Transcripts

Transcript For April 14, 2007, Hour 2

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: 1:00]

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: The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Why would you want to dial that? Well, I’m sure you have a home improvement question. You must have a do-it-yourself dilemma. Something’s going on at your house that you want to change. You know, we just started a home improvement project in our house and it seemed to never end because home improvement …

LESLIE: That’s because you did every room in the house, Tom.

TOM: It’s viral. It’s like connect the dots. You start in one room and you work your way around the house. But whether you’re doing the entire house or just one little project – maybe it’s something as simple as a floor squeak or a nail that’s popping through the wall or you’ve got an entire roof to replace – call us right now. We’ll help you get the job done quicker, safer and more economical. Call us now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.

Hey, speaking of roofs, here’s a question for you. When is it a good idea to have a hole in your roof?

LESLIE: Ooh, a riddle. I love them.

TOM: Well, when that hole is filled with a skylight (Leslie chuckles) it’s an excellent idea.

LESLIE: Excellent.

TOM: We’re going to give you some tips on how to install one, including how to keep the elements out. That’s the trick there. You know, putting skylights in are great but whenever you put a hole in your roof you have another risk of a leak. We’ll tell you how to do it without having a leak problem.

LESLIE: And you might have heard this very popular term uttered once or twice – curb appeal. And it is essential to get buyers in your door and it can actually increase the perceived value of your home. We’re going to tell you what you can do today that’s going to help give your home the nicest look on the outside and bring those selling dollars up and up.

TOM: And in a few minutes we’re going to tell you about a new bathroom design that’s not only stylish; it’s extremely practical. They are called barrier-free baths. And with us to talk about that will be the editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine, Kevin Ireton.

LESLIE: And this hour we’re giving away a combination automatically winding hose reel and garden sink from NO-CRANK. It’s a great prize. It gets its name from the patented water-powered technology that allows hands-free hose winding. No more muddy hands after you’ve done all that yard work. It’s worth 100 bucks but it could be yours for free.

TOM: If you pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: Listening in New Jersey on WABC we’ve got Grace. How can we help you?

GRACE: We have a house that’s about 120 years old and we moved into it four years ago. Just before we moved into it the house had had a fire. And they had restored the house but they preserved some of it. The hardwood floors on the first floor have these huge cracks in between the panels on the floor; the boards. And they had, at one point, finished them and put, it looks like, plastic wood or something in between but a lot of that …

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

GRACE: … [wiped out] (ph). And so we have these – it’s a very big floor. It spans over three rooms and there are large cracks that you can probably fit maybe one or two quarters in between. Is there any way I can like save the floor?

TOM: If you have a strip floor like that, it’s not designed to have a filler in between. It’s just not. Because each one of those boards is moving and the – anytime you put filler in between it’s going to expand and contract and, you know, kind of chunk up and fall out. You know, generally, those gaps are really sort of, I hate to say it, part of the charm of having the hardwood. If you’re looking for a floor that has no gaps in it, then you’re going to have to replace that.

GRACE: Right. But as far as the really big gaps, there’s really – other than just leaving them be there’s nothing I can do about it?

TOM: Well, if you replace sections of the hardwood floor and you’re able to, you know, restore the floor to closer to the way it was when it was originally installed, that’s an option. I had, for example, in my home we had – when we bought this house there was carpet all over the first floor. And we pulled it up we – no, we did find good news. We found gorgeous hardwood floors. The bad news was in the areas around the doorways it had completely worn so badly that you could almost – there was almost no tongue and groove left and the boards were really gapped. So we took up large sections of it but because the floor was so old, I actually had to physically make the hardwood – the new hardwood boards out of stock lumber. I had to physically plane them with the tongues and the grooves to match them in size because they actually were not available.

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) So that you can match them to the size.

TOM: So I was able to make it myself, you know, using a table saw and a router and so on.

GRACE: Right.

TOM: But you can replace boards in that way and if it’s some, you know, certain sort of limited areas of the room, it’s possible to do that. But short of that kind of a serious repair, it’s either live with it or replace it, Grace.

GRACE: OK. Thanks.

TOM: (chuckling) Thanks you think, right? (laughing)

GRACE: (laughing) No, not really. (laughing) But can you pull up one board at a time or do you have to do a whole section at a time?

TOM: Well no, you could pull up a couple of boards at a time and the way you would do that is you take a circular and cut that board in half and then it would come up [in pieces] (ph) so the board you want to replace you’d cut with a circular saw.

GRACE: And what the renovators did by putting that plastic wood in between the cracks, that was not a good thing?

TOM: Absolutely not.

LESLIE: And it’s only a temporary fix because eventually it’s going to break up or fall apart.

TOM: It’s a big maintenance hassle that they caused you by doing that.

GRACE: And that’s what’s happened here.

TOM: Yeah, it’s just – it was a completely inappropriate thing to do.

GRACE: OK. Well. (laughing) (inaudible)

TOM: Better luck next time, Grace. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

At least she has a sense of humor about it.

LESLIE: (chuckling) I guess that’s all you can have at that point.

Joe in New York is looking to get outdoors and enjoy a new deck. How can we help you?

JOE: Oh, hi! Hi, Leslie. Tom, how are you doing?

LESLIE: Hi!

TOM: Terrific! What’s cooking?

JOE: OK. I built a deck about eight years ago; a pressure-treated deck.

TOM and LESLIE: OK.

JOE: In my backyard. And each year I would treat it with like a Thompson water seal. And after like the third or fourth year I noticed the deck – the wood itself was – had excessive cracking in the grains of the wood.

TOM: Yes.

JOE: And I was told that was called checking.

TOM: Yes.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

JOE: And I tried to treat it, you know, for another year after that and I just couldn’t get it to stop. And I had a representative come over and look at it, from where I bought the lumber, but the store had gone out of business. So I couldn’t make any claim on it. And he told me that the wood itself, it wasn’t properly treated for the proper length of time under pressure.

TOM: That sounds like a lot of speculation, Joe. The bottom line is that wood is always going to crack and it’s always going to check. And even though it’s pressure treated, that stops the wood from rotting. It does not stop the wood from cracking.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

TOM: That checking and that cracking is normal wear and tear for lumber. That’s what happens. Now, for the most part it doesn’t affect the structural integrity of it …

LESLIE: But it affects the cosmetics issue of it and it can be …

TOM: Yeah. Exactly.

JOE: It looks very, very, you know, like somebody would take a knife and just score it.

TOM: Yeah. You might be happier if you stopped clear coating it and put a stain on it.

LESLIE: Well and also I think what you need to do at this point is strip the finish off. Whatever clear coat you have on there from all those years of just putting new – you know, new on top of old and you’re probably not getting the best adhesion, you want to use a chemical stripper – and I say get it down to the bare wood or as close to it as you can …

JOE: What about pressure-treating it off with some kind of chemical cleaner?

TOM: Well, you need a combination of chemical cleaner and some muscle. But what Leslie is suggesting is that you use a stripper because with all …

LESLIE: Which will do the work for you.

TOM: Right, exactly.

JOE: Oh.

LESLIE: And then …

JOE: But the deck is – the deck is rather large. It’s 36 feet by like 40.

LESLIE: Well …

TOM: Home improvements aren’t all simple, Joe. (chuckling)

LESLIE: Yeah, I mean this is going to be a project that’s going to take some time because you can’t do everything in one day and things need time to work and dry in between. But I would say use a chemical stripper. Flood makes a great line of products that are really effective. And take off all the finish that you can …

JOE: Right.

LESLIE: … and then once you see what that raw lumber looks like, you know, really assess then how it looks. There’s a lot of different options as far as solid stains or semi-transparents or even translucent stains. And a lot of them – especially the ones from Flood – are treated with a UV resistancy …

JOE: Oh …

LESLIE: … so that once you choose whether you want the solid stain – and if the lumber’s not looking so great, go with a solid stain and just choose a color that’s either natural or works with your color scheme or the siding or your shutters. Choose – there’s 60-something choices so pick something that works well for your décor and then get one that has a UV rating in it which is going to resist blistering and peeling and checking …

JOE: [It’s in the] (ph) sun quite a bit, you know.

LESLIE: Exactly. And then every year what you want to do is instead of putting a clear coat on top of it you want to use a cleanser and not just water to clean the deck surface and get rid of all the residue and the deposits that have been there all winter.

JOE: Because I put a lot of effort into building this gigantic deck. (chuckling)

LESLIE: So you want to love it.

TOM: Yeah, and now you want to protect it so that you can enjoy it for a long time.

JOE: Right, right. Oh, I appreciate your advice on this. Thank you very much.

TOM: You’re welcome, Joe. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Hey, Money Pit listeners. Are you wondering why that floor is squeaking? Well, we can help you fix it because now you can call in your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Just call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: Hey, speaking of floor squeaks, we recently put some carpet down on the second floor of our house and of course …

LESLIE: Now you’ll never know when your kids are home.

TOM: That is the perfect time to address floor squeaks; when you take them up. So of course I go up there and I very carefully nail down and screw down all of the loose boards and I carefully go like foot by foot across the entire surface; absolutely confident that I got every single one.

LESLIE: This sounds like there’s a “but.”

TOM: The carpet installers leave and the first step upstairs is like “squeak” …

LESLIE: “Squeak!” (laughing)

TOM: … right through the carpet. (chuckling) So it’s like chasing them around the house. You can’t always nail them down. But we will help you get close if you call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Up next, what can you do to your home that will make it seem roomier, save you money and actually help strengthen your bones and teeth? Hmm, now there’s a riddle for you.

LESLIE: That’s a riddle.

TOM: The answer is next.

[audio timestamp: 10:30]

(promo/theme song)

[audio timestamp: 14:22]

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, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Reminding you to measure twice, cut once and always keep a fire extinguisher handy. (Leslie chuckles) Because you never know! (chuckling) The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. If you call us right now you’ll get the answer and a chance at winning this hour’s prize, which is this very cool NO-CRANK garden sink. The NO-CRANK garden sink with hose reel. It’s worth 100 bucks. And basically it’s a water-powered hose reel that makes rewinding and storing your hose totally effortless. It’s got this water-powered engine that rewinds your hose.

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have a water-powered engine for your car?

LESLIE: That would be amazing. Think about how wonderful it would be for the environment.

TOM: Maybe they’re on to something here.

LESLIE: Alright, Tom.

Alright, so before the break you riddled me this, Batman. What can you add to your home that’s going to help make it seem more spacious, save you money and possibly help strengthen your bones and teeth? Hmm.

TOM: Well, it’s a skylight of course.

LESLIE: That’s right, Tom. In fact, skylights – not only can they open up room and bring in some natural light; they make small spaces seem larger and create energy-efficient possibilities that can actually help lower your utility bills. Plus some studies show that people who are exposed to more sunlight may find a boost in their vitamin D, which is known to strengthen teeth and bones.

TOM: Ah, but there is a big risk – a big headache – if your skylight is not installed correctly. You may end up with costly water damage.

LESLIE: Yeah, like a ton of water coming in the hole in your roof.

TOM: Absolutely. So, you know, when you’re building skylights or any other roof detail like the valleys, the rake edges, the chimneys, the ridges …

LESLIE: Which are the weakest parts of the roof, right?

TOM: Right. All these places where roofs intersect; where things come through the roof or where they intersect you have to take precautions, otherwise you’re going to get water problems there.

You know, there’s a product by Grace that’s really the first of its kind. It’s specifically designed for waterproofing these roof details; these tricky places. It’s simply called Roof Detail Membrane.

LESLIE: It’s a good name.

TOM: It basically is just that. It means a flexible membrane that conforms really tightly to all the roof details; all of the places around the chimneys, the vents, the skylights where water can get in. You know, it’s a little protection but it can go a long way. If you put your skylight in correctly with a product like that it’s going to last you a long time with no leaks.

If you want more information on how to put in leak-free skylights, we can recommend this website – it’s GraceAtHome.com. GraceAtHome.com. Or you can call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Leslie, who’s next?

LESLIE: Talking home building with Peter in New Jersey on WABC. What can we do for you?

PETER: Thomas Edison built a number of cement homes; totally out of cement. They’re still standing.

TOM: Yes.

PETER: I was thinking of building maybe a cement dome home and I was wondering are there certain cements that are less toxic and also does cement have any disadvantages over a wooden house. For instance, does it have more moisture or have negative environmental like effects upon (inaudible)?

TOM: Well, a concrete home is a very earth-friendly home. You mentioned a dome house. One thing to keep in mind is that if you build something that has a very unusual design like that, it may not have the same return on investment as one that’s more traditional.

If you want to build a concrete home, clearly the best way to do that is with something called insulated concrete forms – ICF homes. Insulated concrete forms are basically forms that look like large foam blocks. They kind of look like huge LEGO blocks. And the way you build an ICF house is you stack these blocks up into the shape of the exterior walls on a traditional footing. And then, inside of these blocks these foam blocks are hollow core. And you snap rebar and other types of reinforcing bar inside the blocks and then you pour, from the top down, the entire wall. And as the concrete hardens, the foam blocks stay in place and you end up with a super-insulated wall.

A concrete home that’s built that way needs a third less energy than a traditional home; be it wood or concrete. There’s a terrific website that the Portland Cement Association put together years ago called ConcreteHomes.com that gives you lots of tips on that. But I’ve been a fan of ICF construction for many, many years. And what’s also nice about this block technology is that once you’re done, you don’t have to have a house that looks concrete. You can actually attach wood siding to it if you want to blend in with your neighborhood.

PETER: Well, thank you. And also is there any kind of like more moisture with concrete than a wood house or not really?

TOM: No, not necessarily. The same moisture management principles apply: good grading, good drainage and, you know, proper humidity control inside the house. But it’s got lots of advantages and almost no disadvantages. It’s super-insulated so it requires a smaller furnace, a smaller air conditioning system. It’s also highly storm resistant. And if you build it right, with the exterior walls being the load-bearing structure, you can actually move walls around inside the house as your needs and family changes.

PETER: Thank you very much.

TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Talking with Tom in South Carolina. How can we help?

TOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, I have some kitchen cabinets that I painted about two, three years ago.

TOM: OK.

TOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA: And I used a high gloss, oil-based paint. And I’m not really satisfied with the paint job that I have. And I was curious to know what kind of paint would be best for kitchen cabinets, what kind of paint can I put on top of an oil base?

LESLIE: Well, what are you not satisfied about? Are there markations that you don’t like? Is it not wearing well? What don’t you like about it?

TOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA: It’s not wearing well. And I think it’s because I didn’t prepare the surface well before I painted.

LESLIE: Most likely.

TOM: Yeah, because preparation is really the key. And if you didn’t prepare it well then you’re not going to be happy with the results, Tom. You chose, by the way, the best paint, which is an oil-based paint for kitchen cabinets. And the reason I say that is because it’s the most durable. Clearly it’s harder than a latex product. So what we would recommend is to sand those cabinets as best as you possibly can …

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. And you don’t have to start off sanding them. You can use a chemical stripper …

TOM: Right.

LESLIE: … to help break up that paint. One that I’ve used with some success is called Rock Miracle.

TOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA: OK.

LESLIE: And it’s kind of pasty so it goes on almost like a rubber cement and you can actually see it change as it works. And then, you know, use a wire brush but don’t be too aggressive with it because you don’t want to damage the surface. And try to get down as far as you can and then you can go ahead and sand it. And that should give you a pretty clean surface. Of course, then use a tack cloth and make sure you get rid of all the dust and a paint brush – you know, a plain, dry paint brush is a good way to get into all the nooks and crannies to get rid of all the extra dust. And once everything is clean …

TOM: And just in case, I would also recommend that you use a primer.

LESLIE: Oh, yeah.

TOM: Because you can’t go wrong with putting an extra layer of primer on because primer’s really the material that gives you a neutral surface, it floats out nice and it gives you a great surface for the topcoat to stick. So sand it down, get it real clean, add a primer and then topcoat it again.

Now I don’t know what you didn’t like about the oil finish you had before. High gloss is risky. If you use a semi-gloss, you know, you can have a less-than-perfect paint application and have it still look good.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

TOM: And when you make it really shiny, everything shows.

LESLIE: Also, there are additives, Tom, that you can add to your paint. The Flood company makes one called Floetrol and Penetrol. One is for oil-based; one is for latex. I can’t remember which is which at this moment. But it helps to make sure that you don’t get brush marks or any sort of dings that you might see in the paint in case you, you know, skip a brush stroke or miss a space. It helps to sort of keep things fluid a little bit longer so that they look smoother.

And also, if you’re thinking about refinishing these cabinets, if you’re thinking about changing your hardware or the type of hardware or the hardware location, make sure you fill those holes and drill your new ones before you go about refinishing so you can make sure everything’s dry and smooth and nice.

TOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Very good. I never would have thought of that. Appreciate your help.

TOM: Making good homes better every single day, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show.

Up next, let’s talk barrier-free baths. It’s a great idea; it’s a gorgeous way to update your bathroom; and it’s a bathroom that has no barriers and is easy to use regardless of age. What do you do to create one? How exactly is it done? What’s the step-by-step? We’re going to get tips from our expert, Kevin Ireton, the editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine, after this.

[audio timestamp: 22:48]

(theme song)

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: Welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Call us now with your home improvement question. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Call us now if you’re thinking about making a bath upgrade to your house. Perhaps your bath is looking a little tired. Well there are some new ways to construct baths that are much more accessible and we’re going to talk about that right now.

LESLIE: Yeah, actually they’re called Euro baths and they get that name because that’s actually where that design concept started from. But this bathroom design is getting more and more popular on this side of the Atlantic right here in the U.S. It’s a bathroom with no boundaries, no distinction between the shower and the rest of the room; open plan.

TOM: You know, it’s a perfect design for disabled homeowners but I’ve got to tell you, when I lived in Europe – I went to an architectural school in Europe and, Leslie, when I moved into the dorm – it was called a collegium that I stayed in (Leslie chuckles) – and I looked at the bathroom, I was like, “Uh, where’s the shower?”

LESLIE: Yeah, and they all use the handheld shower heads …

TOM: Well, it was weird.

LESLIE: … and you want to spray everything with water but you’re like, “Aw, I can’t.”

TOM: Yeah, it was like, “Where’s the shower?” And then I saw this like very strange, large curtain and I was like – the shower was like built into the bathroom and it was really strange. And I looked down on the floor, there’s the drain. So that was the euro bath and now, like many things in architecture, that design is coming across the water, so to speak …

LESLIE: And it’s really high end when done right.

TOM: It is and it’s gorgeous. And with us to talk about that is Kevin Ireton. Kevin, of course, is the editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine.

Hey, Kevin.

KEVIN: Hi, guys. How you doing?

TOM: Have you been to Europe and actually walked into these – one of these euro baths and just asked yourself where was the shower?

KEVIN: I have. (Leslie chuckles) And it’s just a wonderful feeling. I think, you know, in most houses the most obnoxious thing is the shower curtain. And in a lot of the (inaudible) bathrooms …

LESLIE: Unless you sew a beautiful one out of fabric with love and care. (Tom laughs)

KEVIN: That’s true. But you know, in a lot of these kind of euro baths, I mean there literally is no shower curtain. I mean you’re just sort of standing in a corner of the bathroom. (Leslie chuckles) And because the floor is sloped to drain and everything’s tiled, it doesn’t matter if it gets wet.

TOM: Yeah, you need a squeegee though to kind of dry off the walls when you’re done.

LESLIE: Yeah, dry the tiles.

KEVIN: That’s true. You do have to be careful about things getting slippery. You have to pick the right tiles.

LESLIE: Yeah and how do you – I mean I guess the most important thing would then be the pitch of the floor.

KEVIN: That’s the trickiest part and that’s the detail that we just recently covered in our latest issue. What you do is you build what’s called a mortar bed floor, which literally means it’s a thin layer of mortar or concrete. But then the floor has to be sloped to drain. And that’s part of the reason why you want that thickness – thick mortar bed, is that you can …

TOM: So you do the slope with the mortar itself? In other words, you pour the mortar and then slope it towards the drain so the mortar actually picks up the height of the floor a couple of inches?

KEVIN: That’s the main trick; although in some circumstances, if you’re in new construction, you can actually frame – I mean typically what happens is that the area where the shower actually is has a fairly strong slope to it.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

KEVIN: Other parts, then, of the bathroom are leveled off where the tub sits and where the vanity would sit. And in some cases, you can actually recess the framing in the area where the shower is actually going to be …

LESLIE: To make that area even more sloped or more pronounced on its own.

KEVIN: Exactly. But then the process of creating that slope is kind of a tricky one for the tile setter because he has to be a bit of a sculptor as he creates those recesses.

LESLIE: Well then, I guess also then tile choice is going to be extremely important on how this all plays out.

KEVIN: Absolutely. And one of the things to keep in mind there is that you kind of want smaller tiles.

TOM: Yeah, because big tiles don’t bend. (chuckling)

KEVIN: Exactly, exactly. And so the smaller the better. And I think most tile setters would say, you know, four inch or smaller. You know, the mosaics are the best kind of thing to create because they will flow with those recesses.

TOM: Now Kevin, I wonder if building a euro bath is any more or less expensive than building a traditional bath. Because when you build a traditional bath you have the expense of the shower pan or the shower stall, whatever treatment is on those walls. Do you find that there’s a significant cost difference either way with building a bath that’s like this?

KEVIN: I think it depends totally on whether – if you’re talking that you were going to do a custom shower stall anyway, then there probably isn’t a huge difference. But if you were going to put in a – you know, a fiberglass shower pan and tile the walls above the shower pan, then that’s definitely going to be a less expensive approach.

LESLIE: I mean it seems like this concept of this open-plan bath – not only can it be quite gorgeous because, as you mentioned, with the small mosaic tiles there are so many companies that are doing these mosaics not in just a color blend but in really interesting patterns that really play out a very specific design style. So you get something aesthetically pleasing but also, you know, almost conducive to universal design.

KEVIN: Absolutely. I mean we haven’t even talked about the fact that, especially with us aging baby boomers – Tom and I at least, Leslie. (Tom and Leslie laugh) I know you’re not in that group. But you know, this – a bathroom like this, where there’s no curb, there’s no tub that you have to step over, not only creates this elegant feeling but also creates a bathroom that a person in a wheelchair can use or someone in a walker. You know, it becomes a much more accessible kind of showering arrangement.

LESLIE: And it’s just an interesting concept. I know – I spent some time in Greece visiting a friend and I always felt compelled to – just because I could – spray every tile surface with the handheld shower sprayer just because I wasn’t allowed at home; everything was so sealed off and confined (Tom laughs). So I found myself just sort of having fun and spraying all tile surfaces. But I guess …

TOM: Well, it makes cleanup a breeze.

LESLIE: Yeah, really easy.

TOM: But you’ve got to watch where you put your towels, though, when you’re showering. (laughing)

LESLIE: Exactly. But it does make a lot of sense and they really – especially, I think, in a smaller bathroom scenario …

TOM: Yeah.

LESLIE: … it tends to feel like you have a lot more space.

TOM: Yeah, it would definitely save room without having to find room for the shower stall itself.

Kevin Ireton, editor of Fine Homebuilding magazine, thanks for stopping by The Money Pit. Great information as always.

You can read more about barrier-free baths in the current issue of Fine Homebuilding magazine which is on newsstands now or online at FineHomebuilding.com.

LESLIE: Alright, folks. Well, we were talking earlier about curb appeal. You might be wondering, “What is curb appeal?” Well, if you’re planning on selling your home any time soon, it’s the most important thing that you should be considering. When we come back we’re going to tell you one improvement that can add to your curb appeal and your asking price, so stick around.

[audio timestamp: 29:42]

(promo/theme song)

[audio timestamp: 33:46]

ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit is brought to you by Dens Armor Plus, the revolutionary paperless drywall from Georgia-Pacific.

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Pick up your phone right now. We have three lines open and waiting for you. Let us give you a hand. You want to know how much your project should cost? You want to know how not to get ripped off when starting a project? Do you want to know if it’s a project you can do yourself or get a pro to help? Call us right now. We’ll give you the answer. 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: So, earlier we were talking about the value of curb appeal and really …

TOM: We were.

LESLIE: … how it can benefit your home. And you know what? It can benefit your neighbors as well because I know a couple of people on my block whose outside of their houses are looking a little worse for the wear. And in fact, the verdict is in. Experts agree that landscaping is the least expensive way to improve your home’s first impression and increase your chances for a quick sale at an increased price. In fact, studies are showing that spending just $500 on landscaping can add as much as $5,000 to your selling price.

TOM: Wow.

LESLIE: So you do the math. It’s a good investment.

TOM: Absolutely. And so is calling us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT; the call that’s worth more than what you paid for it (Leslie chuckles) because it’s free. See, we set a standard that’s easy to achieve. We like to under-promise and over-deliver. 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Leslie, who’s next?

LESLIE: Alice in New Hampshire’s got a leaky roof but can’t find that water source. Hopefully we can help. Tell us about it, Alice.

ALICE: Oh, hi. This water source would be on the roof and it appears in my second-story bathroom which is over my first. But I built this house in ’71 and this stain appeared – oh, it took years; maybe six or seven or somewhere in there years before I saw this and then repainted. Just don’t know how to get rid of it. I had the roof done over and it – and I pointed that out. I said, “There’s a problem.” I showed the roofers back in ’88 when they did the roof again and it has come back.

TOM: Alice, that was 19 years ago (chuckling) when they did the roof. I know exactly what’s causing that leak in your house. The reason it’s leaking is because the vent pipe from the bathroom is going through the roof right over that area. And around the vent pipe there’s a piece of flashing. And if that flashing was last installed with a new roof in 1988 – 19 years ago – it’s time for a new one. These don’t last 19 years.

ALICE: Oh. The vent pipe.

TOM: The vent pipe. You don’t need a new vent pipe. You need a new flashing piece around it.

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) It’s the flashing around it.

TOM: It’s like a rubber doughnut with an aluminum surround that fits on top of that pipe. And it breaks down from exposure to sunlight. It breaks down in five years, let alone 19 years.

ALICE: Oh, yes. I have a lot of sun there. OK.

TOM: Yeah. And so that’s what’s causing your leak. If you get that fixed, the water’s not going to come in anymore. Probably it’s worse when you get a driving rain and it pours against that area at an angle. But that’s clearly what’s happening. And it’s easy to diagnose a leak over a bathroom because there’s always a big old vent pipe that goes right through that.

ALICE: Thank you.

TOM: Yeah. I know that roof still seems new to you but 19 years old is pretty old roof, Alice, so it’s time for a repair at the least. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: In Alabama you can find The Money Pit on WRJM just like David does. What can we do for you and your money pit?

DAVID: Hi, I had a question about my house and putting in hardwood floors versus laminate. My house is fairly new. We’re the first occupants. And my wife wants laminate but I want hardwood. And it’s only worth about 80, maybe 85,000. Would we get the value when we sold it in several years if we put hardwood versus, you know, the cheaper …

TOM: What are we talking about? Where in the house?

DAVID: The bulk of the house. It’s a three bedroom, two bath and we’re going to put it in the living room, dining room and kitchen.

TOM: I think you’re probably going to get better ROI, if you’re concerned about resale, by putting in real wood versus laminate, as good as …

LESLIE: But is it a single floor house? Are you going right on concrete slab? Is it many stories?

DAVID: It’s a single story on concrete slab.

TOM: You can put wood floor down but it has to be engineered hardwood. Engineered hardwood is made just like plywood is made with opposing …

LESLIE: It’s like the compromise of hardwood.

TOM: Yes.

LESLIE: It’s the hardwood that can go many places in the house.

TOM: Yeah, and I’d recommend the prefinished because the finishes today are very, very durable. And look at the grades carefully. You know, they have residential grades and commercial grades and the commercial grade stuff is virtually indestructible. It’s just a lot tougher. And so, that would give you a really long term, good-looking wood floor that would contribute to resale. As good as laminate is, I’d still think that the hardwood floor – engineered or solid – is going to give you better ROI when it comes time to sell.

DAVID: OK. People will just automatically know or …?

TOM: Well, can you fool them, you mean, if you put down laminate?

DAVID: Yeah.

TOM: You could but not in the listing (chuckling) when they ask you about floor type and you’re going to have to say laminate even though it looks like hardwood.

LESLIE: I mean but the difference is that laminate can go anywhere. If you’re dealing with high moisture, laminate’s an excellent choice. It can look like anything so if you didn’t want it to look like wood it could be anything else under the sun. It’s going to be probably similar in price, if you were to go higher end on the laminates, to the engineered hardwood. But it’s very important, when you look at the hardwoods, go engineered; otherwise, you really cannot put a solid hardwood on the concrete.

TOM: Yeah, it’ll warp and twist and you’ll be very unhappy.

You know, there’s a good book online at the website for Armstrong Floors. It’s The Complete Guide to Flooring and it has all of the strengths and the weaknesses of various types of floors. You might want to print that out – it’s about 40 pages – and take a good read-through of that. But I think you’ll find that a wood flooring – engineered wood flooring – is probably a great choice here.

DAVID: OK, I appreciate it.

TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show.

Up next, we’re going to take an e-mail from one listener who’s having a really hard time tracing a water leak. It’s contributing to a mildew growth problem. We’re going to tackle that, after this.

[audio timestamp: 39:48]

(theme song)

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Are you an allergy sufferer, Leslie?

LESLIE: I am, actually. Constantly in the spring and the fall I’m on the meds.

TOM: It is the season. That’s right, spring is the allergy season. But you know, outdoor conditions may not be the only reasons that you are sniffling and sneezing. The EPA has named indoor air pollution as one of the top five environmental health risks.

LESLIE: In fact, the EPA is also saying that indoor air can actually be 100 times more polluted than outdoor air. And think about it. You’ve got those windows closed. You’re breathing that air over and over again, so no wonder why you’re sneezing.

Coming up in our next e-newsletter, what you can do at your home to help you breathe more easily. If you’re not a subscriber to our e-newsletter, why not? Sign up now at MoneyPit.com. It’s free. It comes into your inbox every Friday.

And while you’re at our website getting lots of valuable information at MoneyPit.com, you can also click on Ask Tom and Leslie. And here we have an e-mail from Allen in Cantonment, Florida. That’s a crazy name. “I have noted that the area around where the showerhead water supply lines penetrate the drywall of the bathroom remains damp and is susceptible to mildew growth. The wall opposite the area in the question shows no water stains or indications of water damage. Where do you think the dampness is originating and how can it be controlled?”

TOM: Allen, the problem is you. You are the problem. How can you ….

LESLIE: You think he’s just splashing around?

TOM: Yeah. He’s in between the water stream and the wall. When you stand and take a shower, think about it, the water hits you and splashes back toward the showerhead. So that’s why that wall has got more mildew on it than the opposite wall which you’re basically protecting with your bod.

LESLIE: And it seems like there’s no tile or anything over there. He’s saying it’s just drywall.

TOM: Yeah, the only thing you can really do in this situation is: A – clean all the mildew off. Use a bleach solution, probably a 10 to 20 percent bleach solution to spray on the walls, scrub off all the mold …

LESLIE: Kill that mold.

TOM: … and mildew, right. Get that done; and then use a bath paint that has a mildicide in it. Most of the bath paints do have a mildicide additive and that’s going to fight it from coming back.

LESLIE: And they’re also more easily cleanable as well. They put something in the paint to make it so that you can scrub it and clean it. That’s why they’re made for bathrooms.

TOM: Absolutely. And that’s the best way to try to keep that mildew in check.

LESLIE: Alright, here is another one from Cindy in Burke, Virginia who writes: “I have a sump pump at the basement which runs every five minutes. It also runs often after a rain. So much water is flowing into the sump pump. Any suggestions or solutions?”

TOM: Well, it runs every five minutes but more often after a rain? (chuckling)

LESLIE: (chuckling) Yeah.

TOM: So then it runs every minute. It basically never shuts off.

LESLIE: Then it’s on continually.

TOM: First things first, Cindy. If you have any type of water problem that is worse after a rainfall, the problem is always outside your house. The problem is your gutter system is probably blocked; it’s overflowing; it’s dumping water near the foundation.

LESLIE: Your downspouts are blocked. They’re depositing the water by the foundation. Your grading is off.

TOM: And all that water will leak through the wall. It’ll fall through hollow block walls. It’ll push under footings and come up. And that is what’s getting to the sump pump. So you need to deal with that.

Secondly, check the discharge on that sump pump. It may be that you’re dumping that water out of the sump pump close to the foundation.

LESLIE: Right back into the foundation.

TOM: Right. Which is like a dog chasing its tail; you know, it’s just going in circles. The water’s going out, it’s going back down through the foundation and back. And so check the discharge. But if you have water problems that are worse after a rain, it’s always grading; it’s always drainage. And the good news is it’s always easy to fix.

LESLIE: Alright. Good work, Cindy. Get to it and you’ll have a nice, dry basement before you know it.

TOM: You’ve been listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show where we believe you can never have too many power tools. And there’s more than one way to get a power tool. You can buy it or you can rent it. So coming up next week, I’m going to give you some tips that you can apply to those instances where you need a tool, don’t want to buy it but just want to rent it. That’s coming up next week on the program.

I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …

LESLIE: But you don't have to do it alone.

(theme song)

[audio timestamp: 44:33]

END HOUR 2 TEXT

(Copyright 2007 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.)

Print Version