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:
(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: Call us now with your home improvement question. We are here to help you get the job done. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Maybe your question is, ‘How do I get my house ready for the hordes of relatives that are about to arrive?’
LESLIE: Ding dong. ‘Let us in.’ (chuckling)
TOM: We can help you with that.
LESLIE: ‘We want to eat your food.’
TOM: Maybe some quick decorating advice. Maybe you’re wondering why they call it a vanity. You ever wonder that? (Leslie chuckles) It’s because calling it a sink box sounds kind of silly. You know? It’s these technical words that make home improvement fun. Call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. We’ve got a busy show planned for you this hour.
Hey, are you working on repairing a wall? Maybe you’ve got one that got a little bit too much of the wear and tear part; like when you slam the door into it or move the piece of furniture in it. Wondering if you should use spackle or joint compound or basically how you get that hole filled up? We’re going to give you some tips of the trade to make sure it comes out just right.
LESLIE: And also ahead this hour, are you running your dishwasher twice just because you’re not getting those dishes clean the first time? Well, if you are there is most likely a problem with your drain valve. Ah, the home improvement psychics; we’re at it again. We are going to tell you how to troubleshoot and fix this problem all by yourself.
TOM: And how’d you like to never run out of hot water again and get a $300 tax credit? you can have both if you install a tankless hot water heater but only if it’s done before the end of this year. Find out why in just a bit.
LESLIE: And one caller that we talk to on the air this hour is going to win a Christmas Tree lighting kit. This thing is so cool. It includes a heat sensor, a water level sensor and a light string fixer. It’s worth 70 bucks but it will make your holiday oh so high-tech.
TOM: Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Paula in Oklahoma has a roofing question. What’s going on? Is there a leak? You got water? New roof? What’s happening?
PAULA: Well, we’re getting ready to reroof our home.
LESLIE: OK.
PAULA: And we just happened to turn on and heard him say that black tarpaper wasn’t the best thing to put on underneath the shingles …
TOM: Right.
PAULA: … and that we want – but I didn’t catch what you said to put in its place.
TOM: There’s a material called Tri-Flex 30, which is a synthetic underlayment. It’s made by the Grace Roofing Company; Grace Construction Products Company. Their website is GraceAtHome.com. It’s a much better alternative to tarpaper because …
LESLIE: It’s super durable. It’s flexible.
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: As they’re actually working on the roof any sort of penetration from nails or staples isn’t going to damage the underlayment as it would with the tarpaper and now all of a sudden you’ve got a propensity for leaks. And if even if the weather turns while they’re installing it’s going to be super durable, not moisture absorbing and if you lose some shingles in a storm it’s not going to leak.
TOM: Yeah, tarpaper, if it gets wet, is actually supposed to be torn off the roof and done again. Now, how many times have you ever seen a roofer do that?
LESLIE: Never.
PAULA: Never.
TOM: So these synthetic underlayments are much better. So it’s called Tri-Flex 30 and it’s made by Grace.
PAULA: OK, thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Skip in Rhode Island wants to talk water heating. What can we do for you?
SKIP: I have a multifamily home and I’m going through water heaters once every three years.
TOM: Wow.
SKIP: I’m wondering if an individual water heater would be best for each unit or just one whole one for the house.
TOM: Well, it’d probably me more energy efficient to have individual water heaters. Have you thought about going tankless?
SKIP: No, I have not. I really didn’t know the pros and cons.
TOM: If you go with a tankless water heater you can get one sized appropriately for each unit …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: … in the building and it also is going to be …
LESLIE: This way you don’t have to worry about taking up valuable real estate on the inside.
TOM: And it’s also going to be an on-demand system so you’re only going to be paying for the energy it takes to actually heat the water you use as opposed to just keeping it warm 24/7/365 which is the way a normal water heater works. You can size them based on the number of bathrooms in each individual unit so if one unit has one bath and one unit has two baths that might be a slightly different sized unit and they can be direct vented like through the side wall so they don’t even have to be centrally located and go up through a chimney.
If you want to get some background on them a good website is Rheem Tankless – R-h-e-e-m Tankless.com. That is the – that is one of the sponsors of our show and they make a very good piece of equipment, the Rheem tankless water heater, and you can learn more about what it takes to install a tankless system. But there’s a lot of advantages to this, not the least of which is that you can have an on-demand supply of endless hot water.
SKIP: Is it normal to go through so many water heaters in that period of time?
TOM: Probably not, but you’ve got a lot of heavy usage and I don’t know what kind of water heaters you’re putting in. If you’re not putting in a good quality unit then it might be that they’re corroding out pretty early.
SKIP: Yeah, 80 gallon hot water heaters; these high-efficiencies, high turnovers. They’re supposed to be for commercial use.
TOM: Yeah. Well, it certainly doesn’t sound normal …
SKIP: OK.
TOM: … and that’s why you might want to think – it’s gas-fired, right?
SKIP: Yes, it is. Yes.
TOM: And I’ll tell you what we’ll do, Skip, just to kind of help you out because you have a multifamily home. We will give you a membership to the Money Pit Homeowners – the Money Pit American Homeowners Association membership.
SKIP: Great.
TOM: And what that’s going to do is give you access to finding discounts on home improvement products and qualified contractors as well as a host of services that can help you out with this building just for calling in today.
SKIP: [It’ll be well used] (ph). Thank you.
TOM: Alright, Skip.
LESLIE: You will, I’m sure.
SKIP: (chuckling) Thanks.
TOM: Skip, what we’re going to do is have you call us at 866-Real-Home. That’s the membership number. It’s 866-Real-Home and they will have your name and they’ll hook you up.
SKIP: Alright, thank you very much.
TOM: Alright, and for anyone else that’s interested in the Homeowners – and for anyone else that’s interested in the Money Pit American Homeowners Association membership, if you call in to 866-Real-Home we will give you 30 days for free so you can kind of check it out and a Zircon laser level to boot just for giving it a try.
Skip, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are listening to The Money Pit and this is the ho-ho-home improvement season. Ho ho ho! And we want to help you get your house in tiptop shape so give us a call now with your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Do you have to wash your dishes twice; you know, once in the dishwasher and then once when it comes out of the dishwasher? We’ll tell you how to clear the problem, after this.
(promo/theme song)
ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit is brought to you by Ryobi, manufacturer of professional feature power tools and accessories with an affordable price for the do-it-yourselfer. Ryobi power tools. Pro features, affordable price. Available exclusively at The Home Depot. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show where we make good homes better. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and you should give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. We have got a very timely prize this hour of our show. It is a Christmas tree package from LightKeeper Pro. It’s worth about 70 bucks and I guarantee you are heading out to the tree stand or putting up those holiday decorations and this is really going to help you get the job done and get the job done safely because it includes a miniature light repair tool and a tree safety system that’s going to alert you if the water level of your live tree is too low or even if the tree is catching fire or getting too hot. And they’re also going to throw in a tree safety DVD just so you get it right and keep everybody happy and safe this holiday season. So give us a call now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974. You must be willing to come on the air and ask your home improvement question, which might be ‘Hey, Tom and Leslie. Why do I have to wash my dishes after I take them out of the dishwasher?’ Well, if that’s the case you may have a problem with the dishwasher drain valve. Your dishwasher’s drain valve should only open during the draining cycle but if it’s clogged by debris it will let water out during the wash cycle, too. So, here’s how you fix it.
If you hear water flowing into the sink during the wash cycle the drain valve is clogged and needs to be replaced. It’s a …
LESLIE: Now, if you don’t fix it this could probably cause other problems with the machine because then it’s working when it’s dry without all that water. True?
TOM: Well, possibly. But what it definitely means is you’re going to waste a lot of water because the dishes will come out and they’ll still have a lot of debris stuck to them. So, if you get tired of rinsing your dishes again after you take it out of the dishwasher, get it fixed now.
888-666-3974 is the number to call with your appliance repair question or your plumbing repair question or your roof leak question. We’re here to help you get the job done.
Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: Chuck in Louisiana has had it up to here with his cellar and wants to fill it in. How come?
CHUCK: Well, it’s a 130-year-old home that we just purchased …
TOM: OK.
CHUCK: … and right up under almost the center of it is apparently an old cellar that was partly filled in with dirt and now it fills up with water.
LESLIE: Oh.
TOM: OK. Hmm. And does it fill up consistent with rainfall or is it just filled with water all the time?
CHUCK: It’s rainfall. We have – there’s like three sets of roofs that all converge in one corner …
TOM: Right.
CHUCK: … and it dumps right up under the house there.
TOM: Well …
LESLIE: That’s the problem right there.
TOM: Yeah, exactly. Now, you know, filling the cellar is one thing but, you know if you don’t fix this drainage issue that water’s still going to form under the foundation and that can cause some shifting.
LESLIE: And instead of filling in there it’s going to seep through to the house itself, right?
TOM: Yeah, exactly. So I would recommend that we talk about ways to alleviate this drainage situation.
Now, it might be that – does it have gutters, first of all?
CHUCK: No, that’s all part of the plans. We’re going to have gutters. There’s going to be a – we’ll have to put in a small sump to actually pump the rainwater away from the house toward a ditch because the closer corner here is actually kind of behind a mound that the water’s not draining (ph) around.
TOM: OK. If you have a situation where basically it’s all draining to a hole anyway and there’s no way for you to extend downspouts or re-angle gutters then, yes, I’ve seen situations where you have to run that water into a pump to lift it up high enough so that it can run away. I would do all of those things first. Because you may find that once that’s accomplished – in fact, I suspect you will find that once that’s accomplished that you no longer have a water problem in this basement and, hence, now have some useable space for at least some storage or some other purpose or access to that part of the framework, if nothing else. I would – there’s no reason for you to do that first. I would do this in the right order and that is fix all the drainage conditions as best you can first.
If you go to our website at MoneyPit.com there is lots of advice there on how to solve a wet basement problem. It’s one of the most common questions we’ve got and there’s probably at least a dozen articles about it right there.
CHUCK: So you don’t think filling it in – because the entire – because what’s happened is the entire pillar foundation, all the seals, everything up under the house is completely rotted away.
TOM: I understand.
CHUCK: Yeah.
TOM: Let’s first deal with the moisture problem. Let’s dry it out. It’s not going to get any worse and if you dry it out all the decay will stop. Decay only happens when wood gets over about 25 percent moisture. Once it gets over that the decay organisms wake up and they go to work tearing the house apart. If you dry it out the decay organisms turn off like a switch and stop rotting your wood away. So I want you to do all these steps to get the moisture stopped and then we could talk about what are the repairs that’ll be done. You know, it may be that you want to tackle some of the rotted wood repairs at that point. But let’s concentrate first, Chuck, on getting the drainage problem fixed. That’s going to make this dry up. It’s going to leave the house a lot more stable and there’s a whole lot of benefits to doing it in this order.
CHUCK: I appreciate the help.
TOM: You’re welcome, Chuck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Terri in Utah, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you?
TERRI: Hi, yes. My daughters were over at (INAUDIBLE) home and they were dyeing each other’s hair …
TOM: (chuckling) OK.
TERRI: … and they got (chuckling) – they got a little bit of the dye onto her kitchen cabinet and it’s, you know, a darker brown onto some oak. And I’m wondering if there’s any way to get that out of her cabinets.
TOM: Well, there’s a reason they call it dye. (chuckling)
LESLIE: Yeah.
TOM: It probably has absorbed into that oak, which is a fairly porous material and so I don’t have a lot of hope for this.
LESLIE: Even if there’s coats and coats of stain or urethane on them? It’s not just sort of sitting in the …
TOM: (overlapping voices) Well, I don’t have a lot of – I don’t have a lot of hope for it. Is it on the outside box or is it on the door frame itself?
TERRI: It’s on her kitchen cabinets so it’s like on the drawer and kind of on, you know, the …
TOM: Well, if it’s on the drawer or …
LESLIE: Oh, so …
TOM: If it’s on the drawer or the door that’s going to be solid wood and it’s possible you could sand it out. If it’s on the cabinets probably a laminate or a veneer and you may not have as much to sand out. I would …
LESLIE: And Terri, I see where this exactly is going. The girls put the hair dye on, realized they had to wait 30 minutes and all of a sudden wanted snacks. (Tom chuckles) I see exactly what happened here.
TOM: You know, what I would do is I would get some very fine grit sandpaper; probably about 200 grit.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Like 150? Even higher? Wow, 200.
TOM: No, I mean 200, 220. And I would very carefully try to sand some of these spots out and see if you can get them to lighten up enough where you’re pulling them out of the drawer or the door front without cutting too much into the raw wood. That would be the first place to start.
If that does it, great. Stop. If not, you may have to sand deeper but then you’re going to have to touch up those areas and when you touch them up I would recommend probably some water-based polyurethane to seal it and the easiest way for you to get a finish on there that may match what you had there before.
TERRI: OK, thank you.
LESLIE: Bob in Rhode Island, welcome to The Money Pit. What’s going on at your house?
BOB: Leslie, I got a problem – well, I got some beautiful paneling and it kind of makes the room kind of dark and somebody said you can paint it and it comes out really good and I’m hesitant to do that because it’s really beautiful birch paneling. But it’s an apartment and I’m thinking that some people don’t like paneling on the wall.
LESLIE: Now are you the renter or the rentee?
BOB: Rentee.
LESLIE: OK, so you’re allowed to paint and do whatever the heck you want there.
BOB: Correct.
LESLIE: You know, I agree. It can paint up very well but once you paint it it’s a pain in the butt to go back to the stained surface.
BOB: Correct.
LESLIE: So it’s really up to you to see if you want to commit to this paint job (Bob laughs) and, you know, it will brighten the space. Keep in mind a coat of paint is not going to make the linear features of the paneling go away …
BOB: Right.
LESLIE: … but you can really make it work and if it’s painted white it can even almost look like beadboard and be quite nice and open and country.
BOB: Even with those – you’re going to see the seams. You’re going to see those …
TOM: Sure. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Oh, yeah. You’re totally going to see the seams but you have to commit to that aesthetic. You have to say, ‘Alright, I want this to look good.’ If you’re going to do that you want to prime and then you want to paint. If you’re more open to, you know, spending a little bit more time or effort, you could go ahead and either try to remove that paneling or drywall over it and just get a fresh wall surface.
TOM: The one thing you have to look out for, Bob, is when you try to remove it, is to determine first if it’s been glued on. If it’s been glued on it becomes a nightmarish job to remove it and nothing that you’re going to do is going to save that drywall underneath. So if you try to pull it off, it’s been glued on, it will take the paper off the drywall face underneath and you’ll end up having to put a second layer of drywall on anyway. So you could try to loosen it up in a corner and see how easy it might pop off. If it was put on with paneling nails, which are sort of ring nails …
BOB: Right.
TOM: … maybe you ought to be able to get it off and just patch it a bit and be good to go.
BOB: If, in fact, it’s on drywall and not on the old lattice with plaster.
LESLIE: Oh, true.
TOM: How old is the house?
BOB: Oh, the house is 100 years old.
TOM: Oh, well then yeah, you never know. It could, in fact, be on plaster. So you’re right. You know, I think you should paint it to start with, Bob, and see how you like it. I mean it’s certainly an easy job to be done in a very short period of time and you can always go to removing it as a second step.
BOB: OK, now do you paint it with a latex primer or do you have to use oil-based?
TOM: Well actually, you could use a – probably an oil-based primer is good but another one you could use is the KILZ alcohol-based primer which has a water cleanup but it sticks like the …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and it dries really quickly.
TOM: It dries really fast and it sticks like the dickens to any kind of surface.
BOB: Oh, wow. OK.
TOM: Alright?
BOB: Great. Thank you very much. I love your show.
TOM: Oh, thank you very much. Very kind. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
Apparently, his projects have worked out OK. (laughing)
LESLIE: Yeah. (chuckling) And you know what? I actually just used that primer today on a wood floor …
TOM: Yeah?
LESLIE: … and it worked very nicely.
TOM: I know. When speed counts.
LESLIE: Exactly. (chuckling)
Katrina in Virginia finds The Money Pit on WJFK and we’ve got a tile question. How can we help?
KATRINA: The tile men are in and are laying it down and I’m a big retro fan when it comes to tile; black and white tile in the bathroom.
LESLIE: OK.
KATRINA: But I hate white grout. So, give me some pros and cons of sealing it. They say I can do it. They were going to do it and now they’re just leaving the product with me to do it. Is it worthwhile taking the time and expense of sealing the tile?
TOM: Well, first of all, did you ask them about using epoxy grout, which is a lot more stain-resistant?
KATRINA: No, I didn’t.
TOM: Well, that’s one thing to bring up. Now, in terms of actually sealing it, it’s a pretty easy job so you certainly could do it yourself.
LESLIE: Yeah, and is the reason why you hate the white grout is because you don’t like the white in contrast with your tile colors or it gets dirty?
KATRINA: It gets dirty. I love white grout and I love black and while tile.
LESLIE: Then you definitely, definitely want to seal it because if you don’t seal it it’s just going to suck up all that dirt almost immediately. If you do seal it you’re putting that barrier on there.
TOM: And it’s never going to be easier to seal it than it is right now. I would be doing like multiple coats of sealant because it’s never going to be cleaner than it is when it first goes down.
KATRINA: Oh, so multiple coats of sealant and epoxy grout.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Mm-hmm.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Yes.
KATRINA: OK. Good …
TOM: Well, you know, if you do epoxy grout then you don’t need to use sealant. Sealant’s only for the sand grout.
KATRINA: OK.
TOM: OK? But if you’re using traditional sand grout then you’re going to use multiple coats of sealant and do it right away and that’s going to give you the best leg up on keeping the grout clean.
KATRINA: Excellent. Good. OK, great advice. Thank you.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show and if you hate running out of hot water right in the middle of your deliciously wonderful hot shower we have got a great solution for you. It’s a water heater that’s going to provide never-ending supply of hot water and, get this, it costs less to run than your traditional water heater, so stick around.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is being brought to you by – well, by us. Save hundreds a month on groceries, not to mention significant savings on home improvement products and services with your new Money Pit American Homeowners Association membership. And get $50 in Zircon tools if you join in the next 30 minutes. Call now. 866-REAL-HOME. That’s 866-REAL-HOME. Now here are Tom and Leslie.
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: Call us now with your home improvement question. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Call us now with your do-it-yourself dilemma. Soup to nuts, floorboards to shingles. Whatever you’re working on, we want to talk to you about it.
Hey, one of the things you might be thinking about is your hot water. You know, especially when it gets a bit chillier out, that hot water starts to certainly be more important. There’s nothing worse than a cold shower on a cold day.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) On a cold morning. (chuckling)
TOM: But you know, by their very nature your standard water heaters, I guess let’s not pick on them but they could be said to be a bit dumb because they keep the water the same temperature all day long whether you need it or not and that can actually be a big waste of money and energy.
LESLIE: Yeah, and if you’re thinking about getting smarter about saving your money, saving energy, you might want to think about getting smarter with your water heater as well and consider a tankless unit. And here to tell us about the benefits of going tankless is Peter Blaha from Rheem.
Welcome, Peter.
PETER: Tom, Leslie, it’s a pleasure to be on your show.
TOM: So Peter, talk to us about how a tankless water heater works. We’ve got a lot of questions about them over the years. Folks are concerned as to whether or not they can really deliver the capacity and can stay hot all the time. How does the technology actually function?
PETER: Well, when people see a tankless water heater the first thing they notice is the size. Tankless water heaters are a little big larger than a standard medicine chest in your bathroom and the first thing people wonder is how can something so small deliver ample hot water to supply my entire home.
The difference between a tank and a tankless water heater is that tank water heaters have a storage capacity of hot water so that when that hot water runs out you’re left with cold water until the water can regenerate.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
PETER: Tankless water heaters, however, as the water flows through it’s continuously heated. When you activate a fixture the smart technology inside a tankless water heater will signal the burner to ignite and to heat your water to a precise temperature and consistently deliver that water to your fixture as long as water is flowing through the unit.
TOM: The other thing that I think people get confused about is they think the tankless water heaters deliver water at a hotter temperature so, seemingly, you wouldn’t run out. But that’s not the case. It just the ability to deliver the correct temperature in the correct amounts at the time you need it.
PETER: Yeah, the tankless water heaters have a thermistor which allows computers to set it for a particular temperature. So if you desire to have 126-degree water in your home you can set it for that precise hot water temperature. And that’s …
LESLIE: And can you set that from a remote location or is that something that’s done on the unit itself?
PETER: No, actually it – the remote control has a 90-foot lead to it. So you can set that up to 90 feet away from the unit.
TOM: Wow. That would be great for kids. If your young child is going up to take a bath or a shower you can just dial down the temperature and instantly you know that they’re protected from scalds.
PETER: Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s a great safety feature in the unit.
LESLIE: Well, I think people get a little confused, again, as Tom was saying, with tankless units because they still don’t understand that regardless of tanked or tankless it’s the distance of the fixture to the heater itself. So they think that putting in a different heater is going to deliver the water faster when, in fact, the beauty of tankless is that if you have a problem bath that takes a long time to get hot water, due to the size you can have more than one water heater within your house to deliver that water faster. Do you think that’s one of the benefits of the size and the technology itself?
PETER: Absolutely, and that’s something that some people will do. They’ll actually – if they have a larger home with multiple bathrooms they’ll actually put two units in and they’ll plumb them separately.
One thing you have to remember though is that tankless water heaters, some people do have the understanding that they have the instant hot water the second they turn on the fixture; which is not the case because it really depends on how long the run is from the – the water pipe run from the tankless water heater to the fixture. You have to remember if there’s cold water in that pipe it has to clear before the hot water is distributed.
TOM: Right, but you would need a huge space to put in another full-size unit nearer to that faraway bath. With a tankless, I mean you need a very, very small space because these boxes are just so small. And they’re also easy to vent. I mean can’t you directly vent these out of a side wall so that you don’t have to go up through a chimney?
PETER: Yes, we have outdoor and indoor units. So the outdoor units work better in more temperature areas such as California, Texas.
TOM: Right.
PETER: The issue is not the tankless water heater freezing because our tankless heaters are freeze-protected up to 30 below zero. It’s the piping which would have to be insulated if it was installed in a state such as Michigan or Minnesota.
TOM: We’re talking to Peter Blaha. He’s a product manager for Rheem and an expert in tankless water heaters.
Peter, there’s another compelling reason, right now, to go tankless – especially before the end of the year – and that is this tax credit that’s available. That sounds like a pretty good reason to buy a water heater if you’re ready for one. Talk to us about it.
PETER: Absolutely. And that’s one of the things that I hope that people that are considering installing a tankless water heater do consider. The federal government currently has a $300 tax credit which can be applied til the end of 2007. There’s quite a few people that do not know about that, so that’s something that we definitely want to promote as much as possible. Tankless water heaters are a little more expensive than a standard tank water heater. You can buy a standard tank water heater anywhere between $300 and $500. Tankless you’re talking anywhere from $650 up to $1100 for the unit itself.
LESLIE: But the energy savings you’ll see are drastic, correct?
PETER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Compared to a tank electric you’re going to save about 40 percent in your energy savings and with a gas tank you’re going to save about 25 percent.
TOM: And that plus the fact that you have a $300 tax credit if you buy before the end of 2007. Good reasons to go tankless.
Peter Blaha from Rheem, thanks for stopping by The Money Pit.
PETER: My pleasure.
TOM: If you’d like more information you can go to Rheem’s website at RheemTankless.com, and that’s R-h-e-e-mTankless.com, or you can pick up the phone and call them at 866-72-2076.
LESLIE: Hey, and with that $300 tax credit you could head over to the home center and buy a whole lot of joint compound or spackle or …
TOM: Whoa! Yeah.
LESLIE: Yeah, that would be a lot. Imagine every wall surface in your home (Tom chuckles) beautifully smooth; all for that $300 tax saving. But seriously, we are going to help you get all the tools and the right process to make all of your walls smooth and gorgeous and ready for the holiday season. So stick around.
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ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit is brought to you by Aprilaire, makers of professionally-installed, high-efficiency air cleaners. For more information, go to Aprilaire.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show, making good homes better. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and hey, the number here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. You’ve got to call us. You’ve got to ask us your home improvement or repair question on the air this hour because we’ve got a great and timely prize package for you and you know, of course, we enter your name into the Money Pit hardhat and we choose one name out of there at random. And this one caller that we pick – it could be you – is going to win a Christmas tree package from LightKeeper Pro. It’s worth about 70 bucks but it comes with a light repair tool, a pretty cool sensor that’s going to let you know when and what needs water and how often to water the tree and it will also let you know if those lights are getting too hot and approaching a danger zone. So it really is helpful and it can keep you and your family safe and happy this holiday season.
TOM: So let’s say you have a big hole in the wall. Perhaps your door handle blew into it or something like that. (Leslie chuckles) Wind caught the door; threw it open or you got mad and punched the wall. They’re about the same size, those holes. (Leslie chuckles) Here’s how you fix it.
First of all, you go out and you buy one of these wall patch kits which has a metal plate that’s kind of like screening material. It’s like perforated and sticky-back at the same time. And you cover the hole with that. Now, that’s easier than trying to cut a small piece of drywall and fit it inside of this.
And then, the material you choose to put on top of it is where most people make the mistake. First of all, you want to use joint compound and not spackle because it smoothes our easier. And secondly, you want to do this in three to four thin coats, starting very close to the patch and working your way out. If you do this and kind of feather the edge, once you prime it and paint it, it will absolutely completely disappear. If you try to put too much of this stuff on it’ll be lumpy and you’ll see it and you’ll really be unhappy with the result.
So that’s the way you repair it. It’s not that difficult and it’s clearly a do-it-yourself project.
Got a question like that? Call us at 888-MONEY-PIT. We are here to help you get those jobs done.
Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: We’re going to take a call now from Millie in New Jersey who’s got a heating question. What’s going on at your house?
MILLIE: Oh, I have a Carrier outside. It’s a heater and air conditioner package.
LESLIE: OK.
MILLIE: (INAUDIBLE) And every year it leaks Freon, so our electric bills are outrageous. So we want to buy a new unit; something that would be economical for the air and the heat. We’ve been looking at a York and then there is a Trane they advertise and there’s an Amana and I didn’t know which one would be the better one to save us on gas and electric.
TOM: Now, this is a centrally installed, gas-fired furnace? Is that correct?
MILLIE: Yes.
TOM: Alright. Well, I would do this. To compare apples to apples, I would only work with models that have an Energy Star rating and then I would compare the Energy Star ratings. That’s going to give you all the information that you need. Those are all good brands and one does not significantly distinguish itself from another, in my opinion. But the Energy Star program is very effective at helping sort out the differences between units because if – you know, if one is Energy Star and one is not I would always lean towards the Energy Star rating. That’s the baseline and the best way to tell. Beyond that, then you can start looking at price and terms and features and benefits. But start with the Energy Star rating and take it from there.
MILLIE: What does that mean, exactly?
TOM: Well, the Energy Star rating is a program that’s run by the EPA and if you go to EnergyStar.gov you can read all about it. And essentially it’s a program whereby manufacturers compete to make products of a certain standard efficiency and the standards are going to change by year. And so you may have one furnace that’s built to the 2008 standard and another one that’s built to the 2010 standard, which could be a better standard and so on. And another reason to buy an Energy Star-rated furnace right now is because if you purchase it before the end of the year you may qualify for a tax credit. There’s a program. The Energy Tax Incentive Program is still active til the end of this year and you may qualify for a tax credit.
So, go to EnergyStar.gov and read about it right there and use that to try to decide which furnace is best for your needs.
Millie, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
MILLIE: Thank you.
LESLIE: Judy in Iowa, welcome to The Money Pit. What’s going on with your house?
JUDY: Well, I have this really pretty deck and it has colored cement in it …
LESLIE: OK.
JUDY: … and I’m having a problem just by my front step area. I think they used a different batch or something or other and some of the cement is like little pebbles. They’re working their way up and so then I have a pitted area.
LESLIE: Oh, you see the aggregate coming through.
TOM: That sounds like it wasn’t troweled properly; it wasn’t finished correctly. If they don’t shake the concrete enough you’ll get the aggregate that comes up too close to the surface. Also, if you use something that’s very abrasive, like in the winter a lot of people put sodium chloride – rock salt – on patios and that will cause it to deteriorate and sort of wear off the surface. So what you’re describing here is a physical breakdown of the concrete.
JUDY: Oh. So, can I just fill those holes or …
TOM: I think probably the best thing is some sort of a finish treatment, Leslie. Would you suggest, perhaps, an epoxy coating?
LESLIE: An epoxy coating’s going to do the trick plus you can custom mix those. A lot of the brands will allow you to custom color the epoxy paints and the kits themselves. So you’ll probably be able to match something close enough to this sort of etched and stained concrete that you already have there. And you might have to get one or two different colors to sort of help create that blend. I’m not really sure what yours looks like. So you have to sort of determine if you can do it with one color or maybe you need to sort of wash-y blend two different colors.
Have you tried contacting the installer? Because if it wasn’t poured right they might be able to just come in and fix this one part.
JUDY: Oh, no. I have not tried to call him. It’s because he did it like, I suppose, 10 years ago. But it’s …
LESLIE: Ah.
JUDY: It’s very good everywhere else but right at my front door. (chuckling)
TOM: Yeah, and that’s also where, of course, like I say, you’re getting all the wear and tear …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: … and I’m sure there’s been some salt there over the years and that might have worn it out.
LESLIE: And in the future, the good salt that you want to use – is it potassium chloride? (INAUDIBLE)
TOM: Calcium.
LESLIE: Calcium.
TOM: Calcium chloride.
JUDY: Calcium chloride.
TOM: Yep. Safe-T-Salt.
LESLIE: Because that’s not going to, you know, be harmful to the concrete.
TOM: Exactly.
JUDY: OK. And that might be the case.
TOM: Alright, Judy. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are listening to The Money Pit and we have a lot of great home improvement information still to come, including what do you do if you’ve got a sink or a toilet that just doesn’t smell quite right? It’s actually kind of stinky. Well, it can only mean one thing; that your plumbing is not vented properly. We are going to help you figure out what needs venting and what to do, next.
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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is being brought to you by – well, by us. Save hundreds a month on groceries, not to mention significant savings on home improvement products and services with your new Money Pit American Homeowners Association membership. And get $50 in Zircon tools if you join in the next 30 minutes. Call now. 866-REAL-HOME. That’s 866-REAL-HOME. Now here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and you should visit MoneyPit.com right now or any time of the day or night to search our entire archive of articles, columns and tips by project. We’ve got a new project finder that makes it super easy to find everything we have ever written about your current DIY dilemma. It’s all at MoneyPit.com and while you’re there, if you’ve got an e-mail question you want to send our way click on Ask Tom and Leslie and we answer those right now.
Alright, and we’ve got one here from Patrick in Wasilla, Alaska who writes: ‘My bathroom exhaust fans are both routed into the sewer vent pipe in the attic about halfway between the ceiling and the roof. I have looked in every code book I have. Is this proper or even accepted by codes? Because I can’t find it anywhere.’
TOM: You know, I understand why you can’t find it anywhere because no code author in their right mind would ever imagine that somebody would try to vent a bath fan into a waste pipe. (laughing) You know, it’s just – that’s just something that …
LESLIE: That’s pretty crazy. Does it work?
TOM: That’s just unbelievable. I mean I could not put those two things together. So no wonder your bathroom smells because you’re obviously pulling sewage gas from the sewage vent pipe into your bathroom. So not a good thing. Not up to code. Definitely need to take it apart and do it the right way.
Well, now is certainly a great time to tackle all the maintenance to your home’s envelope. No, not the envelopes in your homes (Leslie chuckles) but your home’s actual envelope; the outside walls that are causing all of those gaps where all of the drafts come in and drive your energy bills sky-high. Leslie has the step-by-step in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.
LESLIE: Yeah, I do. In fact, you want to start by feeling around all of your windows and doors for drafts. This is the obvious place. But it really is the time of year you’re heating on the inside; the cold air is on the outside. You’re going to notice those drafts. But, by the way, they’re there all year long. You just might not notice them because of the temperature differences. And if you’re having a hard time finding the exact spots, you can take a lit stick of incense and sort of move it around the door and the windows themselves and if you find that you do have a leak around a window or a door frame you want to take paintable latex caulk. It really is going to be the best sealant. It’s going to give you a smooth and clean seal and it’s really easy to blend into the surrounding areas.
You also want to look at your exterior wall outlets. These provide a huge source of air leakage there and you do want to address that. So you can remove the outlet cover and on the backside place one of those foam gaskets that looks exactly like the cover and then replace it back onto the outlet itself and that really does seal it. But if you do find a large open area around the receptacle itself, you can use a product like GREAT STUFF or any other expandable foam to fill in that whole area and stop those leaks there as well.
If you notice around the windows that you’ve got air leaks there but it’s not coming from the frame itself; it’s coming from more where the sash operates, you can actually temporarily seal that window shut just for the season to stop that draft. You know, our friends at DAP, they make a great temporary caulk called Seal ‘N Peel.
TOM: Love that stuff.
LESLIE: And it really is great. My mom uses it at her apartment in the city and, you know, it’s super because she’s not using those windows as an egress. So you do seal the entire sash shut. You’re making it inoperable. But that’s going to stop those drafts as well. Just make sure you keep one window open in case you do need to sort of get out quickly. It totally is removable though.
And while you’re beeping around the house, lubricate those hinges on the doors. Just make sure everything operates nice and smoothly. Check your weatherstripping and save your energy dollars for holiday gifts for me and Tom.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show with you 24/7/365 at 888-MONEY-PIT and also online at MoneyPit.com.
Coming up next week on The Money Pit, why do ladders cause more than 150,000 emergency room visits every year? Because people use them wrong. You know, contrary to popular belief, you can’t take an eight-foot ladder, add a six-foot ladder to it and come up with a 14-foot ladder. (Leslie chuckles) That math doesn’t work out. That’s why next week we’re going to teach you how to stay safe while you’re decking those halls.
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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END HOUR 2 TEXT
(Copyright 2007 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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