Show Notes
Get budget-friendly apartment decorating ideas, add curb appeal with low-cost landscaping tips, and avoid the risks of hiring uninsured contractors with inspiration and information on today’s home improvement episode! Plus, listen in for answers to additional caller questions on a range of DIY projects.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Apartment Décor: Get affordable apartment décor ideas to fit your budget and save your security deposit.
- Front Yard Landscaping: Create a welcome entry and add curb appeal with low-cost landscaping tips.
- Uninsured Contractors: If you’re hiring a contractor, protect yourself from liability by confirming they’re insured.
Top Questions & Answers
- Floor Tile Grout: Grout keeps chipping out from one area of Karen’s tile floor. She needs to remove it again and check to see if the surface is unstable.
- Red Cedar Roof: Phillip loves the way red cedar shingles age on other houses, but there’s no way to be sure how his own cedar shingles will darken over time unless he stains them.
- Structural Support: Trish wants to open up her kitchen, but it’s a big project to remove the load-bearing wall. We offer ideas on other ways to make the rooms look larger.
- Drywall Cracks: It’s not uncommon to have drywall cracks over doorways, but Brian needs advice on how to sand, tape, and spackle the wall so the cracks won’t return.
- Pouring Concrete: After cutting down a tree and grinding the stump, Bobbie wants to extend her sidewalk. She should rake out the sawdust and reinforce the hole with stone before pouring cement so it won’t crack.
- Fireplace: Two fireplaces and two chimneys are bringing smoke into Mike’s house. He should ask a chimney expert about improving the chimney draft.
- Wood Bathroom Décor: Should Melanie extend her untreated rustic knotty pine walls into her bathroom? It’s not a good idea, but there are better options that look like wood.
- Garbage Disposer: What size garbage disposer should Brandon get? We recommend a 1/2 to 3/4 HP model that he can install with basic plumbing and electrical skills.
- Radon: Should Sandra have her home tested for radon? We discuss using a DIY test, how to read the results, and guidelines for remediation if it’s needed.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:29 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:34 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:36 | TOM: And we are here to help you take on projects you want to get done around your house. It’s spring. It’s time when the weather is so cooperative. We can work inside. We can work outside. We can do some planning for projects. It’s just a great time to tackle home improvements. And what makes it extra special for us is this is episode 2400 of the Money Pit. So we’re very proud. To have been able to be with you for all of those episodes, all of these years. To help you take on the projects that you want to get done. And we couldn’t have reached this incredible achievement without the support of our dedicated podcast audience and our radio audience. So thank you very much. |
| 00:01:14 | LESLIE: Yeah, thanks you guys so much for tuning in. We love hearing your stories and hearing all about your countless home improvement journeys that you have been taking us along for the ride. Here’s to so many more episodes filled with expert advice. Why tips and endless inspiration. So cheers to you guys. Thank you so much for being with us on this incredible ride. |
| 00:01:36 | TOM: Absolutely. So let’s get to it. So coming up on today’s show, we’ve got a lot planned as usual. We’re going to start by talking about your front yard space. It’s an area that creates a welcome entry to your home. And it definitely delivers some curb appeal when it comes time to sell. So we’re going to share some low-cost, easy landscaping ideas that can help your home be the standout of the neighborhood. |
| 00:01:57 | LESLIE: And are you ready to move? You’re ready to move into a new apartment, but you’re wondering how much decorating you can do without risking your security deposit? Well, we’re going to share some simple ideas to make your apartment feel like home without risking getting your security deposit back at the end of the lease. |
| 00:02:11 | TOM: And if you’re planning on hiring a pro to help get a project done, there is one extra thing that you guys might want to check for before pressing go. And that is what happens if a worker gets hurt while working at your home. So we’re going to have some tips to make sure you’re protected. |
| 00:02:25 | LESLIE: But first, do you feel like you’re in a constant? Game of tug-of-war with your house and maybe your house is winning? Well, we’re here to help you take back the lead from advice to answers to hot new products. We are your one-stop shopping for all things DIY. Call in your questions right now to 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:02:44 | TOM: Or post your questions right now to moneypit.com slash ask. Just click the blue microphone button. So let’s get to it. That number again, 1-888-Money-Pit. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:02:54 | LESLIE: Karen in Nebraska, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:02:57 | CALLER: Yes. Tile floor put in my bathroom. And where you walk in, the tile has, the grout has chipped out. And so I called the tile guy and he came and he took that piece of tile out and re-grouted it. And it’s happening again. Is there something I can use just to seal that up? Or do we have to re-grout it a third time? |
| 00:03:19 | TOM: Well, if the grout is falling out, then sealing is not going to change anything. It sounds like the grout might have been not mixed correctly. Perhaps it was too dry. Is it falling out in the same place that it fell out the first time? Yes. |
| 00:03:31 | LESLIE: Karen, is it a small tile or a large tile? I think it’s 12 by 12. And you’re not seeing any cracks in the tile. It’s just strictly on the grout. |
| 00:03:39 | CALLER: Yeah, just the grout is chipping out. And it’s just in the one place. The same place he replaced it. |
| 00:03:46 – 00:03:54 | Well, when you say he replaced it, did he just sort of fill in the missing areas? Or did he actually really physically take out all the old grout? |
| 00:03:55 | CALLER: He took out the old grout and put in a new tile. |
| 00:03:58 | TOM: You’re going to have to have the tile guy come back again, pull out the grout and try it one more time. But have him look this time carefully to see if there’s any movement in the floor there that’s causing this to happen. Because I agree with Leslie on this. I definitely think something’s going on there that’s causing it to loosen up. It shouldn’t be happening. If the grout was not fully removed the first time, then I would think that maybe it just wasn’t adhering. But if it’s completely, totally, completely removed and it’s still coming up, then I think that there’s something unstable about that floor surface. And that’s why it’s happening. That’s why it’s popping up. You’re going to have to get the tile guy involved again. It’s definitely not a maintenance issue. Okay. |
| 00:04:33 | CALLER: Well, I will do that for sure then. |
| 00:04:35 | TOM: All right. Well, good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. 888-666-3974. |
| 00:04:42 | LESLIE: Time to talk to Phillip in Rhode Island about a roofing question. What can we do for you? |
| 00:04:46 | CALLER: Well, in Rhode Island, in my neighborhood, in Jamestown, there’s a lot of beautiful red cedar shingled houses. And I just put brand new red cedar shingles on my house and my roof. I noticed some of the houses. They age beautifully. What I mean beautifully is they age darker red and sometimes little bits of black or streaks of black and red and deep, deep red. And some of them don’t age that way. I’m just wondering if you guys know anything about how to get them to age the way I want them to. I don’t want them to age light. I want them to age darker red. |
| 00:05:20 | TOM: Yeah, we don’t always get to choose how we age, right? And that applies to our shingles as well. So when you choose red cedar, that gets darker. Darker over time, and it will turn to a very dark gray, typically, as it’s exposed to sunlight. I mean, I guess it’s possible that you could apply a stain to the cedar shingles, even though they’re roofing shingles, but most people don’t do that. So what we typically get calls about when it comes to cedar is how to prevent them from getting darker. And one way to do that is to replace the vent across the ridge of the roof. Or if you don’t have a vent there, you can essentially do the same thing with a strip of copper. If you were to overlay the peak of the roof with, say, a 12-inch-wide strip of copper, so half goes on one side, half goes on the other, what happens is as rainwater strikes that, it releases some of the copper, and that acts as a mild mildicide and helps to keep the roof shingles clean and prevents algae growth. |
| 00:06:20 | CALLER: So then they wouldn’t age dark. They’d stay lighter. |
| 00:06:24 | TOM: They’d be less likely to get as dark, and they certainly wouldn’t grow in algae. Perhaps you may have noticed that sometimes when you look at houses, especially around chimneys that have metal flashing, you’ll see bright streaks at the bottom of the chimney. That’s for the same reason. What happens is that metal flashing releases some of its copper and then cleans that area under the chimney. That’s why it gets streaky there. But if you do it across the whole peak of the roof, then it will sort of clean evenly. |
| 00:06:49 | CALLER: It’ll clean evenly. But I’m looking for that age to look, kind of the darker shingle age look, the darker color. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. It’s just up to Mother Nature is what you’re saying. |
| 00:06:59 | TOM: It really is. It really is. |
| 00:07:02 | CALLER: I appreciate it. Thanks very much, you guys. |
| 00:07:03 | TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:07:08 | 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. Now, I’ve got Trish in New Jersey on the line who’s got a remodeling question. What are you working on? |
| 00:07:25 | CALLER: I have a wall. I have a wall that goes between the kitchen, and there’s a set of steps that go down to the basement. Okay. My question is, it’s also a bearing wall. Is it worth it for me to go through the expense of taking this wall out? And then what do I do about the, when you take the wall out, it’s going to drop down to the basement step right there? |
| 00:07:46 | TOM: So, okay. It’s a big project, Trish. Really big project. Because when you take a wall out like that, you have to reinforce all of the structure above it first. And if you build the reinforcement, then you take the wall out, you reassemble it with different types of structural members like laminated beams, for example, that run that span and allow you to have that sort of open space. Now, you raise another good question like, okay, what happens to the basement stair? Well, obviously, you’re going to need a railing there. So, it’s a really big project. I don’t know if that’s going to be worth it for you in terms of what you’re going to get out of this. What are you trying to achieve from a design perspective? |
| 00:08:26 | CALLER: To have an open concept. And here’s another idea. There’s another wall that goes between the kitchen and the dining room. And that’s just a small wall because there’s a doorway there. |
| 00:08:36 | LESLIE: You know, Trish, there’s some other ways that you can actually make the rooms feel larger. You know, considering I don’t know the exact floor plan or, you know, the situation of the space, but if you’ve got some windows in, say, your dining room on the wall opposite it, why not put a really large mirror over perhaps, you know, a service area or some sort of great storage? Because the mirror will sort of help bounce the light around and open up the space and make it feel larger. You know, using paint color tricks where you slightly change one wall color to a lighter hue in the same family can make the space feel larger as well. Mirrors really are a huge help. I’m not talking about mirroring an entire wall, but I am talking about perhaps, you know, some strategically placed really decorative mirrors will do the trick as well. You know, these are all ways. Furniture layout, if you can sort of keep the flow more open to encourage, you know, a good pass through, that can help make the space feel larger as well. So there are ways without taking on major construction projects. |
| 00:09:39 | TOM: That’ll make it look so much bigger. Trish, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:09:44 | LESLIE: So does the thought of planning a landscape project feel kind of overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to design plantings to create that big first impression of your home? Well, it doesn’t. It doesn’t have to be. Yeah. |
| 00:09:56 | TOM: So here’s how to get started. First, skip the foundation planting and instead create an entry garden. That idea of planting foundations is sort of an old idea. When foundations were kind of ugly, they’re not ugly anymore. You can have the foundation exposed. It’s okay. And you’ll have a lot less maintenance to do. And instead, put that energy into creating that entry garden. It’s a fresher, more modern idea. You can have nice wide borders that flank your front walk with all sorts of beautiful flowers. Next, be unique. Ideally. That front yard should contain an element of uniqueness that would relate to the architectural character of the home and add to the style of the owners while maintaining a visual compatibility with the neighborhood. So in other words, make it all blend in. Right, Les? |
| 00:10:41 | LESLIE: I mean, that’s true. You also want to make sure that you’re carefully composing that garden that’s going to deliver a whole summer full of color, some winter interest, a mix of textures. You want to make sure that all season long, every season, something interesting. You need to make sure that you’re aiming to juxtapose textures that will contrast one another nicely. Generally, leaves are categorized as broad, strap-shaped, or frilly, and they kind of explain how they look in that descriptive words there. And you also might place a broad-leafed hosta sae next to a frilly-leafed fern, and that way you’re getting a lot of interest in those areas because the layering of the textures really creates some beautiful spots in the garden. |
| 00:11:22 | TOM: That’s right. And finally, think seasonally. Start by creating the winter garden first, placing evergreen and deciduous shrubs for a year-round structure, and then plant a sequence of blooming perennials filled in with the annuals, placing any fragrant plants close to the path so they can be enjoyed by those approaching your house. |
| 00:11:40 | LESLIE: Now we’re heading on over to Iowa, where Brian has a crack on the wall that keeps on coming back. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 00:11:47 | CALLER: Well, yeah, I built this home about six years ago and noticed it, you know, within the first year, really. And just one of my bedrooms, I have a crack that comes up from my bedroom going into my bathroom door, and it kind of almost goes up probably close to two and a half feet, three feet, and it comes and goes depending on the year. I’ve finished over it a couple times on both sides of the wall into the bathroom in here, I’ve tried to refinish over it. It keeps coming back, and my builder looked at it, can’t quite figure it out. |
| 00:12:20 | TOM: This is what we call a groundhog day home improvement project, Brian, because it just keeps happening over and over again. |
| 00:12:24 | CALLER: Yeah, yeah, it just, you know, for a reason, I just tried to cover it up and, you know, make it look better. |
| 00:12:31 | TOM: All right, well, here’s the thing. You’ve got a very normal crack in a wall there. Cracks often form over doors like exactly what you’re describing there, because that’s a weaker part of the wall, and for whatever reason, you had some settlement in your house and it caused this crack to open up. The fact that you’re spackling it is not going to solve it. It solves it for a season, but it won’t solve it permanently. What you need to do is… What you need to do is you need to sand the area of the crack pretty well, because I want you to get rid of all that extra spackle you’ve been putting on there. Then I want you to add a layer of fiberglass drywall tape, which is sort of like a netting. It’s a bit sticky-backed, and then I want you to spackle over the fiberglass netting, over the fiberglass tape on both sides. Start with a narrow bead of spackle and then open it up wider and wider and wider, and that on both sides of the wall will make that wall strong enough to be able to get rid of to stand up to the movement that will happen the next time the wall expands or contracts. You can’t just spackle it because you’re not really doing anything to bridge that gap. You bridge that gap with the tape, spackle over the tape, now you’ve got a permanent repair. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes sense. All right. Good luck with that project, Brian. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:13:43 | LESLIE: All right. Now we’re heading on over to Ohio with Bobby, who cut down a tree but is now wondering what’s going on with the dirt settling and sidewalk. This sounds like it’s got an interesting story. Bobby, what happened to the tree? |
| 00:13:56 | CALLER: Well, it got a disease in it, and they recommended that I cut it down before it falls on my house. So I had it cut down, and they ground out the stump, and now I was wondering how long do I have to wait for the dirt to settle or if I even have to wait to extend my sidewalk? |
| 00:14:19 | TOM: Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to build a sidewalk on top of all of the ground-out saw dust, because that clearly is going to decay away. I think the best thing to do is to try to add some stone to that stumped area, maybe rake out all of the sawdust and pack it with stone, and then make sure the new sidewalk is poured over that stone or even embed some of the stone into the concrete, because otherwise you’re going to build a sidewalk on top of an unstable piece of soil, and that could crack. Another option there is to have the mason add some reinforcement to the sidewalk and make sure the reinforcement straddles the weak area of the soil so that, again, if you do get some additional compression, the sidewalk won’t crack and sink in that area. You’re wise to raise this question. You do need to work around it, and I think a good quality mason can help you do that. Okay. |
| 00:15:15 | CALLER: Thank you very much. |
| 00:15:17 | TOM: You’re welcome, Bobby. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:15:20 | LESLIE: Now, we’ve got Mike in Illinois on the line with a fireplace question. How can we help you today? |
| 00:15:24 | CALLER: Okay. We’re getting ready to move into a home that has two fireplaces, one on the first floor and one in the basement. The first floor is a stove insert, and there’s two separate chimneys that terminate next to each other. The previous owner is telling us that when you’re burning a fire in the stove, sometimes you get smoke out of the basement fireplace, even with the damper closed. Sometimes a little smoke, sometimes a lot of smoke. So we’re just wondering what’s going on there and how to solve that. |
| 00:15:51 | TOM: Well, the reason it happens. The reason it happens is because the chimney is cold. Generally, when a chimney is cold, you get condensation of the smoke inside the chimney, and that makes it heavy, and it could push it down. So if a chimney does not have good draft, then you’re not going to evacuate the smoke from the chimney through the outside. So the question is, how do you make that chimney improve the draft? And there’s a number of ways that that’s done. Sometimes the chimney is raised, so we make it taller. Sometimes on the fireplace, it’s set up. You build in what’s called a smoke shield, which is usually a piece of metal that’s across the front of the fireplace that’s maybe six or eight inches deep, so that it improves the draft right at the front of the fireplace, and that can speed it up. But it’s the kind of project that you really need to have a chimney expert look at. And I would not go to a mason for this. I would go to a shop that sells wood stoves and fireplaces, because they’re going to have the expertise that you need here. But the reason it’s happening is because the chimney. It is not drafting properly. And you can minimize it, by the way, by always building a very small fire and then building it up from there. You don’t want to kind of go with a big fire right off, because the chimney doesn’t have a chance to warm up, and you’ll get more smoke that way. But when you do build a fire, if you start small and then let the chimney warm up, and then before you go a little bigger, that can minimize it. But I really think you need to have an expert look at it, because that can be quite a nasty problem, especially if somebody else builds the fire. It’s you and fills the house with smoke. Okay. Thanks a lot. You’re welcome, Mike. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, guys, 84 Lumber is celebrating National DIY Day on April 6th. So stop by any 84 Lumber store and come plan your next project. |
| 00:17:41 | LESLIE: That’s right. Whether it’s a new deck, fence, or door, 84 Lumber has all the top quality lumber and building materials you’ll need, and knowledgeable staff ready to help. |
| 00:17:51 – 00:17:58 | You can visit 84lumber.com to find. Project plans and ideas, and a store near you. That’s 84lumber.com. |
| 00:17:58 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Melanie in California on the line with a decorating question. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:18:03 | CALLER: I have untreated, be rustic, be naughty pine throughout the house. I would like to continue into a 8 by 12 bathroom with the same. Is this the best application for the bathroom? Or will untreated wood hold up to condensation? Now, where are you seeing this? On the walls, on the ceiling? Oh, well, I’d like to do the whole bathroom. Yes, walls and ceiling. |
| 00:18:30 | TOM: I would say, Leslie, that naughty pine is a really bad idea for a bathroom. Yeah. I actually do have a bathroom that’s got pine wainscoting, but it’s completely sealed. And it goes up about halfway up the wall. I would definitely not put unfinished wood in the bathroom because it’s going to soak up the moisture. It’s going to grow mold or mildew. And this is not going to look right. You can’t clean it either. So a bad idea for the ceiling. That said, if you like the look of wood, there are many ceiling tile products that do quite a lot like wood. OK. |
| 00:19:06 | CALLER: We’re limited. We’re in a small area. So we’re limited as far as hardware is going and paneling. We’ve checked out our local hardware stores. And where’s the best place to find, oh, say, ceiling paneling? |
| 00:19:22 | LESLIE: Well, no. Now, a clever creative idea, which you might be able to source online, and perhaps you haven’t looked at some of this in the local places to you, would be a laminate flooring that’s a plank that looks like a naughty pine, so that we could utilize that in the same application that you’re talking about, but it’s made to withstand high moisture situations because it’s a manufactured product and not a natural product. Sure, sure. And that, because it’s sold in planks, if you do have to order it online or if somebody has to order it from the vendor directly through your local… Local stores, it ships really easily because of its packaging and being plank-sized, you’re not going to have a hard time getting it in rather than a sheet product. |
| 00:19:59 | CALLER: Oh, OK. Very good. And I think that would look far better than a sheet product. We just, I think that’s… Oh, absolutely. The Wayne’s Coding, or Coding, how do you pronounce that? Is that… I say Wayne’s Coding, but I think everybody says it every way. They feel like tomato, tomato. Which is very attractive, but we need to do this complete of the walls. |
| 00:20:21 | TOM: You don’t have to. You could go partially. You could go partially up the walls and then trim off the top edge of it. And then, OK. It depends on what look you’re going for. For example, Leslie, you’ve often given the suggestion that you can take an old door, turn it on its side, and that could be a Wayne’s Coding. |
| 00:20:36 | LESLIE: I mean, that works out beautifully, especially because it gives you the paneling sort of built right into the door. The only issue there is that anywhere you’ve got an electrical outlet or something that might protrude from the wall, you’re going to have to bump that out to accommodate the extra thickness of the door. Not a big deal, but it’s an extra step. Boy. |
| 00:20:52 | CALLER: It sure is. Oh, boy. OK. Well, thank you so much. That’s a lot to think about. And I really like that plank flooring idea. I thought that never even crossed my mind, nor my husband’s. |
| 00:21:06 | TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. |
| 00:21:08 | CALLER: Thank you so much. And thank you for taking my call. |
| 00:21:10 | TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:21:14 | LESLIE: Well, for a lot of people, moving into an apartment is the first stepping stone to buying a home. But while it’s not always easy to find affordable apartments, decor, you can make it happen. And here’s a few ideas to get you started. Have you guys looked at peel and stick wallpaper lately? I mean, it’s removable. It’s repositionable. You can put it up. You can take it down if you don’t like it. And it’s super easy. And there’s so many beautiful design options out there. I mean, you could go crazy with a pattern, or you can just go interesting with a texture. So there’s a lot of ways to temporarily change a space without ruining that space, which is great for an apartment. And I did this in the kitchen in my first apartment. I had the tiniest apartment on 28th Street. It was super white walls. It was very boring. It had fluorescent lighting. And it just kind of made this kitchen space just terrible to be in. And no one liked being in that kitchen either. And it didn’t make sense to paint such a small area and have to repaint it again when ultimately I was just going to move. So I picked out a great wallpaper. It added a fun pattern, which I could kind of go big with because the space was so small. And then when I was moving, I just peeled it right off. |
| 00:22:20 | TOM: That’s awesome. Now, another trick. Another trick is to add a large mirror in your living room. If you add a big mirror in your living room, you’ll not only make the space seem bigger, but it’ll also act as a piece of wall decor. So it kind of like covers two bases there. And just like with the wallpaper, there are a lot of options to choose from. If you’re worried about putting holes in your walls, then go with an oversized wall mirror. These can be leaned up against the wall with zero chance of damage to the apartment, and they will totally open up the space. |
| 00:22:49 | LESLIE: Yeah, the other thing you can do is make over the bathroom. I’m telling you. The entire ambience of your apartment is going to change if you take that like tiny little powder room or bathroom, whatever your apartment has to offer, and just give it a little bit of pizzazz. I mean, change the shower curtain, add something with a little bit more color, pair that with a cute little bath rug and some matching decor for the sink or a shelf if you’ve got one in there. Put up some cute signs, you know, some pictures from your travels. Print them in black and white, and it suddenly takes on a different feel. So there’s tons of different things that you can do. And if you’re worried about actually attaching anything, to the wall because it’s a rental, there’s a lot of adhesive hangers that are designed to be removable without damaging the wall. So a lot of great ways that you can just spruce up a tiny space. And believe it or not, guys, everybody who comes into your apartment is going to use the bathroom. So you got to make it look cute. |
| 00:23:38 | TOM: So there you go. There’s a lot of things that you can do to an apartment that are not going to impact your security deposit and really going to shape up the place and really make it personalized for what you enjoy. |
| 00:23:51 | LESLIE: Brandon in South Dakota is on the line with a garbage disposal question. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:23:56 | CALLER: I got a family, two little boys, and I was just wondering about sizing the garbage disposal. Should I go with a half horse, a three-quarter horse? And then my follow-up question to that is how hard is it, kind of a novice do-it-yourself, or would I be able to put it in myself? |
| 00:24:14 | TOM: So to your first question, you know, I know that they sell disposers that are small. It’s about a quarter of a pound. A quarter horse or a third horse, but I would never buy one that size in a million years because I just see that as a problem in terms of clogs and inability to grind stuff up and maybe tripping all the time. So I would definitely recommend you get a half or even three-quarter horse. I mean, the additional expense is not significant, and I really think it’s going to give you better performance over a greater number of years. In terms of installing them, they’re actually not really that difficult to do if you can handle basic plumbing projects. But remember, you also got to handle basic electrical work, and, you know, that can get tricky if you’re not familiar, and it can actually be dangerous. So it’s not a hard plumbing or electrical project to do, but you got to have some basic skills to take it on. Does that make sense? |
| 00:25:02 | CALLER: Yeah, it makes perfect sense. |
| 00:25:03 | TOM: All right, Brandon, good luck with that project, and good luck with those boys. |
| 00:25:06 | CALLER: Thank you very much. Thanks for your help. |
| 00:25:09 | TOM: Well, as you plan your home improvement projects for spring, you might be planning to hire some contractors to help because sometimes it’s not smart to DIY a project, right? So if it’s the case that you’re going to hire a pro, you must make sure that they are properly insured because if not, you may end up putting the bill in the event of an accident or a renovation that goes terribly wrong. |
| 00:25:29 | LESLIE: Yeah, you know, in many areas of the United States, contractors that work for themselves are not required by law to have liability insurance or workman’s comp, which is why it’s important for you to get proof of insurance before the start of any home improvement project. Also, if you think you’re already covered by your homeowner’s insurance, actually, you’re not. Actually, you might not be. Homeowner’s insurance policies generally don’t cover incidents that are involving uninsured or unlicensed contractors, or I should say end or unlicensed contractors. So you have to look at the verbiage in your homeowner’s insurance very carefully. Don’t just assume that you have coverage there. |
| 00:26:06 | TOM: Yeah, now the other thing to be aware of is that uninsured contractors also tend to be unfamiliar with building codes and are usually unable or unwilling to apply for permits. When a project lacks those properties, a homeowner can be ordered to remove or repair the work that has already been done. So make sure you’re hiring a real pro. Be sure to check your contractor’s insurance before allowing any work to start on your property. |
| 00:26:32 | CALLER: Sandra, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today? Oh, hello. My question concerns, would you recommend a radon test for a house? Our home is a two-story house on a hill, and the lower level, which is completely finished, is two sides underground, and it has two sides ground level. And if we have a radon problem, can something be done to correct that? We’re in the Pacific Northwest, about 60 miles south of Seattle. |
| 00:27:01 | TOM: And do you hear about high radon levels in that area coming up occasionally? |
| 00:27:05 | CALLER: I don’t, but I’ve never talked about it with anybody. So, and I saw something in the paper recently that suggested people have this test. |
| 00:27:12 | TOM: Well, it’s certainly a good idea. So order a radon test kit. You can probably find one online. The type you want is called charcoal adsorption, A-D-S-O-R-B, ad, not ab, adsorption. And it’s a type of test that you’ll put in the home for anywhere from about three to seven days. You open up this charcoal canister or this charcoal packet, depending on the type of test. You leave it on the lowest living space. So whatever the lowest area of finished living space is, you leave it there for that period of time. You seal it back up. You send it off to a lab. They’re going to give you a result. If it comes in at four peak, a curious per liter of air or higher, then that’s the action guideline. After which point you would want to consider some sort of remediation. Now you ask the question, well, how do I do that exactly? And the answer is it’s harder when the whole space is finished, but it’s not impossible. Generally, the way radon is mitigated is by a system called a subslab ventilation system, where they basically run pipes below the surface of the lowest slab and pull the gas out of the soil and then discharge it outside. So it’s a matter of figuring out where to get that pipe into the slab and where to discharge it out, you know, with the least amount of disturbance. But a good radon mitigator can do this even in a finished house. |
| 00:28:27 | CALLER: Oh my gosh, it sounds quite complex. |
| 00:28:31 | TOM: Well, it’s pretty straightforward, but you got to start with the test. So I would do that first. |
| 00:28:34 | CALLER: And that’s only if they find something. |
| 00:28:36 | TOM: Yeah, exactly. |
| 00:28:37 | CALLER: Okay. Are there areas in the country where you’re more likely to have radon? Yep. |
| 00:28:42 | TOM: There’s a, if you go to the EPA website, EPA.gov, slash radon, there’s information about radon zones across the entire country, including contact information for your local state area. Oh, all right. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:29:01 | LESLIE: Howard from Tyler, Texas wrote into Team Money Pit and has a question about removing popcorn ceiling. Is there any way to do this myself, or do I need to hire a pro to remove all of that stuff and then we can repaint the ceiling? |
| 00:29:15 | TOM: Well, yes and yes. I mean, look, it’s a lot of work. And if you want to take it on yourself, you certainly could. If you hire a pro that does this all the time, it’s going to go quicker and smoother. It’ll probably come out better. |
| 00:29:26 | LESLIE: And it won’t end up in your eyes. Yeah. |
| 00:29:29 | TOM: And you wouldn’t want to mix that popcorn with what you have in the bowl, right? Let’s say for your favorite snack. |
| 00:29:33 | LESLIE: That is true. |
| 00:29:34 | TOM: Especially because it could contain asbestos. That’s always the first place to start is to test the ceiling material to see if it contains asbestos. There are lots of mail-in test kits that are available. Where you could just put a little piece of that inside an envelope and send it away for a test. If it’s got asbestos, then you need a special contractor to remove that. But generally speaking, the way this job goes is you spray it down to get it wet or damp. Not soaking, but pretty wet. I like to use a garden sprayer for that, like a pump-up garden sprayer, because it’s easy to handle. And then as you wet it, then you scrape it off. And you can use a wide scraper that’s like a ceiling scraper. It’s very wide. It’s long-handed. It’s got a handle on it because it makes it easier to reach. And you’re scraping this stuff off, and then it falls. Of course, it has to be all tarped off and everything. And once you get all of this stuff off, and it is a lot of work. It’s not all going to come off easily. There’s going to be some areas that take a little drywall with it. You’re going to do some patching and that sort of thing. But after you’ve got it all off and you’ve got the surface kind of where you want it, then it’s really important that you prime it. And I would use an oil-based primer for this because you really want to get a nice, solid surface there that can seal in whatever’s underneath. And give you a good base to apply the top coat to. And then you use ceiling paint over that. Make sure the ceiling paint is flat. You never want to use anything but a flat sheen on the paint because when the sunlight hits it, when the lighting in the house hits it, it will show every defect in that ceiling and just look terrible if it’s got any kind of sheen to it or any kind of shine to it. So make sure it’s flat paint. Now, the other thing I’ll mention is if you don’t like the popcorn but it kind of looks dirty and disgusting, you could paint it without removing it. There are special rollers that are really thick and they have slits in them so they kind of put a lot of paint in between those kernels of popcorn, I’ll call it. And you can just paint that popcorn ceiling and brighten it up again. So you’ve got some options on how to tackle that. And if you want to go with a pro, it’s going to be easier but more expensive. But, Howard, you can do it yourself with the right tools, a lot of time, and some tall ladders. |
| 00:31:38 | LESLIE: All right. Now, Robin says, I was listening to your podcast a few weeks back and you talked about a way to install tile backsplash without using any of that thick, gooey mastic. I’m ready for a project and hope you can walk me through it. Yeah, Robin, we’ve actually used this before ourselves, Tom and I, on work projects and at home. It’s called Simple Mat and it’s made by Custom Building Products and it’s basically super quick and easy and really tidy. It’s like a giant sticker. But, man, is it super-duper-duper-duper sticky. So you make sure your surface is prepped correctly. Then you attach the Simple Mat to it. And once you’ve got the Simple Mat in place, you can start to install your tile. And the tile is just going to stick and stay right in place. You don’t have to wait for it to dry. You can grout right away. And you can actually find it right at the Home Depot. So get to it, lady. You can start now. |
| 00:32:26 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show, Episode 2400, wrapping up. Thank you so much for spending your time with us today. We hope that we’ve been able to fill you in on some great home improvement ideas and talk about some projects that you’re interested in getting done. If you’ve got a project in mind and you’d like us to cover it, reach out to us. 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit or post your questions to moneypit.com slash ask. Until next time, I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:32:51 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:32:53 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:32:55 | 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.) |
Leave a Reply