Show Notes
- Small Bathrooms: Size doesn’t matter with these space-saving tips for small bathrooms.
- Painting Over Mold: Find out how to clean and repaint surfaces the right way to keep mold from coming back.
- Buying an Efficient Dryer: Choosing an efficient dryer will consume less energy and lower your electric bills.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Adding an HVAC System: How hard is it to add air conditioning? The ductwork is not that difficult and Courtney should certainly not remove her hot water baseboard heating to change the HVAC system.
- Flooring Adhesive: Vito wants to install upcycled bathroom flooring, but it won’t stick. He should clean the subfloor well and use a grooved trowel to apply floor adhesive.
- Worms: Lillian doesn’t like the garden worms coming into her patio after a rainfall, but they’re beneficial to the soil and we don’t recommend trying to get rid of them.
- Foundation Drainage: After removing a large tree near his foundation, Mike is concerned about drainage. We offer tips on overfilling the area with clean fill dirt and diverting water away from the house.
- Sealing Marble: Gary cleaned the stain from a marble tabletop and wants to know how to seal the surface. We suggest products that can polish and seal the marble.
- Old Wood Walls: Remodeling an old home revealed beautiful American chestnut wood walls. It’s a rare find and James gets advice on sanding and refinishing the wood.
- Tankless Water Heater: Sharon hopes a tankless water heater will heat the water faster. She will get an unlimited supply of hot water but may still need to add a bypass valve to recirculate hot water on a timer.
- Matching Flooring: Char wants new bedroom flooring to complement the golden oak laminate in the other rooms. It’s a hard color to match and she should consider installing tile or carpet instead for a different look.
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 0:00:30 | 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. |
| 0:00:37 | TOM: And we are thrilled to be here with you on this fall weekend. Are you tackling a project around your house or are you getting ready for the winter? You want to step up the insulation? Maybe you want to get to a project that you just couldn’t find time for last summer, so you’re good to go when the warmer weather returns, Whatever is on your to do list, we’d love for you to slide it right over 2 hours. You can do that by calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit or by posting your question at Moneypit.com/asked us click the blue microphone button. Coming up on today’s show, from single sinks to limited square footage, you know, small bars often leave a lot to be desired, but you don’t have to make a bathroom bigger to make it better. We’ll share some tricks to do just that. |
| 0:01:18 | LESLIE: And moldy surfaces can be really hard to paint. So we’re going to share how to make sure that mold doesn’t ruin your otherwise good painting project just ahead. |
| 0:01:27 | TOM: And dryers can be one of the biggest energy consuming appliances in your house. So we’re going to share a tip on how to buy a dryer that will not guaranteed run up your electric bill. |
| 0:01:36 | LESLIE: But first, we are here to help you create your best home ever. So whether that’s a quick fix or a big project, we can save time, money and tackle all of your to do’s with confidence. So let us know what you are working on this fall weekend. I love the beginning of the fall season. A kind of fills you with so many fun projects and ideas to do around the house because this weather I mean, my goodness, guys, could you get enough of it? Well, give us a call and let us know how we can help you. |
| 0:02:02 | TOM: In the summer. I think I have great ideas. I go outside and it’s just so oppressive out. I quickly run out of steam, you know, But the fall, I’m, like, bouncing around, I just can’t get enough done. So. That’s right. Fall is a time, a great time to get this project done. So reach out to us again. Go to Money Pit ecommerce, slash ask. Click the blue microphone button for the fastest possible response or call us at 1-888-Money-Pit. So let’s get to it. Leslie, Who’s first? |
| 0:02:26 | LESLIE: Courtney in Pennsylvania is on the line with a question about adding air conditioning to her home. And this is a biggie and it could be a big, expensive project. Tell us about it. |
| 0:02:34 | CALLER: I guess I’m wondering if that’s the best way to do that. We have a Cape Cod house for need to put in ducting, but there has been some talk from the contractors that I had come in to talk about the difficulty based on like the structure of the house and also, if I should consider taking out the lease for two years and just doing like all one system for heating and AC. |
| 0:03:05 | TOM: You know, Leslie, I hate hearing that contractors are advising you to take out a baseboard hot water heating system, which. |
| 0:03:14 | LESLIE: Is the best heating ever, the. |
| 0:03:15 | TOM: Best ever, most desirable. And I would fire that guy. If you haven’t hired him yet, I would not let him back in your house because that is somebody that has no clue what he’s doing. And plus, you know, if you’re worried about the complexity of installing ducts for air conditioning, that becomes far more complex. If you now have to also install ducts to get heat into your house. Now, in a Cape Cod house, it’s actually not terribly difficult because the cool air is going to fall. So you’re going to have your air handler up in that attic space of the Cape Cod. It could be in sort of that crawlspace area where it’s like the other side of the knee wall or somewhere up there. You’re going to have the air handler there and then you’re going to duct down into the ceiling below. Now, if the if the attic is finished, then yeah, it’s a little more complicated. But again, you would duct right from there. So this is not a terribly complex project you have to be selective in and you have to be crafty about how you run the ducks. And if you’re worried about having, you know, big ducks there, there’s another type of system that’s called space pack. It’s a high velocity, low volume system. And by that I mean it uses ducts that are about three inches in diameter and it blows air through them really fast. And you don’t see too often because it’s a more expensive system, but it’s often used. An older house is where you don’t have to do a lot of demolition to get the ductwork in. But you know, in our house we had a central AC when we first took it over, we had about eight window units and then we put in central AC. That’s an old house. And we just had to be, you know, selective and strategic about how we did that. But I don’t think you should consider for one minute taking out that wonderful baseboard heat, because that’s just the. |
| 0:04:53 | LESLIE: Best I mean, it really does. It heats up super quick. It keeps the heat in the room. So if you start to switch to a different type of heat, you’re going to feel it differently. It’s going to not be as warm as you want it to be. I would for sure not change that. |
| 0:05:06 | TOM: Yeah, and it’s also super dry reinforced. He’s super dry compared to baseboard heat, which is nice and warm and comfortable. So stick with what you got and ADC. |
| 0:05:15 | LESLIE: All right, Vito in California, how can we help you today at the Money Pit? |
| 0:05:18 | CALLER: I have a four by eight bathroom. This I’m trying to put this use flooring on and it’s a plywood floor raised floor to begin with. And I don’t know what to use. There’s no more stepping on this use plank that I’ve got. So do put plastic underneath or what do you put underneath? |
| 0:05:38 | TOM: So it sounds like Vito is trying to use like an upcycled product here, old flooring that he wants to put down in his bathroom, but he can’t. It’s not going to stick. So I think what you have to do here is use a floor adhesive. There are various types of floor adhesive products. There are four adhesive toward there are floor adhesives for tile. And I think what you’re going to need to do here is to clean the subfloor very, very well as much as possible and then apply the new flooring with adhesive. Now, one thing that’s really important about floor adhesive, and that is the trowel, it’s a grooved trowel. It has like notches in it or sort of like little triangles cut out of it. So that when you push, when you put the adhesive down, it sort of stands up a little bit and that helps it adhere better to the flooring product. Just do keep in mind, though, that it’s very difficult to remove these products once they set. So make sure your make sure you’re sure that this is the way that you want to go, because you know, there are so many new floors that are out there today. There are four about that in a range for bathrooms that are 100% waterproof. There are a lot of good choices, a lot of inexpensive choices. But if you found a formula and you just need to adhere it, then flooring cement is going to be your friend in this case. |
| 0:06:48 | LESLIE: Hey, are you a fan of our podcast? Well, leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts and we’ll be doing a happy dance. Plus, it helps us keep the show going and growing. Just go to MoneyPit.com/review. Heading to the beautiful Florida Keys where we’ve got Lillian on the line and you’re dealing with some worms in the patio. What’s going on? |
| 0:07:06 | CALLER: I’m calling in reference to some worms that we keep getting into our screened in patio that we seem to have here in the Florida Keys. And I’m not sure what to do about them. I’ve tried different sprays to try to keep them out and nothing is working. |
| 0:07:22 | TOM: Leslie, I don’t think this is just a Florida problem. I’ve seen this in my own garage here in the Northeast. Have you ever seen the Earth, the worms come up after heavy rain and get into your patio or your sidewalks, your driveway, that kind of place? |
| 0:07:33 | LESLIE: Oh, for sure. My goodness. They just seem to find their way out of the soil, I think, just because it gets so wet. |
| 0:07:38 | TOM: And that’s exactly right. That’s why they do it, because worms actually breathe through their skin. So when you have a heavy rain, they need to get oxygen. They do that by coming up out of the lawn, out of the dirt, and very often will crawl right up on the patio, which is kind of like committing worm suicide, because then they get baked by the sun or stepped on by us or by pets. But the thing is, worms are really beneficial in the soil. So I think it’s just something you have to learn to live with. I wouldn’t try to do anything to stop worms from enjoying all the soil. It’s unfortunate that they have this behavior where they come up into the patios and the garages and the sidewalks. But for everyone that comes up, I’m sure there are many, many more that are in the soil helping it become rich and organic and supporting our lawns and our gardens in the process. |
| 0:08:23 | LESLIE: We’ve got Mike in Illinois on the line who’s ready to talk tree stump removal. What’s going. |
| 0:08:27 | CALLER: On? My wife and I recently had a large tree removed right at the foundation of our home. It’s a Chicago, two flat sort of brick home, and we just moved in and the owner had left this massive tree right at the foundation. And, you know, we’re talking maybe six inches away from the foundation. So we had it removed. We had this stump ground out. There’s a divot there. And to my eye, anyway, it looks like the pitch around that area is sort of, you know, going back towards the foundation of the home. My gut says, you know, just get some dirt at the hardware store, fill it in, tamp down, you know, make sure it’s sloped away. And I mean, does that sound. Like the right solution to you? Is there anything I should keep in mind? |
| 0:09:08 | TOM: Hey, Mike, I think you’re definitely on the right track here. The thing about grounding out a stop is it doesn’t remove all of the old root structure that’s in there. So even though it’s sort of sunken in now, it’s actually going to continue you to settle over. I hate to tell you, or probably over the next some number of years. So what I would do is I would fill that area in, but I would use clean fill dirt. What you don’t want to do, because you mentioned buying soil in the bag. You don’t want to buy topsoil because topsoil is too organic. It’s not going to help you here. What you want is clean filled dirt. You’re going to fill that in up to the level at the point where you’re going to want to start to grow some grass. And then you could put a little topsoil over the top of that plant, some grass seed. But I would almost overfill at this point, and it’s going to continue to settle. And the second thing to be careful of is make sure that you don’t have a lot of water discharging in that same area, like from gutters, because it’ll find that low spot, maybe even work on your house and crawl space of the basement. Not quite sure what you have there. So, so keep the major discharge of water from the gutters away from that. Make sure those gutters are clean because the spouts are well extended past that point so you don’t collect any water there. But I think those two things just keep an eye on it. Just know that you’re going to have to add some more stuff from time to time. It’s definitely going to do the trick. Well, there’s a few things all old house lovers like me are familiar with and drafty windows, less than perfect plumbing, squeaky floors and small baths rooms are on that list. |
| 0:10:31 | LESLIE: Yeah, that is true. Small bathrooms are definitely a thing. But while new home baths of nearly doubled in size over the past 30 years and I would kind of say maybe even tripled compared to the size of the backyard. |
| 0:10:43 | CALLER: All right. |
| 0:10:44 | LESLIE: Most of these older bathrooms in these homes average about five feet by eight feet. That sounds absolutely correct. So short of ripping out walls to increase your space, he might be thinking you’ve got just very limited options. But there are some ways that you can use the space to its fullest potential. And here’s some tips to help you do just that. You really have to maximize the space that you have. And you might want to consider installing a corner sink. It can be pedestal style, it can be wall mounted, whichever you choose. A corner mounted sink option is going to give you some functional charm, but most importantly, it frees up a lot of poor space in that bathroom and setting up space saving storage elsewhere in that room also means that you don’t have the traditional cabinet vanity and a smaller bowl for the sink itself is still going to provide plenty of capacity. So definitely not a sacrifice here. |
| 0:11:33 | TOM: Now, here’s something that a lot of folks have not thought of. Curved quadrant shower units. You might be thinking, what the heck is a quadrant shower unit? Well, you can conserve very precious real estate by including a comfy, curved quadrant shower enclosure in your bathroom remodel. Now a quadrant shower has two straight sized mounted into a corner and then a curved entry that says at least one square foot of space compared to additional units. Now another option is to go with toilets that have a flat tank top. A flat tank top gives you another storage spot where you can place organizers directly on top of it or take advantage of the wall space above for hanging cabinets or shelving. And next, think of smaller, deeper tubs. You can look for smaller scale tubs that offer great soaking potential because they have deep set seating. A small clawfoot tub is one option, but there are many, if you’d like, a different type of decor. |
| 0:12:28 | LESLIE: All right, now here’s some other ideas. Lower profile faucets and fixtures because you’re freeing up, then some visual space. And when you select those low profile fixtures, you’re kind of opening up this view. So you’re making the space be, you know, perceived as larger than it actually is. And there’s a ton of styles available. So you can really beautifully accessorize your small bath plus bathroom. Things don’t have to be big to get that job done. You can also think about if you don’t want to get rid of that cabinet or that vanity, think of using a smaller scale cabinet with a smaller vessel. Sink on top. Definitely a smaller, but you’re going to get the storage that you want. Plus a really gorgeous looking sink. Also, think about converting furnishings that you may already have or something you might find at a thrift store, standalone storage cabinets, small tables converted into carts, that kind of thing. All of these vintage finds definitely add personality to that bathroom space, but give you that storage that you need for your linens, for your toiletries. I always feel like you have more stuff than you think you have in the bathroom until you start to clean. |
| 0:13:29 | LESLIE: So definitely, I think if you had smaller storage space, you’d probably collect less, which would be great. |
| 0:13:34 | TOM: Finally, let’s talk about one particular type of storage and that is towel storage. You know, the lack of a linen closet or a surplus cabinet space doesn’t have to mean you’ve got a trail of towels and washcloths on the bathroom floor. Here’s an idea to keep things accessible while keeping them neat. You can mount a hotel style multi-tiered rack on the back of the entry door near the shower or tub. Not only does it add much needed storage space, but it does it with style. And for more storage, you can place open wire style shelving above the toilet or straight down from the ceiling and use it to hold hand-rolled towels. Now I actually made a towel shelf like this and have it attached about 18 inches below the ceiling, but instead of making it out of metal, I made it out of PVC pipe, which was simple to assemble and glue together for the long parts of the PVC pipe where I need a little more support. I inserted dowels in between the pipes for additional support, and it’s been up there a couple of years now. It looks great and it keeps all of our little storage up high and out of the way. |
| 0:14:33 | LESLIE: Well, and you painted it to look like metal, so it really. |
| 0:14:35 | TOM: Used some of that metallic Krylon finishes that kind of look like chrome. And yeah, you’re right, it looks good. Blends in and everything else. And again, provides a ton of storage. |
| 0:14:45 | LESLIE: All right I love that trick. Heading over to Delaware, where Roseland is on the line about a marble question. What’s going on? |
| 0:14:53 | CALLER: Yes, I’m Gary, I’m Roseland’s husband. |
| 0:14:56 | LESLIE: Oh, hi, Gary. |
| 0:14:59 | CALLER: Yes, we have a question. We bought a marble table and we didn’t know that it needed to be seal. How do we go about doing that? |
| 0:15:08 | LESLIE: Gary Are you calling because you’ve stained it and now you’re sort of stuck and want to like work backwards or you’re just preemptively doing some work? |
| 0:15:16 | CALLER: We are staying. They got the stain out, but we didn’t know that it needed to be sealed. |
| 0:15:22 | LESLIE: And is it a new marble table or is it sort of like an older piece that’s maybe lost its surface finish over time? |
| 0:15:29 | CALLER: No, it’s a new brand new. |
| 0:15:31 | LESLIE: So now there’s a couple of different kinds. You may have a honed piece of marble, which doesn’t have any polish on it at all. And it’s meant to sort of have that like chalky, unfinished look to it. And then there’s, you know, a more high polished finish that looks like it has a glaze to it where it’s like shiny. Now there’s a couple of different ways to achieve that. There are professional products that you can get at your local, you know, a place where you might get granite or marble countertops and they have a sealant. Sometimes it’s better if they do it. I know when you have marble or granite countertops, they should be reapplying that glaze every 3 to 5 years. If it’s a lighter color, it should be more often. But with a piece like that, you might be able to just get away with some marble polish, which will give you a shine and give you a bit of a more protective surface on there. But there really doesn’t seem to be a homeowner type of glaze that you can get to apply because it is truly like a mixed different bunch of parts that are meant to be applied, you know, very systematically, very carefully. |
| 0:16:34 | CALLER: Okay, So now I can get that at a local home goods store or something like that. |
| 0:16:43 | LESLIE: Yeah, I would definitely get a marble polish and, you know, follow the directions and apply that, you know, exactly the way you’re told. And that’ll give you a nice sheen on it and make it much more durable. If you want something that’s much more shiny and really meant to coat and protect the surface, I would head on over to, you know, a local vendor near you that does marble and granite countertops and ask them for a product. They might have something that’s DIY or they might be willing to take the piece and code it for you. You know, since it’s a small table, it shouldn’t be much of a charge. |
| 0:17:13 | CALLER: Actually. Okay. All right. Well, thank you. |
| 0:17:16 | TOM: All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:17:21 | CALLER: All right. Thank you. |
| 0:17:22 | TOM: And I love that Rosalynn is putting up her husband, Gary, to make the call. |
| 0:17:26 | LESLIE: Get on the phone. Gary. |
| 0:17:29 | TOM: She’s like, talk to these people because you’re going to have to fix this. |
| 0:17:34 | LESLIE: James in Tennessee, you’ve got the money. But how can we help you today? |
| 0:17:37 | CALLER: Well, my daughter, I got a house. I gave it to her. That was my father’s old home. So she was cleaning, though, and doing some remodeling to it and had wallpaper on this wall. So they tore it all off. And then I had newspaper on it from 1941. Wow. I mean, and a whole bunch of stuff about FDR and before World War II. |
| 0:18:00 | TOM: That’s amazing. |
| 0:18:01 | CALLER: Took all that down. And then the wall is made up of boards 12 inches wide, eight feet tall. It’s an inch and a half thick. So looking at it, it’s all American chestnut. |
| 0:18:13 | TOM: Oh, wow. That’s beautiful. |
| 0:18:15 | CALLER: So she wants to just cover back up. I said, Oh, no, no, no, no. I said, As you know. |
| 0:18:21 | TOM: It allows you to. |
| 0:18:22 | CALLER: Be able to get quite a bit of money for it. |
| 0:18:23 | TOM: You suggesting that you remove them or do you want to use those as the final wall? |
| 0:18:28 | CALLER: She thought about that, but then she said, I’m just going to paint it because it doesn’t match what I got. I slide down trying to talk her out of this. Yeah, very seriously, because I said, you know, they don’t make that stuff anymore. |
| 0:18:40 | TOM: Yeah, no, they don’t. That’s really a very rare find. And I think if you were to sand it and refinish it, you’d have a really lovely wall surface and even the color wasn’t quite right. I’d rather see you stain it to bring the colored closer to what she wants it to be and still have all of that character. Leslie, what do you think? |
| 0:18:58 | LESLIE: I mean, it’s always so rare to find such beautiful wood in good condition, and I think there’s some ways to enhance it, enjoy it, and make it sort of go along with the rest of the decor, whether it’s changing the stain slightly on it, adding just sort of a clear coat to just really bring out that graining. You know, I wouldn’t be afraid of it. And I’m not afraid to mix different types of woods as well and then different types of wall features. Of course, you know, you can still hang your art, you can still hang, you know, pieces of fabric or woven items. There’s different ways to make it work. And I would hope that she would embrace that. |
| 0:19:33 | CALLER: Looking at, you know, these boards or an inch and a half thick, they’re not. I said, you know, you could take that thing down and probably have them sort of even greater and have a lot more wood to work with. |
| 0:19:46 | TOM: Or just have them planed. You know, you could have them plain and smoothed out if they come out easy enough, that that might be an option. I’d consider that because obviously sending them when they’re vertical is a lot of hard work. But you could take them to a mill and have them planed so that they would basically take just an eighth inch off the surface and you’d have a perfectly clean new American chest, whatnot, surface to work with after that. |
| 0:20:09 | CALLER: Okay, I’ll just like that. I just I don’t know what this stuff is worth, but I’ve been told it’s worth it’s very valuable. |
| 0:20:15 | TOM: Yeah, well, listen, I mean, you certainly you could sell the material, but I think the most value is in this beautiful home that you’ve given your daughter. And I think it could. It really speaks to the age and the character of the building. So. So I agree with you. I try to talk her out of it. |
| 0:20:27 | CALLER: Oh, well, I thought I would listen to all of the week and I said that I asked you people what you all think. Yeah. So I guess I’ll try to work on her some more. |
| 0:20:36 | TOM: All right. Well, we’re glad you reached out. Thanks so much for calling us at eight in a money pit. |
| 0:20:41 | CALLER: All right. Thank you. |
| 0:20:43 | LESLIE: Well, mold and mildew can be a real source of frustration for homeowners, especially when it stands in the way of a painting project. It’s not only going to ruin those paint jobs with ugly, discolored spots, but it can also cause severe respiratory issues for a lot of people and pets, because a lot of folks are very allergic to mold. Now, the experts at Sherwin-Williams have a few tips on how to repaint an area that’s been affected by mold or mildew. So they’re saying here, don’t just paint over that mold or mildew. If you’re covering up the problem, you’re not solving the problem because the mold and mildew, they’re just going to grow right back and they’re going to ruin that repaint job. Cleaning it now is going to save you from a costly callback. |
| 0:21:21 | TOM: Now, before you paint, you clean it by using a bleach solution. You want to thoroughly scrub the affected area with a solution of one part bleach and three parts water. Remember to let that solution set on the surface for a good 10 minutes before you rinse the area with water and then let it fully drive where you pick up the paintbrush and when you’re repainting. Remember to use a mildew resistant paint. Most all paints have some mildew resistant qualities. But for example, if you buy a paint that’s designed for a kitchen or bathroom that has even more mildew resistance, these include mill, the size and anti-microbial agents that are designed to prevent mold or mildew from returning and if we are talking about kitchens and bathrooms and moist areas like that, especially the bathrooms, remember to use an exhaust fan that is connected to a unit, a stat or one that’s on a timer. So it runs after you leave the bathroom. Keeping that moisture and humidity to a minimum will mean it’s that much harder and won’t take that much longer for the mold and mildew to grow back. |
| 0:22:15 | LESLIE: Sharon in Tennessee is on the line and has some questions about tankless water heating. How can we help you? |
| 0:22:20 | CALLER: Yes, my husband and I, we that we’re in a house of the tank is probably the one we have is probably 11, ten, 11 years old. But we find it in the bathroom, the master bathroom, which is at the far side of the house from us. You have to run the water for five or 10 minutes before it gets hot. And we’ve heard good things about those. So I thought, well, what do you guys know about them? Because I don’t know if they’ve been out long enough to, quote unquote, work out the budget to them. Are they a good investment? Are they good economically? |
| 0:22:45 | TOM: Yes. Yes, and yes. So they have been out for a long time, Longer than you might think? I’d say probably 10 to 15 years. Oh, yeah. But the thing is, you know, you don’t really have a need to replace your water heater near that often. So it sometimes folks are still in a familiar with them. However, the one complaint that I heard you mentioned was that it takes a long time for your water to get hot. That may not change. And here’s why. Because the time it takes for water to get hot is more a function of the distance between the water heater and the plumbing fixture that you’re standing out waiting for the water to get there. It just takes, you know, so many so many minutes for that amount of water to pass through the pipes and show up as hot on the other side. Whether that’s a tank water heater, a tankless water heater is not going to not going to change That is still going to take longer to get just the same amount of time to get there. All right. So that’s not going to change. What will change, though, as you will have an unlimited supply of hot water because tank was water heaters pretty much when they’re sized. Right. Never, ever run out of hot water. And it’s going to be a very efficient way for you to get hot water. I should have asked you this earlier, but are you on gas? Natural gas? |
| 0:23:52 | CALLER: Yes. |
| 0:23:52 | TOM: Okay. Yeah. Then you’re okay if you were on electric, we’d be having a different conversation because electric tankless water heaters are not efficient and all the gas is perfect. |
| 0:24:01 | CALLER: Okay, well, some for us to get some second thoughts in and get some quotes, maybe. |
| 0:24:04 | TOM: Now, there’s also an option that that RIM has right now where you can actually add a bypass valve at that farthest bathroom fixture from your water heater. And what that will do is it will recirculate warm water through the pipes based on a timer or based on your use pattern. So with that addition, you may not be waiting at all for hot water. So that’s another option as well. |
| 0:24:30 | CALLER: Okay. Well, that sounds pretty good. I think there’s some good suggestions there that I can look into it. We’re looking at doing some things for the house, and that was the first thing I thought of. |
| 0:24:38 | TOM: All right. Terrific. Well, thank you so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:24:41 | CALLER: Thank you. |
| 0:24:43 | LESLIE: Well, did you know that one of the last major appliances to qualify for Energy Star ratings is a dryer? Now, Energy Star actually only started certifying dryers in 2015 with all appliance purchases. It’s smart to make sure that you’re looking at an Energy Star rated model. And here’s why. While Energy Star Products are the same or better than those standard products, they use less energy to earn the Energy Star rating. They must meet very strict energy efficiency criteria that’s set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the U.S. Department of Energy. And since they use less energy, these products are going to save you money on your electricity bill. |
| 0:25:23 | TOM: Yeah. And the savings are significant when it comes to buying a dryer. An energy star dryer uses 20% less energy than standard dryers, but they work just as well and they have all the same features. And an energy star dryer can save you. Also about $210 in energy costs over the life of the dryer. And if you pair your energy star dryer with an energy star washing machine, you could totally maximize your energy savings. So that really should be your first criteria. When you’re buying any new appliance, make sure it is Energy Star rated. |
| 0:25:52 | LESLIE: Heading out to Wisconsin, shoppers got a decorating. Questionable dilemma here. What’s going on. |
| 0:25:57 | CALLER: In our living room? Kitchen and hallway leading down to the bedrooms. We have laminate, which is a kind of a golden oak color. I don’t know what to put in the bedrooms, which go into open up into the hallway. I want to put a brown because we don’t want to put the same thing. We can’t find it from the rest of it. |
| 0:26:19 | CALLER: And my husband wants to put Gray. Can you tell us what would be best? We’re going to do a vinyl. |
| 0:26:26 | LESLIE: All right. With that golden tone wall. I hate that golden tone. I’m so sorry to say it, because I’m sure it’s all over your house and you love it, but it’s to me, it’s always a difficult challenge because the Golden has, like, these weird warm tones, but then still some sort of, like yellow hint to it. So trying to match something to it or coordinate with can be challenging. On one hand, I like the idea of a gray, but it’s got to be the right gray. It has to be sort of in that same warm-ish family with maybe some brown undertones that they won’t clash, but will kind of blend together. And it also depends if that golden tone of yours is on the warmer side or on the cooler side. I mean, you really have to get a sense of that color. I don’t love the idea of the Golden with a darker tone. I feel like there’s nothing in that dark tone of wood flooring that kind of picks up any of that. That said, maybe it’s not a would look floor at all. Maybe it’s a tile, maybe it’s a carpet, maybe it’s, you know, something different. But the golden is always challenging. What do you think, Tom? |
| 0:27:27 | TOM: I agree with you. I think that sometimes that Golden gets really too bright and it is hard to pull it down in gray. I kind of like the gray idea, but only it has those wood tones in it, those warm wood tones. It’s going to blend it was you really have to do here is go to your flooring supplier euros store like yellow flooring and get some samples and lay them in there against that golden color that you love so much. And I think the answer will become apparent once you put enough samples in front of it. You’ll get a real good feel for what the possibilities are if you happen to have some of that existing golden flooring. Even better yet, you can go to the store and hold your current floor against a bunch of different options in it. You know, you said you wanted to go with vinyl and that’s a great choice. Today. You have so many different extruded vinyl plank products, luxury vinyl plank products that are just absolutely beautiful, super durable. And take a look at the Der Ivana, which is a type of stone hybrid, also 100% waterproof, super durable product and very, very affordable that you’ll find L.A. Flooring. And I think once you find the one that has the right sort of connection with that golden floor you have right now, you’ll be all set and you’re both be happy. |
| 0:28:34 | LESLIE: Tracy wrote entity management and says, I have wallpaper on top of my plaster walls. The walls aren’t in great shape either, and there’s a lot of cracks. Should I remove the wallpaper and repair the walls? Or is it better to just sheetrock over what’s there? |
| 0:28:46 | TOM: Well, first of all, we always recommend removing wallpaper over plaster or over drywall. But if your plaster is in bad shape, then I don’t think it’s really a candidate for wallpaper removal. And I definitely think that you should think about covering that with drywall. Now, the other option is to tear the plaster out. And I’ve done this kind of renovation both ways and having done it both ways, my preference is to cover the old plaster with drywall and leave it alone unless there’s a really good reason to take it out. Like you got to do some work to the walls or something of that nature. Because when you take those old plaster walls apart, first of all, you have plaster that varies in thickness. No, you have also plaster lath as little like tomato sticks column that are attached to the studs. But you’re also going to find that the wall is not totally flat. You’ll find that has waves in it because since you’re not applying drywall, you don’t really see that, right? Because the plaster is were so good back then, they could smooth anything out and make it look flat. In some parts of the wall. You had more plaster, some parts you had less. But of course when you strip that away, you got whatever’s left on that frame and you got to maybe make some repairs to get everything straight and sitting right. For all those reasons, I think your best bet is to cover the walls with new drywall. Now you can do this with half inch drywall. You could do it with like three inch drywall or quarters drywall. If it’s available. You’re kind of just getting them. And then the only complication that adds is that you have to take your outlets and your light switch electrical boxes and sort of pack them out. There’s a device that will surround that enable that box to extend to make up the difference in the thickness of the drywall. But it’s out there, it’s available, it’s done all the time. It’s a big project, but certainly one that The Wire, with some pretty decent spackling skills can tackle themselves. |
| 0:30:19 | LESLIE: All right. Good luck with that project. I mean, also, wallpaper is pretty nice. Maybe this wall people will grow on you in time or maybe you’ll put wallpaper on the new drywall. Who knows? Let’s go crazy. All right. Mary in Boston wrote in saying, I need help deterring squirrels from chewing the deck. She says her deck is 17 years old and the squirrels have always been around. But over the last few months, they’ve started chewing at the decking. She’s tried covering the corners where they like to chew with chicken. Margaret Thatcher was inside chicken breast. I was like, That’s not go away. But after a month, they just found a different location. All right? They just like something about this deck. |
| 0:30:53 | TOM: It’s very simple. You need to train your squirrels, Mary. That’s right. Now you’re going to train them to do tricks, but you’re going to train them, not to chew the deck. Now, there’s a obviously wide variety of gadgets that are out there to deter animals that they spray water, they make noise, they flashlights. But I prefer a good repellent. And I’ve had some good success with the Bob X repellents. Bob X, they kind of smell like a combination of rotten eggs and cayenne pepper, but they don’t stick around for long. The smell doesn’t stick around for long. But you will have to do this about every two weeks. They will, you know, they will last through a rainstorm or two. But what I’ve found and in my case, I’ve been using it successfully to keep the deer out of my plants. About every two weeks I’d go out there and repeat the treatment. In fact, I just ordered another five gallon bucket of this stuff because it’s a concentrate and I’m able to get a lot out of out of out of that. I think it’s what, one quart the two gallon. So that’s a lot of a lot of repellent. But I’ve got a lot of bushes. I’ve been treated. You may need something a lot less. You can find this, by the way, either as a ready to mix product or an already mixed product, ready to use product and lots of different home improvement stores. And there are others as well. I just happen to have used that one. But you train them because once they get used to the fact they can’t chew that jack and the only taste of it, they will come back, they’ll go off somewhere else. And I think that’s the way you get them. Stay away from your deck. You’re listening to the Money Pit home Improvement show on air and online at Money Pit dot com. Thank you so much for spending this part of your day with us. We hope that you are inspired to take on a fall project. And if you are and have questions, remember you can reach us 24 seven at moneypit.com/ask until we talk again. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:32:29 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:32:31 | TOM: Remember you can do it yourself. |
| 0:32:32 | 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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