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:
(promo/theme song)
[audio timestamp: 0:025]
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: Pick up the phone, give us a call. We're here to help you get your projects done around the house. If you're stuck in the middle, put down the tools, step away from the project and call us first. The call is free at 888-MONEY-PIT. The advice is worth more than what you paid for it.
Hey, coming up this hour on the program we're going to have some tips on how to prevent identity theft. It's a growing crime, it's hard to track and now - check this out - criminals are getting even sneakier. They are stealing the identity of kids and they may not even find out about it until they grow up and apply for a home loan.
LESLIE: It's so crazy. It's been all over the news.
TOM: We're going to tell you how to keep your kids safe, and yourself, from a stolen identity so that if you do need some money for your home improvement project you get a good chance of getting it.
LESLIE: (chuckling) Alright. Well, this time of year everybody is making New Year's resolutions. Now, fast forward to February or perhaps even tomorrow and you've already skipped going to the gym; you've blown your diet. You know that they are super hard to keep; especially when you make them for yourself. But now how about making a New Year's resolution for your home? We're going to give you a few ideas in just a few minutes.
TOM: And also ahead, if one of those resolutions is to get some new flooring to replace the threadbare, warn carpets or linoleum in your house, we've got some tips for you. In a few minutes we're going to talk to an expert that's from Tarkett, a company that's been doing flooring for over a century, about why bad flooring can date a home and how the right flooring can actually increase your home's value.
LESLIE: And this hour we've got a great prize; especially if you've just received a ton of home improvement tools for your holiday presents. We're giving away a soft-sided tool bag to hold all those gifts you just got. It's worth 130 bucks and it comes to you from our friends over at CableOrganizer.com.
TOM: So pick up the phone and give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Let's get started.
Leslie, who's first?
LESLIE: James in Michigan is calling with a question that I bet many of you deal with out there: 'How come when I'm in the shower and somebody flushes the toilet it is a freezing shower?' Welcome, James.
JAMES: Absolutely. I tell you, what a pain. I'm taking a shower and all of a sudden somebody flushes a toilet and I get either scalded or I'm ice cold.
TOM: (chuckling) Alright.
LESLIE: And you're not sure if they're doing it on purpose or not. (Tom laughs)
JAMES: I think they might be getting back at the old dad, I guess. I don't know. (Leslie chuckles)
LESLIE: Well, you know what you need, James? There's a type of valve that's called a pressure-balanced valve. The reason you get the scalding hot or the chilly cold water is because of an imbalance in the volume of water that's coming out at any one time. I mean you set your mix and then when somebody else calls for water somewhere else in the house - by flushing a toilet, for example - more cold water is diverted to that toilet flush, in this example, and of course therefore your shower mix is now more hot than cold and that's why you get scalded. So the answer is a pressure balance valve and what a pressure balance valve does is it maintains the mix of hot and cold water that you set regardless of how much flow comes through that valve. So what will happen, in that flush example, is the mix will stay the same temperature-wise; the flow will go down a little bit so you have a little less water to all the other fixtures in the house but the mix will stay the same and, hence, you'll have no more shocking showers.
JAMES: Oh, wow. That's fantastic.
LESLIE: So now, James, you can go back to filling the pitcher with ice cold water and then when somebody's in the shower and you want to play a trick on them you just dump it over the top. (Tom chuckles)
JAMES: That's great. I'll do it. Where can I get one of these?
TOM: Oh, they're available at plumbing supply stores everywhere. It's called a pressure-balanced valve. You're essentially going to have to replace the main shower valve. Do you do plumbing projects yourself, James?
JAMES: Sometimes.
TOM: Well, you know, if you can replace the valve; if you can solder and handle the basic plumbing connections you can do it yourself or it's a job that you might want to get a plumber to do. I'll give you a little trick of the trade: if you can access that shower wall from the backside - if it happens to back up to a closet or someplace like that - it's a lot easier to work on it from the back of the shower than it is to mess with tile or whatever other surface you have on the front of it.
JAMES: OK.
TOM: Because you've got to get in the wall to do the job.
JAMES: Alright, well you're awesome. And that has to be on every valve?
TOM: Just on the shower valve. Just on the shower valve.
JAMES: You guys are awesome. I love your show. Thank you.
TOM: You're welcome, James. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Alright, we're going to talk water heaters with Mark in Pennsylvania. What can we sort out for you?
MARK: We have a hot water tank. It's operated by electric. The house is 20 years old. It's the original water heater. So it's about that time, probably, to change it ...
LESLIE: It's over that time.
MARK: Yes, way over that time. (Leslie chuckles) You're absolutely (inaudible at 0:05:10.9). That and with noticing my current electric bill; you know, trying to save electric any way I can. I was actually thinking about going with the tankless water heater or water on demand, if that's what it's called.
TOM: Do you have gas in the house at all?
MARK: No gas at all. No.
TOM: No propane?
MARK: No propane, no.
TOM: Alright, then you cannot install a tankless electric water heater. They don't work nearly as well as the gas water heater. You don't have the efficiencies that you would with a gas tankless water heater. Your best bet, Mark, is to put in another electric water heater but with a couple of things different. First of all, I'd buy a high-efficiency electric water heater. They have more insulation on the jacket. Secondly, I would put in a timer because you don't need to run the electric water heater 24/7. You can run it about 12 hours a day, strategically. You run it for a few hours in the morning and a few hours at night. It'll stay hot during the day and that'll save you a lot of money as well. So, unfortunately, you can't go tankless but you can do a more efficient job with the next electric water heater.
MARK: OK, perfect.
TOM: Mark, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. It's a new year and we want to get your projects off on the right foot. So give us a call with your home repair or your home improvement questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we'll help you get the job done at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: Now perhaps your home improvement project that you have in mind might require a home loan. You set about to borrow some money only to find out that somebody has ripped off your identity. It's happening to more and more homeowners. We're going to tell you some tips to help prevent that from happening to you, next.
[audio timestamp: 0:06:46.3]
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit is brought to you by Aprilaire, makers of professionally-installed, high-efficiency air cleaners. For more information go to Aprilaire.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete.
Pick up the phone and give us a call. We'd love to hear what you're working on and we'd love to help you get the job done right the first time. The number here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. And to help you get the job done, those of you who do call in and get your questions on the air are going to have a chance to win a great prize. We're giving away, this hour, a Pro Pac open tool bag. It's an open-top organizer and it really helps you find everything you're looking for because the tools go in vertically; so when you look into the bag you can actually see what you're looking for. No more fishing around and nicking your fingers on the screwdrivers and what-not that you have in there. It's coming to you from our friends over at CableOrganizer.com. It's worth 130 bucks but it could be yours for free, so pick up the phone and ask us your home improvement question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Now perhaps your home improvement project is one that's going to involve a home loan. You go to apply for that loan only to find out that someone has stolen your identity. You know, identity theft is a growing crime. It's hard to track. But when a criminal steals the ID of a child, you might not even realize it until decades later. This is the newest scam. Imagine applying for your first home loan and learning that you are already 40K in debt or worse. That actually happened in one case and there are some ways to prevent child ID theft and some signs to look out for that should make you pretty suspicious.
LESLIE: Yeah, first of all, if you get an earnings report from the Social Security Administration for your child and he or she has never worked, that is a major red flag. Now if anybody ever asks you for your child's social security number, make sure you check into why. Just don't hand it over. You know, in one case a troop leader got this info under the ruse of needing it for medical forms and, instead, stole the IDs of several of the kids in the troop. So that is just crazy. You can also put a freeze on your child's credit. This way, no one will be approved for credit under that social security number until that freeze is lifted. Don't let your child carry his or her card and never give this info out online. Keep that ID number very secret.
TOM: 888-666-3974. Perhaps you've got a New Year's resolution that involves your house we can help you with. Let's get back to the phones and get those projects done.
Leslie, who's next?
LESLIE: Heading over to Iowa to chat with Cindy about a garage door. Tell us about what's going on.
CINDY: Hi. I've got two cracks under my garage door from the edge of the concrete in. The space in between the two cracks is heaved. My garage door now is kind of high-centered. It's a little worse on the east side than the west side and I didn't know if there's anything you could do about like ...
TOM: What kind of door is it, Cindy? Is it wood or metal?
CINDY: I think it's fiberglass. It's insulated.
TOM: The garage door is?
CINDY: Yes, the garage door is.
TOM: OK. If it was wood, you could actually score it and shape it and cut it to sort of follow the flow of the uneven garage floor. If it's not, the only other thing that you could really do is to try to double up the weatherstripping or add some padding to the bottom of it to try to take up some of that space.
CINDY: OK.
TOM: And this way you can get perhaps a better seal. You know, garage floors are not dimensionally stable like they would be if it was, say, a slab foundation or something of that nature; they're basically just covering the dirt. And so they do tend to move a lot and crack and shift. And sometimes the only way to get that to work is with some additional weatherstripping. Now the other thing that you could think about doing is you could add to the backside of the garage door another piece of trim; whereas the trim is actually cut to the shape of the floor. Think of it as like adding a piece of baseboard moulding; where it's sort of a one-by material that attaches to the back of the garage door and then that gets shaped to the floor. The weatherstripping goes on the bottom of that piece.
CINDY: OK. I can do that.
TOM: So there's a couple of ways to deal with this. It's not so unusual and not something that you have to worry too much about.
CINDY: OK. Thank you so very much.
TOM: You're welcome, Cindy. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Karen in Florida needs some help with a water heater. What can we do for you?
KAREN: Yes, I was wondering if you could give me any information on the tankless hot water heaters.
TOM: Yeah, what would you like to know, Karen? Are you thinking about putting one in?
KAREN: Yes.
TOM: Well, once you put one in you'll never be waiting for hot water again because they supply hot water on demand. Very, very efficient; inexpensive to operate. Requires a professional installation. Most common mistake is to put in an undersized gas line. Plumbers tend to like to use the small one but you need a bigger gas line because it uses a lot of gas but only for a little period of time and that's why, overall, it doesn't use as much gas to heat the water.
KAREN: Do you have to have more than one in the home?
TOM: No. No, you can have one in the same location that you have your tanked water heater now. I will say that if you have a large home it's very convenient to have two because they're very small; you can sort of zone your domestic hot water and have, say, one upstairs and one downstairs and what that would do is cut down on the time it takes for the water to get hot in the morning.
A good place to start is ForeverHotWater.com ...
KAREN: OK.
TOM: ... and that is the website for the Rinnai company. They make an excellent product. It's a good website because it'll help you size and figure out the one that you need for your house.
KAREN: OK. Well, thank you. I appreciate it.
TOM: You're welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: John in West Virginia needs some help with a shower drain. Tell us what's going on.
JOHN: Hi, good day. I've tried several products - you know, several over-the-counter products - to clean out the drain. It's very sluggish. I've tried the - oh, it's like a sulfuric acid-type product on several occasions and it's worked - works temporarily then its like after a few weeks later it starts to clog back up again and it drains very slowly. Like to know if you know any products that would work where I wouldn't have to clean the drain out so frequently.
LESLIE: Hmm, it seems like you guys just have a collective system of, unfortunately, say, like hair and soap products that tend to clog up the drain. What you need to do is get that drain free-flowing. Sometimes it requires a snaking of the drain. Tom has a little trick where he likes to use a wet/dry vac to see if he can get whatever is near the surface of the drain; you know, a super-duper wet/dry vac to just get some of that debris up and maybe release some of that clog.
TOM: Yeah, it sucks but it works. (Tom chuckles)
JOHN: It sucks. OK. (chuckles)
TOM: Yeah. Use the wet/dry vacuum. You can pull a lot of the debris that's in that trap right back up ...
LESLIE: Right to where you can grab it.
TOM: Mm-hmm.
LESLIE: The other thing you need to do, John, is once you get that drain running fairly clearly you need to sort of, monthly, pour down there one of those living, active cultures. You mix it up with a little bit of water. You pour it down there and it eats all of that soap scum and debris that's in there that tends to gunk up and clog it. It requires some maintenance. Because you don't want to keep clogging it and you really don't want to use those heavy-duty cleansers because that can deteriorate the plumbing.
JOHN: OK, well thank you very much.
TOM: You're welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Josh in South Carolina, you've got The Money Pit. What can we help you with today?
JOSH: Well, I've just bought a house here and it's got Formica countertops and my fiancée and I were trying to decide on what to do about the countertops. And I've been doing a lot of research and hearing a lot about the concrete countertops and we're trying to get like the contemporary feng shui look in the house. And granite, as opposed to concrete or even - there's another type; it's like the fake - is it called quartz? Am I saying it right; quartz?
TOM: Yeah, quartz. There's different manufacturers of it. There's - what is it? Zodiac is the Corian product and then Silestone is another product. But they're all quartz.
LESLIE: OK. Well, as far as the concrete; I mean what are the good and the bad things about it? I mean you don't hear of a whole lot of people - from what I read, it started out west and you just don't see them out here in the south yet. I mean is it a good way to ...?
TOM: It's a beautiful surface and it's a lot of work to make. It's a lot of work to maintain but it is very, very gorgeous. What's the guy's name that wrote that book on it?
LESLIE: I cannot ...
JOSH: [Jung Chiang] (sp)?
LESLIE: Yes.
TOM: [Fung Chiang] (sp). That's it. [Fung Chiang] (sp). That's right. Have you seen his writings?
JOSH: I have, I have and I've actually read a few of his books and from what I see about granite, which one is more maintenance? Is granite pretty high-maintenance as well or is it ...?
TOM: Yes, and in fact, we know from having them ourselves and answering the same questions over and over again for many years that all of these products are not nearly as moisture-resistant and stain-resistant as good old-fashioned fiberglass laminate. Having said that, believe it or not, my favorite countertop is Corian or one of the solid surfacing materials. Because it is reasonably maintenance-resistant compared to the granites and the quartz out there.
LESLIE: There's also, Josh - there's a new green product called PaperStone and their website is PaperStoneProducts.com. And it actually can look exactly like concrete but it's a totally eco-friendly, sustainable product; which is totally cutting edge and something that you're looking for if you're looking for a green product as well. Check out their website just to sort of see it in action.
JOSH: PaperStone.com?
LESLIE: PaperStoneProducts.com.
JOSH: OK.
LESLIE: Just to sort of see it in an installed situation and learn a bit more about the product and you can even find a dealer there. But that could be an interesting choice. And also, you can always just relaminate those countertops for a mildly inexpensive, do-it-yourself quick fix.
JOSH: Right. OK, great. Well, I do appreciate it.
TOM: You're welcome, Josh. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show.
Up next, the tight housing market might have changed your plans to move so we say stay where you are and just make it look like a new house. One way is with the right flooring. We'll have some tips on how to accomplish that, next.
[audio timestamp: 0:17:22.2]
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation's leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information visit ThermaTru.com.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete and if any of you have picked up a paper or listened to the radio, you know that the real estate market has been a little bit cuckoo for some time now and if you're attempting to sell your home right now you might want to rethink that because it's really not the best idea. You might want to think about staying right where you are. But you can make your current home look like new with a few budget-conscious changes, including new flooring.
TOM: And flooring is actually the most popular topic we're asked about here on The Money Pit and that's because it's a great improvement. Plus there's a new generation of flooring out there that's quick and easy to install and very, very affordable. Here to give us some tips about that is Gary Finseth. He's Tarkett's Residential Director of Marketing.
Welcome, Gary.
GARY: Hey, it's great to be here today.
TOM: Well, we're pleased to have you. Now Gary, the market has been kind of bad and people that can't move are improving. We're getting more and more flooring questions. People want to repair floors; replace floors; improve what they have.
LESLIE: And all while keeping budget in mind.
TOM: Exactly. What are some of the newest ways for people to do that? Because flooring really can have quite a dramatic impact on a room.
GARY: Oh, you're absolutely right. You can decorate your room with floors. And here at Tarkett we've come up with a new version of vinyl flooring. We call it FiberFloor. It is not your mother's vinyl floor that you knew as a child. It's a cushioned layer with fiberglass in between. We've got brand new styles and designs and the product is built to perform and to provide worry-free practical flooring.
We also started manufacturing - out of our brand new plant in Clarion, Pennsylvania - a laminate flooring made specifically for the North American market.
TOM: Let's talk about that new flooring part that you mentioned. You say it's reinforced with fiberglass. Gary, does that also make it a little warmer under the feet? Because we're moving into the winter. We all hate to walk on the cold floors that we're so accustomed to. With that type of technology, is it a bit of an insulating layer?
GARY: Absolutely. It will stay warm. You know, one of the things with other types of floors - especially on a second floor; perhaps over an open area - is they get very, very cold in the winter months. And FiberFloor is warm and inviting as you step out of that warm shower in the cold winter months.
LESLIE: And do you find that because of all the sort of extra layers and this new production that it's a little bit more cushiony as well? Because sometimes those laminate floors and the vinyl floorings can be so hard when you stand on them. They almost hurt your lower back; it's really kind of a chore to stand on those tough floors.
GARY: Yeah, this has got just enough of a cushion to give a little bit when you're standing on it for a long time. One of the things we've found is that - talking to some newspaper and magazine editors - is that many of their readers have asked for a solution to that. They've got these beautiful kitchens but they've got these hard floors that cause their ankles, their knees and their hips to hurt and FiberFloor is a perfect answer for that.
TOM: So it's safe to drop the dishes on, eh? (chuckles)
GARY: (chuckles) There's no guarantee for that.
TOM: We're talking to Gary Finseth. He is Tarkett's Residential Director of Marketing.
Gary, you mentioned laminate floor as another new product. You know that's really a pretty interesting product because it's been around now, I think, for around ten years where it's been pretty common. When I first saw it, you had to physically glue each piece together and I thought, 'Man, this stuff is great but I can't imagine anybody gluing all these chunks of wood together.' But man, has it changed; in terms of the technology. It now goes together so much more quickly, plus the number of patterns and colors and textures has changed as well. What's new with your laminate lines?
GARY: Well, our laminate line is made specifically for the North American market which is traditionally more oak and cherry-oriented. We've got the smooth textures with the glossy, which is a new trend, but we also have the old standbys. I've got to tell you that when you take a look at these new laminate designs, it's hard to tell laminate from the real thing.
TOM: Oh, it absolutely is. In fact, I remember - you know, I spent 20 years as a home inspector and I remember distinctly inspecting this home that was built in the 1800s and it had an addition to it. And as I'm standing around with the buyers and the real estate agent I'm looking down at the floor here and I say, 'What kind of wood do you think this floor is made out of?' and they're guessing cherry, oak, mahogany; anything they can think of. I said, 'No, it's plastic.' (all chuckle) Because it looks so good. I mean basically if you can photograph it you can make flooring out of it.
GARY: Exactly.
LESLIE: And you know what? They're so durable; especially if you've got kids or large pets that are running around. It really just makes - you know, a smarter choice that's more durable and cost effective; especially when you're thinking about comparison to hardwood.
GARY: Right. And it's glueless and it clicks together and the average do-it-yourselfer, with a little bit of help and a little bit of time ...
LESLIE: Patience. (chuckles)
GARY: ... and a little bit of patience can get the job done.
TOM: Gary Finseth, Tarkett's Residential Director of Marketing. Thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit, Gary, and filling us in on these new, cool, high-tech floors.
If you'd like some more information on Tarkett's products, they have a new website. It is Tarkettna.com. That's spelled T-a-r-k-e-t-t-n-a.com.
LESLIE: Alright, well up next, if you can't put yourself on a low-calorie diet for the new year, why not put your house on a diet instead. When we come back, we're going to have some New Year's resolutions for your home that you can actually keep.
[audio timestamp: 0:23:38.0]
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation's leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information visit ThermaTru.com.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete.
TOM: The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. One caller who reaches us on the air this hour is going to win the VETO PRO PAC open top tool bag from the folks over at CableOrganizer.com. The tools are stashed vertically so there's no digging around to find what you need; plus, it's weather-resistant so you can do your home improvement projects in the rain - although we hope you don't have to. (Leslie chuckles) The prize is worth 130 bucks, so call us right now if you'd like a shot at winning it. But remember, you must have a home improvement question and be willing to come on the air and ask us.
LESLIE: Yeah, that's right. Pick up the phone and give us a call. Let us know what you are working on and give us a call if you need some help sticking to your New Year's resolution. You know, they are tough to do and I always say, 'Oh, I'm going to be nicer,' which Tom knows never happens. (Tom and Leslie chuckle)
But maybe you've sort of decided that your New Year's resolution is going to be to lose some weight or go on a diet or exercise more and you're really afraid that you're just not going to stick to it. Well, why not put your house on a diet instead? You can lose 'weight' with an effort to declutter the rooms in your house; even the closets. Go ahead and trim the fat with a simple evaluation and regular maintenance of your heating and cooling systems. You know, even minor problems can raise your utility bills. So with a little resolve, you and your home will start the new year off right.
TOM: And we can help you start that project off right if you pick up the phone and call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Leslie, who's next?
LESLIE: Now we're going to talk flooring with Rae in New York. Tell us what's going on at your money pit.
RAE: I have an Armstrong tile marble tan look floor in my kitchen. I bought it about two years ago. After three-quarters of a year, the floor near the area of the stove, sink and refrigerator turned grayish coloring. I called Armstrong. They came, looked at it; picked up the floor; they didn't know why and we put the same floor down again and now the same thing is happening.
TOM: Is this a vinyl floor?
RAE: No, it's a laminate.
TOM: Hmm, interesting.
RAE: And we don't know why.
TOM: And they don't know why either, so they just ...
RAE: No, they don't know why either.
TOM: I've never really heard of laminates changing color, so that's kind of a new one for us. And if the folks at Armstrong can't figure out I don't think that we can either. I would stay in touch with them because perhaps with the passage of time they've discovered why that problem is happening. It's a good company. They make a good product.
RAE: Right. It's interesting that underneath the further ends of the kitchen, where the dining area is, you really don't have that happening. You have it towards the front where the stove and the sink and the ...
TOM: Well, the areas that you describe would be those parts of the kitchen that you spend the most time standing in front of ...
RAE: Right.
TOM: ... so there's probably more wear and tear there.
RAE: Right.
TOM: You know, the way laminate is built there's a clear laminate surface; usually an aluminum-oxide coating that's over the color coating. I just wonder if some of that is breaking down and you're getting down to the color coat of the floor and wearing off some of the surface; bringing up whatever is gray underneath of that. That's the only thing that would make sense to me; unless there's just a manufacturing defect in the product. But I think your best bet is to go back to the folks at Armstrong. If it's been replaced once, like I said, maybe by now they know what's going on and maybe you just select a different product from them next time.
RAE: OK. Thank you very much.
TOM: You're welcome, Rae. Sorry we couldn't be more help. Good luck with that project.
LESLIE: Clyde in Iowa, you've got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
CLYDE: Trying to find some information on - and house plans for building an earth bermed home.
TOM: Earth ...?
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
CLYDE: Which I want to be able to build it myself so earth shelter is out.
TOM: So you want to - when you say 'earth bermed' you essentially want the house to be surrounded by earth like on three sides?
CLYDE: Yeah, three sides but a conventional roof system.
TOM: Right, conventional roof. You don't want to have a - you don't want to have to mow your roof. (Leslie chuckled)
CLYDE: No, no.
TOM: OK. Well, you know, that's not really that much different than a traditional house and, in fact, typically that would be done, of course, in the right lot where you can sort of nestle the house into sort of the hillside. The difference is the kind of foundation would be a little bit thicker, a little bit stronger because the foundation both supports the home vertically and also acts as a retaining wall at the same time. And of course the moisture-proofing on that is really a critical point as well. But it's not all that more complicated than building a traditional house. If you're not finding the plans that you want off the shelf, this is a situation where we would highly recommend that you engage the services of an architect.
I presume you have a house lot in mind or, if not, once you choose that lot it would be a great idea for you to hire the architect to do what architects do and that is to give you planning and structural advice so the home can be constructed correctly. Once you have that set of plans, if you want to execute on the build yourself that's fine; if you want to subcontract out parts of it you'll have the plans to do that. But this is not the kind of thing that I would recommend you buy off the shelf. I would suggest that you hire an architect to design the structure for you; make sure it's sturdy and safe, meets all the building codes; and then, if you want to build it yourself, you'll save a lot of money there. But the thing that you should not be looking to save money on is the good, professional advice that you're going to need to make sure that you have a design for a building that's going to work for you.
LESLIE: Well, if this real estate market has got you really examining the work that needs to be done in your home and you suddenly decide the bath needs some help, we can help you do that. And we're actually going to help an e-mailer who's dealing with that situation, when we come back.
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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, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And if you enjoy this show - we hope you do - then you should check out our new book. It's called My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure. It's full of great advice delivered in a fun and entertaining way. Just ask us. We'll tell you. (Leslie chuckles) It's a great gift idea as well. If perhaps you didn't get the gift that you wanted this holiday season, well, return it and buy our book. It's available at Amazon.com for, actually, around ten bucks.
LESLIE: Now if you head on over to MoneyPit.com you can actually check out a sample chapter there and get an idea of what you're purchasing and you know that it's going to be full of great information. And while you're over there, you can e-mail us your question by clicking on Ask Tom and Leslie. And we've got one here from Keith in Virginia who writes: 'We have a 60s bathroom with dated but well-maintained tile on the floors, lower walls and shower. The shower tiles have become cracked and are difficult to keep clean. I'd like to either cover the shower with a fitted, plastic surface or rip out the tiles and redo the whole shower. What can you tell me about my options when it comes to these fitted liners; acrylic, fiberglass or other product or am I better off just enduring the time and expense of retiling?' You know, I bet they would probably end up costing about the same.
TOM: Well, the other thing, though, that comes to mind is you may not have to retile the whole thing if you've just got a few cracked tiles. You could just sort of replace those tiles with, say, some hand-painted tiles and make it look very, very natural - even decorative - by doing that. So that's definitely one option to think about.
Now, when it comes to the liners, I like the Corian product; Corian liners. Because Corian is just a great surface and it can go right on top of the old tile. Of course the most expensive is going to be the total rip-out but I don't think you have to go that way.
LESLIE: No, and you know, Silestone also does a really nice shower surround that is antimicrobial. And both of those solid surface options really are beautiful and they come in a ton of different colors and sort of visual textures that really give you a nice depth to the surface. So look into those as well.
Alright, Joshua in Rhode Island writes: 'I have a high radon reading in my basement. It came in at seven picocuries. I've found a paint product on the internet made for cement floors exclusively for radon. Have you ever used anything like this or heard of anything?'
TOM: (chuckles) You know, there's no such thing as a radon-proofing paint. If you have radon in your basement, Joshua, there's a system you need to install that basically draws the gas out from underneath the concrete floor and from inside the block walls and exhausts it outside. You know, the paint itself may be one piece of this system but by itself it's not going to stop the radon from getting in.
LESLIE: Yeah, and Joshua, make sure you do take care of that.
TOM: Well, if you had a home emergency, are you sure that the emergency services folks could find your house? Leslie's got some tips to make sure that can happen, in today's edition of Leslie's Last Word.
LESLIE: Yeah, and that's something really important to think about especially this time of year because we see residential fires truly peak during the winter months. So you don't want to make it hard for emergency crews to find your home in case the unthinkable - whatever it might be - happens to you. So to avoid that, you want to make sure that you place large numbers on your home or on your mailbox and if you've got a super-long driveway or maybe an obscure entrance to your home, you want to make sure that your address is in plain view from the street and well-lit. Now, some communities even offer to spray-paint your house number on the curb near your home with reflective paint; so check and see if your town does this. Anything that you can do to make your house more obvious, especially to the number and its location, will absolutely help God forbid an emergency happens and those emergency folks need to find you in a hurry.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Thank you so much for spending this hour with us.
Coming up next week on the program, it's a new year so you're going to be doing new home improvements. But which of those are going to maintain the value of your home? Which of those are going to give you the best return on your home improvement investment? We'll tell you, next week on the program.
I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Helping you build big dreams.
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(Copyright 2008 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.)
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