#2450 – Silent Steps: Fixing Squeaky Floors | Patio Heater Options

Show Notes

Today, we discuss patio heaters to help you extend your outdoor season and address whether squeaky floors are a sign of a bigger issue, along with tips for fixing them. We also share energy-saving strategies for your water heater to cut down energy bills. Listen as we answer these and other home improvement questions!

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Podcast Transcript

Squeaky Floors: Follow these steps to find solutions for squeaky floors.
Patio Heaters: Extend your outdoor living season with patio heater options for year-round comfort.
Water Heaters: Soak up the savings with these water heater efficiency tips.

Ask Your Home Improvement Question

Do you have a home improvement or decor question? Call the show 24/7 at 888-MONEY-PIT (888-666-3974) or post your question here.

Podcast Transcript

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00:00:00	ANNOUNCER: The MoneyPit is presented by Owens Corning. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
00:00:29	TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:00:34	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:00:36	TOM: Do you have a DIY dilemma? Do you have a project that you like to tackle? Maybe you started it and you got stuck in the middle. Maybe you need some advice on an improvement that you’d like to make to your home. Or maybe your house needs a bit of maintenance. Those are all great reasons to reach out to us because answering those questions is what we do. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974. Or better yet, go to MoneyPit.com slash ask and you can post your question by clicking the blue microphone button. Coming up on today’s show, if you love your outdoor spaces and you want to keep dining and entertaining there from spring through fall, a patio heater comes in handy. But you know what? They’re not all built-in. They’re built the same. So we’re going to review the options and help you choose one that could extend your outdoor living season well into the fall.
00:01:27	LESLIE: And squeaking floors are one of life’s little annoyances. But do they signal a structural problem below? We’re going to have the answer plus step-by-squeaky-step tips to make them go away for good.
00:01:38	TOM: Plus, did you guys know that getting hot water from your water heater to your faucets and the appliances can account for about 18% of your home’s energy use? We’re going to share a very simple way to give your water heater and your wallet, a well-deserved break.
00:01:51	LESLIE: But first, we want to know what you want to know. It’s our job, our mission to educate and inspire and to help you build confidence on projects that you’d like to get done.
00:02:01	TOM: Yep. But your job is to help yourself first by reaching out to us with your projects and your questions. There’s a couple of ways to do that. The easiest one, though, is just to go to MoneyPit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:16	LESLIE: Heading over to Maryland where we’ve got Dan on the line who wants to clean up some kitchen cabinets. Tell us what’s going on. Yeah.
00:02:22	CALLER: I’ve got like five-year-old kitchen cabinets. They’re like an off-white color. Okay. And they’re starting to get greasy over at the top of the stove and the microwave. Anything you recommend to cut the grease and make them look like new?
00:02:36	TOM: Yeah, absolutely. In fact, I just wrote up a story about how to do this for my book, Home Maintenance for Dummies, that just came out. So I’ll give you sort of the step-by-step. You want to start with a couple of buckets and Murphy’s oil soap, a couple of cleaning rags, and a sponge, and some towels to dry the cabinets as you go. I like Murphy’s oil soap because it’s gentle. It doesn’t streak. It’s easy to work with on your hands and on your eyes. So first of all, you want to empty everything in the cabinets, of course. It’s a good time to toss anything that you don’t need and reorganize what’s left. Then mix up the cleaner. You want to mix up the soap in the warm water, really as hot as you can stand it, and then following instructions on the soap to determine the ratio. But generally, it’s about a half cup of Murphy’s oil soap per gallon of water. Now, in that second bucket, you just want plain water. You don’t want warm water because that’s what you’re going to use to rinse with. And then you start from the top down. You kind of keep gravity in mind and start from the top down and wipe the wall cabinets down. Dip your cleaning rag in the soapy solution. Wipe them down gently. And then once you’ve done that, then you can follow that up with the clean rag with just the clean water. But only use as much water as is necessary. The idea here is to not saturate them thoroughly but really to keep it sort of damp. And then dry it and move on. So basically, you’re going to work it from one end to the other, working from the top down, with a gentle solution of Murphy’s oil soap. And that works really well to take the grease out.
00:03:53	CALLER: Do you have to let it soak after you apply it for a minute or so?
00:03:57	TOM: No, generally not. You know, you may have to have it on there for a minute. But you’ll see it start to work its way through the grease as you rub it.
00:04:03	CALLER: What kind of rag do I use?
00:04:05	TOM: Yeah, I like to use terry cloth towels for this sort of thing. And sometimes I’ll also use sponges. And I always keep a scotch pad handy. That’s the green pads that you can use for like nonstick cookware.
00:04:17	LESLIE: Has like a gentle abrasion.
00:04:20	TOM: Yeah, exactly. So if you have a tough spot, you can hit it with that.
00:04:23	LESLIE: That ain’t going to hurt the paint?
00:04:24	TOM: No, as long as you’re not, you know, pushing too hard. But it shouldn’t. All right. All right, well good luck with that project. Thanks for reaching out. Thank you very much.
00:04:32	LESLIE: All right, heading out to Tennessee where we’ve got Linda on the line. What is going on at your money pit? How can we help?
00:04:38	CALLER: Well, I rent a house. It’s a real nice three-bedroom, two-bath, three-car garage house. And I think it is 100 years old. Although they’ve updated it. But lately, in both toilets and in the sink in the bathroom, black particles are coming out of the water. Especially with the bathroom sink if I put my hand up because the water coming out is coming out weird things like it’s being blocked.
00:05:10	CALLER: Okay.
00:05:10	CALLER: And I assume that those are from the pipes in this old house. But it just started to be really bad in the last, I’ve been here for almost two years and only the last couple of months that happened.
00:05:23	TOM: So I don’t know whether to try to put filters on. Is this a well system? You have a private well or you have city water? I think it’s city water. Okay. You would know if you have a well system. And the plumbing in the house, do you know what kind of pipes you have? Is it copper? Are they steel?
00:05:43	CALLER: I don’t know. I do know, like I said, that they’re steel. But this is a really old house.
00:05:47	TOM: Well, I mean, generally, the first plumbing system would have been a galvanized steel system. And that hopefully was updated throughout the years probably to copper. The first question is, is this coming from inside your house or is it coming from the city water supply?
00:06:03	CALLER: Well, I kind of doubt it would be the city water supply. Okay.
00:06:06	TOM: Why do you say that? Because they get debris in their lines all the time.
00:06:09	CALLER: Well, I’ve lived here for 15 years and I lived in a 100-year-old farmhouse, a different one. Mm-hmm. And we had a little tiny bit of that, but not anything like this. Okay.
00:06:20	TOM: Well, just keep in mind that conditions change. Even though it was like that for all the years you’ve been in the town, conditions can change. So it is a possibility that that could be coming from a city water supply. If you wanted to filter your water, what you might want to do is use a whole house water filter. And that gets installed just after the main where it comes into the house. And it basically treats all of the water that goes into the house. The filter will have to be replaced about every six months, which basically involves usually turning off the main water supply and then the valve next to the filter so you don’t have any water that drains, back drains from the pipes that are up in the house. And then you replace that cartridge that it will come with. So that’s one way to just filter the water. If we’re not concerned about any contaminants, we just want to make sure that we can capture particles. By the way, have you tried taking the aerators off the bathroom sink faucets to see if they’re if there’s a lot of grunge trapped behind them? A lot of this black stuff?
00:07:21	CALLER: I’m pretty sure there is, because when I just rub there, big particles of black come out.
00:07:26	TOM: I would want to see if you can get rid of all of the stuff that’s behind, anything that’s black that’s trapped in the other side of that aerator. Because some of that might be what you’re seeing, too. And run the water without the aerator for a bit just to see if you sort of flush the lines out. And then put it back together and see what happens. Thank you. Bye-bye.
00:07:44	LESLIE: Hey, you want to make our day? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and we’ll be jumping for joy. Plus, you guys, your feedback helps us make the show even better for you. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review.
00:07:56	TOM: You know, if you’re tackling a project around your house, a good vice comes in handy. But, you know, you may be thinking that, well, the vice, those big heavy metal ones, are really something that I don’t really need. I mean, they haven’t changed much in, like, you know, all the years since tools have been around. Well, you’d be wrong. Because there’s a new vice out by IQ. It’s called the IQ Vice. It’s by WorkIQ Tools. And it is absolutely transformative. It really transforms the way that DIYers and craftsmen and hobbyists and makers and trade pros get the jobs done. It’s got a maneuverable multi-axis bench mount, this IQ Vice. And it has a collection of task-specific IQ Vice jaws. So you can switch from a jaw that may be used to clamp plastic to one that’s going to be used to clamp wood to one that’s going to be used to clamp steel. And it’s got all of these plug-and-play accessories and mounts. And they’re called IQ Connect. So, for example, you could have a light that connects to the vice and gives you more light. You could have a magnifying glass if you’re doing, like, modeling and you need to see something that’s small. There’s even an accessory to hold your phone. So if you’re filming, say, a DIY video or you want to follow along some instructions, you could have it right up there as you work. This vice retails for $279. But we’re also throwing in all the accessories for a prize package worth $625. And that’s going to go out to one listener drawn at random. So if you think that having a super handy, innovative vice would be helpful for your projects, we want you to reach out to us right now with your home improvement questions. And, yes, you must have a home improvement question to qualify. We’re going to toss all of those folks into the Money Pit hard hat. And we’ll be sending the IQ Vice out to you. Thank you. One lucky winner along with all the accessories that come with it. If you’d like to see this for yourself, check out the videos at workiqtools.com. That’s workiqtools.com.
00:09:53	LESLIE: All right. We’ve got Daniel from Pennsylvania who’s doing a porch floor. Tell us about it.
00:09:57	CALLER: I have a 700-square-foot porch floor I’m installing. It’s going to be southern yellow pine, tongue and groove, natural. It’s not treated. And I was planning on staining all four sides in an oil-based stain before I put it down. I wanted to make sure that was a good approach. Then I was going to sand the floor once it’s down and restain the top cover. The only nails I can find are traditional flooring nails that can be used in my floor nailing gun. And I’m just wondering if there’s any stainless steel nails I should use or should I not worry about that.
00:10:27	TOM: Hey, Daniel. That sounds like a really fun project, putting a pine floor down on your porch. A couple of things. First of all, I do agree that staining it all four, actually all four sides, all six sides, if you can, at the ends of the boards before you do the installation, is a good idea. You mentioned wanting to sand it after it’s down. If it’s possible, if the board is rough or whatever, you might want to sand it before it gets down because this way you don’t have to take the stain off. But if you want to sand it after it’s down, that’s okay. You’re going to have to put another coat of stain on over that. In terms of the fasteners, I’m not aware of a source of supply for fasteners probably that are stainless steel for a flooring gun, probably because most flooring guns are used inside. However, there’s no reason you can’t hand nail that. You can basically use galvanized or use a stainless, even better yet, nail and just nail it into the top side of the tongue part of the board, the same place that you would put the fastener. It’s going to take you a lot longer. But if you really want a fasten that’s not going to rust and bleed through, then that makes a lot of sense. All right. Good luck with that project. Send us some pictures when you’re done. We’d love to see it. Well, if you love your outdoor spaces and you want to keep dining and entertaining yourself, you’re going to want to have a patio heater. Now, I’m going to show you a quick overview of some of the options. Now, first up, patio heaters are constructed to function using one of three different fuel types. There’s propane, there’s natural gas, or there’s even patio heaters that use electricity.
00:11:58	LESLIE: Now, next, I think you need to consider whether you want your heater to be portable or kind of stick to one spot. A stationary heater can hook up to your natural gas line, and so they won’t have those heavy tanks that need to be replaced or refilled. But if you plan on moving the heater to different spots around the yard, you’re going to need a portable propane model. And those portable patio heaters can either be freestanding or even tabletop.
00:12:20	TOM: Next, consider the heating power. It’s rated in BTUs. Just like your home heating systems, BTUs, British Thermal Units, are how we rate heaters. So, for example, if you were to purchase a heater rated at 45,000 BTUs, that will produce a 20-foot heat diameter. So, if, for example, you wanted a heater just to cover your outdoor picnic table, your outdoor dining area, that would be perfect for that. Now, freestanding heaters are also more powerful than tabletop heaters, so they can be used for larger groups.
00:12:49	LESLIE: Now, lastly, it’s important to know if that patio heater is going to be for an open or for a closed area. If you’re looking for full outdoor use, a freestanding gas heater can deliver a tremendous amount of heat to those surrounding areas. If you’re in an enclosed area, like a patio space that’s under a roof, an electric portable patio heater is going to be your best choice.
00:13:09	TOM: And, of course, no matter what type of patio heater you decide to go with, be sure to read the manufacturer’s operational instructions and follow all safety precautions they advise, as well as the maintenance advice that they’ll provide, because I have found that about every year to two years, I need to take my burners apart on my heaters and clean them, because if not, they just don’t work as well as they did before.
00:13:33	LESLIE: We’ve got Katherine on the line, who’s got a beautiful old one.
00:13:35	CALLER: I have a brick home, and the one corner around the foundation, some of the brick faces have popped off, and some of the mortar is crumbling. What brand of mortar should I use, and should I follow it up with a rubber sealant or silicone sealant? What type of sealant and what brand? And also, is there one that I can paint so that I can match it to my house? We’re only talking about an area of a few bricks and a corner of a house, so it’s a pretty small area.
00:14:20	TOM: Okay, Katherine, so you want to repair the deteriorated brick and the mortar. Now, one of the things that you’re going to probably need to think about is the fact that the repair products that you use, you want them to somewhat match the color. Fortunately, that is actually not difficult today, because there are dyes that you can mix in with different types of repair products. Now, in terms of the brick, there’s a product that Quikrete makes called ReCap, which is designed to adhere to old masonry surfaces. And I think that you can get this and mix in some of the dye that’s available also from Quikrete or other suppliers to get a reddish color that won’t sort of stick out like a sore thumb. When you make this repair, it’s used to build up maybe half to three-quarters of an inch of deterioration off of a surface, and it sticks really, really well. In terms of the mortar, that’s exactly what you want. You want a mortar repair product because that configuration for mortar is different than a basic cement, and it’s designed to be a little stickier and stay inside that joint. One tool that will help you is something called a pointing trowel, which is a very narrow trowel that’s designed to fit in between the layers of brick. So you’ve got a little bit of work to do there, but if you use the right products, they’re going to adhere properly and blend in with the old home that you have right now.
00:15:38	LESLIE: We’ve got Randy in Arizona on the line who’s got a drainage issue in the driveway. What’s happening?
00:15:43	CALLER: I’ve got all dirt. You know, it’s kind of sandy. It’s a good mixture of dirt in this 60-year-old house in Arizona. And when it rains, the water flows down both sides of the cement driveway and it exposes a PVC pipe. And I’m just trying to figure out a solution. Maybe make something out of cement or make something so the water runs through there without exposing the pipe on both sides.
00:16:06	TOM: So what’s the pipe do? The pipe is the drainage pipe for, like, rainwater and stuff? No.
00:16:11	CALLER: I had a guy put in a sprinkler system, and I didn’t even think he was going to go underneath the driveway. He had this pressure deal where he got all the way underneath there, but he didn’t go down very deep.
00:16:25	TOM: He blasted the dirt away and ran the pipe through. Well, I mean, it’s to avoid having to tear up driveways. So I guess the soil or the sand washes out around this pipe. Is it possible for you around that area to kind of dig out the soft dirt that’s there and fill it with gravel? And I’m thinking big gravel, like the gravel that’s like an inch to inch and a half size gravel, because that’s not going to wash away. And if we can just cover that one area where the pipe gets exposed with gravel, even if the sand washes through and around that, it’s not going to push the gravel away, and you won’t be exposing that pipe. And you may even be able to find gravel that’s different colors to do this with. Would something like that work?
00:17:08	CALLER: I’m trying to avoid any rocks because the weeds are easier. But I’ll try, and maybe a smoother rock, like a river rock or something may be right.
00:17:16	TOM: Well, listen, if you’re worried about weeds, what you could also do is when you dig that area out, put filter fabric down first. Okay. Because that helps. And then if you do get weeds, you know, just chase it with a weed killer. You spray the weeds, and it goes down. It gets to the roots and stops it from coming back. I mean, I think at this point, we’re trying to find a simple solution here for something that’s basically at the level of an annoyance. You’re probably the only guy that notices this because you’re looking for it every time, and you’ve fixed it so many darn times. But I don’t think we should be thinking about putting in curtain drains. That’s a big expense.
00:17:48	CALLER: Hey, I’m glad I asked you because I don’t need a big mess. So I agree with you so much. Thank you.
00:17:54	TOM: All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for reaching out. I’m glad to help.
00:17:57	LESLIE: Gail in Georgia is on the line with a wasp situation. What’s going on?
00:18:02	CALLER: We have a lot of insects and reptiles and all kinds of things in this tropic climate. But the thing that is worse is the mud daubers that build their nests on the side of your house. And we’re just constantly fighting that. And my question is, is there a way to eliminate that problem?
00:18:26	TOM: Well, not to completely eliminate it. I would say that there are some really good wasp traps that are out there. For example, this summer I used one from I think the company is called Rescue, which is ironic given the fact that they trap insects.
00:18:43	TOM: But it basically was kind of a fancy sticky trap is the best way to explain it. And it didn’t look like a trap when I hung it up because we had a lot of wasps that are congregating near our garden. And I came back a couple of days later and I said to my wife, I said, there is hardly a parking spot left on that trap. I mean, they just completely filled up the whole thing. So I think that kind of goes to maybe sort of reducing the populations a bit. So a wasp trap is a good thing. But generally, the wasps are repelled by strong smelling plants or oils. So, for example, if you have peppermint oil or something like that or lemongrass oils, geranium, clove, those types of oils.
00:19:25	CALLER: You’re saying put this on the house?
00:19:27	TOM: Spray it on where you see a nest form and they’ll go away. Okay. Right? All right. So I think between traps and a little bit of natural repellent, that’s probably the best you’re going to be able to do. They’re a bigger problem than just your house and there’s no way you’re going to keep them from doing what they do. They’re very territorial. They typically come back to the same area every year. So if you start to see that, you’ll know where to spray and maybe you can do that in advance of them showing up.
00:19:51	LESLIE: Thank you.
00:19:52	TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. I appreciate it. Thanks.
00:19:56	LESLIE: Well, squeaking floors are definitely one of life’s little annoyances, but they rarely signal a structural problem happening below. The actual sound is stemming from one or a combination of two sources. So you’ve either got loose floorboards that are rubbing together or the nail that holds down that floor or squeaking as they move in and out of their holes. Either way, you’re getting a noise.
00:20:17	TOM: That’s right. And fortunately, squeaks can be about as easy to fix as they are to find if you know what to do. The solution in both cases is to re-sequence. So you can secure the floor to the floor joist below. Now, how you do this depends on the floor covering, right?
00:20:31	LESLIE: Yeah, right. So for floor squeaks that are happening underneath your carpet, the best solution is always, if you can, remove that carpet, then use hardened drywall screws to hold that floor in place by driving one next to every nail in the floor. Now, a screw is never going to back out, so they’re much better than nails at stopping those squeaks. It’s also smart to do this if you happen to be replacing the carpet. This way, you can stop those squeaks even if they haven’t happened yet.
00:20:55	TOM: All right. Now, fixing squeaking hardwood floors is a little trickier than fixing a carpeted floor, but the principles do remain the same. You want to locate the area of the squeak and then use a stud finder to locate the joist below. Then you want to screw that floor down in this area, but use a type of screw called a trim screw. Now, a trim screw is a hardened screw. It has a really small head, kind of like a finish nail, so it’s easy to fill in the hole with wood putty once you’re done.
00:21:19	LESLIE: Right. And you know what? Squeaky floors, guys, they may be one of life’s little annoyances. But they are definitely easily kept under control. For a complete guide on how to fix floor squeaks under carpet, hardwood, tile, or vinyl, check out MoneyPit.com. Heading up to Vermont, where the skiing is always lovely, we’re going to Burlington to talk about a heat pump. Tell us what’s going on.
00:21:41	CALLER: I have an oil system, oil hot air furnace. Okay. Had a guy servicing it every fall for some years. Okay. And this last year, he was very big on, he said, I think you’ve got to replace it. And there’s some discount on heat pumps and yada, yada. Yeah.
00:22:05	TOM: Okay.
00:22:06	CALLER: He’s very big on it. I’ve liked him, but I can’t help but wonder how vested he is in it. And the main thing is, I think I heard somewhere, and that’s why I’m calling you experts, in a Vermont winter, which can still get cold sometimes, that heat pumps could be inadequate for the job.
00:22:27	TOM: So you’re also going to face the added expense of not only replacing the old oil furnace with a new one, but also having to abandon that tank in place or dig it out. So it’s pretty expensive to do that. Now, in terms of the heat pump technology, yes, actually, surprisingly, it’s gotten a lot better. The heat pumps today, the newest ones, use inverter technology. Which makes them really, really efficient and gives them the ability to very slowly and surely adjust the amount of power they’re using and adjust the amount of heat that they’re using based on the environment. So I do think that a heat pump system would work well in Vermont if it’s an inverter heat pump system. Take a look at the LG RED technology. LG RED. LG is the manufacturer. RED is what they call this technology. And it’s really pretty impressive. But keep in mind, though. If you do make this change off of oil, you’re going to have to remove and replace the entire furnace. And you’re going to have to remove permanently the oil tank. And, of course, that involves testing to make sure there’s no leaks in it and that sort of thing. So, you know, it’s a tough decision. And I think what I would try to figure out is how long is it going to take me to pay this off? You know, if I do this, am I going to be able to recoup the investment in doing all this work? Or if I’m only going to be in my house for maybe five more years, maybe not. So I would put that into the. Consideration factor as well.
00:23:50	CALLER: Love the show.
00:23:51	LESLIE: All right. Now we’ve got to head out to Alaska where LaDonna needs some help with snow management. At least that’s what I think is going on. What’s happening, LaDonna?
00:24:00	CALLER: Yes, please. I live in Chugiak, Alaska, where we get plenty of snow each winter. My log cabin has a 6-12 pitch. And I’m wondering if I put tarps over my roof whether the snow will slide off and prevent a lot of buildup. I typically get a lot of buildup each winter and use a roof plate to take it down. But I was told that maybe the snow would slide off a tarp.
00:24:27	TOM: I guess when you live in Alaska, you have to do a lot of work with snow management. So, LaDonna, I understand your concern, but I think it’s probably not going to be that effective. And here’s why. First of all, you live in Chugiak, I hope I pronounced that correctly, which is near Anchorage. So that’s the southern part, the slightly warmer areas of Alaska. And the warmer areas are going to have wetter snow. And when the snow gets wet, it gets stickier. If you were to improve the sort of the texture of your roof in the way that would make the snow want to blow off, it’s only going to happen when it’s super cold and really dry and light and flaky. So I don’t think that that’s going to really give you any relief whatsoever for all the trouble that it’s worth. And on top of that, when it does stick, now you’re going to have to, again, get up there with the roof rake and fix it. And it might even be harder to get it down. It certainly would damage your tarp. So while I can appreciate the situation, I just don’t think that that is going to work for you. And, you know, the only thing that might work might be heating cables, which will stop it from building up quite as much. But, again, that’s expensive to run. So I think you’re going to be stuck using that snow rake. That really is the best thing to do at this point. Well, guys, did you know that your water heater accounts for about 18% of your home’s energy use? If it’s working overtime, it might be time to give it and your wallet a break. And you can do that with just a few simple steps.
00:25:53	LESLIE: That’s right. You know, you can start with shorter showers and swap out your old shower head for a WaterSense-labeled model to save water, energy, and money. And when it comes to laundry, you can switch the temperature setting from hot to warm or cold. And you can cut a load’s energy use by up to 50%.
00:26:12	TOM: Now, don’t forget about fixing those pesky leaks either. Fixing a leaky pipe can actually save you up to 1,661 gallons of water a year and about $35 in the cost to heat all that wasted water.
00:26:25	LESLIE: And if your water heater is 15 years or older, it might be time to upgrade to an energy-efficient model. Now, not only is it going to save you money on your energy bills, but you can also take advantage of utility company programs to make the upgrade even more affordable. Yeah.
00:26:42	TOM: And right now, you can also take advantage of the federal tax credits that are out there for both tank and tankless water heaters, which can save you as much as $600 off your taxes. So, definitely a lot of reasons to think about replacing older water heaters right now.
00:26:59	LESLIE: Sean in Texas is on the line. He’s got a question about a central vacuuming system. What’s going on? Those are super awesome.
00:27:06	CALLER: I’ve been in the house about 10 years. I don’t know how long the central vacuuming system was in the house prior to me being there. In the past year, I’ve gotten a lot of condensation water buildup in one of my inlet pipes, and that pipe runs inside my AC clock. I just don’t have any idea how to keep the condensation because the condensation is actually running out in the brown, muddy-looking water down my walls and ruining my walls also. Okay.
00:27:41	TOM: So, this pipe runs through. Yeah. It runs through the closet where the air conditioning system is. Is that correct?
00:27:46	CALLER: Yes, sir. It runs through the closet and then up into the attic. Okay.
00:27:49	TOM: So, what I think is happening here is you have cold temperature on one side of this pipe, which is probably because it’s running through the room where the air conditioning is, and then you have warm air inside the pipe, which releases its moisture and forms a condensation. So, the solution is simply to insulate the central vac pipe because that will prevent the temperature change, and that will, in turn, prevent the air from coming out of the condensation. You know, typically, we don’t insulate central vacuum pipes, but in this unusual circumstance, by putting insulation around the outside of it, you will no longer have the difference between the cold temperature on the outside and the warm, moist air on the inside, and that should take care of the problem.
00:28:29	CALLER: Would that be inside the attic? Because I’ve already done that in the closet itself, and it didn’t seem to help.
00:28:35	TOM: Yeah. I would do it across the whole pipe because if it’s a condensation problem, you need to basically stop the temperature differential across it, and that’ll do that.
00:28:43	CALLER: All right. Well, thank you for your help.
00:28:45	TOM: I appreciate you. All right. Good luck with that project.
00:28:48	LESLIE: Harry wrote in to Team Money Pit and says, I live on the Olympic Peninsula where we have very dry summers and an occasional forest fire. My home has a cedar shake roof, and I’d like to know if there is a fire retardant treatment that could help us avoid a roof fire. I think that’s a great question. I mean, we’re seeing so many more wildfires occurring, and the loss of homes is just tremendous, so this is a great question.
00:29:11	TOM: Yeah, and I love cedar shingles, but I tell you what, I would never, ever, ever use it as a roof material because it is something that can catch fire so easily. Now, there are fire retardant products you can put on this, Harry. They usually last about four or five years. Most of them are latex-based. There’s one called Flame Stop II that’s been around for a long time, and another one called Dry One that’s been around for about 60 years. They’re non-toxic. They’re not hazardous. They’re water-based, as I said, and they dry clear, so there’s no odor. There’s no sticky formulas to deal with. And you basically are ready to use right out of the can, so they require no mixing, and you brush them on, you roll them on, you spray them on just like you would, say, an oil stain or something like that. It’s just that nature. And they do make the roof more fire retardant, but not fireproof, so it might buy you some time if in the unfortunate circumstance you find yourself in the path of a raging forest fire. It might buy a little bit of time, but it’s not going to prevent your house from catching on fire 100%.
00:30:16	LESLIE: All right. Hope that helps you out, Harry. Now, we’ve got Maggie who wrote in saying, We’re building a new house. The first floor has a concrete slab, which we’ve stained and sealed. Can we put wooden baseboards, which are primed and painted, directly on the finished floor? Can we put concrete?
00:30:29	TOM: Yeah, it’s interesting. I don’t think we’ve gotten a question like that before, and I don’t think there’s any reason that you can’t, assuming that your new home is properly graded to avoid moisture around its foundation. In all the years as I was a home inspector, I would always look at those baseboards on concrete slab houses and make sure that they weren’t infested with termites, and it was actually rare to find even cases of termites in those situations, so I don’t think it’s a high risk. If the baseboard gets water-damaged in a situation like that, then that moisture can get up into the concrete slab, and that could be more of a problem. So I would just tell you that I think it’s okay to use wood baseboards if you’re nervous about it. You could use a composite material like AZEC, for example, or Fipon has products that are molded to look like trim, but they’re actually made out of PVC, cellular PVC, but I would not have any hesitation to use a good old-fashioned wood baseboard, though, on those concrete slab floors if it was my house.
00:31:30	LESLIE: Yeah, no, and I think it’s such a neat look, too. It’s like you have this sort of modern, clean, industrial kind of feel on the concrete floor against a more homey, traditional wood trim look, so I think it’s an interesting look, and then, of course, down the road, if you choose to put a floor on top of that, you can do that, too.
00:31:48	TOM: Now, here’s one tip about putting those baseboard moldings in. What I would do is I would make sure that they are raised off. Off of that concrete slab, I would put them up about a quarter of an inch, so if you had some, like, for example, some quarter-inch plywood that you could use as a temporary shim, basically put the plywood underneath the baseboard, attach to the wall, then remove the plywood so you have a little air gap underneath each piece of baseboard, and this way, if it does get moist, it can easily dry out.
00:32:14	LESLIE: Yeah, that’s an awesome idea. All right, Maggie, good luck with that.
00:32:17	TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com. Hey, if you guys are getting ready for fall and the heating’s coming up, I want to give you a little tip. If you’re looking for a great season ahead, maybe looking to tighten up your house, improve the insulation to help cut energy costs, those are all great topics for us to help with. So if you’ve got a question, remember, you can reach us 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit. But for now, that’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:32:40	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.)