1. On the Wire - Undo it Yourself
2. Ask Tom & Leslie - Historic Home Redo
3. Got A Question About Your Money Pit?
4. On the Air - iPod, uPod, We All Pod!
5. Dot Common Sense - Play it Safe
6. Fun Fact - Weed Wacking
7. Short Cuts - Roof Over Your Head
8. Share This Information With A Friend!

ON THE WIRE

Ask anybody who's ever installed their own faucet, and they'll tell you: the hardest part about putting in a new faucet is getting the old one out. With that in mind, we asked Peerless faucet about the best way to "undo it yourself." To make sure you have all the tools and materials you will need before you get started, visit www.FaucetCoach.com, Peerless' easy-to-understand website.

Begin by spraying every nut and connecting piece you see under the sink with penetrating oil, then wait 24 hours for the oil to loosen the parts. Once the oil has done its job, you can start yours. Shut off the water valves under your sink, by turning them to the right. If those valves won't turn (or if there are no valves under there, or you're just very cautious), shut off your home's main water valve, too. Test it to be sure by turning on your taps.

Put your safety glasses on, to protect your eyes against falling rust. Find the flat, vertical piece of the pop-up and look for a screw at the top of it, up near the sink bottom. Loosen that screw to remove the vertical piece. To remove the strap, squeeze the clip ends together, and remove it from the horizontal rod. Next, look for the nut that's holding in the horizontal rod, and unscrew that (you may need pliers, or an adjustable wrench). Now you should be able to remove both the horizontal rod, and the stopper in your sink-thus popping out your pop-up.

Next, find the mounting nut that's holding the flange and tailpiece onto the sink basin. Unscrew that nut as far down as it will go, then push the tailpiece up to lift the flange up from the sink. Unscrew the flange from the tailpiece, remove the tailpiece from the drain, and peel off any old silicone or putty from the sink.

Now it's time to grab your basin wrench, and remove both the supply-tube coupling nuts, and the tailpiece mounting nuts. Slide out from under the sink, and try pulling the faucet assembly straight up out of the sink. In a best-case scenario, everything will come right out. If that doesn't happen, take a putty knife, gently work its tip under the edge of the old faucet, and pry the assembly up (being careful not to scratch your sink's finish). If there's any old putty remaining in the sink, get rid of it.

You should now have a handsome, empty space in your sink, just the right size to be filled with a new faucet. Like, say, the Peerless Classic Two Handle Centerset Bath Faucet with a PVD Brushed Nickel Finish. Click here to see more Peerless faucet styles for the sink and lavatory. Once you've found a faucet you like, you can find easy-to-understand installation here.

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ASK TOM & LESLIE

This week's question comes to us from Cathy M. in Parma, Ohio. Cathy says, "My new home is a Lustron home and I am jonesing to decorate. It is a porcelain enameled-steel home that was manufactured from 1948-1950 in Columbus, Ohio to try and help alleviate the housing shortage after WWII. All the walls, inside and out, beams, roof, ceilings, joists, and studs are all metal. The floors are covered concrete, with vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bathroom and carpet through the rest of the house. It's a difficult material to paint, but I really, really, really want to change the colors that are here. Do you have any suggestions?"

Cathy, your questions made us do some research on the very interesting history of Lustron Homes. Lustron Homes were steel ranch style modular homes created to meet a severe housing shortage for soldiers returning home from WWII. The entire structure was made of steel. The interior and exterior walls as well as the roof had a glass-finished, baked on porcelain. Color choices were pink, tan, yellow, aqua, blue, green, or gray. Interior color choices were beige or gray. The Lustron Homes were originally estimated to cost about $6,000 - $10,000 not including the lot. They could be manufactured in 400 hours and built onsite in about 300 hours. Heating was a ceiling mounted oil furnace, which would heat the metal ceiling tiles and then radiate that heat through the rest of the house. Unfortunately, this did not work and most homeowners changed it. In the end, Lustron Homes cost about $11,000 as compared to a similar size and style wood framed home that cost $8000. The company finished more than 2,500 homes before going bankrupt by 1950.

As far as painting the interior, we think this is doable if you prep correctly. First clean the surfaces with a 50/50 solution of water and ammonia to remove any grease or soap that might be on the walls, even in rooms other than the kitchen or bath. Dry the surfaces thoroughly and apply Zinsser's Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer to make sure your paint adheres properly. Allow to dry well and paint with an oil-based, high quality paint. You might need two coats. If you like, you can use an epoxy coat finish after the paint has dried to make it very durable. Be sure not to use harsh, abrasive cleaners on the painted surfaces. Where you plan to keep the original baked-on finish, you can restore the sheen with automotive paste wax.

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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. Weíll get back to you with the answer ñ 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

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DOT COMMON SENSE

Playgrounds should be safe places for kids. But did you know that the wrong surfaces can spell tragedy for tots? You might know that asphalt is a bad material for playgrounds, but you might be surprised to learn that grass isn't all that much better! Today, materials like mulch, pea gravel, sand and recycled rubber, provide much safer alternatives in the very likely event of a fall. There should be at least 12 inches of protective surfacing and it needs to extend at least six feet in all directions from play equipment. Check your local playground to make sure surfaces under swings, slides and climbers are well covered. Here are some more guidelines when choosing a playground for your child from the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

No playground equipment should be more than 4 feet high for preschoolers or 6 feet high for school-age children. To keep little heads from getting trapped, spaces between ladder rungs, guardrails, and other openings should measure less than 3½ inches or more than 9 inches.

Poorly designed hardware can cut and scrape children's skin. Worse, an exposed bolt or hook can pose a strangulation hazard if kids' clothes get caught on it.

Make sure the swings are at least two feet apart, to prevent them from hitting each other, and that they are 2½ feet away from an adjacent supporting structure. The swing seats should also be made of soft, lightweight plastic or rubber - not wood or metal. And check the chain links from which the swings are suspended: They should be welded or covered with plastic to prevent finger pinches.

A recent study by the CPSC found that more than half of 26 playgrounds inspected had lead in the paint used on the equipment. If your playground has peeling or chipping paint, ask your local health department to test it for lead.

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FUN FACT

Controlling weeds is vital to the health and overall appearance of your lawn. But if you're like most homeowners, you're probably not using the right amount of the right products at the right time to keep weeds away. You have probably mowed your lawn only to have dandelions popping up a day later. Most people fail to control weeds because they will use a weed control product in the spring and then wonder why they have weeds in the summer. Weed control products need to be used regularly, just like fertilizer. To kill two birds with one stone, use a "weed and feed" product.

Another mistake most people make: bad timing. There are actually two types of weed control -- pre-emergent to prevent weeds before they happen and post-emergent to kill weeds after they've come up. Make sure you use the right product for the right weed at the right time and you're lawn will look like a putting green all season long. To keep weeds from infiltrating your beds and landscaping, try Vigoro Premium Mulch with Weed Stop. This is the first mulch with a pre-emergent herbicide right in the mix. It controls weeds for up to four months and is made from all natural products. It also helps protect your plants form extreme temperatures and helps retain soil moisture. Vigoro Premium Mulch with Weed Stop is available nationwide at The Home Depot. For more information, visit www.Vigoro.com .

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SHORT CUTS

Maintaining a sound roof literally tops the list of crucial home repairs: It keeps you and your family warm and dry, along with everything in your house. If you think you've got some roof issues, how do you know whether you should replace it entirely or just fix it up a little? When you're talking about something as important to the safety and well-being of your home as your roof, any damage or signs of wear call for immediate action. If water seeps under your shingles, it will cause rot in the wood sheathing under them. If your roof is more than 20 years old and most of the shingles are damaged or badly worn, it's time to replace it. But if your roof is basically sound and is at a relatively shallow pitch that you're comfortable working on, you can probably handle most repairs yourself. For more info on exactly how to replace shingles - please visit www.thisoldhouse.com.

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