#2414 – Waste Not: Water-Saving Fixtures | Undercover Living and Storage Space

Show Notes

Get ready for summer with water-saving solutions and outdoor living tips! Discover new plumbing fixtures to effortlessly reduce water usage, expand your living space by creating a dry, clean area under your deck, and get top picks for lawnmowers. Whatever your home improvement project may be, listen in for all the advice you need!

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Show Notes
Top Questions & Answers
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript

Saving Water: Saving water is made easier with water-saving plumbing fixtures.
Underdeck Space: Find out how to gain dry, usable living and storage space under an elevated deck.
Lawn Mowers: New rankings reveal the best lawnmowers that make the cut with Consumer Reports.

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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00:00:24	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.
00:00:31	TOM: And we are here to help you take on the projects you want to get done around your house this spring, whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or a do-it-for-me kind of home improver, you are welcome. Reach out to us with your questions at 1-888-Money-Pit or go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Coming up today, as we move towards summer, saving water becomes more and more important. But rather than rely on your kids and the rest of the family to use less water, good luck with that, new fixtures can actually do the water saving for you. It’s a simple plumbing project, and we’re going to tell you how to find faucets. And toilets and showers and sprinklers that can do the job without wasting water.
00:01:09	LESLIE: And would you like to pick up some outdoor living space in an area that’s protected from the outdoors? Well, we’re going to share a tip on how you can create a dry, clean space under a deck that can double as your living space.
00:01:21	TOM: And if your lawn is looking like it’s ready for a cut, but your mower’s not, we’re going to share Consumer Reports’ top picks for walk-behind battery-powered mowers.
00:01:28	LESLIE: But before we get to that, we want to talk to you about what you want to talk about. So whether you’re planning a small decor project or diving into a full-blown renovation, we have got you covered.
00:01:39	TOM: That’s right. From fixing leaks to sprucing up your space, we are here to help you every step of the way. So reach out right now. Again, those numbers are 1-888-Money-Pit or go to moneypit.com slash ask. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
00:01:53	LESLIE: Deb in Wyoming, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:01:56	CALLER: Yeah, I’ve got some trouble with an area of grass right in the middle of my yard. It’s probably 20 by 20. The yard or the problem area? The problem area is probably 20 by 20. Okay, that’s a big problem. Yeah, and the lawn is pretty big and it grows really good all the way around this area. And it’ll grow maybe, you know, an inch or two and then it kind of heads out and never really gets green. We put extra water on it and we fertilize it and aerate it just like the rest of the lawn. But it just… It just doesn’t look good and it seems funny that this would be just in one area.
00:02:38	LESLIE: Well, it could be, you know, that that area for whatever reason has a different pH balance than the other parts of your lawn itself and therefore that the seed that you’re using is reacting differently to the soil than the other areas. So you might want to take a couple of soil samples from the problem area and have those tested. Sometimes the home centers sell little kits. Sometimes you might have to contact your local building. department to find out who you can do that with, but you can have a soil test done pretty easily and inexpensively. And once you know exactly what’s going on with the soil in this area, I mean, that could be, you know, enlightening to have this information because you could be using the wrong seed. You could be using the wrong fertilizer. That will tell you exactly what type of fertilizer, when, how to water it. That’s really the key here and that should clear up a lot of this problem. Okay, that sounds great. I’ll sure give it a try.
00:03:32	TOM: Deb, I hope that helped. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit.
00:03:36	LESLIE: Steve in Illinois, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:03:39	CALLER: Looked outside this year and we’ve got a building that was built in 1929. It’s got a porch above the patio down below and on the exposed joists, those carpenter bees have put some holes in there and we’re looking for a way to eliminate the carpenter bees and not necessarily poison everything in the neighborhood.
00:04:00	LESLIE: Well, part of what they’re doing is, you know, they really enjoy eating this natural wood. So they’re coming there because you’ve got something tasty to offer up and, you know, it turns out that they love to bore these holes that are like perfectly three-eighths inches, you know, round. So you can do a couple of things. You can have it treated by a pest professional and then seal up those holes and that should do the trick. But you’re right, you know, chemicals are used and that might not be what you have in mind. The other thing is you can cover that or replace that. That joist completely or whatever the support is with a synthetic wood or a composite that looks like wood, but it’s not actually wood. It could be extruded PVC. It could be recycled plastics. This way, it looks like wood. It’s doing the same job that the wood piece was. However, carpenter bees, carpenter ants, termites, whatever pests like to eat a natural sources wood, they’re going to try it. They’re not going to get into it and they’re going to be really confused and fly away and find somewhere else to eat.
00:05:01	CALLER: Yeah, that’s true. That sounds like an option. I was wondering if there’s something that, you know, I assume that painting it would not make a difference. I didn’t know if there was something that could be topically applied to it that would be environmentally friendly and keep the bees out.
00:05:20	LESLIE: I’ve had them eat through the painted wood that makes up my entire screen and porch. And then what happens is they bore a hole, but they won’t bore all the way through. They’ll bore into the wood, even if it’s just like a one by six or whatever. They find a way to bore into it and then bore through the wood itself and lay their eggs in there. Okay.
00:05:37	CALLER: Yeah, it’s amazing. It looks like somebody got out with a drill and drilled the hole in there.
00:05:42	LESLIE: It’s just bizarre. It’s perfect how they do it.
00:05:44	CALLER: So essentially, the options basically are having someone come out and treat it or either covering or changing the material that’s there.
00:05:55	LESLIE: Yeah, changing material is usually the best bet because they won’t eat it. And then as an added benefit, you know, it doesn’t require… It doesn’t require any maintenance except the occasional cleaning. You know, you’re not going to be painting it all the time. It really is a win-win situation. Okay.
00:06:09	CALLER: Yeah, I’ll look into that. I’ve got a contractor that’s got to come out anyway. So I’ll look into both options. But it sounds like I’d prefer something that wouldn’t have to do with pesticides.
00:06:21	TOM: Steve, I hope that takes care of those carpenter bees once and for all. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:06:27	LESLIE: You know, we love hearing from our listeners. And if you want to make our day, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.
00:06:33	TOM: You know, it really helps us know what we’re doing right and how we can improve our show for you. So just go to moneypit.com slash review, moneypit.com slash review, and you might even win a copy of our book. Hey, there’s a new product out from our friends at Daich Coating. It’s called the Marble Dream Resurfacing Kit from Daich Coatings. They’ve given us one kit to give away. It’s worth $169. And it’s pretty cool. It’s a roll-on marble resurfacing kit for countertops and vanities and tabletops. Easy. You don’t need any special artistic skills and everything you need is in the kit. It’s available from Daich Coatings. It’s going out to one listener drawn at random who reaches us with a question. So make that you call us right now with your question at 1-888-Money-Pit, and you might just win a great kit from Daich Coatings.
00:07:19	LESLIE: Let’s chat with Carl right now, who’s calling in from Michigan with a question about air conditioning. What’s going on?
00:07:24	CALLER: Notice my HVAC guy, he just told me, and starting in 2025, what they’re going to do, they’re changing them. They’re going to change the refrigerant to another gas. And he said it’s slightly flammable. He is not real happy about this. And I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but he said he just don’t think it’s a real good idea. And he said he might have to get new tools. And I read a little bit about it on the Internet, but they pretty much said the same thing. And I don’t know why. I think it’s all government stuff. So do you know you’re aware? Do you know? Do you know anything about this stuff?
00:08:02	TOM: Yeah, but actually the standard changed back in January of 2023. So it’s been out now for, you know, over a year. It’s called R-454B. That’s the new refrigerant that’s replacing Freon. And it’s a much more environmentally friendly product. I have not heard any reports of dangers, although I’m sure there’s a lot of HVAC guys that, you know, they have to change tools. They don’t like that. They don’t want to make any changes to their practices. I get that. Sorry, not sorry. You know, this is a new. This is a new standard that’s come out. It’s been what was well announced for years before it happened. There’s a lot of studies that went on with the product. And that’s where we’re at. I’ll tell you where it’s hard. It’s hard because it’s very difficult to find Freon today if you want to do a repair to an older system. The Freon costs have gone way, way, way up. So more and more people are opting to not repair but replace HVAC systems, but replace air conditioning systems. That have the original Freon and go with the new R454 version.
00:09:06	CALLER: Well, this is going to start in 2025. You know, we’re good till then. Now, I got Pure on in mind right now. And he said this thing’s starting till 2025. So, you know, they’re just trying to get him educated on all this stuff. And that’s what he told me. And then I just wondered, too, Mike, I got a carrier air conditioner. It’s going to be 13 years old in June. I just wondered. I wonder if I should replace it. Somebody told me I should get 20 years out of it. Do you think that’s possible?
00:09:37	TOM: No. I mean, that would be generous. I mean, you got 13 years out of it. That’s not so bad. I think what you’re referring to about the 2025 standard is another change that will happen in 2025, which is to switch to an eco-friendly, low GWP-compliant refrigerant. And Lenox seems to be making that move. And so I think you’re going to find all the manufacturers are going to follow.
00:10:02	CALLER: Okay. Well, thanks. Thanks for your time.
00:10:06	LESLIE: Macy in Pennsylvania is on the line and needs some advice starting a project for a bathroom remodel. What can we do for you?
00:10:12	CALLER: Trying to do a bathroom remodel. And we’d like to see who you recommend in the Grayson County area. Should I use a construction company or a remodeling business?
00:10:23	TOM: Well, Macy, if you’re going to be remodeling a bathroom, there’s one thing you want to look for in a contractor, and that is experience. Right, Leslie? I mean, you take that room out. You’ve been out of commission for a while, and things are going to get ugly fast.
00:10:34	LESLIE: Well, it’s going to get inconvenient for sure.
00:10:36	TOM: Well, that’s for sure. So, look, a construction company, a remodeling company, they’re pretty much the same. That doesn’t mean anything to me. What’s meaningful is to make sure you’re using someone who’s really experienced in remodeling bathrooms. They’re hard spaces to work in because they are so small, and they have to be done efficiently. So what I would do first, though, is I would do my homework and figure out what I want in my remodel project. So what kind of tile you want? What kind of fixtures you want? Are there any layout changes? All that sort of thing. And once you have that committed to, then you can call in a remodeling company or any other kind of contractor and then get them to submit estimates based on what you have decided you want. If you don’t do it that way, you will not be able to compare apples to apples. You’ll get a lot of different variations in the bids. It will be really difficult. So that’s what I would do. I would do my homework, and then I would call contractors and get estimates from there. So I hope that makes sense to you. And if you need more help, just reach out to us. That’s 1-888-Money-Pit.
00:11:33	LESLIE: Well, now that summer is getting closer, saving water becomes more and more important. But rather than rely on your kids or your family to use less water, well, because that’s just not going to happen, updating your plumbing fixtures can actually do that water savings for you. It’s actually a very simple pro plumbing project.
00:11:52	TOM: Well, we’ve got a few tips on how you can find faucets, toilets, showers, and sprinklers that can do the job without wasting water. So here we go. First, let’s talk toilets. They can last for decades, making them one of the most durable plumbing fixtures in the house. But while they don’t really wear out, old toilets can waste plenty of water with every flush. Instead, switch to WaterSense certified toilets.
00:12:14	LESLIE: Now, WaterSense is a program that’s run by the EPA. And just like the Energy Star program helps consumers find products that save energy, WaterSense is designed to help consumers identify products that will save water. So to qualify, a product’s got to be water-saving. And it’s going to be certified to use at least 20% less water, save energy, and perform as well or better than regular models.
00:12:37	TOM: Now, besides toilets, if you were to also replace your bathroom faucet and the shower head, the EPA reports you could save 26,000 gallons of water a year and create 380 fewer pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. And also, and this is the important part, reduce your utility bills by $250.
00:12:54	LESLIE: Yeah, and speaking of those utility bills, if you use less water, you also use less water. And if you use less natural gas or electricity to heat that water, so it all adds up. Plus, besides bathrooms and kitchens, WaterSense fixtures are also available for outdoors, you know, like a lawn sprinkler or a rain controller or even other irrigation products. And they can be updated, which will help you avoid wasting water while still enjoying that beautiful landscape. Ray, in Florida, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:13:22	CALLER: I have a little problem. I have painted my baths with the walls and the ceiling a few years ago. And also, put on a border. Well, the ceiling paint is peeling like in big spots. And when I painted it, I used kilts, and I don’t know why it’s peeling.
00:13:44	TOM: So there must be moisture behind it. Or how old is this house?
00:13:51	CALLER: Well, the house was built in 78.
00:13:54	TOM: Because the other thing that can happen is if you have multiple layers of paint, sometimes you get the lamination of an, an older surface of that paint. So what might be peeling off might not be like the paint from the kilts or the kilts from the prior paint. It could be a layer, several layers back. And when you have such a severe adhesion problem, the best thing to do is to strip the old paint off of the ceiling, then apply an oil-based primer like kilts or really any other brand that’s a name brand, and then apply a flat ceiling paint on top of that.
00:14:23	CALLER: Yeah, I did use the ceiling paint. But you know, now that you mentioned it, it, uh, looking at where it’s peeling, it does kind of, it’s, uh, let me, let me think here. Uh, yeah, like a grayish color underneath the paint.
00:14:38	TOM: Yeah, so you see, it may not be what you painted that’s peeling. It might be a prior layer that’s peeling.
00:14:43	CALLER: Right, I follow what you’re saying, yeah.
00:14:45	TOM: Yeah, so you need to get all that old paint off and start from scratch, unfortunately.
00:14:49	CALLER: So now do you have to, like, just scrape it or sand it or?
00:14:52	TOM: Well, no, you’re going to need a paint stripper. You’re going to need a paint stripper because you’re not going to be able to scrape it off. You’ve got to get that loose stuff off. Wow. Okay. That’s a lot of work. I mean, look, the other thing you could do is you could put another layer of drywall right on top of that and just skin it. You wouldn’t even need to use half-inch drywall. You could use quarter-inch drywall. You’d have a seam or two to tape and spackle, but then you’d start from scratch.
00:15:13	CALLER: All right, well, I appreciate the help on that.
00:15:15	TOM: I think we just filled up a couple of weekends for you, too. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:15:22	LESLIE: Erin in Louisiana is on the line. How can we help you today? Hi, I have a slab.
00:15:27	CALLER: I have a slab house that’s about 35 years old, and it’s showing signs of needing to be leveled, but I thought I heard on a previous show of yours that you do not recommend leveling a house, just fix the issues that come up as it needs it, and I didn’t know if I heard correctly or not, so I thought I would call and ask about that.
00:15:47	LESLIE: Well, tell me, how much of a slope are you noticing throughout the property on the interior of the home? No, we’re seeing cracks in the walls, cracks in the ceiling, cracks in the floors. Okay, now, if you’re seeing cracks in the walls and in the ceiling, are they sort of near a doorway or a window, or are they just square in the middle of stuff?
00:16:07	CALLER: Well, there’s a crack in the floor that’s square in the middle of the floor, and it extends out into a sliding glass door, and the brick above the sliding glass door is separated, and then we also see it in rooms next to the ceiling. You know, where, like, the house is shaped like a T, and where one part of the top of
00:16:37	LESLIE: the T goes into the long part of the T, I can see it separating there against, you know, in the ceiling. You know, generally, if you see cracks in there by a door frame or a window, that’s just general movement because of the opening in the envelope of the home, you know, being in a window opening or a doorway in an envelope. Now, if you’re seeing it, like, in the middle of the floor and above a door frame in brick, you might be concerned that there could be some structural issues going on. However, you might want to bring in a structural engineer. You bring in an engineer or even a home inspector, and for a couple of hundred bucks, they’ll come in and look at these areas and diagnose specifically what’s going on there because it could be something structural that could need to be fixed in, you know, a way that you can’t just do. by repairing the crack, or it could just simply be natural settlement of the home over the duration of the home’s lifespan, and that’s easily fixable. But because you have a crack forming in the middle of a floor and that continues to a doorway, I would definitely bring in somebody who’s a structural engineer, and they can write up a report on it. And the benefit of doing that is that when you do fix this, whatever the problem may be, you are going to have a full written pedigree of what you’ve done to the problem in the home. How you’ve fixed it and what everything was done correctly. This way, if you go to sell the home and somebody says, oh, I saw a crack or whatever the situation might be, you can say, actually, this happened, we did this repair, and it’s all square. Okay.
00:18:12	TOM: You know, Erin, some cracks are really typical wear and tear, so to speak, but this one definitely sounds like you need a pro to check it out. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:18:23	LESLIE: Steven in Texas needs some help with a cabinet project. What can we do for you? Sure.
00:18:28	CALLER: Steve has challenges with chemicals like formaldehydes and glues and paints that they put in kitchen cabinets, the new ones. And I was wondering if you had any idea like what a person could use that you could get away from them, type of chemicals in cabinets.
00:18:44	TOM: So you’re looking for a cabinet manufacturer that is sort of formaldehyde free and VOC free, is that correct?
00:18:51	CALLER: Yeah, that’d be right. Yes.
00:18:52	TOM: Steve, that’s an interesting question because when it comes to kitchen cabinets, so many of the products that go in the kitchen cabinets have the potential to have VOCs or volatile organic compounds in them because you can start with the boards that are used to build the cabinets. If they’re a press board or a composite board of some sort that may have formaldehyde in it, for example, then you have the finishes and on and on and on. I think what you want to do is you want to look for kitchen cabinetry that is built to meet the new CARB2. The CARB2 standard, that’s C-A-R-B-2 standard. That stands for the California Air Resources Board. And that’s a standard that measures the level of those types of toxins in cabinetry. And so if you search for kitchen cabinets that meet that standard, I think that’s a good place to start.
00:19:45	CALLER: Would you have any idea like maybe some metal cabinets, you know, like that would look nice in a kitchen, like, would you have any ideas on something like that?
00:19:53	TOM: Well, you’d still have finishes on metal cabinets that would have some of the same issues. Yeah. You know, I haven’t seen metal cabinets in a kitchen in forever. The Gladiator folks at Whirlpool are doing a really good job these days with metal cabinetry for laundry rooms and utility areas and spaces like that. But I don’t know if that cabinet line is going to extend to the point where you’d have enough flexibility to do it in a kitchen.
00:20:19	LESLIE: Well, I can share with you a vendor of a, you know, no formaldehyde added cabinetry. They’re actually beautiful handmade wooden cabinets. I’m not sure of their price point, but I am familiar with the fact that they are not adding any chemicals to it and they are very responsible in how they utilize the wood and the products that they use to make their cabinets. It’s a company out of Portland and their name is Neal Kelly and it’s N-E-I-L-K-E-L-L-Y. And then there was a metal cabinet manufacturer that I was familiar with a while ago. It’s Phillip Metal and it’s F-I-L-L-I-P. It’s sort of this, you know, new revival of some, some interesting repurposed materials and, you know, you might want to check them out as well. Okay.
00:21:00	TOM: Well, thank you very much for the information. I appreciate it. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, do you have an outdoor deck that is elevated? If so, these usually have very wet, damp spaces underneath that are pretty much virtually unusable. Yeah.
00:21:17	LESLIE: And if you have, or you’re planning to build an elevated deck, a good underdeck system to consider is Trex Rain Escape. Now, it creates a dry, usable space. Underneath that elevated deck. And then it extends the life of your deck by protecting the foundation from moisture damage and decay. And the way it works is very interesting. Now, the system has an integrated network of troughs and downspouts that all work together to capture that rain and then funnel it away from your deck. And that’s going to keep the space underneath that deck dry so you can use it as a patio or a space for extra storage or whatever.
00:21:50	TOM: You know, I’ve looked at a number of these systems over the years, Leslie, and they’re really not all the same. Most drainage systems… Most drainage systems install below the joists of a deck. And there’s a problem with that because it leaves the wood and the metal structure exposed to the elements. Now, Trex Rain Escape is designed differently. It installs above the floor joists, between the framing and the boards of the deck surface. And this allows it to protect the entire substructure from rot. Yeah.
00:22:15	LESLIE: And once it’s protected, the space beneath that deck, you can enclose it. You can store your lawn and gardening equipment there, pool toys, yard games. Or you can even outfit that area with furniture. And accessories and kind of create an outdoor room. You can even run gas, electrical lines. You know, all of this can be done very safely between the deck surface and a soffit ceiling. So you can power lighting. You can power a ceiling fan. You can run fuel to a grill. You can run appliances. I mean, so much more. It suddenly becomes a space you just didn’t have. Yeah.
00:22:46	TOM: And it’s really easy and efficient to install on a new deck. Or when deck boards themselves are being replaced, you only really need three tools, which is a utility knife, a staple gun, and a tool. And a caulk gun. Trex Rain Escape is also backed by a 25-year limited warranty. And it’s available through specialty decking dealers as well as online through Lowe’s and the Home Depot. Go to trexrainescape.com to find a dealer near you.
00:23:08	LESLIE: Renee, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:23:11	CALLER: My question is concerning my sump pump. Obviously, a sump pump in the basement. And for a long time, for several months, I had not heard the sump pump going off. A few months ago when it was raining very hard, I went down to the basement to see why. The sump pump wasn’t kicking on, and the well was filled with water. So I went ahead and I drained the water out by bucketing, taking buckets of this, pouring buckets of water out. So I got down to see where the ball was, and it still wouldn’t come on. So I tapped the ball, and eventually when the water rose, it did kick on again. But now I’m hearing this gurgling. Gurgling. Sound in my kitchen sink piping. And I want to know why.
00:24:01	TOM: Where is the sump pump discharging? Is it discharging into this basement sink?
00:24:04	CALLER: The sump pump discharges. It’s connected to the outside sewer line. And that’s, I guess, that sewer, the line is connected to the kitchen sink.
00:24:17	TOM: Okay, so first of all, it has to go through a trap. If it doesn’t go through a trap, you may get sewage gas that comes back into the basement. So that’s the first thing. Secondly, the gurgling might just because it doesn’t have enough water in the sump itself. You’re probably pulling a lot of air in there. And thirdly, because your sump pump was filling up when you had heavy rain, the source of that water is easily within your ability to repair and stop. Generally, when your sump pump fills up after heavy rain, it’s because your gutters are clogged or overflowing, or your downspouts are not discharging away from the foundation, or the soil around. The house is not slipping away from the outside walls. That’s what causes problems with water filling up in basements and floods in a sort, because the outside surface drainage is just not set up right. So I would focus on improving your exterior drainage. There’s a great article on moneypit.com about how to solve wet basements. A lot of that advice applies to this. And then you’ll find that the sump pump will have to run that much less.
00:25:20	LESLIE: Okay, that’s great news.
00:25:22	TOM: Renee, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:25:26	LESLIE: Well, here’s a great reason to reach out to Team Money Pit. We’ve got up for grabs the Marble Dream Resurfacing Kit from Daich Coatings. It’s a fantastic roll-on marble resurfacing kit that you can use on countertops, in a vanity, tabletops. It’s super easy to apply. You do not have to be an artist. Everything you need is included in that kit, all for just $169. You should definitely check it out at DaichCoatings.com.
00:25:51	TOM: That’s DaichCoatings.com. Call us right now for your chance to win. And the answer to your home improvement question at 1-888-Money-Pit.
00:26:00	LESLIE: Well, if it seems like your lawn is looking as if it’s ready for a cut, but maybe your mower is not up for the challenge, Consumer Reports has a few suggestions. Their experts cut 500,000 square feet of grass to compile a list of the best mowers that you can buy right now.
00:26:17	TOM: Now, the first is the Greenworks MO80L421. It’s a battery self-propelled mower that retails for $750. $750. They know that you get a lot for your money with this one. It’s got long battery run time of nearly an hour and a quarter, which is enough to cut at least one-third of an acre. And they also note the mower was good for mulching, cut evenness, handling, and noise.
00:26:38	LESLIE: All right. Next up is the Ryobi RY401220, and that can make quick work of your regular mowing. It’s also $750. It comes with two batteries, which means that you can swap one out for the other battery midway through your mowing and get as much as one and a half hours of mowing. And that’s more than any other mower that they tested. And what’s more, the batteries need just an hour to charge. It also scored high marks for discharging, mulching, evenness of cut, and noise at 25 feet.
00:27:10	TOM: Now, in total, Consumer Reports tested 140 different models, including battery and gas-powered, walk-behind, and riding mowers. So, if you guys are in the market to buy a mower, you will find their impartial expert recommendation. It’s going to be extraordinarily helpful. I encourage you guys to check it out. Their website is ConsumerReports.com, ConsumerReports.com.
00:27:35	LESLIE: Okay. Let’s welcome Donna from North Carolina with some squeaking floors. What’s going on?
00:27:39	CALLER: We have a 13-year-old home in Raleigh, North Carolina, which was purchased as new construction. We have squeaky floors, wood floors, primarily in the kitchen in front of the sink. Originally, there were shims placed between the drawers. We had a choice to even the floor after we moved in. But after a first frost, there were raised areas of flooring, particularly in the kitchen, and some of the shims were removed to even the floors once again. Currently, we’re selling our house, and my concern is that when the purchaser employs a home inspector, that the squeaky floors would be so obvious that we would need to resolve the problem. And I wondered what you would suggest we do.
00:28:31	TOM: I was a home inspector for 20 years, and I’ve never, ever in those 20 years, reported squeaky floors as a structural problem. Okay. So on that point, I don’t think you have a lot to worry about unless you have somebody that really doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Sometimes if you get an inspector that is really underskilled, they will take the minute, normal occurrences, of a home and turn it into a major issue. But that’s it. It is kind of annoying. And trying to figure out why it squeaks requires you understanding which part of that floor assembly is moving because it’s evidence of movement. So if there’s movement between the subfloor and the floor joists underneath, that could be one source. Or if there’s movement between the finished hardwood floor and the subfloor and the floor joists, that’s another type of movement. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. And deal with all of this if you were to be able to identify where from the top side, from the kitchen side, the floor joists are underneath that area that’s loose. And then you can drive what’s called a trim screw, which is about as wide as a finished nail with proper prep, which means you have to pre-drill the floor. But you can drive a couple of those into the hardwood floor to kind of tie it all together. And once you do that, you’ll find that you’ll quiet it down quite a bit. And the size hole that you’ll have to fill is no more than the width of a finished nail. Okay.
00:30:03	CALLER: So the key is finding the joists, I would guess.
00:30:07	TOM: Floor joists. And there’s a way to do that too. And you can do that by measuring it out, or you could simply get a stud finder, a stud sensor. They have them today where they’re good enough where they can actually see through two, three inches of building material and find the floor joists below with great precision, and Stanley makes a number of very good quality and inexpensive stud sensors that can do that. But don’t panic. A squeaky floor is pretty much typical, and it’s not indicative of a structural issue. Right, Leslie?
00:30:37	LESLIE: Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s just more annoying. And I think one of the benefits of you saying you seem to have so much knowledge of the shims and what’s going on there, it makes me feel like you have access to the things. So it should be fairly easy for you to get to the bottom of.
00:30:51	CALLER: All right. Well, thank you so much for that information. It’s incredible. It’s very encouraging.
00:30:54	TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:31:00	LESLIE: Jerry reached out with an interesting question. He says, I’m hearing from deck painting companies who claim that the products they use can stain and protect the wood deck for 20 years or more. Can I get this product and just do it myself?
00:31:15	TOM: Not likely. Yeah.
00:31:17	LESLIE: And it kind of sounds like the product that they’re referring to is known as high build elastomeric coatings. Now, high build is tech talk for thick paint. And elastomeric is a type of product that’s going to expand and contract with that substrate, which is the case in, you know, is your wood deck. So is it really going to last 20 years? I don’t know.
00:31:37	TOM: You know, I think there’s some history here we should probably cover. And it was about 20 years ago. I think we began hearing about companies who would make very similar durability claims for a product that was called liquid vinyl siding. Similarly, they had hard selling. Contractors that would claim they could apply this paint to your wood sided home that would last and perform like vinyl siding. And it did just that, except for months, not decades, as promised. And after that, it began to peel off in sheets or allow water to get in behind it and rot to set in. It was a mess. In fact, there was a Federal Trade Commission action on this, I do believe, that put the kibosh on the whole thing. So today we don’t hear much about that product, but there are these other products that are being sold for deck and dock restoration that claim they can fill gaps like as large as a quarter inch and they can adhere to deteriorated surfaces and they can handle the foot traffic. I just feel like it’s a lot to expect from a finish. I’ve never seen one that can do that. They’re also very expensive and you don’t get a lot of coverage out of it. You know, you usually get 400 square feet of coverage a gallon from regular paint, but this stuff gives you like maybe 75 or 100 square feet. So they’re really expensive. So I would vote against this. My best advice, if you really want to try it, is maybe just get one gallon and do a small section of a deck or a dock, like maybe the stairs, follow the prep instructions, exactly the letter, and see how it goes. But I would not be surprised if it didn’t start to lift and separate pretty quickly.
00:33:12	LESLIE: And listen, you know what, Jerry? If it works really great this season, go all in next season and go totally out and go for it. But Tom, if the deck really is in such bad shape. I mean, if you’re going to do a lot of work, you’re going to have to do a lot of work. I mean, should he be replacing boards? Should he be flipping things over? Like what else can he do to kind of extend the life?
00:33:27	TOM: Well, yeah. I mean, just to the second point you made about flipping deck boards over, if you find a deck board that’s cracked, it’s only going to be cracked on the top and not on the underside where the sun didn’t get to it. So a quick fix for that is to basically pry the deck board up, turn it over, and reattach it back to the deck. Now, in terms of replacing the decking itself, yeah. I mean, if your substructure is solid, a lot of times, you know, the joists, for example, and the girders remain at a pressure level. Pressure-treated lumber, and they’re in pretty good shape, but most of the wear and tear is on the deck boards themselves. You can pull those deck boards out and either replace them with new wooden deck boards or pressure-treated deck boards, or you could go with a Trex board or a composite like that and go on top of the old joist. You can usually do that as long as the joists are 16 inches on center. If they’re 24, you may have to add an extra joist in between, but still, it’s less expensive than building a whole new deck kind of from scratch. So you definitely have some options. You don’t necessarily have to replace the structure if it’s well-built.
00:34:25	LESLIE: All right. Those are all good points.
00:34:28	TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Thank you for spending this part of your spring weekend with us. We hope that you are enjoying the weather, enjoying working on your house, and if you get stuck on projects, remember, you can reach out to us for help any time of the day, 24-7, by reaching out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit, that’s 888-666-3974, or just go to moneypit.com. Post your question there by clicking the blue microphone button. Until we meet again, I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:34:58	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself. But you don’t have to do it alone.

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