Show Notes
- Drop Ceilings: Updated drop ceilings offer trendy new looks for remodeling projects.
- Tub and Shower Leaks: Tub and shower leaks are easy to fix once you know where to find the source.
- Thermostat Mistakes: Avoid these top three thermostat mistakes to stay comfortable while lowering heating bills.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Window Sill Repairs: Should Kaitlyn repair or replace her rotted wooden window sills? Unless they’re totally destroyed, she can fill them with a wood hardener and epoxy.
- Sink Insulation: Jim asks about ways to keep standing water in his sink warm. We have suggestions for insulating the area under the sink and using spray foam or a fiberglass blanket.
- Kitchen Island Lights: It’s hard to get three square lights above a kitchen island to hang straight. Donna must readjust the twisted rods going into the junction box.
- Bubbling Paint: Exterior paint keeps bubbling and chipping. Dana needs to strip off the paint and make sure the area is properly primed before repainting it.
- Cleaning Windows: Marie hates cleaning windows! There’s no easy way to clean them without leaving streaks, but we can recommend some good cleaning products.
- Metal Roofing: Randy is concerned by roof vents that were closed when he had a metal roof installed. It’s fine as long as he has soffit vents with insulation baffles to make sure the vents aren’t blocked.
- Bathroom Flooring: Michelle is updating the bathroom and wants kid-proof flooring. Laminate, vinyl plank, or tile that is sealed and glazed are some good options.
- Renovation ROI: How can you calculate the ROI of home renovations? Tom gets some advice about cost vs. value when it comes to renovating and selling a home.
- Insulation Fumes: Should James be worried about fumes from spray foam insulation? As long as he uses a name-brand product and a good contractor, he shouldn’t be concerned about off-gases.
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. |
| 0:00:35 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:00:37 | TOM: And we are so happy to be with you today on this beautiful fall weekend. We hope you’re enjoying the brisk weather, the beautiful colors and all the projects you like to get done this time of year when the weather is good for working inside and out. Now, if you’ve got questions on projects that you need to get done, if you’re stuck in the middle or you don’t know how to begin, reach out to us right now. A couple of ways to do that. You can simply go to moneypit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button and record your question right there. Also, you can pick up the phone and call us at 888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Coming up on today’s show, we’re going to start by talking about leaking tubs and showers. They can be a real mess to deal with, but it turns out that a lot of these happen because the tub or the shower were never corked or grated right to begin with. So we’re going to tell you the one surprising place. It’s almost sneaky how the water gets in there, but it causes tubs and showers to leak every single time. The good news is it’s easy to fix fast. We’ll explain just ahead. |
| 0:01:36 | LESLIE: And if you’ve been thinking about a remodeling project and you’re wondering what to do with your ceiling, I bet there’s one type that you’ve totally ruled out and that’s a drop ceiling. We’re going to share why you might want to give these easy to install tiles a second look. |
| 0:01:49 | TOM: And thermostats can make the difference between a very costly heating bill and one that’s not. So we’re going to share a strategy to help you avoid the top three thermostat mistakes without giving up any comfort. |
| 0:01:59 | LESLIE: But first, is there a project that you’re stuck in the middle of or really one that you don’t even know where to get started? Well, that’s when you call us, because getting you unstuck is what we do. We’re like virtual WD 40. It doesn’t matter what your question is. We’re good for 1001 uses. |
| 0:02:15 | TOM: Or at least 2001 answers. So give us a call right now at one eight in the Money Pit or post your questions to moneypit.com/ask. So let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 0:02:26 | LESLIE: All right. We’re heading out to Mississippi. We’ve got Caitlin on the line. What’s going on in your money pit? |
| 0:02:30 | CALLER: My husband and I just bought our first house. It’s a 1977 cape in Massachusetts. It had a lot of surprises for us. The oil tank Spring leak. We had printer in the kitchen and had it got our kitchen all within the first week. One of the things we did know coming into it is that the window sills were pretty punky, had some water damage, and they’re actually even more rotten than we realized. I was going to try and use some wood, epoxy and wood hard metal fill that window sill. But it’s rotten to the left. And so there’s not really something we fell into, if that makes sense. Would love to hear your thoughts on a stopgap solution short of part of actually replacing those window sills right now. |
| 0:03:14 | TOM: Hey Caitlin, so sorry that you had all those problems so early into this new home of yours. But you know what? It’s going to be great when you get it fixed up. Let’s talk about those wood sills. You know, you asked for the stopgap measure that is filling those rotted areas with epoxy. Now, I’m not quite sure to what extent the rot is. I mean, at the entire sill is completely destroyed, then you probably can’t do much other than to replace it. But if it’s just chunks of it that are you can use a wood harden or first the wood hardness will take all that soft, mushy Ronnie wood and solidify it. And second, after that dries. Then you could use the word epoxy to fill it in. I like the wood epoxy line that’s made by Arbitron. AB a Trojan that would epoxy line has all the products that you need. I’ve used it in some really unusual places. I’ve used it on fascia, I’ve used it to when I was changing locks and needed to move a very big hole, only about a half inch, which is really hard to do without filling in the old ones and filled it in with the wooden box. It worked great. So take a look at the wood epochs by Arbitron, AB 80 From now. I know that you’re assuming that replacing the sills is going to be a massive project, but I have found that replacing just the exterior portion of it not so bad. So you could make up some sill stock, which is basically wood. This mill to sort of take the shape of the old sill and then cut out the rod and attach the new stuff and then prime it in pain, that there’s a possibility a good carpenter can do that, of course. So I think we have a couple of options, but I wouldn’t give up on the idea of filling it in with epoxy because that’s such pretty darn amazing these days. And it really does replace all the wood that rotted away. |
| 0:05:00 | LESLIE: All right. Heading out to Arizona. We’ve got Jim on the line. What’s going on at your Money Pit? |
| 0:05:04 | CALLER: It’s a pretty simple product that I’ve seen. It’s like a typical house with a kitchen sink and two bowls and a kitchen sink. Okay, Small one and a large one. Yeah, and a smaller one. We typically will put soap and warm water in in the morning to wash the morning dishes. And then by an hour that water is cold, soapy water. |
| 0:05:29 | CALLER: Right. And I got to thinking, there’s got to be some kind of an insulating blanket that you could buy or manufacture or somehow create to keep that water warm and that waste water warm and up again. |
| 0:05:45 | TOM: That’s interesting idea. I don’t think there’s a commercial product for that. I’ve never seen it. But if you happen to have a very cold under cabinet area, I could see where that could potentially be annoying. So your challenge will be just simply to insulate this as much as possible. Now along the back wall where the back of the cabinet is on an exterior wall, if you could add a piece of foam insulation which is available in all sorts of thicknesses or depends on what you have and how you can get it back in, you probably have to cut it in pieces. That will help a little bit on the bowl itself. One idea that I would have is you may be able to spray this with foam insulation like a great stuff. Now there’s two different types of great stuff. One is designed to expand and one is designed not to expand. And if you use the one that doesn’t expand, it’s not going to like stretch your cabinet frame or anything like that. It’s the kinds designed for windows and doors. Because what would happen is people would use the expandable foam insulation in a window or door cavity and then it would swell so much or expand so much that the window gets stuck shut where it was. So if you use the kinds designed for windows and doors, you may be able to get, that’s pretty sticky stuff. It may be may be able to adhere to the underside of that sink. So I think this is going to be an experiment to see if you can figure out something that works. So I understand the question but doesn’t have a straight forward. This is the product designed for that because it’s just not something that I think you can find available. So you got to get creative, which means you got to form your own insulation. And lastly, you know, you could just take a piece of fiberglass blanket, maybe one that’s encapsulated on both sides. There are different types of encapsulated insulation and create your own blanket around there. And maybe with a series of zip ties hold it in place. So I think you’re going to have to design your own, sir. Okay. Because I don’t think it’s available commercially. |
| 0:07:29 | CALLER: So maybe I’ll just get some blue board and glue. |
| 0:07:32 | TOM: And go for it. Yup. All right. Good luck with that project, sir. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:07:38 | CALLER: Hey. |
| 0:07:39 | LESLIE: Hey there. We’ll be enjoying this episode of our podcast. If you are, you know what would totally make our day is if you leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:07:48 | TOM: Absolutely. Just go to Money Pit dot com slash review and let the world know how much you enjoy our home improvement tips and tricks. And you might even win a copy of our book. |
| 0:07:59 | LESLIE: Heading out to Tennessee, where we’ve got Donna on the line with a kitchen question What’s going on? |
| 0:08:04 | CALLER: We have three lights above our island and they are square, but I am having trouble getting them to hang straight so that they’re all square with the island. |
| 0:08:20 | TOM: So the wires are twisting a little bit. |
| 0:08:22 | CALLER: I guess it’s they have rods on them and we have fairly tall ceilings. |
| 0:08:28 | TOM: I have a feeling that what’s going on here is that the rod is twisted where it goes into the junction box at the top. So it’s not easy because you have to get up there and actually adjust the position of that. Rod You know, it’s kind of the little things you don’t think about. If they were around lights, No, no, it wouldn’t make any difference because they’re square. You know, you’ve got to like it just over, twist them until they line up again. Are these touching each other, by the way? Are they really close together? |
| 0:08:54 | CALLER: No, no, no. They are not touching at all. It’s like, yeah, yeah, the island’s about 11 feet long, so there’s plenty of space and they’re each 16 inch squares at the base. |
| 0:09:09 | TOM: Yeah, I think they were not properly adjusted when they were first put in. You’ve got to get up to where they attach to the ceiling and however the attachment is down, you may have to loosen it and twist that rod into it. Lines up where you want it and tighten up again. That’s the only option I think I can offer you at this point. |
| 0:09:24 | CALLER: Okay. Thank you very much. You’re very welcome. |
| 0:09:27 | LESLIE: We’ve got Dana in Massachusetts on the line who’s dealing with some peeling paint to tell us what’s happening. |
| 0:09:33 | CALLER: Yes, on our north side, where it gets very little sunlight. We were painting it. It was painted before, but we were repainting it and where it was chipping. And we did put down some primer first and then we painted it and then it starts. It keeps bubbling and chipping after we’re done painting it. |
| 0:09:53 | TOM: Wow. So even though you’re even though you put down primer, it still seems to keep separating. Is it separating from a layer deeper than the primer coat? Like a sometimes with multiple coats of paint, it’ll break down deeper in the surface, like one of the earlier coats of paint. |
| 0:10:07 | CALLER: I don’t. I don’t think it is. Someone said that what they thought might have happened is the first time it was painted that the painters might have painted it. I don’t even know if they put Primer down and I made it put one coat and they might have painted it right after a rainstorm when the wood was still wet. |
| 0:10:23 | TOM: Well, maybe, maybe not. But the thing is, if they didn’t prime it, then that’s the reason that separating primer is always really important, because it really makes the color coat stick, so to speak. So if you got peeling paint, there’s no way that you can go over that with new paint because you can’t put good paint over bad paint. It’s just going to continue to peel. So you got to get down to a surface that’s below all that loose stuff. Now, if it’s a big area, you can prime the whole thing. If it’s small areas that are sort of separate, then you can do what’s called spot priming. And just to be absolutely certain, I when you go to the home center or the paint store, I would get a bonding primer, which is very adhesive, and it really sticks to those old surfaces no matter what’s there. And then once that’s all set up, then you can go ahead, put another finish coat on top and you should be good to go. |
| 0:11:11 | CALLER: So we’d have to complete the black strip. The paint is what you’re saying, down. |
| 0:11:15 | TOM: Yep, I am. And fortunately, if it’s not sticking, it’s not sticking. You just can’t go over it. It’s just going to be worth finding. |
| 0:11:21 | CALLER: Primer, you said, and then painted again. |
| 0:11:23 | TOM: Exactly. |
| 0:11:24 | CALLER: Okay. All right. |
| 0:11:25 | TOM: That’ll solve it. Yeah. You got to. Dana, good luck with the project. |
| 0:11:28 | CALLER: Thank you. |
| 0:11:29 | LESLIE: Well, if you’ve ever had a tub or a shower, a leak, you might know that these can be tricky to diagnose and to fix. Now, the reason is that they’re inconsistent is that sometimes they leak and sometimes they don’t. And the reason for this, though, is very consistent. Tubs and showers leak because of small gaps that develop in the grout of the tile walls or simply in the coal seam around the lip of the tub itself. |
| 0:11:52 | TOM: Now, for the walls, what happens is that as the water hits your body, it splashes back against those walls and it lands in those little gaps between the tile where the grout may have fallen out. It’s amazing how little of a spot you need to cause a leak. It could be as little as maybe a half of an inch of missing grout. That water finds its way in there, works its way down the back of that tile and causes a leak. But the good news is, it’s an easy fix. All you need to do is figure out the wall in that spot, which is a really easy project. |
| 0:12:22 | LESLIE: Yeah. Now, for the tub, caulk can separate from either the top edge of the tub or the bottom edge of the tile. And that’s going to allow the water to get behind those seams. Now, the solution there is to remove all of that old caulk and then fill the tub up with water so that it gets way down. I mean, it’s kind of the same exact way that it gets weighed down when you’re standing in it. |
| 0:12:41 | TOM: That’s right. And once it’s filled, you can recall the tub and then let it dry and then after you let it dry, let the water out. The reason you’re waiting is because you want all that way that water to pull that tub down, stretch it down, and when it comes back up, it’s going to compress the cork and it will be sure to seal out any future leaks. It’s also a lot less likely to pull away from, you know, all the use and all the wear and tear of people getting in and out of the tub and sort of stretching it out. So that tip is never, never done me wrong. Always fill a tub with water, caulk it, then let the tub drain at the caucused. Right. |
| 0:13:16 | LESLIE: Marie in Florida is on the line. Who’s looking for an easier way to clean some windows around the house? |
| 0:13:24 | CALLER: Yes. I’m leaving at and I’ve been reading the ads, you know, and spray and forget. Is there a window cleaner that I can use on the outside that I could just spray and then forget? Okay. Yeah. |
| 0:13:42 | TOM: So spraying for gets a fine product and that’s designed to clean mold and mildew and algae and moss off of siding and roofs and services like that, sidewalks in terms of windows. So you’re looking for a product you spray on and just does the cleaning for you. And I’m not aware of anything that does exactly that. I think that is a job that is always what’s it forever going to need, our own personal touch? |
| 0:14:04 | LESLIE: Well, I mean, I feel like anything that you’re going to spray on and leave on is going to leave a streak because, you know, it’s you’ve got to completely remove whatever cleaning formula you put on there. Otherwise it will streak or cloud or do something unusual. So that’s the issue with cleaning glass. So it’s not like a product you can spray on a siding and let it sort of do the work. |
| 0:14:24 | TOM: Yeah, there’s a there’s a lot of products that we like. There are cleaning products, including window cleaners made by a company called George J.W. S It’s George cleans dot com. These are products that where they sell you the concentrate in a mix in a bottle and for a fraction of the cost of buying one that’s already mixed up at the store, you can get a, you know, a dozen or more bottles full of this stuff by mixing it yourself with the concentrate. And I like it because it doesn’t leave any streaks. And I told the guy that owns a company who I’ve become friendly with, that I keep a bottle on my desk in my office because I clean computer screens and glasses with it. So you might want to take a look at that. George Clean XCOM. And that might be a product that’s so easy to use that it wouldn’t be so bad for you to have to clean those windows yourself. |
| 0:15:09 | CALLER: Okay, that sounds pretty good. I just have like 20 windows and I don’t want to clean. |
| 0:15:15 | TOM: You know, you can always hire a pro. There’s pros. There’s folks out there that that’s all they do. Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at the Money Pit. |
| 0:15:23 | CALLER: Okay. Thank you. |
| 0:15:25 | LESLIE: Brandon, Missouri is on the line now. Randy, you’ve got some questions about a new metal roof, right? What’s going on over there? |
| 0:15:31 | CALLER: Yeah, I had a metal roof put on a few years ago. We decided overnight inside to go with the metal roof. The contractor came, and the first thing he wanted to do was take out the two holly quarry birds on top of my roof. Okay, that found, you know, I guess you know what that means. |
| 0:15:49 | TOM: I know what it is. Yeah, it’s event. And it was. It was the right thing to do. |
| 0:15:52 | CALLER: Hey, he covers after two holes ago. Hawley Bird, and now I have nothing. Yeah, there’s no relation to the carpet. Oh, mine too. Outside, man. Yeah, there were there when I built a house. Is that safe or. |
| 0:16:05 | TOM: So you’re talking about the gable vents at the ends of the building. |
| 0:16:08 | CALLER: Right? Yes. Yes. |
| 0:16:09 | TOM: What you have now? Yeah. So, look, first of all, I will tell you that what you’re calling that that whirly bird vent that, like, spins on top of the roof is the least efficient, least affect event you could possibly have had. So I wouldn’t think twice about covering those up period, because they really just don’t do that much. Now, if your attic is really hot in the summer and really cold in winter, you know, it might be that you need additional venting. Now you have a metal roof. I would have told you to put in a ridge vent down the peak of that roof. But the fact that you don’t have one now is not kind of a deal breaker. Just make sure that if you if you don’t have it, that you add this and that soffit vents at the overhang where the roof overhangs the exterior wall because you want to let air in low and then exhausted at high. |
| 0:16:54 | CALLER: I think I do have some of that Carbon has holes in it. |
| 0:16:57 | TOM: Yep. Holes in it, yes. |
| 0:16:59 | CALLER: But the insulation runs right. Right up to it. Right. |
| 0:17:01 | TOM: So the solution there, Randy, is something called an insulation baffle. It’s kind of like a like a cardboard sleeve or a foam sleeve and it’s designed to be pressed underneath the roof, sheathing right up against that exterior wall frame. So it sort of pushes the insulation down, squishes it on purpose, right where those events are. And this way the ventilation get past that insulation and work its way up into the roof because the air that blows across the wind blows across your house and it blows in those soft vents and it will go up in the attic space and exit at those gable vents that you have on the end. So I don’t think you lost any efficiency taking out those whirly bird vents. I only suggest that you install these baffles to make sure that your soffit vents have the access that they need to do the job. |
| 0:17:43 | CALLER: Okay. Oh, that. Answer my questions. |
| 0:17:46 | TOM: Ari. Good luck with that project. |
| 0:17:48 | LESLIE: All right. We’ve got Michelle on the line who wants to do a special bathroom for the kids. Tell us about the project. |
| 0:17:54 | CALLER: Well, we want to update it throughout the paint. I’ve already got new linen, but because I have boys, young boys. |
| 0:18:04 | LESLIE: I have the same. |
| 0:18:07 | CALLER: I’m wondering what kind of flooring we should put in there because of over spills from the tub. |
| 0:18:12 | LESLIE: You were very kind in mentioning that first. |
| 0:18:16 | TOM: I don’t know, Leslie. I don’t know if it’s possible to have a totally boy, little boy for. |
| 0:18:21 | LESLIE: I don’t know, something without grout lines that absorbs every cent of everything. I’m telling you, the boy bathroom issue is a problem and, you know, it grosses me out every day, every darn day. So for bathroom floors, I mean, you’re first. That is obviously something that’s, you know, waterproof or at least water resistant. So tile people tend to go to first, but there’s also laminate or Epps or water resistant sort of fabricated flooring that can look like a variety of things. Now, if you are going to go with a tile, please make sure it’s glazed and not on glazed because that will just absorb everything and be an issue. And you also want to try, I know with grout lines on the floor, they tend to go wider with the sanded grout because of the floor. But if there’s any way to avoid them being so wide or be sure to seal them immediately so that anything that spills on the floor, whether it comes from the tub or from the human children, does not get absorbed into the floor and cause an issue. I mean, it really depends on the look that you’re going for. But the main thing we’re looking at here is durability and clean ability. |
| 0:19:28 | CALLER: Yes, those are my issues because right now we’ve got linoleum tile in the bathroom and we just it just needs to be replaced. |
| 0:19:39 | TOM: You know, Michelle, I just recently got a chance to check out a new product from LA Flooring that’s called Davina, and it’s a composite flooring. Now, I had never seen a composite flooring product before, so I was interested. Now this stuff is only about four bucks a square foot. And I got to tell you, I’m really impressed with this durability. First of all, it’s 100% waterproof, but this is the this is what I do. The test flooring. I did some a little bit of work in the Money Pit test lab. First of all, I took a hammer and I swung it for four or five or six times and I couldn’t dent the stuff. So that’s good, right? Next I took a piece of sandpaper, 120 Grit. I put it on the bottom of my vibrating sander and I tried to sand the finish. So if you can imagine years of dirt being ground into floors, I thought that was a pretty fair test and it didn’t take off the finish. Didn’t even affect that one iota. And finally, I took a utility knife, brand new heel video on this, and I showed me using it to cut sandpaper in one swipe. Then I must have swiped that across this floor about 20 times. And the scratches didn’t show at all. So I was really impressed with this stuff, especially at the price and the fact that it’s 100% waterproof. It’s not out just at this moment, but it’s coming out very soon. So you might want to take a look at that as an inexpensive flooring option for this bathroom. |
| 0:20:55 | CALLER: Great. Do we just get it at like our local hardware store where stores. |
| 0:20:58 | TOM: Know it’s an LL Flooring product? So you can go to llflooring.com or to one of the LL Flooring stores. They’ve got about 400 or so odd stores across the country. |
| 0:21:07 | LESLIE: And wish you good luck. I’d like to say it gets easier. I have a 13 year old and an eight year old and it’s still terrible. |
| 0:21:15 | CALLER: Thanks for your help. I appreciate it. |
| 0:21:17 | TOM: Well, guys, have you been thinking about a remodeling project and wondering what to do with your ceiling? I bet there’s probably one ceiling type that you’re definitely not considering a drop ceiling, right? Yeah. You know, we get it. They’re old. They’re dated. Right. But you may want to give drop ceilings a second look because those that are coming out today can be absolutely stunning. I mean, first of all, they’re not just plain flat tile anymore. Today, you can actually find drop ceilings that look much more like old fashioned tin tiles, wood paneling. I mean, so many beautiful design styles are available. Plus with the right kind of finish, I mean, it’s really hard to even tell that these are drop ceilings at all. |
| 0:21:54 | TOM: Oh, definitely. With a drop ceiling today, you’ve got tons of choices for color or for texture, for material. You know, white is generally a good color for smaller spaces because it creates a lot of openness. But if you’re looking for something bold or something different, take a look at the colored tiles and the textured tiles. They can be a really interesting design idea. |
| 0:22:11 | LESLIE: Yeah. To make sure, though, that the drop ceiling is going to work for you, first of all, you have to think about the available head space that you’ve got in this room. It’s not just practical consideration, but an esthetic one as well. So you’ve got to look at the space above your living room windows from the window frame to the ceiling and consider where the drop ceiling is going to come to on that window frame. I mean, this is going to be a big design detail. So you want to make sure that it’s going to fit in well. |
| 0:22:35 | TOM: Yeah. And another benefit of drop ceilings is that they provide for easy access to any mechanical systems like pipes and wiring, especially the drop ceiling is being used in the basement. That’s one reason drop ceilings are just so popular in that space. But remember, they’re not just limited to basements because they are so gorgeous today. They can really work anywhere in your home. |
| 0:22:55 | LESLIE: Tom in New Jersey is on the line, has a question about return on investments when it comes to projects. And it’s not you, Tom. We actually have a time where what’s going on? |
| 0:23:05 | CALLER: I hear you talking about the return on investment when it comes to renovations. And for example, if you say a big bathroom that has a 50% return on investment for a renovation, I assume that means that if you sell your home, you’re going to get back 50% of what you put into that. You got that back. In other words, different than the like in the world of finance where if someone says you’re getting a 50% return on investment, you would get back your default capital that you put upfront plus another 50%. So I don’t know. Is the definition different when talking about renovation budget? |
| 0:23:42 | TOM: That’s a really excellent question too. I mean, yeah, what it means is it’s kind of how you first described it. In other words, if we say that a bathroom gives you a 50% return on your investment, actually it’s higher. But let’s say for argument’s sake, it’s 50%. That means if you sell your home and if you sell your home within a pretty short period of time, by the way, and the National Association of Realtors started this cost versus value survey idea a while ago with Remodeling magazine. And that’s kind of how they determined. They said, well, you know, if I put $10,000 into a bathroom and then I sell my house in a year, I will technically be able to charge $5,000 more than if I hadn’t put the ten grand in. So that’s what they mean by return investment when it comes to remodeling. But generally speaking, we have these numbers so that they can be compared relatively to each other. In other words, sometimes people think that everything they every dime they put into a house is going to give them a good ROI. But I have sad news, Leslie, the man caves. They don’t really give you much of an hour or two around the bathrooms. Yeah, definitely. |
| 0:24:45 | LESLIE: But they bring happiness. Doesn’t that matter for something? |
| 0:24:49 | TOM: I think so. I think it definitely does. |
| 0:24:52 | LESLIE: Now we’re going to head over to Nebraska. James is on the line with us and has some questions about insulation. What’s going on here? |
| 0:24:58 | CALLER: Many people are just curious. I’ve done some reading, some of that spray foam. There are some fumes apparently possibly coming off some of that. Do you know what’s out there and what and what that can cause and some of the problems are having with that. |
| 0:25:11 | TOM: I know of one case that was, I believe in Canada where there was potentially some material that was improperly mixed, but it certainly is not a widespread situation. I personally have ice and in spray foam insulation in my crawl spaces, in my basement and in my attic and across my kitchen roof. And I am very, very happy with it. It’s been very effective for us. So I personally would say you could use a name brand insulation like that without fear of any type of off gassing. I don’t think it’s a concern whatsoever. |
| 0:25:47 | CALLER: Okay. I guess that was my only concern because it looks like it’s a really good way to go. But after you know, seeing a little bit of that and I was a little hesitant. So. |
| 0:25:56 | TOM: Yeah, I mean, if you deal with a good contractor, with a good reputation and a good product like gasoline, I think you’ll be fine. I actually have photos of the project on MoneyPit.com. If you search for the Money Pit installation guide, you’ll see photos of the ice thing going down, going into the into the spaces. And we had a really complicated house. We had flat roof sections where the roof structure was opened up for the outside and sprayed down across the ceiling and then closed in. We had traditional attic and then we also had an attic that over the kitchen that was not accessible. So in that case, the plywood was taken off from the outside. And once again, we sprayed down across the across the kitchen and then reroof the place. So it was kind of an interesting project, but we saw huge differences pretty much right away after the product had had dried. |
| 0:26:43 | CALLER: Okay, great. Well, thank you so much. Thanks for taking my question to you. |
| 0:26:48 | TOM: Welcome, James. Thanks so much for calling us at 830 Money Pit. Well, thermostats can definitely make the difference between an expensive heating bill and one that is much more reasonable. They help you maximize your energy savings. We thought it would be helpful to share the top three common mistakes that people make time and time again with the thermostats that cost them big bucks. |
| 0:27:09 | LESLIE: Yeah, here’s the first mistake that people make. It’s trying to heat or cool your home faster, you know, like you’re setting your thermostat above or below the temperature that you actually want because you think, oh, it’s going to help my house cool down quicker or it’s going to heat up faster, but it actually can cost you more money without actually speeding up the process at all. For example, let’s say you get home and it’s like 60 degrees and you want the temperature up to 72. However, you’re like super in a hurry. So you crank that thermostat to 80 thinking, all right, it’s just going to go way faster because I’ve asked it to be 80 degrees. Well, the problem there, guys, is that it won’t. And setting the temperature to 80 degrees, your heat will end up having to run longer to hit that desired temperature. And that’s going to cost you more money to heat. Cool. Whatever it is that you’re working on right there in the house. |
| 0:27:57 | TOM: Yeah. Because once people turn it up, they forget to turn it down to all of a sudden they get too hot. By then, you’ve wasted a whole lot of money. All right. Mistake number two, leaving your thermostat on the same setting for convenience. Some people like to set it and forget it. Right. But this can actually cost you quite a bit of money if you leave the house for more than 8 hours at a time, which is thermostat is set the same temperature. You’re basically paying for heating of an empty house. Now, if you take that eight hour time frame, you multiply it by however many days you’re going for a month. You can see my point. It really adds up. So instead always use the clock set effect thermostat settings to set your thermostat 7 to 10 degrees lower in the winter when you were away and when you get home. So the thermostat back up to your normal, comfortable setting. |
| 0:28:40 | LESLIE: All right. Now here’s mistake number three, changing your thermostat too often. Now, if you micromanage those thermostat settings, you’re going to end up more energy and that’s going to cost you more money. Some people love to kind of ride that thermostat, putting it up, putting it down, and sort of a never ending search to find that perfect temperature. Well, the problem is that you’re just going to end up running your heating system longer than you need to, and that’s going to waste a ton of money. Plus, what’s the perfect temperature? I like one, you like another. The kids like something else. Where do we agree exactly? |
| 0:29:11 | TOM: Well, listen, guys, the smartest way to save energy and to stay comfortable is to get an Energy Star rated clock setback thermostat. These smart thermostats are automatically able to tell when you were home, when you were away the detect movement in the house and they can adjust the thermostat accordingly. So you always have that perfect setting every single time. |
| 0:29:32 | LESLIE: Larry from Connecticut wrote in to Tim Money Pit and he’s asking, I need to replace 214 year old water heaters in my attic and want to minimize wait time for hot water on the far side of the house. Should I use a circulating pump or a tankless water heater? |
| 0:29:47 | TOM: Hey, that’s a great question. Think about how much time and water is wasted Every time you do this, there are really two solutions. First, there is a product at Home Depot and other retailers called the Watts Hot Water Recirculating System, and it basically provides instant hot water to every faucet or shower in the home. And it’s pretty easy to install. It basically creates an additional loop of pipe that moves that warm water from the water heater to the fixtures. Now it can be done on a timer, so it’s not costing you a lot of extra money to heat more water than you need. But it will work and work very well. The other way to go is to continue to have two water heaters, but go tankless and relocate them closer to the actual rooms they serve. We see this more and more today in new construction because those new water heaters are like the size of kitchen cabinets or smaller. They’re so tiny, these tankless water heaters. I mean, we have one that’s called it can be the only heats or hot water, but it heats or are boilers, too. So it basically he’s all the radiators in the house. So they’re real small. They’re real efficient, but of course, they are more expensive. So depending on your situation, there’s a couple of options for you to move that water along quickly. |
| 0:30:57 | LESLIE: All right. Now we’ve got Joann in Illinois who writes, My house was built in 1960 and there’s no exhaust fan in any of the bathrooms. I’d like to put a crown molding in the bathrooms, but I’m worried it will swell from the moisture. Is there a certain type I should use? |
| 0:31:13 | TOM: Yeah. First, let’s address this issue of no ventilation in the bathroom. It’s a really bad idea. I would definitely recommend that you find a way to get an exhaust fan. If you can’t put it in the ceiling, you could also put it in the wall. I’m assuming it’s on an exterior wall. In terms of the products, Yes, there is a product called Easy Crown Molding. Remember this stuff, Leslie? It’s like an extruded a crown molding and you adhere to the wall caulk. It works really well. And when it’s all painted, you can’t tell. It’s not would. |
| 0:31:43 | LESLIE: Not at all. |
| 0:31:44 | TOM: I’d rather have this than wood, because wood’s going to expand the contract and then hold the paint as well as a composite product so you can check out their website. It’s simply easy crown molding dot com. I think it works and it works really well. But you know, back to that issue, with no ventilation, you’ll have a lot more issues aside from the molding. If you don’t have vents in that room, you’re going to get much more mold growth that’s going to get kind of disgusting and keep the place really dirty, get condensation, which leaves a lot of water stains from it. Yeah, especially if you have hard water on water stains, on your fixtures, on your faucets. I mean, for all those reasons, you really need better ventilation in that space. We get calls time and time again about people that just are so tired of cleaning the tile or cleaning the shower curtains. It gets just all soaked through with algae and moss and lichen and mold because they don’t have enough ventilation. So I really encourage you to find a way to improve that as much as you possibly can. |
| 0:32:41 | LESLIE: Or to and I hope that helps a lot of times they’re just like, Hey, you’ve got a window that’s groovy. But Tom’s right. You really do need to move that moisture out of the bathroom, so you’ll end up with a nice bathroom for a long time. |
| 0:32:53 | TOM: You are listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Thank you so much for spending this part of the beautiful fall day with us. We hope you’re enjoying the weather wherever you are and you’re enjoying improvements that you might be making to your home or enjoying this, thinking about the improvements you’d like to make. It’s a great time to think about painting and decorating inside your house, new flooring, things like that. Also, good time to think about taking a look at that insulation and making sure it’s up to snuff so you stay comfortable all winter long. But remember, whatever project is on your to do list, you can put it on Mars whenever you reach out to us with your questions at Moneypit.com/ask. But for now it’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:33:33 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:33:34 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 0:33:36 | 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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