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 and give us a call with your home improvement question, your do-it-yourself dilemma. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Maybe you are sick and tired of paying those sky-high energy bills; want some advice on how you can make your home more energy efficient. Is there a home improvement project that is just reaching out, screaming from across the room, that you've got to get done but you don't know where to start? We can help you. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Hey, how are those investments doing? Losing money like crazy? Well you know, there is one investment that could actually make you money this year and it is, in fact, your home; and that money will come in the form of tax credits. But how do you get those tax credits? How do you qualify them and what will they pay for? We're going to cover that in this hour of the program.
LESLIE: And also ahead this hour, we've got another way that your home can make you money by keeping it maintained and in good condition. Those will all offer you big return on investment. We're going to tell you how to do that and how to go one step further to determine which improvement costs can be recouped. Whoo-hoo!
TOM: And joining the program a little bit later this hour is our friend and home improvement guru, Pat Simpson. He's going to give us some tips on how to bring a bare, dull closet back to life.
LESLIE: Plus, we are giving away a great prize this hour. We have got a painting tool package from our friends over at Zibra.
TOM: It's a prize package that's worth 90 bucks. Going to go to one caller that reaches us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Let's get right to those calls.
Who's first?
LESLIE: Well, Kevin in Washington is looking for some extra storage space in the attic. How can we help you with that project?
KEVIN: Yes, I want to lay a floor down so I can use it for storage but the blown-in insulation is blown in at a level that's higher than the 2x4s on the ceiling.
TOM: Right, the floor joists.
KEVIN: Yes.
TOM: Yeah, so how do you achieve both? You've got to raise the height of the ceiling joists in order to get a floor over it. You cannot compress the insulation, Kevin, because if you do you squeeze out the trapped air and that's what's actually giving it it's insulating ability.
KEVIN: Exactly, so how do I get the floor up ...?
TOM: Is this a trussed roof or is it a stick-built roof? Do you know the difference? Is it prefabricated trusses?
KEVIN: Yes.
TOM: Alright, well you're not really supposed to do this but I'll tell you anyway. You can't cut any of those trusses. What you could do is sister under the side of the bottom cords another piece of 2x4 and position that so the height is just above the blown-in. But you're not supposed to put a lot of weight on; that's the reason that you have to be careful here. There's a truss - there's a certain type of truss called an attic truss and that definitely is not what you have. But I had a condo once with a trussed roof and I actually was able to add about 400 or 500 square feet of storage space by doing exactly this. We added another 2x4 to the side of the existing truss and basically brought it up to the height of the insulation and then added some flooring over that. But again, you can't ...
KEVIN: OK.
TOM: Not a lot of weight, OK, Kev?
KEVIN: Well, it's just furniture, books and people. (Leslie chuckles) I mean people will be up there.
TOM: Yeah, OK. Well, don't put the water bed up there - OK? - filled with water. (chuckles)
KEVIN: OK. Thanks, y'all.
TOM: Alright, Kevin. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
I was going to say the Encyclopedia Britannica collection but I don't think they exist anymore.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Yeah, it was like, 'Not a lot of weight.' 'OK, it's just people, books and furniture.' (chuckles)
TOM: (chuckling) Yeah, right.
LESLIE: Oh.
TOM: Not a lot of weight.
LESLIE: And why are you storing people in your attic? (Tom chuckles)
Margaret in North Carolina is dealing with a nasty three-letter word: rot. Tell us about it.
MARGARET: Yes, we have a balcony and the balcony is 14 feet from the ground. The supports are wood and the wood has rotted out; the wooden supports. And so what we'd like to do is the wall itself, the façade of the house, is brick and the wooden supports for the balcony go through the - into the wall, into the ceiling below, into the wood braces ...
TOM: OK.
MARGARET: ... that are on the ceiling. Well, we want to replace that wooden support with a metal floor on the - metal floor for the balcony - as well as metal supports; three metal supports that cantilever into those beams in the ceiling below - wood ceiling - wooden beams.
TOM: Right. So you have a balcony that extends out the exterior wall of your house. Are there any supports underneath or is it totally cantilevered off of the outside wall of the house?
MARGARET: Totally cantilevered.
TOM: OK, so you have a rot problem; you've got a serious structural issue. Taking that apart and rebuilding it with steel is probably a good idea. You're going to end up using steel I beams and you would only need two I beams, one at both ends, and then in between you could have wood floor joists; pressure-treated lumber. But the main supports that go through the wall and cantilever back over the exterior wall, they would have to be steel I beams. This is a big project; not one that you can do yourself; one you definitely need a pro to work with you on. You definitely need a good, qualified contractor and you need to get a building permit because there are a lot of deck collapses because of this very reason; because of those rotted beams that go from the outside of the deck, cantilever over the exterior wall and go back into the house. So you've got a big job on your hands but it sounds to me like you have the right plan.
LESLIE: You are with The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. We are so glad you joined us. Pick up the phone and give us a call. Be part of The Money Pit right now. Well, you can be part of The Money Pit 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That's when we're here to help you get your projects done right the first time. So give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
You know, perhaps the one investment that can really make you some money these days is your home. Up next, we're going to give you some tips on how to get your hands on that money in the form of tax credits. All of those details coming up in just a bit.
[audio timestamp: 0:06:45.7]
(theme song)
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show where we make good homes better. I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT and be ready to ask your home improvement or home repair question. If you do, one caller who gets on the air this hour might win a prize pack of painting tools from Zibra, including the AirGlide Roller and the No Tape Edge-n-Roll edger; basically tools to make it look like you know what you're doing (Leslie chuckles) when you pick up a paint brush. It's worth a total of 90 bucks so call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: And those really are the tools to help you get a professional paint job done easily and free labor if you do it yourself. And you know, paint; it always looks better if you take the time to do the proper prepping. We've told you about it a hundred thousand times. And we've also told you that paint really is the cheapest way; it can change or even update the look of a room in your home. But it's also a good way to maintain the value of your home; you want to keep it looking good over all. And it's one of the ways that your home can help you make money; one of the few investments that actually pays off these days, your house.
And another way you can make some money off your house is to claim energy-efficient tax credits. Now qualifying improvements include everything from weatherstripping - think about caulk, you guys - to windows, to roofing and your local utility and states offer rebates that can help compound your savings with these federal tax rebates that are available.
If you want to find out what projects work, how you go ahead and file for everything, there's a great website. It's EnergyTaxIncentives.org/Consumers. It helps you sort everything out right there on one site. And Tom, you actually just wrote a blog about this which really helps sort everything out as well, right?
TOM: I did and that's on WalletPop.com.
888-666-3974. Maybe you need some advice on how to install one of those energy-saving improvements. Give us a call right now and we will help you out.
LESLIE: Alright, now we're going to head over to Indiana and chat with Cassandra about a pilot light that keeps going out. Tell us about the situation.
CASSANDRA: Yes, hello. We have a manufactured home and we've only been in here about 11 months but every time the wind gets really strong it blows out our pilot light on our water heater.
TOM: Oh, that's annoying.
CASSANDRA: And my husband goes to work and then I'm here all day with no hot water because I don't know how to turn it back on.
TOM: (chuckling) OK.
CASSANDRA: (chuckles) And we were wondering if there's a way we can just prevent that from happening.
TOM: OK. Well, perhaps some water heater pilot-lighting training is in order for you (Cassandra chuckles) so at least you can have the warm water without waiting for your husband. But I suspect what's happening here, Cassandra, is that the pilot light is weak. Might be dirty, it might be obstructed and it's not strong enough; so that's why when you get a little bit of wind down in the vent pipe it blows out. So I think that this can be corrected with some service of that pilot line.
CASSANDRA: OK. And we would just need a new pilot line? Who would we call for that? Do you ...?
TOM: The next time you're going to have your heating system serviced, I would have them replace the pilot line at the same time.
CASSANDRA: OK.
TOM: Alright? Shouldn't be very expensive.
CASSANDRA: OK, wonderful. Thank you so much.
TOM: You're welcome. Cassandra, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. And get your husband to show you how to light that pilot, will you? (Leslie chuckles) Not that hard.
LESLIE: And would it be your heating maintenance company to look at your water heater or would that be a plumber?
TOM: (overlapping voices) Yeah, and typically your water heater does need a little bit of cleaning because, remember, as that gas burns, you ...
LESLIE: Well, you get a lot of rust, right?
TOM: Yes, that's right. You get a lot of rust that flakes off the baffle which actually goes up through the middle of the water heater. The purpose of the baffle is to slow down the flow of gases out so you get more heat out of them, but that baffle is sort of sacrificial in that it rusts and those flakes fall down, sit on top of the burner and build up. So it is an area that needs to be cleaned from time to time and certainly the pilot light and the thermocouple need to be occasionally replaced and that's what I think Cassandra needs to do here.
LESLIE: Alright. Let's go to Orlando now with a question about soundproofing. How can we help you?
ORLANDO: Yes, maybe you can. I have a two-family house and my granddaughter sleeps above me in my bedroom. I can literally hear her walking, talking, everything. And they put wall-to-wall carpet in and it still really didn't help.
TOM: Orlando, there's a couple of things that you can do. There is a type of soundproof drywall that you can install. It's called Quiet Solutions and it's basically a sound-deadening drywall product.
The other thing that you can do, which would be less expensive, is you can use a product called Green Glue and then a second layer of drywall. The Green Glue ...
LESLIE: Is a sound deadening glue.
TOM: ... isolates the two pieces of drywall and is a sound-deadening glue. Correct. So those are two ways that you can reduce that noise level.
ORLANDO: OK. Alright, thank you very much, Tom and Leslie.
TOM: You're welcome, Orlando. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Anthony is dealing with some heating issues. Tell us about the baseboard problems.
ANTHONY: Yeah, I have hot water heat in my house and we have the old cast iron baseboard heat and some radiators upstairs.
LESLIE: Excellent.
ANTHONY: When we redid our bathroom, we put in a small baseboard heater to make a little bit more room ...
TOM: OK.
ANTHONY: ... by taking out the radiator.
TOM: Right.
ANTHONY: And that was last year. We've never been able to get heat up into that area. I put bleeders on the feeder line and on the return line and tried to bleed the air to get the water up through that area but we've never been able to get any kind of heat.
TOM: And the radiator before always worked fine?
ANTHONY: And everything always worked fine. I've had the pipes off to check to make sure I didn't have a clog in them.
TOM: So is the radiator getting - does the radiator get warm at all?
ANTHONY: Not at all.
TOM: Not at all. Well, look. Obviously it's not plumbed correctly. I'm not quite sure where the issue is but it's really a pretty simple system. You know the water has to go in the supply and out the return. If it's not getting hot at all, the water is never making it to that point. So I think at this juncture you're probably going to have to bring in a heating contractor, a plumber, to figure out what you did wrong. It sounds to me like you've got the wrong fitting. For whatever reason, the water is not pushing into that area. It worked before when you had the full radiator. It's not working now for the baseboard because something is installed incorrectly. You've checked the air issue but if it's plain not getting hot at all, there's just an installation problem that you've got to get to the bottom of, Anthony. That's the only thing that makes sense that could be causing this.
ANTHONY: OK. Alright.
TOM: I know you don't want to admit defeat, my friend, but it might be time to throw in the pipe wrench, so to speak.
ANTHONY: OK.
TOM: Alright?
ANTHONY: Alright, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
TOM: You're welcome, Anthony. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Heading over to Illinois to chat with Mary. How can we help you today?
MARY: Yes, in January of last year we had - a sewer backed up into our basement and it got on our cement blocks. And so we washed it with strong bleach water and it was strong enough water that we had to have the windows and the door open so that we wouldn't get the fumes.
TOM: OK.
MARY: And then painted back over the brick walls and now I notice it's coming through again.
TOM: You've not had another backup?
MARY: No, no.
TOM: OK, so what's going on here is this: you have the beginnings of a water infiltration problem. The concrete block is very absorbent. It's called hydroscopic. And if there's water on the outside of that block or it pulls up water from underneath it, it will draw back up into the block just like as if it's a sponge and, now that it's painted, it probably will push out almost blisters in spaces; you may see stains; you may see sort of white, crusty material. Does this sound familiar?
MARY: No, it doesn't look crusty. It looks like little fibers like on it.
TOM: OK. Well, what you're seeing are mineral salt deposits. Now the solution here is not in the basement; it's outside the house. You've got to take a look here, Mary, at the drainage conditions at the foundation perimeter. You want to make sure that your gutter system is clean and free-flowing and you want to make sure that the soil around the house is sloping away from the walls. Those two things, if they're done correctly, will reduce the amount of moisture and the amount of water that's around the outside of those foundation walls. That will stop it from drawing inside. So you're on the right track; you're just not quite there yet.
LESLIE: Now, that white residue that you're seeing in the house, you can easily get rid of that with a mixture of white vinegar and water. If you just mix some ...
MARY: Vinegar and water? OK.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. If you mix them up in a spray bottle or however you want to work with it and just wipe it on there, you'll see it goes away immediately.
MARY: Oh, alright. So I won't need to rebleach the walls then?
TOM: No, no; because it's not mold. It's a salt deposit.
MARY: Oh, OK.
TOM: So nothing to worry about, OK, Mary?
MARY: Yeah. Thank you.
TOM: You're welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Up next, we're going to welcome Pat Simpson from HGTV's Fix It Up! Pat's going to have some tips on how to make a dull closet come back to life; maybe give you some space to organize all of that stuff that's been piling up around your house. We'll have that and more, after this.
[audio timestamp: 0:16:35.8]
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru Doors, the nation's leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. You can count on Therma-Tru for beautiful, reliable and easy-to-install entry doors. To learn more, visit ThermaTru.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: 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, especially if you're thinking about getting the house in order. It's a time to turn over a new leaf and finally get rid of the stuff you don't use anymore, donate the clothes you don't wear anymore and maybe you're even thinking about organizing and making over a closet in your home. You know there's nothing like a great walk-in closet, especially if you have a lot of clothes and shoes; not that I'm speaking from experience. (Tom laughs) Because a good closet makes it easy to store your clothes and get dressed in the morning because you know where everything is.
TOM: You don't get dressed in the closet, do you?
LESLIE: I do, actually. (Tom chuckles) I turned an old area of our bedroom into like my walk-in dressing room.
TOM: Well, alright then. And you know what? You don't have to install an expensive closet system, either. There is a simple, do-it-yourself project that will bring a bare, a dull closet back to life. Here to tell us all about it is our pal, Pat Simpson. He's the host of HGTV's Fix It Up!
Hey, Pat.
PAT: Hey, you know rumor has it that Leslie has a closet larger than my home. (Tom laughs)
LESLIE: Oh, God. No way.
PAT: Yes, and half of it is for her shoes. In fact, I think it was covered on one of the news networks (Tom and Leslie chuckle) and so it's the gospel; I know it.
Hey, guys. I hope you're doing well.
TOM: We are and you know we like to talk about projects now and again that you can do yourself. And you're working with a company called CedarSafe that has a lining system for closets which sounds like it's a pretty easy project. Tell us where to start.
PAT: (overlapping voices) It really is. It's such a simple project. You know we enjoy the do-it-yourself projects. We do the whole-house makeover stuff, too, but the simple, weekend stuff is just really, really popular now. People are staying at home and they've chosen not to sell right now and they've decided to improve what they have and so they're trying to improve different rooms; whether it's the kitchen or the bathroom or the closet. And the CedarSafe product is such a simple DIY project; you really only need hammer, nails and a handsaw, if you want, and a tape measure. Basically, that's all there is to it.
LESLIE: Well, and cedar, I think, is so important; especially - not only for your everyday closet but for your off-season storage closet because it really does keep the moths away. And having lost a sweater or two along life's journey, I've noticed that cedar really does send them packing.
PAT: It does. It does it naturally. Mother Nature does her thing with the natural ingredients in the cedar boards. You remember - I know my grandma did it and yours may have as well - the cedar chest that grandma kept her quilts in?
LESLIE: Oh, yeah.
PAT: I called my grandmother Mamo. Mamo always had a cedar chest for her homemade quilts. Well, it's basically the same thing for your closet because it naturally resists the earwigs and the moths and the roaches and it helps reduce moisture and mold and humidity in your closet as well and it's all done through the natural characteristics of wood. And of course you've got that wonderful, wonderful cedar aroma; that smell. So ...
LESLIE: Oh, they smell so great.
TOM: We're talking to Pat Simpson - he's the host of HGTV's Fix It Up! - about how to kind of create your own cedar closet.
Hey, Pat, let's talk a little bit about sort of cedar 101. There are a lot of different types of cedar and many folks may be familiar with the western red cedar that's used as siding. Now that is not what we're talking about putting inside the closet here. We're talking about aromatic red cedar, which is actually quite different.
PAT: And in fact, the cedar that's used for this application, that CedarSafe uses - have you driven through the rural areas of the countryside and you'll see along natural fence lines, along pastures and fields, you notice how the cedar trees will grow mysteriously along those fence lines?
TOM: Yeah.
PAT: And oftentimes that's because of the lime content in the soil. But these are the types of trees that are harvested and they even farm the trees to harvest to make not only the panels but also the planks - and we'll talk about the panels more in a moment. But every, single bit of those trees are used; there's no waste at all. Even the oil from the cedar is used to make colognes and perfumes.
LESLIE: Oh, interesting.
TOM: And you mentioned the planks but also there is a type of aromatic red cedar product that looks more like a 4x8 sheet of plywood or OSB but it has cedar flakes in it. Is that one of the CedarSafe products as well?
PAT: It is and it serves the same purpose. It's not as appealing to the eye but it's not intended to be. It's more utilitarian for like let's say a cellar or a basement or an attic space or, as you mentioned earlier, Leslie, some of the off-season storage. So rather than putting it in your walk-in closet where you would use the pretty 1x4 tongue-in-groove planks, these 4x8 panels are much, much better for the closets that you don't see that often.
LESLIE: Pat, is there any special treatment that you have to do to the cedar over time to keep it's qualities going; keep that scent in there so that it actually continues to do what it should do and look good over time?
PAT: No, not really. I know one thing that it will do, though, if the cedar's been - any cedar, whether it's this species or any type and, as far as that goes, any wood, actually; in this case the cedar - if it's been in place for a year or so and the aroma is starting to not be as obvious, it's not as evident, you can simply take the clothes or the blankets or whatever you have in that room; take everything out of the closet and then go in with, say, 150, 200-grit sandpaper and by hand you can just sand down the surface lightly and all you're doing is breaking any type of seal that has gone over the wood over the 12-month period and you're renewing the smell once again.
TOM: Pat Simpson, host of HGTV's Fix It Up! Thanks so much for stopping by and filling us all in on how to build a cedar closet. Great little project.
Hey, if you want more tips, you can go online and find step-by-step video instructions at CedarSafeClosets.com. That's CedarSafeClosets.com.
Thanks again, Pat.
PAT: You guys take care.
LESLIE: Hey, Pat, thanks so much for joining us.
You know closets; they are great projects and it really is a project that's good to add value to your home. But how much money will, say, a closet project recoup when you go to sell your house? Or maybe your kitchen or your bathroom? Well, we're going to tell you where to get that info so you can make those smart home improvement decisions, next.
[audio timestamp: 0:23:26.8]
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru Doors, the nation's leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. You can count on Therma-Tru for beautiful, reliable and easy-to-install entry doors. To learn more, visit ThermaTru.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Helping you build big dreams, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete and the number here at Team Money Pit is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Pick up the phone and give us a call right now. Be ready with your home improvement or your repair question. We can help you with just about everything in your house that you need to know about. Any burning question that you've got, we've got the answer.
And not only are you going to get our answer but we are going to give you the chance to win a great prize. We've got a home improver's dream. It is a paint tool prize pack from Zibra and it's got all the brushes, rollers and edgers you need for a fabulous job plus a handy tool to open all of that clamshell packaging that it seems like everything comes in these days that you just can't open. Well, the prize pack is worth 90 bucks but one caller that we talk to on the air this hour is going to win it for free.
TOM: 888-666-3974 is the number you need to call if you'd like to qualify for that great prize pack from Zibra. Remember, you've got to have a home improvement question and be willing to come on the air and ask us.
Well, unlike most other investments these days, your home actually can maintain its value if you take care of it. So make sure that you pay attention to the basic maintenance chores that you need. Make them your top priority because if you neglect the little things, I can tell you from 20 years as a home inspector, they can add up to big expenses later on.
LESLIE: And also, if you're thinking about improving your house, you want to make sure that you consider improvements carefully and that you spend your time and your money on the ones that are the most cost effective. Now you can check the current cost versus value report. It's done every year by Remodeling Online and it provides all the data that you need on popular improvements and the return on investment by region so you can find out exactly how that repair or that improvement is going to manage in exactly where you live, what you're going to get back on it. It really is a super-useful tool to help you get a lot of money back when you go to sell your home.
TOM: And it makes it a lot more pleasant while you're staying in your home, so call us right now with your home improvement question, your decorating dilemma. We're here to help you get those jobs done. 888-666-3974.
LESLIE: Charles in New York is feeling the chill and needs some help with a space heater. What can we do for you?
CHARLES: We live in a three-level house. Upstairs, when we plug in the space heater - because we're trying to figure out - you know we've always rented apartments and we're trying to figure out how can we manage our heat bill better -
TOM: Right.
CHARLES: So at night we turn down the thermostat and we plug in space heaters ...
TOM: Yep.
CHARLES: ... in a couple of the bedrooms.
TOM: OK.
CHARLES: But when you plug in the space heater, it shuts down all the power.
TOM: The reason for that is because the outlets that are in the bedrooms are probably 15-amp outlets ...
CHARLES: Oh.
TOM: ... and the space heater is drawing a lot more power than that.
CHARLES: Right.
TOM: And very frequently, that one circuit that goes through the bedrooms is usually the same circuit in all the bedrooms ...
CHARLES: OK.
TOM: ... for the outlets because, typically, you're only plugging like lights in it and the vacuum cleaner and that sort of thing. So you're obviously pulling more power than this particular home - than this particular circuit can take.
The solution is probably two-fold. First of all, I would look to see what I could do to make my home more energy efficient and EnergyStar.gov has a good home energy auditor on there that you can follow along step-by-step; try to save some money, perhaps add some additional insulation, things of that nature. And secondly, what you might want to try to do is you're only running these space heaters in the bedrooms you're sleeping in, is that correct?
CHARLES: Right.
TOM: Well, I might just give up on the space heaters; add a clock setback thermostat and maybe set it to go down after you get in bed at night when the covers are on and you're nice and warm.
CHARLES: OK.
TOM: That's what most people do. A clock setback thermostat will actually cut your heating bills by about ten percent at least.
LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Thanks so much for joining us this hour.
Hey, up next, replace or repair? How do you know which one is right? Do you just wait 'til something breaks down? Well, when we come back we are going to help one e-mailer sort all of this out because she's got a question about her furnace, so stick around.
[audio timestamp: 0:28:15.0]
(theme song)
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show where we make good homes better. I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or perhaps you're the shy type; head on over to MoneyPit.com, shoot us an e-mail question simply by clicking on Ask Tom and Leslie. We will get back to you on the show.
LESLIE: Alright, Mary from Indiana writes: 'We live in a 15-year-old home that has an energy efficient furnace. We plan on living there for about 10 more years before we retire to a warmer area. Should we upgrade our furnace now so that when we do sell it will only be ten years old instead of 25 or should we keep ours and, you know, keep it running well?'
TOM: I don't think it makes sense to replace a 10-year-old furnace. If you're going to replace it if it breaks down, you're going to have to replace it when it comes time to sell anyway. I would keep going with that; unless it's so inefficient that you'll get a good return on investment by replacing it before it fails. But generally, a 10-year-old furnace is only sort of halfway through its lifecycle. I'd go at least another 10 before I'd consider replacing that furnace.
LESLIE: Alright, I hope that helps you out there. And Mary, you know what? Enjoy your move to that warmer climate and, remember, just keep everything in good, operating shape in your house so that when it does come time to sell you will have all of that information, you'll know what's been serviced when and those folks will feel confident buying your house.
TOM: Well, Leslie, anyone who's ever gone to the supermarket to buy a package always sees the new and improved and sometimes you'll notice that the boxes - if you look very, very carefully - actually have gotten smaller in order for the price to go down. Did you ever notice that?
LESLIE: Of course and they're tricking you. No one will tell you that this is going on until you actually look at the weight.
TOM: Well, here's the home improvement version of that. Have you tried to buy a lamp lately?
LESLIE: Yeah, they're expensive.
TOM: The shade is extra. It never ...
LESLIE: Well, it's supposed to be so that you feel like you're the designer and you can create something extra special for your environment.
TOM: And that's why that is the topic of today's edition of Leslie's Last Word.
LESLIE: Yeah, and I actually have noticed that not only have the prices gone up on both items, but even a simple shade can be a little bit pricy. Now when you start thinking about the shades that are all jazzed up and sort of design-y and have a lot of texture and feel to them, you're looking at a lot of money and that's really not in our budgets these days. So when you're buying a new lamp, look at a lampshade that's far more simple in its design and in its shape. You could even actually make your own lampshades. Search it out online. You can find the frames for it. You can find the fabric. Lots of instructions on how to cut the fabric so it fits the frame the exact way you want it to; even on those crazy-shaped bell ones. So think about making your own.
But if it's in your budget to buy a simple lampshade - should run you around 10 or 15 bucks - go ahead and jazz it up a bit with trimmings or beads or feathers or ribbon; whatever you've got that really works with the design for your space. You can go ahead and add some trim to the bottom edge. If you want to give it a nice, layered look, do a simpler trim that's fairly thick then go smaller and smaller and smaller until you have something that's layered and very dimensional and beautiful in its design. It's something that we can all afford. It feels good to be creative. A glue gun is all you're going to need to get the project done.
But here is one glue gun tip because I always end up burning my fingers. If you keep a little cup or a dish of ice cold water with some ice cubes in there, as soon as you get that hot glue on your finger, go ahead and dip your finger into that water - because what it'll do is it'll stop that hot glue from sort of being hot and melting; it'll just sort of seal it up into a hard, little ball on your finger - and then peel it off. Because if you try to peel off that scorching hot glue, you're just going to get it from one finger to the next and on both and everybody's going to end up with a blister; all your fingers. So cool it down before you take it off.
TOM: (overlapping voices) And then you're going to stick your fingers together. (laughs)
LESLIE: Yeah, and it's no fun. It really does get super-hot.
TOM: 888-666-3974. Call us 24/7/365 if you've got a home improvement question or a do-it-yourself dilemma.
Coming up next week on the program, we're going to have some tips on helping you care for your carpets. You know they are cozy underfoot but taking care of them can be a bit tricky, so we're going to have some tips on the best carpet-care solutions for you, including how to get rid of those wrinkles that can be dangerous tripping hazards in your house.
I'm Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I'm Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Helping you build big dreams.
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(Copyright 2009 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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