LESLIE: Edith, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you in Georgia?
EDITH: Yes, I have a question. My living room has two large windows in it and my den is at the other end of the hallway and when I’m sitting at my computer I get a cool draft down the hallway and I was wondering if I could use, maybe, folding doors or a curtain. I would just like to know which one would look better.
LESLIE: To go in front of your windows or to separate the two rooms?
EDITH: To separate the two rooms.
TOM: First of all, the windows seem to be the source of the problem here?
EDITH: Right.
TOM: OK. Have you – how old is the house?
EDITH: I live in an apartment.
TOM: Oh, it’s an apartment. OK. So this is predominantly a wintertime issue for you?
EDITH: Right.
TOM: Alright. Now, do you need to open the windows in the wintertime?
EDITH: No, not really.
TOM: Alright, I’m going to give you a couple of suggestions here. If you don’t have to open the windows in the wintertime for any reason – and this includes emergency egress in the event of a fire or something like that – you can use a product that is a temporary caulk and it’s a clear caulk. Actually, what you’re doing is sort of caulking the windows shut with this clear caulk so it’s invisible when you’re done, but it’s a temporary caulk so that in the spring it peels right off. Edith, you know when you get like a new credit card in the mail and it’s kind of stuck to the paper with like a clear, gooey stuff?
EDITH: Right.
TOM: Well, that’s what it kind of feels like. It’s sort of a temporary sticky material like that that dries smooth and then in the springtime you peel it right off; comes all off in one piece.
Now, in terms of the next step and maybe separating these rooms, then I’ll turn it over to our in-house decorator here.
EDITH: OK.
LESLIE: Now, I think if you’re going with a folding door, that’s going to require quite a bit of carpentry or at least screwing in of hinging or a track system and you might not be able to do that; especially since it’s an apartment. But if you’re looking to do something more of – you can get a good-quality tension rod that can go in that doorway that separates the two rooms …
EDITH: Right.
LESLIE: … and then you can get a good, weighty curtain to sort of hang in there and it’ll make a nice transition between the two rooms so even in the springtime you can sort of tie them back into that doorway to sort of create a nice entrance between the two rooms; but in the winter you can close it up.
EDITH: OK.
LESLIE: And make sure that they are a little bit longer so you get a little bit of puddling on the floor because if you get them flush with the floor, where they’re almost even floating above it, they’re still going to allow that draft through. But make sure that you get a good tension rod that can really support the weight of that drape that you’re going to put in there.
EDITH: OK.
TOM: Edith, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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