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 right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT with your home improvement question, your do-it-yourself dilemma. Before you pick up a hammer; before you pick up a saw, pick up the phone and call us at 888-MONEY-PIT. Got a nine-foot couch in an eight-foot room? We can help. 888-666-3974.
Hey, if you knew you were wasting money you’d probably want to do something about it, right?
LESLIE: Yeah.
TOM: Well, if your home is under-insulated, you might as well take your wallet and just toss some of that cash out the window. Even if you think you’ve got enough insulation, chances are you might not. So coming up, we’re going to give you some tips on where you can get the best and most up-to-date info about how much insulation your home actually needs.
LESLIE: Plus, do you feel that chill – you know, that blast of cold air – in certain rooms of your house but you’re having a darn hard time tracking down exactly where it’s coming in from? Well, we’ve got a trick of the trade for finding drafts and then the best way to stop them.
TOM: And also ahead, would you like to go all out when you deck the halls this year? Well, you can change the look of a room instantly with paint. The most time-consuming and labor-intensive part of painting, though, is often the prep work; but we’ve got a tip that will make that super easy. We found this really cool new paintbrush that can really cut down on your prep time and, most importantly, cut down on the sloppy paint that goes along with it. (Leslie chuckles) We’re going to tell you how to use this new tool in just a bit.
LESLIE: And we’ve got a great prize we’re giving away this hour that’s going to keep you and your family safe in your money pit this holiday season. We’re giving away a tree safety system. It’s worth $35 and it’s going to alert you if your tree is too dry or if it’s overheating from the lights or even if it’s on fire. So we want safety first, folks; especially this time of year.
TOM: 888-666-3974. Let’s get right to the phones.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Wanda in Texas needs some help redoing some cabinets. What kind of project are you working on?
WANDA: I’m considering redoing my cabinets in the kitchen and in the bathroom and I heard of this project while I was listening to one of the do-it-yourself shows. It’s called liquid sandpaper and I was just wondering if you’ve ever heard of the product and if so, do you recommend it.
LESLIE: Well what type of cabinets are they – are they solid wood, are they laminate? – and what are you trying to do to them? Do you want to restain them or do you want to paint them?
WANDA: I want to paint them and they’re solid wood.
LESLIE: Hmm.
TOM: Well, you use liquid sandpaper a lot. We’ve talked about that before.
LESLIE: Yeah. I’m just trying to think, you know, if they’re solid wood and you want to paint them, pretty much what you need to do is really give them a good cleaning because you want to make sure you get off any grit and dirt and yuck that’s been on them over the years of usage, especially in a kitchen environment.
WANDA: Yeah, I know there’s a cleaner for that; the TPS or TSP – is that what it’s called?
LESLIE: TSP. That’s perfect. Then the liquid sander, what that is you put it on with a sponge applicator or you can brush it on and it just sort of grits up the surface just enough; you know, rather than sanding it down to get to raw wood. But it does sort of open up the finish on the wood itself so that it’s a lot more tolerant to whatever you’re going to put on it; in this case it would be a primer. And you want to make sure you use a very good primer and then you want to go ahead and use a high-quality paint as well.
WANDA: I see. And you take off the doors and do you need to do the inside of the doors?
TOM: Not necessarily. It’s up to you but, you know, it may look nicer that way because when the door is open it’ll all be the same color.
WANDA: Exactly.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, or what you can do – first of all, when you take off the doors you want to either leave the hinges on the doors themselves or on the cabinet base and then label every cabinet to every door exactly where it came from; like A-A, B-B. This way you know exactly where things go and you’re not trying to be like, ‘Oh, which hinge matches up to what?’ and you know exactly how things go. Now for the backside you can either take some fabric on some cardstock, just so it’s nice and thick or even some pretty wallpaper and you have like a nice surface to adhere to and then use upholstery tacks just to – so when you open the door you’ve got something pretty on the inside. Or you can use …
WANDA: Oh, that’s a great idea.
LESLIE: … rolled up cork so you have someplace to put little notes or even chalkboard paint.
WANDA: That’s a wonderful idea. Thank you for that.
TOM: You’re welcome, Wanda.
LESLIE: You’re so welcome.
WANDA: OK, I appreciate that.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Heading out west to Utah with the number one question asked here at The Money Pit – flooring. David, how can we help you?
DAVID: Yeah, I have a hardwood floor that has an area that’s worn near the dining room table …
TOM: OK.
DAVID: … and it’s all connected. It’s the entry, the kitchen, the hallway; it’s all about a thousand square feet of hardwood.
TOM: So David, is the finish just slightly worn or is it actually down to raw wood?
DAVID: It’s smooth everywhere but you can see raw wood underneath the chairs.
TOM: OK. So here’s what I think you should do. This is a project you can do yourself and I’m going to tell you how to do it so it’s not so terrible. What I want you to do is to rent a floor buffer with a sanding screen. Now, the floor buffer is the kind of big buffing machine like they use like at the mall and other commercial places to kind of buff the floors, but instead of the buffing pads you can get a sanding screen which kind of looks like window screen material; it’s abrasive on both sides. By using the floor buffer you’ll just be sort of taking off the top surface of the finish and preparing it for the next coat of urethane. The areas where it’s actually worn down, where you’re starting to see some raw wood, just do some handwork in there with a hand sander so that you get those smooth. This way you’re not totally sanding down the entire floor surface, which is more than you need to do; it’d shorten the life of the floor and, frankly, it’s too much work for you. And then put a new coat of polyurethane down; use oil-based polyurethane. You’ll probably need about three coats. You can apply it with something called a lamb’s wool applicator, which is a way of just sort of mopping it on. And plan when you can be out of that house for quite a while; let yourself get some good drying time there and I think you definitely could accomplish it.
DAVID: Great. Alright, I think I’ll take that on and get that done.
TOM: Alright, David. Go to it. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Pick up the phone and give us a call. Let us know what you are working on. We can help you get all of your home improvement chores done just in time for the big man to come flying down your chimney; especially if your chimney needs some home repair. (Tom chuckles) So give us a call 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: Hey, the Department of Energy says that 80 million homes are under-insulated. Do you believe that? Eighty million homes. Now, is one of them yours? It might be. And you’d be amazed at how much money the right amount of insulation can save. We’re going to teach you how to know how much you’ll need, next.
(theme song)
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: 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: The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT and one caller we talk to this hour is going to win the Christmas tree safety system from Ulta (sp) Technologies. It’s a pretty cool product to have this time of year. It’s a sensor and an alarm system that actually will monitor the amount of moisture in your tree and let you know if it’s getting dangerously dry. It’s worth 35 bucks. Going to give one away to one caller who reaches us with their home improvement question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: And in the non-holiday season you could hook it up to, say, your peace lily that you always forget to water (Tom and Leslie chuckle) and constantly be reminded; not that I have a problem …
TOM: What’s that sound? Oh, it’s the peace lily alarm. (Leslie chuckles) I forgot to water it today.
LESLIE: Oh, I gotta water those house plants. (chuckling)
Alright, folks. Well, our friends over at the Department of Energy are telling us that 80 million homes in this country are under-insulated and if insulation is a complete afterthought to you, then you are missing out on savings up to 20 percent of your energy bills. Now the experts at Owens Corning say that you need at least 19 inches of fiberglass batt insulation; you know, the pink cotton candy-looking stuff – just don’t eat it (Tom chuckles) – or 22 inches of blown insulation. You can learn more about r values and how they can help you cut down on your carbon footprint when you download the Homeowner’s Insulation Guide which is available right now at InsulateandSave.com. It will help you sort out all of your questions about insulation and make sure you’ve got the right amount in your money pit, in your part of the country so you can saving those dollars and buy yourself a very nice holiday gift.
TOM: And that’s a really nice guide available for free at InsulateandSave.com; the Homeowner’s Insulation Guide.
888-666-3974. Let’s get back to those phones.
Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: Shirley in Virginia, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
SHIRLEY: Yes, I’m calling – we have an older home; it’s a brick home. And the kitchen cabinets have an odor to them. It smells like old wood. We have had them newly painted. They were professionally done and it still smells and it seems like it makes the food taste. Is there any – we’ve tried Clorox and everything and we can’t seem to get this odor out of them.
TOM: Have you tried baking soda?
LESLIE: Yeah.
SHIRLEY: Yes, I have and that helped some but it still didn’t take all the odor out.
LESLIE: Now when you painted the cabinets, were they primed with an oil-based primer?
SHIRLEY: Yes, they were professionally done. You know, they look great and we’ve talked about even taking them out but we hate to do that because we know it’s a lot more expense.
TOM: Mm-hmm.
LESLIE: What about – and the interior is painted, correct?
SHIRLEY: Yes, it is.
LESLIE: Shirley, there’s a great website; it’s called PaintedSensations.com. And there you can get different types of scented additives that can be added to your normal paint and that scent is going to linger for about 12 months. So make sure you follow the directions on how to mix it in the paint because I guess, you know, in a closed-off space like a cabinet, that could be overpowering as well. But it might sort of help to cancel out – you know, maybe there’s an option there that’s more of a neutral sort of fresh scent that you could get. (Tom chuckles)
SHIRLEY: Certainly do appreciate your help on that.
TOM: You’re welcome, Shirley. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Wendell in Michigan needs some help with, actually, a heating idea; blowers to a fireplace. Good idea or bad. Welcome, Wendell.
WENDELL: Well, I’ve got a Heatilator fireplace that vents outside the wall …
TOM: OK.
WENDELL: … and I don’t have a blower. It puts out a lot of heat. My question is, is there going to be any advantage to putting in a blower in addition to just letting it thermal siphon?
TOM: Well, if it feels like it’s delivering plenty heat right now, I don’t know that adding a blower is going to make that much difference to it. It’s going to be an expense to buy it, to install it and to run it.
LESLIE: To run it, they all run of off electricity, correct?
TOM: Mm-hmm, yep, absolutely. And they’re also a little bit noisy sometimes. So if you’ve got a good, natural convective loop; it’s working well within the room, I don’t think I would add a blower to that.
WENDELL: Yeah, I was kind of feeling that way and so I’m glad you confirmed it.
TOM: Our pleasure, Wendell. (Leslie chuckles) Any time you need somebody to agree with you, you just call The Money Pit. We’ll help you out.
WENDELL: (chuckling) OK, great. Thanks a lot.
TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Sally in Colorado needs some help with wallpaper; namely, getting rid of it. What’s going on, Sally?
SALLY: We have a house with wallpaper put directly on the sheetrock. There was no sizing put on …
LESLIE: OK.
SALLY: … no paint, no nothing and we can’t get it off.
TOM: Now what have you tried so far, Sally?
SALLY: Oh, gosh. Well, we’ve tried spraying Downy fabric softener on it. We’ve tried steam. We’ve tried – oh, we’ve tried just scraping it off. We’ve tried chemicals from Home Depot.
TOM: OK.
LESLIE: Hmm.
SALLY: We just haven’t had any luck.
TOM: Hmm. And you did rent a steamer; a wallpaper steamer?
SALLY: We’ve done a steamer. Oh, yeah, that was the first thing we tried.
TOM: OK. Now did you try to perforate the wallpaper first with any types of tools; either doing this with a – lightly score it with a drywall knife or there’s a tool called paper tiger that puts little tiny sort of prickly …
LESLIE: It’s like a palm-held, circular item; blades all underneath it.
SALLY: Yes.
TOM: Yeah. Have you tried that?
SALLY: We’ve tried both of those. We’ve tried … (Leslie growls)
TOM: Alright. Well, I guess, Sally, you’ve probably gone through all of the obvious choices and without that sizing on there you just might have such a permanent bond of the wallpaper to the paper surface of the drywall that you may not be able to get this off. Now, if that is the case, what are your options?
Well, if it’s a paper-faced wallpaper, you could paint over it. You could prime it and you could paint over it and, in fact, years and years ago they used to put wallpaper over plaster walls to give it a nicer finish and then they would paint over that. And of course, the only other option would be for you to skin the drywall with an additional layer and for that we would recommend very thin drywall, like a quarter-inch drywall; but of course, it’s quite a big project.
SALLY: Oh, thank you so much. We’ve contacted painters and different people in town and nobody will touch it. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: Well, sometimes you’ve got to get creative, Sally, and hope we helped you do just that.
SALLY: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Louise wants to talk flooring. How can we help you?
LOUISE: I have an old carpet and I would like to just dye it …
TOM: Hmm.
LOUISE: … and I’ve heard about that. This is a tan carpet. It’s got some stains that cleaning won’t get out. I would like to dye it a dark brown or a dark blue. Is that pretty cheap? Is it easy to do? How do I do that?
LESLIE: Alright, Louise. I mean I’ve heard it done and it can be done. It’s certainly not going to be inexpensive because the dyes themselves are expensive and not every kind of carpet can be done. Synthetics certainly need to be tested in inconspicuous areas or scraps to make sure that it will even adhere the dye.
LOUISE: You read my mind about cleaning it later, yes.
TOM: Yeah, mm-hmm. Absolutely.
LESLIE: And you know, wools or wool blends; those will accept the dye really well. You have to make sure that the material itself that your carpet is made from will be willing to take the dye because some it just – you know, some are so stain-resistant it’ll just bead right off.
TOM: And Louise, imagine how much work is involved when you go to paint a room; how you have to cover everything that you do not want paint to get on. Well, it’s much the same preparation when you have pros come in and dye your carpet because that stuff is called dye for a reason …
LOUISE: That’s right.
TOM: … and if it gets on the places you don’t want it, it makes a big, stinking mess. There’s a lot of specialized equipment involved and it’s a big project. So …
LOUISE: I guess it’s just not worth it, probably.
TOM: Well, I think you need to compare it …
LESLIE: I mean it could be.
TOM: … against the cost of a new carpet.
LOUISE: Right, and that’s the thing. OK.
TOM: Let me give you a website where you can go to get some more information. It’s Americolor.com. They sell all of the gear there and they have some homeowner products, too, that you could take a look at and learn a little bit more about this process.
LOUISE: OK, well I thank you kindly. Have a good day.
TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Thomas is looking to gain some energy efficiency by insulating the attic. How can we help you with this project?
THOMAS: I want to put insulation on the roof in the attic …
TOM: OK.
THOMAS: … and I was wondering can you just put the insulation right up or do you get condensation between the roof and the insulation.
TOM: Yeah, you don’t want to put the insulation right on the underside of the roof itself. You want to put it at the ceiling level; in other words, the second floor ceiling between the …
LESLIE: Conditioned spaces and unconditioned spaces, correct?
TOM: Yeah, exactly. If you’re talking about putting it up on the roof rafters, that would be a bad idea.
THOMAS: I thought so.
TOM: Yep, bad idea. Because it holds too much heat against the roof it will wear out the shingles very, very quickly; it will trap moisture in there and cause condensation and delamination and mold. The only time that you insulate in that particular space is if you have a cathedral ceiling where, say, you have like a 2×10 roof rafter; then you put in about eight inches of insulation and leave a gap between the insulation and the underside of the roof sheathing, Tom, but in this particular situation I would put it down on the attic floor or the second floor ceiling level. You’re going to want about 15 to 18 inches of insulation there.
THOMAS: Oh, OK. Alright.
TOM: Alright, Tom. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Charles in Texas, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
CHARLES: Hi, there. We installed a new heating and cooling system; dual fuel heat pump, air cleaner, humidifier. Now we have a sewer gas odor that accumulates through the house.
TOM: Hmm. There’s a condensate drain associated with that system. When they tapped the condensate drain did they go into the main plumbing system for that or is it running outside?
CHARLES: Yeah, they went into the main plumbing system.
TOM: Yeah? Well, I bet you that’s where the problem is. You probably don’t have a trap in there the way it’s installed and the venting is probably coming right out of that hole where it’s connected.
CHARLES: I bet it is.
TOM: Either that or I’ll tell you something else that happens. If the trap is there but the trap is dry because the water is evaporated; it’s not spilling out that much moisture right now, that can let sewer gas come in, too. So if the trap is there you might want to pull the hose out and pour a little water in there so it stays wet because if it’s not wet it won’t block sewer gas and if it’s not there that’s the problem right there as well.
CHARLES: OK. Well, great.
TOM: Should be an easy fix, Charles.
CHARLES: Thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, if your holiday to-do list isn’t headache enough, what if your to-do list includes a painting project and the thought of prep work is about to make your head explode? Well, we found a great new paintbrush that’s going to help you cut down on your prep time, which we love, and let you reach places that you never thought you could. That’s next.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information visit ThermaTru.com.
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.
Pick up the phone and give us a call. If you’re on a budget, like many of us are thanks to this economy, but you don’t want to sacrifice on style – especially this time of year; if you’re looking for an affordable project, you know paint, it is the easiest and, I tell you, probably cheapest way to redecorate your home for the holidays. And if you do any painting, you know that half of the work – well, 90 percent of the work – of painting is the prep and the cutting in. It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task; especially if you’ve got a lot of edges to tape off, windows, moulding, trim work, you name it. It takes a lot of work.
TOM: Ah, yes. But now there is a new-design paintbrush out there that we want to tell you about that’s going to actually take the work out of cutting in. It’s one of the first innovations in paintbrushes I have seen in a really long time. Here to tell us about it is Richard Davidson, President of Styletto Paintbrushes.
And Richard, your paintbrush is quite different than anything else that’s on the market now. It is shaped in a very unique way. Tell us about it.
RICHARD: Well, Tom, it’s shaped like an arrow. So – and the bristles are shaped like that so that when you’re cutting in you can really, you know, see what you’re doing and get into those little corners that you can never get to when you’re using a regular brush.
TOM: Now that’s really interesting. Is this something that your company invented or has it been around for a while?
RICHARD: It was invented by a paint store manager who kept getting questions by his customers as to how they can do a better job of cutting in and cutting in was really the hard part of painting; you know, to get a professional finish, a professional-looking job.
TOM: Right. And this really solves it of because the angled shape; the arrowed shape. You know, it’s kind of like a cut-in brush; it’s got two edges on it so you can really use both sides of it. You can get in tight to those corners – say, between the ceiling and the wall; you can get in around the trim, around the doors, around the cabinets and all those tight places. And as you say, because it’s shaped with a double angle, it makes it easy to see what you’re doing and I don’t know about you, Leslie, but my paint projects always come out better when I take off the blindfold.
LESLIE: (chuckles) Well, and you know what I think is interesting is every time I’ve used a single-angle-sided brush to do my cutting in, you only sort of get a thin swath of paint on the side that you’ve cut in and now you’ve got to sort of approach this delicate area, if you will, with a paint roller and then half the time you roll onto the wall next to it and you’ve totally messed up your whole cutting-in process – so what I think is interesting, especially depending on which size Styletto you choose, that you can cut in and get a very precise line; but then, on the wall that you’re cutting in with or to – the one you’re putting paint on – you get sort of a nice, thick application of paint that you don’t have to be afraid with the larger instrument as you’re really painting the wall.
TOM: And timing is really good for this right now because paint is a very popular project this time of year; it’s an easy, inexpensive – as Leslie said, cheap way – to get your house ready for the holiday guests.
Richard, what sizes does this brush come in and where is it available?
RICHARD: OK, it’s available in one inch, one-and-a-half inch and those we’d use to do mouldings; you know, to get really into intricate areas. And then also it’s available in two inch, two-and-a-half and three inch to do your general cutting in, you know, between walls and walls and ceilings as well. It’s available at Ace Hardware; some True Value Hardware as well. You can find it on Amazon, also.
TOM: Well, it’s a really neat product. Thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit and telling us all about it.
Richard Davidson, President of Styletto Paintbrushes. Pick some up today.
LESLIE: Hey, thanks so much, Richard. You know, those brushes are fantastic and when they arrived at my house I have to tell you that my son, who’s six months old, grabbed that one-inch brush and it’s like his favorite toy. So if I can peel it away from him, I will get right to my painting projects.
So you might have noticed that the cooler weather certainly helps your painting projects dry a lot quicker, but it’s not doing you any favors in the heating department. If you’re feeling the drafts, we’re going to tell you where you can use weatherstripping in your home to cut those drafts out completely and save some energy dollars.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information visit ThermaTru.com.
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 and if you watch the news, especially this time of year, you hear a lot about fires in people’s homes and this time of year they’re caused, often, by Christmas trees. And your tree can sort of dry out and then all of the lights on it, it just is a recipe for disaster. So we’re giving away a great prize this hour that’s going to keep you safe this holiday season. It’s a Christmas tree safety system from our friends over at Ulta (sp) Technologies. It’s worth 35 bucks but priceless in the event of a disaster. All you have to do is give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, ask your home improvement question on the air and you could have your chance to win.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Well, it’s nice to sit in front of the Christmas tree on a warm winter evening but it’s not so warm if you’ve got drafts that are finding their way into your house. So here’s a quick trick of the trade for tracking down those drafts.
If you feel that blast of cold air but you can’t figure out where it’s coming from, you can use incense. You want to bring the incense stick to all of the window and door areas around your house and sort of move it around very, very carefully to see where the smoke sort of changes directions and starts blowing in. You can use weatherstripping, then, to seal up the doors and the windows or, if you won’t be using that window all winter long, you can use temporary caulk. Now this is a product that is sold by different manufacturers – one is called Seal ‘n Peel – and basically what happens is you can caulk the window shut and then you can peel off the caulk in the spring and use the window again. Temporary caulk.
LESLIE: And you know what, Tom? I’ve actually heard of people walking around their house with a candle, which really isn’t that great of an idea. An incense stick is so much safer and it really does get the job done. You can really see where that smoke is blowing from. And you also want to remember to check places that you might not normally think of; like your outlets on the inside of exterior walls as well as recessed lights and you can get foam gaskets for these areas that will seal up all of those drafts and really keep you nice and toasty this time of year.
TOM: And they’re really, really cheap.
888-666-3974. Let’s get back to the phones.
LESLIE: And now we’ve got Kristen from Ohio who’s got a question about flooring. What can we do for you today?
KRISTEN: Right now I am looking at different options for flooring in my kitchen …
TOM: OK.
KRISTEN: … and I’m looking towards the hardwood flooring but I’m not really sure. There are a lot of options out there. I don’t know what your recommendation would be.
TOM: Well, hardwood floors in the kitchen are beautiful but, remember, they’re going to take a lot of wear and tear. So a couple of …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, plus you’re dealing with higher moisture levels because it’s a kitchen.
TOM: Exactly. You know, what you might want to think about as an alternative to solid hardwood is what’s called engineered hardwood. That hardwood floor is a lot more moisture-resistant because it’s made of different layers of hardwood …
LESLIE: Like a plywood.
TOM: Exactly, and it’s dimensionally stable. And that would give you the beauty of hardwood. Also, the finishes on them are super, super tough – the prefinished floors – because they’re made with an aluminum oxide finish. So it’ll give you that durability and the installation is a lot easier because you don’t have to sort of nail the hardwood, the solid hardwood, down. A lot of these sort of click together or they assemble very easily and it really can be a do-it-yourself project.
LESLIE: There are also some other great options for kitchens. You can go with laminates and you can even go with cork flooring. Cork is a little bit softer but it’s also equally very, very durable and it’s a great look for the kitchen and it’s also eco-friendly.
TOM: You know, a good website for you to check out, Kristen, is SimpleFloors.com. Not only do they sell all types of flooring online there, they can take care of the delivery; get it right to your house and in a lot of states there’s no tax on the purchase.
KRISTEN: Oh …
LESLIE: And you know what? The website has wonderful installation guides that go along with the product. So if you’re thinking about a do-it-yourself project, it really couldn’t be simpler.
KRISTEN: Right, right. OK, that’s wonderful advice and I really, really appreciate that.
TOM: You’re welcome, Kristen. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Now we’re going to welcome Juanita from North Carolina with a painting question. What can we do for you today?
JUANITA: I’d like to know, please, what you know about the liquid ceramic paint. I understand it is considerably more expensive and it’s something that originated in Canada maybe 20-something years ago. I understand it goes on like really thick as far as so many mils thick compared to regular paint and that it breathes. And I just wondered if you had any feedback or any information on that.
TOM: Juanita, I am not that familiar with liquid ceramic as a coating in particular but we did do a little research about it on their website and my sense is that it’s a product that is sold to professional installers or painters and that they sell it to you. Is that what’s happening?
JUANITA: Yes, sir.
TOM: OK. You know, there are a number of products out there that claim to be pretty much better than paint and there’s not much wrong with the painting products that are available today and if they’re put on properly; if the surface is prepped right; if it’s primed; if there’s good workmanship involved, you can get a good-quality paint job today that can last you ten-plus years. So I’m not so sure that some of these alternatives to traditional paint really make any sense; especially when I read on their website that the cost of this is two to three times what it would cost for a standard paint.
JUANITA: Yeah, I understand that but then, too, it was talking the thickening agents; they were titanium dioxide.
TOM: Titanium dioxide is a normal ingredient in paint. There’s nothing special about that. I would stick with a name brand manufacturer of paint; one that’s tried and true, has got a good history behind it and you know the main brands that are out there – I’m talking about the Sherwin Williams, the Behrs, the Benjamin Moores, the Dutch Boys – a good-quality paint product like that, properly applied, is going to give you better bang from your buck than anything else.
Juanita, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or head on over to MoneyPit.com and shoot us an e-mail. We’re going to jump into some of those questions next, including this one: what is the easiest way to maintain your deck so it stays in good shape for the winter? We’re going to give you an answer, next.
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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: 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 Leslie, we’ve got some people to thank. You know, the book has been doing very well. My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure has been flying off the shelves and I want to send out a special thanks to our friends that have said nice things about it and we’re glad that they liked it so much, including Kevin O’Connor from This Old House and Kevin Ireton, the editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine. Angie Hicks, the founder of Angie’s List also said something very nice about it, great testimonial; it’s on the cover and I think we want to send out some special thanks to those folks because we really appreciated their support. Oh, and last but not least …
LESLIE: Don’t forget Bob Vila.
TOM: (chuckling) I was going to say …
LESLIE: I was like wait (clears throat).
TOM: Boy, will he be ticked. (Tom and Leslie chuckle) Thanks to Bob, too.
Hey, if you’re looking for a great holiday gift, we’d appreciate it if you’d check out our book – it’s linked off of MoneyPit.com – My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure, a great holiday stocking-stuffer for anyone that’s a home improver on your list.
LESLIE: Hey, and while you’re online, why don’t you head over to MoneyPit.com, click on the Ask Tom and Leslie icon and this way you can e-mail us your question. We always answer them; sometimes on the radio show, sometimes with an e-mail right back to you and we’re going to jump into our e-mail bag and I’ve got one here from Thomas in Sarver, Pennsylvania who writes: ‘I found your great show while waiting for the Steelers game to start.’ (Tom chuckles) ‘I may have to skip the rest of the season.’ Alright.
TOM: Uh-oh.
LESLIE: ‘My question is would it be possible or practical to remove my wood decking and flip the boards over and reinstall?’
TOM: Oh, absolutely. In fact, that’s a pretty good idea, Tom. There’s a tool that will help you do that. It’s called a cat’s paw and, believe me, no cats were injured in the creation of this tool (Leslie chuckles) but it’s called that because it’s kind of shaped like a claw at the end of a long pole. And basically you tap it into the nails on the surface and it’ll help you pull them out. Think of it as a fancy staple remover for like 12-penny common nails. And it’ll pull it out, then you flip the board over and the underside is always better, obviously, than the side that’s been to the weather. That’s a great way to do a reasonably simple and inexpensive remodel of that deck space.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and it’s a nice, green solution.
Alright, Lynn in Idaho writes: ‘I want to have laminate flooring put down but don’t know how to find somebody who can do it for me and I want a good job done.’
TOM: Well, we just mentioned it; Angie’s List. Angie Hicks, who actually endorsed our book, has a fantastic website called Angie’s List where you can actually look up pros in all areas of the country and find out what other people thought about using them. It’s the best word of mouth you’ll ever get. Check it out at AngiesList.com. That’ll do it.
LESLIE: Lynn, that should help you find the right guy for the job.
TOM: Well, if you like to spend a lot of time outside and have been enjoying sort of those patio spaces; those deck spaces; the outside spaces around your house as an extension of your living areas, there are some ways that you can enjoy those even in the winter and that is the topic of today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.
LESLIE: Yeah, and it’s an easy solution. Especially if you like to go to restaurants that offer outside dining throughout the year, even in those cooler months and in the cooler climes; you’ve probably noticed those giant umbrella-shaped heaters that they’ve got outside. Well, you can get the same exact thing for your house, to use on your patios and your outdoor spaces, which will let you enjoy them a little bit longer into the colder months. Those patio heaters, they come in tabletop and free-standing versions and they range in price from around a hundred bucks all the way up to over a thousand and they can run on propane or natural gas or even electricity. And compared to other heat sources like firepits or chimneys, they produce fewer emissions.
Now wind can really affect your heater’s effectiveness, so find a good location to put them, like up near a wall or a fence or an overhang, but remember to keep it at least two feet away from anything and everything. You just want to be safe here. Those things will really warm your outdoor spaces and they make great holiday gifts. So get outside and enjoy the cooler weather.
TOM: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Thank you so much for spending this hour with us.
Coming up next week on the program, we’re going to have some green ways you can decorate your home for the holidays. We’ve got the lowdown on energy-efficient holiday lights 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 2008 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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