LESLIE: Doug in Rhode Island listens to The Money Pit on WPRO and you’re prepping for winter. Thinking about your heating already?
DOUG: Yes. (laughing) How you doing today?
LESLIE: Well, I suppose you need things on your list to do. We’re well. How about yourself?
DOUG: We’re doing excellent. It’s beautiful in Rhode Island; nice and hot.
LESLIE: (chuckling) So of course you’re thinking about heating.
DOUG: Right. (laughing) What I’m doing is I’m doing my bathroom over. And the baseboard was – the heating, the covering – was separating right from the wall. And I just, you know, painted over it and there were big chunks of it. So I removed it. I, you know, pulled out the nails and moved it. And now I’m not sure about reinstalling. Is there any special procedure I need to know?
TOM: Not really. That’s pretty much just a cosmetic piece that helps to reflect some of the heat out. It’s not physically connected to the pipes if it’s like most radiator covers. And so, what you want to do is, now that you’ve got that clean – did you refinish it while you had it off?
DOUG: No, I bought all new ones.
TOM: Oh, you bought all new ones?
DOUG: Yeah.
TOM: No, I think it pretty much just slips right back behind the baseboard fins. You have radiators that go along the baseboard, right?
DOUG: Right, yeah, it’s just …
TOM: So do you have the pipe with the fins on them?
DOUG: Mm-hmm.
TOM: OK. So just slip it back there and by the way, while you have that off, make sure if there’s any damaged fins, that you sort of rake them in the sense that you get them all straight in a line. Because that’s what the air passes through to kind of pick up the heat. So make sure they’re nice and clean and no, go ahead and slip them back behind there and then attach them to the wall. Generally, they just nail or screw right to the wall; right to a stud or to the base – sill plate of the wall. And then you’re good to go. Nothing too complicated about that. Pretty much a cosmetic improvement that will reflect some heat and shoot it right back out into the room.
DOUG: OK. One other question. Laminate flooring – is that acceptable in bathrooms?
LESLIE: Of course it is. Laminate flooring, you know, is a manufactured type of floor so it’s completely manmade. It’s made of plastic and even though it’s made from plastic, it can look like wood planks; it can look like tile. And it’s really made to stand up very well in high moisture situations; kitchens, bathrooms, basements. Great choice.
TOM: Doug, it’s less expensive than tile and you’re going to be a lot happier.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) It’s easier to install, too.
TOM: Yeah, it is easier to install.
DOUG: (inaudible) guys are in Rhode Island, I’d be happy to have you come over and help me.
TOM: I bet you would. (laughing)
LESLIE: (chuckling) I just got back from Providence. You missed your chance.
DOUG: (inaudible) darn it.
TOM: Doug, thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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