Transcripts

Transcript For April 5, 2008, 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:

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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: Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT with your home improvement projects. It’s a great hour; it’s a great idea. We’re here to help you get those jobs done. 888-666-3974.

Coming up on today’s program, green products – they’re no longer a niche market; they’re pretty much mainstream as a lot of companies are working to keep up with consumer demand. Now, you’ve heard us talk about the new WaterSense rating; brand new this year from the folks at the EPA. It’s very similar to the Energy Star rating so, coming up this hour we’ll have details on some of the newest WaterSense products that are out there for your home.

LESLIE: And also ahead, we’ve got a quick, easy and cheap way to freshen the air in your home. No more spraying cans and cans of stuff to mask those odors.

TOM: And you know paint can do a lot for your walls but if you want to really take it to the next level you have to think of ways to bring some more visual interest to them. In just a few minutes we’re going to tell you some tricks of the home improvement trade on how you can really make those walls pop.

LESLIE: And you’ve seen them on TV but now we’re giving them away on the radio. We have got a prize pack of three as-seen-on-TV products including a Go Duster, a Stick Up Bulb and a Closet Doubler. It’s a great package. It’s worth 65 bucks. But you’ve got to be in it to win it so give us a call for your chance to win.

TOM: The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.

Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: Well, our number one question here at The Money Pit is flooring and adding to that number one-ness of the topic, we’ve got Donna in Tennessee. What can we do for you?

DONNA: What I’m interested in, we had a house built and currently I live in a 30-year-old home. And I want to get the most bang for my buck, so I’m wondering whether I should refloor in carpet or laminate; if that would – with the housing slump the way it is, I want to make sure that I’m going to get interested buyers.

LESLIE: And what rooms would this be for? The entire first floor?

DONNA: Yes. I’m a ranch on a basement and the basement is finished and I have new carpet down there and I didn’t know whether I should go with the laminate flooring or recarpet the top floor.

LESLIE: OK, well Tom’s going to yell at you about the carpet in the basement but before he does, I think for the first floor of the home, I don’t know, I feel like carpeting is such a commitment. When you go wall-to-wall carpeting it’s a very stylistic choice – it’s an overwhelming color even if you go in a neutral tone; whereas if you do a laminate, which could be in the similar price range as a wall-to-wall carpeting depending on, you know, the type and the quality that you choose and with laminates it depends on, you know, a variety of things: the brands, the different levels of finishes on it. But a laminate can look like anything and you can really get some that duplicate the natural look of wood so well and that gives the buyer the opportunity to have a truly neutral, easy, cleanable surface that they can jazz up with throw rugs, area rugs and really make it their own.

TOM: And the reason that carpet is not a good idea in the basement is because the basement is so damp, carpet essentially becomes mold food. Not only will you get potential mold that will grow there but it also becomes a place that can harbor all sorts of allergens: dust mites and different types of fungus.

DONNA: Even if it has its own return for the basement area?

TOM: Absolutely. Yep. Carpet is just not a good thing for a basement.

DONNA: OK.

LESLIE: A while ago, when I got my house, my husband and I moved in; there was carpeting in the basement and it was awesome and cozy and I loved it and we did everything to keep it dry and gutters got overwhelmed; downspouts not functioning; bad storm; basement flooded. That carpet was a disaster. And hopefully that never happens to you but it did happen to us and we put in a laminate floor and I love it.

TOM: And also there’s a lot of folks that, you know, have carpet in their basements and then they have kids that are crawling on the carpet and the kids develop respiratory issues. So it’s just not a good idea …

DONNA: OK.

TOM: … for a whole bunch of reasons. Stay with a hard surface flooring.

DONNA: OK. Now, laminate, as far as for basements, if it gets wet – like, for instance, you said yours flooded – that damages the laminate?

LESLIE: Not at all.

TOM: No.

LESLIE: It’s made for a moist environment.

DONNA: OK.

TOM: And it’s easy to clean and it wears like the dickens, too.

DONNA: OK.

LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Pick up the phone. Give us a call with your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Any time you feel like it, we are there for you at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Up next, easy ways to add interest to plain, boring walls.

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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Century 21. Now more than ever, your local Century 21 agent is ready to help you find your path home. Start the journey now by visiting your local Century 21 office or Century21.com. Century 21. The GOLD Standard.

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: Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT to get in on our prize giveaway. One caller we help out on the air today is going to get a chance at our random prize drawing to win three as-seen-on-TV products worth 65 bucks; including a Go Duster, a Stick Up Bulb and a Closet Doubler. But wait, there’s more. The only way to get in is to pick up the phone and call us and ask your home improvement question. There’s always a catch with those as-seen-on-TV prizes, huh?

LESLIE: Yeah, and I wanted you to do a better TV announcer voice. I wanted you to be like, “But wait!”

TOM: But wait! There’s more.

LESLIE: Exactly.

TOM: And if you call before midnight tonight, we’ll give you the answer to your home improvement question and a chance at winning a fabulous prize.

LESLIE: Alright, I loved it. (Tom chuckles) Hey, when you guys call in you better give us your best TV announcer voice; otherwise, we’re not going to let you ask your question. No, I’m kidding. You can call us anytime and ask anything you like.

And maybe one of those is a new way to really perk up or dress up or enhance, you know, a room that you’re just getting a little bit tired of at home. And a good way to add visual interest by changing things around in your room is simply adding, you know, some chair rail or crown or base moulding; even wainscoting. You can use all of these beautiful features to create just interesting details within the room. You can use flat moulding or you can take all of these different moulding components and create a frame on the wall. And when I say a frame, you know, you can get those little curved corner pieces of moulding that match the straight runs of moulding and create a beautiful, framed-out piece; maybe a longer square or rectangle and a shorter one below it; however you might see it in an Architectural Digest or a House Beautiful or a Country Home magazine; something that might inspire you there. And then what you can do is paint the area within that new sort of frame of moulding a different color, a complimentary tone or even wallpaper; something that’s just fun and bright and unexpected. And all of this can really jazz up your space and it’s really done on the cheap because you can get good remnants of wall coverings.

There’s a good website called Second Hand Rose and they sell really nice vintage pieces of wallpaper that you can get small pieces or large pieces for a really low price. So be creative and change those rooms around.

TOM: And remember, this type of moulding work doesn’t really take a lot of skill or a lot of fancy tools and if you don’t want to work with wood you can use composites that are basically ready to be painted and all you need to do is cut them, fit them on the wall and you are good to go.

888-666-3974. Let’s get back to the phones.

Leslie, who’s next?

LESLIE: Time for some kitchen counter help with Becky in Minnesota. What’s going on at your money pit?

BECKY: Hi, Tom and Leslie. I have an old kitchen counter. It’s laminate and the pattern on it is a butcher block pattern. And the top, the varnish, is peeling on it and I’m just wondering how we could fix that without replacing the countertops or is there anything I can do to jazz up the countertop? Maybe paint over it or any suggestions you’ve got.

TOM: Well, first of all, laminate countertop does not have a “varnish” on it.

BECKY: OK.

TOM: So if the surface is wearing off then it’s actually the laminate that’s wearing, Becky. So there’s nothing that you can do to restore that. Two ideas come to mind: number one – you can relaminate an existing laminate countertop. You can put another layer of laminate on top of that for probably less than the cost of replacing the entire top. And the second thing that she could do, Leslie, is to tile it.

LESLIE: Yeah, tiling over laminate is extremely easy and it’s a great do-it-yourself project; especially if you go with those smaller inch-square or those ¼-inch mosaic tiles that are on the mesh backing, just because it’s so simple to do and you end up with really very few cuts that need to be made and, the most part, you can do them with those simple mosaic tile snippers so it’s all really manageable. And then the front edge is easy to do as well. You can get a thicker border tile that just has a good, smooth backboard (ph) that you can find at any tile store. Or if you want to continue those smaller mosaics, there’s like a metal edge that you find at the home center. Not sure if it’s in the tile section. I find it at The Home Depot a gajillion times when I’m doing this but I don’t remember the section. And it’s got like a flat edge that would go along the counter edge and then it sort of dips down into a tray on the bottom and that would be like the buffer to stop those tiles from falling off.

BECKY: I am very excited about that. I never really thought you could do it that way. What an easy project that could be.

LESLIE: Yeah and it looks great and you can really change the entire look. Now, if you want to just change the laminate, Formica, Lamin-Art, Wilsonart; those are all companies that make laminates; you can find them through a variety of distributors. And the laminates today, I mean really look fantastic and you can get some super-edgy, earthy style sort of designs or colors that you might be jazzed about, too.

BECKY: And they can go right over top of the existing countertop?

TOM: Yes, they can. You need to rough it up just a little bit but the contact cement will adhere the new laminate right to the old, Becky. OK?

BECKY: Alright. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

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

LESLIE: Tin roof! Rusting. (Tom chuckles) George, you’ve got a rusty roof. What happened?

GEORGE: I had cedar shakes put on the front of my garage and what happened, after the first rain I’m getting what I call teardrops from the nails.

TOM: Right.

GEORGE: What he did he put steel nails instead of galvanized or stainless steel.

TOM: Right.

GEORGE: Now, I don’t know what I can do about that.

TOM: Not much.

GEORGE: I called him and he has – he answered the phone but he’s never come down.

TOM: Yeah. Not much. He used the wrong fastener, George.

GEORGE: Yeah.

TOM: The only thing I can suggest is if you were to stain those cedar shingles –

GEORGE: Yeah.

TOM: – perhaps with a bit of a darker stain – it may not be quite so obvious. But that metal is going to react. If he didn’t use the right fasteners it’s going to react and it’s going to streak.

GEORGE: That’s why he probably doesn’t come down. (Leslie chuckles)

TOM: Yeah, probably not. And I suppose you’ve already paid him …

GEORGE: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

TOM: … so it’s too late for that. Yeah, the only thing else, you could consider a small claims court but it might just be easier to stain these shingles.

GEORGE: (overlapping voices) Yeah. No, I don’t want to do that. No. OK, alright I want to thank you very much for taking my call.

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

LESLIE: Alright, on to a cleaning question with Jill. How can we help you?

JILL: Well, I’ve installed marble countertops in my new kitchen; in my remodeled kitchen. And I’m finding, very quickly – it’s only been about a month – that I’m getting spots on the counter that I can’t get off. Not dirt spots but they seem to be almost like a sponge kind of spot; like I’ve wiped it and it looks like the sponge mark is still there.

LESLIE: Marble is very, very, very porous and that’s why it’s generally not recommended as a countertop surface. If the natural stone look is something that you were leaning towards, that’s why granite is way more appropriate for that application; because marble does tend to suck up everything in sight.

Now, you’re saying it’s not really – it’s not like a wine stain or some sort of liquid. It’s just from like a wet sponge sitting there?

JILL: Right, right. I’ve wiped – when I wiped the counter, and all I use is just plain soap and water, what I’m finding is that there are marks. And it’s been sealed. I was told by the fabricator that it’s been sealed. But it doesn’t seem like it’s holding the seal.

TOM: Well, marble needs a lot of maintenance and that’s one of the issues of using that natural material. There’s a good website out there called Stone Care International. Their website is StoneCare.com. And they have a marble cleaner and sealer called Marbamist.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm, it’s a hard one to say.

TOM: And then they have another product called Spray-N-Seal. And those are both good products to use on an ongoing basis to try to keep this in good shape. But when you buy marble you need a lot of maintenance.

LESLIE: And you know what else works good with marble is borax. If you just carefully and gently take some borax and rub it into the surface with a moistened cloth and then rinse it well with warm water and then buff it with a clean, soft cloth, that could give you a head start in getting that stain out and then keep you towards the maintenance.

TOM: Jill, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Larry in Connecticut is dealing with mold. What’s going on at your house?

LARRY: I put a new roof on my house. My old roof had – looked like black mold on it.

TOM: OK.

LARRY: It’s black. I don’t know. I don’t know how bad it is, but anyway they took that roof off and put a whole new roof on; new plywood and everything. And eventually that black started coming back on …

TOM: Right.

LARRY: … and I’m wondering – I have the exhaust fan from my bathroom running up there and I told one of the guys who was redoing my bathroom to run it to the eaves and run that, you know, the exhaust air out but they didn’t do it. So my exhaust fan is going right into my attic.

TOM: If the bathroom exhaust fan is discharging into the attic, that could possibly be contributing to this. The other things to do is look at your attic ventilation system. The best ventilation system is a combination ridge and soffit system where the air is intaking at the overhang of the roof – the soffits – and then it’s exhausting at the ridge. If you don’t have that type of system, that could be part of your problem right here. How old is your house?

LARRY: It’s about – well, 1973; three, four years.

TOM: OK. A 1973 house sometimes has soffit vents but there are not always enough. And sometimes in a 1973 house you will see perforated soffit material that was installed over solid plywood soffits. So you need to be absolutely certain that your soffits are wide open; that you don’t have insulation that’s pressing down into it. 1970 houses are famous for this problem; especially when it comes to delamination of the roof sheathing. You mentioned that you replaced the roof and some plywood at the same time. I’m not surprised. And the reason that would happen is because the ventilation is not working correctly. So you need to look very carefully at that soffit.

You know, a quick way to do this – do you have like a vinyl soffit material or aluminum soffit material at the overhang?

LARRY: They’re vinylish; vinyl.

TOM: Alright. So here’s a little trick of the trade. Go around that vinyl soffit material and take your hand and push it up. I bet you you’re going to feel plywood on the other side of it because that would have been the original soffit and a lot of times when they side these homes they put perforated vinyl soffits on top of solid plywood soffits which, of course, is useless. You’ve got to have good air infiltration because if you don’t you’re going to get condensation on the underside of the plywood sheathing and if you get condensation on the sheathing you will get mold and delamination.

LARRY: Good. How about putting one of those vents in the roof, you know, to suck the air up; you know, those roof vents?

TOM: Useless. Useless.

LARRY: Useless?

TOM: Yes. Continuous ridge and soffit vent is the way to go. It works much better than a roof vent. It works better than an attic fan because it works 24/7/365 and if it’s installed properly, as the wind blows against the side of your house the air enters the soffit; it rides up underneath the roof sheathing where it takes out moisture in the winter and heat in the summer and it exhausts at the ridge vent, which is always depressurized because it’s at the peak of the roof. So that’s the system that’s the most effective way of flushing your attic space.

LARRY: How about the existing mold that’s in there now? Should I just wait …

TOM: If you dry it out it’ll go dormant; I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It’s not a space that you’re interacting with.

LARRY: Should I vent out my exhaust fan? Should I vent that out (inaudible)?

TOM: Absolutely. Yeah, you shouldn’t have any bathroom or kitchen exhaust fans dumping into the attic. They should go all the way to the outside.

LESLIE: You are listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show and I cannot tell you how happy we are that companies are finally working feverishly to meet the consumer’s demand for more green products. You guys are asking for things that save money and help the environment.

TOM: So speaking of green products, up next we’re going to give you some tips on products that will help you save water at home.

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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Citrus Magic; the all-natural, super-strong air freshener available in spray and solid form. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.

TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show where we make good homes better. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and you know we love to share with you cutting-edge, new information about the hottest new products and the hottest new systems out there and I’m sure that you’ve heard us talk about the WaterSense rating. It’s brand new this year and it was created by the EPA and it’s very similar to the Energy Star ratings that you see for appliances. You know, it’s a great way to know exactly how much water a product uses and definitely an indication that you, the consumer out there, want this info. It’s important to you that folks are going green.

TOM: And Moen is actually leading the way in WaterSense-certified products. To find out more we’ve invited Heather Novak to join us and talk about their new water-saving line.

Heather, welcome to the program.

HEATHER: Thank you.

TOM: Tell us about WaterSense. How does it work? Is it similar to Energy Star? What’s the benefit to consumers?

HEATHER: WaterSense is similar to Energy Star. It’s created in order to promote consumer awareness of compliant products so that a consumer can be comfortable that what they’re buying not only conserves energy but is efficient. And so we’ve really worked with some design effort to make sure that our products perform just as well as they have without – at a regular flow rate.

TOM: And that is the key because performance is usually what suffers when you’re talking about an appliance that delivers …

HEATHER: Right.

TOM: … a smaller flow. Typically it’s a weaker flow. Whether it’s a showerhead or a tub faucet or a sink faucet it seems to be almost lazy. Now, I actually have seen some of your – is it called ShowHouse?

HEATHER: Yes. Well, it’s Rothbury and that’s within the Moen brand.

TOM: But I was just saying I’ve seen some of the ShowHouse brand that you make that was water efficient and I was always very, very impressed with the vigor with which the water still seems to come out. So does it really come down to technology? Is there a way to design fixtures so that they don’t suffer in terms of that sort of flow that consumers have come to know and love?

LESLIE: That you know and love.

TOM: Yeah.

HEATHER: Right. Absolutely. It’s important that the consumer is able to continue to do their tasks comfortably and successfully. When you’re in a bathroom you want to be able to brush your teeth and wash your face and not have water trickling. So there is a design technology in there. So …

LESLIE: Now Heather, is this achieved through a different type of aerator or is it just the design of the faucet itself?

HEATHER: Yep, it’s a unique aerator and what it limits is the flow from 2.2 gallons per minute down to 1.5 and that is the WaterSense-rated level.

TOM: We’re talking to Heather Novak – she’s a senior product manager for Moen – about the EPA’s new WaterSense efficiency program that encourages manufacturers to make faucets that use less water yet still deliver the vim and vigor (Leslie chuckles) we’ve all come to know and love.

Now Heather, the new line is called Rothbury?

HEATHER: Right.

TOM: And what actually is in that line? How many different faucets are there?

HEATHER: Well, it is a whole bath suite and …

TOM: Oh, OK.

HEATHER: … it’s not only the lavs but it’s for the shower as well and it’s a very relaxed but vintage look and we really designed it to have a masculine and kind of authentic feel. So it’s squared off and very sturdy and it’s kind of a vintage cottage look.

TOM: I don’t know about you, Leslie, but I like authentic, masculine bathrooms myself. (Leslie and Heather chuckle)

LESLIE: Well, I think it’s important; especially because in a bath, you know, every member of the family is using it. So you don’t want to alienate one over the other by choosing something that’s overtly feminine when it’s a family or, you know, husband and wife lavatory.

TOM: Yeah, I don’t do pink very well. (chuckles)

LESLIE: No, you don’t.

HEATHER: And just like the other Moen suites, there are coordinating bath accessories. So you can go ahead and carry that look all throughout the bath with (AUDIO GAP) accessories.

TOM: Now do you see this as a trend, Heather? Do you think that in the future we’re going to see additional lines and lots of variety of designs in the WaterSense standard fixtures?

HEATHER: Absolutely. It’s going to be a standard going forward and it will be really just a basic need that consumers are going to want to have met that Moen will meet going forward.

TOM: You know what’s exciting about this is that we’re starting to see more conservation and style in the same appliance. I mean it used to be you could only have one or the other.

LESLIE: And what’s interesting, Tom, I’m noticing that it’s even available – the Rothbury line – in the vertical spa. So you’re getting all of the things that you’re looking for in a modern, relaxing sort of bath retreat like a spa shower with the same WaterSense ability.

TOM: Exactly. Heather, where are the products available?

HEATHER: They are available through wholesale distribution and kitchen and bath showrooms.

TOM: The product is called Rothbury. It’s made to the EPA’s new WaterSense standard certification program and it’s available from Moen.

Heather Novak, thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.

HEATHER: Thank you for having me.

TOM: If you’d like more information, you can go to Moen’s website at Moen.com or call them at 1-800-BUY-MOEN.

LESLIE: Thanks, Heather, and thanks to Moen for everything you guys are doing to help keep bathrooms stylish and save water usage throughout this country.

Alright, folks, well maybe you want to know about how you can bring a fresh, clean scent to your rooms every time you vacuum. Well, we’ve got all natural air freshener ideas coming up, next.

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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Rheem water heaters. For dependable, energy-efficient tank and tankless water heaters, you can trust Rheem. Learn more at SmarterHotWater.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.

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 and you should give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because not only are you going to get your home improvement question answered on the air but you also get automatically entered into our random prize drawing. And this hour we’re giving away not one, not two, but three products from our friends over at TeleBrands. Those are those as-seen-on-TV people. You could win a Go Duster, a Stick Up Bulb and a Closet Doubler clothes-hanging system. The whole package is worth 65 bucks but it could be yours for free.

TOM: And you could use those products to get your house more organized and while you’re doing that here’s a way to make sure that it stays clean and fresh. You can do double duty the next time you vacuum. Dip a cotton ball in your favorite scented oil – like lavender, lemon or peppermint – and put it inside the vacuum cleaner bag. Why would you do that? Because you’ll be amazed; just a few drops of this oil will fill your room with a fresh, clean scent. As the air from the vacuum moves across the vacuum bag and out the exhaust port it will give your entire room a fresh new scent. Little trick of the trade that will help you get clean and have the house smelling great all in one step.

888-666-3974. Leslie, who’s next?

LESLIE: Richard, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?

RICHARD: I just purchased a house about a year ago and I want to replace the windows and I’ve had five contractors come in and the big debate is whether I should get wood replacement windows or vinyl replacement windows.

TOM: OK, it’s very difficult and challenging to try to compare apples to apples when you have window contractors come in, so let me give you a couple of tips. First of all, are both of these windows Energy Star rated?

RICHARD: Yes.

TOM: OK, this is good. The second thing is that what you need to get from both contractors is the NFRC label for either window. The NFRC label – that stands for the National Fenestration Rating Council and it’s a way to compare apples to apples. There are standards there that are stamped onto this label – for example: UV transmittance -- how much, you know, UV protection it has; how much light gets through; how much air infiltration gets through – and you can use the standards on these labels to compare apples to apples. Beyond that, you know there are great vinyl windows and there are great wood windows and sometimes the best are the combination. I mean personally I like – in my house I have some Andersen windows that are vinyl on the outside and wood on the inside that sort of give me the best of both worlds. But it becomes more of a cosmetic decision after that. But what I want you to concentrate on is energy efficiency and using those standards as the way to determine just that.

RICHARD: I did look at the NFRC ratings and one of the windows – the vinyl window – has an excellent NFRC rating compared to the vinyl outside and the wood inside. And I’m considering going with the vinyl window and, you know, they – all five contractors have – most of them have said to go with the vinyl over the wood windows.

TOM: Well then maybe you want to go with the vinyl. If you want to have the look of wood inside you can certainly trim it out with natural wood trim on the inside. You could use, you know, a natural wood sill and wood casing.

LESLIE: And you know, when you’re dealing with maintenance, you know, if you’ve got a wood on the interior window, you know, you’ve got to restain or repaint or at least do some upkeep. With a vinyl it’s a simple cleaning matter.

RICHARD: That’s the big negative that the guys were telling me. I had five of them come over and that’s pretty much the big negative with the wood inside was that I would have to maintain it and that’s what’s kind of leaning toward the vinyl. But there seems to be so many choices in vinyl, too, that, you know, it’s just mind-boggling there’s so many companies and I don’t know which one to choose.

TOM: Well, I think you’re doing the right thing by comparing the NFRC labels. The second thing you want to do now, it comes down to labor because as good as the window is, if the window is not put in properly it’s not going to insulate your home correctly. You’ll get a lot of air infiltration around it. So I would do my homework with the window companies themselves. I’d get some lists of past customers. I’d physically call those customers and interview them and make sure everyone is properly insured and then make your decision from there.

LESLIE: Phyllis in Florida, welcome to The Money Pit. What can we do for you?

PHYLLIS: Hello. You know, I live in Florida and we have hurricanes down here and a fellow told us about a foam – it’s called Florida Foam Seal. In case your roof flies off, you can seal your attic and all that and it will not – the water will not come in your house. Have you ever heard of this?

TOM: Never heard of it.

PHYLLIS: It’s made in Fort Myers, Florida.

TOM: OK.

PHYLLIS: OK, so that’s the end of this story then. (Tom and Leslie chuckle) You have any other suggestions?

TOM: Not familiar with it but you know, I’ve got to tell you there’s very few products that can replace what a roof does for you. And so, if you’re worried about keeping your roof on the house I would make sure that I would use a high wind-resistant shingle because there are shingles that are designed – well, there are shingles that are designed to stand up to 130 mile-per-hour winds.

PHYLLIS: What do you think about Galvalume roofing? It’s supposed to be a lifetime thing. It’s made out of tin; you know, galvanized (inaudible at 0:28:20.2).

TOM: Well, metal roofs are making a big comeback right now and they are very, very durable and they’re great for storm climates.

PHYLLIS: Yeah? Well, so we don’t have to worry about this then. You never heard of this.

TOM: This foam? No, I’m sorry; we’ve never heard of it.

PHYLLIS: And how would you seal your attic in case you got leaks in the roof? Just in case?

TOM: Well, there’s a couple of things. First of all, when you build a roof, use a variety of materials that can stand up even if shingles fall off. For example, Grace has a product. What’s it called? Vycor Plus, if I remember right?

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. It’s the Vycor Plus which is used as an underlayment to your roofing surface; whatever that shingle …

PHYLLIS: What’s it called? Vycor Plus?

TOM: Vycor Plus. And then you put the shingles on top of that and that will stop the water from coming through if the shingles come off.

PHYLLIS: Alright, thank you.

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

LESLIE: You are listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show.

When we come back we’re going to help an e-mailer who’s dealing with a stinky sewage smell that’s coming from the water lines. We’re going to tell you what causes that problem and how to fix it, so stick around.

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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Citrus Magic; the all-natural, super-strong air freshener available in spray and solid form. 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 we’re proud to say that our podcast is rated the most downloaded home improvement podcast on iTunes and you can get it for free. Just go to MoneyPit.com, click on the Listen section and subscribe to the free Money Pit podcast. And we’re also proud to announce that it’s gone commercial free. So, it’s even a bit easier to listen to. It’s all available for free at MoneyPit.com.

LESLIE: And you know what else is free at MoneyPit.com? Besides lots of great advice there’s a magic button there that says Ask Tom and Leslie. Click on that and you can send us any question you like via e-mail and then we jump into our e-mail bag every hour at this time. And we’ve got a couple standing by. I’ve got one here from Debbie in Sandy Ridge, North Carolina who writes: “We have a continual problem with a rotten egg odor in our well water; cold and hot. We have tried a commercial cleanser but the odor returned in two months. What are your suggestions?”

TOM: A charcoal filter that’s put in line with the water intake. That’s probably a sulphur smell that you’re dealing with right there.

LESLIE: Where in the line is it installed? Right where it comes in?

TOM: Well, it’s installed – yeah, it’s basically part of the water treatment equipment and it’s going to be installed right where the line comes into the house so all of the water will come from the well through the filtration system and then off to your faucets. That’s what you need there. Something that has to be professionally installed; not something that you can do yourself. But that will clean it up.

LESLIE: Alright, we’ve got one here from Paul in Valley Stream, New York who writes: “What heavy-duty glue can I use for mirrored, bi-fold closet doors that have come apart or where can I get that proper glue?”

TOM: Probably contact cement. If we’re talking about …

LESLIE: Yeah, but you have to use a mirror mastic; otherwise, it does that weird fogging thing on the backside.

TOM: Oh, is that right?

LESLIE: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

TOM: But you think that Paul’s talking about the mirror coming apart or the door coming apart?

LESLIE: Hmm.

TOM: If it’s the mirror, Paul, you do need to use the mastic. If it’s the door that’s delaminated, you could use a polyurethane glue or if it’s the surface of the doors that are pulling apart you could use a contact cement.

LESLIE: Because I have seen it too many times where somebody puts, you know, a beveled-edge mirror glued to the drywall in the bathroom just to save, you know, time and put up a simple mirror and they use the wrong adhesive and it eats away at the reflective coating on the backside and you end up with this weird, gray/black, smoky fog. So you’ve got to use the right adhesive if it is that mirror. It’s a mirror mastic.

TOM: Well, we all love to start the day with a strong shower but if yours is a bit worse for wear it could be because there’s a bit of debris caught in that showerhead. What do you do about it? Leslie’s got the solution in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

LESLIE: Alright, well if you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having a drippy showerhead or that not-so-great faucet, we have got the solution for you. Because slow-flowing faucets or showerheads, those are typically caused by blockage from debris or mineral deposits that get stuck there. And they get stuck behind that aerator. That’s why it’s there; so when you’re washing your hands and face rocks aren’t coming flying right at you. So what you want to do to free up the flow, go ahead and unscrew and disassemble the aerators or the faucet heads and make sure that as you start taking things apart you really pay attention to the order in which they came out because you want to put them back in the exact same order; well, opposite of how you took them out. So you want everything to go back exactly the same way. So give yourself a mental note or write it down. Then take all of those parts and soak them in a solution of white vinegar and water. What that’s going to do is really break down all of that mineral deposit that’s been on there. We tell you that all the time; if you see that sort of white fog, that efflorescence, on the cinder blocks in your basement. Same concept here. Once you’ve got it all cleaned off, reassemble and you will see a new spring in your step the next time you get into that new, free-flowing shower.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Coming up next week on The Money Pit, what you can do to improve the size of your room with paint. You know how wearing vertical stripes can make you look thinner? Well, the same can be done to trim a little fat from your living room. Find out this quick decorating tip next week on The Money Pit.

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.

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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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