#2392 – Rest Easy: Buying the Right Mattress | Tips for Weed Warfare | DIY Drywall Repairs That Last

Show Notes

Sleep soundly after listening to tips on buying the right mattress at the best price, banishing weeds from your garden, and tackling drywall repairs like a pro. Whether you’re a DIY expert or a novice, you’ll want to hear answers to these and more of our callers’ home improvement questions on this episode!

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Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript

Buying a Mattress: Rest easy with tips on how to buy the right mattress and when to get the best deals.
Weed Control: Spring is the season for weed warfare, so find out how to eliminate dandelions and other green invaders.
Drywall Repairs: Keep cracks, holes, and nail pops from returning with the right DIY drywall repairs.

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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00:00:23	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.
00:00:29	And we love to talk about home improvement, home maintenance, home renovation, home decorating. If you’ve got a project you’d like to take on, we’d love for you to reach out to us and we will take it on together. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or you can post your questions to moneypit.com slash ask. Coming up on today’s show, could you use a better night’s sleep? Well, it turns out that March is the best month. To buy a mattress with discounts of up to 50%. But there are so many options, we’re going to take some time to offer some tips on what you should be looking for.
00:01:07	LESLIE: First, jump on all the beds and roll around on them. I really feel like you have to test everything out. Those were the old days.
00:01:13	TOM: That was like the way pre-pandemic days. And now these companies will ship the mattresses to you and let you keep them for like 90 days. And if you don’t like it, they’ll tell you to throw it away or tell you to donate it and they’ll just give you your money back. So it’s become super competitive. But it’s great for the consumer.
00:01:30	LESLIE: I know. But yet you still see those commercials of that lady jumping onto the mattress. And they’re like, try out this such and such. And you’re like, yes, but it’s not that way. Also ahead, everybody, spring is going to be here before you know it. And if you’re looking forward to a lush green lawn, you better get dandelions under control before they happen. So we’re going to share some tips on how to tackle those weeds for the entire season.
00:01:53	TOM: And as you look around your home, are you seeing some cracks, some holes, some nail pops? In the walls that sort of take away from your otherwise well-maintained space? Well, we’re going to share with you some tips on how to fix them yourself and how to fix them once so they don’t come back again. It’s one of those sort of groundhog projects that just comes back again and again and again. But we’re going to show you how to do it once and be done with it.
00:02:15	LESLIE: All right. But first, guys, we want to help you create your best home ever. So whether you are doing the job yourself or you’re hiring a pro or even you’re just starting these projects out, we are ready to help you get those jobs done right. Right.
00:02:28	TOM: So your first job is to reach out to us with your questions. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or post your questions to moneypit.com slash ask. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:43	LESLIE: Marlon, Louisiana, is on the line and has a question about a porch.
00:02:47	CALLER: What’s going I have an old house built in 1910. It has about 22 columns on the porches, two stories. And my… My question is, if I want to take in part of my porch downstairs and screen it in or just take it in and make a sunroom, how can I do that with those huge columns in the way? Because they are not a perfect shape and they’re round and they have the big Corinthian beautiful caps on top. So how would I do that? Would I have to take… Would I have to take the columns off and just box in the porch?
00:03:31	TOM: Marlon, that is a… That is a huge project. I mean, Leslie, if she says she has 22 columns on that house now, I mean, columns like that, they’re not designed to be boxed in. Plus, I’m sure those columns are probably holding up a good portion of the roof. So to even disassemble and move them, you would need to support what’s behind it. And if you were to kind of square them off, I think it would ruin the architectural view of the house right now. So I think the best thing for you to do is to talk with an architect and have them redesign the front of the house to get closer to what you want to do. This style does not lend itself to modification. I think it would be kind of odd to have a screened-in porch sort of shoved into a space that is covered by all those columns. What do you think, Leslie?
00:04:19	LESLIE: I mean, the columns definitely are part of what makes that house the architectural style. So by changing that, you’re definitely modifying the look of the house. And what else do you have to do to sort of accommodate that new look so it doesn’t seem like a mishmash of styles? So I think there’s a lot to be done there. It’s just a matter of sticking with an architectural style you like and making sure that’s consistent. And to do so, you definitely need an architect to help you along the way.
00:04:48	TOM: Yeah, this is not an easy porch to enclose because you’re completely changing the style of the house. So I think that’s the best place for you to start.
00:04:55	LESLIE: We’ve got Louis from Pennsylvania on the line. He was looking to replace a relic. What’s going on?
00:05:00	CALLER: I was wondering about who makes the best reliable pilot-lighted gas water heater. I’d like to buy one of those. We had one years ago that was very good. It was a stainless steel with a stone lining. It lasted like 45 years or so, and I’d like to find something that would last a long time.
00:05:17	TOM: Wow, 45 years. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a water heater that lasts 45 years, and I don’t think you’re going to find another one.
00:05:23	LESLIE: Maybe you shouldn’t have it last 46 years. Exactly.
00:05:26	TOM: You mentioned a pilot-light. I mean, frankly, what you should be looking for today is a more efficient water heater that probably is going to have electric ignition. You don’t necessarily need a pilot-light anymore, and you’re better off with electronic ignition because what’s going to happen is that’s going to heat up and light the burner when it needs to. With a standing pilot-light, all this is going to get dirty and have to be clean and require more service. So if you want to use a tank water heater, a tank water heater, I would look at the Rheem water heaters. Had very good success with those. You know, in the 20 years I spent as a home inspector, I got a sense as to which ones lasted and which ones didn’t. And also, Rheem has a technology now that prevents leakage if the water heater was ever to fail. It actually shuts the supply valve down automatically. The other thing you should definitely be looking at is a tankless water heater. We put one in our house about almost a year ago now. And I’ve just been super happy with it. Constant supply of hot water, never run out. Ours is a combi, which means it does the house heating through the radiators and the domestic as well. But if you have a hot air system, you could just use a tankless water heater. And you’ll find that those units are probably going to go a good 20 years, I think. So I think those are your two options for upgrading that old relic of a water heater that you got now.
00:06:49	LESLIE: And, you know, be so thankful that there hasn’t been any issues all this time. Yeah.
00:06:53	TOM: 45 years. I don’t think that machine owes them a cent.
00:06:58	LESLIE: Hey there. We hope you’re 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.
00:07:07	TOM: Absolutely. Just go to moneypit.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.
00:07:18	LESLIE: Now we’ve got Sarah on the line who’s got a question about a structural issue at home. What’s going on?
00:07:24	CALLER: My husband and I are thinking about digging out some of our crawl space. So right now it’s really shallow. It’s more like a belly crawl space. And we’re thinking about digging it down three or four feet. We have about 12 feet from the foundation wall to the center support wall. And there are no other supports that are in there at this time. So we’re thinking about cutting into that center four feet and digging down about four or five feet just so that working on items would be a little bit easier and getting around under the house would be a little simpler. But is there anything that we should be aware of or is this something we should even attempt? I don’t know. We just wanted your opinion.
00:07:59	TOM: Hey, Sarah, you know, digging out that crawl space like you’re suggesting would be a really bad move. And here’s why. You can’t just take that dirt away because the foundation is supported by that dirt right to the side of it. Right. And that center wall going down the crawl space that the foundation under those beams is being supported by the soil that’s there. And if you take a big chunk of soil out from the middle of that, you could get some shifting where the dirt will sort. Fill that in, especially if you had like weather or a leak or something of that nature, and it can actually undermine that foundation for the crawl space. Typically, if you have a house that’s on a crawl space and you want to dig out a basement, you essentially have to create retaining walls inside of that perimeter. And that’s called in the business a Yankee basement. I don’t know why they call it a Yankee basement. It was really popular up in New England at one point. But typically, there will be an additional foundation wall that’s built there. For the sole purpose of holding that soil in place because of that outside soil that’s under that original crawl space depletes, you’re going to have nothing holding up the house. And then you could get a major shift and a big structural problem. So don’t do it. You want to scrape out a little bit of that soil so you can kind of wiggle in there to make a repair? Fine. But a really bad idea, it would be to take out four feet or four or five feet deep of that all the way.
00:09:16	LESLIE: Heading over to Illinois where we’ve got Keith on the line who wants to chat about the Money Pit. What’s going on at your house?
00:09:22	CALLER: I’m calling about what issues I must understand when I turn the water back on to a house in which the water has been turned off for a little over a year. Okay. And I’m assuming there might be some leakage due to washers not being moistened or whatever. But I don’t know. So I’m asking for your insight. Any instructions?
00:09:52	TOM: So that’s a good question. And as a home inspector for over 20 years, I’ve seen a lot of things happen when it comes to reengaging the water supply in a house. So here’s what I would suggest. First of all, it would be very helpful if you had a couple of people to help you with this. But what you want to do is turn the water. First of all, make sure all of the faucets are turned off in the house. And then turn the water on. And the first thing you should hear is really the water sort of recharge the pipes and fill up. And it shouldn’t continue to run and run and run if all the faucets are off. It’s going to run a little bit because the toilets are going to fill. But it should pretty much fill pretty quickly. Once that water is on, then you go fixture by fixture and you run those faucets and you flush the toilets. And you look under cabinets to see if there’s leakage from the drains and that sort of thing. And if you work it carefully and systematically across the whole house, you should figure this out pretty quickly whether or not you’ve got any serious leaks going on. Okay. If the water was drained when it was turned off, then you should not have any issues with pipes that froze and broke. But that’s always an issue. But other than that, you should be able to turn it back on reliably and have it work. Yeah, you may have some faucets to fix or washers to fix or toilet flush or fill valves to change. But you just want to do it systematically. Turn every fixture off in the house. Then open up the main and start looking, start listening, and start watching and see if you have any leaks. If anything’s serious, you turn it back off. And then take it from there, call a plumber. All right, Keith, good luck with that project. Thanks for calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit.
00:11:29	LESLIE: Well, every month of the year has some kind of sale going on. But it turns out that March is the best month for you to go out and buy a new mattress. You can find discounts up to 50%. And let me tell you, if you haven’t shopped for a mattress in a while, they are expensive. Like, when the heck did that happen? So here’s what you should be looking for to get a good night’s sleep.
00:11:49	TOM: Now, according to Good Housekeeping, three common types of mattresses. First, you have the inner spring, the foam, and then the adjustable. Now, there’s no one sort of right material to choose. But in general, if you’re a side sleeper, you need a softer mattress. If you sleep on your stomach, you need a firm one. And back sleepers fall somewhere in between.
00:12:08	LESLIE: Now, beyond the types of mattresses and firmness, you’re going to need to think about a few other factors based on your needs. So, for example, if you prefer a firmer base, memory foam options have less spring, and they’re going to offer you more pressure. Now, to determine the quality, you need to look at the density and the thickness of the foam, which is going to determine how deep you’ll sink into that mattress. Now, if you happen to sleep on your side, you’re going to want a surface that’s going to support your body weight, but also conform to your shape. And for that, inner springs may have more pressure relief than some foam or latex mattresses. But a soft foam mattress or one with built-in pressure relief points around the shoulders and the hips, those work really well for side sleepers too. So, you kind of have to think about, like, how do I sleep? Where do I need support? And then look at those solutions.
00:12:57	TOM: Now, if you can’t decide what matters most, some savvy manufacturers actually make what they call a hybrid-style mattress, and that combines the buoyancy of an inner spring core with a motion isolation of memory foam. It’s kind of a best-of-both-worlds option that can satisfy many partner disputes and sleeping styles. Because that’s where I would fall on this. Like, what if you and your partner have different sleeping styles? One’s a stomach. One’s a stomach sleeper. One’s a side sleeper and so on and so forth. Sounds like the hybrid might be the hot ticket.
00:13:26	LESLIE: All right. Now, we’re going to head to New Orleans where we’ve got Brennan on the line who’s dealing with a structural image or two at his brand-new home. Well, new home for him. First-time homeowner. What’s going on?
00:13:37	CALLER: So, it’s a raised house, kind of typical New Orleans construction. Solid concrete piers. And we bought the house knowing that there was a noticeable sag in the middle. The home inspections, you know, didn’t say that it was any other really untoward problems. And it was kind of factored in with the cost. I’ve had a shoring company with a lot of experience in New Orleans come and basically shim it with cement planks and cement blocks. And they really brought up the middle about three inches. Got it pretty level. The question I had was they recommended getting a lot of sand underneath the house. To prevent further erosion. You can see in the middle they had a plumbing issue years, years back that led to a big washout out the center, which caused the main sag. To drop, yeah. So, now I’m wondering, yeah, a big drop. Now I’m wondering, should I get buckets and loads and loads of sand under there? Is there issues or reasons why that would be a problem or not?
00:14:46	TOM: I don’t understand why they’re recommending that. Your problem is not erosion. Your problem is settlement of the footing holding up that center pier. And, yes, if you had a major leak there, that would weaken the soil under the pier and it can make the building move. It’s encouraging that they were able to restore this home to level and that, to the best of your knowledge, has it sunken any further since then or has it remained pretty much where they left it?
00:15:10	CALLER: It’s pretty much where they left it. You know, it’s only been a few weeks. So, you know, I’m kind of just waiting and seeing. Right. But they, you know, I feel like they’re pretty, pretty reputable. I’ve gotten a lot of other companies to basically say the same thing, that the piers were strong. They didn’t need to be replaced, just sort of reshifted. And you can look at them and see, obviously, that they had moved. Right. And I had questioned with the sand or the dirt how to prevent it from moving in the future.
00:15:40	TOM: I mean, the best way to prevent it from moving in the future is to make sure it, water’s the enemy here. You get a lot of water in there, you know, that’s what’s going to weaken the soil. It’s just like this. I mean, if you think about it, if you’re walking across a dirt field and it’s a dry, sunny day, you may get some dust, but you don’t sink into the dirt, right? But if it gets a really good rainstorm, you sink in. What’s the difference? Wet dirt doesn’t hold your weight like dry dirt does. Same thing with a house. If it gets wet under that footing, it’s going to shift. And if you had a major plumbing issue that forced a lot of water in there, that would make perfect sense. It would disturb the soil. And then over the next several years, it probably moved. And sagged like that. I don’t understand though, why are they recommending the sand? The only other thing that you might do in a crawl space is you may put, you may put plastic sheeting over it. And the reason you do that across the soil floor or the sand floor that’s there, the only reason you do that is to reduce the amount of moisture that will evaporate up from the ground and potentially get into your insulation, which makes the insulation a little more efficient. But in terms of adding more sand, I don’t see what the reason is. Yeah.
00:16:48	CALLER: I think more, if anything, you know, we get a lot of rain here. Sometimes we get very heavy rain and I’m going to wait and see if it does look like it’s washing out maybe, but I would be more interested. It doesn’t have gutters. This is a house in the fifties, gutters. I thought it might be better to keep gutters.
00:17:04	TOM: Now that’s a good investment. That’s a good investment. If you don’t have gutters, you know, all these problems are water management problems, you know, and then, and by managing that water and getting away from the house. So yeah, definitely put in gutters on. All sides of the house and make sure that the downspouts, most gutter companies will drop those out about six inches or a foot. Make sure they’re extended out a good three or four feet. So you’re moving that water away from the foundation. The less water that collects around the outside like that, the better off you’re going to be. It’s going to protect the foundation from shifting. It’ll have less moisture and humidity inside that will get into the insulation. Great.
00:17:37	CALLER: That’s a reassuring nod to what I thought might be a good, better idea than sand.
00:17:43	TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. That’s very exciting. Your first house and call us anytime you have a question. Okay.
00:17:48	CALLER: Thank you very much.
00:17:50	LESLIE: Now we’ve got Rosalie on the line who’s looking for ways to make her home more accessible. Tell us about it.
00:17:56	CALLER: I’m looking to install an elevator in a two-story house.
00:18:00	TOM: You know, that’s actually becoming very common, installing elevators in houses. It used to be something that was thought of as impossible, but now with advanced technology, it’s entirely possible. It takes the same space as say a small coat closet. It operates, you know, you’re not going to have five people in it. It operates designed for a single person or maybe a person and an aide. I would make sure it’s big enough for a wheelchair because that could happen in your future. And you just got to block out the space for it. So the first question is, where do you want to put it? And, you know, do you have access to this first floor of the elevator without having to go up? Basically the landing of the elevator without having to go up any steps or make sure there’s a ramp there. And then you need to carve out the space for it for the two stories or whatever, however number of stories you’re going to have for this. And it can be installed. I actually helped my cousin who had an elevator put in his house. He was impacted by a very severe hurricane in the northeast and lost a good part of his house. And when he rebuilt, he planned in an elevator space. And the only issue we had was that it was basically accessible from ground level. And there was a small pit underneath of it for, you know, some of the controls and I guess the springs or the motors or whatever. And that pit used to fill with water. It was something that he hadn’t thought about. But being on the shore, I guess that was something he probably should have, or at least his architect should have told him. So we designed a pump and helped him install a pump and found one that fit perfectly underneath the elevator to keep that pit dry. But I’m telling you, it’s a tried and true technology today. There’s no reason you can’t do it.
00:19:38	LESLIE: All right. I hope that helps you out and gets you around the house a little bit easier. Spring is going to be here before you know it. And we all love a lush green lawn. But sometimes what’s green isn’t exactly grass, nor is it very lush. In fact, those weeds can destroy a lawn and remove any chance of turning your backyard into a perfect putting spot.
00:19:58	TOM: Yeah, that’s right. But when you consider that just one dandelion plant, one plant can make up to 15,000 weed seeds, it’s a wonder that any of us can win the battle against these green invaders. So to help, we’re going to share a few tips on how to rid both our lives and our lawns from weeds. And the first one is to know that the best. The best way to control dandelions and other weeds in your yard is to grow a thick and vigorous lawn. Dense grass crowds out the weeds and also blocks the sunlight that their seeds need to germinate. However, it’s not always the easiest thing to do because lawn weeds fall under three broad categories. Unwanted grasses, grass-like plants that are called sedges, and broadleaf plants. And to get rid of them, you need to identify the type of weed and then target the specific type.
00:20:43	LESLIE: All right. So what exactly is the best solution? Well, no single herbicide or weeding technique or lawn care tactic is going to work against every single type of weed. And how you attack the weeds in your lawn really depends on what you have. Now, if you’re looking for some non-pesticide options, a weed barrier is definitely a better solution. Another option is to get a covering on the ground that’s going to compete with the weeds. And a thicker grass is going to crowd out those weeds because it’s going to block the sunlight. So you kind of have to think creatively about how you attack these weeds when you don’t want to go with pests.
00:21:18	TOM: Well, you’ve got a little time right now to do your research and think through it. But what we’re saying is that you’ve got to do it soon because if you don’t get ahead of this before spring really starts to set in, you’re going to be dealing with these dandelions for the whole season.
00:21:32	LESLIE: We’ve got Larry on the line who’s giving us a call back. We’re continuing some help on a project. What’s going on?
00:21:37	CALLER: I called you a while back about a brand-new house with major problems. Well, I took your advice, and I actually had hired an electrician and a contractor, a plumbing contractor. Then I got a home inspection, and all three agreed on the same things. Now we’re going to court.
00:21:53	TOM: Oh, that’s too bad. So this is a brand-new house?
00:21:55	CALLER: Yeah, we’ve been in it four months.
00:21:57	TOM: it was built from scratch, huh?
00:22:00	CALLER: Yeah, it was built from scratch. And just, you know, we had to repaint the house top to bottom. That was the biggest thing. And there was just a lot of stuff. You know, the furnace wasn’t put in right. We’ve just fixed that. We’ve got a lot of stuff, a lot of small stuff. But I’m getting too busy. Too much pushback from the contractor. So I had to go the other direction.
00:22:20	TOM: Wow, that’s terrible. Boy, a brand-new house like that, everything should be perfect, right? By the way, did you happen to talk to the local building officials about all these problems? Because, you know, a lot of the stuff that you’re talking about may not have been in code.
00:22:33	CALLER: The thing where I live in Vermont, there really isn’t a lot of inspections. Like, hardly at all. You had mentioned a warranty. We didn’t have a warranty on the house. There was nothing ever mentioned. And I actually went to the bank. And, you know, the way of the mortgage, so when the bank said, well, there’s nothing we can do about it.
00:22:51	TOM: Right. No, they can’t. Nope. Exactly. Well, I’m sorry to hear about that, Larry. And I’m glad we’re able to give you some tips to get you moving in the right direction. You know, you’re just going to have to resign yourself to the fact that it’s going to be a long process. But hopefully, you’ll get some satisfaction out of it. And I’m glad that you got to the bottom of it by bringing in the right professionals.
00:23:10	CALLER: Yeah, I did use one of your products, though, and it works great.
00:23:12	TOM: Oh, yeah? Which one was that?
00:23:13	CALLER: Well, I put it in my, you know, we have a mailbox. And I use that foam. You dig the hole and pour the foam in.
00:23:18	TOM: You’re talking about Quickrete? Yeah. Yeah, Quickrete in the red bag? Yeah, you pour it in dry and then you water the hole? Yep.
00:23:23	CALLER: It works great.
00:23:24	TOM: I know, right?
00:23:25	CALLER: Yeah, everybody thought I was crazy. I said, no, it works great.
00:23:29	TOM: That’s a good trick. If you want to set a fence post or you want to set a basketball pole or anything like that, you can just dig the hole, brace it in place, pour the dry concrete around it, the Quickrete mix in the red bag, and then literally water the hole and walk away. And a few hours later, it’s rock solid.
00:23:45	CALLER: But, no, I just want to thank you. You’re for helping me point me in the right. Because I had to look to find a certified inspector around here, you know. Yep. So I just want to say thanks.
00:23:54	TOM: Well, you’re welcome, Larry. And good luck and keep us posted. Yep. Bye-bye.
00:23:58	LESLIE: Now we’re taking a call from Luann who’s dealing with a flooring issue. What’s going on?
00:24:03	CALLER: Well, I had a hallway carpet when I moved here, but my cat got sick.
00:24:09	LESLIE: Uh-oh.
00:24:10	CALLER: And he started peeing, yeah, all over the carpet. Okay. So I removed the carpet.
00:24:16	CALLER: Mm-hmm.
00:24:16	CALLER: I washed the plywood floor, and then I painted it with Kills. Okay. Which is supposed to kill the smell. Yep. Okay? Mm-hmm. Now my dog goes pee in one spot every night. And I’m going to have someone come in next week. They’re putting down the, you know, that plastic or whatever they put underneath, and I’m getting hardwood.
00:24:43	TOM: Okay. So you’re kind of a glutton for punishment here. You keep improving the floors, and the pets keep ruining them on you. Here’s what I would do. I would take up the old floor, and I would prime the subfloor again, just because this is the time to do that. Okay. You did it right the first time. I just think you should do it again, because this way, if there’s anything left over from the pets, this will help to seal it in. And it won’t be nearly as bad as if you didn’t do it. So before that new floor goes down, I think it’s a smart idea to prime the old floor again. I would use, Kills was a fine product. I would, if you had a choice, I would use the oil-based or the solvent-based version of that, because it comes latex, and it comes solvent-based. The solvent-based is a little tougher and gives you a better seal than the water-based.
00:25:31	CALLER: Well, to be honest, it was the oil-based. I didn’t know it. Well, you made the right decision. And it was winter, and I’m putting it on.
00:25:39	TOM: Yeah, that’s a good idea. Yeah, if you have a problem with a pet like that, that is to prime that surface, because it does get saturated, and it’s the best way to seal it in permanently. So good luck with that project, Luann. And maybe we need to do a little work training the pets, right?
00:25:52	CALLER: Well, thank you two so very much.
00:25:55	TOM: You’re welcome. Well, drywall repairs are one of the most common types of home maintenance chores that we have to take on. But if you don’t do them properly, you’re going to end up doing them again and again and again. So we’re going to share a few tips on how to get them done right.
00:26:11	LESLIE: Now, the three most common types of repairs needed are nail pops, holes, and cracks. And DIYers that take on these projects often find themselves doing them over and over and over again because the cracks or the holes keep coming back. Pros get them right the first time because they utilize some very key tricks. Now, first, let’s talk about those nail pops. These result from a nail that has loosened and then started to back out of the drywall. But tapping back in that nail isn’t going to be enough to prevent erosion. Repeat. Instead, pros are going to add an additional fastener on top of the loose one that’s going to secure that first loose one in place and then spackle and sand to make the entire repair virtually invisible.
00:26:52	TOM: Yeah, you just overlap the heads of the nails and you’re good to go. Now, repairing a wall or a ceiling crack is definitely another tricky job. The best way to fix a wall or ceiling crack is to use a strong perforated drywall tape. This type has like large squares and almost looks like netting. What you want to do is apply the tape. First, bridge the gap across the crack. And then you’re going to apply some spackle over that tape in multiple thin coats so it can be sanded, primed, and repainted. And I tell you, if you use too much of the spackle, you’re much better off sanding in between those coats. Don’t put too much on. We’re all tempted to. But then it just makes a big stinking mess. So several thin coats, maybe two or three thin coats is all you should need.
00:27:34	LESLIE: Now, filling a hole in drywall, that for sure is a bigger job. For that, you’re going to need scrap of drywall. A leftover piece of window screen, some joint compound, and a few common tools that you probably already have. And the best way to patch a large hole is to cut the hole to fit the patch and not the other way around, even if sometimes that means you have to make that hole bigger.
00:27:56	TOM: Now, for smaller holes, here’s another trick. You can use a piece of window screening, and you can lay that right over the hole and then sort of spackle it in place. In either case, you’ll apply, once again, two or three thin coats of spackle. And once it’s all dry, then you can prime it, and paint it. Don’t skip the priming step, or you will definitely see the repair through the finished paint. So do it right, do it once, and you definitely won’t have to do it again.
00:28:20	LESLIE: Fred in Missouri is online, and he’s got a question about a door. What’s going on at your money pit?
00:28:24	CALLER: I call it a fake French door. It’s got the two panes of glass in it, but only one side opens. Okay. I’ve got some wood in there that’s kind of a huge, or looks little slivers of it, and they’re starting to pull out and bow out. If that’s something that’s easier to repairable, or to be better off, just go ahead and just replace the door with something newer, probably more with a PVC shell or aluminum shell.
00:28:47	TOM: So are you saying that the door’s starting to decay? You’re getting some rotted areas?
	CALLER: Yeah, it’s down where the center is, where the door hinge is at, on the outside. It looks like they put it together in small pieces, and just cut them in finger grooves in them, and then fitted them together.
00:29:05	TOM: Oh, yes, finger joint, yes.
00:29:08	CALLER: Yeah, and they’re starting to come apart and come out.
	TOM: So actually, you don’t have to replace that door. It is completely repairable. There are two products that will come in very handy. They’re made by Abatron, A-B-A-T-R-O-N. The website is abatron.com. The first one’s called Liquid Wood, and it’s a deep-penetrating wood consolidant that basically regenerates the structure of that wood and makes it very, very sturdy, especially if it’s rotted or dried out. And then if you’ve actually lost wood in there, and because it is so decayed, it’s sort of fallen away, then there’s a product called Wood Epochs, and that’s really interesting stuff because it’s two parts. You mix it together, and it hardens, and then you can work it like regular wood, which means you could stain it or you could paint it. So I think you could avoid a very expensive replacement of that entire door just by repairing it with those products from Abatron.
00:29:58	CALLER: Okay. Well, I’ll look it up and check them out. All right. Good luck with that project. Yep. Thank you. You guys take care.
00:30:06	LESLIE: Liz wrote in to Team Money Pit and says, My walls are stuccoed. With some sort of joint compound to give them a texture and hide those imperfections, I went to go paint it, and the paint just started peeling off in huge chunks. I hate the texture. Is there any way to remove it and get back to a flat wall surface?
00:30:25	TOM: You know, of all the people we talked to over the years, Leslie, what do you think people hate the most? Is it a popcorn ceiling or is it a textured wall? I mean, those are on the list of the most disliked building features, don’t you think?
00:30:39	LESLIE: Can we say that? I don’t think they’re tied for first. I mean, they’re both pretty terrible. But also, you have to understand that sometimes those textured walls are very indicative of an architectural style or a location in the United States that’s just more common to have those stuccoed walls, and they’re not always offensive to everybody. They’re kind of architecturally correct, you know?
00:31:00	TOM: I have to go with the popcorn, though, because that’s just a lot harder to get rid of, and it tends to trap dirt, and it’s harder to paint. But anyway, so look, you want to get rid of this stuff. It sounds like you’re… I already have a situation where it’s loose, and so I would continue to try to remove as much of the loose textured surface as you can. It might be that the seam between the textured material and the paint has failed, and that’s the case. You may be able just to remove that. If you can get it all off and you can lightly sand it and it’s reasonably flat, it would be critical that you do a good job priming this, and I would use a solvent-based primer on this. It’s going to give you good adhesion, and it’ll stick well to whatever old surface is left behind. And then on top of that, I would use a flat, and only a flat. Don’t use eggshell or any other paint finish. A flat finish paint, because if you use anything that’s got the least bit of sheen to it, it’s going to show, because every time the light hits it, whether it’s sunlight or a lamp or a ceiling fixture, it’s going to show the imperfections in that wall. And if you can’t get rid of it, if it’s on there so tight in spots you can’t get rid of it, the only two options are really to re-texture it, or you could drywall on top of it, start again. You could use a thin drywall. Like a 3-8-inch drywall, and put it on top of the old walls and start clean. That’s pretty much where you’re at. So I hope that helps you out, and that it’s easier than that. But now you know the full scope of possibilities.
00:32:20	LESLIE: All right, now we’ve got one here from Deanna, who says, I own an older two-story home in the country that needs a lot of work. I have major leaks on the side roof and minor leaks on the top roof. Is it worth it to try and get a new roof, then repair the ceilings and floors that are ruined by the leaks? Well, geez, I wouldn’t do that first, before you replace what’s causing the leaks.
00:32:41	TOM: Yeah, and you know, the thing is, you may not need a new roof. I mean, very often you’ll get leaks in a roof that are not caused by a failure of the shingle. It could be a failure of the assembly. It could be that you have a problem with the flashing, or like there’s space where maybe just some shingles cracked, or something like that. I want to know what’s causing these leaks, and I would try to make the repair if I needed to stretch my budget out a little bit. But if you can stretch your budget, and you have to do one thing, then obviously you have to start by keeping water, water out of the house with that new roof, because if you let the water get in, a whole bunch of other bad things can happen. You can get decay, you can get mold, you can get termites, and so on, and you really don’t want to put any money into fixing up the inside while the roof is still leaking. So that’s where you start. But just because it’s leaking doesn’t mean you need a new roof. I would get an honest contractor to take a look at it for you and figure out exactly why it’s leaking, what’s happened to the roof assembly, and see if that can be fixed to buy you some time.
00:33:33	LESLIE: Yeah, and Deanna, even if you start to make those repairs that are shoring up those leaks before you replace a new roof, make sure it’s really not leaking before you go and repair that ceiling and repair the floor, because sometimes a weird wind-driven rain can bring that water right back in.
00:33:47	TOM: You are listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at moneypit.com. Thank you so much for spending this part of your weekend with us. If you’ve got a question about a project you’d like to do, remember you can reach us 24-7 at moneypit.com. Until then, I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:34:05	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:34:07	TOM: Remember, you can do it.
00:34:08	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 2024 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.)