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:
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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. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. We want you to look around your house right now. Think about the long, cold winter months you’ll be stuck inside staring at those four walls. There’s got to be something you want to do. Well we’re here to help you get the job done. Just give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. Soup to nuts and floorboards to shingles, we’ve got great tips, great advice to make your home improvement projects more successful.
Coming up this hour we’re going to have some tips on easy and inexpensive ways that you can change the entire ambience of one room with the flip of a single switch. You say it’s not possible? We say it is when you install a dimmer and we’ll teach you how to do that in just a bit.
LESLIE: And also this hour, the saying goes, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’ but your roof, it’s a completely different story. Especially …
TOM: It doesn’t roll.
LESLIE: No. Especially since …
TOM: And it does gather moss. (chuckling)
LESLIE: We hope it’s not rolling anywhere. And it’s true; roofs can have those unsightly moss stains and they can build up. Well we’re going to tell you how to prevent that moss from building up on your roof.
TOM: And some of you may already be feeling the chill in your part of the country so we’re going to talk about the energy bleeds, the loss of your warm and cozy feeling and those energy dollars because of the gaps in your house. You might think that windows and doors are the biggest culprits but actually the biggest loss can be from the places you can’t see. We’re going to find out where those are from one of our expert pals, Kevin Ireton, the editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine. He’ll be here in just a bit.
LESLIE: And it wouldn’t be the Money Pit if we didn’t have something fun to give away this hour. It’s the perfect prize for October which is Fire Safety Month. It’s the HomeHero kitchen fire extinguisher. It’s worth 30 bucks. It’s absolutely gorgeous to look at. It’s super easy to use and it could save your life.
TOM: So give us a call right now. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Time to jump in the tub with Patricia from Rhode Island. What’s going on? How can we help?
PATRICIA: Well, I have a plight about my tub.
LESLIE: Alright.
PATRICIA: I don’t know which way to go. You know, the tub is an old – is in good shape, except, you know, it’s not in good shape. I mean it’s kind of pitted and you know. And I didn’t know whether to have it reglazed or to put in a tub liner.
TOM: Well, that’s a tough choice because, you know, neither of them would be our favorite. Our preference would be a complete replacement because if you glaze it it’s not going to last nearly as long as the original tub and if you use a liner it’s real expensive ..
LESLIE: And it ..
TOM: … but it takes up some tub space.
LESLIE: Yeah, it makes the tub smaller.
TOM: Yeah.
PATRICIA: Oh, it does?
LESLIE: But it’s done in a day. Yeah, because of course it’s got to sit inside the existing tub and then cover over your existing wall so it’s going to shrink a bit to accommodate, you know, fitting into things.
PATRICIA: And then, you know, I didn’t – I just saw there yesterday where they have these bathtubs that they come and they’ve got a door around them.
LESLIE: Oh, yeah. Those are fantastic; especially if you’re concerned about access or climbing into the tub or maybe you’ve got some upper body strength issues where, you know, helping yourself up or in and out of the tub is kind of difficult. These tubs with the doors, they’re much higher on the side; they’ve got built-in seating so you open the door, you climb on in, you sit down, you close the door, seal it all off. It automatically makes it watertight. Then you go ahead and fill the tub up while you’re in there. I mean they’re fantastic because you get a nice, deep soak and also, you know, for an access issue if you’re concerned about, you know, being in the home for a couple of years it’s tremendously helpful.
PATRICIA: OK, so you don’t really recommend reglazing.
TOM: You know, it’s not my favorite thing to do, Patricia, because it doesn’t last that long. I mean you’re going to get a few years out of it. It’ll certainly look better than it does right now. But it’s not as tough as the glaze that was originally on the tub. You follow me?
PATRICIA: OK. And so it’s better to either replace it with that – you know, trying to find about that tub where you can walk into the door or they may – they have the alternative of taking the tub out and putting in like a shower.
TOM: Of course. Yeah, those are always options.
Hey, Patricia, I tell you what we’re going to do for you. It sounds to us like you’re probably going to need some contractors to help with this. So we’re going to give you, for calling in today, a Money Pit membership in the American Homeowners Association. That’s worth about 120 bucks and with this membership you’ll be able to use it to find discounts on all types of home improvement products and services as well as discounts on groceries and vision and insurance and legal things and all kinds of stuff to help you in that house. And hopefully with that on your side you’ll be able to find the perfect contractor to get this job done for you.
PATRICIA: Oh, well terrific. I appreciate that.
TOM: You’re very welcome.
LESLIE: And you know what? Patricia, when you’re doing some research the tub you’re talking about is called a soaker tub or a walk-in tub. So just do some research on line or in your local papers and you’ll be able to find one no problem.
PATRICIA: OK. I wondered about that; whether that would be a better option.
TOM: It’s a great option for you, Patricia. Stand by. We’re going to get some information and we’ll send that Money Pit membership out to you.
And if you at home are interested in learning more about that membership you can log onto MoneyPit.com because this month we are giving away 1,000 free Zircon laser levels and stud sensors to the first 1,000 members. That sign-up at MoneyPit.com so check it out today. It’s a great service for our listeners. We’re happy to offer it.
LESLIE: Joe in Michigan, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you?
JOE: Hi, I’ve been in my house for – it’s a 10-year-old house and I have squeaky floors and I have no clue how to go about fixing them.
TOM: Well, a 10-year-old house is probably going to have plywood as the floor sheathing. Is that correct?
JOE: That’s correct.
TOM: And I can also tell you that the nails that would have been used to affix that plywood to the floor joist was a seven-penny nail called a cooler in the business and the reason it’s called a cooler is because as this nail is driven through the plywood the friction melts a glue that’s on the outside. It’s actually a rosin-coated nail …
JOE: OK.
TOM: … and the friction melts this glue and then the nail is supposed to just sort of stick in place as well as being, you know, driven into the wood.
JOE: Sure.
TOM: But in truth, what happens is you get this expansion and contraction. Imagine – you know, the violinists put rosins on their bows to give them more friction.
JOE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: Well this rosin on the nails gives it plenty of friction but it doesn’t sound anything like a violin. (Leslie chuckles)
JOE: Yeah, yeah.
TOM: Unless you’re a really, really bad violin player. (chuckles) And as the nail pulls in and out of the floor it makes a horrible squeak. So the solution here, Joe, is to secure the floors better down – the plywood subfloor down to the joist. And the best way to do that is to use case hardened screws and to screw the floor down.
Now, do you have carpet in the areas where the squeaks are the loudest? What kind of floor covering do you have?
JOE: The majority of the house is carpeted and, ironically, that’s where all the squeaks are; is …
TOM: Of course.
JOE: … the carpeted areas. Not the tile area, of course.
TOM: Well listen, if you really want to fix this once and for all you’ve got to pull the carpet up and you’ve got to screw the floor down. Because that’s the only thing that’s going to fix it. If you have one area that’s particularly bad I can give you a trick of the trade. You can take some finish nails; some #12 or #14 galvanized finish nails. You can identify where the floor joist is underneath the carpet by using a stud finder.
JOE: Right.
TOM: You can drive the nail through the carpet and into the floor joists and then the last thing you do is sort of pull the carpet up through that and sort of brush (INAUDIBLE).
LESLIE: It hides it.
TOM: It’ll disappear and that’ll solve the problem.
JOE: (overlapping voices) Right. Give it a quick yank?
TOM: Yeah, exactly. Quick yank.
JOE: Yeah.
TOM: And that will tighten up the floor. Now, I will tell you, it’s not going to last as long as pulling the carpet up and screwing it down but if it’s one that’s really bugging you that’s a way to fix it.
JOE: That’s cool. Somebody was saying there was some hardware that you actually attach. It’s like a U-shaped clamp; you attach it to the …
TOM: Yeah, there’s all sorts of brackets and gadgets and stuff like that out there but it’s not really all that necessary. You know, a good drywall screw will do the better job.
JOE: OK, good.
Well, what happens if you don’t fix the squeak. Do they get worse or they just stay the same and then irritates you?
LESLIE: You hear them far less.
TOM: That’s right. You get used to them. Ambient noise.
JOE: (chuckling) This is true. OK. Very good.
TOM: Joe, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
JOE: Thanks for the advice.
LESLIE: You are tuned in to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show and you can call in your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whatever’s going wrong at your house we’ll help you through that home improvement adventure. So give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Up next, a decorating tip that takes 15 minutes, costs five bucks and can change the look of your entire room.
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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, 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 at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. We’re giving away, this hour, a pretty cool prize. It’s the HomeHero fire extinguisher from Home Depot. I like this because it doesn’t look like a fire extinguisher. It looks like a …
LESLIE: It’s white.
TOM: Yeah, it looks like kind of a very cool, kitchy kind of appliance that you’d be happy to have in your kitchen and that’s exactly where it belongs. So you can kind of leave it out. You could bolt it to the wall. It’s going to fit in with any d
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