#2389 – Playing with Fire: Fireplace Hazards | Safe Cleaning Products | Uninsured Contractor Risks

Show Notes

This home improvement episode is all about safety, including common fire hazards associated with fireplaces and stoves, options for safe cleaning products, and the risks of hiring uninsured contractors. Listen to hear more about these and other callers’ questions to keep your home safe, sound, and comfortable!

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Podcast Transcript

Fireplace and Wood Stove Safety: Learn how fireplaces and wood-burning stoves can be dangerous causes of house fires.
Safe Cleaning Products: Get tips for choosing cleaning products with safer ingredients.
Uninsured Contractors: Find out how hiring uninsured or unlicensed contractors poses risks that are your responsibility.

Ask Your Home Improvement Question

Do you have a home improvement or decor question? Call the show 24/7 at 888-MONEY-PIT (888-666-3974) or post your question here.

Podcast Transcript

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0:00:24	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
0:00:29	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:00:30	TOM: We are here to help you with projects you want to get done around your house. We’ve been out this a long time and it’s what we do. It’s what we love to do. We love to empower you, We love to inform you, we love you, cheer you on as you take on improvements to make your home more comfortable, more beautiful, whatever you want to get done. You could start with a call to us and we will help you take that first step. Make sure you’re using the best materials. Determine if you can do it yourself, or you need to hire a pro and share with you some tricks of the trade to make it go that more smoothly. You do that by reaching out to us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. That’s 888-666-3974 or you can just go to moneypit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button. Coming up on today’s show, did you guys know that over 350,000 house fires happen every year and a big portion of those are caused by fireplaces and also wood burning stove. So we’re going to tell you what you need to know to keep safe.
0:01:27	LESLIE: And the experts at Consumer Reports are out with tips to help us choose cleaning products with safer ingredients. We’ll tell you what they came up with.
0:01:35	TOM: And if you’re planning on hiring a pro to help get a project done, there’s one thing you might want to check before pressing go. We’ll have tips to make sure you are protected in case there is an accident on site just ahead.
0:01:47	LESLIE: But first, we want to know what you want to know. It’s our job, our mission to educate, inspire and to help you build confidence on all of those projects that you’d like to get done.
0:01:57	TOM: But your job is to help yourself first by reaching out to us with those questions. A couple of ways to do just that. Call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974 or go to Money Pit.com/ask. Who’s first.
0:02:12	LESLIE: Judy in Arkansas is on the line with a floor that’s coming apart. Tell us what’s happening.
0:02:16	CALLER: Well, it’s been down about 13 years. It’s like a $5,000 floor of what it costs a thousand square foot room it all. We have things that have kind of bubbled up a little bit. Is there any way to fix this? I know it can’t replace it. Okay.
0:02:32	TOM: So you say the seams have bubbled up on laminate floor. So they’re pressing together? Sort of pushing up.
0:02:37	CALLER: Yeah, just a little bit. I have some extra boxes out there, but not enough to fix all of them.
0:02:43	TOM: Yeah, if that’s happening, that’s happening on a wide scale basis, then I suspect something was done incorrectly in the installation. A couple of things to remember about laminate floor. First of all, the floor that it goes down on top of has to be pretty flat. It’s got a very low tolerance to two floors that are there, even the least bit out of level that have any kind of bumps or rolls in it. Secondly, if it’s put on too tight so that it doesn’t have enough room to expand the contract, then you can see that floors will buckle up, they’ll press in because they’re expanding and they’ll push up and have those scenes come apart. So those are the things that you really need to look into with this. I would get your contractor back and have them address this was that definitely should not have happened once that floor was put down.
0:03:30	CALLER: Even 13 or 14 years out.
0:03:32	TOM: Definitely shouldn’t have happened.
0:03:33	CALLER: Do you think it’d be like moisture?
0:03:34	TOM: And it could be it could be moisture related. Have you had an excessive amount of moisture recently when this started to happen? No.
0:03:42	CALLER: Not at all.
0:03:43	LESLIE: Yeah, but it could just be consistent moisture from, you know, the hydrostatic nature of the concrete. Over time.
0:03:49	TOM: It could be.
0:03:49	CALLER: Well, the house is about 30 years old.
0:03:51	TOM: How long ago did it start to come up?
0:03:53	CALLER: It’s been going on. You know, we’ve been noticing sports off and on for a while.
0:03:57	TOM: Well, Leslie’s correct. It could very well be moisture related if it’s going to if it’s that frequent and it laid down flat for the you know, for all the other years up to that.
0:04:04	CALLER: Okay. There’s nothing else I can do now.
0:04:06	TOM: You can’t fix something like that, Judy. Unfortunately, you have to replace it. Well, what I would do if I replaced it, I would be very careful about measuring the moisture in the concrete and make sure it’s not wetter than what the manufacturers allow. And secondly, I’ll give you a trick of the trade, which is that even though the laminate floors today are locked together type pieces, you can add glue to those seams as well. And that gives you a more permanent protection against this happening again.
0:04:31	CALLER: Okay. Well, thank you.
0:04:32	TOM: You’re welcome, Judy. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 Money Pit.
0:04:36	LESLIE: John in Maryland is on the line with a gutter issue. What’s going on at your Money Pit?
0:04:39	CALLER: I have an area where I have a system over copper gutters that is very similar to a very famous helmet type company that you may have heard of. But it’s not that. But it’s the same type of product and it seems to be overflowing. Well, of course, they’re never supposed to need to be cleaned. And actually, I got up there figuring, okay, well, I guess that’s sort of not true. Maybe I have to clean and get up there and it’s completely sealed. So I looked at some stuff online as to why they might overflow like mine are and appear. Apparently there’s somebody said something like to get, you know, pollen and things like that and from the trees and I do have a, you know, fairly heavily wooded lot. And the trees were definitely overgrown for the past couple of years before I trimmed them back recently.
0:05:25	TOM: So I guess this this particular gutter product that you purchased probably came with a guarantee. 4:00 free gutter zit, Correct.
0:05:32	CALLER: I don’t know if this system did and it was so bad. It’s probably been ten years ago at least since I had them installed.
0:05:39	TOM: All right. So here’s my experience with those types of gutter covers. I have seen them work and work quite well in some cases. Usually where there’s a problem is when you have a fairly steep roof and you your water, as it trickles down, builds up a lot of momentum and hits that gutter cover and never really draws into the gutter itself. It washes over the top of it. So you may possibly be seeing gutter water that’s running over the top of it because it’s not the surface tension of the water’s not strong enough to pull it all into the gutter itself. They usually work well with moderate rainfalls, not heavy rainfalls. The other thing that I’ve seen is if you have the kind that has like a fine mesh, yes, you can get some fine particulates that will block those up, but that should be visible to you when you’re looking at it. And if you don’t see that, I don’t think that’s the case. If it’s not working and those two solutions don’t make a lot of sense to you, then it might be time to remove and replace it. I’ve had good experience with a type that has small holes. It looks like a shutter, like a louver that fits over it. And I like it because it works most of the time. If occasionally it gets clogged, it’s very easy to lift it up and pull the leaves out.
0:06:52	CALLER: I see. Okay.
0:06:54	TOM: All right. Well, I hope that helps you a little bit. Good luck with that project. And thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
0:07:00	LESLIE: Chris in Arkansas is on the line with the painting question, How can we help you today?
0:07:04	CALLER: Well, I bought a house and it has two bathrooms and the tile sink and tubs are baby pink and baby blue. What’s wrong with that? Well, not exactly what I had in mind, but I was wondering if you can successfully until I get to redo the bathrooms, if you can successfully paint over them without it looking terrible.
0:07:29	LESLIE: Yes and no. I mean, you can there’s a quite an extensive process to it to make sure that you get proper adhesion, that it sticks very well. However, whenever you’re dealing with a painted surface and water is involved in areas that you have to clean as well, you’re going to get some wear and tear. So I don’t think it’s the best idea. I mean, there are kits that you can buy online, basically if you want to do it without a kit. And of course, then you don’t want to paint the grout. But a lot of people do paint the ground, and that looks weird also. So you got to think about all these things, but you’re going to want to use a very, very durable oil based primer. And of course, you’ve got to clean those tiles very, very well before you even think about putting a drop of primer on them.
0:08:09	TOM: And I think Sherwin-Williams actually makes a primer that that is super, super adhesive. And the reason they know about this is because the way they demoed it was by painting it on tile and then putting a second layer of paint on it, even though it’s a really adhesive paint. I agree with you completely that that eventually, in a very short period of time, especially if you’re cleaning the surface, are you going to start working through it?
0:08:31	CALLER: Okay. And like I said, not knowing if I could or not, I just was, you know, thinking I could buy myself some time and just paint it until I can redo. Or maybe it’s sounding like I should just wait till I can redo.
0:08:46	TOM: Well, you know, the bad news about those old tile bathrooms is that they have, you know, these are very traditional, like 1960s like colors. The good news is that the tile quality is usually really good and the way it’s installed is really solid. And that’s why, if at all possible, maybe you could think about decorating around this tile. So you said you have is it pink and blue?
0:09:10	LESLIE: Yes. You know, with the pink, I think we’re seeing such a big trend in pink, really making a comeback in bathroom spaces. You know, you could go overload on the pink. You can add in florals, you can add in different tones of pinks. You can sort of tone it down with neutral beiges and grays and hints of gold and sort of make it like glamorous and more girly. You know, there are ways you can do that blue tile. I feel like, you know, it’s just a poor choice.
0:09:33	CALLER: But blue tile, I totally agree with you. You know.
0:09:37	LESLIE: Maybe everything else goes like, super clean, but I just feel like if you attempt to paint the tile, you’re going to be sad in the long run. And it’s going to it will perhaps motivate you to do the permanent work more quickly. Okay.
0:09:48	CALLER: Well, exactly that. And that’s why that’s why I called. I, I, I just wasn’t sure if there was some miracle cure that I, you know, hey, this works great or not. And I am trying my best at decorating around. But the pink. Yes. Has worked better than the blue.
0:10:07	TOM: At least we solved half the problem, Christine.
0:10:09	CALLER: I appreciate it. I appreciate it so much.
0:10:11	TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit.
0:10:16	LESLIE: You know, we love hearing from our listeners. And if you want to make our day, leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.
0:10:21	TOM: You know, it really helps us know what we’re doing right and how we can improve our show for you. So just go to MoneyPit.com/review, and you might even win a copy of our book.
0:10:34	LESLIE: Heading out to Delaware where Ed’s got a problem in the basement and some sort of mysterious odor. What’s going on down there?
0:10:41	CALLER: I purchased a home back in 2015 of August and about three months into it I lost power in the basement and it turns out I had some moisture in the air, lacked electrical outlets. So those outlets have since been closed off and I was told I had to get them rewired. But apparently there was some moisture coming in somewhere. But ever since I purchased a home, there’s this odor that radiates from the basement and it’s just like a chemical odor. And it comes upstairs and literally gets in everything that’s been clothes and everything that goes with you to work and it stays in the clothes. I just can’t seem to get rid of it.
0:11:16	TOM: Is the basement unfinished? Ed
0:11:18	CALLER: No, unfortunately, it’s finished. It has paneling against the wall.
0:11:22	TOM: It has paneling, yes. And does it have carpets?
0:11:25	CALLER: Have the basement? Its carpet? Yes. And the carpet seems drying everything. So I was hoping it was something radiating from the carpet, but that seems to be okay. So my next option is basically to get a waterproof in here and potentially have the basement and got it and finished, you know, seal the walls.
0:11:46	TOM: Now you don’t want you don’t wanna do that. So I do think that most likely source of the odor is, is simply dampness. And because it’s partially finished, you know the materials can when they get wet they can also hold bacteria and that can cause an odor. The carpet is off is absolutely terrible. That will hold dust and dust mites and dirt and can really contribute to the smell. But the solution is never ever to call it basement waterproof or those guys generally install one kind of system and one kind of system only, and that’s a series of drains and pumps that pump water out. But your problem can be easily resolved by doing two things. Number one, improving the drainage condition at the foundation perimeter. So that means adding soil where it’s flat sloping in a way from the walls and that sort of thing. And secondly, and even more importantly, looking at the gutter system, making sure the downspouts are clean, free flowing and extending from the foundation perimeter at least 4 to 6 feet. So those two things will reduce the amount of moisture that collects at the perimeter and that will reduce humidity in the basement. And certainly reduce any chance of flooding. Once that’s done, I would probably also opt to install a dehumidifier in the basement and I would put in a good quality dehumidifier hired such as one from Santa Fe. They have some nice units that are hanging from the ceiling that really do an effective job at pulling moisture out and you can set up that drain so that basically drains outside or to a condensate pumps or is not going to have to empty a pan of water now and again. Then at some point you’re gonna have to decide what you want to do with that basement. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen paneling pulled off to find lots and lots of mold behind it. And that may or may not be the case there. But I think if we reduce the moisture in that basement, I think you’ll find a lot of the odor will dissipate.
0:13:37	CALLER: Okay. And as far as the electrical outlets in that basement contain a little bit of moisture.
0:13:43	TOM: Condensation, it’s all it’s all related. It’s all the same issue. You’ve got a lot of condensation there. Okay. Take a look at Money Pit dot com right in the home page. There is a good article, one of the most popular ones on the site about how to solve basement moisture problems and flooding. Okay.
0:13:58	CALLER: I will.
0:13:58	TOM: Do. All right. Good luck and thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. Well, the national Fire Protection Association reports that over 350,000 house fires happen every year, especially in winter, when a large number of those fires are caused by fireplaces and wood burning stove. So here’s a few tips to help keep you safe from those types of issues.
0:14:21	TOM: First, one of the leading causes of residential home heating fires is a dirty chimney. Chimneys need to be cleaned and inspected once a year or once. For every cord of wood you burn. You know what your caught is? It’s a pile of wood that’s four foot by four foot by eight foot. So it’s a lot of wood. If you’re burning through that kind of wood, need to have your chimney cleaned.
0:14:40	LESLIE: All right. Now, next, many residential heating related fires are ignited because the fireplace or other heat source is too close to items that can burn. So it’s important to maintain a safe zone around your fireplace and to keep things like your clothing, upholstered furniture, bedding, at least three feet from the fire. Also, you want to be mindful of things like packages, bags, boxes. We all tend to just kind of put things down where they sometimes fit. And if it’s placed near a fireplace, we don’t always kind of connect that with the risk that could happen. You also want to be careful to burn the right kind of wood. Hardwood is best and the wood needs to be properly seasoned and dried. You also always want to use a screen around the fireplace because embers come flying out occasionally and they could start a fire. So if you have a screen, you can potentially stop that from happening.
0:15:32	TOM: Now, when the fire is done, you’re going to have ashes and it’s really important that you store those responsibly, make sure the ashes cool completely before you store them in a metal container and be sure to keep that container a safe distance away from your home. I’ll tell you a little story about ashes. Yeah. We had gone camping this past summer and we had a nice fire in the evening, and then there was a trench of rainfall, so we let the water just wash onto the fire pit and figured out we just put it out. You know, the next morning it was still hot enough to restart even with it raining all night long. So it’s kind of crazy. You need to make sure assume that those ashes are not out and store them away from the house. Never keep them anywhere near the house. And this way you will be totally safe.
0:16:14	LESLIE: Mary in Massachusetts is on the line with an appliance that’s acting up. What’s going on, Mary?
0:16:18	CALLER: The bottom fills up with water and I mean probably an inch or two. But like I say, we run the dishwasher at night like I get up this morning at seven. It wasn’t anything on the bottom of the dishwasher. And about an hour later it was filled. And it’s been doing that. And we don’t understand what’s going on. We’ve had the hoses checked, you know, make sure they’re not bent or anything or but we can’t figure it out.
0:16:43	TOM: Okay. So have you cleaned out the bottom of the dishwasher? Sometimes the drain gets clogged. That’s the easy fix right there.
0:16:49	CALLER: yeah, we’ve done that.
0:16:51	TOM: So you have no food particles there? No. So there must be an obstruction somewhere that’s causing it. There’s an obstruction somewhere in the line that’s causing the water of the plumbing in that part of the house to back up. And it’s just evidencing itself in the dishwasher. Have you checked the connection to your garbage disposal?
0:17:06	CALLER: Well, I don’t have a garbage disposal.
0:17:07	TOM: You don’t? So it drains. Where does the drain into the trap under the sink or where does it drain?
0:17:12	CALLER: Right into the trap, under the sink.
0:17:14	TOM: I think you’re back. And some water up there. It’s going back up the hose and into the dishwasher.
0:17:18	CALLER: All right, then I’m going to have somebody come over. We did have someone come over. I don’t think his he honestly couldn’t figure it out. He, you know, check the hoses and make sure they weren’t bent or anything. And he stayed for a while and. Yeah, and it happened again. The water started coming in after he ran it.
0:17:37	TOM: So if you’re running it and it’s not draining, then there’s a different set of causes for that. It’s either a drain pump or the drain impeller, or there’s a solenoid kit that has to do with removing the water. But if you’re telling me this water is showing up when you’re not running the dishwasher, then I think it must be backing up through the plumbing system. Okay. Mary. So I think that’s a good approach.
0:17:58	LESLIE: Heading to Minnesota, where Beth is doing some work in the bathroom and you want some toilet help. What’s going on?
0:18:04	CALLER: So I kept running the lot. I kept running into it. So I decided to start a new field out and fabric and I measured everything and I follow the instructions and I just saw the original problem. Then I developed a new one when it blew. Nice. I said the water goes into the bowl. Okay. I said, Now anything in the bowl goes to the top of the bowl, almost to the red. And then when the tank itself is filled, then the bowl goes down slowly and it flushes. But then it only needs a little water in the bowl. And I call the manufacturers and talk to them. He said, Why try cleansing it? Because they’re making clogs. So I did that. I tried hot waters and bleach to see if I could get that. If it is a clog and nothing has worked and I don’t know what to do, I give up.
0:18:53	LESLIE: I mean, that’s what happens typically in a clog is all filled to the top and then the tangle fill and that little, you know, that suction force will just bring everything down.
0:19:01	TOM: Yeah. And the ones that the trick is the diagnosis. When you have a partial clog, we have some water that’s getting passed, but not a lot. So I wonder if something is, is lodged in either the trap of the toilet or the line beyond that. And really the next step is to have a plumber come out and do a drain cleaning of that. I’ll tell you a funny story about how this happened when my kids were younger, we had a toilet that was clogged in the downstairs bathroom and I outside this bathroom we had a willow tree. And I knew that the willow tree roots used to get into the plumbing line. So I immediately assumed that was what it was. And I went outside and dug up my yard and found the pipe clean out, which was a couple of feet below the surface. And I snaked one way and snaked the other way and I couldn’t find any clog. So I thought, well, maybe it’s between the pipe break and the toilet. So I decided to pull the toilet off. And don’t you know that when I did that, I turned it over and noticed something blew in the bottom of the toilet. And of course, you’re not supposed to have anything blue in a ceramic toilet. It turned out to be a little toy telephone that one of my kids had dropped down there that was letting just enough water through to trick us. And so you never know what’s going to be in there. And if you have a partial obstruction like that, that could explain for what’s happening.
0:20:14	CALLER: Okay. Well, the only thing I can do then is to get a plumber.
0:20:18	TOM: Yep. You don’t want a carpenter, that’s for sure. But thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
0:20:25	LESLIE: Well, the experts at Consumer Reports have been taking a good hard look at the products we use to clean our homes. And they’ve offered these tips to help choose cleaning products with safer ingredients. Here’s what they came up with. First, consider an all-purpose cleaner. Now, despite what product marketing may tell you, a different cleaner isn’t necessary for every surface in the house and effective All-Purpose cleaner will handle almost every job from the kitchen counter and floor to the toilets, the bathtubs, everything.
0:20:53	TOM: Now, next, you want to see the cleaners with ingredients that are actually listed on the packaging. It turns out that federal legislation doesn’t actually require companies to include cleaning product ingredients on the packaging. So by choosing products with disclosed ingredients, you know more about what you and your family are being exposed to.
0:21:10	LESLIE: Yeah. Now here’s another one. Go fragrance free because the components of a fragrance are not always required to be listed on those labels. And fragrances can contain hundreds of hidden ingredients, many of which have been associated with a whole host of health issues.
0:21:24	TOM: It’s also a good idea along the same lines, to avoid cleaners that have dyes or colorants. You know, the color and the cleaning solution doesn’t necessarily contribute to its effectiveness. So it’s just another unnecessary chemical exposure. Plus, some colorants commonly used in cleaners have been linked to asthma, skin sensitivity and irritation.
0:21:43	LESLIE: You also want to make sure you’re choosing cleaners with safer disinfecting and active ingredients listed as the active ingredient on those labels. Now, those include ingredients like hydrogen peroxide, at least 3% ethanol at least 70%, or citric acid at least 0.5%. These are all active ingredients registered with the EPA to fight against various common pathogens.
0:22:06	TOM: And you can also experiment with a vinegar based solution for jobs like cleaning windows and glass, you know, an all-purpose cleaner. It’s going to handle many jobs. But Glass is a notable exception. A simple mixture of equal parts vinegar and hot water can be one safe alternative.
0:22:20	LESLIE: I swear vinegar is like the magic cure all. You also want to make sure that.
0:22:25	TOM: Sure is it does.
0:22:26	LESLIE: It really does. You also make sure you look for products certified to be safer for people and the planet. And those include products certified by Made safe. Another good starting point is the EPA’s Safer Choice Products carrying this label use ingredients that are verified by the EPA to be safer than most conventional options. Mike and Louisiana is on the line with a question about concrete. What’s happening to it?
0:22:49	CALLER: I have a crack in my foundation and I was wondering what would be the best way to stop it.
0:22:53	TOM: So is this a basement foundation or crawl space Foundation? What’s it look like?
0:22:58	CALLER: I have a slab. Don’t have it. I don’t have a nothing. He just it’s just a crack in the concrete goes pretty much all the way across from a warning, and I want to know the house.
0:23:09	TOM: Okay, so does it. Is it the floor or you see it from the outside? Where are we seeing this?
0:23:14	CALLER: Just in the floor. I’ll just say it in full. I don’t see it. I’ve looked at it twice on the outside and I haven’t seen it.
0:23:20	TOM: All right. So that might not be part of the foundation, because when you have a slab on Great House, the floor area itself is actually not part of the foundation, only the perimeter is. So that’s a pretty standard crack repair. What you want to do is, is go to a home center and pick up a quick creek. You are epoxy based or patching compound, and that is something that you can apply to the crack. There’s a number of different types of this. So it comes in a in a tube that you can apply with a cork gun and others you mix up, but it has to be a patching material because the otherwise it won’t stick to the old concrete. Then what you do is clean out that crack. You apply the patch, let it dry, and you’re good to go.
0:24:05	CALLER: Okay. Appreciate it.
0:24:06	TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks again for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
0:24:11	LESLIE: Gail in Ontario is on the line. How can we help you today?
0:24:14	CALLER: We just had a high efficiency energy furnace and central air installed in our house, and I have a ranch style house crawl space. It’s all insulated. And they installed the furnace in the laundry room and they’ve got the condensate pipes from the furnace and the central air dripping into a bucket, into the ground of the crawl space. And there is limestone in the bucket, and we’re at odds whether this is a good thing or not.
0:24:51	TOM: So you say it’s dripping into a bucket. Is this a sump pump like a swamp pit, or is this just like a bucket on the ground in the crawl space? I mean, kind of describe it for me.
0:25:00	CALLER: Yeah, it’s just a bucket with limestone in it. They cut a hole in my plastic that’s running along the bottom of the crawl space, and they’ve got the bucket over the where they cut it. And yeah, the pipe is just dripping into the bucket, going through the limestone and the ground.
0:25:23	TOM: They’re basically just dumping the water under the underneath the vapor barrier. Now, I don’t think that’s a very good idea at all. It’s really sloppy. What you should be doing in this case is you should or they should more, more accurately have installed a condensate pump. Now, condensate pumps a small pipe and sits near the near the furnace and near the air handler. And then the moisture goes into that pump and once it fills up, a float, starts the pump up and then pumps that condensate up through usually a clear plastic tube or a small pipe and then outside. So you basically run it outside your house the same way you might discharge your gutter. Like, for example, in my house, I have a currency pump that discharges into the same splash block as my gutter down spout and takes that water outside. I don’t like the idea at all. Just dump it into the crawl space soil, which is essentially what they’re doing here.
0:26:12	CALLER: Yeah, I’ll tell them that. Yeah. Like I was we were it was really bothering us because we didn’t think it was a good thing. Because I’m thinking all that water going under there, it’s defeating the purpose of insulating the crawlspace.
0:26:27	TOM: Yeah. No, your intuition is spot on. Okay, so you call that Ontario, Canada, contract your back and get them to fix that.
0:26:34	CALLER: Okay. And thank you so much for calling me.
0:26:37	TOM: You’re very welcome. Good luck with that project. Well, as you plan your home improvement projects for spring, you may be planning to hire some contractors to help. Now, if that’s the case, you must make sure they’re properly insured. If not, you may end up footing the bill in the event of an accident or a renovation gone badly.
0:26:54	LESLIE: Yeah. In many areas of the United States, contractors that work for themselves are not required by law to have liability insurance or workman’s comp, which is why it’s important for you to get proof of insurance before the start of any home improvement project. Also, if you think you’re already covered by your homeowner’s insurance, actually you might not be. Homeowners insurance policies generally don’t cover incidents involving uninsured or unlicensed contractors.
0:27:23	TOM: Now, the other thing to be aware of is that uninsured contractors also tend to be unfamiliar with building codes and are usually unable or unwilling to apply for permits. When a project lacks the proper permits, a homeowner can be ordered to remove or repair the work that has already been completed. So to make sure you’re hiring a real pro, be sure to check your contractors insurance before allowing any work to begin on your property.
0:27:51	LESLIE: All right. We’ve got Brad on the line. Brad, what can we do with you today at the Money Pit?
0:27:54	CALLER: I have a knee wall in our bedroom upstairs. I’m plumbing our plumbing, some box, all the eaves. Now, the knee wall is currently insulated, and I was wondering if I box on the eaves. Do I need to remove the insulation from that wall? Because obviously I’m going to insulate above the box and the back of the box. We don’t need to remove the insulation from the wall.
0:28:18	TOM: So this is the knee wall in the attic between the floor and the exterior.
0:28:22	CALLER: Yes, the knee wall. Yeah. It splits the eaves from the bedroom.
0:28:27	TOM: Right. So the back of that wall is, is, is, is technically an exterior wall. So yes, that should be insulated.
0:28:33	CALLER: If I boxed it out with sheetrock and insulate, I’m on the outside of that sheetrock area. Should I remove the insulation from the wall because the wall is no longer now an exterior wall or is it still next area wall?
0:28:46	TOM: So when you say the show you removed from the wall, so this short wall is on the other side that you would basically be an unfinished attic space, correct?
0:28:55	CALLER: Yes. And if I finish it.
0:28:57	TOM: Yeah, right. You can’t go wrong having insulation in that wall because basically once you get the other side that you’d have the rafter bars. Right. The roof rafters. And so the roof rafters don’t have insulation in them. But then you have the ceiling joist below that and they would have insulation in them. So that that adds to the exterior skin of the home. So, yes, you do need to insulate the back of that.
0:29:20	CALLER: Right. Okay. That’s all I need to know. All right.
0:29:22	TOM: Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at eight. At eight Money Pit.
0:29:27	LESLIE: Courtney in New Jersey wrote into the Money Pit and she wants to know, how do you clean stubborn spots on old cedar siding? She says We’re able to clean a lot of the siding with a power washer, but there are still spots that are green. Also, should I be staining or sealing the siding in the spring? Thanks.
0:29:42	TOM: Yeah. If you’ve got green, you’ve got algae. And I would recommend a product called JOMAX cleaner, basically mixture of bleach and water. It’s a very powerful concentrate that will eliminate mold and mildew and algae from exterior surfaces. And as for that, staining, definitely leave. But remember this you need to prime it first. So you’re going to use an oil based primer to seal that cedar in. And then you can use a latex solid color stain on top of that. If you do that in that order, this is a paint project that will last you eight, ten, even 15 years. I’ve been taking care of the cedar siding on my house exactly like this for many, many years, and I’ve never been disappointed yet.
0:30:21	LESLIE: Courtney, wait till you see how quickly this works too. It really does the trick.
0:30:26	TOM: Well, getting a good night’s sleep is one of the key foundations of health and well-being. And one way to get better rest is to invest in high quality bedding. But with so many options, how do you know which type of luxury sheets will suit you best? Leslie explains in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.
0:30:43	LESLIE: Yeah, you’re like the princess and the pee. You try them all out, that’s what you do. First, listen to some advice here, because sheets are expensive. Holy moly. Have you been sheet shopping lately? They are pricey, and there are a lot of choices. So let’s talk about it. First, cotton remains the go to material for most bed sheets. It’s easy to wash, it’s easy to care for. It’s durable and comfortable year round. It’s also available in a very wide range of thread counts and colors. For example, organic Egyptian cotton sheets. They’re soft and comfortable, they’re machine washable. They’ll have little to no shrinkage, but they can recycle. So if you’re not into ironing sheets, you may want to avoid them. A better cotton option could be a percale sheet. These are a specific type of cotton known for their tight weave, which provides a smooth and satiny finish that gives you a more elegant feeling. Bamboo sheets. They’re another great way to go with bamboo. The fibers are woven together into fabric that creates a cool, comfortable sheet and an eco-friendly bedding option. Now there are four types of bamboo fabrics available, so you kind of need to read those labels carefully. The most popular and widely available is a bamboo rayon. But if that softness of your sheets is the most important factor to you, bamboo sateen is probably going to be your best choice. Now, for those of you who want the best of the best for your money, pit cultivated silk sheets are legendary. For their softness and their luxury. They absorb perspiration. They resist mildew. Plus, they are naturally hypoallergenic and fire retardant. But they’re super expensive. And since silk traps heat, they can be very uncomfortably warm in the summer season. And they also need special care and cleaning, talking about like dry cleaning or sometimes hand-washing or a lot of ways that you’re not going to want to deal with your sheets. But some people love a silk sheet. A good compromise is a silk pillowcase because the benefits for your skin and your hair are outstanding. And I could kind of deal with dry cleaner a hand washing a pillowcase. How about you, Tom?
0:32:44	TOM: Yeah, I can handle that. Not a problem. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time on the show. We’re going to talk about air cleaners, air collision filters. They are supposed to remove allergens and make you breathe easier. But with all the competing claims of doing that, it can be very hard to sort it out. We’re going to teach you a very simple method for making sure that the filters in your house do exactly what you expect them to do. And that’s all coming up on the next Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
0:33:13	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:33:15	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
0:33:16	LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.

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