water quality. Solid surfacing is beginning to catch up in terms of Earth-friendliness. Some counters are made of recycled plastics. But in the end, the product often ends up in landfills.
LESLIE: So, what are the most Earth-friendly choices? Well, both ceramic tile and glass tile come from recycled materials and they can be recycled when you’re done with them. Another green option is concrete, which is always gaining in popularity.
If you want some more countertop ideas, along with the pros and cons, you want to head over to MoneyPit.com and search “green kitchen countertops.” And we’ll list there what the materials are, what the benefits are, what the cons are in using it and it’ll really help you make an educated decision.
TOM: Great tip.
LESLIE: Richard in Ohio is living in a pretty drafty house. Join the club. Tell me what’s going on.
RICHARD: Insulation contractor came and blew cellulose insulation in the walls. Left a lot of voids in it, which caused forced drafts. I had infrared-camera work done and the floors are like 31 degrees and about 45 degrees waist-high. And I can’t seem to figure out what’s going on here or what to do about it. However, I found a physics teacher that restores old homes. She told me that if you leave a void in an insulation – insulated wall – it will cause a forced draft. [Be creating] (ph) quite a few forced drafts in here.
TOM: Well, maybe, maybe not but here’s the thing. First of all, you had blown-in insulation done and you followed that up with an infrared-camera inspection. I’m guessing you didn’t do that right after the installer was done, correct? You did this later on to try to figure out why it was still cold in the house?
RICHARD: Yes.
TOM: Yeah. And it’s very difficult to install blown-in insulation in a wall and do it correctly, so we’ve heard this before. The best installers will take a long time to make sure it gets in just right. They put in just the right amount and they knew how to get it in every bay and then they use an infrared camera to figure out if they’ve missed anything. So it sounds to me like now we’ve got a real mess in the outside wall. We don’t know what’s insulated, what’s not insulated.
Let’s set that aside for right now and cover two other very important basics. Number one is the attic. You want to make sure that you have enough insulation in your attic because if you can trap the heat from escaping from the attic, which is where most of the heat leaves the house, you may find that it’s going to make you more comfortable.
In the attics of Ohio, where you’re located, you’re going to need at least 15 to 20 inches of fiberglass insulation. Most people don’t have that much. But that is what the Department of Energy would recommend. So if you don’t have that much insulation, the first thing I want you to do is add insulation to your attic.
The second thing – you mentioned you’re on a crawlspace. Your floor has got to be insulated. Again, unfaced fiberglass batts. If it’s a standard 2×10 floor joist, you want to fill that up with a full 10 inches of insulation. If you can insulate the floor and the attic – two areas that are accessible and easy to access – you’re kind of halfway there.
Now, what are we going to do about the exterior wall? Well, short of taking it apart, we’re not going to easily solve this problem with a blown-in. If you had an insulation company that could work with the camera and add additional blown-in, they might be able to fill it in. But that’s going to be expensive and I don’t know that you’re going to get a good return on investment.
So what I would suggest you do is everything else that you can do to stop the drafts. So that means sealing around windows and doors and outlets and light switches, especially, to make sure that we get as many of those gaps closed as possible.
And then from a decorating perspective, very often – Leslie, you jump right in because I’ve heard you recommend heavy drapes over these windows, too, to try to short-circuit those drafts that are sort of falling around the windows.
LESLIE: Yeah. And you can do it sort of two-fold. You know, we have drafty windows. Unfortunately, the previous owners installed not the greatest of windows and they were poorly installed. So, short of doing a major project here, I’ve gotten creative. I’ve done a sort of double-lined fabric shade that’s up against the glass portion of the window itself. And I’ll draw those down during the colder times. And then I have a heavier drape that I use in the winter, as well, that’s lined that I will just close up to make sure that I’m keeping those drafts out.
Also, if you’ve got baseboard heating in that room, you want to make sure that nothing is blocking those baseboards. Your furniture – you’ve got to pull away from the walls. Think about giving it some air, just sort of circulate the heat around the room a little bit better. But really, heavy fabrics, heavy draperies, that really does make a huge difference.
TOM: Richard, I hope that advice helps you out. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Jan in California is having a wallpaper-removal situation. Tell us what’s going on.
JAN: Hi. Been removing wallpaper and repapering for 50 years and never come across where you take the wallpaper off and it looks like there’s a paper lining behind it. I’ve had some people tell me that this is a filler for the texturing so the wallpaper looks smooth. And others tell me that it’s a liner and it fills the whole wall with pencil lines where the wallpaper goes. I don’t want to damage the sheetrock that’s underneath, so I’m a little leery about taking that off or leaving it on or what I should do with it.
TOM: So your end game is to get down to the drywall?
JAN: Well, it doesn’t have to be if I can texture over what’s there. But it’s almost like a paper and I don’t know if we can put the mud and everything on that.
TOM: If it’s adhered well, then I don’t see why you couldn’t texture over it. Do you want to use a textured paint?
JAN: No, I want to use the texture that I’ve had on the other walls.
TOM: The key here is whether or not the surface that you’ve exposed is well-adhered to the drywall underneath. If it’s well-adhered, then you can go ahead and put your texture over that. If it’s not, then your texture could be on there for a couple of months and it could start falling off in chunks when that backer paper pulls off. As long as it’s well-adhered, then I don’t see any reason you can’t go on top of it, Jan.
JAN: OK. I appreciate you and enjoy your program all the time.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Now we are heading over to Tennessee and Randall is dealing with some mold in the garage. Tell us what’s going on.
RANDALL: Yeah. There’s some black mold in a house that I’m renting, actually. I can do any work here, so there’s no problem. Apparently, there was a water heater that went out and so it’s up about – it goes from everywhere from about a foot up to about maybe 3 feet and around the back of the water heater and down the wall.
TOM: Alright. So your question is: what should you do about that? Correct?
RANDALL: Well, yeah, yeah. I wanted to know whether I can clean it or I need to rip out all of the drywall and just start over again.
TOM: Well, the general rule of thumb is that if it’s less than 10 square feet, you can do the removal yourself or you can clean it yourself. And the simple thing to do is to mix up a bleach-and-water solution and spray it down. Let the bleach sit for 15, 20 minutes on the wall and then clean that dead – what will now be dead mold off of the wall.
RANDALL: How would you clean that?
TOM: You could use that bleach-and-water solution and a bucket and a sponge and wipe it down. You just want to not – you want to be careful not to breathe any mold spores, so wear a dust mask and that sort of thing.
RANDALL: Is it just the dust mask or do I have to buy something more extensive, like one of those filter masks?
TOM: Well, here’s the thing, Randall. Some people are super-sensitive to mold and some people are not. And a lot of people can go ahead and clean that with virtually no protection and never have any ill effects and other people that can – will try to do that and be super-allergic and be generally miserable as a result of the experience.
So, the answer is: it depends. But if you go to the website for the Centers for Disease Control, they’ve got a great section on mold and how to get rid of it, there. And you will find some step-by-step advice, too, on how to clean it up.
RANDALL: OK. So some bleach solution, water. About half and half?
TOM: No. You only need about 10-percent bleach – 10- or 15-percent bleach is plenty.
RANDALL: Hey, I appreciate it.
LESLIE: John in Delaware is dealing with a spider problem. I can’t even talk about it for fear they will jump into my house. What’s going on?
JOHN: I moved to the beach about 10 years ago. I’m not – I’m 12 miles from the water but I don’t know whether that’s part of the problem or not. But we have spiders inside the house all the time. They’re always in the corners of the room. It’s rare to come into any room and not have one. And it seems like as quickly as you get rid of them, a week later you have more in the same areas. And it is very annoying.
TOM: What do you do to get rid of them, John?
JOHN: The only thing I do is I try to kill them and knock down their little web.
TOM: Good luck with that. That’s not working out too well for you, I bet, huh?
JOHN: No, it’s not.
TOM: You’re not going to win the war if that’s your treatment approach. The thing about insects today is the best way to control them is through science. And if you look at a company like Orkin, a company that’s been around forever, these guys know exactly what insecticide to put down, they know how to put it down in the right amounts and the products that they use today are very insect-specific.
It used to be that there was sort of a broad-spectrum pesticide that was put down. Today, the pesticides are very, very specific for the problem. And if I was dealing with this in my house, I wouldn’t be running around with my boot trying to kill them all. I would have the pesticide applied in the right amounts, right place and be done with it.
So, I would recommend that you call Orkin and have that taken care of the right way. It’s safer to do that than to buy over-the-counter pesticides which you end up over-applying – which are far more dangerous, in my view – and certainly a lot less frustrating than having to stomp them to death, OK?
So, I would use a pesticide to control these spiders and that’s the best solution.
JOHN: OK. And you would not advise trying to do it on your own. You’d advise getting a company that’s – would pay regularly to have them come back?
TOM: Yeah, you can’t buy the products that a professional can buy. They’re not available to the general public because they have to be applied just right. That’s why it’s a good idea to turn to a pro like Orkin.
John, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Still ahead, the kitchen is probably the most used room in your house, you know, where a lot goes on besides actually cooking and eating. So if you’ve got a single, overhead light source, you’re missing out.
TOM: Find out how to light your kitchen perfectly when The Money Pit continues, 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 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: Rich in Illinois needs some help with a painting project. Tell us what you’re working on.
RICH: I’m working on a house that I’ve been living in since 1988. And the bottom four sections of my steel siding keep peeling. It’s like a 30-foot-long piece. Each piece is 8 inches wide. And it has a wood-grain pattern on it; looks like it’s been stamped. And every two years, I approach this project. First time, I took a wire brush to it and knocked all the loose off and primed it. And two years later, I was doing it again.
And every year, I try a different method. I tried a wire wheel on a drill. Last year, I took an air compressor and a hose and a drill and a wire wheel and went down to the bare metal.
TOM: Wow.
RICH: And went to the paint store and they gave me some primer and some paint. And seemed like everything I try – I wash it with paint thinner sometimes before I do it. Sometimes I just use soap and water. I always make sure it’s a nice, dry day – about 80 degrees – when I paint it. And it seems to always come back about every two to three years.
I know it should be replaced but I kind of like the siding. But it’s steel and it’s – the company is no longer in business now and so the warranty is up on it.
TOM: And there’s different qualities of steel. So even if it had a rust-resistant finish on it, it could have just worn off. And I wonder if whatever process they used is what’s causing the paint to not stick.
When you prime it, are you using an oil-based primer or are you using an alkyd primer?
RICH: Both. I’ve used both. I don’t know if it’s the primer that I use or if it’s – I’ve even went down to no paint at all and just the galvanized showing and – I don’t know. I don’t know what it – I don’t know if it’s the primer or what I’m using to wash the siding with that’s causing it or it’s the paint. I tried four or five different kinds of paint on this and primer.
TOM: What I would do – I mean if I was priming it – and you may have done this already. But what I would do is I would use same manufacturer’s primer and paint. So, for example, I don’t think you can go wrong with Rust-Oleum. That’s pretty much one of the best metal paints of all.
I would use the red Rust-Oleum primer – the oil-based primer – and I would let it thoroughly dry after you knock off all the loose paint and sand it and make sure the surface is ready to accept it. But I would use the oil-based Rust-Oleum primer which, by the way, takes forever to dry. Depends on the weather but three or four or five hours is not unusual. And then, I would use the Rust-Oleum top coat. Again, oil-based. And I rarely recommend oil-based but in this situation, I think that’s what’s going to give you the best adhesion.
Now, Rich, there’s one other piece of advice that we could offer you on this and it comes from a process that’s very – that’s done very often when people work on cars. There’s a product called Prep-Sol – P-r-e-p-S-o-l. And it’s a solvent that’s designed to be applied to bare metal before the primer. You might want to look that up as – I don’t know what – you said you were using a solvent. I don’t know if you were using mineral salt – mineral spirits or something like that – but this is specifically made for it. Just Google it. It’s called Prep-Sol – P-r-e-p – S-o-l. And it’s a cleaning solvent.
RICH: OK. Do I apply it with a brush or a rag or …?
TOM: You apply it with a rag. Use a clean cloth and you apply it – you soak it in with the cloth.
RICH: Yeah, I’ll try that. Thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Joyce in Rhode Island, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
JOYCE: Have an in-law apartment and someone who was living there for a while was smoking. And we wanted to do whatever we could to get the smell of the smoke out of the apartment.
TOM: Do you have wall-to-wall carpet in there?
JOYCE: There is.
TOM: Yeah, that’s going to be a bit of a problem because I’m sure the odor is into that carpet.
So, a couple things you could do. First of all, if you’re going to paint the apartment, you’re going to want to prime all the walls first. Well, first of all, wash them down, then prime them with a good-quality primer, then paint them. That will help seal in what’s gotten into the walls.
As far as the carpet, a good, thorough, deep steam-cleaning of that. You may have to go over it a number of times to try to get as much dirt and debris and odor out of that carpet as possible. I mean the best thing – if we have situations where this is a real problem, the carpet’s kind of worn, we’ll tell people to take it up and prime the subfloor underneath, believe it or not, to make sure we really seal out any of those odors that have soaked into the wood. But if you prime and paint the walls and if you steam-clean the carpet, that’s probably the best you can do.
What about furniture? Is this place furnished? Do you still have the old furniture in there that the smoker lived with?
JOYCE: The only furniture that’s really in there is a leather living-room set.
TOM: Leslie, what do you think about that? Will the smoke odor get into the – go through the leather and get into the cushions?
LESLIE: You know, leather is such a natural surface that it is porous in its own right and it depends on what the cushioning is on the inside. You really have to be careful and of course, you can’t really thoroughly clean leather because of its inherent natural qualities. You don’t want it to stain. You might want to see what those cushions are like on the inside. Take out the inserts. If you can replace those, that could be a huge help.
JOYCE: OK, great. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, they say good fences make good neighbors but they also add style and value to your home. We’re going to give you some tips on picking and building the right fence for your needs, after this.
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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. Give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. We will help you with whatever home improvement project you’re working on or planning but we’re also going to give you a great prize.
This hour, one lucky caller is going to get a copy of our book, My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure. And we’ll even sign it for you.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’re heading on over to Michigan where Terry has a water-heater question. What’s going on at your money pit?
TERRY: I was wanting to know if $800 is a reasonable amount of money to pay to have a hot-water tank replaced. But actually, the tank was free and the labor was free and the plumber said that you need to pay $800 for parts only to replace a hot-water tank.
TOM: So, he’s saying the labor is free but the water heater is 800 bucks? Is it a regular, standard, gas-fired water heater?
TERRY: The water heater itself was also free because it was a warranty item.
TOM: That sounds pretty ridiculous for a warranty repair. If the labor is free, then he was already paid for a good portion of the work it took to take the tank out. Now, if he had to add an additional part – I don’t quite understand his explanation. But if he had to add something additional or re-plumb something, I mean $800 is a bit of a crazy price for a little bit of additional plumbing work, considering he was paid for the bulk of the project through the warranty. That sounds like you’re getting gouged.
TERRY: Right. We’ve already contacted the warranty company and the plumber, as well.
TOM: Yep. Right.
TERRY: And the warranty company says, “Contact the plumber.” The plumber says, “Contact the warranty company.” Do we really have any recourse at all to try and recoup some of that money?
TOM: So you’ve already paid this?
TERRY: Correct.
TOM: Well, unfortunately, what I think you’re going to have to do is take them to small-claims court. And I would take both of them to small-claims court. Both. Because then they’ll fight it out amongst themselves because it’s going to be more expensive to defend it than it is to settle it with you.
TERRY: OK. Well, I thank you very much for taking the time to give me a call back.
TOM: You’re welcome, Terry. And I’m sorry that happened to you. Good luck with that project.
Well, putting up a fence can add style, security and value to your property but it can also be an eyesore and a maintenance headache. And it could cause a battle with your neighbors. So, how do you avoid the pitfalls? Well, you need to plan carefully.
First off, check your property lines. You don’t want to build in your neighbor’s yard. That would be a very expensive mistake. And you also want to check with local officials to make sure that you don’t need a permit to build a fence. And once you’re sure about those things, then and only then can you start thinking about what kind of fence you want to create.
LESLIE: Yeah. Fencing is available in so many different materials, including natural and pressure-treated woods, vinyl and metal. Now, natural wood, it can really be beautiful but it’s going to require the most maintenance, so you’ve got to factor that in. Are you willing to put in the work to keep it looking fantastic?
Also, you’ve got to remember that there are two sides to that fence and it needs to look good from the outside, as well as the inside. So, don’t try to save money on any part of that wood fence itself. You really need to make it look good.
And you don’t want to skimp on your gate because it’s going to take the most wear and tear. And it can also be a security risk if somebody leaves it open, so be sure to add a spring hinge. And that’s going to help it swing back into place. Now, this is super-important if you’ve got a pool.
TOM: For a complete checklist on what you need to know when you’re planning a fence project, just Google “money pit fence building” and you will be directed to the articles on MoneyPit.com on exactly that.
LESLIE: Now we’ve got Kathleen in Rhode Island who’s doing some decorating and needs some help choosing floors. How can we help you?
KATHLEEN: Ah, there are so many choices. We’re looking at laminate, engineered and hardwood. What do you suggest? I have one concrete floor, which is the walk-out basement. And then it’s the first and the second floor. First is main living area and second is bedroom.
TOM: Well, in the basement, you can’t use solid hardwood; you can only use engineered hardwood or the laminate because it’s too damp.
LESLIE: Right. And the laminate’s probably the better choice.
KATHLEEN: But what about wear and tear? That’s the other thing. Laminate cannot ever be sanded. You need to rip it out and redo it when engineered can be.
TOM: Well, I’ve got probably 10 years on the laminate floor in my kitchen and 3 kids that grew up on it. And I’ve got to tell you, it’s pretty tough stuff.
KATHLEEN: And now there are different degrees of laminate, too, no?
TOM: There’s different finishes, there’s different durability. There’s a test called a Taber Abrasion Test that’s done on laminate surfaces. It’s also done on the finish of hardwood surfaces. And that’s what determines how durable they are.
So, as long as you – if there’s an option in the quality of finish from something that’s maybe designed for residential or commercial, I’d always go with the tougher one.
LESLIE: Right. Well, Kathleen, in my home, our basement is where my kids hang out, it’s my workspace. And I put a laminate floor down there and I chose one that has a beautiful grain to it. It looks like a hardwood. And then I’ve used area rugs to sort of warm it up and make it feel more homey. But it’s super-durable. I had a plumbing issue go awry and lots of water underneath it and it didn’t buckle, bend. I was able to dry it all out and keep it really, really in good shape. So I’m all for a laminate in a lower level.
Now, when it comes to your main floor and your bedroom area, I’d be more inclined to lean toward an engineered hardwood or a hardwood, depending on your budget and depending on the aesthetic. You know, you can go with – if your concern is wear and tear and refinishing, you can go with a commercial-grade finish. It’s going to be a little bit more costly but it’s going to allow that hardwood to really stand up.
The other option to consider is in your entrance foyers or places where you come in and out, like a mud room, go laminate again in there or do a tile or a marble or something that will be more easily cleanable, more durable, just to handle that type of wear and – wear situation.
Now, I personally, on a second floor and even in living spaces – you say you’re by the salt water. I imagine you have a certain sort of design style that could be sort of – I’m guessing like a traditional but contemporary at the same time, since you’re on the water. And wider planks are very popular now.
KATHLEEN: Yes, I agree. They’re very attractive.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. They’re very attractive. You can go for a plank that has some sort of a hand-scraping detail to it that looks a little more age-y and more worn and – but still be durable.
KATHLEEN: OK. And so you’re comfortable with that for a full living space? The laminate.
TOM: Alright, good, we talked you into it. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Still to come, vinyl siding, it’s a great, low-maintenance option for your house. But do you have to remove your shingles that you’ve already got up? We’re going to tell you how to tackle that project, after this.
TOM: Where home solutions live, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Hey, have you ever been conned by a contractor? Well, on his new series, Catch A Contractor on Spike, Adam Carolla, a master carpenter, and his team are tracking down shoddy contractors and bringing them to justice.
LESLIE: And once they track them down, Adam and the team will work with that contractor to make sure the job gets done right and bring justice for the homeowners. Catch A Contractor, starring Adam Carolla, premieres Sunday at 10:00 Eastern, 9:00 Central after an all-new episode of Bar Rescue on Spike.
TOM: Be sure to tune in. It’s going to be a great show.
LESLIE: Alright. 888-MONEY-PIT is the number to get us here at Team Money Pit or you can post your question online, just like Tom in New York did. And he writes: “I’m thinking about adding vinyl siding. The house has wood shingles on it right now. Some contractors say the wood shingles have to come off; others say they can stay on. Who’s right?”
TOM: Well, I think what you’re seeing here is the difference in contractors trying to get your project. Obviously, it’s more expensive to take the shingles off but I would be the first to tell you that that is the right way to do this.
If you leave the old siding on, what’s going to happen is the siding is going to end up being much thicker around the windows and that could look a little odd when the siding sort of sticks out over the window trim, as opposed to being sort of flush with the window trim. Leaving that siding in place does not add any insulation to the home and so, my vote would be for you to remove it completely and then start clean and rebuild out with brand-new siding from there.
LESLIE: You know, Tom, I actually just did a siding project myself at my money pit. And I took everything off the exterior of the house and brought it down to bare studs and reinsulated and everything. And it just made for a cleaner finished project and it looks great, so it’s worth that extra effort.
TOM: Well, nothing could be more welcoming and cozy than a country-themed kitchen. The country style focuses on making a room warm and friendly, all while maintaining a kitchen that is practical. Leslie has got some tips and ideas to help you design your own country kitchen, in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.
LESLIE: It’s a look that’s classic and comfy but it can also be practical, too. And when choosing the materials for your country kitchen, you want to keep everything as natural as possible. That’s really important in setting that feel.
Now, hardwood flooring, it’s a classic look but it doesn’t always lend itself to the abuse that a kitchen floor is going to take. A stone or a tiled floor, contrasting with your wooden cabinetry, is really going to bring that room to life and sort of give that authentic, country-cottage feel.
Now, with your kitchen cabinets, a painted finish is a great look, especially if you’re using a pale color, which might even allow the wood grain to show through. An island, these are so popular. They’re a great feature for all styles of kitchens but it does fit in particularly well with that country style that you might be going to create.
Now, on your island, you can even leave some open shelving and that’s a great way to display some country-themed accessories, if you’ve got some wicker baskets. Just make sure you let them do double duty. Don’t just put a basket or something there that’s not going to serve a purpose. Use it to store your kids’ homework supplies in a neat way so that you’re not going to see everything sort of mucking up your new design.
Country colors and fabrics? They can include everything from blues and yellows to gingham and even toile patterns for your fabrics. Now, I personally like to look at the modern country feeling and these use traditional colors and patterns in a really different way. Now, you might even consider painting a gingham-checked focal wall or stenciling a toile pattern or even some cool wall coverings.
All of this can lend to cooking up your own country kitchen. And you and your family are going to have a warm spot to gather for years to come.
TOM: Great tips.
Hey, are you looking forward to the outdoor-entertaining season? It’s just around the corner and we are all ready for that. Why not give yourself some extra room with a brand-new paver patio? This is a project that you can do yourself with a little help. We’ll get expert advice from This Old House landscaping contractor Roger Cook, 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.
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(Copyright 2014 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.)
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