Transcripts

Transcript For August 4, 2008, Hour 1

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 1 TEXT:

(promo/theme song)

[audio timestamp: 0:00:25.0]

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 with your home improvement question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Because we’re here to help you get the job done, to help make the most of your money pit, to help you find your way through those home improvement adventures that take up all of our weekends. We’re going to make them easier for you, simpler and guaranteed more success if you pick up the phone first and let us help at 888-666-3974.

Hey, coming up this hour we’re going to talk about the greening of America; some tips for simple and sustainable building techniques that are gaining popularity. Find out how to green up your home in just a few minutes.

LESLIE: And also ahead, if you’ve got concrete steps or any sort of concrete around your property, you might notice some that are crumbling and crackling; basically just a giant mess. Well, we’ve got a way to replace them without building brand spanking new steps from scratch. We’re going to tell you how to do that a little later this hour.

TOM: And who doesn’t like affordable fashion, especially when it’s on your walls? What you put on your walls can have the biggest impact on your room’s décor and your wallet. We’re going to give you some tips for popular and affordable options to consider for your next wall-to-wall redo.

LESLIE: And this hour, it wouldn’t be The Money Pit if we didn’t give a prize away. We’re giving away a Stay-Green gardening prize package. It includes everything that you need to go green while you’re growing green.

TOM: Plus, one caller and maybe more, you never know, we talk to this hour –

LESLIE: Are you feeling generous?

TOM: – we might be – could win a copy of our brand spanking new book, which hits book stores this week; it’s called My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide To Every Home Improvement Adventure. So let’s get to it. Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: Mike in New York, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?

MIKE: Yes, I have a recurring problem with sewer flies in the basement bathroom that we have, which is the last bathroom on the line in the house.

TOM: OK. The flies are coming up the drain?

MIKE: I’m not sure where they’re coming from. They might be coming out of the toilet but they’re in the bathroom. They look like little black flecks and we’ve had the plumber come in and actually, they used the camera and we had recurring obstructions and they put a liner in and a couple of weeks after they left, we saw the problem.

TOM: Hey Mike, in this bathroom, how many drains do you have? You have a floor drain, you have a sink drain, you have a shower drain. What do you have?

MIKE: There’s a shower drain and there’s a sink drain and a toilet drain.

TOM: OK. Do you use the bathroom all the time?

MIKE: Not too often.

TOM: Alright. Let me give you a little trick of the trade. I’d like you to take some tape – some duct tape or something like that is fine – and when it’s nice and dry put some tape across all of the drains and wait a few days and then peel the tape up and see if there’s flies stuck to the back side of it.

MIKE: OK.

TOM: Once you find the location, you’re going to know which pipe the flies are coming up. The next question is, is there a trap in the line? You know, if it’s the floor drain or a sink drain, then there needs to be a trap. If it’s the toilet, there wouldn’t be a trap there because the toilet itself is the trap. But you should have a trap in the other drains and if the trap is not working properly, if it’s broken or it’s disconnected or something, that could be the reason there’s no – that the flies can come back up and if that’s the case, you’ve got to get the trap fixed because there’s nothing you’re going to do to stop them.

If you do have a trap and you still have the problem, then there may be a gel cleaner that you can use that will break down the bacteria that the flies like to feed on.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. And these are sort of like a bacterial digester. There’s a lot of different companies that make one. I know Roto-Rooter has one; there’s another one called Invade Bio Gel and they’re just sort of something to put down the drains, the sinks, the showers that eat all of that bacterial – I mean that oil, that organic debris that these flies like to feed on. So if you can get rid of that, you’re getting rid of the food source.

TOM: So that’s the way to do it, Mike, step-by-step, OK?

MIKE: OK, great. Thank you very much for your help.

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

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

PENNY: Hi there. I’m getting ready to do a major remodel in my kitchen. The whole thing’s going to be taken out and I’m starting over. I’m on a septic tank and I currently have a disposal but I’ve had a lot of people tell me that – and I don’t use my disposal because I know it’s not good for my septic tank, so I’m thinking of not putting a disposal in my new kitchen. Some people say, “Oh, that’s crazy,” and some people say, “It’s crazy to have it.” So I’m torn. What do I do?

TOM: Oh, you know, for the amount of time you’re going to use that disposal, I don’t think it’s going to have a significant impact on your septic system. I’d tell you to get it. You know, once you have one of those, you never want to go back; they just work so wonderfully.

LESLIE: See, they kind of freak me out.

TOM: Why do they freak you out?

LESLIE: I don’t know. I don’t – I’ve never had a home that had one. I’ve stayed in, you know, sort of those suite-style hotels, you know, for a long term while on the road, that have one. They’re noisy; I get a little scared. I never know what to put down it. So for me, I say it’s not a big deal if you have it or not. I don’t think it impacts your resale value and if it’s something in your budget that you can afford and you think you’re going to use it, I say it’s safe for the septic system.

PENNY: OK. My thought was maybe to have them wire in some electricity under the sink, so if I ever change my mind and felt like I’d made a big mistake it would be easy to add one later.

TOM: Well, that’s fine. I mean, you could do that and frankly, most of the dishwashers today need an outlet under the sink too instead of the – none of them are hardwired anymore; they usually have a plug. So why not put a plug down there and have an outlet down there and you’re ready to go.

PENNY: Alright, well, I appreciate your advice.

TOM: You’re welcome, Penny. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.

LESLIE: You are listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Pick up the phone and let us know what your summer projects are because we can help you with your home repair or your home improvement questions, projects, whatever you need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just dial 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974. Up next, a new study shows green home building is on the rise. Want some ideas that you can steal for your own money pit? Well, we can help. In fact, we’ve got a whole section of our new book, My Home, My Money Pit devoted to green living. We’re going to share some of those tips, next.

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(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: If you’ve decided to carpet then paint, in that order, we probably can’t help you. (Leslie chuckles) For the rest, pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: 888-666-3974. We’ll help you get the answer to your home improvement question. You know, Leslie, one time I was painting and my darling son, Thomas, decided he was going to help out and that ended up in him knocking the paint can over. (Leslie groans) I wasn’t painting on top of the carpet, though; I was painting on top of a drop cloth. So problem was that one story below, as the paint can rolled down the stairs, there was the carpet. (chuckles)

LESLIE: (groans) That’s a HUGE home improvement mess.

TOM: (chuckling) It was, it was. But we got through it and you can too. Hey, call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because one caller we talk to on the hour is going to win a prize package worth 25 bucks from our friends at Stay-Green. It’s the Green gardening package; you’re going to get phosphorus-free weed and feed, garden-safe multi-purpose insect killer, all-purpose organic plant food and a few more goodies that will help you go green and grow green all at the same time.

LESLIE: Alright, well, that’s all about greening your yard and we’re noticing that so many homebuyers are really looking at green features when choosing new homes. And this is all according to the National Association of Home Builders. Well, how does this trend carry over for those of you who already own or really are buying an existing home you’re not building from scratch? Well, you can add value to your home while using environmentally friendly products and materials.

For example, if you’re painting – you’ve got a paint or a finishing project – choose paints that are labeled as containing low volatile organic compounds. You might see it as VOCs; that’s what it stands for. And it means that these paints or the finishes that you’re choosing aren’t going to give off any gas or produce noxious smells, which can actually off-gas, as they say, from this furnishing, wall, whatever you’re putting this finish on, for quite a bit of time.

TOM: Also, choose products that are based more on durability than cost. You want to use natural, enduring materials like stone, quarry, tile and brick instead of less-durable synthetic materials. Think about, of course, replacing your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, which can last three to four times longer and have a lower impact on the environment.

LESLIE: Well, we have a ton more green tips. All you need to do is check out the Green Scene. This is a sidebar in our brand spanking new book, My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide To Every Home Improvement Adventure. It is available at book stores everywhere beginning this week or head right over to MoneyPit.com and click on the book and order yours right there.

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

Leslie, who’s next?

LESLIE: Mel in New Jersey is dealing with some solar issues. What can we do for you?

MEL: Hi. I have a 22-year-old deck house that has a delightful solar conservatory in the front of the house, sunroom.

TOM: OK.

MEL: And it has six approximately 4x8 dual pane windows, about eight feet up and 30 degrees off the vertical.

TOM: Are they curved or are they flat?

MEL: They are flat.

TOM: OK.

MEL: One of them has moisture in it.

TOM: Right, the panes have failed.

MEL: I can’t find anyone locally, or even non-locally, that can deal with this. I had one fellow out, based on an ad. There’s an outfit called Window Matrix that claims to be able to repair the dual pane windows.

TOM: No, you can’t repair them. You have to replace them. You need to find a source to have those glass panels remade.

MEL: Yep.

TOM: The reason they’re leaking is because there’s two panes of glass that are assembled under a vacuum and that material that surrounds them, sort of that gasket in between, is called swiggle.

LESLIE: Which is my favorite word.

TOM: Yeah, it’s a great home improvement word.

MEL: Swiggle?

TOM: Swiggle, right. And over the years, the swiggle will fail and then you’ll get a little moisture in there and that will form condensation. Now, the good news is …

LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and create the fog that you can’t clean.

MEL: (overlapping voices) Right.

TOM: (overlapping voices) Yeah, it’s dirty but it’s not leaky in terms of water getting into your house and it does maybe affect the energy efficiency. But other than that, it’s a pretty cosmetic issue. But what you’re going to need to find is a glazer that can actually remanufacture these glass panels for you.

LESLIE: Paul in Indiana has a roofing question. What can we do for you?

PAUL: I have a house that was built 1928. It is two stories and it has the red tile roof. And …

TOM: Well, that sounds gorgeous.

PAUL: They’re nice; they’re nice-looking. But during a heavy rain, we have recently developed a leak that will come to the main floor and, basically, in the kitchen area from either the upstairs – not totally sure if it’s the attic or we do have a door to the outside that looks like it might have been a patio design at one point. But on the red tile roof, I’m not comfortable taking that stuff off it and I’m kind of looking for maybe a contractor that would specialize in that type of stuff, if it’s determined to be that.

TOM: Well, first of all, in terms of sourcing out that leak, if you can get up into the attic with a flashlight, the place that I would check is specifically around where plumbing vents come through the roof. Very often, you get a boot around that that will break down because it’s only rubber, generally, and it’ll break down so no matter how good your tile is the chances are the leak is not coming through the main field of the tile; it’s probably coming at one of the points where there’s some break in the roof, like where a chimney is or where a plumbing vent goes through.

Now, in terms of finding a contractor, it is difficult to find good quality contractors but there are some services that can help you do that; one of which is called Angie’s List.

LESLIE: It’s a great resource. In fact, every person who is making a recommendation has no affiliation to the business whatsoever.

PAUL: Ah.

LESLIE: They’re just regular consumers like you or myself who, you know, were really happy or unhappy with a job and then go ahead and post it there. So it’s policed in a way to know that the company themselves are not putting up, you know, good information about themselves. So it’s – and it’s very local so you can find a lot of folks in your area.

PAUL: OK. Great.

TOM: It’s sort of a social networking solution for finding a good quality contractor.

PAUL: Very good.

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

LESLIE: Eileen in Maryland needs some help with the bath. What can we do for you?

EILEEN: I have a bathtub that – it really needs something done to it. The house is a 1940 house and there’s a lot of – we’re trying to stay true to that but the bathtub needs to either be replaced, covered up or reglazed and I’m not sure which way to go.

LESLIE: How much do you like the shape and size of the tub?

EILEEN: Well, it’s a big tub and it’s not quite rectangular. It comes out in the front and goes back in so I don’t know …

TOM: Right. Mm-hmm.

LESLIE: Do you love it? If you love it, reglazing it is the option.

EILEEN: Well, I reglazed another tub in another house and they came back twice and it wasn’t smooth. When you sat on it, you could feel little grains and then they told me that I couldn’t use any harsh detergents to clean it. Well, it’s hard to clean a bathtub [and the kids with a harsh detergent.] (ph)

LESLIE: Without the …

TOM: Well, that’s true but you have to understand that reglazing is not as durable as the original porcelain finish; you can’t expect it to be. And so you have to be a little bit easier with it. But I think if you love the tub that reglazing is probably the best way to go.

EILEEN: OK. You answered my question; I really appreciate it. I just didn’t know which way to go.

TOM: Alright, Eileen. Glad we helped you out. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Jim in Washington has a question about tankless water heaters. What can we do for you?

JIM: Well, I’m planning on remodeling my home in the near future and the water heater now – it’s a propane heater – is about 20 years old so I’m expecting it just to go at any minute.

TOM: That’s probably a reasonable expectation. What kind of water heater is it?

JIM: It’s white and it’s old. (chuckles) (Tom and Leslie chuckle)

TOM: What’s the fuel, though? What’s the fuel, Jim?

JIM: Oh, I’m sorry. It is propane.

TOM: It’s propane. OK.

LESLIE: Propane works for tankless, right?

TOM: Yeah, it sure does. Tankless water heaters would be a really good option for you. That’s the high-tech way of the future and they work fantastic. You have a lot of advantages because first of all, they only heat the water when you need it, which is a huge advantage over the old-fashioned water heaters that heated a lot …

LESLIE: Continuously.

TOM: Yeah, it heated continuously including when you don’t need it.

LESLIE: They take up far less room.

TOM: Yep.

JIM: Fantastic. Yeah.

TOM: And you can control the temperature very easily. Usually, there’s a thermostat where you can dial it up and dial it down very, very simply and they do run on propane. So I think tankless water heaters would be a great option. There’s a website I want you to take a look at. It’s SmarterHotWater.com.

JIM: Got it.

TOM: SmarterHotWater.com. That’s the website for the Rheem folks who have been a sponsor of the program over the last year and they make a really good product. And they’ve got a very informative site there; you can learn about the different options and try to figure out which size you’d need for your house.

JIM: Fantastic. Appreciate the information.

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

LESLIE: This is The Money Pit. When we come back, we’re going to address those crumbling, vintage concrete steps, even brick steps, that you’ve got around your money pit that just plain need replacing. We’ve got an interesting alternative to those steps, right after this.

[audio timestamp: 0:16:40.5]

(theme song)

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: Making good homes better. Welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and hey, it’s summer beach season and if you are looking for that ultimate beach read, have we got a book to put on your summer reading list. It is our very first book and it is out now and we wanted to take our info and advice and bring it to a whole new audience. We’ve got My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide To Every Home Improvement Adventure. It is the ultimate look-before-you leap guide to home improvement. In it, we’re going to deliver the tips and advice that you need to successfully tackle almost any home improvement project.

TOM: Now, we know you usually bring romance guides to the beach.

LESLIE: (chuckling) Trashy novels.

TOM: Trashy novels. But hey, why not have a good adventure book in your beach bag as well? My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide To Every Home Improvement Adventure, available right now in book stores. And you know, for years we’ve been hearing your stories that usually end with, “If I’d only known before I started my project that chances were good when I ripped open my walls, termites would start tumbling out or the pipes would spring a leak.” You know, we took all the advice that you’ve been asking for all these years, and put it in one comprehensive book; sort of a guide to home ownership that will help you avoid all those hassles when you’re either repairing your house or thinking about improvement. We’re going to tell you where to start in My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide To Every Home Improvement Adventure. So check it out; you’ll see it in the book stores now. Head over to MoneyPit.com. You can read a passage or two online and let us know what you think.

LESLIE: Right and we’ve actually got an idea in it right now. You know, if you’re dealing with a crumbling staircase, concrete, brick around your property, we’ve got a tip in there that’ll help you with that.

TOM: Absolutely. Instead of simply replacing your old, crumbling concrete or brick steps, you might want to think about creating a winding, gradually-lifted walkway. This path is sort of new in design trends right now. You’ll see, as more and more homes are being built to be universally designed friendly with lesser steps and zero step thresholds, that this is going to be a real trend you’re going to see in the future. And you can definitely redo your own front walk to do the same thing just by putting in a lifted walkway instead of that step-up, concrete stoop kind of thing that’s just all too common and not all that attractive.

If you put in a windy walkway, it will look good; it’s sharp. It’s easier on you when you’re carrying stuff in. You don’t have to worry about bumpity-bump as you’re, you know, wheeling stuff in and out of the house. It’s just a nice design trend and one that you definitely want to think about. More tips just like that in our brand new book, My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide To Every Home Improvement Adventure.

Let’s get back to the phones and see who’s next. Leslie?

LESLIE: Daniel in Kansas is about to take on a giant home improvement project. You want to refinish the entire first floor?

DANIEL: Yes, that’s right.

LESLIE: Alright. What’s your flooring material right now?

DANIEL: It is oak.

LESLIE: OK. And you want to – what’s on it? Is it a finish? Is it a paint? Do you need to take it down to the raw surface? What’s the condition?

DANIEL: Yes. I want to take it down to the – basically, the raw wood.

TOM: OK, and why is that, Daniel? Is the material – is the floor right now just so rough that you feel that’s the only option?

DANIEL: Yeah, it’s flooring from 1929.

TOM: Oh, OK. Yeah, that is pretty old. Well, maybe that is a good option but let me kind of give you the steps here in terms of that sanding. If you want to do a light sanding, what I would recommend is that you rent a floor buffer with a sanding screen and that will just take off the upper surface of the last layer of finish. If you want to go a little bit deeper than that, you can rent a machine called a U-Sand, which is basically four six-inch disc sanders under the same sort of housing or head. It has a vacuum bag attachment so it’s sort of a neat way to do it.

And if you’ve got to go really deep, I mean really take off – we’re talking about at least an eighth-of-an-inch of wood; maybe a sixteenth but somewhere in that nature – then you need to use an official floor sander. Now I will tell you, though; that’s not the kind of tool that I would recommend that you rent because if you don’t work with it every day, it’s real easy to screw up your floor. If you just twist the wrong way, you’ll put a real deep dig in there and you won’t be able to get it out.

DANIEL: Oh, OK. And what’s the best way to apply the stain?

TOM: The best way to apply, well, stain or the urethane finish, is with something called a lamb’s wool applicator, which kind of looks like a sponge mop. Basically, it’s sort of a long wood stick with a piece of lamb’s wool wrapped around the outside edge and you use a painting tray but you put the finish or the stain in the painting tray and you dip it and sort of blot it a little bit to get the excess off and then sort of mop on the finish; of course, working your way out the door or up the stairs. And whatever it says on the can, Daniel, in terms of drying time …

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Drying time.

TOM: Double it. (chuckles) Just double it.

LESLIE: Yeah, because you really do need to let it dry between coats and if you sort of apply a new coat on top of a tacky or not-quite-dry previous coat, you’ll find that somehow the two coats kind of get locked together and then it never dries.

DANIEL: Oh, OK. That’ll work. Thanks so much for your help.

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

LESLIE: This is The Money Pit. Up next, we’ve got affordable ways to dress up those walls around your house. You know you’ve got a lot of them and they are the perfect canvas for your home décor scheme. We just want to make sure you get it right and everything else is going to fall into place into your home. We’re going to give you that secret, after this.

[audio timestamp: 0:22:34.2]

(theme song)

ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is being brought to you by Guardian Home Standby Generators, America's choice in power outage protection. Learn more at GuardianGenerators.com. Now here are Tom and Leslie.

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

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and the number here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Give us a call and we’re giving away a great prize this hour. If you ask your question on the air, we’re entering you in for a chance to win a green gardening prize pack from our friends over at Stay-Green. And it’s got everything that you need to go green while you’re growing green including phosphorus-free weed and feed; phosphorus-free fertilizer, which will make your lawn look fantastic; garden-safe multi-purpose insect killer and some all-purpose potting mix for all those beautiful container gardenings that you want to do around the yard, especially this time of year with those nice annuals. So give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT for your chance to win and your answer.

TOM: 888-666-3974. Maybe your next project is to do some painting inside your home. Well, here’s some tips for affordable fashion for your walls. Paint is one of the cheapest ways to dress up a wall but if you make the wrong move with your color choice, you can definitely end up paying more and working double to correct the problem. The good news is there are lots of tools out there that let you try before you buy, including online room visualizers. These are really cool and they offer precorded color palettes and trial-size paint samples so you can see it all online first; buy a little bit of paint; give it a little dab in the daylight of your home; make sure you like it and then commit to the big wall.

LESLIE: Yeah, another idea, outside of paint, is wallpaper and you may be thinking, “I’m not a huge fan of wall coverings,” but it has come a long way and it really is available in every style, size, pattern, technique, picture. Whatever it is that you like you can achieve through wall covering and it is not that difficult to apply, take down, change and it really does make a huge difference. Remember, you can choose from prepasted and easy-change varieties. You can go for texture; you can even just use borders or painted borders. Remember those full-wall murals? Well, they’re back in style too, thanks to digital technologies, and you can have the look of professionally-commissioned artwork; even a photograph that you took of your favorite vacation vista can be a wall covering for any room in your house.

TOM: You mean, there are more options than the Tahitian waterfall?

LESLIE: (chucking) Yeah, true. (Tom chuckles)

TOM: (chuckling) Remember that one?

LESLIE: I do remember that one and I always think of that quintessential, like, Malibu sunset.

TOM: Exactly.

LESLIE: It’s all like orangey, with the one palm tree.

TOM: Yeah.

LESLIE: But you can take a photograph and have any picture made into wall covering. In fact, we did an episode of “While You Were Out,” gosh, probably in our second or third season and we did – it was in Toronto. It was a guy who was a big fan of hockey and we took a photograph of whatever hockey arena is by where they live in Toronto …

TOM: Right.

LESLIE: … and we made a wall covering that looked like you were on the side of the rink and …

TOM: Well, that’s very cool.

LESLIE: … it was great and it was affordable.

TOM: Lots of options. Hey, here’s one more look. What was the dated paneling of yesteryear is now actually some pretty high-tech wallboard that you can get in a wide range of textures, patterns, even looks like stone and tile. And I love the stainless steel look of these wallboards, especially for basements and garages and some even have built-in storage capabilities. So there’s a lot of options out there right now. You really need to take a look at wallboard, wallpaper and the paint options today because there’s just a lot to choose from and they’re going to make your place look just great.

LESLIE: And those are just a few examples of affordable wall design. I know we could talk about it for ages and ages but instead of us talking, you are going to read about it in our next issue of our Money Pit e-newsletter. If you don’t already get it, sign up now for free at MoneyPit.com. It comes to your inbox every week and has a ton of great information. We’re not going to sell or give away your e-mail address either, so don’t worry. Visit MoneyPit.com today to sign up for your copy.

TOM: 888-666-3974. Let’s get back to the phones. Who’s next?

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

ESTHER: Our roof leaked and it caused some ugly spots on our ceiling tile.

TOM: OK.

ESTHER: And we were wondering what could we do to get those spots taken off or will we have to completely replace all of it or even if we would paint with a light color, would those spots come through?

TOM: Well, not if you do it correctly. First of all, what happens is when it gets soaked in the ceiling tile it actually changes the color of the tile so it’s not like you can wash it out. What you’re going to need to do is paint but before you paint you have to prime it. It’s very, very important to use a primer because only a primer will seal in those stains so the stains don’t come through the new paint. So I would use, Esther, an oil-based primer across the entire ceiling surface and then I would follow up with a flat ceiling paint and that will take care of it and it’ll look perfect.

ESTHER: Alright. Thank you.

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

You are tuned to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Up next, we’re going to jump into our e-mail bag and answer a question about how to get rid of grimy grout. Who doesn’t have that problem? We’re going to solve it, next.

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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information, visit ThermaTru.com.

TOM: Making good homes better. Welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Call us now with your home improvement question. Call us now with your do-it-yourself dilemma at 888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Hey, call us now if you’d like to talk about how do you get a high-tech wired home. You know, you’ve heard it called the “home of the future” but what exactly is in a wired home and is it going to really improve our lives? I tackled that question on my column this week on AOL.com. Simply go to MoneyPit.aol.com and read it online with all the tips, the techniques and the tools you’ll need to properly improve your home so that it’s ready to go for the future, using the latest wired technology.

LESLIE: And when you need some help installing your wired house of the future, pick up the phone, shoot us an e-mail, whatever you want to do but reach out to The Money Pit and we can help you do just that. If you’re online, you can go to MoneyPit.com and click on the Ask Tom and Leslie icon and every hour in the program we always address some of those e-mail questions that we get. We’ve got one here from Jean in Palmer, Alaska who writes: “My grout in the shower is flaking off. It’s charcoal-grey in color so it’s very noticeable. Should I clean it thoroughly with a stiff brush and reseal it with grout sealer or do I have to replace it?”

TOM: Well, if the grout is actually disintegrating, Jean, then the problem is not going to be …

LESLIE: A stiff brush will make it go away.

TOM: Yeah. Well, yeah, it’ll go away permanently. That problem is not going to be solved with a grout cleaner; it will just deteriorate even further. And if that’s the case, you probably are going to end up having to replace it. Here’s what I would suggest you do first: I would use a grout cleaner but not too aggressively and see if that kind of gets off any of the surface material that you’re obviously trying to clean.

If that doesn’t work and you decide that you want to replace it, get a grout saw, which is a hand tool that actually is designed to go in between the tile edges and sort of scrape off the upper layer of that grout. Then you can replace it and when you replace it, that is the best time to use a grout sealer because frankly, it’s really hard to get all the dirt out when you’re sort of resealing after the grout has been applied. So you end up sealing some dirt in behind it and that’s never a good thing. So try to clean it but watch the brushing so you don’t get too aggressive with it. If that brightens it up, fine; if not, scrape it out and then regrout it. Grouting is an easy project.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

TOM: Not that difficult to do.

LESLIE: No, and I know we always say grout saw but I think that can be confusing to a lot of people. It really looks like a metal rough file, essentially, on like a little hand-held piece, right?

TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it does and you sort of just scrape it. It’s more like a utility knife for grout.

LESLIE: Alright, perfect. We got another one here from Jim in Waterford, Michigan who writes: “Have you ever heard of having a misting ring on an air conditioner? The water turns on when the air conditioner comes on and mists the coils of the compressor while the unit is running.”

TOM: Actually, I have, Jim, and that product’s been on the market now for several years. It is called Cool-N-Save. Their website is CoolnSave.com. It was actually recently on an episode of Ed Begley Jr.’s “Living With Ed” program where he sort of put it through the test. And what it does is basically uses the principles of evaporative cooling to cool the air on the way into the compressor and they claim that it will deliver a 30% reduction on your electric bill if you do that. It’s not very expensive; probably worth giving it a shot.

LESLIE: Does it sort of combine the technology of a swamp cooler with a traditional AC compressor?

TOM: You know, in many ways it does because, basically, it uses the principles of evaporative cooling to lower the air temperature right exactly on the side of the unit. There’s a little paddle that forces the water to mist when the compressor comes on and that mist gets sucked in to the coils itself and then the air temperature gets dropped by that effect.

LESLIE: Hey, it’s worth a shot.

TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Thank you so much for spending this hour with us. We sure hope we helped you get a few jobs done around your money pit. Remember, you can reach out to us 24/7 at MoneyPit.com or just pick up the phone and call us at 888-666-3974. 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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