TRANSCRIPT FOR JUNE 8, 2009, HOUR 2
Hosts: Tom Kraeutler & Leslie Segrete
(NOTE: Timestamps below correspond to the running time of the downloadable audio file of this show. Text represents a professional transcriptionist’s understanding of what was said. No guarantee of accuracy is expressed or implied. ‘Ph’ in parentheses indicates the phonetic or best guess of the actual spoken word.)
BEGIN HOUR 2 TEXT:
TOM: Hi, I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And you are tuned to the Money Pit podcast. We are so glad that you are.
Now all this month on the podcast we’re going to be talking about staycation tips throughout our show and these are some ideas to make your home a little more comfortable, a little more pleasant, a little more fun if you’re not going to take a vacation this year; you’re just going to sort of stay at home and enjoy the place you have.
Now, if you head on over to MoneyPit.com, we’re also making available a free chapter of our book, My Home, My Money Pit. It’s the outdoor living chapter available for free download at MoneyPit.com; chock full with lots of staycation tips to make your summer a lot of fun if you’re staying at home.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and you know what? All of this great information and all these great ideas are brought to you by our friends over at Fiberon Decking and also the WORX GT Trimmer/Edger.
Alright, folks. Let’s get started.
TOM: Now, on with the show.
(promo/theme song)
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 a very special edition of The Money Pit Radio Show coming to you today from the floor of the 2009 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is where thousands of exhibitors come to showcase the newest and the best products their companies have to offer.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and this is the first step to getting those products to a store near you. Now we’ve got thousands of manufacturers from all around the world. They’re here showcasing their products. And then we’ve got tens of thousands of buyers here from retailers around the world and they’re here to decide what, of those products, are going to make it onto our store shelves for everybody to buy.
TOM: And you can’t be here but we can. We’re here to preview all these products. This hour, you’re going to get to hear all about them first. Plus, we’re going to talk about the latest trends in home improvement.
First up, we’re going to talk to Clement Feng from Generac. The company is celebrating 50 years exclusively dedicated to engineering and producing backup generators and they definitely have saved me a time or two. We’ve even had them backing up power in our radio studio.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and that’s right. You know, when a hurricane, a tornado or even just a bad thunderstorm can actually knock out power and essentially stop life as you know it in your home, you really should think about a backup plan. Right, Clement?
CLEMENT: You bet. Our standby power generators are designed to come on automatically whenever the power goes out and we also produce and market an entire line of portable generators; two brand new lines that we’re introducing here at the hardware show.
TOM: Alright. (Clement clears throat) Well, let’s start by talking about the standby power. My first question is how do you actually figure out how much standby power you actually need?
CLEMENT: Well, the best way is to hire one of our dealers who will come out and do a sizing estimate on the building, on the home or the business.
TOM: (overlapping voices) OK.
LESLIE: And is that sort of based on you saying, “I definitely want my fridge, my air conditioner and my television” or …?
CLEMENT: That’s right. Some people will want to back up the entire home. That’s pretty straightforward. Add up all the loads in house. Or to make it a little bit more affordable and go with a smaller generator, you just kind of decide which are the most essential circuits to back up in the house.
LESLIE: Now if you do go with a smaller generator, are you able to then – you know, if I’m not using one of the appliances we initially talked about – switch on something else somewhere in the house as long as you stay within that energy demand?
CLEMENT: You could do that. We have some switches, transfer switches, that have that logic built into them and then they’ll shed the loads in an intelligent way.
LESLIE: Interesting.
TOM: Now let’s talk about that transfer switch because I think when you hear “generator,” most people are familiar with the look of a portable generator. We should clarify: the standby generator is more of a permanent unit. It’s mounted on the pad outside your house and the transfer switch is a very, very important part of that system. Talk about what the transfer switch does and how it makes it convenient to use a generator.
CLEMENT: Well, let’s see. The transfer switch is what makes the permanently-installed generators fully automatic. And an automatic, standby generator has a lot of advantages over the portable generators and the transfer switch is what enables it to do that. It monitors your utility power coming into the building and whenever there’s a power outage it’ll trigger the generator to turn on, typically within 30 seconds of the power outage.
LESLIE: Now does there have to be – I know you just mentioned 30 seconds but what if it’s just like a rolling brownout and your power is really only off for that 20 or 30 seconds? Is the standby going to kick on and then automatically shut back off or does it sort of sense what’s going on?
CLEMENT: Yeah, for those momentary surges and little glitches, that’s why it actually waits that 20 to 30 seconds before it turns on.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Right.
CLEMENT: It wants to make sure that it’s not just a temporary spike in the voltage.
TOM: Now I can tell you, at my house what happens is if we get that power outage, all the alarms come on for all the battery backups that we have on all the computers. That’s my first clue.
CLEMENT: Yeah.
TOM: And then, literally, 20 to 30 seconds later, I hear that generator kick on. And I love the fact that it’s natural gas-powered because I don’t have to mix gasoline and if you didn’t have that it could be propane-powered.
CLEMENT: Yep, that’s exactly right. Because it draws its fuel from the home’s natural gas or propane fuel supply, you never have to refuel it. It’s a much cleaner fuel and you never have to worry about the fuel going stale either, like you could have with a diesel or a gasoline-powered generator.
LESLIE: Now here at the hardware show, you’re launching two new series: the XG and the IX, sort of your inverter style of generators. What makes these two new models so special?
CLEMENT: Well, these are two new cool lines of portable generators. Generac was the market leader in portable generators up until about 10 years ago when it sold the business.
TOM: OK.
CLEMENT: And we re-entered the business last year with two new lines of generators: the XP and the GP. Well, this year, in the meantime, we’ve been continuing to experiment and engineer with new technologies and we’re introducing the XG and the IX as a result of that work.
The XG line, in particular, has a lot of cool, new features built on and it was just named this morning as one of Popular Mechanic’s Editor Choice Award …
TOM: (overlapping voices) Wow, congratulations.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Fantastic.
TOM: That’s great news and that’s a tough award to get.
CLEMENT: Yeah, we’re real excited about that. This XG line is designed to be a little bit more compact – take up smaller footprints – so in a portable generator, you want it to be as small as possible.
TOM: (overlapping voices) OK.
CLEMENT: It has a very innovative, little power bar feature so it’s kind of like a series of LED lights that light up and lets the user know exactly how much load is being placed on the generator.
TOM: Oh, so you know if you’re coming to the end of what it’s capable of doing and you can sort of back stuff up.
CLEMENT: (overlapping voices) Right. Exactly. So you kind of know when you’re maxing out the generator.
TOM: (overlapping voices) That’s really helpful. Really helpful.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) That’s great.
CLEMENT: Mm-hmm. We also put the automatic start/stop and the choke controls right on the control panel so everything is right there for you to use it.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Mm-hmm. Right where you can reach it.
CLEMENT: Mm-hmm. It’s very user-friendly.
TOM: That’s fantastic, again.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) That’s great.
TOM: Where can we go for more information?
CLEMENT: Let’s see. You can go to Generac.com and you’ll likely see that generator out, carried by any of our retailer partners, by the end of the year.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Wonderful.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Well, it’s such an important topic because, as we all know, the infrastructure in terms of electrical power is not what it used to be and …
LESLIE: Well, and our demand is just so great.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Yeah, it’s so important to have this. I mean, I wouldn’t recommend anyone go without a standby generator today and certainly having a portable is a good idea as well.
CLEMENT: Yeah. And the unfortunate thing is power outages are becoming more frequent in the country. A lot of it does have to do with weather. I mean, we’re seeing more severe weather year-round. You know, this past winter we had some really bad ice storms both in the Northeast and into the Ohio Valley area.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Sure.
CLEMENT: And the poor folks living in Kentucky and Ohio had Hurricane Ike go through just last fall.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Yeah.
CLEMENT: Well, you know, hurricane season is coming up on us again; but you know, even outside of weather events, the electrical infrastructure in the country is nearly 100 years old and so …
TOM: Good point.
CLEMENT: … it just hasn’t kept up with the increasing demands that society is placing on it.
TOM: Clement Feng, Chief Marketing Officer for Generac, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
CLEMENT: Thanks, Tom.
TOM: More information, you can go to their website at Generac.com.
LESLIE: Thanks, Clement.
Alright. Well, you are listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com and we are coming to you from the floor of the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.
TOM: Still to come this hour, being green and using water wisely. You can have a refreshing, powerful shower and save water at the same time. We’re going to talk to one of the leaders in WaterSense-certified plumbing fixtures, Moen, next.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by the WORX GT, the revolutionary trimmer/edger that’s fully adjustable, runs on rechargeable battery power and weighs less than a gallon of milk. See the WORX GT in action at FreeLineForLife.com.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Broadcasting from the 2009 National Hardware Show. We’re learning a lot here about what consumers shop, what they buy and what they want.
More of you than ever are taking steps to be more green at home and a very easy way to do that is to use less water. Moen is a leader in creating water-certified plumbing fixtures that are not short on style or water pressure.
LESLIE: That’s right. And joining us now to tell us more about that, we’ve got Kevin Campbell from Moen Incorporated.
Welcome, Kevin.
KEVIN: Thank you. Thank you guys for having me.
TOM: Now, Kevin, you’ve got a great, new product out; it’s called Nurture and it’s a highly-efficient showerhead. The key question: (Leslie chuckles) what kind of a shower am I going to get out of this?
LESLIE: Will I look like Jerry Seinfeld from that episode (Tom chuckles) that everybody talks about?
KEVIN: (overlapping voices) You know, that’s funny because that’s a lot of what we go to when we talk about this product and make sure that that’s not where you end up. We’ve done a lot of research about this – you know, this category – and one of the things we’ve learned – and really not a surprise – is how particular people are about their showers.
And what people don’t want to have is – in order to be green or sustainable – is to have to sacrifice on the performance or the experience in their shower. And even with a full-flow product, a lot of them struggle with providing the consumer with that experience that they’re looking for, which is a full spray pattern and a forceful spray pattern, if you will.
LESLIE: So is it a combination of design of how the water comes out? Is it aerators? How do you do that so this 1.75 gallons per minute feels like a pressure washer, if you will.
KEVIN: Yeah. And it’s not one thing and that’s really why there’s really been a lot of struggles to come out with a product that is actually green and efficient but still provides that experience that the consumers are looking for. And that is one of the big misnomers – is that you have to have more water to have a better shower.
TOM: Yeah, and you really don’t if it’s designed right and like you said, 1.75 gallons per minute – about 30 percent less than a standard shower head. And I like the fact that you’ve got three distinct spray settings: you’ve got relaxing spray, invigorating and a refreshing.
The product is available in both fixed and handheld?
KEVIN: That’s correct. Yep. Available at Lowe’s and they’re doing great and the consumers – we’ve heard nothing but very positive feedback.
TOM: Well, you can add our positive comments to that because we’ve seen it, we’ve liked it and I’ve actually tried it in my own house.
Kevin Campbell from Moen, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
KEVIN: Thank you both.
LESLIE: And you know what, Tom? Your hair looks fantastic. (Tom chuckles) Not like that Seinfeld episode at all.
TOM: Team Money Pit working hard here at the 2009 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, scouring the aisles and aisles of new stuff to find the best of the best for you.
LESLIE: That’s right. And we have found, actually, a really cool invention that we like: it’s actually a saw with sandpaper on the blades, so you saw and sand at the same exact time. So we have the inventor and the owner of Final Cut here to tell us more about it.
Dave Perrey, welcome. I’m intrigued. Explain.
DAVE: Thanks for having me. This was – came about – I was kind of stumped on a job and the idea came to me of putting a piece of sandpaper on the side of the blade; thus gave me an excellent cut. We moved forward with it and you have the final product right now.
LESLIE: How quickly are you sort of wearing out the sandpaper? Because I imagine the force in which a blade is moving – cutting the wood and sanding at the same time – you know, is it cutting down the life of the blade or do they sort of work in tandem?
DAVE: They do work in tandem. The average cuts on a – like on red oak and hard maple, stuff like that – we’ll get about 2,000 cuts before the …
LESLIE: Wow.
TOM: Hey, is the curf any wider?
DAVE: The curf is not; we actually extend out beyond the curf of the blade. So our sandy discs hang out beyond just – about a thickness of a sheet of paper on both sides.
LESLIE: And this blade, is it for circular saws; radial arm saw? What kind of blade are we talking about here? Can I use it on everything?
TOM: And is it available in different sizes?
DAVE: Yes. It’s available in different sizes. You can use it on anything. Table saws and power miter boxes are really the key. If you get into a stump – and not all 90-degree corners are true, you know, 90 degrees so you may have to do a 44 or 45 – you can actually cheat by using the – to keep the saw blade down after you cut, if you need a little bit off the [shore point] (ph), just use like a disc sander.
TOM: (overlapping voices) We never cheat.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Zip right up against it. (Dave and Tom chuckle) Oh, are you kidding? And I have to tell you, when I heard about this, it suddenly hearkened back to every fence project I’ve ever built or anything where I’ve had repetitive cuts. I need to cut, you know, a hundred boards at whatever length and every cut I’ve got my sponge sander after and neh-neh-neh (ph).
TOM: (overlapping voices) Yep. Yep, you’ve got to clean every single one of them.
LESLIE: What a pain in the butt. You’ve just cut a piece of wood; it should be ready to go.
DAVE: (overlapping voices) Right. Yep. We’ve taken care of that for you. That’s all done in one pass.
LESLIE: That is fantastic.
DAVE: Thank you.
TOM: We’re talking to Dave Perrey. He’s the owner/inventor of the Final Cut Blade; a very interesting, innovative product. It both sands and cuts at the same time.
Dave, what do you think about this show? It gives inventors a real opportunity, doesn’t it?
DAVE: Wonderful show, yes. Glad to be here.
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: That’s so great. Any plans? When is it going to be on the market? Where can I find it?
DAVE: We are on the website right now. We’ve done some of the woodworking shows so far. Hopefully, this thing will just keep going.
TOM: What do the pros think of it?
DAVE: We’ve been in about 12 magazines so far.
TOM: Wow.
DAVE: So, it’s really been great.
TOM: Yeah, yeah.
DAVE: (overlapping voices) So, all good reviews.
TOM: Well, you know, you’ve got to send us a couple; let us try it out.
DAVE: We’ll definitely do that.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) It’s genius. Congratulations.
TOM: (overlapping voices) We’re going to see if we can cheat with it.
DAVE: (overlapping voices) Thank you. Thank you. You bet. (Leslie and Dave chuckle) You bet. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.
TOM: Dave Perrey, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
You are listening to The Money Pit, broadcasting from the 2009 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Learning a lot about what’s new and what’s cool in home improvement.
LESLIE: The theme we’re seeing this year is really getting back to basics: doing more with less. And that’s actually mirroring what we’re seeing at every aspect of what’s going on in our economy: spending more time at home and enjoying your home and actually enjoying your family.
TOM: And one way to do that is to build projects with your kids; it’ll give them the essential shop skills that, frankly, they’re not getting anymore at school.
LESLIE: And it’s really a simple and fun way to be with your kids. Now, the folks at Red Toolbox know this and they’ve designed kits with exactly those points in mind. So we’ve got
Barry Soran (sp) and he’s here to tell us all about them.
Welcome, Barry.
BARRY: Thank you.
TOM: Now, Barry, this is a great opportunity to build some skills early on in life. Tell us about the Red Toolbox system.
BARRY: Well, the concept is pretty simple: taking the fun projects, whether it be a bird house or a bug barn or anything that kids can actually work together with Mom or Dad to put it together to get – learn some new skills which – learn how to use tools which, by the way, we also have – that are ergonomically designed to fit the size of the child’s hand.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Yeah, your little guy’s hand.
TOM: Which is great.
BARRY: Yeah.
TOM: Because I’ve seen my kids, when they were young, struggle with the two-handed hammer. (Leslie chuckles) In fact, I remember the two-handed hammer as it came down on the glass plate once and my son hit his hand.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Mm-hmm. Choke the hammer right up top. (chuckles)
BARRY: (overlapping voices) Yeah. Or they’ll grip it up toward the top and try to use it.
LESLIE: Exactly.
TOM: Exactly, exactly. So the tools are designed to fit in the kids’ hands. What about the projects and the complexity of the project? Have you been able to keep them simple enough?
BARRY: We have. Actually, we’ve designed a program that allows three different skill levels; so even the child that’s really a beginner or the parent that might not think they have advanced skill levels can work with their child, enjoy the experience of working together, produce something you can take pride in and actually, with our picture pack or some of the items, give it as a gift to Grandma or someone after you’ve completed it.
TOM: So it’s a lot of value all the way around: the experience is a value; the project that you build is a value; and the tools, of course, are a value that kids can actually – you can pass down through the next siblings as they come up.
BARRY: It is and it’s a little bit the emotional side of taking the kids away from the video games now and actually doing what like you and I did, Tom, when we were small; working alongside our dad, learning how to use tools. And they are the future DIYers.
LESLIE: Yeah. Well, you know, when I was a kid, my dad was a model-airplane builder; that was his hobby. And so I asked for a soldering iron when I was six and I got one. I mean, granted, I carved my name into the wood tables (Barry chuckles); I used it more as a wood-burning kit than I soldered anything but spending that time with my dad – and I know Tom with his grandparents and his dad, as well – it really created who we are today and what we can do with our hands and it’s so empowering to know that we’ve shared this bond with our parents and we’re doing it with our own kids.
TOM: I asked for the circular saw but he turned me down. (Leslie, Tom and Barry chuckle)
BARRY: Understandable.
TOM: So, Red Toolbox, where are the products available?
BARRY: You can find Red Toolbox currently at select Ace and True Value hardware stores. We’re also with a chain up in Ohio called The Andersons. We’re available on Amazon.com and of course, Red-Toolbox.com. And we’re enjoying our stay here at the hardware show.
LESLIE: Good.
BARRY: We’re going to have a lot of people coming by.
TOM: What kind of reaction are you getting?
BARRY: It’s almost unbelievable. I was just telling my co-worker that if the show ended right now, we’d probably have enough follow-up for the next month or so.
TOM: Wow.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) That’s fantastic.
BARRY: (overlapping voices) It’s amazing.
TOM: (overlapping voices) That’s really good news. And the show has got quite a buzz going, too.
BARRY: It is. I’m surprised with the traffic here today and there’s a very open attitude about looking for new items.
TOM: Barry Soran (sp) from Red Toolbox, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Leslie and I are like kids in a candy store here at the 2009 National Hardware Show. We are busy walking the aisles; finding the latest, the greatest, the coolest new products in home improvement.
LESLIE: That’s right. Up next, when we come back, we’re going to tell you about great-tasting water that actually comes from your tap and that lets you keep hundreds of water bottles out of landfills and stay green.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru Doors, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Install a new, energy-efficient Therma-Tru door today and qualify for up to a $1,500 tax credit. To learn more, visit ThermaTru.com/Taxcredit.
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: And we are broadcasting from the 2009 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.
LESLIE: That’s right. This is an annual event. It is huge in scale but it is just a load of fun.
TOM: Absolutely. This is where members of the retail industry come to find out about the newest and best products in home improvement and decide which ones make it onto the store shelves near you.
LESLIE: That’s right. And we always learn a lot at trade shows like this, including what trends to look out for. Now green is still a big – and I feel is always going to be – a big trend and what better way to go green than to give up that bottled water and fill a water bottle from your tap each and every day?
Now, you can rest assured that you are getting the cleanest, best-tasting water right from your tap with the Filtrete Under-Sink Water Filtration System from 3M.
TOM: Here to tell us more is Larry Cavalier, 3M Filtrete Technical Service Engineer.
Hi, Larry.
LARRY: Hi. How are you guys doing today?
TOM: Now, this is a wonderful opportunity to cut back on your use of bottled water. Tell us about how this works.
LARRY: Well, basically it’s a system that you use with your current faucet. You don’t have to install a separate faucet; you just use some simple tools like a screwdriver or a drill and a utility knife and …
TOM: It’s all it takes.
LARRY: Yeah, it’s all it takes.
LESLIE: And this will work with any type of faucet?
LARRY: Any type of faucet that you’re currently using in your kitchen or your bathroom or wherever.
LESLIE: And I’m not going to notice a change in water flow or the amount that’s coming out of it?
LARRY: (overlapping voices) No. No, that’s the nice thing about this system: we don’t disrupt the water flow through the system. You maintain a full flow, if you will.
TOM: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that because a lot of times when I’ve seen filtration systems over the years, it sort of cuts down the cold water flow to really just a trickle.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) And they all drip.
LARRY: Right.
TOM: They drip.
LARRY: Right, right. That’s the way a lot of them are designed because they’re high-volume-type systems.
TOM: Right.
LARRY: They don’t get quite the force through that small, little container like you do with our containers; about four or five times the size, if you will. So …
TOM: Now how long will this actually last, Larry? I mean, how frequently do you have to replace these filters?
LARRY: About six months or 2,000 gallons, whichever comes first.
TOM: OK.
LARRY: You’ll notice that the – actually, the water flow will start to drop off at that point so it’s a good time to change.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) How interesting. So that’s the indicator.
TOM: The [inaudible at 0:20:30.5] gets full?
LARRY: Right. It’s a good indicator when it’s time to change it, right.
TOM: Now, does this come from a separate tap or is there like a bypass between your regular, filtered water and your unfiltered water? How does that work?
LARRY: No, it just – it’s hooked directly to your cold water side of your current faucet; there’s no bypass, no – nothing involved.
TOM: OK, great. So all the cold water is filtered at that point.
LARRY: Exactly. If you want to fill a big bowl of spaghetti, you can do it with full flow.
TOM: (overlapping voices) That’s great.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) That’s great.
LARRY: It doesn’t – versus the small taps where it might take you about two or three times longer to fill that.
TOM: Man, you’ll be there 20 minutes filling up that pot water in my house.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Filling up that pasta pot.
LARRY: Yeah. Exactly right. (Tom chuckles)
LESLIE: Now, I know – in just speaking with some of our listeners about the Filtrete system – do you have to be on municipal water? Can you be well water or, really, whatever your supply is, go for it?
LARRY: It doesn’t matter. Most of the municipal waters all have chlorine in it and so the chlorine has taste and …
TOM: Right.
LARRY: And so …
LESLIE: And odor.
LARRY: And odor sometimes so …
TOM: Keeps us healthy but it doesn’t smell very well and doesn’t taste right at all. (Leslie chuckles)
LARRY: (overlapping voices) Exactly right. So you’re probably going to have more of a problem with municipal water than you are with well water per se so – unless you have some contaminated wells, which you probably will need some more extravagant-type systems to remove those types of things from your water. So …
TOM: Now, what about sediment and rust and things like that that get in the water system? Will this remove those out of the …
LARRY: Well, those are easy things to remove; those are very easy things to remove for most filters that are out there today.
TOM: (overlapping voices) OK.
LARRY: They’re pretty big particles per se so – but yeah, the one system will go down to about 0.5 micron; the other will filter about 5 micron-sized particles. We have two separate-type systems out there so – and actually, they’re a better system; they’ll take out some of the parasitic cysts that are in water.
TOM: Wow, that’s great.
LARRY: So …
TOM: That’s great. Well, the new product is called Filtrete Under-Sink Water Filtration System from 3M.
Larry Cavalier, Technical Service Manager, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
LARRY: Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it very much.
LESLIE: Well, congratulations. It’s a great product.
LARRY: Thank you.
LESLIE: Alright. Still ahead, we’re going to share with you more ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
TOM: First up, don’t toss something that’s easily fixed. We’re going to tell you how a little glue can go a really long way, after this.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Citrus Magic, the 100-percent natural, odor-eliminating air freshener. Unlike other air fresheners, Citrus Magic actually eliminates odors and lasts up to four times longer. Visit CitrusMagic.com for more information. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show, broadcasting from the 2009 National Hardware Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And this is where all the bigwigs in retail shopping go for the stuff that’s going to end up on store shelves near you.
LESLIE: That’s right. And we’re also here doing some trend watching. You know, green is still a big one and it’s an idea that’s here to stay and here’s an idea: reduce, reuse and recycle when you can. Don’t just toss stuff and then go ahead and let it sit in that landfill. Why not fix it and what better way to do that than with Gorilla Glue?
So we’ve got Lauren Connelly (sp), who I have known for years (Tom chuckles) and I am so proud of her and her new Director of Marketing job here …
LAUREN: (overlapping voices) Right.
LESLIE: … and she’s going to tell us about a new product from a name that we all know and love – Gorilla Glue.
Welcome and congratulations.
LAUREN: Thank you, Leslie. It’s great to be here. Nice to meet you finally in person and not just through e-mail.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Yay!
TOM: So talk to us about the new Gorilla Glue products that you guys have coming out.
LAUREN: Absolutely. We just launched a new Gorilla epoxy. It’s a five minute-set epoxy; a two-part where you mix one ratio of hardener to resin. It’s in a nice, easy-to-use syringe so you just pump it out, mix it together, apply it to your project and there you go – you’ve fixed something. It’s really simple. Epoxies can seem a little scary but I feel like Gorilla has come in and kind of cleaned it up a little bit and made it less intimidating. I can use it (Tom and Leslie chuckle), which is a big deal. That’s the test at Gorilla Glue: if Lauren can use it, it goes. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: If Lauren – you’re the guinea pig, right?
LAUREN: That’s right.
LESLIE: What’s the cure time?
LAUREN: It’s a five minute-set epoxy but with most adhesives, you know the stronger bond you can get, the longer you let them go. So we recommend a 90-minute handling time so it’s best to let it sit for a little while and cure up to get to full strength.
TOM: Lauren, can you kind of take a step back and sort of give us an overview of the types of glue and what type of glue is best for …
LESLIE: Is best for what jobs.
TOM: Yeah, exactly, because I think there’s a lot of confusion among consumers about that.
LAUREN: There is. There’s a lot of confusion. You know, we like to say that not one product can do anything but one brand can. (Tom chuckles) And Gorilla has a lot of solutions to help with that.
One of the biggest things – you have to kind of go through a decision tree when you’re gluing.
TOM: OK.
LAUREN: You have to ask yourself where is this item going to be? Is it indoors or outdoors?
LESLIE: Does it get wet?
LAUREN: Is it going to get wet? Is it dry? Is it going to sit on a shelf? Is it going to have to hold weight?
TOM: Does it get hot?
LAUREN: Does it get hot or cold?
TOM: Right.
LAUREN: There are all sorts of questions. So it’s kind of a decision tree – that I like to call it, anyway. You have to know if you’re looking for a waterproof adhesive or not and that can rule out a lot of items. You need to know if it’s going to sit on a shelf or do you want something that’s really heavy-duty?
Fortunately for Gorilla, all of our stuff can sit on a shelf or can be really heavy-duty and that’s one thing that I love about our brand. There are so many products, a lot of times, that I can say, “Well, you could use any one of these three and it would work perfectly.”
LESLIE: How do you figure it out, though? Do you sort of make a list of all of the needs that have to be met and then go to your website? I mean, what can I do so I know I’m making a right decision for …?
LAUREN: Yeah.
TOM: Because normally, you’re in the hardware store …
LESLIE: Reading packages.
TOM: … or you’re in the home center aisle and you’re overwhelmed by all of the choices.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Oh, it’s terrible.
TOM: You know, do I need a white glue, a yellow glue, a polyurethane glue, an epoxy glue?
LESLIE: Rubber cement?
TOM: Yeah. (Leslie chuckles)
LAUREN: That’s right. It’s very confusing. And one thing that Gorilla is trying to do is to reduce the confusion, because one product won’t work for everything; so you do sometimes need more than one adhesive. But we’re trying to go in there and not give you 20 super glues.
TOM: Right.
LAUREN: We’re going to give you the one super glue that works the best. So that’s one thing that we’re trying to do at Gorilla. But as far as deciding which glue you need to use, websites are a great place to start. Our website, GorillaTough.com, has a glue guide and it talks you through each product and when to use. It goes through is it going to be indoors or outdoors, is it going to get wet or is it going to stay dry.
LESLIE: So once you answer all of those questions, it comes up with the magic adhesive for the job.
LAUREN: (overlapping voices) Yeah. Yeah, and not to mention, substrate. You know, if you’re just building something with wood, Gorilla Wood Glue is a great glue to use for that. Will our polyurethane work for that? Gorilla Glue? Sure. But do you need that? Is that overkill for what your project is?
So it’s tough. There are a lot of choices out there but you have to ask those questions. If it’s going to be exposed to water is a biggie. If it’s going to be weight-bearing or just something that you’re putting on a shelf …
LESLIE: Well, I have to tell you, Lauren, I’ve been a fan of the polyurethane glue for ages – your original product – and I find the one thing that people are always commenting about it is they get so excited with the application, they forget that there’s such an expansion rate there.
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: They get over-zealous and the next thing you know, it’s just pouring out everywhere.
LAUREN: There is expansion. And one of the other key things to choosing a glue is what is your comfort level? You know, there might be five glues that’ll work but if you aren’t sure about this polyurethane glue because you have to …
LESLIE: How likely am I to glue my fingers together?
LAUREN: You have to add water, you have to put the glue down and then you have to clamp it.
TOM: Right.
LAUREN: And if you’ve used it, you know it’s not that difficult and it works really well.
TOM: (overlapping voices) And a little bit goes a long way and if you’re used to a different type of glue, you may be used to over-applying.
LAUREN: Right.
LESLIE: Well …
TOM: If it’s just a polyurethane, you have to do it just right.
LAUREN: Yeah. And one tidbit I’ve learned about most glues is that you don’t need a lot. There are a lot of glues out there that are polyurethane – are super glue; if you put a lot of that, it doesn’t work very well. So, gluing is much harder than it was in school, you know?
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Than it seems, yeah.
LAUREN: You know, white glue in school (Tom chuckles), the more you put the better.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) And certainly not edible any more.
LAUREN: It’s not edible anymore. (Tom and Leslie chuckle)
But websites are a great place to start. The store shelf has information typically and you can flip products over and I encourage people to read the directions; they often give you hints about what you’re getting into because there are a lot of different types of glues for different applications.
TOM: Let’s talk about some of those applications. Now, in my house I’ve got some ceramic plates that have broken over the years and we’re almost to the point where I need to get a whole new set of dishware because there are too many fix anymore.
LAUREN: (overlapping voices) Yep.
TOM: Ceramic. What would you use for that?
LAUREN: I would probably use the super glue, Gorilla Super Glue for ceramics. Our polyurethane Gorilla Glue will also work for that and again, if you’re used to using it, you can add just a little bit and you know the right amount.
One other thing that I forgot to mention is clamping.
TOM: OK.
LAUREN: And clamping is really important too because a lot of adhesives take time to set up and they need clamps.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Sure.
LESLIE: They need that constant pressure.
LAUREN: Our Gorilla Glue is one of them. If you don’t have time to clamp or don’t want to clamp, Super Glue is great for you; it’s an instant adhesive and you can just go apply a little bit of glue. Boom, you’re done.
TOM: Well, and people say, “Well, I don’t have clamps,” but in my house, my favorite clamp is rubber bands.
LAUREN: There you go.
TOM: Now, what about an outside project? What if you had like a split fence post or fence board or something like that?
LAUREN: Outdoors, my favorite product is our old faithful, Gorilla Glue. It’s 100-percent waterproof. It works extremely well in outdoor applications so I think that’s a great product to use in situations where it’s going to be submerged or even just rained on a little bit.
The epoxy – Gorilla Epoxy – could also work well for that. Our epoxy does stick to wood; however, it’s best on aluminum and steel and some of the metals. But again, you get into several options and it can become what you’re comfortable with. Both deliver great strength results and so we like to tell people, “Look for the big gorilla on the bright, orange package,” because we’re really working hard to reduce the confusion and put products out there that deliver great results.
LESLIE: Good. Well, you certainly do that and thank you so very much for helping us get good adhesion and sort out all of the problem.
LAUREN: Well, thank you.
TOM: Fantastic. Thank you so much for stopping by The Money Pit. Lauren Connelly (sp) from Gorilla Glue.
LAUREN: Thanks for having me.
LESLIE: Alright. Well, when we come back, we’re going to talk about a moulding solution that’s revolutionary and certainly easy to apply and creating a staycation in your own backyard.
TOM: This is The Money Pit at the 2009 National Hardware Show. We’ll be back with more, after this.
(theme song)
TOM: Where home solutions live, welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and we are live to you from the 2009 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. And I’ve got to say of all the do-it-yourself projects that I’ve taught homeowners over the years on TV, crown moulding has got to be a viewer favorite. But making the cuts and getting the crown moulding ready and putting it up can be really tricky and depending on the type of moulding you use and the amount of mistakes you make (Tom chuckles), it can be actually really [inaudible at 0:30:12.6]. (chuckles)
TOM: (overlapping voices) Which is a lot, with us.
LESLIE: Well, now there’s a new do-it-yourself way to do crown moulding that’s easy and more affordable than ever and joining us to tell us more about it is Mike Denny from So Simple Crown.
Welcome, Mike.
MIKE: Hi. How are you?
LESLIE: We’re great. So, tell us, what is so special and first of all, is this foam? I don’t understand.
MIKE: Well, it’s a lightweight foam product. It’s very dense, installs with caulking …
LESLIE: It’s gorgeous, by the way.
MIKE: Yeah, it looks great. You can’t tell the difference from any other product on the market.
TOM: No, you absolutely can’t. In fact, when I saw it on the table and I picked it up, I was surprised at how light it was because it looks just like wood crown molding.
MIKE: Yeah. It’s very affordable, installs with caulking, comes with pre-cut corners.
LESLIE: Now, how does it install with caulk? Because, I mean, when – I know when I finish something off with caulk, sometimes you get some shrinkage there and it needs to be reapplied. Is it because there’s no air getting behind it? How is it that it creates a good glue?
MIKE: You know, it’s so lightweight that you don’t need glue to put it up; just a simple, quarter-inch bead of caulking on both contact surfaces, push it into place and you’re done.
LESLIE: And what about corners and mitering? I know that’s just the most difficult part. How do you make that so simple?
MIKE: It comes with pre-cut corners.
TOM: Wow, that’s great. That’s the hardest part.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) That’s fantastic.
TOM: That’s cheating.
MIKE: (overlapping voices) Yeah. I mean, we take all the (Tom chuckles) complication out of crown moulding.
LESLIE: And I like that – you know, I know you and I were chatting a bit before and traditionally, with wood moulding, you do a scarf joint to allow for expansion and contraction; but I noticed when you butt joint the two lengths, you don’t even see it.
MIKE: Yeah. You know, you do a nice, clean cut on both edges, it’s gone; a little bit of paint over it and you can’t see it. It’s real easy to work with; you know, you can do a room in a couple hours. Real inexpensive. It’s a perfect do-it-yourself project.
TOM: It’s a beautiful project.
Mike Denny, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit. So Simple Crown. What’s the website?
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Congratulations.
MIKE: It’s SoSimpleCrown.com.
TOM: That’s fantastic.
We are broadcasting from the 2009 National Hardware Show and if you want to turn your yard into a resort without resort prices, we want to tell you now about some great lawn and garden products.
LESLIE: That’s right. Joining us from Bayer Advanced is Steve Fasano. Welcome.
STEVE: Well, thank you.
TOM: So talk to us about the Bayer products. And more of us are staying home, taking care of our house or maybe not having the landscapers do them anymore; we’re doing the projects ourselves. How do you guys make that possible?
STEVE: Great question. Actually, we are seeing a lot of trends that we’re watching in our research in staycations. What we’re seeing is a lot of people right now are actually – in the current economic times, they’re looking to make their home their oasis. They’re trying to find ways to make the lawn, the garden, the trees, the roses and flowers as beautiful and as vibrant as possible. So what we do is we offer a wide variety of solutions to help the consumer do that as easily and efficiently and effectively as possible.
LESLIE: Now, Steve …
TOM: You know, actually I was using your website and …
LESLIE: Yeah, I was going to say.
TOM: … it’s a really useful tool because you put in whatever is bothering you. I put in moles and it came back immediately with the right product.
STEVE: Yes. Actually, one of the big things we try to encourage people on is if you have any questions at all, go to the website: www.BayerAdvanced.com. In there, you’ll find a great array of search mechanisms and if you have a question, you can type in the question. The website will then direct you to the correct solution to meet your needs.
LESLIE: That’s fantastic. This way I can’t screw anything up (Tom chuckles) and my yard will look great.
TOM: That’s fantastic.
Steve, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit. Steve Fasano, the Bayer Advanced Brand Manager for Consumer Products. The website is BayerAdvanced.com.
STEVE: Www.BayerAdvanced.com.
LESLIE: Thanks, Steve.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show, wrapping up two hours here at the National Hardware Show and, boy, are we exhausted. (Leslie chuckles) We’re having fun.
LESLIE: It’s been a long day.
TOM: We’ve seen a lot of very, very cool products. The show does continue online at MoneyPit.com and there you’ll find information about all of the guests we talked to today. 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.
(theme song)
END HOUR 2 TEXT
(Copyright 2009 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.)
Leave a Reply