Show Notes
- Roof Ice Dams: Those pretty icicles hanging from your roof may signal damaging ice dams.
- Repairing Textured Surfaces: There’s a new way to repair textured ceilings and walls without the hassle and mess.
- Planning Home Improvement Projects: Avoid unwelcome home improvement surprises with careful planning.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Wall Texture: After stripping the wallpaper, Sandi wants to add texture to her walls. We discuss a number of options for textured paint and techniques.
- Water Heater Venting: What is the right way to vent a tankless water heater? John gets tips on running the ducts to vent outside the house.
- Removing Roof Moss: Can copper flashing prevent moss buildup? Sue learns how adding copper flashing on the top roof ridge acts as a natural algaecide.
- Lawn Seeding: When is the best time of year to reseed a lawn? Early- to mid-fall is the perfect season for Alan to rake and seed, then give the lawn time to take root.
- Lead in Ceramic Tiles: Margaret is concerned about lead in her old ceramic tiles. We suggest working with an EPA-certified contractor and recoating the tiles with an epoxy finish.
- Whole House Fan: What is the best way to install a whole house fan? Mike gets tips on where to place it and how to operate it most effectively.
- Worn Engineered Flooring: Dorothy’s engineered flooring is worn in spots. It’s not designed to be refinished, so she’ll need to remove and replace it.
- Water Softeners: Brian needs a conditioning system for his hard water. We recommend using a traditional salt-based water softener rather than a salt-free system.
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. |
| 0:00:38 | TOM: What are you working on? If it’s the Halloween decor we understand because that’s coming up in the well I guess in my house about a week and time to get everything out from storage and get it ready to be decorated from the outside and get ready for all those kids to come in with their demands for candy or they’ll leave you with a trick. Coming up on today’s show, icicles, they can look very pretty, hanging from the edge of your roof, but they might signal ice dams with the potential for serious roof leaks. With winter on the way, that could very easily happen. So we’ve got tips on how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you. |
| 0:01:31 | LESLIE: And textured walls and ceilings have been popular for decades. But if you’ve ever had to make a repair to those textured surfaces, you know that it is messy and time consuming and just not really a fun part of your project. Well, now there’s a way to do this that’s super simple. We’re going to share that DIY tip just ahead. |
| 0:01:50 | TOM: And if you’re getting ready for your first major remodel, congratulations And we are sure you want everything to go perfectly. But unfortunately, home improvement and perfect are two words that you don’t often hear in the same sentence. So we’re going to share tips on how to avoid the hidden surprises that come with that territory. |
| 0:02:06 | LESLIE: But most importantly, we want to help you create your best home ever. So whether you’re doing the job yourself or you’re hiring a pro, we are ready to help you get that job done right the first time. Give us a call. Let us know how we can lend a hand. |
| 0:02:20 | TOM: The number here is 1888-Money-Pit or go to Moneypit.com/ask. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 0:02:28 | LESLIE: We’ve got Sandy in Texas on the line who’s got a question about texturing drywall. Tell us about your project. |
| 0:02:33 | CALLER: Strip the wallpaper in our kitchen. And so it’s down to sheetrock and we’d like to put texture in it, but I’d like to do it as simply as possible so that you can add texture into paint. And I like some more information about that or what you recommend. |
| 0:02:52 | TOM: That is possible, right? Leslie To use an additive in paint. But. Frank, we usually get the opposite question. Most people call us wanting to take the texture away. So. So I would say, Sandy, are you really sure you want to do this? Because once it gets on there, it’s hard to make it make it go away. |
| 0:03:06 | CALLER: Well, yes. I mean, our other walls have some texture. I mean, it’s not a heavy texture. It’s just a little bit to make it just not the flat sheetrock. |
| 0:03:16 | LESLIE: And it’s a texture in the painter. It’s an actual texture within the drywall itself, almost like a stippling. |
| 0:03:21 | CALLER: Well, I’d rather not go that route. Is this the stippling or spackling? I’d like to add some texture to the paint just to give the wall something that other than the smooth drywall. |
| 0:03:34 | LESLIE: Well, there’s a couple of different techniques that you can use. First, there’s something called a linen technique that’s done with almost like a wallpaper brush, sort of a very short, stiff bristle. That’s, you know, maybe 12 inches to 18 inches wide. And you put the paint on and then you sort of drag that brush through and that gives you a linear texture to it and that can kind of look like wallpaper and you can do it with one color or do a base color and then let that dry and then put a thinner coat on top and then drag that line through. You could do something that’s almost called I guess it is actually called a Venetian plaster, but that involves, you know, sort of marbling the texture on and burnishing it and rubbing it. And it really is a heavier coat of paint and plaster, but that gives a really interesting sort of cloudy, textural look that sometimes has a high shine to it. There’s a sweet added texture. I think Ralph Lauren is one of the paints that makes that and that has it really does look like suede. It has that sort of like rub softer matte looking texture to it. There’s a sanded finish where there’s actual sand in the paint. Sometimes I can feel a little rough, almost like a sandpaper, but that gives a nice texture too. They all have different application techniques. So if I were looking at a paint that has a specific texture in a home center, I’d make sure that I really read those directions and looked at what that manufacturer was recommending for the application process and get those correct tools and do the proper prep work for it, because some of those textures are, you know, kind of labor intensive for a DIY and you want to make sure you get it right. |
| 0:05:03 | CALLER: Absolutely. Okay. Well, I will look into the things you suggested here and make a decision then. I hope that helps you out. It does. Thank you so much. |
| 0:05:14 | LESLIE: John in Arizona, Need some help venting a water heater? Tell us what you’re working. |
| 0:05:18 | CALLER: On and install a tankless hot water heater. And I’m sure there’s a gas tank or hot water heater. Curious if there’s any simple way to vent it on the interior of the house? |
| 0:05:30 | TOM: Well, you obviously have to get that exhaust out. So that means you’re going to probably have to go up on the interior wall. The house, you can’t downdraft something like that. So you need to be on a space where you can get that vent pipe up through the interior wall, up to the attic and out through the roof. Now, depending on the efficiency that may not have to be a metal then pipe, it could potentially be a plastic then pipe. But that’s going to depend on the efficiency of the water heater and whether or not it’s a condensing version, which basically takes as much heat out of that, out of those gases. So all that’s left is basically water vapor and then that can vent out of a plastic pipe. But you do have to have advantage. The other thing that you could do is you can direct vent those. So you would go out, say, through a sidewall. Many times I’ve seen those and, you know, mounted on an exterior wall and they basically turn right through the wall and go right out. And then there are rules about how close that vent termination needs to be or more accurately, how far away that ventilation needs to be from a window. But you can direct vent those as well, right. |
| 0:06:30 | CALLER: From the top of your head. You know, the smallest diameter I could get away with on venting it. |
| 0:06:36 | TOM: No, I don’t know the specification precisely, but I would guess it’s around. It’s around three inches. I’ve seen these come through roofs many times. It’s usually around a three inch vent pipe. Right. |
| 0:06:46 | CALLER: Okay. A lot answers my question. Thank you. |
| 0:06:49 | TOM: All right, John. Well, good luck with that project. I think you’re going to enjoy a lot of efficiencies with the Texas water heater, in addition to the fact that you’ll never run out of hot water. |
| 0:06:57 | LESLIE: All right. Now we’ve got Sue on the line who’s got some green stuff growing on the roof. What’s going on? |
| 0:07:01 | CALLER: What size? Copper flashing to put on the roof to prevent mold build up. |
| 0:07:10 | TOM: Hey, Sue. So here’s some tips to get rid of that green stuff. By the way, it’s probably not mold more likely moss that’s growing up there. And the more sunlight you get on your roof, the lesser the chance that that’s going to be able to take hold. So sunlight is definitely the best. I’ll decide to get rid of moss and anything else that’s like it. You mentioned the copper flashing. That is a trick of the trade that we use from time to time and talked about in the show. And basically it works like this. You take a piece of copper flashing and you add it to the very top ridge of the roof. So obviously, maybe not you, but a roofer that can go on up there and do that and the copper flashing will catch the rainwater and then it will release some of its metal as it washes down the roof, as it trickles down the roof. And that will wash and act as a mil the side and also help keep that roof clean. You would need probably a eight inch wide strip of copper on both sides at the peak of the roof to for this to work. You often will see the fact that this by the way, if you look at chimneys that have copper flashing, that have like clean streaks underneath, and that’s because that roof roofs getting clean by that copper flashing and we can extend it to the entire roof if we had it across the entire peak. |
| 0:08:19 | LESLIE: Do you love learning about home improvement? On our podcast? Well, we love bringing you all the latest tips and tricks. |
| 0:08:24 | TOM: And if you want to make us smile, leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Just go to Money Pit dot com slash review. |
| 0:08:32 | LESLIE: Heading to Bismarck, North Dakota, where it just sounds cold saying that. Welcome to the Money Pit, Allan. How can we help you? |
| 0:08:39 | CALLER: I’ve got a pretty good lawn, but it needs some reseeding and I was told that if you ring seeds just before the snow falls it will it will set in there during the winter and then when the spring comes, it’ll all magically start to grow and come up without doing a whole lot of other work to it. Is that true? |
| 0:09:02 | TOM: Yeah, pretty much. But not like right before the snow comes. Like. Like, like the fall is a good season to do that. But, but early to mid fall would be the right time. And so the reason you’re doing that is because you’re giving the lawn more time to grow deep roots so that by the time next summer comes around, it doesn’t get dried out because the roots are shallow. So fall’s the right time to be seeding along. Definitely. So I would rake the lawn and add some more new seed to it any time now. September, October are great months to do this, but I would not wait until like when the winter’s like on the way because it’s just not going to grow. You want to give it a couple of months to really take root before that winter hits, and then it will continue in the early spring and it will be in good shape by the time the summer comes around. |
| 0:09:43 | CALLER: Okay, so now’s a good time and I have a few weeks that I’m not sure really what they are, but I’ve used a little tool for day and that’s taken them out and so they’re crispy. Do I need to rake those up and do anything, or can I just seed right over? |
| 0:09:58 | TOM: If you just got a few weeds and you pull them out, I wouldn’t worry about that seed right over it right now. And then next spring you could use a pre-emergent to stop those weeds from coming through. |
| 0:10:07 | CALLER: Oh, okay. Well, that’s great. I thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it. I love your show. |
| 0:10:12 | TOM: Great. Thanks for calling us and good luck with that project. |
| 0:10:15 | LESLIE: We’ve got Margaret on the line. Who wants to talk about lead and a bathroom? Tell us about it. |
| 0:10:19 | CALLER: My house was built in 1948. It has an old metal tub and ceramic tiles, but the ceramic tiles have been tested and confirmed to have led. I was advised that if I ever want to remove them, I should be sure that the contractor who does that is trained and certified on safe removal of tiles containing lead. But when I’ve asked some local contractors about that, they kind of shrug and don’t seem to understand that anything different would be required. Can you suggest some questions for me to ask contractors to help determine if they truly do know and understand how to deal with tiles containing lead and safe removal? |
| 0:11:04 | TOM: Hey, Margaret. You know, we generally don’t hear too much about lead paint in in baths or in their case, in ceramic tiles. The glazing I know of some of those older tiles can contain lead more. More often, we’ll hear about lead paint in the house of that age. But to your question about how to find a contractor, you need somebody that is EPA certified in lead paint renovation or lead paint removal. That’s the type of professional that you would need to hire. And if the contractors you’re talking to just kind of shrug their shoulders when you say that, then obviously they’re not the right firms. Now, I will say that the risk of lead paint exposure from a tile is probably a lot less than from the paint, just because it’s harder for it to be released. But another option to consider, which some folks are doing, is that they are recording the tile with an epoxy finish. Now you could use a product like Echo Pel, which is an epoxy type resurfacer that I recently use and I was very pleased with that can coat the tub surface, even coat the tile surface and give you a really durable surface that will prevent any lead exposure to the surface of the tile. But it all comes down to the risk happening when it’s time to remove those tiles, that’s when it can get into the air and that’s when you have to basically be set up, right, to contain that dust and get all that material out and away from the house without exposure to anyone in the area and certainly anyone in the house. So I hope that gives you some direction, some options to follow. And good luck with that project. |
| 0:12:31 | LESLIE: Well, in just a couple of months, it’s going to be a winter, you guys. And while snow on your roof and those pretty icicles on the eaves certainly look lovely and wintery and very festive, both could actually mean that you have a problem. Heavy snowfalls followed by those warmer days that often allow ice to dam up along your roof edge where it’s going to block melting snow. And that can lead to some serious leaks inside your home. |
| 0:12:57 | TOM: Yeah, that’s right. And it’s much more common in warmer attics because those attics are not properly ventilated. So to prevent this, you need to make sure that your attic does have adequate ventilation with good soffit and ridge ventilation being particularly important. And if you plan to replace your roof, be sure you have a contractor install ICE and water shield. Now, that’s a product that can be installed under the roof edge and it goes up under, say, about the first three feet of roof from the edge on off. And it basically provides an extra layer of protection against those ice dams because that’s where they form. And if one did try to form and tried to back up right there, it can get under the roof. Shingles, but it can’t get past the ice and water shield. And that will stop it and keep your insides dry. |
| 0:13:41 | LESLIE: Now, here’s an interesting point. If you live in a southern climate, ice and water shield underlayment can actually protect your home from leaks from heavy wind driven rain. You know the type that you might get with a hurricane in that installation, It would cover the entire roof. And then you go and install the shingles right on top of it. |
| 0:13:59 | TOM: Yeah. The idea is that when the shingles get blown off in a strong storm, that ice and water shield basically is still attached because it’s very sticky in a way. It adheres right to the plywood sheathing and therefore it’s going to protect your home and so you can get back to fixing it. And that’s just one of the many tricks of the trade that we try to share with you every week here on the Money Pit. So you’ve got a question that a problem or an issue with your home, reach out to us right now at Moneypit.com/ask. |
| 0:14:25 | LESLIE: Mike in Michigan is on the line with a question about installing a whole house fan. What’s going on there Mike what’s your situation. |
| 0:14:31 | CALLER: I’ve got a brand picked out it’s the Tamarack I think that you guys have seen on this old house videos. And my question is the location it needs to be installed in a at a central location at the highest point for that for us. That’s a great room. It’s warm. It includes a kitchen, got vaulted ceilings. That that portion is at an angle of the roof. And I’m wondering if that if it’s not recommended I don’t have the unit but I’m wondering if it can be installed on an angle or if installing something like that on a kitchen in a kitchen is a is a poor idea. Another variable that next year will be doing a kitchen remodel. We don’t have a range hood. We just have the microwave version of that. And if I should instead get a pipe arrangement that exhausts me out of the house and then find a different location for the whole house. FAN What is it that you guys suggest? |
| 0:15:35 | TOM: All right, let’s break this up into pieces here. So first of all, your question is, where is a whole house fan go? It can’t go on a cathedral ceiling, which is what you’re describing to us. It has to go on a flat ceiling where there’s an attic space above, because in the attic space, you have to have exhaust venting, basically pulls the air from your house up into the attic space, usually goes out through some very large gill vents down the end of the building because you can’t too terribly pressurized that attic space. So it’s not going to work in the great room that you’ve described. I thought maybe you were going to tell me that you had a little bit an attic above that, but it sounds like you have no attic. So it’s really not designed for that particular type of installation because you have to get plenty of exhaust ventilation in that space or it’s not going to work. Now, you do bring up a good point with what’s the effect of this whole House fan on a kitchen and other ventilation systems. If you’re not careful, you can depressurize the whole house, and that can certainly take the take and only the kitchen smoke and stuff take it out through the fans. But I’ve seen it depressurize the house so much that it reverses the draft on the heating system, which is, of course really bad because now you’re pulling your combustion gases into the house. So it’s the kind of thing that you really need to approach carefully, maybe get some expert help to make sure you’re not overdoing it and finding the right place for that. But typically, you’re going to put that in a second floor hallway or if it’s in a ranch somewhere near the bedrooms. And the way you use that, of course, is you’ve got to have some windows or doors open in different parts of the house. When that fan kick signs that you’re pulling a breeze through. Otherwise you’ll just depressurize the house. And that can lead to all sorts of issues. |
| 0:17:06 | CALLER: Yeah, that’s fantastically helpful. But so you would not recommend putting it in that area. Even if I was to open a window. You say don’t put it in the cathedral ceiling portion. |
| 0:17:20 | TOM: Depends on how big that attic is. If I had a really small attic that was just barely big enough to fit that fan, I probably wouldn’t do it. |
| 0:17:26 | CALLER: Excellent. All right. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. Thanks so much, sir. |
| 0:17:29 | TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, textured walls and ceilings have been popular for decades. And while we don’t see this as much in new construction these days, there are still millions and millions of homes built in the last 20 or 30 years where popcorn and other textured surfaces were used. But if you’ve ever had to modify or repair a textured surface, you may have found that it’s often a messy and very time consuming part of the project. Well, DAP now has a new product that offers a simple solution. It’s called the two in one wall and ceiling spray texture, and it’s available for orange peel, knockdown and popcorn textures. To learn more, we welcome Daps senior product manager for the New Line, Rachel Beckett. Welcome. |
| 0:18:12 | CALLER: Merkel Hi, Tom and Leslie. Thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited to be here with you today. |
| 0:18:17 | TOM: I tell you, for somebody that has done a fair number of wall or ceiling repairs and textures were involved, it really is difficult to come up with a surface that matches what you had in the past. And, you know, I think folks don’t realize it, but if you get like a leak, say a roof leak and you have a textured, say, popcorn ceiling, or if maybe you have two, replace an electrical outlet or do some modifications and now you have to do a patch and it’s in the wall was textured. You need to figure out how to restore that surface. And it’s never been an easy situation. But you guys now have basically put these textures in a spray can, making it a real simple process. So tell us how this all works. |
| 0:18:59 | CALLER: Yeah, absolutely. Texture is supposed to help actually with a wall imperfections. So it’s very disappointing to your point when you have a repair and then you have to really go through a whole arduous process of trying to figure out how to match the texture and your while. We have come up with a new product now that has a new inner workings with a flexible tubing, but basically it’s a patented system that allows for spray out consistent with no pressure loss and a wide even spread. And that’s going to make the repairs so much easier for homeowners. Not frustrating. They’re not going to be bottling the product, trying to get something out of the can and spraying randomly in random places. So we feel that we’ve taken some of the pain points out of the homeowner and addressed them with this particular product. |
| 0:19:52 | LESLIE: Now, recall, I know you guys have sort of created a new technology when it comes to how you actually spray and use the can because, I mean, let’s face it, a lot of times we’re doing this project on the ceiling and you’re holding the can in a weird way or you’re kind of upside down and it’s not spraying because it’s upside down. But you guys have totally gotten rid of that problem. So how does that work? |
| 0:20:11 | CALLER: That’s correct. It’s basically it’s this patented tubing that we have put inside the cam that allows you for that nozzle to rotate a 60 degree angle. So you are not fighting gravity when you’re trying to expel the product out of that can. And again, we that texture nozzle that allows you to pretty much be able to target overhead and hard to reach area. |
| 0:20:34 | LESLIE: Now I think the new simple texture comes in like three different options popcorn knocked down and orange peel. Now everybody knows what a popcorn ceiling looks like, what that texture is. But can you kind of explain what orange peel and knocked out is? Because I kind of thought they were the same. |
| 0:20:50 | CALLER: Absolutely. So orange peel except texture. It looks like the basically like the peel of an orange. So another way to describe it is chicken bumps. So it just, you know, little dots, depending on the size of the texture that you get are fine, medium or heavy. You’re going to have little dots or larger dots. And that is a pretty common texture that is used for, again, hiding imperfections on the wall. Then you’re getting to knock down not is a texture. It’s a texture that requires a secondary process. So you’re basically going to be spraying onto the wall. And then what you’re going to do is you’re going to take a putty knife and you’re going to go parallel to the wall and basically knock down the texture, which is going to leave you with a much finer texture compared to an orange peel. So an orange peel is going to be very noticeable on your walls and lockdown is not going to be as noticeable in your while, but both of them are pretty nice textures to create some wild or to hide imperfections. |
| 0:21:54 | TOM: And you could use this product for both. You could use it for new construction. Let’s say if you’re building, I don’t know, an alcove or someplace like that where you want to use texture as a feature, it’s available in a can, so it’s super easy to access. You don’t need a lot of equipment here. It’s basically just a type of spray can that’s been modified to handle the textured products which are thicker and a lot more complicated. And then moving straight spray paint through a can, right? |
| 0:22:19 | CALLER: Yes, Yes. It’s we’re definitely taking some of those pain points from the user in the past. You could use that using, you know, different vehicles. You could use a dry mix. You could use what is called a compressor and a hopper gone to try to achieve those textures. But it is a very arduous process from a setup perspective as well to form a clean perspective. So what this particular product allows you to do is quickly get a repair in and out or to your point, you know, a room and be done with it. Not a lot of setup at all and basically no cleanup. |
| 0:22:54 | TOM: What’s the drying time on this? Is that something that you have to kind of do the night before and come back next morning or is it quicker? |
| 0:22:59 | CALLER: No, they’re dry gum is pretty fast for the water based formulations, which is going to be pretty much orange peel knocked on and popcorn is going to be 30 minutes. And we do have an oil based formulation for the orange peel that dries in 5 minutes. |
| 0:23:13 | TOM: The product is called the Chew and one wall and spray sealing texture. It’s made by DAP. You can learn more at DAP accommodate DHP dot com. Rachel Beckett, Senior product manager thank you so much for stopping by the Money Pit. |
| 0:23:28 | CALLER: Thank you so much time and Leslie I really appreciate it. |
| 0:23:32 | LESLIE: All right. Heading south to Florida where Dorothy is on the line. What’s going on at your Money Pit? |
| 0:23:36 | CALLER: Well, I have engineered flooring and I want to redo it. It’s worn in spots and nobody seems to be able to tell me what to do with it, how to refinish it. |
| 0:23:48 | TOM: So engineered flooring. Dorothy’s not a product. It’s designed to be refinished. It’s not like hardwood floor where you can sand it because it doesn’t have a doesn’t have a stick of a surface. Engineered flooring is made up of layers. It’s more like plywood where you have different types of wood that are glued together and it gives you dimensional stability. And it’s good for damp locations, but it’s not necessarily designed to be refinished. So this may be a case where you need to remove and replace rather than refinish it. |
| 0:24:17 | CALLER: Oh, okay. |
| 0:24:18 | TOM: Now there are a lot of different types of flooring that are available today. Aside from the engineered hardwood floor, you might want to take a look at the engineered vinyl plank, which can look just like wood or many other materials, but it’s completely 100% waterproof and you may even be able to install this on top of the old floor and not have to worry about even taking it up and avoiding the expense and the hassles of having to do a tear out. Is this engineered hardwood on a cement slab? |
| 0:24:45 | CALLER: Yes, it is. Yeah. |
| 0:24:46 | TOM: So it’s going to be hard to get up because it’s probably glued down. That’s how they usually do that. So you may want to look at the engineered vinyl plank, take a look at Lumber Liquidators or as they go. Now their new name is L.L. Flooring. And look at all the beautiful engineered vinyl planks. I put down two of those floors in one in a kitchen and one in the laundry room, and they really have worn very, very well. And they’re not expensive either. |
| 0:25:06 | CALLER: No. Okay. All right. I’ll check that. |
| 0:25:09 | TOM: Out. Good luck, Dorothy. Thanks for calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:25:12 | CALLER: Thank you so much. |
| 0:25:14 | LESLIE: Well, if you’re getting ready for your first major remodeling project, I’m sure you want everything to go perfectly. But unfortunately, hidden surprises. They are par for the course. But while you can’t control everything, good planning definitely gets you as close to perfect as possible. We’ve got some tips on how to avoid some of the most common remodeling mistakes. |
| 0:25:38 | TOM: Now top of the list is hiring the wrong general contractor. Having a pro handle the details and provide expertise is going to help your project go smoothly and a good pro can often spot potential problems before the walls are opened up and prepare you for their impact. So choose carefully. Get references from recent as well as customers the PRO has worked for a year or two or more ago, and you services like Angie to see real reviews and get a sense as to how the work has gone for others and stood up over time. |
| 0:26:08 | LESLIE: Yeah. Now here’s another. No, no. And that’s getting estimates without specs. When you get your bid, it helps to have those specifics nailed down. Product names, model numbers, paint, color, design drawings, all of that. Otherwise, you have no idea what that general contractor is planning to include in his price. Plus, there’s really no way to do an apples to apples comparison between those contractors when everybody’s bidding on whatever. |
| 0:26:34 | TOM: Yeah. And lastly, don’t change the plan. If you reconfigure the plan during your remodel, that’s going to tap your budget and test the patience of your contractor. So take time before that job starts to get every detail nailed down. And as the saying goes, plan your work and then work the plan. Now, if you do have to make changes, make sure that you and your contractor sign a change order, which is a statement of what the change is and whether it’s going to add or detract from the contract price and by how much. If you do that, you’re going to avoid surprises when the job is done and you will be totally satisfied without having any shocking extra costs when you’re ready to celebrate the work that was completed. |
| 0:27:14 | LESLIE: Bryan in Delaware is on the line looking for a water softening solution. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 0:27:19 | CALLER: I have hard water in my house. I need a conditioning system. I don’t know a ton about them. |
| 0:27:23 | TOM: I know there’s a salt based systems that have been around forever. And then you research some ionized type systems, not sure which one is the best route to go. So if you’ve got hard water, that’s really tough to live with because it is not good on your clothes. It doesn’t feel good on your skin. Always feels like it came out of a salt water bath. When you take a shower. |
| 0:27:44 | LESLIE: And you can’t get the soap off of yourself. Right. Terrible. |
| 0:27:47 | TOM: Yeah. Shampoo and soap. It doesn’t suds up. Right. So you’re right. You are getting a water softener in. There are two types, generally assault type water softener, which is traditional and has been around for a long time. And it works really, really well. Basically, the way a salt based system works is it uses sodium to reduce the mineral concentrations and in particular it gets rid of the calcium in the magnesium. That is what could damage your plumbing system or your boiler or your skin or your hair. It’s also really bad when you have a tankless system because the tankless tubes are really, really small and they can get kicked up with the hard water. So soapy systems are good. The tried and true. There’s a misconception that using a salt, this water softener adds sodium to drinking water. It really doesn’t. It’s a chemistry thing. Just take my word for it. It doesn’t do that. The other option, of course, is salt free. But what that really does is it crystallizes, it doesn’t remove those minerals, it crystallizes them so that theoretically they won’t be embedded into the water. The best way to think about it is, you know, when you have magnets and you try to touch the positive side against the positive side of another one, it bounces it away. That’s kind of what it does. It charges the hard water particles and causes them to repel each other. So you don’t have that persistent feeling of the hard water in the water. But in terms of the entire house, generally, I would use those if I had maybe a smaller house, but if I had a whole home that was dealing with this, I would definitely use a salt based system. So I think that’s the best solution. |
| 0:29:23 | LESLIE: Mirabelle reached out to Money Pit for suggestions on basement flooring. She says were renovating the basement to provide space for a home office and wondered what option we might have for a floor. We really like hardwood, but we understand that’s a no-
no because it can swell. What are the best waterproof or damp proof floor options? |
| 0:29:43 | TOM: Hey, that’s a great question. And lastly, I’d say there’s a lot of options today, more so than ever before. I mean, it’s not just, you know, paint or paint you can use. If she likes hardwood, she could use engineered hardwood, which is dimensionally stable. It’s a floating floor and it’s not going to take a major flood. But, you know, it can be used in that space. But you don’t have to. I mean, let’s talk about luxury vinyl plank or the rigid vinyl plank. Those are two options that are inexpensive. Like we’re talking, I don’t know, three, four, $5 a square foot and they’re super, super durable and best of all, there are 100% waterproof. But what do you think about the patterns and colors? |
| 0:30:21 | LESLIE: I mean, there’s so many great looks and plank variations. So if you have a certain wood style plank in mind, there is going to be one that matches that. But also there are looks that sort of feel like a marble pattern or just sort of like a blend of colors or washes, like there’s really some interesting options out there. So depending on that look of your basement space or how you’re using the basement space, you can find something that works. There’s also tile is a great option and you can get tile that looks like a wood floor. And I think that’s a great choice for the basement as well. I mean, think about it. You throw an area rug on a hardwood floor anyhow, so you’re kind of achieving that same look. You can add a couple of area rugs, you know, that those you know, God forbid there’s a flood, that area rug might not fare so well, but the flooring sure as heck is. And then you can have those rugs to just give you some warmth, some coziness, some additional color. So I would take a look at some of those options. |
| 0:31:17 | TOM: Yeah. And the tile ceramic tile, that’s like a wood point tile is incredibly strong, super durable. And I think that’s a great suggestion. So you got options. They’re all different budget levels, but they’re all going to be waterproof. So, Mirabel, thanks so much for reaching out and good luck with that project. Let us know how you do. Well, if you’ve ever thought wine cellars are just for a chosen few, they’re not. More and more people are converting at home spaces these days into functional and ambient storage for the reds in their whites, in their bubbles and their blends. And Leslie has tips for doing just that in your space. In today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. |
| 0:31:57 | LESLIE: LESLIE Yeah. You know, any space in your home can be converted into a wine cellar, but an unfinished basement is best for a few reasons. First of all, to properly preserve wine, your storage space shouldn’t be in the direct sunlight. You got to keep it dark. Now, unfinished basements also have built in climate control to keep cool, damp air in and to keep that outside air out. The ideal temperature here for wine storage is 57 degrees Fahrenheit, with 55 to 60% humidity. Temperatures that are easy to achieve in most underground spaces. Next, you want to add storage for your collection. So consider wine rack systems made of mahogany, which thrives in cool, damp environments and it’s not going to warp. You might even want to incorporate a tasting area with a countertop or tables and chairs. And finally, you’re going to need light to see your way around, but also to add that perfect wine cellar ambiance and LED lighting is ideal because neither emits additional heat. And stylish recessed lights can help you shed light literally on your most prized vintages and labels. And that’s really going to have a great place to hang out with the ladies or the guys or whatever it is, and have a beautiful wine party, which is great for the winter season. |
| 0:33:11 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. Coming up next time on the program. Winter heating costs are also good at sending a chill down your spine, even when your house is warm. So we’re going to share some tips for spending less on heat without giving up comfort. On the next edition of the Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. | |
| TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. | |
| LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. | |
| (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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