Show Notes
Today, level up your home and garden game as we discuss the advantages of building a greenhouse for year-round gardening and understanding the distinctions between cleaners, sanitizers, and disinfectants to keep your home clean and germ-free. You’ll also get advice on testing and adjusting your soil for a lush, green lawn that will be the talk of the neighborhood. Don’t miss out on these and lots more essential home improvement solutions!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Greenhouse: Get tips for building a backyard greenhouse for a year-round crop of fresh vegetables.
- Cleaning Products: Clean, sanitize, deodorize: which cleaning product does what?
- Lawn Care: Test your soil for a lush lawn that will make the neighbors green with envy.
Top Questions & Answers
- Well Water: Susan’s not sure if she needs a water softener or a filter for her well water. Getting a complete water test done will show what kind of treatment is needed.
- House Beams: Joel wants to remove the center load-bearing beam so he can lower the ceiling, but it’s one of the most difficult projects to do so the roof won’t collapse.
- Chimney Vent: Esther’s new furnace was vented outside instead of through the chimney. She gets advice on how to have a direct duct outside for her water heater, too.
- Basement Smells: There’s a persistent musty smell in Ted’s finished basement. We recommend installing a whole-house dehumidifier and improving the outside drainage.
- Wood Kitchen Walls: Janet gets some ideas on how to give her kitchen a rustic country style with beadboard, wood plank, or vinyl plank flooring adhered to the walls.
- Water Heater: Some strange sounds are coming from James’ water heater! We discuss why pipes make noise as the water heats up and how to look for potential leaks.
- Old Electrical Wiring: Judy was told that her old knob and tube wiring is not a concern. It’s actually unsafe and can’t be grounded, so it should be disabled and replaced.
- Installing a Bathroom: Phillip has a poured concrete house and wants to install a bathroom. There are two ways it can be done because of the solid walls and floors.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:22 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. And I’m Leslie Segrete. And we are here to help you take on the projects you want to get done around your house. We’re here to educate, to inspire, to build confidence, to serve as your guide, your coach, the occasional marriage counselor from the projects don’t go so well, whatever is going on and is in the way of getting your project done. We would love to get you past that pain point and onto enjoying the work you’re doing around your house and certainly enjoying the new space that you’ve created as a result. But first, you have to help yourself by reaching out to us with your questions. A couple of ways to do that. The easiest and quickest way is to go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Then you can record your question, which will come directly to us for an answer. Or you can call us at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. So if you’re trying to plan a project, solve a problem, you got a decor dilemma or a repair issue or renovation challenge, reach out to us because we’re here to help you. We are here to help. Coming up on today’s show, building a greenhouse can help you get spring gardening started sooner and enjoy veggies well into the fall. So we’re going to share some |
| 00:01:38 | LESLIE: options to hook you up with a four season crop of veggies. And when you take on spring cleaning projects, do you know the difference between a cleaner, a sanitizer and a disinfectant? Well, they’re actually quite different when it comes to killing germs that get left behind on surfaces. So we’re going to tell you what you need to know to make sure your home is safe. |
| 00:01:56 | TOM: And are you ready to see your grass grow bright and green? Well, that happens if the soil is really set for the season. We’ll tell you how to test and tweak your soil for a lush green lawn. That’ll be the envy of |
| 00:02:07 | LESLIE: the neighborhood. And we are almost at what we call the May flower season, you know, April showers, May flowers. So how was your garden shaping up? How was that yard shaping up? Because you’re about to be spending a ton of time in the backyard. So reach out to Team Money Pit |
| 00:02:22 | TOM: so we can help you get your whole outdoor situation in tip top shape. That number again is 888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:02:34 | LESLIE: Susan in Texas is on the line with a water question. What’s going on? |
| 00:02:38 | CALLER: My daughter has a country home she just purchased and there’s a 900 foot deep water well on it. And she wanted to know, does she need to use a water softener or a carbon filter for the drinking water? And also how much electricity would that use, that water well? |
| 00:02:55 | TOM: Well, the first thing she needs to do is to have a comprehensive water, |
| 00:02:57 | CALLER: test done. Was that done? I believe so because they had inspectors come out, |
| 00:03:01 | TOM: but I don’t remember what she said. Yeah, well, I wouldn’t believe anything unless I had a result back from a water testing laboratory. That’s going to tell you what kind of treatment you need to do locally. So the first thing she needs to do is to get a water test done, a thorough water test done. That’s going to check for all sorts of contaminants and pesticides and that sort of thing. And then based on that, you can determine what you want to do to treat the water. But you just don’t start treating it. First, she starts with the test and the test is what determines what needs to be treated. Make sense? Yes. Lots of sense. Yes. All right. Good luck, Susan. Thanks so much for calling us at |
| 00:03:36 | LESLIE: 888-Money-Pit. Joel in Arkansas is on the line and has a question about beams. What can we help you |
| 00:03:42 | CALLER: with? I have a house that has a sensor load bearing beam and I’m kind of wanting to remove it. And my brother-in-law, who is my roommate, said that there’s a way to put it up, into the attic. And I’m just kind of curious if that is like possible or… |
| 00:04:06 | TOM: So you have a beam that runs down the middle of the house and you’d like to eliminate this so that it doesn’t become sort of an obstruction. Is that correct? Right. So that you have like a continuous flat ceiling? |
| 00:04:15 | CALLER: Yes. We’re going to drop the ceiling down about seven inches. The beam is actually nine and a half inches down. It’s two, two by four, or two, four by sixes and then two, two by four. So it’s on either side. Kind of an eyesore. |
| 00:04:32 | TOM: Why are you dropping the ceiling? |
| 00:04:33 | CALLER: Because we’re going to put in a can lighting. |
| 00:04:36 | TOM: All right. So you’re only going to have like an extra couple of inches to deal with, with this beam. Is that what you’re saying? Right. Moving it a little or moving it a lot makes absolutely no difference. I will tell you that moving a main beam like that is one of the most difficult projects you can do. It’s definitely not a do-it-yourself project. It’s one where you absolutely have to have pros involved. And if you do it wrong, you could collapse your entire roof. The way it’s done is the structure above it is supported by… Temporary walls while that beam is disassembled. And then it gets sort of notched into the ceiling joist structure above and then moved up flush with those beams. So once it’s done, once it’s flush in there, then you would have a continuous flat ceiling. I don’t see why you couldn’t put the ceiling lights above that if you want to go that whole way. But this is a big project, Joel. This is not a small project to move that beam. All right. Good luck, though. Thanks very much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:05:25 | CALLER: Hey, thank you so much for accepting my call, man. |
| 00:05:29 | LESLIE: Esther in South Dakota, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:05:32 | CALLER: We just put a new furnace into our home. And instead of the pipe going into the chimney, the brick chimney goes way up through all the levels of the house. It goes out the side of the house. And right beside it is the water heater. And I was wondering if the furnace exhaust can be directed out the side of the house and a water heater as well? |
| 00:05:52 | TOM: Yeah. It depends on the efficiency. So when you put a more efficient HVAC system in, the temperature of the exhaust gases are such that it can be direct vented. That’s called direct venting, where you turn the vent right through the side of the house and let it out that way. If you were to try to put that in the chimney, those gases wouldn’t really make it out because the chimney would be so cold, there’d be a lot of condensation, and it could even reverse the draft. And now that you’ve taken the furnace out of the chimney, so the only thing that’s left in the chimney is the water heater, you may potentially very well still have that problem now. And I would hope that the HVAC contractor that did the furnace install made sure that, that was not the case, because if you get very cold chimneys, the amount of flame that’s coming off a water heater is not enough to warm them up. So you can get a lot of condensation where that draft will reverse, and that could push the combustion gases back in the house. If you want to run the vent for the water heater outside, you’re going to have to replace the water heater with one that’s more efficient and what’s called direct vent. It has sort of like a blower motor on top that pulls the gases out. So technically, you can do that. It’s just a different type of thing. All right. Thank you very much. You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:07:05 | LESLIE: Hey, you’re tired of living in a money pit? Well, we’re here to help. And if you want us to help out, it would be awesome if you could leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Just go to moneypit.com slash review. It’s only going to take a minute, and it means the world to us. All right. We’ve got Ted on the line who’s noticing a musty smell in the basement. What’s going on? |
| 00:07:23 | CALLER: I have a finished basement that’s carpeted, and I live in a townhome. And I just have a musty smell. And I can’t get rid of it, no matter what I do. |
| 00:07:31 | TOM: Is the basement heated and cooled? |
| 00:07:34 | CALLER: It is, yes. I actually have the heat turned on down there now, and I usually turn the air on in the summertime. And on nice days, I open the windows and let the windows stay open all day long. |
| 00:07:45 | TOM: Do you have a dehumidifier? |
| 00:07:47 | CALLER: I do not. |
| 00:07:48 | TOM: Well, generally, when you get a musty smell, it’s because of moisture. And sometimes the moisture settles into carpet and furnishings and can exacerbate it. But if you reduce the moisture and the humidity, that… Well, sometimes improve it. So in a basement, you can do that with something called a whole house dehumidifier, which is actually something that can be added onto the HVAC system. And it will take out… These whole house dehumidifiers can take out like 100 pints of water a day. They work really, really efficiently. And it’s not the kind of thing where you have to dump it or anything like that. It just goes to a pump and gets pumped right outside. The other thing that you can do is to improve the drainage conditions outside your house. Because believe it or not, if you extend gutters away from the house, if you slope soil away from the house, there’s a lot less water that collects at the foundation perimeter and ends up getting into your house and raising that humidity level. If you manage the moisture at the foundation perimeter and add a dehumidifier, you’ll find that it goes a long way towards reducing that amount of humidity. And then finally, I would check the HVAC system to make sure you have a good quality return vent in the basement. Because you don’t just want supplies, you want returns too. So it pulls that moisture back into the system. And as it goes through the system and heats up or goes across the air and coil and condenses, you’ll be pulling more moisture out that way as well. Okay? |
| 00:09:03 | CALLER: Okay, great. I’ll give it a shot. |
| 00:09:04 | TOM: All right, Ted. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:09:08 | LESLIE: Janet in South Carolina is working on a kitchen makeover. How can we help you? |
| 00:09:11 | CALLER: I have a kitchen. It’s not a very large kitchen, but the walls have been painted numerous times and not the best paint jobs. So I’ve decided to possibly add some type of wood to kind of give it a rustic feel because I really like that on the entire walls of the kitchen. And I was wondering, could you suggest to me something I could use? I’ve had people suggest bead board, the wainscot type board. Could you suggest to me something to use on my walls to give it that |
| 00:09:53 | LESLIE: rustic look? Let’s talk about your style of rustic because there’s so many different ways to in turn. Yeah, I can interpret that. And bead boards, you know, a great way to do a really classic, more country look, especially if you paint it like a white gloss, that just tends to be really clean. But if you’re looking for more something, you know, something more natural or like an agey piece of wood, there’s ways to do that too. |
| 00:10:15 | CALLER: That’s it. I want to go with a light, natural looking wood, not too light because my cabinets are the lighter color of wood. |
| 00:10:25 | LESLIE: Well, what you can do is you can actually get, and this would have a nice finish to it. You can look at flooring, wood plank flooring, and you can get one that has sort of a white, rustic, beachy wash to it. And you can even go with a vinyl flooring because that’s going to be super easy to install. And you can install the planks directly to your wall. And you can do that with an adhesive. You can do that with a double sided tape. There’s so many different ways you can attach it to the wall, depending on the weight of the product itself. And that, you know, if you put that on with the planks running vertically or horizontally, that can give a different look. So if you’re looking for something that’s kind of rustic look in comparison to the bead board. Now, it seems to me like you want to go |
| 00:11:02 | CALLER: floor to ceiling with this. Is this correct? That’s right. I do. Now, I do have cabinets |
| 00:11:07 | LESLIE: that do not go all the way up to the ceiling. Well, I think that’s okay, you know, because you’re generally dealing with maybe a foot to 18 inches of space up there. And that’s really not terrible. I mean, you can keep that as a painted surface and just, you know, decorate up there with some very clean baskets or something just to give you a little bit of extra storage, plus to mask that space a little bit. But I think that’s okay. I think that’s okay. I think that’s okay. I think the bead board is an excellent idea. And that’s a very easy do it yourself project using a wood flooring product, whether it’s vinyl or actual wood. There’s a company, Tom, is it Timber Chic? Yes. That’s right. I think is the name. And they do actual pieces of reclaimed lumber, almost like a veneer. And that you can attach to the walls. But I’ve done it with that VCR, that vinyl tile that looks like a wood plank. I’ve done that for an HGTV show in a variety of different finishes horizontally on the wall. And that gives a great rustic look. So it depends |
| 00:11:58 | CALLER: on what your interpretation of rustic is. Okay. Okay. Would you suggest now, would you suggest to put it over the cabinets also? Or are you stated to possibly leave it just painted? Or |
| 00:12:11 | LESLIE: could I cover that also? I mean, you can if you feel confident, you know, if you’re using a wood flooring planking product, you’re probably going to get, you know, two or three pieces in there without having to do any cuts. If you’re doing a bead board, that’s something you’re going to have to cut down to that exact height and put up there. It depends on how much, of it you see from the floor and what you feel comfortable with. I think if you’re going to do it, do it full out. But if you’re not confident in your abilities, or it’s too high, or you don’t really see it, then I think there’s other ways to mask it with some like decorative accessories. |
| 00:12:40 | CALLER: Okay. I understand. Okay, great. Well, thank you for your ideas. |
| 00:12:44 | TOM: You’re welcome, Janet. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:12:48 | LESLIE: Well, if you love gardening, having a greenhouse can help you get started earlier in spring and enjoy those veggies well into the fall. You know, there are tons of ready-made and wide options available to fit any budget and any style. |
| 00:13:01 | TOM: Yep. And if you think building a greenhouse is a big deal, it really doesn’t have to be. For example, if you’ve got some limited space, a mini greenhouse is probably going to be your best bet. They’re small, they’re portable, and they can fit in a very narrow area. The other option is what’s called a low tunnel greenhouse. And that’s because of its size. It can be used when it’s necessary. And then you can actually easily remove these. They lay sort of close to the ground and increase the sunshine that you get and really help those |
| 00:13:28 | LESLIE: plants grow quickly. Now, the other option is to go with a prefab greenhouse kit. And it’s kind of a nice setup. They’ve got a door, they’ve got the shelves. They usually only take up about 30 or 40 square feet of space. And we’ve highlighted some of our favorites in our most recent post about |
| 00:13:43 | TOM: backyard greenhouses on moneypit.com. You know, Leslie, do you have Costco’s where you live? Oh, yeah, yeah. So we have Costco’s. And I noticed with Costco’s that when you go in… |
| 00:13:51 | LESLIE: You get the best rotisserie chicken. Yes, agreed. |
| 00:13:54 | TOM: Well, you definitely do that. Yeah. But sometimes when you see things that are like sort of not, normal day-to-day things, they’re only there for a limited period of time. And so I was in the Costco, my local Costco, and I ran across a greenhouse kit. And I was very impressed. It was made of wood. It was solid. It had windows. It had an automatically opening skylight in it. And it was about, let’s see, it was about 42 square feet. And I thought, huh, now I could build one of these. And if I did, it’d take me, you know, probably a couple, two, three weekends. And it probably cost me more money because the price on it was $1,350. And I was like, wow. So I quickly Googled it because that’s a great thing to do. And I found out that it was like about $1,000 cheaper than everybody else that’s sold it. So once in a while, you get a good deal at Costco, but you got to hop on it right away. So now we’ve got a greenhouse kit from Costco and I’m looking forward to putting it together. And |
| 00:14:44 | LESLIE: that’s going to be next weekend’s project. Oh, that’s awesome. Yeah. That’s the thing. When you see something awesome and special and unique at one of these centers, you got to pick |
| 00:14:51 | TOM: it up because otherwise you would have been out of that greenhouse for sure. Yeah. And that’s happened to me before with things. But it’s the same thing for Sam’s Club, you know, or what’s the other one? BJ’s. BJ’s, right. Sam’s Club, BJ’s. Yeah. If you see something you want, you got to buy it right then because it’s really hard to get it afterward. Then you restock some of those things. |
| 00:15:09 | LESLIE: Yeah. And you know what? Next time you’re in there, start looking for those accessories that kind of go along with it. Maybe additional shelving, or even if you could find one of those cool greenhouse tables. And some of those tables are actually manually heated, which is great because if you live in a cooler climate, you can kind of start your veggies and stuff earlier. |
| 00:15:25 | TOM: Well, this thing doesn’t have a floor, so the first accessory I need is about 30 bags of concrete. |
| 00:15:30 | LESLIE: All right. We can tell you where to go for that, too. James in Delaware, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:15:35 | CALLER: The other day I was sitting in my living room, and all of a sudden, this real loud like whistle sound came out of my water heater room. I opened it up. I just never heard this before. And it did this for a few minutes, and then it just stopped. |
| 00:15:52 | TOM: You didn’t see any water come out of the overflow, did you? No. |
| 00:15:55 | CALLER: No, that’s what I can’t figure out. |
| 00:15:57 | TOM: How old is the water heater, James? |
| 00:15:59 | CALLER: About four or five years ago, I put in all electric. That was gas before. But all electric, I put a train heater in. And there’s another brand that they put in with the water heater. And it seems like now, I never haven’t heard that since. Now, when I use the water, the faucet in the kitchen, after I turn it off a couple of minutes later, I hear this noise, this like clicking noise. There’s something or something in the water heater. |
| 00:16:29 | TOM: So that clicking noise is probably the pipes expanding and contracting as they heat up and cool down. And it tends to amplify itself because of the nature of the copper pipes. But everything that you’re telling me doesn’t signal that I’m thinking you have any kind of problems. Sometimes the water expands and contracts. It will make some odd noises to it. Do I have to drain the heater at all? Do you have hard water there? Oh, yeah. So if you have hard water, sometimes you get mineral deposit. Along the bottom of the water heater. But that wouldn’t really impact the electric water heater because the coils are up in the middle of the water. They’re immersed right into the middle of the tank. So it’s not going to make them less efficient. So you could, but I don’t think it will have any effect. If you have a gas water heater, the heating element’s at the bottom. And sometimes if you get mineral deposits that sit over the bottom of the water tank, it’s kind of like an insulator and it makes it harder to heat the water. But in the case of electric water here, the heating elements are embedded up in the water heater, usually a foot from the bottom and a foot down from the top. So that wouldn’t affect it. |
| 00:17:25 | CALLER: isn’t there one in the top and the bottom? |
| 00:17:28 | TOM: Yes. But it’s immersed in the middle of the tank. It’s like sticks through the tank kind of at a right angle. And there’s one about a foot down from the top and one that’s about a foot up from the bottom. So you’re not going to have any settling of mineral salt deposits on it. |
| 00:17:40 | CALLER: What’s the life expectancy of one of these things? |
| 00:17:43 | TOM: About 10 years, 10 to 12 years. |
| 00:17:45 | CALLER: 10 years and that’s it? And what, I guess, the elements go usually? |
| 00:17:49 | TOM: Well, if the elements go, they can be replaced, but the tanks tend to leak after 10 plus years. Wow. |
| 00:17:54 | CALLER: Wow. Now, where should I keep an eye on? What is it? They leak in the bottom? They just leak water all over the place? |
| 00:17:59 | TOM: The best thing to do is if you’re going away, right, you should always turn off your main water valve and also turn off the water heater because it won’t waste a lot of electricity by heating up water in a house that you’re not using. |
| 00:18:13 | CALLER: By the way, let me tell you something. I love you guys. You guys have a really very wholesome, you know, great show because there’s a lot of talk shows on different things, but you guys, you help a lot of people. |
| 00:18:25 | TOM: We try. Thank you so much, James. We really appreciate that. Good luck with the project and thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. And I see we have another beautiful five-star review from our friend Dawn in Connecticut. Well, she wasn’t my friend before, but after reading this, she’s definitely my friend now. She’s your best friend now. |
| 00:18:41 | LESLIE: Yeah, so Dawn wrote in from Connecticut and she says, I always have this show on when I’m sewing or working inside or outside the house. The broadcasters, Leslie and Tom, I love that. We sound so professional. Have pleasant voices. They’re very kind. She grew up with her dad, who was her best friend and really a great joy for her. And he was a chief in a Navy, an electrician, a carpenter, a plumber, and he really taught her so much. So Dawn, this really is wonderful that we’re reminding you of this experience that you had with your dad, especially since he’s not with us anymore. And it’s so great that we can help you find a sense of pride in all of these projects that you’re doing. She says also every single episode of The Money Pit has so many tips. I’m constantly learning and I’m also reassured that it did something right. Or when I didn’t, I couldn’t get along without all the shared knowledge from Tom and Leslie. Dawn, we thank you so much for joining us. We’re glad that we can help you feel connected to your dad and know what it’s like to have your folks in heaven. So we’re just so happy to be such a big part of your life. And thank you for being such a big part of ours. |
| 00:19:41 | TOM: And if you’d like to post a review about The Money Pit, you can do so at moneypit.com slash review. That’s moneypit.com slash review. |
| 00:19:50 | LESLIE: Well, when it comes to keeping your household surfaces clean and germ-free, it’s important to know that the Money Pit is a great place to start your day. So if you’re that you understand the differences between cleaning products, because they all aim to remove dirt and grime, but they do actually serve different purposes sort of in the way you’re achieving cleanliness and hygiene. So let’s delve into the distinctions between a cleaner, a sanitizer, and a disinfectant. You know, it’s not just fun words that they’re adding to the packaging to be like, ooh, I’m this. It’s actually two different things. |
| 00:20:19 | TOM: And people use them interchangeably, but it’s important to know the difference. |
| 00:20:22 | LESLIE: Yeah. So now a cleaner. A cleaner is going to get rid of dirt, dust, stains on a surface. How they work is that they loosen those particles and lift them away and kind of leave that surface visually clean. And I say visually because they’re there for just sort of everyday cleanups. They may not, a cleaner may not |
| 00:20:40 | TOM: necessarily kill those germs and the bacteria to give you a sanitized surface. Now, a sanitizer is specifically formulated to reduce the number of bacteria on a surface down to a safe level. Sanitizers are most common. They’re not just for cleaning. They’re for cleaning. They’re for commonly used on surfaces that have food contact. So we’re talking about kitchen countertops, dining tables, and that sort of thing. And they’re designed to really prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses. Now, finally, there is the disinfectant. That is the most potent of the three types of cleaning products. And it’s specifically designed to kill a wide range of germs, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The disinfectants are key for areas where illness-causing germs may be present, like bathrooms or high-touch surfaces like |
| 00:21:24 | LESLIE: and light switches. So now the other thing that you have to understand about sanitizers and disinfectants is you should actually be reading those instructions. Because when you look at it, some of them will say, spray on and leave on for five minutes and then wipe away and rinse with water. Or some will say, you know, wipe up immediately. So you really have to look at what the stay on time period, because it’s very specific per product and per purpose. So definitely read those instructions. Don’t be just like, eh, I’m cleaning. I get it. Spray, wipe. No. Different rules apply when you get here, okay? |
| 00:21:57 | TOM: You know, I always think about that when I’m going to a busy restaurant. And let’s say that the waitstaff is cleaning the table. They go, oh, just be ready in a minute, right? You see them, what do they do? They go, spritz, spritz, spritz, wipe, wipe, wipe. Okay, it’s ready. Well, it’s not disinfected. That’s for sure, right? You may be wiping away the food particles, but they didn’t leave that stuff on for any time at all. |
| 00:22:15 | LESLIE: And you probably just wiped them onto my chair. |
| 00:22:17 | TOM: Probably. Yeah, exactly. So it’s important that you know the differences between these products. They use them properly so that they truly do. Make you safer in your home. |
| 00:22:26 | LESLIE: Judy in Iowa is on the line with an electrical question. Tell us about what’s going on at your place. |
| 00:22:31 | CALLER: My electricity gives me wonder. It’s so far so good. Our house is old. It was built in the late 1920s. And we love it there. It’s a big old farmhouse, but it’s got knob and tube wiring in it. And the electrician said that was there that I’m not sure he’s a full-fledged electrician, but he said that it was. And he said, just don’t mess with it and it’ll be all right. But I just get nervous in the summer when we have the air conditioner on. Every once in a while, the lights seem to go dimmer when the air turns on. So I’m just wondering if we should stick with what we have or is that a danger? Do I need to switch or do we need to change it over to something else or what? |
| 00:23:18 | TOM: So knob and tube wiring is the very first centrally wired type of house wiring that was available. And it’s called knob and tube because there are ceramic knobs, like little, they look almost like drawer pulls. And they’re attached to the side of the structure. So that might be, for example, the rafters or the ceiling joists. And then the wires are stretched from knob to knob to knob. And where it goes through a joist, there’s a ceramic tube that’s inserted in it. And that’s why it’s called knob and tube. Now, knob and tube wiring, the biggest issue with it is that it’s not grounded, nor is it ground to bowl. So it’s unsafe from a user perspective. But even more important, that wiring was done like in the 1930s. And it’s pretty much falling apart today. Very often, you’ll see the rubber insulation just break and fall off and crumble. And in addition to that, the reason that the wires are strung off the beam is because they have to be air-cooled. And so guess what happens when you put insulation over that? It’s no longer air-cooled. So it gets even hotter. And that’s why it’s called knob and tube wiring. And that’s why it’s hotter. So I think that knob and tube wiring is unsafe and should be disabled no matter what else is going on with your air conditioning. Now, as to the air conditioning issue, that may or may not have something to do with the knob and tube. Whenever you turn on an appliance with a big compressor, it happens often with refrigerators or air conditioners, that the circuit that you’re on there happens to be somewhat close to the lighting circuit. That’s the place you usually see it. That kind of thing happens all the time. But unless you have lights on, you don’t, physically notice it, but it’s not uncommon, for example, in the kitchen to see the lights dim once in a while in an older house, whenever the refrigerator kicks on, because nowadays we put those all in separate circuits, but when they share a circuit, well, then you’re often going to see that kind of effect. So my advice would be to replace the knob and tube wiring. Now you can simply disable it and leave it in place. You don’t take it out, but you want to replace it as much as you possibly can. I’d love to see it replaced throughout the entire house. I know that it’s difficult, but it’s certainly worth it. And it would be a lot safer if you did. |
| 00:25:28 | LESLIE: Okay. Well, I appreciate that. Well, if you’ve been trying to create a lush lawn around your home, but you feel like you are consistently losing that battle to bald spots and to weeds, you might be wondering what you should be doing to get your lawn back in shape. Here are four keys |
| 00:25:45 | TOM: to bringing on the green. Now, first, get yourself a soil test. That’s definitely the best place to start. This is going to determine if the soil pH or the acidity needs adjusting. And that’s important to know because it determines the level of nutrients that are available to the plants, as well as the activity of soil microorganisms. You’re essentially measuring the acidity or alkalinity of the soil and the scale runs from zero to 14. Now the ideal pH for most lawns is 6.5 to seven. And if that test reveals that the acidity is too high, you’ll need to add lime to reduce it. But if the soil test indicates too much alkalinity, then you would add sulfur to |
| 00:26:25 | TOM: your target pH of 6.5 to seven. So it’s a little bit about soil chemistry, but it’s important to |
| 00:26:31 | LESLIE: get it just right. Now, if your lawn is starting to look thin or just doesn’t seem like it has enough fullness, it might be time to reseed. So it’s best to rototill that soil. Now, this is going to mix in any fertilizer that you may have applied, and it usually kills off most annual weeds, which is why it’s best that you do this before those weeds go to seed. Now, perennial weeds, on the other hand, have roots that remain in that soil. All the time. So tilling the soil only breaks the roots into pieces, which could result in more weeds. So the quickest way to control these weeds is by applying a post-emergent herbicide. |
| 00:27:05 | TOM: Timing is important. The best time to plant grass seed is late April through May and late August to early September. Use a fertilizer spread, apply half the amount in one direction and the other half at right angles to make sure you get uniform coverage. And most importantly, water is critical. Sprinkle your lawn lightly several times a day to keep it from getting too wet. Keep that soil moist and cool. And as the grass begins to grow, water less often, but soak the soil more each time. |
| 00:27:32 | LESLIE: Now, we’ve got Philip on the line who needs some help installing a bathroom. What are you working |
| 00:27:36 | CALLER: on? Well, we have an unusual house. It’s all concrete, poured concrete back in the 80s. So all of the walls in the upper and lower are concrete. Now, we have one bathroom in this house. However, we want to install a small half bath. In the bedroom, right next to the bathroom that’s in the basement now. So we have a concrete wall between the two. We have concrete floors where the toilet and the bathtub is installed now. Between the bathtub and the other wall, all the plumbing is in there. That’s not concrete. That is framed in. So we have access to that in the room next door. The question is, is we want to install another bathroom, a half bath. So we want a toilet and a sink. The sink is no problem as because what I just said about the plumbing being roughed in there. But boy, how do we really want to do this? So it’s going to take some, I assume, |
| 00:28:45 | TOM: some demolition work to get down into that. So what room do you want the half bath to be in? |
| 00:28:51 | CALLER: Is it going to be on the same level as the existing bathrooms? That is correct. It’s in the lower level. It’s basically the same as, you know, you could just say it’s a basement. The only difference is, is that the wall between the bath that is there now and the bedroom right |
| 00:29:08 | TOM: next door, which where we want the half bath is a concrete wall. Okay. So you’re worried about getting through the wall that separates these two bath spaces. So you have concrete below, and then you have a concrete dividing wall. What about the ceiling? Is that typical wood construction? It is. So, okay. Well, there’s two ways to do it. You can do it with a concrete do this. Number one, yes, you could dig out the floor and break that area out, try to find the intersection with the waste pipe on the other side of that wall. Or you could use what’s called a lift pump. So there are toilets out there that have pumps that are built into them that when you flush them and you can spill the water waste from the sink into this as well, it essentially activates a pump. It grinds the waste. It runs it up through a pipe. And then it would go up across to the waistline and be dropped down from there. So that’s be less destructive. The mechanism is, you know, a little more complicated, perhaps a little louder than a typical toilet flush, but they work very, very reliably. And they’re very often used in basement bathroom |
| 00:30:10 | CALLER: situations where the toilet position is below the main waistline. Well, no, the main waistline, since the only bath is in the lower level, right next to where I want the half bath to be. So the is in the floor and it runs out to the south through and right out and it goes right down into the sewer line outside. So there’s no, it’s the same level. So I would really like to hook up to the existing line that is right next to the half bath that I want to put in. |
| 00:30:45 | TOM: Yep. So I got two words for you, jackhammer. You know, if you can break up that floor and connect with that line, or like I said, you can go up over the wall and drop into, the vent pipe, which will no doubt be in that same space. And then of course, you know, eight feet below that connects with the waistline. So those are your options. I hope one of those works for you. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. And Marilyn has a question. She’s got an old countertop and wants to know if she can put new laminate on top of the original countertop without removing that old laminate. You know, Leslie, I actually did this very project many years ago, and certainly you can’t remove the old stuff. That would kind of be silly because it would be hard to get off. And if you did, you’d have a lot of glue to deal with. What you can basically do is sand the old laminate surface and then re-laminate, put another layer of laminate on top of that. It’s still a lot |
| 00:31:35 | LESLIE: of work, but it definitely can be done. And you know, Marilyn, you can also put a treatment on top of this countertop yourself to make it look like something completely different. If you check out daichcoatings.com, it’s D-A-I-C-H-coatings.com. There’s a lot of products that they have that you can apply. They’re in kits. They’re still in the process. So if you’re looking for a new countertop, that can make it look like marble, granite, you know, any sort of solid surface that really, you know, is very convincing and you don’t have to be like a super artist to tackle it. |
| 00:32:06 | TOM: These are very DIY friendly. Are you guys ready to swing into spring cleaning? Well, the first step is to clear away with some strategic decluttering. Leslie shares her approach in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. Leslie, got a lot of stuff to clear out |
| 00:32:21 | LESLIE: for the spring? I mean, I feel like I clear out every spring and then, you know, I’m like, come spring again, there’s more stuff to get rid of. I don’t know how we keep accumulating so much stuff. But if you kind of can clear away some of that clutter, it’s going to make your housekeeping easier. It’s going to make your home more safe and efficient. So here’s some tips for strategic spring decluttering. You want to start small. So start by clearing out a closet in a single room, then clear the room’s corner, then open some spaces in that room and put leftover items in these newly spacious storage areas that you’re finding in that room. So you kind of start small with one area of storage in this space and then kind of expand upon it until you’ve done that whole room. Now you want to clear clutter in your kitchen because kitchen clutter is especially dangerous. It’s the most common place where fire starts. You want to keep your kitchen safe by making sure paper, cloth, any other flammable items are stowed far away from any heat generating appliances. Now, junk mail. It’s so easy to kind of just let it pile up or bring all the mail in and be like, well, if I put it in this basket, I’ll get to it eventually. You just kind of have to go through that junk mail, get rid of it off the counter and table space. But you have to get into the habit of once the mail arrives, go through it. Anything that’s junk mail, put it right in that recycling bag out on the porch or out on the side of the house or under the sink, wherever you do it, but just sort it immediately and then go through those mails. And you can kind of cut down on all of the things that come through the mail by paying bills. So those are a couple of ways. Now, your wardrobe really is the sort of last phase. And I find that this happens all the time because you start with an organized space and then you kind of put stuff back more messily every time you take something out of the closet. And then six months later, that closet is a mess again. So take everything out of the closet, sort through it, make sure whatever is of the current season is in a spot where you can get to it more easily, put away the things that are, you know, for the wrong season that we’re in. And then also, if you’re if there’s pieces that you just haven’t worn or you’re like, oh, one day or maybe I’ll fit into that again. Here’s the tip, guys. You’re not going to wear it. You’re not going to fit into it. You don’t just don’t keep it unless it’s super duper duper special. Let’s just donate it. Let’s start reselling of the clothes. There’s great ways to make some money there and clear out some space. And then you can buy something new for the season. So lots of ways to start small, but gain a lot of |
| 00:34:49 | TOM: big traction when it comes to organizing. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time on the program, are you guys ready to dig up some dirt, spruce up your landscape space for real? We’re going to have some tips on how you can create a simple landscape plan to make a beautiful exterior to your home on the very next edition of the Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler. And I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:35:14 | 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