#2397 – Pour Judgement: Is Your Drinking Water Safe? | Planning a Fence

Show Notes

In this show, homeowners get advice on how to ensure their drinking water is safe, how to plan the right kind of fence, and how to save money on laundry day! With tips on everything from repairs to renovations and everything in between, we’re here to answer all your home improvement questions!

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Water Quality: Determining whether your drinking water is safe is a matter of pour judgement.
Planning a Fence: Good fences make good neighbors as long as you plan them properly.
Laundry Tips: Learn how to clean up on savings with efficient laundry tips.

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.
00:00:29	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:00:30	TOM: And we are here to help you with your home improvement projects. Need some help planning? Got some problems to solve? Got a decor dilemma? You want to repair? You want to renovate? You want to fix up? Whatever’s on your to-do list, you can slide it right over to ours. We’ll help you get going with some good advice to take on what you want to get done around your house. Help yourself first, though, by reaching out to us with your questions. The number is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or better yet, for the fastest possible response, just go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Coming up on today’s show, if you want a quick way to start a neighborhood feud, just put up an ugly fence on the wrong side of your property line. That’ll do it right there. No questions asked. Well, we don’t want that to happen to you, so we’re going to share some tips on the right way to add a fence to your yard in just a bit.
00:01:22	LESLIE: And World Water Day is coming up on March 22nd, which makes it a good time to talk about how you should do it. If your water that you’re drinking at home is safe.
00:01:32	TOM: So we’re going to interview an international plumbing engineer whose job it is to do just that. And once the weather warms up and the kids spend more time outside, you may be spending more time inside doing loads and loads and loads of laundry. So we’re going to share some tips to help make that work a little bit easier and help you save some money at the same time.
00:01:50	LESLIE: All right. I love that because laundry is endless with boy children. My goodness. But first, we’re going to talk about how you can save some money at the same time. So first, guys, we want to help you create your best home ever. So whether you are doing a job yourself or you’re hiring a pro, we are ready to help you get that job done right.
00:02:06	TOM: So your job is to reach out to us with your projects and your questions. There are a couple of ways to do that. 888-Money-Pit is the phone number. That’s 888-666-3974 or post your questions to moneypit.com slash ask.
00:02:18	LESLIE: Let’s get to it. Courtney in Rhode Island is looking for some gardening tips. What can we do for you?
00:02:24	CALLER: I’m trying to find a spot for my raised garden bed. I’d like to put it behind the house, which is the north side. And I remember last year, the spot being full sun. But last week, I noticed it was completely shaded. How can I tell where it was going to where a good spot will be, you know, when it comes time to plant?
00:02:43	TOM: Yeah, I think you’ve just you’ve just told yourself. Yeah, it depends on how high the sun is in the sky. And right now, it’s a seasonal thing. Yeah, it’s a seasonal thing. So it in order for you to get full sun for the longest period of time, it has to be in a more wide open space with no obstructions. And the north side of the house is generally not the best place to put a garden because it typically is the cooler side of the house. And, you know, I had a situation when I first moved to my home that was like that, where we had a spot that always been using the garden. And, you know, because we lived there, my family lived there before that, I kind of didn’t notice how big the trees had gotten. But I did notice that my garden was getting smaller every year until I was like, duh, I got to move the garden. And once we moved it to a full sun southern spot, the garden production, pretty much doubled and then tripled. So I think that you basically have to get it somewhere else other than the north if you really want to have a long season here.
00:03:32	CALLER: Gotcha. All right. I appreciate it.
00:03:37	LESLIE: Thank you very much. Now we’ve got Heather in Tennessee, who’s dealing with a flooring situation. What happened?
00:03:41	CALLER: Well, my husband and I were, we have a water filter on our countertop and we overfilled it one day and it leaked out onto the hardwood. And while we were at work and it’s left a six by eight inch diameter. Area of bulking of our hardwood floors. You can’t really see it, but you can feel it like when you’re walking over it with like socks on it kind of snagged. So I didn’t know if there’s anything that you could do like a DIY project or you have to have the whole floor re-sanded, re-stained. I really don’t want to go through all that mess.
00:04:14	TOM: Well, if the floor is swollen, it’s kind of a one-way street and you’re not going to be able to kind of get the toothpaste back in the tube. At this point, if you, um, want to try to make it flat and smooth again, you do have to sand it out. Now it might not be as terrible as a project as you think. You may not have to do the entire floor. You might just be able to do a repair of that particular area. Do you happen to have the stain and the finish that was used on that floor?
00:04:42	CALLER: I don’t, I don’t. And I actually, another reason I’m kind of leery of it, it’s because we got the same man that did our hardwood floors to begin with, come back and put hardwood in our bedrooms and they don’t match whatsoever. Um, so I’m kind of really worried.
00:04:57	TOM: Let me ask you another question. Do you have any extra pieces of that floor anywhere? I don’t. Do you have any area of the floor that’s less noticeable, like in a closet or a pantry? Um, yes. Okay. You know, here’s a solution for you. A good carpenter can do this. You can basically cut out some of the floor that’s in the lesser visible area, cut out enough of it to be able to use to repair the area in your kitchen. Then you could cut out the bad board. You can cut out the bad board. You can cut out the bad board. You can throw those away and then insert the boards that you salvaged from the closet area and then go ahead and repair that closet area with whatever is handy or whatever new you can purchase and stain it to get as close as you can. And because it’s inside the closet, no one will probably ever know that be the wiser for it. Yet you’ll have some boards that match exactly the damaged boards in the kitchen in order to repair that spot. How about that?
00:05:52	CALLER: That sounds a whole lot better than resanding everything.
00:05:57	TOM: Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:06:02	LESLIE: Do you love learning about home improvement on our podcast? Well, we love bringing you all the latest tips and tricks.
00:06:08	TOM: And if you want to make us smile, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Just go to moneypit.com slash review.
00:06:13	LESLIE: Brian in Alaska is on the line and is having some issues with some discoloration on the walls. What’s going on?
00:06:20	CALLER: I have a couple of questions about, you know, springtime. Everybody’s getting that. I’m going to have a fever here in about two months. But anyhow, long story short, inside my house, it’s I have a lot of cedar walls, cedar planking. And I’ve had pictures on the walls in the past. And so what happens is you take the picture down and all that sunlight has faded that cedar. So it’s darker where the pictures are at. And so what I’m trying to do is without having to, I’m hoping, without having to sand the entire wall down and reseal it or refinish it, is there anything I can do to help with that to get the color closer back?
00:07:00	TOM: Well, only if you only if you were to stain it, you know, because you’re basically talking about oxidation here as it’s exposed to the ultraviolet light from the sun, you’re getting a different coloration and where you have the wall covered, you know, it’s going to be different than where it’s not covered. And so, yeah, you can sand it down or you probably don’t even have to sand it much if you were to stain it, because the stain would basically color the light and the dark places and probably blend it in nicely and would give it some protection against, you know, future oxidation. But short of that, I don’t really have any other suggestions for you.
00:07:31	CALLER: Okay. Yeah. I was just thinking the sanding kind of idea is what I was going to wind up doing. It’s just there. It’s a big, it’s a big project. Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:39	TOM: So don’t move the pictures. I used to say that you could just don’t move the picture or get bigger ones.
00:07:43	LESLIE: Just don’t ever move the pictures.
00:07:45	TOM: Yeah. Or if you have to get a bigger one.
00:07:47	CALLER: Yes, exactly. Or put them back in the same size. And that is also an option I may have to, well, that’s what I’m doing right now. So I do appreciate you taking the time to take my call. So it looks like I’m on a sand. So they have a, I mean, is there any kind of sand that you’d recommend with that? It should be dustless.
00:08:02	TOM: Yeah. I would just tell you, because you’re talking about cedar, Brian, that can be really annoying to your lungs. Okay. It can cause a respiratory reaction. So you want to make sure you’re really careful with ventilation. So the best way to vent that space is to depressurize the room you’re working in. So let’s say you got, you know, a window or door at one end and another one at the other end, put a regular room fan in one of those windows or doors and point it out so that you do not get any of that dust. So that you don’t get any of that dust. So that you don’t depressurize the room. In other words, dust that gets into the air gets sucked out and fresh air gets sucked in. That plus make sure you wear a good quality dust mask while you’re doing the work so that you stop, so you don’t breathe in that cedar dust.
00:08:38	CALLER: Safety first. I appreciate you a lot. And thank you very much for taking the time. All right. Take care. Thank you. Bye-bye.
00:08:43	TOM: Well, guys, putting up a fence can definitely add some style, some security and value to your property, but it can also be an eyesore, a maintenance headache, and it could cause a battle with your neighbor. So to avoid all those pitfalls, you have to plan carefully. Here’s what you need to know.
00:09:00	LESLIE: Yeah. First of all, you have to check out exactly where your property lines are so that you’re not building in your neighbor’s yard. You also want to check with local officials to make sure that you don’t need a permit to build one. And once you’re sure about those things, then you can start thinking about what kind of fence you actually want.
00:09:15	TOM: Now, fencing is available in a lot of different materials, including natural and pressure-treated woods, vinyl, and metal. Natural wood, of course, can be beautiful, but it’s going to require the most maintenance.
00:09:26	LESLIE: Now, you also have to remember that there are actually two sides to the fence, and it needs to look good from the outside as well as the inside. So don’t try to save money on your gate as well. It’s going to take the most wear and tear of the whole fence system, that gate. So you want to make sure that you’re investing in a good quality product there. And it can also be a security risk if somebody leaves that gate open, especially if you have a pool. So think about adding a spring hinge because that will help that gate swing right back into place and close.
00:09:55	TOM: So I’m replacing a picket fence right now in a house that we take care of. And we needed 72 sections of picket fence, which was going to be like something about $10,000 worth of fencing. I thought, you know what? I don’t need to spend 10 grand on this. I can build the picket fence. And I did. And here’s how I did it. First of all, to make the fencing sections, I took a two-by-six and I ripped it right down the middle. So now I had like the top support for the fence section and the bottom support for the fence. And I did that. And I did that. And I did that. And I did the bottom support, like a two-by-three at each side. And for the pickets, instead of buying individual pickets, I bought the pickets they sell for big board-on-board fences. You know, they’re six feet long and they’re about five and a half inches wide. And I bought one of those for two bucks each, right? But I cut it vertically and I cut it in half to get the three-foot by, say, two and a half-inch pickets. Basically, I got every picket was like 50 cents that way. So I got four out of one. Bottom line is I spent about 2,000 bucks on materials. And it’s all cut up, all stained, huge savings. Four-by-four posts, you know, four of the posts. And I actually think I probably, it’s going to come out better than if I hired a pro because I got like those U-shaped brackets so you can drop the sections in. And this way, if you want to cut the grass, you can pop a section out. So it really worked out well. But you don’t have to.
00:11:12	LESLIE: Oh, that’s really awesome.
00:11:13 – 00:11:18	TOM: Yeah. You don’t have to, you know, hire somebody to do it. If you’re pretty handy, you can buy the material and build it yourself.
00:11:19	LESLIE: Karen’s on the line now dealing with some unwanted visitors. You’ve got flies? What’s going on?
00:11:25	CALLER: I have, I think, what is called cluster flies. I’ve never heard of them before in my life. I thought they were coming out of the register at the bottom. You know, I have the heat register and the air conditioning register at the bottom of the floor. And they seem to be accumulating in my master bedroom. And I called an exterminator and he says, well, it sounds like you have cluster flies. Are they lethargic? I said, yeah. And they look like a regular house fly. Last fall, I must have killed, I can’t even tell you how many of them. I was freaking out.
00:12:00	TOM: Yeah. There’s a big population of them and you’re chasing after them one, you know, one at a time here. They’re called cluster flies or sometimes you call them attic flies.
00:12:08	CALLER: Yeah. I looked it up.
00:12:09	TOM: Yeah. They’re pretty, pretty common. It’s the kind of thing that if you’ve tried, you know, just sucking them up with a vacuum and that sort of thing, that there’s just too many of them. You’ve got to put the right pesticide down. It’s just, it’s usually a pyrolytic. It’s a pyrethrin type of a pesticide. And in some states you can bite over the counter, but frankly, I don’t recommend it. I think you’re probably better off at this point hiring a pro. They know exactly what to put down in exactly the right amounts to make this problem go away. And I think you’re just going to frustrate yourself by chasing after it one fly at a time. There’s too many of them. They got you outnumbered. And I think you need to get the right product down to fix it up. And he won like $700. $700. That’s a lot of money. This is a, this is a, listen to me. This is a service call. Okay. This is not a, this is not, we’re going to pay for our kids college in one visit kind of a call. This is a service call and it should be charged at a service call rate. Now there are pest control companies out there. And actually I have one in my local town that I actually contracted with where I could have paid, I don’t know, maybe a couple hundred bucks for the one service call, or I could have paid like $500 and had them do, you know, two treatments a year and be kind of, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, on call for everything else. And that was the option that I took because I knew I lived in a very old house on a, on a dirt basement with five separate call spaces that, you know, insects love to infest and we don’t like to see them upstairs. So I did take advantage of that and it worked out quite well for us. I mean, that, that would be a reason to maybe pay a little bit more if you’re going to get a service contract out of it with some built-in service calls. But just, this is just one, this is a one-time thing. It shouldn’t be a $700. Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you go to homeadvisor.com? Look at the reviews for pest control firms in your area and find one that’s highly reviewed. I can guarantee you anybody that charges $700 for a service call is not going to be highly reviewed and you’ll find the best ones for this particular project.
00:14:04	CALLER: Well, he will, I asked him if he had a, if it was a contract because he initially told me $245 for the initial visit and then $45 a month, whether he comes here or not. I’m like, that’s a lot. Get out of here. I’m not letting you charge, hit my charge card for $45 a month, whether I see you.
00:14:21	TOM: I don’t blame you. No, I don’t think you’re the right guy. So like I said, go to homeadvisor.com, look at the guys that have the best reviews, call one or two of them and take it from there. Okay. All righty. Thank you so much. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:14:38	LESLIE: Mark in Missouri is on the line with a roofing question. What can we do for you today?
00:14:41	CALLER: I’ve got a house. It’s probably about 50 years old and it’s had the roof replaced on it one time. It’s got a tar and a gravel,
00:14:52	CALLER: lava rock roof, tar. And I know I’m going to have to replace that here one of these days. Now, the decking on the roof is actually my ceiling. It’s a two by six tongue and groove. And I’m sure they’ve got tar paper on top of that and then some insulation and then the tar and lava rock. And I’m wondering how I’m going to have to replace that, what type of insulation I could use on that. It doesn’t have a lot of pitch.
00:15:21	TOM: And when you say decking, we’re talking about the structural decking. You don’t use this as a recreational deck. Is that correct?
00:15:27	CALLER: No. No, the two by six is the actual decking for the roof. Like I said, it’s the ceiling on the
00:15:34	TOM: inside of my house. So you’re looking for options in low slope roofing then, is that correct?
00:15:38	CALLER: Right. Yes. I’d like to go back with metal roof, but what do I do on top of the decking that I’ve
00:15:46	TOM: got? Right. Well, if you were going to go with metal roof, you’re going to probably go down. To the original decking. And then you’re going to put a new insulating board on top of that. And then you’re going to put the metal roof over that. And you’re pretty much going to do that same assembly regardless of the type of roof you use. If you were to use traditional flat roof, like a modified bitumen, which is sort of like a rubberized asphalt kind of product, you would do it in the same sort of fashion. It’s real important though, that when you choose your roofer, you want to make sure, Mark, that you find one that’s really experienced with flat roofs. Because what I’ve found is that very often you have groups of roofers that are just terrific with pitched roofs, but when it comes to flat roof, it’s only sort of the occasional job and they don’t always have the skillset to do that. The guys that do flat roofs a lot are more of the commercial roofers. And you could pretty much go with any technique that they recommend based on your particular situation and it’s going to get done well. But I would just say that make sure that the devil is in the detail with these. flat roofs because if you have any defects in the assembly of the roofing material itself or more commonly the flashing points where like, you know, pipes come through the roof and that sort of thing, that’s where the leaks actually show up. So it’s not an impossible situation. It’s just
00:17:06	CALLER: unusual for residential. The original builders here, they put a thin insulation up there and it got so hot in the summer that they took it out and put more insulation in. I don’t know what
00:17:16	TOM: they’ve done. Yeah, there are insulation boards for that. And by the way, about the heat in the summer, if that’s an issue, that’s something that we’re going to have to figure out. Something that the metal roof can actually help you a lot with because the new metal roofs today, they actually have a low E coating and they reflect the heat back off of the roof so it doesn’t become, you know, this huge heat sink that’s throwing a lot of radiant energy down
00:17:34	CALLER: into your room. Okay, great. Yeah, I’m hoping to go metal and then forget it.
00:17:39	TOM: Got it. Got it, Mark. All right, man. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:17:45	LESLIE: Well, World Water Day is coming up on March 22nd, which is why now is a good time to talk about two big areas of concern. First, how do I know that my drinking water is safe? And secondly, will there be enough of it?
00:17:57	TOM: Well, to learn more, we welcome Christophe Lohr, a plumbing engineer who works for an organization known as the IAPMO Group, a global organization that develops codes and standards for the products that control the flow of water that comes into and out of your house. Welcome, Christophe. I’m glad to be here. Thanks for the chance to join you all. So IAPMO, that is an international association of plumbing and mechanical officials, right? You guys do the codes?
00:18:21	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: Yes, yes. We develop two of the model plumbing codes in the U.S. The one that’s probably most familiar is the Uniform Plumbing Code, UPC for short, and then the Uniform Mechanical Code, UMC for short. We’re adopted in about half the country with various states and codes, and we have a few others that get built, but that’s getting probably too far in the weeds.
00:18:41	TOM: Well, let’s talk about water quality first. I mean, there’s a lot of water quality in the U.S. There’s a lot of water quality in the U.S. There’s a lot of water quality in the U.S. There’s a lot of water quality in the U.S. There’s a lot of water we’ve been hearing about lead, even though I was a home inspector for 20 years, and I stopped seeing lead pipes over the years I was a home inspector, but then come to find out there’s still in so many houses across the country, so many municipalities still have lead pipes that need replacing. How do we know if our drinking water is safe? You know, we’re consumers. We’re drinking this every day. There’s a lot of advertisements out there for water testing and so on. How do you actually know what’s coming out of that tap is good for you?
00:19:16	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: That’s a great question to start with, because it kind of, you know, it’s one of those things where we have to remember, first off, that all the water on the earth has been here the entire time. And nature, you know, for the entire time the earth has been around has been this amazing filter. You know, our bodies are made up of 60% water. We really can only survive three days without water. So water is this universal thing in our lives. And for PFAS, which is per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, think like Teflon, you know, the story is what makes it a story. It does remind us that, yes, there are contaminants in our water, but that’s because water wants stuff in it. It really, you know, as water flows through things, it’s going to pick up whatever’s there in many respects. And so when it comes to the safety of that water, we have to remember that the water in the U.S. is very regulated. And, you know, it has some of the most regulated things in there. And even though it wants stuff in it, there’s still ways, you know, that’s as simple as putting a filter on in your home to kind of clean it up a little bit further. So the water is safe. It’s just a matter of, you know, because it’s a complex system, a complex element, that there’s maybe a little bit of cleanup that’s used at the back end.
00:20:28	LESLIE: So now, I mean, I live in a town where there’s always constant talk about the quality of water and testing being done. And people talk about installing these whole house water filters. I mean, it always seems like there’s a lot of options to choose from when it comes to water filtration. And then how do you know what’s the right type of filtration system for you? And do they really make the water safer?
00:20:51	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: That’s a great question. I think a lot of people, too, kind of, you know, a lot of people because of that option, you know, they’ll go to bottled water. You know, worth noting, bottled water doesn’t have nearly the amount of regulation. Usually when you don’t have regulation on something, enforcement mechanisms are lawsuits in essence. But, you know, when you look at the cost to ship it, you know, the water from one location to another and the health concerns from microplastics that get absorbed by the water in the water bottles. You know, one study recently found like 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter bottle.
00:21:21	LESLIE: And they say that’s OK.
00:21:22	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: Well, you know, there’s some debate about that. Right.
00:21:26	LESLIE: Right.
00:21:26	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: But let’s say, let’s even give them the benefit of the doubt, right? I mean, the average gallon of tap water costs half a cent. So that’s half of one cent. And while the same amount of bottled water, you know, combining single serving water bottles costs around $9.47. So you’re looking at spending 2,000 times more for water that may or may not be any better. So that’s what kind of comes to your point of if it’s a little bit of filtration at your home, you can get the water quality you want. And that’s really… You know, back in my history as a plumbing engineer, I used to design these really crazy lab systems. And we would take really purified water and then purify it even further at certain points. I took that lesson and I basically applied it to my own home, which is I have a filter at my home. I use a pretty simple carbon filter, granular activated carbon. And that does that little bit of cleaning because the water that serves my tap, you know, also serves my toilet and also serves the fire hydrant outside my home.
00:22:16	TOM: So let me ask you a question about that. So you’re starting with that filter. That’s a whole house water filter. Is that the main one? Is that the main water valve where it comes in? All the water goes through that filter? Is that where it is? Or are we talking about like a filter for a sink?
00:22:27	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: A filter for a sink. You can put filters underneath. And really, you know, if you put one in for the whole house, you know, the cost can increase. That’s at least what I’ve done. Now, some people want that. You know, it depends on what you want as an individual consumer. But from an effective standpoint, you know, cost effective and getting the water that I want that I want to drink, I put it on the filter on the drinking water that I want to drink because I don’t need the same water that I flush my toilet with. The same drinkable quality that I want coming from my kitchen faucet.
00:22:53	TOM: I can’t tell you how many times in the years I was a professional home inspector that I would be under that kitchen sink looking for leaks. I’d see the water filter. And I was absolutely certain that the first time that filter was changed and when it was brand new and here we were 10 years later, that filter has never been changed. And it’s probably become, you know, a collection point for bacteria at this point. So you really have to maintain these things if you want it to work right.
00:23:16	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: Correct. And that’s just like with anything else in the home. You have to maintain it. But the good news is that… Something like a granular activated carbon filter, it can remove so much and reduce the amount of levels of some of the contaminants in water, like lead, like PFAS, like disinfectant byproducts and other things. And IATMO R&T, you know, we test hundreds of products like filters, you know, per year as a basis for certification. And when we test these products, not all products that test get certified. And so, you know, the beauty of what we do at IATMO is we help simplify the complex. You know, if you look for that certification mark on the filter, you know, on a filter before you buy it, and it says certified by IATMO R&T, that’s a great way to make sure it’s a quality product. And doing regular maintenance on it, you know, swapping it out on the recommended basis, usually, I think, six to eight months on a granular activated carbon filter, you’re going to have something that’s going to work well and provide you with, you know, that improved water that you want at your kitchen sink.
00:24:11	LESLIE: You know, I think we all keep talking about these shortages of tradespeople. I feel like, you know, I’ve got a high schooler, a young man who doesn’t… Think about a job in the trades, but there are so many people that want these water filtration systems, that want to deal with issues about water quality. And given that there are a shortage of tradesfolks in this industry, do you think now is a great time to consider sort of jumping into this field?
00:24:37	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: Absolutely. So, as you mentioned, there is a shortage of tradespeople. There’s a shortage of engineers and design professionals. Overall, plumbing is often an afterthought. Again, I think we expect those systems to work. But, you know, it’s funny, there was this, open house in my neighborhood recently, and they, you know, when I went in, the realtor was boasting to me about how they increased their water main size because they added an alternate dwelling unit in the back. And I thought, oh, man, you know, this is something we could have solved. You know, IATMO, we have this water demand calculator, which right sizes, you know, piping systems and water meter sizes. And, you know, that could have potentially probably saved them, you know, probably thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars on some of that rework for the piping. The U.S. plumbing industry has about half a million people, I think you had said, and that labor pool is shrinking. And so plumbing science is getting more and more intricate. You know, we have to be more mindful of a lot of different things. You know, we have to look at all these different components at a home level, at an institutional level, and everything in between. And so because it’s getting more complex and because that labor pool is becoming smaller, there is a lot of opportunities. You know, and really, when you look at the plumbing professionals out there, the installers, the designer, the inspector, all of these are unsung that are out there ensuring the flow of modern life. Maybe a little bit of pun intended there, but really that expertise is turning chaos into comfort, and it’s really making every drop count.
00:26:00	TOM: Turning chaos into comfort. I like that. Christophe Lohr, a plumbing engineer with IAPMO. Thank you so much for stopping by the Money Pit. Great advice. I’m glad to hear of the great organization that you belong to and all the hard work you guys are doing to keep our water safe and available. Chris, is there a website for more information?
00:26:13	CHRISTOPHER LOHR: Yeah, MOST, certainly. You can go to www.iapmo.org. It’s iatmo.org. And that’ll get you to all of our sources, the IAPMO R&T lab testing for product certifications and everything else you want to know about plumbing that we do.
00:26:33	TOM: Terrific. Thanks again. I want to send out a special thank you to TourWDW, somebody who obviously likes Walt Disney World, I’m just guessing. And that user said, he was five stars and said, I got into the home improvement kick during the pandemic and then sold my home. I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful. I completely renovated for a smaller one to renovate as well, but increased my commute. I discovered Tom and Leslie after my wife suggested that I find some podcasts to listen to on my drive to and from work. What can I say? Tom and Leslie are practical, informative, and know their stuff. It’s been about two months since I discovered them and they have both confirmed things I already knew and taught me some new things. So I listen weekly and appreciate their planned tips and questions. So thank you very much, Mr. TourWDW and to your wife for suggesting that you get on the podcast kick. We really, really appreciate the five-star review on Apple podcast. It means a lot to us and really helps us be able to do more of what we do. So thank you so much for taking the time to do that. And if you’d like to drop us a five-star review, if you take a picture of that review and send it to us, we would also love to give you a copy of our book, My Home, My Money Pit, your guide to every home improvement adventure.
00:27:45	LESLIE: Sherry in Iowa, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:27:49	CALLER: Been living in my house for like 20 years. My house is probably 50 years old. Is it worthwhile
00:27:55	TOM: to have the air ducts or the furnace ducts cleaned? Unless you’re having a problem. I mean, what most people drop the ball is that they don’t replace their filters soon enough. And so if you’ve not done that, if you’re not replaced your filter recently, then that would be the first step. But I don’t think you necessarily have to get your ducts clean. There’s such a wide variety of quality when it comes to air filters for heating and cooling. And I think that’s a great way to get your ducts systems. And I would just tell you to invest in a very good quality filter and make sure you
00:28:25	CALLER: change that on a regular basis. The furnace guy comes in the spring and the fall and he changes
00:28:30	TOM: it then. Yeah, but that’s not enough. Depending on the type of filter you have, I mean, you’re probably going to be changing that filter at least every couple of months. So probably at least the minimum four times a year and probably maybe even more frequently than that. And the other part of this is making sure you use the exact right size filter and that it’s situated properly in the ducts. Because if not, air and dust is going to go around it. But if you put the right kind of filter in your system, the air is going to be cleaner as a result. Okay, thank you. Well, guys, after a cold and snowy winter, we are all ready to welcome the warmer temperatures
00:29:02	LESLIE: of spring and maybe even a little spring cleaning. Yeah. And if you’re thinking about doing loads of laundry in the days ahead, we’ve got some tips to help you save money along the way. First of all, always run those loads full. You’re going to use the same amount of energy with a full load versus only washing a couple of showers. You also want to switch loads while the dryer is warm to allow you to use that remaining heat that’s inside the dryer for the next cycle. And be sure to clean that lint filter on the dryer
00:29:29	TOM: after every single load. Your dryer is going to run more efficiently and safely. And if you’re ready for new appliances, make sure you look for Energy Star certified washers and dryers. They
00:29:40	LESLIE: use about 20 to 25% less energy than conventional models. Meredith reached out to us with a big project. She says, Just moved into a building that’s about 100 years old and there’s a lot to do. But my question is, what do I do first? My concerns are water damaged walls and shipping paint, hardwood flooring that has some water damage and is worn from decades of foot traffic and bathroom fixtures that are
00:30:03	TOM: worn and grimy. What do I do? Well, it’s also hard, always hard to figure out what to do first, but I’m hearing water as a theme here, right? So not in a good way. So we want to make sure that whatever’s causing all of that leak damage has been fixed. Otherwise, you really shouldn’t be proceeding with any of those sorts of repairs. So in terms of repairs, generally, what you do is structural things first. And it doesn’t sound to me like you have a lot of structural things here. So that’s a good thing. But I guess I would turn to the walls and the shipping paint. I assume the cause of the water damage has been addressed at this point. But if not, definitely should be your first priority. And as for the paint, remember that 100-year-old building is most likely going to attain lead paint. So you need to get that tested so that you know what you’re doing. And if you don’t, you’re going to have to do a lot of work. So if you’re dealing with, and if it turns out it’s lead, you’re going to have to have a trained and certified and experienced lead paint remediation company help. In terms of the worn and damaged hardwood floor, pretty easy fix, given the condition. It may not be a DIY project, but you certainly can cut out any of the bad boards or certainly sand them down and refinish it. So I don’t think it’s a terrible amount of work. And lastly, those bathroom fixtures that are really worn and grimy and rusted, there’s a product called Ecopel, E-C-K-O-P-E-L, I believe it is. It’s an epoxy coating system for old porcelain fixtures. Once you put it on, they will look brand spanking new. Just be sure to follow the label directions. I used it on a very old tub. It looked fantastic.
00:31:28	LESLIE: All right. That’s a great tip, Tom.
00:31:30	TOM: Well, spring is the perfect time to think about redecorating spaces in your home for a fresh look. And Leslie has tips on where to start in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. Leslie, where shall we begin? So many things to do.
00:31:43	LESLIE: Yes. So much to tackle come springtime, because it really is the perfect time to take a look at rooms around your house. See what changes can bring in some new pizazz. I think the bathroom is a great place to start. And a few things that you can do are to replace that shower curtain, maybe change that color, bring in a pop of a new color, something that says spring, summer, as opposed to drabby winter. Or you can add a tieback drape just to sort of give it that extra layer on the shower curtain. Or you can very easily replace towels. You can find some inexpensive ones. You can replace those bath mats. And that’s going to give the space an entirely fresh feel. And remember that patterns, really help to add some interest to the space. So don’t shy away from something if you find it appealing. Now, you can also take it a step further with a fresh coat of paint. Bathrooms are the perfect space for wallpaper, even if you just put it on an accent wall. I mean, I just wallpapered my bathroom last year, and I love it. It was super easy to do. It really changed the space. I mean, granted, I did a sophisticated Harry Potter pattern. That’s right. I said sophisticated Harry Potter. But you would never know. You would just think it’s like magical apothecary, which I guess really is Harry Potter. But anyway, it’s gorgeous. And I promise you can pick any wallpaper that will make you feel as happy as mine does. You can also change out that vanity. You can change out the hardware on the vanity just for a little change that can make a big difference. Change out the towel racks. I mean, so much you can do to just kind of change whatever that metal look is in the bathroom space as well. And if you’ve got typical sconce lighting around a mirror, why not add a chandelier or some other kind of overhead fixture? You can never have too much lighting in a bathroom because there’s so many different things you do in a bathroom space. So it’ll give you an opportunity to light that space for whatever you’re using it for, whether it’s a relaxing bath or putting on your makeup or shaving, whatever it is, lighting is the trick. So there’s so much you can do in a bathroom space. Just take the time, do some research online, find some things that you like, and then get at it. It’s spring, you guys.
00:33:37	TOM: You’re listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time on the program, as weather warms, local wildlife gets to work. They’ll disrupt your plans for a beautiful landscape and garden. We’re going to share a little bit of that with you. Ways to keep deer, rabbit, and groundhogs out of tearing up your space on the next edition of the Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:54	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
	LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.

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