Show Notes
In this home improvement episode, we’ll tackle small bathroom makeovers to save space and add style, give tips on selecting the best HVAC filters for optimal air quality, and discuss how driveway markers can enhance safety and curb appeal. Tune in for expert insights and answers to more homeowner questions!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Bathroom Makeover: Make every inch count with a space-saving small bathroom makeover.
- HVAC Filters: Breathe easy by choosing the right HVAC filter to clear the air of springtime allergens.
- Driveway Markers: Make your house stand out with a driveway marker that adds safety and curb appeal.
Top Questions & Answers
- Windows: Condensation and foggy windows are signs that the thermal seal is failing on old windows. Ruth would be better off replacing the windows instead of repairing them.
- Sliding Doors: Cold drafts are blowing through Anthony’s old sliding glass doors. Newer sliding doors would be better insulated and curtains can block the cold glass.
- Countertops: Diane wants to refinish her original Formica laminate countertops We recommend a DIY product that can create the look of a stone surface in a weekend.
- Fireplace Moisture: David gets advice on installing flashing so that water from the roof will be diverted around the chimney.
- Bath Mat Adhesive: Kimberly can’t remove a mat that’s stuck to the bottom of the tub. WD-40 or a citrus-based adhesive remover may help, but the tub surface could get damaged in the process.
- Concrete Repair: Charlie’s painted concrete patio is flaking and pitted. He needs to pressure wash and scrape it first, then repair the concrete before using an epoxy paint.
- Refinishing Old Walls: Susan uncovered wood under the sheetrock of her old home. We’ve got tips on how to sand, stain, and seal the wood with a flat varnish.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:22 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:28 | And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:30 | And we are here to help you take on the projects you want to get done around your house. We’ve got tips, inspiration, and we will help you build some confidence in projects that you can do yourself. So if you need a guide, you need a coach, or you need a home improvement therapist, well, that’s us. Reach out to us with your questions. The number here is 1-888-MONEYPIT, or for the fastest response, just go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Today’s show, you know, one overlooked space where we all spend a lot of time is the bathroom. And if you’re trying to give a small bathroom a makeover, you’ve got to make every inch count. So we’re going to share some ideas on how to maximize space in this oh-so-important room. |
| 00:01:12 | LESLIE: And filters for your HVAC system can help remove dust and make it a lot easier to breathe at home. But with so many choices out there, which type really is going to do the best job for you? We’re going to help you sort out what’s going to make you breathe easy, especially during the upcoming spring. Allergy season. |
| 00:01:29 | TOM: Plus, adding a driveway marker can be a fun and practical weekend project that can really step up your curb appeal. We’ll have a few tips for building that project just ahead. |
| 00:01:38 | LESLIE: But first, is there a project that you are stuck in the middle of, or really even one that you just can’t see or seem to get started? Well, that’s when you call us, because getting you unstuck, that’s what we do. |
| 00:01:50 | TOM: The number here is 1-888-MONEYPIT, 888-666-3974, or click the blue microphone button at moneypit.com. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:02:02 | LESLIE: Ruth in Michigan has got a window question. What can we do for you? |
| 00:02:05 | CALLER: My windows fogged up, and they had condensation on them, on the centers of them, as well as when it was really cold two years ago, I actually had frost on the inside of the window. And I didn’t know what’s wrong with the windows, what do we need to do with them. They were put in new about 25 years ago. Okay. |
| 00:02:28 | LESLIE: So that could be the problem, the age factor. So now when you say you see frost and condensation, is that on the interior side, or are you sort of seeing it in between the two panes of glass? On the interior. Okay. So generally what’s happening is that the thermal seal, the gas that’s in between those two panes of glass that regulates that temperature difference, when you’re starting to see condensation or when you see freezing on the interior, that means that the gas that was in between those two panes isn’t there anymore. So you’re not getting that thermal space in there to block, that heat or the coolness transfer. And that can happen because there’s a seal within the windows that eventually will fail. It’s not guaranteed to fail, but a window that’s 25 years old, it’s a good chance that that’s no longer functioning for you. And I think at this point, that’s not something that’s really worth repairing, or you should look into a replacement window for that, which could be super affordable. You can find some great prices out there. And then you’ll be able to get one that’s truly thermal pane and help you with all of your cool transferring situations. |
| 00:03:28 | CALLER: Okay. So I may have to replace my windows, is what you’re saying, rather than try to repair them. |
| 00:03:36 | TOM: Well, that’s right. Once the window seal fails, it’s not repairable. Now, generally, it doesn’t result in a huge energy loss. It’s mostly inconvenient because, as you’ve learned, they’ll condense and fog. But if you wanted to go away, you have to replace the windows. It’s not repairable. Okay. |
| 00:03:55 | CALLER: But you’re saying it doesn’t necessarily reduce… It doesn’t reduce the insulation factor, huh? |
| 00:04:01 | TOM: It does to a certain extent. It’s certainly not as efficient as a new window. But are you going to get a return on investment by replacing that window that’s going to equal the amount of energy you saved? Probably not, or certainly not for a long time. Okay. |
| 00:04:14 | CALLER: That’s what I was wondering about that, too. Okay. That’s been very helpful. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, and I was wondering whether replacements would be the best option or not. |
| 00:04:25 | TOM: Well, now you know. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT. |
| 00:04:28 | LESLIE: We’ve got Anthony in New Jersey on the line, who’s got a question about a door project. What’s happening? How can we help? |
| 00:04:34 | CALLER: I live in a house that’s in really good shape. It’s only 30 years old. Okay. But, you know, we’re doing some renovations and all that. But I have this old sliding glass door that’s got the tempered panes in it, and I can still feel a draft and all that stuff coming through it. Even on a non-windy day, I can feel a cold radiating from that window. |
| 00:04:51 | CALLER: Oh, okay. |
| 00:04:52 | CALLER: And I was trying to talk my wife into buying either a double or a single French-style door to go here, because I think it would be a lot more efficient, but we’d still be able to enjoy the back patio without having all the draft from a split window, I guess you could say, a sliding glass door. |
| 00:05:08 | TOM: Well, I will tell you that a French door is a difficult door to maintain a seal on. Okay. Because it has the center mullion, and then, of course, you have the top and the bottom of the sides. I’ve seen a lot of French doors that have fallen out of whack over the years, so that’s not good. I mean, a sliding glass door is pretty straightforward. If you have an old door and maybe you don’t have good-quality insulated glass, I’d much rather see you just replace it. If you replace the sliding glass door, then replace it with a French door and be disappointed. That’s why I called in and asked. Is that the original sliding glass door on the house, Anthony? Yeah, it is. Yeah, it would have changed a lot over 30, 35 years. You know, I put in a Pella sliding glass door that I got from Lowe’s, and it was a stock door, too. It wasn’t terribly expensive, I remember it being, into a 1906 house about a year ago, and I’m happy with it. Now, mind you, when you’re standing near the door, the glass is old. It’s always going to be colder than the wall, but I’ll give you a little trick of the trade for that, and that is that if you have a curtain on that, you’ll find that you don’t feel that chilliness coming off the glass because what happens is it actually kind of separates the warm air from hitting the glass because if the glass is just raw, the warm air rises, it hits it, it condenses, and it falls. It cools and it falls, and that can feel like a draft. So even something as simple as putting a drape in front of a sliding glass door makes a difference in terms of comfort. |
| 00:06:26 | LESLIE: Oh, it’s hugely helpful. I mean, we have so much glass. I mean, I live in a very tiny house, but an old house, and there’s a lot of windows, so I have full walls that are sometimes, you know, three or four windows there, and I know that when it’s going to be a cold day coming up, like the day before I close those shades, like just in preparation for the cold. |
| 00:06:46 | CALLER: We have vertical blinds on them. We don’t have a curtain. It’s just a vertical blind. |
| 00:06:51 | LESLIE: Yeah, and that’s not really going to help you. But you could also do, like, a honeycomb shade, and, you know, even a honeycomb shade that pulls down on a sliding glass door gives you the same functionality, but it gives you that insulative factor that will definitely stop that wind. And you can find some, you know, not terribly expensive, and even if it’s just something you use seasonally and then swap back out or just mount them, you know, sort of under the vertical blinds. Like, there’s got to be a way you can have both in play. |
| 00:07:19 | CALLER: Good luck with that project. All right. Thank you very much, guys. Have a good day. |
| 00:07:23 | LESLIE: Hey, are you a fan of our podcast? Well, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and we’ll be doing a happy dance. Plus, it helps us keep the show going and growing. Just go to moneypit.com slash review. All right. It’s countertop talking time. We’ve got Diane from Illinois on the line. What is going on at your money pit? |
| 00:07:41 | CALLER: We’ve lived in this house for, my parents have, for, like, 65 years. Okay. And they have their original countertops that they put in, you know, about five years after they lived here. And I’ve been trying to redo the top and, like, cleaning it off. And sanding it down and putting spray on it. But nothing seems to fix it. |
| 00:08:05 | TOM: What kind of countertop is it? Formica. Okay. Laminate top. Okay. Yeah, you’d mentioned in your question that you wanted to get information on Deich Coatings. That is one of our sponsors. And they have some countertop products that I personally know pretty well because I’ve actually used them a number of times. You have options. They just released a new one called Marble Dream. And basically, these are high-quality finishes that have real stone in them. And so you follow the directions. You can do it in about a weekend to prepare the top. And then you apply what is essentially a base coat or a primer. And then you put a finish coat. And then there’s different techniques for getting the pattern you want. For example, I did one called Luxe Rock, which was made to replicate granite. And after putting the base coat on and the top coat, I sanded it lightly and it brought all these sort of glittery flakes out of the stone like real granite. And then I sealed it with a clear coat. And it’s funny because I had a friend of mine over. We were actually doing a photo shoot for a Trex deck that I had built. And she was the marketing director. And she says, what are you doing? I said, well, I’m building a countertop. I said, what do you think this is? She’s like, it looks like granite. It’s beautiful. I said, it’s not. It’s paint. She said, no way. And I had to turn it over. |
| 00:09:17 | LESLIE: You were just fishing for compliments with your fancy art. Yeah. |
| 00:09:22 | TOM: And that’s how good it looks. And all those products kind of work that way. And I just got… I got this week’s shipment of a Marble Dream countertop for another kitchen I’m working on. And the Marble Dream is pretty cool because they perfected the way to get streaks or veins, I guess it’s called, right, Leslie? |
| 00:09:37 | LESLIE: Yeah, the veining. And you can totally customize the way the veining looks. So truly based on how you like the look of marble, whether it’s heavily veined or more sort of loose and sweeping, there’s different ways that you can achieve that. And it truly is such a user-friendly kit. |
| 00:09:52 | TOM: I was reading some of the instructions that you can use a hairdryer to move the material around and get like a sort of like a circular waving kind of vein pattern or the streaky kind of vein pattern. So they give you all the tricks of the trade of it. |
| 00:10:05 | CALLER: Well, how well does it hold up? |
| 00:10:06 | TOM: Well, the top that I put on the second floor in this house has been in there for a couple of years now and it seems to be standing up really, really well. And you know what? If you need to refinish it, you just put another coat of urethane over it. |
| 00:10:18 | CALLER: Oh, okay. Is that what you do on the top is put urethane? |
| 00:10:21 | TOM: Yeah, you do. And it’s all in the kit. And I will say this. The materials are… It’s very high quality. I can always tell when I’m using a good quality paint product because of the way like the brush sort of like hugs it and drags across the surface. You can tell it really bonds very, very well. And that’s what makes these products work so well. Okay. |
| 00:10:40 | CALLER: And it has like a water splash. You know, it comes up. So it comes up the wall a little bit and down. And it’s like on one side of the kitchen, they have a small kitchen, and then on the other side. How far does the kit cover? |
| 00:10:53 | TOM: I think it covers 40 square feet. The website is daichcoatings, D-A-I-C-H, coatings.com. Check it out. Take a look at the pictures, lots of photos, the videos. It’s really quite attractive. Okay. |
| 00:11:05 | CALLER: Thank you very much. |
| 00:11:06 | TOM: Good luck with that project. |
| 00:11:08 | LESLIE: Well, one overlooked space where we spend a lot of time is the bathroom. And if you’re trying to give a small bathroom a makeover, you have got to make use of every inch. |
| 00:11:18 | TOM: That’s right. And if you’re going for a renovation, you really need to think about smart design to make the most of that very small, small space. |
| 00:11:26 | LESLIE: Now, the challenge of having a small bath is really that you’re going to need the same things in the small bathroom that you would need if you had a really big bathroom. But you need to know how to place them and what to use to make the bathroom look like it’s bigger than it actually is. Now, if it’s a full bath, you’re going to have a shower or a tub or, you know, a combo of the two there. And it’s going to have a sink and a toilet. And that’s really all you’ve got. You don’t have a lot of space, so you’ve got to make good use of it. |
| 00:11:52 | TOM: Now, when it comes to small space remodeling, it really starts at the door. So think about the swing of the door. What side is the hinges on? What side is the lock on? Do I even have room to swing the door? That’s something to learn early, not later, because it could be a problem. You know, I’ve seen cases where people have forgot about the door until the end, and it turns out the toilet’s in the way of the door. Not good. Now, if not, the other options might be a pocket door. A pocket door is sliding in and out of the wall cavity, so no swing is needed. Or you can use a barn-style door that slides along the outside wall, which can add a beautiful and kind of really modern or industrial kind of look to that space. |
| 00:12:29 | LESLIE: Now, next thing you should be thinking about is the mirror. Every space needs a mirror, and choosing the right one can actually make it feel bigger. The larger the mirror, the bigger the space could feel. Color is also important. Now, remember, lighter is always better, and that means the tile, if you’re going to use tile, the paint finishes, the shower door, all of those things should be light, should be bright, should help make that space feel bigger. And if you do have a glass, shower door that’s not clear, guess what? That’s a wall. |
| 00:12:59 | TOM: Now, with small baths, storage is always a big, big problem, but you can sort of cleverly sneak out those spaces that will get you all the storage you need. For example, you can use a hotel-style towel rack. I like these because unlike hotels, I put them up high on the wall. They kind of line the wall near the ceiling of my smaller bath, and they’re just high enough where I can reach up, my wife can reach up and grab a towel, but they don’t take up a lot of space. Or you can add a cabinet right above the toilet. There’s a lot of space that’s sort of vertically in line with the top of that toilet that could be useful for storing your necessities. The other thing you can do is put a recess mirror above the sink. In fact, any interior wall is a great place to find space for making a recessed or a hidden cabinet without impacting your home’s insulation because if it’s an inside wall, it’s not insulated. |
| 00:13:47 | LESLIE: Do you remember, Tom, when I had that small, small apartment a million years ago on 28th Street, and I had one of those very inexpensive, over-the-toilet cabinets, but, I mean, this was a bathroom that you could sit on the toilet, wash your hand in the sink, and put your foot in the shower. That’s how small it was. And I came home from work one day, and I tried to open the bathroom door, which opened in also to make matters worse, and it wasn’t budging, and I was like, who’s in there? Who’s in there? The cabinet had fallen over. I couldn’t open the door. I had to take the door off the hinges. I was like, this is a small bathroom, and that’s going to kill me. So, moral of the story, if you put one of those over-the-toilet cabinet things, make sure it’s mounted to the wall. Let’s just avoid problems Finally, guys, one of the absolute must-haves for your bathroom, really regardless of the size, is safety. So, think about adding a handlebar, a tile bar, a grab bar, that kind of thing. But even if you don’t actually need one right now, I mean, I broke my leg, and boy, one would have been super helpful in the shower during those months of recovery. But think about it. At every age, there’s… There’s a benefit to having one of these safety rails, and they’re designed very beautifully to look like, you know, not a hospital situation. So, if you add it now, the benefits are endless, and then when you actually need one, it’s there. David in Arkansas, you’ve got the money pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:15:09 | CALLER: I have a native stone-faced fireplace, I guess, with a cinder block core, and it’s thankfully on the outside of the house. However, the roofline… The roofline continues so that it covers our carport, and if it rains substantially, after a bit, it begins to get little ripples of water that drain on the outside of the stone, you know, into the carport. So, it’s a bit puzzling. We’ve tried to rephrase the flashing, you know, with just black tar and that sort of thing, but it still seems to leak a bit, you know, when there’s substantial rain. |
| 00:15:55 | TOM: So, I’m having trouble imagining the layout here, but is this a situation where you have water from the roof that’s running down towards the chimney? Yes. And does the chimney have a cricket? Do you know what a cricket is? It’s like sort of a peaked piece of flashing that diverts the water around it. |
| 00:16:10 | CALLER: It does have a flashing that runs around it. That’s correct. Okay. |
| 00:16:14 | TOM: Well, a cricket is not just the flashing. A chimney cricket is like a modification of the roof plane where it pitches upwards, so that the water doesn’t actually strike the back of the chimney. It goes around the chimney. |
| 00:16:28 | CALLER: Oh, no, no. It’s a consistent roof line sloping downward. |
| 00:16:32 | TOM: So, one thing that you could do is you could put a piece of flashing on the roof to intercept the runoff from the roof that’s heading towards the chimney and sort of divert it around it. And that kind of like sort of diverter move will reduce the volume of water that’s striking the chimney, and that can help minimize the problem. Now, in terms of the flashing repair itself, you mentioned tar. It’s probably the worst thing you could put on a chimney, and I know that folks do it all the time. But the right way to do it if you have a flashing leak is to replace the flashing. And flashing is always installed in two pieces. You have a base flashing that goes under the roof shingles and against the chimney, and you have a counter flashing that goes in the chimney mortar joints and then down on top of the base flashing. And it’s done that way so it can expand and contract with the movement because the chimney is going to move differently than the roof. The tar might give you a temporary seal, but eventually it’s just going to crack. So I would recommend you install a diverter, try to move some of the water around the chimney, and if it continues, do a better job repairing the flashing in the chimney because it shouldn’t happen. |
| 00:17:36 | CALLER: Okay, will do. I appreciate it so much. Enjoy your show. |
| 00:17:39 | TOM: Well, thank you so much. We appreciate your call, David. |
| 00:17:41 | LESLIE: Kimberly in Delaware is on the line with an interesting question. I’m reading your bath mats got melted to the floor. |
| 00:17:48 | CALLER: How did that happen? No, I clean houses for a living, and I want to clean. I clean a house, and the lady asked me if I can get it up, and she said it’s been there for two years. What? |
| 00:17:58 | TOM: Wow, stuck to the floor, huh? |
| 00:17:59 | CALLER: No, to the bath, inside the bathtub. Inside the bathtub. Inside the bathtub. |
| 00:18:04 | TOM: And you couldn’t get it up? You couldn’t pull it off? |
| 00:18:07 | CALLER: No, no, no. I tried. It’s stuck there. It’s like cement. |
| 00:18:11 | TOM: I’m thinking it might be glued in place and not melted. Did she buy the house with this bath mat? |
| 00:18:17 | CALLER: No, she’s had the house for 20 years, and they put it, and she put the bath mat there herself. And she said her husband just put it in there so they wouldn’t fall because they’re elderly people. And it’s been like that for two years, she said. |
| 00:18:29 | TOM: Well, I guess she would know herself if it was glued in place. I don’t necessarily have a good solution for you here. I mean, generally, if I find something that’s adhered and needs to be loosened up, I’ll use a product like WD-40. But I’m afraid to tell you to use that in the bathtub because I don’t want them to slip. But that tends to break any adhesive bond that is resulting. But it’s also lubricant. So, I mean, you could try very, very carefully under one corner of it, see if it loosens up. But you’ve got to rinse it thoroughly and scrub it thoroughly because otherwise you’ll leave a very slick surface there. I guess the other thing that you could try would be an adhesive, a citrus-based adhesive remover. There are orange-based products, citrus-based products that are used to remove adhesive. But I have a hard time believing that this was an adhesive that actually glued itself to it. And I don’t think it melted. I think there was some sort of maybe chemical reaction. Between the rubber mat and the bathtub that caused them to bond. Now, I will warn you that even if you get this up, it’s very possible that the surface of the tub could be damaged. And, you know, you may be having something else that you don’t like to look at there as a result. |
| 00:19:36 | CALLER: And that’s what I’m afraid of because I’m her house cleaner and I didn’t want to get blamed for, you know, the tub being messed up either. |
| 00:19:43 | TOM: Yeah, then I don’t think you should take… I don’t think it’s your responsibility. You know, I would say you tried, but it’s stuck in place and leave it at that. I agree with you. You don’t want to… Make the situation worse and get them upset and be potentially responsible for finding a solution to an impossible problem. |
| 00:20:00 | CALLER: Okay, well, thank you very much. |
| 00:20:01 | TOM: Yeah, you’re welcome, Kimberly. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT and have a great day. |
| 00:20:06 | LESLIE: Well, we can all agree that you can never have too much fresh air. That is unless you are an allergy sufferer and all of that air is loaded with pollen and dust and all of the things that make you feel miserable. Well, air cleaners and filters are supposed to remove those allergens. And make you breathe easier. But with all of the competing claims, it’s really hard to kind of sort out what’s what. |
| 00:20:28 | TOM: Yeah, well, to start, filters are definitely a sort of first line of defense in your heating and air conditioning system. They’re going to protect you, your lungs, and your heating and cooling equipment. And there’s four basic types. There’s what we call a spun filter. These are the least expensive. I call them rock stoppers. They’re usually blue, like fiberglass. They’re a dollar or two a piece. And they’re supposed to be replaced once a month. But they really don’t trap very much. A more efficient filter is a pleated filter. With pleated filters, they’re folded. And because they’re folded, that increases the surface area. And that makes them more efficient than the spun filters. Now, if you really want to step up filtration, you’re going to go for a pleated electrostatic filter, which combines the pleated media with a static charge that improves efficiency. Think of it like a magnet. If you have a negative side of a magnet and a positive side, they’re going to stick together. But if they’re the same, they’re going to get repelled. So they charge the different sides of the filter differently. And this way, all the dust particles just zap in there and stay. But with all of these, the thing you want to look for is what’s called the MERV rating. M-E-R-V. It stands for minimum efficiency reporting values. And if you’re an allergy sufferer, that value should be between 11 and 13. |
| 00:21:39 | LESLIE: Now, let’s talk more about those electronic air cleaners. These seem to have come a really long way in recent years. And they’ve become able to catch more and more, I mean, even microscopic sized particles. So, Tom, are they worth the investment? |
| 00:21:52 | TOM: I think so, especially if you have folks in your house that are sensitive to allergies and you just want to make sure that the air is as clean as it possibly can. I mean, the electronic filters essentially electronically pull out the tiniest of particles because, again, they’re magnetized. And this can include viruses and bacterias and draws them to a collector plate where they can’t really do any harm. And this is installed by an HVAC contractor. It’s on the return side of your furnace or air conditioning system. And it’s a very, very, very, pretty much works 24-7 to keep your air clean. |
| 00:22:24 | LESLIE: Yeah, since we’re talking about these air filters, I do have to ask you, I mean, I see so much about duct cleaning, how it’s so important and it can really make you feel sick. And we do get a lot of questions about ducts and should you clean them? Do you have to? Is it worth it? What’s your gut on this? |
| 00:22:39 | TOM: Well, it’s actually not my opinion. I’m going to give you the opinion of the EPA who says that they do not recommend that air ducts be cleaned. In fact, they further say that there’s never been a health benefit associated with cleaning your ducts. So generally what I tell folks is you don’t have to do it on a routine basis. If you’re in a circumstance where there’s been a big construction project that has left your house very, very dirty and dusty, you want to do it one time to get all the dust out of those ducts, that’s okay. But I just don’t think it’s worth it on a regular basis. And I think that unfortunately, a lot of the contractors kind of oversell it, making it sound like it’s something you absolutely have to do that’s going to have a huge health benefit. And I just don’t think the evidence has proven that out yet. So I’d say save your money on that. |
| 00:23:18 | LESLIE: All right. Now, once we figure out what this filter situation is, is installation key here of this filter? I mean, you got to do it right to make it work. |
| 00:23:27 | TOM: Even if it’s a spun filter or even if it’s a simple plated filter, it’s got to be the right size. And there’s going to be an arrow on the side of the filter that points toward the air direction. So basically you want to make sure that points to the furnace when you install it or toward the return duct. And this way it’ll work properly to scrub the air. |
| 00:23:44 | LESLIE: We’ve got Charlie in Tennessee joining us here at the Money Pit with a painting project. What’s happening? |
| 00:23:50 | CALLER: Well, I’ve got a patio. It’s old. My house was made back in the 1950s. And the concrete original, which it’s been painted several times. Well, the painting’s flaking off and then there’s concrete coming up too. So now my patio is pitted. I’m trying to figure out what would be the best way to cover up that pitting and smooth it back out and smooth it back out. And I’m trying to figure out And I’m trying to figure out how to repaint it. |
| 00:24:21 | TOM: Okay, let me walk you through the project. So first of all, you’re going to need to do a really good job of pressure washing that patio and getting up all of that loose paint because you can’t put anything over that loose paint. It’s just not going to allow whatever we put next to stick. So you’ve got to do a good job of that. You may have to get some wire brushes and get up there and scrape some of the stuff that’s a little bit, maybe flaking a little bit but not ready to come off. Do a good job with that. Then the second thing I want you to do is there’s a product called Recap. R-E-C-A-P. It’s made by Quikrete. It’s specifically designed to be able to layer over a deteriorated concrete surface like that. And you apply this stuff. It goes on pretty thin, you know, half, not half, it’s going to be a quarter inch, three-eighths of an inch. You trowel it on. You can put a broom finish on it if you want to have a little texture to it. And once it dries, it will not come up. You can’t use regular concrete because it just won’t last. And then the last thing you can do is paint that. Now, in terms of painting, if you do want to paint it, by the way, if you resurface it with the Recap, you don’t have to do that. You don’t have to. But if you do want to paint it, the only way I would paint it is I would use an epoxy painting system. So epoxy paints are two-part paints. You mix them together. They have really good binding capabilities to really stick to that old concrete. You can take a look at the product that I used was made by Deich Coatings, D-A-I-C-H Coatings.com. I used it on my basement floor. And man, I’ll tell you what, it really did a good job and stuck to the concrete there very, very well. So that’s what you have to do. You have to clean it. You have to resurface it. And then if you want to, you could paint it. DeichCoatings.com. They have a product. There’s a floor coating there that’s designed specifically for garages. And I think that would be a product that you could use. Or they actually have some other decorative products that people use, like around pool decks and stuff. There’s a whole bunch of floor products there. But the unique thing about those products is they’re all made with real stone. Okay. |
| 00:26:12 | CALLER: You guys are great. Thank you so much. |
| 00:26:15 | LESLIE: Well, you may have noticed that the homes that really stand out are the ones that have a little extra space or something at the end of their driveway. And I’m talking about a driveway marker. |
| 00:26:24 | TOM: That’s right. And there’s an aesthetic reason, of course. They just look nice. They kind of set off your home from the street. And they set a tone that’s just sort of a notch above. But they can also help identify your house for everyone, from delivery people to, more importantly, first responders like fire, police, and EMTs. |
| 00:26:40 | LESLIE: Now, why should you be installing these? Because, think about it, in a rural area, a mailbox truly is the only thing that identifies your house from the main road. So adding a marker really helps people find your home. And there’s a lot of types of driveway markers. They can be made from stone, brick, wood, metal fencing pieces, you name it. The one you choose is completely up to you. But you should be taking your home style into consideration. If you live in a modest colonial style, you’re probably not going to put in giant columns on either side of your driveway. So definitely look for architectural details that match your house itself. |
| 00:27:16 | TOM: You know, there’s really four things to consider the way I look at this. There’s the size. The material. Think about adding reflectors and the installation because you want to make sure your markers, no matter what material you choose, aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. And in terms of the material, I go for durability. So I’m all in for like doing brick because I know it’s going to last for the ages. |
| 00:27:38 | LESLIE: And of course, one of the most common types out there is a white picket fence style. You see these a lot. It’s just two simple corners on either side of the driveway. It really dresses it up. And best, you can use stock fencing pieces for this. So it definitely keeps the cost down and it’s definitely a DIY project. Absolutely. |
| 00:27:56 | TOM: You can do it yourself. |
| 00:27:58 | LESLIE: Susan in Texas, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:28:01 | CALLER: OK, my house is approximately 100 years old and it’s pretty much been redone. But I was taking some sheetrock off one of the walls in one of the rooms. And I know that all my walls behind the sheetrock on the walls and ceiling are one by sixes, very close together. And so I was thinking about, about taking the sheetrock off. I guess staining or doing something with the one by sixes. But I want to know how you seal the cracks, you know, where the one by sixes join each other. They’re small cracks. |
| 00:28:29 | TOM: So the one by sixes, are they on top of like plaster or something like that? It sounds like there are furring strips that were put in place to hold the sheetrock. Is that correct? |
| 00:28:37 | CALLER: No, behind the sheetrock, the one by sixes and then on top of that one by sixes is old timey wallpaper. |
| 00:28:44 | TOM: Oh, OK. So this is the original walls of the house. All right. Interesting. Yeah. So you wouldn’t seal the cracks. You would basically celebrate the cracks. You’re not going to hide them. So what would you like to do with the one by? You want to paint it or stain it or what? I want to stay. I want natural wood. OK, so you’ve got a big sanding project in front of you, but you can do it. You know, you’re going to have to use a pretty coarse sandpaper to cut through whatever’s there. You’re going to have to sand them down and then you can seal that wood and you can stain it and you can put a varnish on it or urethane on it. I wouldn’t use anything with much of a sheen to it. I’d probably use flat or semi-gloss. You can stain it, but then you can use a flat polyurethane and it has no sheen to it. |
| 00:29:25 | LESLIE: OK, well, thank you. Dave from Illinois wrote in to Team Money Pit and get this. He wants to convert a basketball court to a shop. Interesting. OK. Here he says, this spring I’m building a new workshop 20 by 40 with eight foot ceilings, drywalled and insulated. I have an unused basketball court that size, which would be perfect as a floor. I get it. All right. It’s not like his driveway court. It’s not like the court that he and the kids play on. He’s like, yeah, I’m going to turn it into this. So I see where we’re going here. Now he says, it’s four and a half inches thick, reinforced concrete in great shape. Would it be a strong enough support to hold the weight of the shop or is it better to build a post frame building around it? Aha. |
| 00:30:07 | TOM: OK. Yeah. So look, this, we get a question like this a lot and it’s not, this is the first time we’ve got it about a basketball court, but very often someone will say, I have a patio that goes off the back of my house and now I want to convert that into living space. Can I just put walls up on a roof? And unfortunately, then the answer is no, you can’t do that because foundations are thick for a reason because they stand up the frost heave and you can’t just rely on four and a half inches not to move. It’s going to move. The ground’s going to swell. It’s going to push that, that floor up and down and push the walls up and down with it. So because you don’t have a foundation there underneath that slab, it essentially is like a big patio. You can’t, you can’t just start building on top of it. But I do like your idea of going around it and using it as the floor of the building. That’s smart. Now, post and beam basically means you’re going to be building columns and beams right outside the edge of that patio and that’s going to have its own support system that will go right down to the frost level. So I think that will work fine, but you can’t just start on top of that slab even though it’d probably be easier and less work. But you’re going to be sad if you go through all this work and it turns out that the floor starts to crack and things start to shift and you just won’t be happy. So go with the post and beam. That’s definitely a great idea. |
| 00:31:25 | LESLIE: All right. Now we’ve got one here from Peggy who wants to paint her dark cherry kitchen cabinets white. Have you ever known anyone who’s regretted painting their cherry cabinets? How would I proceed and what products would you use? I don’t have cherry cabinets, but they were oak with a heavy, heavy, heavy grain and like that reddish tone and I hated their guts and I don’t regret for a second that I painted them white. It just definitely, because the oak had such a heavy grain, we had to fill in the grain a little bit, really sand it, spray the paint on. I don’t know what the difference would be with a cherry cabinet, but what do you think, Tom? |
| 00:32:05 | TOM: I, you know, the fact that it’s a cherry cabinet is kind of immaterial. You still have to prep the surface properly, right? So you have to light sand it. One of the things I would recommend is a product called a deglosser, also known as liquid sandpaper because it, helps to take that shiny, smooth finish that’s left even after you sanded and gives it a little bit of a tact so that the primer coat sticks really, really well to it. You’re going to use a good quality primer and I would make sure, of course, I’m using a white primer because that’s the color that you want when you’re done and then you use a good quality top coat and I think if you do that, there’s no reason you can’t turn those dark cherry cabinets into a beautiful white cabinet kitchen. I would also pay attention to the sheen. I’m thinking like satin or semi-gloss, right, Leslie? You certainly don’t want anything shinier than that. |
| 00:32:53 | LESLIE: No, and I think you don’t want anything less either because it’s more difficult to clean, but I do love a semi-gloss for a cabinet over the satin. |
| 00:33:01 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey guys, thanks so much for spending a little bit of your time this weekend with us. We hope that we’ve shared a tip or two that’s helpful in your plans for your home. If you’ve got questions about projects that you are tackling now or you want to tackle, reach out to us 24/7 at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Until then, I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:33:24 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:33:26 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:33:27 | LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. |
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