1. On the Wire - DIY with your KID
2. Ask Tom & Leslie - Kitchen Redo Runaround
3. Got A Question About Your Money Pit?
4. On the Air - Color Commitment Phobia
5. Dot Common Sense - Leak-Proof Your Home
6. Fun Fact - Sticky Weather, Sticky Doors
7. Short Cuts - Gather Ye Rosebuds
8. Share This Information With A Friend!

On the Wire - DIY with your KID

A great starting point for home improvement togetherness is project planning and shopping. Whether for one of your more massive DIY endeavors or a small fix-it chore, talk through the solution and shopping needs with your assistant, and then head for the hardware store together. While you’re there, give your kid a chance to get acquainted with the aisles of supplies and read signage and product labels leading to the items on your list. And if an in-store recommendation is needed, that’s a learning opportunity, too…Your courteous exchanges with store staff are great examples of problem-solving and reminders that we all need a little help once in a while.

After you’re back from the store, work together to prepare the project zone and emphasize safety on the job, making sure you’re both properly suited up and accessorized for the task at hand. Safety glasses should definitely be part of the scene, and you can find them in sizes especially for young assistants. Check out MSA Safety Works’ line of Small Faces safety glasses, available at most Home Depot stores.

Which brings us to our next stop: tools. Your child’s age and the complexity level of the project will determine what they can safely handle, but there’s always a way to get them involved, even if they keep busy with a few simple items or kid-sized tools while you work with the more complicated stuff nearby. Remember, anything you do to instill confidence and a can-do attitude will be invaluable down the line. As a matter of fact, I got my own start in home improvement thanks to grandparents who would set me up with a can of nails, a hammer and a board, and let me bang away at my “project” during visits.

Finally, sprinkle in some summer projects inspired by your child’s own interests, ideas, and suggestions. Here are a few starting points for the to-do list discussion:

• Spruce up outdoor furniture or customize new purchases or constructions with a coat of paint. Look for low-VOC formulations in fun colors, and give artistic types license to add embellishments such as ornamental hardware or hand-painted details.


• Get into the garden by selecting and planting colorful summer annuals, creating a hummingbird- and butterfly-friendly zone, or planning a plot of vegetables. Go the next step in environmental science by building and maintaining a compost bin.


• Do a decorating project that customizes your child’s space or creates a fun focal point for the whole family. Set up showoff storage for action figures and other toys by adhering iron-on pockets to an existing curtain; creating a scheduling center on a closet door with chalkboard paint; and place a map of a vacation destination between a tabletop and a layer of plastic glass, accompanied by erasable markers for planning and plotting.

Ask Tom & Leslie - Kitchen Redo Runaround

Yes, it sound’s like you are making the very common mistake of letting the contractor define the job instead of defining the job for the contractor.

Kitchens are complicated remodeling projects and you need to have a plan of attack. That plan might come from a specialist known as Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer, a designation earned by pros who are members of the NKBA, the National Kitchen Bath Association. This will cost you a small design fee but it is money well spent. A designer can specify the product selection and design a solution that is within your budget.

When it comes to hiring the contractor, you can also hand the plan to the contractor and have them bid on those specifications, which eliminates the confusion of trying to compare prices on proposals with different offerings. When it comes to finding the contractor, an interesting new study released last week by research firm Consumer Specialist points out that your satisfaction with the contractor you hire will be directly proportional to how that contractor was found. Not surprisingly, the highest satisfaction levels came from those that hired contractors with which they had previous experience. But what was really surprising was that those that hired contractors found through home improvement stores scored among the lowest levels of satisfaction, coming in just above those that had used the Yellow pages.

This was also echoed in this months edition of Consumer Reports which ranked “one stop shop” kitchen and remodeling services, such as those offered by major home improvement stores, to be amount the top ten “most hyped” kitchen products and services. CR points out that “no one retailer was impressive for design help, installation services, and product quality, selection and price.”

If you’ve not had experience with previous remodeling pros you are happy with, there is a way to rely on the experience of others to make that selection. Angie's List is a social networking website where members pay a very small fee and then share their experiences good and bad with each other about the service providers with which they had worked. The list report ranks an overall satisfaction with a contractor as well as price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism. We recently interviewed Angie’s List founder Angie Hicks on our radio show and were very impressed.

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Got A Question About Your Money Pit?

1. The toll-free studio hot line is 1-888-MONEY PIT. Find out when we broadcast in your area by checking out our website at www.moneypit.com. Each week we take dozens of calls, give great advice and offer callers a chance to win a terrific prize awarded to one random caller to every show.
2. Call when it's convenient for you, 24 hours a day, same number: 1-888-MONEY PIT. A live person takes your call 24/7! So -- WHENEVER you have a home improvement question -- phone it in. Simply tell our phone screener your first name, and where you're calling from...and ask your question. We’ll get back to you with the answer – or even call you back during the show!
3. Click here to email your question to us. We may read your email on the air and we also respond personally to many of the email questions we get.

On the Air - Color Commitment Phobia

Dot Common Sense - Leak-Proof Your Home

Fun Fact - Sticky Weather, Sticky Doors

Short Cuts - Gather Ye Rosebuds

• Remove stems damaged by insects, diseases or storms.


• Remove one of any two stems touching one another.


• Remove stems spindly or smaller in diameter a pencil.

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Share This Information With A Friend!

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Copyright 2006 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.