Show Notes
- Fireplace and Chimney Safety: Stop playing with fire and get tips on maintaining your fireplace and chimney.
- Driveway Repair: Fall is a great time to fix and seal your cracked or worn driveway.
- Indoor Air Quality: Learn the best way to breathe easier and clear the air of dust, pollen, and other allergens.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Chimney Repair: Someone suggested using roof cement to cover cracks in a chimney crown, but Bill should use a good silicone caulk sealant instead.
- Flower Beds: Michelle wants to know how to place her flower bed. We recommend grading the soil away from the house before planting and not adding any borders that may impede drainage.
- Deck Cleaning: A chemical reaction with a deck cleaning product left Andrew’s wood deck with a splotchy white film. He could use a spare piece of lumber to test a solid stain and see how well it will cover the filmy residue on the rest of the deck.
- Crawlspace Odor: There’s a musty odor coming from the dirt crawlspace that opens into Bridget’s basement. She needs to lay down a plastic vapor barrier, check the outside drainage, and build a hatch to close the opening.
- Air Conditioning Systems: What’s the cost of a new air conditioning unit? Steve should get estimates from a number of contractors because the price can vary widely.
- Epoxy Flooring: Cindy wants to add speckles to her existing epoxy floor. As long as the first layer is adhering well, she can simply apply a second layer and add them.
- Basement Moisture: Randall had a flooded basement and needs to reduce moisture. He doesn’t need vents but he should improve the drainage around his foundation and install a dehumidifier.
- Electrical Openings: Catherine changed her mind about basement lighting and has holes where the outlets and fixtures were supposed to be. We offer advice about disconnecting the electrical wiring and how to cover the openings.
- Sinking Porch: One side of Charles’ concrete porch has sunken in. He’ll need to break up the slab and redo the foundation before pouring a new cement porch.
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 0:00:31 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:00:36 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:00:55 | TOM: And if you don’t know how to start, that’s a good reason to reach out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit or by going to moneypit.com/ask That’s the quickest way to get a response coming up on today’s show. Now that summer has officially come to a close is a good time to start thinking about that cold weather in your house and that means sparking up a roaring fire. And if you don’t know how to start, that’s a good reason to reach out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit or by going to moneypit.com/ask. That’s the quickest way to get a response coming up on today’s show. Now that summer has officially come to a close is a good time to start thinking about that cold weather in your house and that means sparking up a roaring fire. We’ve got some tips to help you keep your fireplace and chimney in shape throughout the winter. |
| 0:01:22 | LESLIE: And fall is a good time to fix up your driveways by filling any cracks and sealing that surface. While this is a project, homeowners often do leave to the pros, many of the products you need now have come a long way in terms of being easy to use, that you really can do this project yourself and save a ton of money. We’re going to share some tips to help you get that done. |
| 0:01:42 | TOM: And our dust, pollen and other allergens making your life a sneezing, sniffling mess. Does it get worse when you start to seal up your home for the cold weather? Well, we’re going to tell you the one thing that you can do to reduce those allergens in a really big way. |
| 0:01:57 | LESLIE: But first, do you love your home but sometimes feel like it’s an endless pit that you throw money into for home improvements and repairs? Well, we get it, and we can help you tackle your produce with confidence. So give us a call and let us know what you have planned this fall season so we can get it done. |
| 0:02:13 | TOM: The number here is one 888-Money-Pit. Or better yet, go to moneypit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button to leave us your home improvement question. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first. |
| 0:02:24 | LESLIE: Heading out to Maryland, where we’ve got Bill online, who’s having some chimney issues? What is happening? |
| 0:02:30 | CALLER: Well, I have a crown on my chimney, and I would estimate it’s about 12 to 15 years old. There are a couple of relatively small cracks in it. And I had a chimney sweep come out to the house and he did his cleaning that he normally does. And then he looked at it and he suggested that I did not need to have it replaced, that it could just be covered over with what he called plastic roofs, cement. |
| 0:03:00 | CALLER: And he said, this is a very thick product. You put it on with a trial. And he said that that would take care of the problem. And then, in fact, sometimes removing a crown from a chimney. And in doing so, they can actually damage the chimney. So he did not recommend removal. |
| 0:03:17 | TOM: So I partially agree with your chimney sweep. You don’t have to remove the chimney crown. Now, for those wondering what this is. If you have a brick chimney, you have a flue pipe that goes through the middle of that. And when it comes to the top, there is a mortar bed built up that goes from the flu pipe out towards the edge of the chimney. And the job of that chimney crown, which is what that’s called, is to basically just take the rain that falls and then run it off to the edge of the brick. Now, cracks very commonly form in those crowns. And when that happens, all you have to do is caulk the cracks. I would use a good quality caulk like a silicone sealant. But the thing is, if you put the plastic roof cement on top of that, here’s what’s going to happen. Water is going to get under that. It’s going to have no way to evaporate. And so the water will stay in that crown. And when it’s wet, it will freeze and it will expand. That will crack and small and you’ll end on having to replace it anyway. So I don’t think that’s at all or I really don’t think that’s a good idea. Plastic roofs, cement, in my view, should be pretty much outlawed because there’s almost no reason to use it. If you do the flashing properly and if you have a little crack, you seal it. You don’t need that stuff. It’s kind of like a way to do a quick fix. But the problem is it doesn’t last that long and end up having to come back again and again and again. |
| 0:04:27 | CALLER: And would you also recommend caulking along the bottom of it, the line where it meets the chimney? |
| 0:04:33 | TOM: No, not necessarily. Just any maybe around the chimney liner itself, but. But not the edge. Not necessarily. |
| 0:04:39 | CALLER: Okay. Well, thank you very much. |
| 0:04:41 | TOM: Well, you’re welcome. Good luck with that project. |
| 0:04:43 | LESLIE: Now, I’ve got Michelle on the line. What can we do for you today? |
| 0:04:46 | CALLER: I have this huge flower bed right by my house, and it’s about as big as a one car garage. Anyway, I know that it’s to be sloped away from the house, but I was wondering if I have a raised flower bed, how far that race flower bed should be from the house. |
| 0:05:07 | TOM: That’s a great question. Sometimes people put it right against the house, Michelle. And then it’s great for the flowers, but it also holds all this water against your foundation that can cause flooding in lower levels of crawl spaces and basements, or it can even damage your foundation. So the flower bed is fine, but you need to make sure you essentially need to build it on the Hill in the sense that what you want to do is establish the grade that slips away from the house first, and then once that grade is established, then you could plant flowers or shrubs or whatever else you want to do. What you don’t want to do is kind of have like a like an edging around the outside of the bed. So that a lot times you see that people we use like, like railroad ties or like circle of bricks or block or something like that and think of it as a trough that they build around their house. And that’s what happens. It holds water. So just don’t impede drainage, good flow of water away from the exterior wall and you’ll be fine. |
| 0:06:02 | CALLER: Okay. Well, thank you so much. |
| 0:06:04 | TOM: You’re welcome, Michelle. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money Pit. |
| 0:06:08 | LESLIE: You know, we love hearing from our listeners. And if you want to make our day, leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:06:14 | TOM: You know, it really helps us know what we’re doing right and how we can improve our show for you. So just go to Money Pit dot com slash review, Money pit dot com slash review and you might even win a copy of our book. |
| 0:06:26 | LESLIE: Andrew from Missouri is on the line and has a question about a deck. What’s going on at your money pit. |
| 0:06:31 | CALLER: Built a deck with pressure treated lumber a little very little under a year ago and everybody had said everybody I talked to said I need to let it sit for a little while to cure out. And so I went the other day and I’m about to stay in because I was going to, you know, get ready to stay in it. And I was talking to use buying this deck cleaner, even though I never put any stain on the deck before. And so I’ve got the deck cleaner and all it said it was it was an Olympic deck cleaner. And it just said you put it on, you wait at least 10 minutes. You just straight on wait 10 minutes and then hose it off. Just rinse it all from water. Right. So I did that and it first it made the deck real splotchy. And then in the left, a real thick white film on the deck. And so then I called tech Support and I talked to a couple of guys and a couple of different paint stores, and they said, well, try applying a second application of it and maybe that’ll undercut it. So I did that and it didn’t do anything. So now I have a white film. |
| 0:07:38 | TOM: Yeah, I’ve actually read several reports about that happening online and they seem to point to a reaction between the pressure, treatment, chemicals and whatever is in this deck cleaner, which is probably somewhat bleach based. Let me ask you this. What are you planning to do after the clean? Are you going to put a stain on this deck? |
| 0:07:56 | CALLER: That was the plan. We were going to do a semi-transparent like a rustic cedar with. I thought, I don’t know what to do at this point. |
| 0:08:04 | TOM: I suspect that when you do apply the stain, it’s going to cover that white haze. I think you’re going to end up okay on this. Okay. Just an additional point to make on this. And that is that, you know, you have semi-transparent or solid colored stains that are available. You will find that if you use a solid color stain while you’re still see the green of the wood, you won’t see different sort of tonal shades, but you’ll find that that has more pigment and actually lasts longer. So keep that in mind when you make that determination. |
| 0:08:33 | CALLER: Solid colored. |
| 0:08:34 | TOM: Solid color does what you might want to do. Just kind of prove a point is if you can find if you have any extra lumber from the deck or if you can find a section like maybe the back of a post or something like that or the underside of the floor joist that you have clean and have that white blotchy this on it. |
| 0:08:51 | TOM: If you could stay in that first and see what the coverage looks like, you have a really good idea of what you’re up against before you, you know, go for the entire deck surface and railings. Okay. |
| 0:08:59 | CALLER: Okay. And then this question is, so when I do staining, would you recommend putting two coats on or do you just wait to see what it looks like? |
| 0:09:08 | TOM: And then if you’re going to put semi-transparent on your you put two coats on, you’re probably gonna end up with solid color because you’re going to be layering on top of it. But I would follow the manufacturer’s instructions on that. You know, if you want to put a second coat on, I think that’s fine. |
| 0:09:23 | CALLER: All right. Well, thank you very much. |
| 0:09:25 | LESLIE: Well, if you’re getting ready to spark up a toasty fire for the cooler months, you need to first make sure that your chimney is safe. First, you need to have a certified chimney sweep, inspect and clean out that chimney. Now, the chimney should be checked at least once a year or once for every quart of wood that you burn. But be careful about choosing a chimney sweep company. Unfortunately, guys, you know, chimney sweeps are notorious for recommending a lot of unnecessary repairs. And they may even use some scare tactics to get you to spend more money than you actually need to. So if that contractor recommends any expensive repair, just get a second opinion before you go ahead and say yes and open up that wallet. |
| 0:10:03 | TOM: That’s a good point. Now, during the season, it’s important to also keep the firebox clean. You want to clean it at least once a week. During the month, you use it and when the ash builds up. Now, be extremely careful where you put those coals in actually to take out of the firebox because it can stay hot for many days. Yes, I said many days. I’ve even seen these coals stay hot through major rainstorms. You know, in our fire pit outside. I’ve even seen Ash stay hot enough to relight after being rained on all night long. So it’s real important that you keep it in an ash container and keep this container away from the house, not anywhere near the walls of the house. So keep it out somewhere where it will be a totally safe spot. |
| 0:10:44 | LESLIE: Yeah. Now, before you make fire, you want to open the glass doors, You want to pull aside those green curtains and place the kindling newspaper and the logs inside. Be sure that that damper is open and all the way open. This way. When you start the fire, you want to start small. And that initial heat from that small fire is going to warm the chimney. And what that does is improve the draft as it heats up. So it’s actually going to draw that smoke up the chimney. So you got to make sure that happens. And really, you have to make sure that that flue is open. |
| 0:11:13 | TOM: Yeah. And here’s one more tip. If you have a pre-fabricated fireplace, one of these metal fireplaces, they’re also called zero clearance fireplaces. Now, those flues, the vents actually operate a lot cooler than the masonry fireplace. And because of that, it’s more likely to have condensation on the inside. And what that means is you can have wax buildup if you use those sort of ready to go logs that are made to just sort of, you know, light the paper in the outside log and starts to take off like a big candle. But if you use those all the time, you’ll get like a serious wax build up inside the chimney, which is hard to get rid of inside the vent pipe. So use them sparingly. Like, you know, we have a fireplace like this in a house that we own once. And we used to use the wax logs, you know, occasionally like holiday season or if we’re having a party or something like that where we didn’t really want to have, you know, to have to deal with the fireplace a lot during the event. But for the most part, you really ought to be burning hardwood whenever possible because that’s going to give you the most beat use, the most heat coming out of it. And it’s definitely the safest for your chimney in terms of not building up on the inside. |
| 0:12:15 | LESLIE: Bridget, Illinois, is on the line. What is going on with that musty odor, your money pit? Tell us about it. Well, my. |
| 0:12:20 | CALLER: Crawlspace is about 15 by 15 foot area and it opens up into my basement that I bought an older home. And the addition just has the crawl space. Okay. |
| 0:12:31 | LESLIE: So right now. |
| 0:12:32 | CALLER: It’s just dirt. And I see some. They’ve made some cardboard in there. But I heard last week that cardboard breeds molds from your shows. |
| 0:12:42 | TOM: Yeah, not only that, but laying directly on the dirt. That is a that is a termite feast waiting to happen there. So what you need to do is a couple of things. You need to get the cardboard out of the crawl space and off of that soil. Then you need to lay a heavy plastic down like this clean, very thick sheet plastic down across that whole soil surface. That’s going to stop a lot of the moisture from evaporating up off that soil and getting into the air, which is causing the musty smell in your basement. Now, do you have vents in this in this addition that are open to the outside so that the crawl space can get some fresh air? Do you have a door that closes the crawl space off from the main basement? |
| 0:13:22 | CALLER: No, I don’t. |
| 0:13:23 | TOM: Okay, so what you’re going to do is to form or construct some sort of a hatch way that closes off that opening between the crawl space and the basement. They don’t need to be connected. And in fact, if they are, it’s going to lead to energy loss. There’s a couple of ways that you can do that and what you might think about doing if it’s just sort of a standard opening that maybe is three feet wide and two feet tall, I don’t know. But if it’s something like that, you could take a piece of one inch Styrofoam and put a piece of plywood on the front of that. And this way, construct that essentially an insulated hatch way there so that you can really seal that in and keep the cold side on the crawl space and let the basement be the warm side. I think those couple of things are going to solve your musty smell in your basement and it’s also going to make that crawl space much, much dryer, which is important if you let that moisture continue that off the soil, what’s going to happen is you’re eventually going to get not only an inefficient situation because your insulation will be damp, but you could get termites, you could get mold or decay of the floor structure. |
| 0:14:24 | CALLER: Okay. And my other question is, if I put the best cream down, how much do I overlap the pieces? |
| 0:14:30 | TOM: Very good question. I would overlap at about four feet. You don’t want to put an edge to edge. |
| 0:14:34 | CALLER: Okay. And then someone told me that maybe I should put line down underneath first to dry out the area in case there’s bacteria. Is that correct? |
| 0:14:42 | TOM: No. You cannot possibly take all the moisture away while I’m outside with that. Okay. Now, just cover with this clean. Make sure the vents are open. SEAL it off from the basement. And I think it’d be good to go. And by the way, at that foundation perimeter, you can also reduce the amount of moisture getting in there by making sure you have gutters on the addition. The downspouts are extended 4 to 6 feet from the house, and the soil is always sloping away. All that moisture management is going to help. |
| 0:15:06 | CALLER: Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. |
| 0:15:08 | TOM: You got it. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:15:12 | LESLIE: Good to talk to Steve in Arizona, who’s got a question about air conditioning. And it was pretty hot this summer for you guys, so you definitely need it. What’s going on? |
| 0:15:20 | CALLER: Yeah, I was just wondering what three ton regular air conditioners run me? |
| 0:15:24 | TOM: Well, I mean, that’s going to depend because contractors have wide ranges of charges that they that they go through. Yeah, I can tell you the best way to get down to this is to get a number of contractors to give you prices. I had to get estimates on a three and a half ton air conditioner from my mom’s house in Florida for her a few months ago, and I was amazed that I had prices that I ran from about $7,000 to about $12,000 for the same darn system. It was just a huge, huge, huge. |
| 0:15:55 | CALLER: Very it really went up the last couple of years. |
| 0:15:58 | TOM: Everything’s going up last couple of years, Steve. But I will say this. You probably don’t need to use the most efficient one depending on how long you’re going to be in that house. The high efficiency ones are going to be far more expensive. And you have to question whether or not that will ever pay itself back. You want to get one that’s efficient enough to qualify for any rebates. But beyond that, I would stick with something close to that level. |
| 0:16:20 | CALLER: Okay. Well, I appreciate their help and your information on that. |
| 0:16:24 | LESLIE: Cindy in Florida, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 0:16:27 | CALLER: We bought our house two years ago and one of the options was to have the epoxy floor. And what we got was a plain gray epoxy. Now, we noticed that the other houses that are all being built around us, they have a gray epoxy smaller, but they have those little speckles and steadies. Yeah. Yeah. So we want to know. We want we want to do our part to have that little confetti sprinkled on. Do you have to strip the old epoxy off completely, or can we just put a new a park seat over it? |
| 0:17:12 | TOM: No, I think you could put a second layer on it as long as that all the boxes adhered well. It looks like it’s tough finishing and sticking. Well, then I think you could add another akoto epoxy on top of it. Some folks put multiple coats of that base epoxy in some folks, but the Clark even put a clear coat on top of what they have. So no, you can put another layer on. I would try to find out what product it was so that you’re using the same product. That would give you a better chance of not having any adhesion issues. |
| 0:17:41 | CALLER: Oh, that makes a difference. The same product. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I didn’t even think of that. Thank you very much. |
| 0:17:49 | TOM: Okay, Cindy. Good luck with that project. And thanks for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:17:55 | LESLIE: Heading over to West Virginia, where we’ve got Randall on the line. What is going on in your Money Pit. |
| 0:18:00 | CALLER: Martin? All right. I just got flooded about five months ago, but I’m not that terrible. Well, you know, the have and kind of tore up. So my question was, I’ve lived in this house for 23 years, roughly, but the basement has never been there. And I’ve never really had a problem with it. So should I vent it now? |
| 0:18:23 | TOM: Now, when you say basement, are you talking about a full basement? Are you talking about a crawl space? |
| 0:18:27 | CALLER: A full basement that is like half underground, Half above ground? Yeah. |
| 0:18:32 | TOM: Well, you don’t vent a space like that. You know, you’re. If it vents in a crawl space, not in a basement. Yeah. |
| 0:18:37 | CALLER: So, I mean it. There’s still a little there, but occasionally. Okay. |
| 0:18:41 | TOM: So let’s talk about that, because that’s the heart of the matter. So there’s a couple of things that you can do. First of all, you mentioned flooding. And if that happened during heavy rain and you got more humidity, more dampness or any kind of leak in that space when that happened, that has everything to do with the drainage around your house, starting with the gutters. If they’re not cleaned, they’re not extended. Those downspouts have to be way out, away from the foundation, not the two feet that most people have. But I’m talking about six, seven, eight feet. So that the water moves away from the foundation. Keeping that water away as much as possible will definitely have an impact on drying out. That basement space. But if you want to dehumidifier it further, what you could do is install a dehumidifier in that space. Now, there are the sort of the portable kind where you have like a tray that fills up with water. You don’t want that. There are more professional versions, more heavy duty versions where they can be suspended from the ceiling and they pull the moisture out based on the you made a step and then they automatically pump the water outside. And that’s what I have in my basement to help me with some of the humidity issues that we have. Even though my drainage outside is perfect, it’s just a very sandy, damp kind of soil. And I got a really old house. So the moisture does make itself known in that basement space. So I have a good solid humidifier hung from the ceiling that does a good job keeping it drier, but you don’t have to put vents in it. That’s not going to help you here. What you want to do is make sure the drainage is right and then humidify, what’s left? |
| 0:20:09 | CALLER: Okay. I mean, just seeing a little damp down, there was never any standing water or anything. It just seemed damp when you go down there. |
| 0:20:17 | TOM: I hear you. But the point in putting a vent is not going to change anything at all. |
| 0:20:21 | CALLER: Right, Jane. Okay, then I won’t bother. |
| 0:20:23 | TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. Thank you. Thanks so much for calling us. |
| 0:20:27 | CALLER: All right. Thank you, sir. Have a good. |
| 0:20:28 | TOM: Day. |
| 0:20:28 | LESLIE: Well, winter is rough on driveways, which is why fall is a good time to fix up your driveway by filling in those cracks and sealing up that surface. Now, the first step is patching and filling any holes or cracks in the driveway. You’re going to want to tackle this part of your driveway rehab well, before you start the sealing process as filling material needs plenty of time to cure. Now, make sure that you’re planning for curing time because that asphalt patching product does require, you know, different amounts of time. And you have to give it the correct time to cure before you do anything else. So plan everything based on that first step. |
| 0:21:03 | TOM: Now, here’s a tip When shopping for the patching product, you’re going to use. Remember that the more solids it contains like asphalt and polymers and cold air, the better the quality and the more lasting an effect The results will be. Now, after you’ve passion filled cracks in the driveway and allow time for the repairs to cure, it’s time to plan for the sealing project. Now, the best time to do that is when the weather is forecasted to be rain free and daily temps are in at least 50 degree range. |
| 0:21:30 | LESLIE: Now the next step is to wash the asphalt surface when to use an oil cleaner for stubborn oil stains and then apply a mixture of TSP, detergent and water to the entire surface using a stiff bristle brush. Now, you can also use a pressure washer for this deep cleaning step. And here’s the thing, guys. You have to let the driveway dry completely. So once it is completely dry, you want to apply a sealant using a squeegee or roller or broom. You want to work in strokes parallel to your house and then allow the sealant to dry according to those manufacturer instructions. Then come back for another application lap. This time working in passes that run perpendicular to the house. This way you’re going to get great coverage. |
| 0:22:09 | TOM: And I’ll tell you, I have found that the driveway squeegee, there’s applicators that are made just for putting on asphalt sealer are so worth the few dollars they cost because you’re not going to ruin a broom. You can’t clean these things when you’re done. If you get all that sealant in there. I mean, I guess you can because there are a lot of them are water based now, but it’s just a whole lot easier to buy a disposable driveway. Squeegee. It’s on a stick like a broom, like a push broom. And it just gives you a lot better control when you’re moving that material around. And once that finish has dried, you’re going to want to, like, set up some traffic cones or some yellow tape or something to keep cars off it for at least a couple of days. I always keep the cars off it a lot longer than the manufacturer says we have to. I just feel like it’s going to last longer that way. But if you do this right, you follow the steps. You’re going to a really great looking and hardworking driveway surface that can stand up for many, many years to come. So good luck. |
| 0:23:03 | LESLIE: Kathryn, you’ve got the Money Pit. What can we help you with today? |
| 0:23:06 | CALLER: I have lighting in the basement and it is something we started initially and we changed our mind. And so there are outlets or holes that are intended for light fixtures and then also a ceiling fan. And we’re changing how we’re going to do things down there. Is there some way that we can catch it up and start all over, or do we need to have an electrician in and resurface everything and do everything all over again? |
| 0:23:33 | TOM: Okay. So your main concern is that you have the holes that you’re not using anymore, so you want to know if you can patch those. |
| 0:23:39 | CALLER: Yes. Yeah, sure you can. And then the wires are already there. |
| 0:23:43 | TOM: Oh, the wires are there. Well, if the wires are there, if they’re if they’re like that, they’re connected on the other end, they’re energized to a panel, then they have to be disconnected for sure. Okay. You could just put a wire and it’s on the end of it and cover the box. And there’s different types of ceiling plates that could cover that. But frankly, if you’re never going to use that wiring, I wouldn’t have extra energized wiring through the ceiling. I would just disconnected at the panel whenever it was given power. If it’s a matter of there’s no wiring behind me, totally disconnected it. Now you’ve got these big old holes. Yeah, you can do it one of two ways. You can either put like a decorative plate, let’s say it’s around, you know, around fixture, around electrical box. There are electrical plates that are designed to fit over, ceilings that can cover that. You can paint whites not that noticeable or if you want, you completely repair the ceiling as if it never happened at all, then what I would do is I would probably if I was repairing that, I would square off the hole first. So because it’s a lot easier to patch a square hole than it is a round hole. And then what you do is you take another piece of drywall and you basically measure out a piece that’s, well, let’s say it’s about two inches wider on all sides. So if it was 4×4 of the hole, I would look at a piece that was eight by eight or so. Because what you’re going to do and this is a little tricky, you’re going to turn that piece of drywall upside down and you’re going to sort of score where that four inch piece would be in the middle. Then you’re going to peel off all of the plaster that’s on the drywall except for the paper on the outside edge, because that’s going to actually act as the drywall tape. And then if you put spackle and you put that little piece back up there and you may have to tack it in place with a screw or something, well, while it’s holding, while it’s drying, you can spackle that and it will magically disappear. But when it’s time to paint, make sure you prime it. And then always use a flat paint, because otherwise, all the spackle you put up there, even if you do a good job, is going to be really obvious. Okay? |
| 0:25:34 | CALLER: Okay. Excellent. Thank you so much. |
| 0:25:37 | TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:25:42 | LESLIE: You’ve got home improvement questions, guys, but you’re kind of confused where to turn for answers. Well, come on, silly is turn to us. We can help you save money. Save time, and avoid those home improvement hassles that can slow you down on the road to your dream home. |
| 0:25:55 | TOM: Follow the Money Pit podcast. That Money Pit icon slash podcast. |
| 0:26:01 | LESLIE: Charles in Tennessee, You’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you with your porch project? |
| 0:26:05 | CALLER: I bought a house and the front porch is made out of concrete. It’s got mock up my surroundings and it’s got a poor concrete slab and a one side of the slab is just falling in. Huh? I’m thinking that when they build it that they then pack the same, but they’re put in a home and one time Now first home is not always you don’t want to on that thing. |
| 0:26:39 | TOM: Yeah, we are not you’re not going be able to get into that thing. And I think you’re exactly right and I’ve seen that happen before. They they’ll use maybe concrete block to form the outside edge and then they’ll just throw whatever’s around the construction site in that hole to fill it up. And sometimes you can settlement or you could be hit like a tree stump in there that rots away and then it rains. You get the water in there and it can’t hold that slab anymore. You are going to be much better off breaking that slab out of there and properly backfilling that space, chipping it in well, and then pouring a new slab. It’s only a piece of concrete. It’s not like you’re lifting the whole house. I don’t think you’re going to be at the expense of doing any kind of a pump Jack or something of that nature is just not going to be worth it. I would simply break up the slab and replace it. |
| 0:27:22 | CALLER: That’s what I’ll do that. |
| 0:27:23 | TOM: All right. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money Pit. |
| 0:27:28 | LESLIE: Well, Autumn’s colors are something to look forward to, but the change of seasons also has its drawbacks, like allergies and energy costs. |
| 0:27:36 | TOM: Which is why it’s important to do what you can to improve your home’s indoor air quality. Now, step one is changing your filters, the filters in your heating and cooling system. You know, good quality HBC filters are going to capture about 90% of those large allergens like dust and pollen and mold spores that make us all so miserable. It’ll take it right from the air. It’s passing through. Now, If your family is prone allergies, you want to look for filters with a MERV rating of at least 11. |
| 0:28:04 | LESLIE: Now, if you change out the filter a little more often than necessary, once every two months or so, it can even reduce the amount of energy needed to heat your home, leading to lower energy costs and reduce stress on that HVAC system and. |
| 0:28:17 | TOM: If you want even better protection against the microscopic airborne particles that carry bacteria and viruses, it’s a good idea to think about investing in electronic air cleaner. This is going to be a significantly larger expense, of course, than, you know, choosing some new filters, even high efficiency filters. But it is really the best way to go. It’s an appliance that has to be installed into your HPC system. It’s usually on the blower door side, the lower compartment side of your furnace, and it cleans everything that goes through it, including virus particles and bacteria particles. And so it’s efficient. These electronic airliners are today. So that’s going to really make a big difference in the indoor air quality inside your house. So if you want to go that route because you’re just so sick and tired of being sick and tired from allergies, electronic air cleaner is definitely worth the investment. |
| 0:29:07 | LESLIE: James wrote in, and he says, I recently had a new door to my crawl space installed from the outside. The door sits in bricks and on cinder blocks and the framing of the house is along the top. Does this type of door need to be weatherproof like any other exterior door or window? |
| 0:29:22 | TOM: Yeah, I know the kind of door you’re talking about. It’s basically like, think of it as like a very small exterior door. Lastly, like half height or even a third of the size of a regular door, and it’s cut into the block wall of a crawl space. And usually it has a top that is aligned with the bottom of the sort of framed wall where the siding sort of overlaps. Now, in a case like this, you definitely need to have at least a drip edge covering the top of that door, because remember, the door is wood. Or even if it’s metal, it’s going to rust. You can’t have water going down the siding and getting underneath that. So you definitely have to have a drip edge flashing on top of that in terms of the size, depending on how tight it is to the block wall, I would at least caulk with a silicone caulk those sides of the door jam into that block wall. So, again, you don’t have water that’s getting in there. So you treat the same basically as you would with any exterior window or door. Just because it’s just for the crawl space doesn’t mean you should be taking any shortcuts on it. And lastly, don’t forget, now’s the time to get a good solid coat of exterior paint on that, because typically when they come out of the factory, they’re primed, but they need finish coats on top of the door to make it last a long time. |
| 0:30:30 | LESLIE: You know, a lot of times we see these Bilko doors, you know, those definitely go into a similar type of space. Do we have the same type of concerns with that? |
| 0:30:37 | TOM: Well, the nice thing about a Bilko door, these are these angular metal doors. You have to kind of dig a well, if steps are going down and then you use that to get into the to the basement area or the Carlsbad area, is that the builder itself is weather resistant. So it’s only that opening that has to be sealed. And yes, pretty much the same way as I just described for the grocery store. Well, fall is one of the most beautiful seasons for home decorating. I mean, you’ve got the rustic colors and the iconic images from harvest time. But how do you pull ideas from the natural world to decorate your home for the season? Leslie’s got some tips on how to do exactly that in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. |
| 0:31:12 | LESLIE: Yeah. You know, guys, I love Fall. It’s like my favorite season. I mean, next Christmas. But you know what I’m saying? I love this time of year. You’ve got apple and pumpkin picking, changing leaves. Halloween. And if you plan it right, there are ways that you can have your autumn, Halloween, fall, whatever you call it, decor take you from right now in this month, all the way through Thanksgiving. Now, first of all, you can use those late summer harvest to spruce up your front entry to your kitchen table. We’re talking about those pumpkins, squashes, baskets of colorful apples or gourds. And you can swap things out. You can mix them up, you can move them around. But they really do set the scene for this time of year. Also pull those colors for accents. All around the home, from tablecloths to linens, towels, pillows, vases, cookie jars, all of those accent pieces throughout the house instead of flowers. Place a vase of autumn leaves on the side or your dining table, whatever. Think about fun ways to really bring all of those colors and feelings of the season indoors. Now, lastly, think about your senses pine cones, cinnamon sticks. They definitely give you those autumn smells, and the texture of a few pine cones can evoke fall as well. So using what’s around you, that definitely brings that autumn feeling into your home without spending a lot of money. So get creative, go for a walk, look around, bring your little, you know, sheers to snip a branch here and there and have a great time this fall season. It’s going to be a good one. |
| 0:32:37 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show coming up next time on this program. From single sinks to limited square footage, smaller bathrooms often leave much to be desired, but you don’t have to make a bathroom bigger. To make it better. We’ll have tips for better bathrooms, even those that are small. On the next edition of the Money Pit, I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:32:58 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:32:59 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 0:33:01 | LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. |
| (Note: The above referenced transcript is AI-Generated, Unedited and Unproofed and as such may not accurately reflect the recorded audio. Copyright 2023 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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