#2422 – Sizzle in Style: Outdoor Kitchen Design Tips | Cool Metal Roofing

Show Notes

Listen in as we dive into the essentials of designing an amazing outdoor kitchen for your backyard gatherings and then discuss how metal roofs can significantly reduce your cooling costs. Plus, learn how to safely clean up and repair broken windows, and get helpful answers to lots more home improvement questions for all your DIY projects!

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]

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

Outdoor Kitchen: Get ready to sizzle in style with tips for designing an ideal outdoor kitchen.
Metal Roofs: Find out why metal roofing is a cool choice for energy efficiency.
Window Repair: Broken windows can be a pain in the glass, but here’s how to fix them safely.

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

Read Transcript

00:00:31	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.
00:00:36	And we are here to help you take on the projects you want to get done to improve your house, whether it’s for the summer, the fall, the winter. If it’s a project that’s been on your to-do list, you can slide it right on over to ours, and we can help you get started because we make DIY doable. A couple of ways to get in touch with us, you can reach out at 1-888-MONEYPIT.That’s 888-666-3974. Or better yet, here’s an idea. Just go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. If you do that, you can record your question. It will come right to us for the fastest possible response. Coming up on today’s show, outdoor living spaces have never been more popular, and that certainly includes outdoor kitchens. But cooking and dining outside require some special recipes of their own. So we’re going to have some tips for designing an amazing, and very functional outdoor kitchen space.
00:01:31	LESLIE: And when it comes to choosing roofing material, energy efficiency is usually not part of the consideration. But one type of roof can make a big difference in the cost to cool your home. We’re going to share that tip just ahead.
00:01:43	TOM: And summer storms can turn everyday objects into projectiles that can do serious damage to your home. We’ve got some tips on a DIY inspection that can help you spot small repairs before they grow into big problems.
00:01:55	LESLIE: But first, our focus is you. We want to know what you want to know. So if there’s a DIY project on your to-do list, let us help make it a DI done project. Whatever it is that you are working on this gorgeous summer weekend, let us know so we can lend a hand.
00:02:10	TOM: That’s right, because we do our best to make DIY doable, and we will do that for you. Call us right now again at 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974, or go to moneypit.com slash ask. Let’s get to it.
00:02:25	LESLIE: All right, heading over to Southwest Kansas. We’ve got Terry on the line. What is going on at your money pit? How can we help?
00:02:31	CALLER: I have a stucco exterior on my house. Okay. Years ago, I had painted the outside, and it did not last on the stucco probably a month, and it came off in sheets. Wow. I had washed it, prepared it, everything that I know. I painted it probably in August when it was really hot out here. My question is, when is the proper time to paint stucco?
00:02:57	TOM: All right, so when you did the last painting project, did you use a primer on the stucco, or did you just paint over what was there? I painted over what was there. I hear two things now that could have caused this condition. First of all, the primer is really important, because the primer has properties that the paint doesn’t, and specifically, it has adhesive properties. So the primer is designed to grab on to that old surface and really bond to it, and then the paint is designed to flow evenly over the primer. So for example, if you chose Benjamin Moore, they have a specific… They have a specific primer designed for masonry surfaces they call Ultraspec. The second thing is the temperature. You mentioned August when it’s really hot. You know, if the paint dries too fast because it’s in the sun, that also can deter adhesion. Unfortunately, you’ve probably already found this out, but when it peels off, you’ve got to take all of that off. You’ve got to properly clean the surface, and when it’s good and dry, then you prime it. But I would stay out of the really hot parts of the day if it gets to me midsummer, because you really want to let it dry. Let that dry naturally, and you must use a primer. If you don’t, it’s definitely not going to stick. Now, if you’re nervous about it, why not just do one side of your house and give it a try? You’ll see the difference from that experience in the last time. In terms of applying the paint, spraying on stucco is the easiest way to do. So you could do that yourself with, for example, a Wagner sprayer, or if you’re going to roll it, you’re going to need a fairly thick roller, and usually the roller has slits in it, so it helps sort of work its way around. It helps sort of work its way around all of those nubs that are in the surface of the stucco. But either way, prep is key, primer is critically important, and then you put in the top coat over that. Okay? Okay. All right, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for reaching out to the Money Pit. Yep, thank you.
00:04:42	LESLIE: All right, now we’ve got Carolyn in Pennsylvania on the line, who’s doing some organizing and finding a stubborn cabinet odor. What’s going on?
00:04:50	CALLER: Well, yes, what we have is a cabinet in our kitchen. It is underneath our countertop. We have a granite countertop. Granite countertop, and it’s our Lazy Susan. It’s the cabinet in the corner. And about a year and a half ago, we had moved temporarily out of state for my husband’s job, and apparently I might have, right before leaving, cleaned a dish and put it in that cabinet, and maybe, I’m assuming it wasn’t completely dry all the way. Okay. And then when we returned from our three months away, lo and behold, it every time we’d come into the kitchen, my husband said, there’s some kind of a smell here. And then we ended up opening this cabinet, and lo and behold, there was a little green haze on, and it was mold inside the cabinet. We were like, oh. And so I had my head in that cabinet for at least three days, cleaning it with bleach water and the whole nine yards. So there’s no more mold in it, but there’s still this sort of lingering kind of a musty smell.
00:05:58	TOM: And when you close that cabinet up, if you have some humidity, it’s going to react, and you’ll get that kind of musty odor. Plus, I’m sure you are hypersensitive to it as well right now, having gone through that entire process. One of the things, one of the areas that you might want to check is the kickboard. So that’s the area underneath the cabinet. And I’ll tell you a way that you can do that. If you take a mirror like you might have on a makeup compact, hold it on top of the floor with the mirror facing up, and then use like a flashlight. A flashlight aimed at that mirror, you will see the underside of the kickboard without having to like put your face on the floor.
00:06:33	LESLIE: Well, I feel like it’s going to be gross under there. Yeah.
00:06:36	TOM: Sometimes you will get some of that mold or that moss, which will actually grow on the underside of the kickboard, and you’ll never see it unless you’re looking for it. And that could be the entire source of the odor that you’re smelling right now. It’s actually fairly common, because if you think about it, you’re slashing water around the floor when you mop it, and there’s a lot of dirt and dust that comes off your feet, and that’s what the kickboard does. Kickboard’s for, right? It’s where you stick your feet under as you’re working on the countertop. So it’s actually a tricky spot that you could find some of that growth, and I might take a look right there. And the other thing that you might want to do, since you cleaned all that out, and the cabin, I presume, is like super, super dry, I wouldn’t be hesitant about applying a clear finish into the inside of that, just for the purposes of sealing it in. I might use like a latex polyurethane, clear polyurethane, just to give it some sort of a sealant, or even prime it with a primer. A product like Kills that will seal in anything that might be coming off of that material. You know, if you were to have a fire and you had some smoke damage, if you put a primer on it, that’s what they do to seal that in. So I’m just thinking that it might be an option to seal in some of the odors that you may still be smelling from that cabinet. Of course, it’s going to smell like paint for a few days, but you know, that will eventually wear away. But do a little further investigation to see if there might be some spots where you missed some of that growth, and start with that.
00:07:55	CALLER: Yeah, because of the… Because of the… The inserts, where the lazy sews work, it kind of turns around the turntables and other ones. I kind of did my best, but yeah. And the kickboard. Well, thank you very much. That’s great. Great idea. All right.
00:08:09	TOM: Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit.
00:08:13	CALLER: Thank you.
00:08:15	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. Heading over to Louisiana, where Albert is looking to take on a green project by adding solar panels. How can we help you?
00:08:34	CALLER: Well, I’d like to put up some solar panels. All right. But my wife and I were discussing it, and she seemed to think they’d do better on the roof. Now, we have a pretty good bit of property here. And I’m wanting to put it out in back of the house and that. And I’m going to put it in the back of the house. And she seemed to think that being away from the house, they would lose some of their effectiveness. Is that true?
00:09:11	TOM: Well, you know, if you put them on the roof, they are closer to the sun. She’s right about that.
00:09:17	TOM: I don’t think that’s going to make a big difference. Listen, if these things are wired correctly, you can certainly collect the energy, whether they are at grade level or on the roof. You know, the attic. The bad complication of putting them on the roof is that you have to put them over your roof shingles or whatever roof material you have. And when ultimately that roof fails, you have to remove the panels to re-roof. So it does add a complicated level. I mean, how old is your roof now? Do you think you’re going to be replacing it in the next few years?
It’s probably 10 years old.	00:09:46
TOM:	All right. So, I mean, you might be halfway through it. I just think at some point you’re going to be dealing with that, and you’d have to decide if that’s an issue for you. All right. Now, if you do put it at grade. Do you have anything that would be in its way, like trees overhanging, interrupting the, you know, the accessibility of the sun, for example?
00:10:05	CALLER: Well, I have open property and trees.
00:10:10	TOM: As long as it’s open, you think about the flow of the sun, the angle of the sun throughout the year. You know, as long as it’s open, then that might be a good option for you. Yeah.
00:10:20	CALLER: Okay. All right. Well, I wanted to put it probably about 100, 125 feet. From the house, you know, and I didn’t know whether that would, I would lose any power being that far from the house.
00:10:39	TOM: Well, I mean, it depends on how you’re collecting it, and that comes into the system that you’re working with, you know. There is a company that is called Wholesale Solar, who does a lot of really good work with homeowners to help them make sure that they are choosing the right solar. The right system and the right components for their project. You might want to just have a chat with those guys, and there’s no harm or no expense in doing that. Their website is WholesaleSolar.com. I have had some of their guys, as they really know what they’re doing on the show from time to time, and they could probably walk you through some more options.
00:11:15	CALLER: Okay. Sounds great. I appreciate that information. Good luck with the project.
00:11:20	LESLIE: Well, outdoor living spaces have never been more popular, and that includes outdoor kitchens. Yes. Yes. Yes. An outdoor kitchen is different than designing an indoor cooking and prep space. Yep.
00:11:31	TOM: There are some key differences between indoor and outdoor kitchens. For example, adding power to an outdoor kitchen comes with plenty of special requirements. You need special outlets, for example, to be protected from the elements and prevent shocks. The plumbing, well, that’s got to be set up to be easily drained in the off-season and more. And even the appliances you choose, like a refrigerator, for example, they must be rated for outdoor use. Because the refrigeration system is actually different when it’s used outside. Yeah.
00:12:01	LESLIE: It’s amazing. You’re always like, well, it’s outside. It should be cold. But that’s the opposite. It needs a special fridge for that. But there’s so many choices to make, and I think the first thing you have to do is figure out where you’re putting this. Now, an existing patio, that’s a great foundation for an outdoor kitchen. You can add heavy stone counters and a grill without making structural modifications. A deck, on the other hand, may require some additional support. Now, you’ve got to choose. You’ve got to choose a location that’s not too far from the house. So, you know, you’ve got to keep those back-and-forth runs to kind of a minimum. And outdoor kitchens are almost always social spaces. So, you have to make sure to plan for all of those extra helpers.
00:12:39	TOM: Next, let’s think about that electricity and plumbing we just mentioned. Even if it’s just for task lighting or appliances, electricity is certainly nice to have. But you’ll need an experienced electrician. And all the circuits need to be ground fault protected. That’s the GFCI circuits that you see. The little test buttons that are on outlets or the test button that’s on a breaker. Because with the GFCIs, you’ll have the option to protect the circuit at the electrical panel or at the outlet. In this case, I say it’s best to do it at the panel because you don’t want to have to hunt around for an outlet and hit that reset button, especially if the weather is bad, right? So, if you do the entire circuit, you’ll be protected. Now, for plumbing, stainless steel sinks definitely work best outside because they don’t corrode. Now, unless you plan on washing dishes or vegetables outside, you’re going to have to do a lot of work. So, you’re only going to need a cold water supply line. And be sure to install a shutoff valve inside the house because that you’ll need to drain that line in the winter. And if you do add hot water, you’re also going to need to be sure to insulate the entire line. But honestly, I don’t really see the need for hot water outside unless this is some super gourmet kitchen. If that’s the case, just go for it.
00:13:48	LESLIE: All right. Now, last, you’ve got to think about the cooking. Most outdoor kitchens are going to include a gas or charcoal grill. And if your home already runs on gas, then you can plan to run a gas line to that grill that’s designed to run a natural gas. For propane, you want to plan on incorporating a space wide enough so that a 20-pound propane tank and maybe you have some room there for a spare can. This way, you’ll always have a spare tank that you can switch to if you were to run out in the middle of cooking a meal, which I can’t tell you how many times that happens. I feel like the gauge never works. So, it’s like all of a sudden you’re like, why is it cold?
00:14:21	TOM: It just happened last week to us. But fortunately, I keep three tanks on backups.
00:14:25	LESLIE: So, we’re ready. Three, of course. Tom Overkill.
00:14:27	TOM: Well, I just sort of collected them over the years. And we have a great propane place in town where you can actually get 20 pounds of gas inside a 20-pound tank. Unlike when you go to the home center and then they fill the tanks up with 13, 14 pounds of fuel into a 20-pound tank. So, it looks like it’s the same price. It’s not. But anyway, that’s why I have three tanks. But listen, outdoor kitchens, aside from all the enjoyment, they can also have a very positive effect on a home’s value. We’ve got some great content about this step-by-step. On MoneyPit.com, just search outdoor kitchen.
00:14:58	LESLIE: We’ve got Linda on the line from Point Roberts, Washington. And let’s talk about some kitchen countertops. How can we help you?
00:15:05	CALLER: Thank you so much for your information. Your show is excellent.
00:15:09	LESLIE: Oh, thanks, Linda.
00:15:10	CALLER: I bought this house that was built in the 80s about 20 years ago. And I’ve never, never, never liked these very, very dark forest green Formica countertops. Okay. I just wanted to know about these new products sand Formica first or put on any kind of kills or anything that’s going to make it work properly?
00:15:34	TOM: So, I think you’re talking about the Daich Coatings products that we have been promoting for some time now. And not only are they a sponsor, I’ve actually used these now on a number of projects. I did one with a product called Luxe Rock, which added a granite finish. And for that one, I actually built a countertop because my kitchen shape had changed. I built it out of plywood. And when I was done, you couldn’t tell the difference between the plywood and real granite. And right now, I’m in the middle of using another product called Marble Dream. And on that, I’m actually doing it on what was an old Formica surface. Now, the key is that the Formica has to be well adhered. You can’t have any type of structural damage in the countertop. It can’t be rotted or Formica loose or anything of that nature. But essentially, everything you need is in the kit. And the first step is really to sand that Formica. And you’re basically… You’re going to clean it real well. And then you’re going to sand it to sort of take the gloss off. And that’s really all that I did. I also took the additional step of changing the front edge of the countertop because mine had a weird sort of notch in it that I didn’t like. And I wanted it to look like a solid marble slab when I’m done. And so once I sanded that up, I applied the primer. There’s a base coat that comes with the product. And I’ll tell you, I applied a black primer over a white Formica countertop. And it covered everything in two coats. Not a problem. And then there’s a series of instructions. Depending on what kind of finish you want. If you want the marble look, that’s the way to go. If you want the granite look, there is also the Luxrock product and some others. So you can go to their website and read all about it. I would encourage you to watch the videos. They show you how the process works. It’s not a difficult project. But you do need to follow the instructions carefully. And I’ll tell you, the quality of the finishes is pretty darn good. It’s really been very, very durable, the one that we completed. And this one, I expect the same thing at. So the website is DaichCoatings.com. It’s spelled D-A-I-C-H. I think it’s a great option for your situation. That’s what it’s made for.
00:17:28	CALLER: It sounds perfect. And I can follow your instructions perfectly. Thank you both.
00:17:33	TOM: You’re very welcome.
00:17:34	CALLER: Bye-bye.
00:17:36	LESLIE: Marcy in Nebraska, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
00:17:39	CALLER: We have a 15,000 BTU. It’s a window air conditioner. Okay. And it keeps popping our breaker. Yeah. It does it in like the heat of the afternoon. If we have it on the fan, it won’t pop it. Is it the window, the air conditioner, or the breaker?
00:17:57	TOM: No, the breaker’s doing its job because you’re pulling too much power. Is this like in a bedroom, or where is this?
00:18:03	CALLER: It’s a living room.
00:18:04	TOM: Living room, yeah. You know, in some houses, especially older houses, you have typically too much on that same circuit. You ought to really identify what else is on that circuit and see what you can reduce. You know, I have that happen once in a while in my house. We used to have to put a window air conditioner in one room, because it was just fully exposed, and it just needed a little bit of help, and the central air wasn’t getting there. But I knew that if we vacuumed in that house, I had to plug the vacuum into the next room. Otherwise, I’d trip the breaker. So you need to figure out what else is on that.
00:18:36	CALLER: Well, that’s the only thing that goes off.
00:18:38	TOM: Well, I mean, and the other thing you can do is you can have an electrician figure out why that’s happening. There’s a way to determine exactly how much power that unit is pulling, and perhaps even run an additional circuit just for that unit. That’s proper. It’s properly sized.
00:18:53	LESLIE: Yeah, dedicated specifically for that. Okay.
00:18:56	TOM: Well, the reason it happens with the air conditioners is because when they first kick on, there is sort of a surge of electricity that it needs to get the compressor going. So that tends to push those breakers a bit. And then they do what they’re supposed to do, is turn off to prevent the wire from heating up. Does that make sense?
00:19:11	CALLER: Okay, yeah.
00:19:12	TOM: Yep, so that’s why it’s happening.
00:19:13	CALLER: So would it be a benefit to put, like, a higher breaker on it?
00:19:19	TOM: Well, it’s not just a breaker. You have to run the properly sized wire. You have to run a new circuit for it. So you have to run a new circuit. Okay, you can’t put a larger breaker on it because then you’re defeating the purpose of the breaker.
00:19:30	LESLIE: That’s what I needed to know. Thank you.
00:19:31	TOM: Well, you’re welcome. Good luck.
00:19:33	LESLIE: Well, when it comes to choosing a roofing material, energy efficiency is kind of often overlooked. However, one type of roof can significantly reduce your cooling costs. So to save money, energy efficiency is crucial no matter where you live.
00:19:48	TOM: Now, metal roofing actually has three ways to increase energy efficiency. First, metal has a low thermal mass, meaning it doesn’t store and retain heat from the sun. Next, metal roofing today has heat reflective coatings applied to it, and that helps prevent heat buildup. And it also reduces air conditioning requirements during hot weather. And finally, if you go with a metal shingle roof, well, that has airspace sort of built into it right under the metal. So you have a thermal break between the metal and the roof decking, and that can also enhance the energy efficiency.
00:20:20	LESLIE: Now, quality residential metal. Metal roofing offers a lot of benefits, including reliable performance, even in climate extremes. It’s got a long-lasting value. I mean, we’re talking about 50-plus years for a lifespan. Better sustainability, better energy efficiency, and low care, which is great because that means easy maintenance.
00:20:38	TOM: You can learn more and download the free guide to metal roofing at metalroofing.com. They have terrific resources for homeowners. The buyer’s guide tells you everything you need to know, and there are several other publications as well. Again, that website is metalroofing.com. That’s metalroofing.com.
00:20:54	LESLIE: Brian in Rhode Island is working on some crown molding. How can we help you?
00:20:58	CALLER: I’m putting up some crown molding above cabinets. Now, I’ve worked with crown molding before. I have this ingenious jig that I believe is called a cutting crown. And when you put it together with your miter saw, it does a good job of the angles for inside and outside corners. Okay. And what I can’t figure out is now I’m trying to do crown molding above some kitchen cabinets that I’ve installed. Okay? Okay. I’m not quite sure how to nail it on. I don’t want to nail into the stile above the door or the rail above the door because, number one, I don’t want to do that. Number two, it looks like it could split it. So I’m just trying to figure out what people do to fasten crown molding above kitchen cabinets.
00:21:39	TOM: So you have space above these cabinets, you know, empty space, so to speak, between the cabinet and the ceiling?
00:21:45	CALLER: Yes, I do.
00:21:46	TOM: Okay. Well, I think you are going to have to mechanically attach it to those cabinets. Okay. Now, whether you do that with nails or some other fastening system is going to be up to you. But is this hardwood crown molding? Is this oak? Yes, it is. So you’re going to have to pilot drill. Anything you do with this has to be pilot drilled because you can’t just nail through it. It’s going to split it. So you’re going to have to get a drill bit that’s just slightly smaller than the nail or the screw that you’re using and pilot drill through this. Now, I wouldn’t hesitate to attach it to the cabinet body above the door if I had the space. If you wanted to try to kind of hedge your bet a little bit, get a little bit more control, what you could do is you could attach a nailing strip or a screwing strip, so to speak, on top of that cabinet. So let’s say you have a piece of wood that maybe is one by one square. When you attach that to the top of the cabinet, you drill down so it attaches into the top style of that cabinet. And now you have a much bigger, flatter surface for you to kind of have some meat behind to get that nail or screw into. You know what I mean? Okay.
00:22:49	CALLER: I know exactly what you mean. I know exactly. I know exactly what you mean. In fact, now that I see what you’re saying, I might want to improve that just a little more. I might want to take something that’s like a two-by-three or something along that line and cut it out so it fits above it. But I can’t screw from above to attach it. So if I’ve got the room, I might screw it. Why not?
00:23:10	TOM: How much space is there?
00:23:13	CALLER: It’s about four inches.
00:23:14	TOM: Oh, yeah. You can’t do that. Now, you’d have to go from underneath. You could go from underneath. You could drill up from the underside. Instead of the cabinet style, the front style, you can go up that way and attach it there.
00:23:26	CALLER: That sounds good. That would solve my problem.
00:23:28	TOM: All right. There you go. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Good luck with that kitchen.
00:23:33	LESLIE: Heading out to Baltimore, we’ve got Darlene on the line who’s dealing with some noise issues. What’s happening?
00:23:38	CALLER: Well, I have a wall between my upstairs apartment and my downstairs apartment. Yep. And there’s no insulation in the wall, and I want to insulate it so that I have… There’s no sound barrier between the two places, and I wanted to know what insulation would be the best thing to use.
00:24:02	TOM: Okay. So, you said wall. Do you mean ceiling? Because you said…
00:24:06	CALLER: No, I’m talking about the wall that goes up the stairs.
00:24:09	TOM: Oh, okay.
00:24:10	CALLER: So, I hear everything that comes in, and my daughter, who lives in my upstairs apartment, hears everything in my downstairs.
00:24:17	TOM: Okay. So, the best insulation to use for that is mineral wool insulation. Owens Corning makes a product that is called ThermoFiber, and it has very good sound-resistant qualities to it. You’d have to open up the walls to do this. You’d have to take off the drywall, and then you’d put the ThermoFiber in. Now, in addition to the ThermoFiber, there’s also a sound-deadening drywall you can use because you have to tear off the existing drywall, and there’s a couple of different ones. One I’m familiar with, I know you can find it at Lowe’s, is called Quiet Rock, and it’s basically an engineered drywall panel that has built-in sound-deadening qualities to it. I think between the Quiet Rock and the ThermoFiber, which you’ll also find at Lowe’s, you will be definitely able to quiet down that staircase and get some rest in your space as a result of it. Okay.
00:25:10	CALLER: Well, that sounds really good. I appreciate your calling me back so quickly.
00:25:14	TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. Let us know how you make out.
00:25:17	CALLER: Thank you very much. I enjoy your program.
00:25:20	LESLIE: Well, if you’ve… If you’ve lost a window due to a storm or neighborhood little leaguer, it’s important to know how to clean up the mess safely and the options for getting broken windows fixed. First of all, don’t try to knock out the remaining glass in the frame. You want to safely use gloves to remove that loose glass and any fallen pieces of glass. Now, to clean up small particles of glass, you can use several thicknesses of paper towels and wet them, and then kind of just, you know, like dab them on top of the area where those little pieces of glass are. And then make sure you throw them away. Cloth towels, sponges, mops, don’t use them because the glass can get, like, embedded into those fibers, and then you can get hurt or you can scratch surfaces going forward. So definitely stay away from those.
00:26:03	TOM: Now, when it comes to replacing broken glass, it depends on the type of window. If it’s a single pane window, replacement can be a DIY job. But today, it’s more likely that the window is a double pane made with insulated glass that’s been vacuum sealed and filled with an insulating glass. Now, for those, the least expensive route to go is to order another sash from the manufacturer because if you have to have a new insulated glass pane custom made, it’s going to be more costly than replacing the entire window. And by the way, just because a window is fogged, which often happens as those panes wear, it doesn’t mean it has to be replaced. Yes, it’s not cosmetically very pleasant to always look. Like, it’s a foggy day outside when you look through it. Sometimes you’ll see some staining. It will be slightly less efficient, but it’s totally cosmetic for the most part. So if you can live with it, you’re going to save a whole lot of money.
00:27:03	LESLIE: All right. Now, we’re going to talk to Bill from Illinois, who’s got some questions about what’s going on with the bathtub. How can we help you?
00:27:08	CALLER: Yeah, I have a 28-year-old shower tub, and I’m not sure if it’s ceramic or fiberglass. And I have a couple of cracks.
00:27:21	TOM: Yeah, I mean, I don’t think there’s an easy fix for a crack in a tub that’s physically cracked. I mean, we’ve repaired shower pans, for example, by using fiberglass repair or a fiberglass repair kit, where basically you’re applying a rosin, and then you’re pressing fiberglass sort of into the mix, and then putting multiple layers of additional rosin on top of that. But it’s not a very attractive finish. And I’ve done this on an emergency basis where, you know, I had like a crack. I had a shower pan. I had a rental apartment, for example, and I wanted to just make it stop leaking so we weren’t bothering the lady below. And we did it, and it worked, but eventually I had to take it out and replace it anyway. So for a tub that’s physically cracked like that, I don’t have a good solution for you.
00:28:05	CALLER: Figured it would be a tough one. Yeah. I’ve heard of these overlap coverings.
00:28:11	TOM: Oh, the inserts. Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah, I think one of the companies is Bath Fitter that does it. I mean, it’s not a bad idea, except that what we’ve found is that economically, the cost of a complete bathroom renovation and the cost of doing, you know, like an insert are not so far apart. I mean, it is less expensive than a complete reno, but you are restricted to the tub you have now, obviously, and the size of that tub, which gets smaller when you put an insert into it. And if you do the renovation, you know, you might have some opportunities to improve the place, improve that space a little bit more than you could by just doing an insert. So it definitely is an option. And with the tub that you have now, though, I would suspect. If it did physically crack, it’s probably a fiberglass tub that was not properly supported because what you’re supposed to do when you put them in is to put like a loose mortar mix underneath the tub and then press the tub down into that, which gives it complete and total support across the whole floor. Sometimes if contractors skip that step, it ends up being a little flexible. And over the years, just getting in and out of the tub, it eventually wears and cracks.
00:29:13	CALLER: Well, actually, I took a fall.
00:29:15	TOM: Oh, you did? And that’s how it happened?
00:29:16	CALLER: Yeah, that’s how it happened. Yeah, wow. And I’m okay, but the crack was there and it’s on the upper slope of the tub, so it’s not at the bottom. And I have not had any leakage problem.
00:29:33	TOM: Well, I mean, the proof’s in the pudding. I’d say your options are, you know, your options are to tear it and replace or to do an insert. But in terms of patching it, I couldn’t really tell you anything that’s going to be very attractive other than the fiberglass trick. Okay. All right, Bill? All right. I appreciate that. All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:29:52	LESLIE: Noah is renting a house in New York, PA, and reached out to Team Money Pit, saying, there’s a lot of road noise where I live. I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do as a renter to help cancel out this noise.
00:30:03	TOM: Yeah, I think that’s a great question. You know, and as a renter, there’s not a lot typically you would think you could do because, you know, we would talk about things like putting in landscaping as a barrier. And unless that landscaping comes in big pots, you really can’t do that. But Leslie, isn’t there a lot that we? We can do on the inside, say, for example, with the draperies or the curtains that will act as a barrier to that sound?
00:30:25	LESLIE: Well, I mean, you need to have those because that will definitely help deaden the noise that comes in through the glass. First of all, think about perhaps a shade that is, oh gosh, what is that honeycomb called? It’s sort of insulated. So that helps stop the noise, the cellular shades, you know, that helps stop the noise. It’s also going to help, you know, with heating and cooling costs because it does insulate against the glass if they feel kind of cool. So that’s a great first step. Then I would also do. A heavier drape. Try to go for one that feels seasonless so you don’t have to change it from a winter look to a summer look, something that’s maybe more neutral but still lined because that’s going to help give you some heft there to block out the sound. And then look around the room itself. You know, maybe it’s one room, whatever room you’re sort of focusing on where the noise issue is. You may have a lot of a lot of nothing in the space, like perhaps you have just like a leather sofa, no area rug and not a lot of things on the wall. You kind of have to. Think about the stuff that’s in the space acting as like a muffling device as well. So a leather sofa is going to bounce noise around, whereas something that’s upholstered is going to kind of absorb the sound. An area rug is going to do the same. So kind of think about layering those things in. And maybe if this is an apartment with a terrace or something, you could absolutely go ahead and put a potted plant or two outside to kind of help in that sort of first area of defense. There are some things that you can do. It’s definitely about adding softness and layers inside, though.
00:31:48	TOM: All right, Mike. Mike from East Texas reached out and says, I purchased a home with a slab foundation that was built in the 70s. The floor is starting to settle and we’re concerned and wondered how to determine if this is a problem. I’m getting various advice from contractors.
00:32:03	LESLIE: I mean, a home in the 70s, that’s like a 50 year old house. There’s got to be some settling expected, correct?
00:32:09	TOM: Oh, absolutely. So, you know, and I wonder why, Mike, why you’re saying the floor is starting to settle. So if you saw a floor that was solid and now you’ve. Discovered a new crack, that is more of a concern than just seeing a floor that has cracks in it because minor cracks are OK and not to be too terribly concerned about generally treat them cosmetically, especially towards the outside of the foundation. You want to seal them with a silicone caulk as far as getting varying advice from contractors. Yeah, I bet you are, my friend, because there’s a whole bunch of contractors out there that fancy themselves to be foundation specialists or they’ll call themselves foundation experts. And unless that that person has a. A engineering degree in structural engineering, then nothing could be farther from the truth. They’re just a contractor that happens to focus on that area of the foundation. So what I would tell you to do is if it is a major concern, get a structural engineer to inspect. And if there’s work that has to be done, the structural engineer should draft out some instructions, a plan, in effect, on how to fix that. And then with that plan, you can submit that plan to several contractors and say, here’s how exactly how I want it fixed. And you can get. The prices and then compare apples to apples. And lastly, have the structural engineer come back when it’s done to make sure the work was done correctly.
00:33:24	LESLIE: All right. There you have it.
00:33:26	TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. We hope that all of the fathers out there are enjoying a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. Depending on when you hear the show, it very likely is, in fact, happening during this very special time of year. So to all the fathers, we send you our very best and give you the day off. Let the kids help with the projects this time around. And we’ll circle back next week. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:50	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself. 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.)