Show Notes
Today, learn how to maintain your washer and dryer to prevent floods and fires, keep stink bugs out with some sweet tricks, and choose the perfect mattress upgrades for a sound sleep. Plus, we’re sharing tips to help you make your home improvement plans a reality, so join the conversation!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Stinkbugs: Stinkbug invasions really stink, but there are ways to banish the bugs.
- Washers and Dryers: Prevent floods and fires with washer and dryer maintenance.
- Mattress Shopping: Snooze, don’t lose, with tips for buying a new mattress.
Top Questions & Answers
- Carpenter Bees: Carpenter bees are eating away at Norma’s wood patio. She gets tips for professional pest control treatment and for replacing wood with composite materials.
- Siding Repair: How can Ron reattach vinyl siding that’s coming loose? It’s easy to do if he has the right tool to bend the edges so he can connect the adjoining pieces.
- Insulation: David’s old insulation is falling from the attic rafters. He should maximize the insulation in the floor joists by adding a layer of new insulation.
- Metal Roof: Sally wonders if it’s a good idea to install a metal roof. It’s a great long-lasting investment, but the ROI depends on how long you’re staying the house.
- Plumbing: When one toilet flushes, the toilet in the other bathroom drains. John needs to check the roof vent pipe to see if there’s an obstruction that’s blocking proper venting.
- Worn Decking: Is there a way to fix a worn deck without replacing it? We suggest that Joan flip the deck boards over to the other side, which probably looks like new.
- Refinishing Stairs: Should Jason apply water-based polyurethane to new wood stairs? A solvent-based polyurethane in a satin finish would hold up better to abrasion.
- Old Windows: James has condensation in the windows of his historic home. He can’t change the window casing, but he can reduce the indoor humidity with a whole house dehumidifier.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| ANNOUNCER: The MoneyPit is presented by Daich Coatings. 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. |
| LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. | |
| 00:00:33 | TOM: And we are so glad to be here with you on this fine weekend. If you’ve got a question about a project you are tackling around your house, if you’re trying to do some last-minute holiday decorating, if you’ve got a repair that popped up, or if you’ve got a project you want to plan for the year ahead, all great questions and great reasons to reach out to us with those questions. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or you can post your questions to MoneyPit.com slash ask. Coming up on this episode, your washer and dryer. It may clean your clothes, but these appliances can also cause floods and fires if they’re not operating properly. So we’ve pulled together a few tips to keep them humming happily along. |
| 00:01:19 | LESLIE: And now that it’s pretty chilly outside, stink bugs are looking for a warm place, and that is often inside your home. We’re going to share a sweet way to stop them from getting in, as well as a stink-free way to get rid of them if they’ve already joined you. |
| 00:01:32 | TOM: That’s just a really unpleasant thought. |
| 00:01:35 | LESLIE: They’re so weird. They’re like dinosaurs. |
| 00:01:37 | TOM: They really are. And if you’re thinking of updating your bedroom with a new mattress or furniture, we’re going to walk you through the options with tips to make sure your purchase results in a better night’s sleep. |
| 00:01:46 | LESLIE: But first, let us help make your home improvement dream a reality. Whether that plan is to repair, improve, or design, we’re going to share the tools, tips, and tricks that you need to get that job done. |
| 00:01:57 | TOM: So help yourself first. Call us now with your questions. Again, the number is 1-888-Money-Pit or go to MoneyPit.com slash ask. And let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s up first? |
| 00:02:08 | LESLIE: Heading out to Illinois, we’ve got Norma on the line who’s dealing with some carpenter bees. And of course, they’re, you know, aggressive dive bombing. What’s going on, Norma? |
| 00:02:16 | CALLER: Well, I recently moved to a home that has a beautiful outdoor living room. I bought a wooden patio and quickly discovered I had carpenter bees. And I want to know what I can do to treat the woods so that they don’t return next spring. |
| 00:02:31 | TOM: Okay, so first of all, carpenter bees are interesting. You know, they do do a fair amount of damage, but not as much as, say, termites. What they’ll do is they’ll drill into the wood, usually the edge of a piece of lumber. And then they’ll turn 90 degrees and go with the grain in 3, 4, or 5 inches and lay eggs. And then come back out. And that’s those holes that you see, which are usually sort of like a perfect 3-eighths of an inch in diameter in my experience. They don’t bite, even though they seem to be very aggressive. They’re kind of bullies. They’ll fly right at you, but they can’t bite you. They’ll try to intimidate you with their size. Now, if you want to get rid of them, you have a couple of options. First of all, you have to treat them. And there are special types of pesticides that are designed. It’s like a powder. That goes in those holes. And it’s not really something that I would recommend that you do yourself. I think it’s best left to a professional. And that will stop them probably for the season. I’m not saying they won’t come back next year, even if you fill those holes. They’ll still probably try to get in there for a bite of food. The other thing is that often we find that they’ll attack non-structural pieces of a home, like trim pieces. Like, say, the box trim that might cut through the outside of this deck. Or the fascia. And in those cases, I personally have sort of given up on treating them because I didn’t want to do it from year to year. And I simply replaced that fascia board with a composite product. And I used AZEK, A-Z-E-A-K, but there are others. And the interesting thing is the very first year that I did that, the carpenter bees still came back. But now they were acting differently. Now they were looking at that AZEK and I could hear the conversation. It was kind of like, hey, looks like wood. Doesn’t taste like wood. |
| 00:04:19 | LESLIE: Why can’t I eat this? |
| 00:04:20 | TOM: Ultimately, they decided to move on probably to one of my neighbor’s properties and resume their natural behavior. So that’s really your options. You can treat them, and I do recommend that be done professionally. Or you could look to replace any of their favorite boards to nibble on with something that’s not wood. |
| 00:04:36 | CALLER: So painting the wood wouldn’t necessarily deter them? No. |
| 00:04:40 | TOM: They’ll eat through the paint if they want to get through the paint. They want to get the wood. They’ll eat right through it. They’ll drill a hole right through it. |
| 00:04:45 | LESLIE: And even though they are kind of aggressive in their approaching of you, like they’re not going to hurt you. They just love to be close. Right. |
| 00:04:52 | CALLER: I understand that. But meanwhile, they’re boring all these holes in my wood. Oh, yes. They’re like beams above my patio. |
| 00:04:59 | TOM: Well, I mean, if they’re into floor joists and structural members, then you have an additional concern. Although, boy, it would take a heck of a lot of them to weaken it to the point where it was dangerous. But I still think, based on the volume that you have, I would definitely hire a professional to do this. Okay. |
| 00:05:13 | LESLIE: I’ll do that. |
| 00:05:14 | CALLER: All right. |
| 00:05:15 | TOM: Good luck, Norma. Thanks so much for reaching out to us on The Money Pit. |
| 00:05:18 | LESLIE: Ron needs some help with vinyl siding. Let’s find out what’s going on. How can we help you? |
| 00:05:22 | CALLER: I have vinyl siding, and some of it is coming down. And I’ve tried to put it back and attach it, but I don’t seem to have the right technique. And I was wondering if you can give me some insight as to how to reattach these pieces so that they stay. |
| 00:05:40 | TOM: Hey, Ron. This is actually an easy problem to solve for you. So vinyl siding, when it goes on, as you may know, it interlocks. The pieces sort of connect and lock together. To remove it or to replace it, you have to bend down the lower edge of the vinyl siding. And fortunately, there’s a tool for that that costs all of about seven, eight bucks you’d find on Amazon and probably in home centers and hardware stores. And it slips up underneath the vinyl siding so that you can grab this. Vinyl siding can stretch it and then snap it into the adjoining piece. And that’s why you’re having difficulty connecting them because you’re not going to be able to do this through force of hand. You need this very simple tool. It’s like a handle and a metal blade that’s bent over to catch the lip of the vinyl siding so that you can either lift it and take the siding apart, or you could pull it apart and snap it back together. So that’s the solution. Good luck. |
| 00:06:35 | LESLIE: Hey, Money Pit Podcast fans. You want to help us out? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on our website. We’re going to put you on Apple Podcasts, and we’re going to give you a virtual high-five. Plus, you’ll be helping us spread the word about our show. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review. |
| 00:06:50 | TOM: So not too long ago, I had a pretty nasty-looking countertop that needed to be refreshed or replaced, and I used the new Luxe Rock Ultra Solid Surface Granite Kit. And it went so well that we are giving away some of these kits to lucky listeners to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. So this new DIY kit allows you to add a smooth-as-glass granite surface over countertops, tables, and vanities. It has a real stone resurfacing system, so it looks and performs just like real granite. The kits retail for $149 or $229, depending on whether you choose the 20- or 40-square-foot size. They’re available online with free shipping at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and DaichCoatings.com. But we’ve got a set of kits to give away to one lucky listener. So make that you. Reach out to us with your questions at 1-888-4222. We’ll toss your name in the Money Pit hard hat, and you might just win yourself the Luxe Rock Ultra Solid Surface Granite Kit from Daich Coatings. |
| 00:07:45 | LESLIE: We’ve got David from Connecticut on the line who’s got a question about insulation. Tell us what’s going on at your money pit, besides being cold. |
| 00:07:54 | CALLER: Well, it’s actually beautiful today, but it’s coming. So what I had a question is, since we moved in the house 20 years or so, I kind of remember a lot of our roll insulation in our attic being on the ceiling. Right. It seems like over the years, some of it’s fallen down to the floor, and then some is still on the ceiling. We did put one of those reflective barriers in that they come around and sell you when you move into a new house to radiate the heat up and down. They bring that little box with the light bulb in it. But we did put that in. My question is really, should I be putting the… the insulation back up on the rafters, or just put it down on the floor? |
| 00:08:42 | TOM: What kind of house do you have? Do you have a Cape Cod, by any chance? |
| 00:08:45 | CALLER: Sort of, yeah. It’s sort of. It’s been added on piece by piece over the years. It’s a two-story, half of a basement, and no… I mean, you can get in the attic, but it’s not finished or anything, so… |
| 00:08:59 | TOM: Is the attic a living space? |
| 00:09:02 | CALLER: No. And it covers three-quarters of the house. |
| 00:09:05 | TOM: All right. So because it’s not a living space, I would not focus on the roof rafters because, first of all, you usually don’t have a lot of room for effective insulation there. You need to leave space for ventilation. You can’t just fill the whole cavity with insulation. You need to leave a couple of inches for ventilation. By the time you do that, there’s not much room left for ventilation. What I would focus on is the floor of the attic, which is the ceiling joist of the second floor, essentially. And in those areas, you should try to maximize your insulation. Now, if you’ve not added insulation, and if the insulation is settled, or even if it’s level with the top of the floor right now, what I would recommend is you add another layer over that. I would use unfaced fiberglass batts. You can lay them perpendicular to the existing floor and edge to edge. And if you need space for storage, I would carve out some space around the opening where you don’t double up the insulation and just insulate everywhere else. Because you can’t put new insulation and then put stuff on top of it because you squish it and then it doesn’t work. |
| 00:10:08 | CALLER: Right, okay. So just get some unfaced or whatever you call it. Yeah, fiberglass batts. And just put them right up. Yep. Exactly. Excuse me. Should I take the ones that haven’t fallen from the ceiling and put them down? |
| 00:10:21 | TOM: I don’t think those are doing much good for you. And that’s probably not as thick as we want this to be. I mean, I’d love to see you in Connecticut. I’d love to see you have a good 15 to 18 inches of insulation. So if you’ve got 8 or 10 now, you can easily add another 8. Okay. |
| 00:10:39 | CALLER: Yeah, I’m sure I don’t have that. |
| 00:10:41 | TOM: Yeah, it’s pretty easy for you to do. And you’ll find that you get a really quick return on that investment. Your energy bills will go down and your comfort will go up, basically. Okay. |
| 00:10:51 | CALLER: I can’t remember where that barrier is, that silver barrier I put in. But it might be, I think it’s on the ceiling, I think. |
| 00:11:01 | TOM: It typically is on the underside of the attic ceiling. And I know people swear by it, but I just don’t. I don’t think it really adds much. I think if you keep that heat level at the floor from the house, if you keep them going through the floor, that’s the first opportunity. That’s why I asked you my first question is whether or not it’s a finished space. Because if it’s a finished space, we’d have a different conversation. Okay. |
| 00:11:22 | CALLER: Yeah. Yeah. No. When we first moved in, we thought, well, this is going to be fantastic. I don’t know if it did anything or not. Yeah. |
| 00:11:30 | CALLER: Who knows? |
| 00:11:32 | CALLER: Well, great. That’s perfect. Thank you very much. I’m going to get the wife on that job. No, I’m just kidding. I am. I’m on it. |
| 00:11:40 | CALLER: Nice. I’ll help her out. I love your show, by the way. It really makes my Saturday afternoon just great. Oh, thanks so much. |
| 00:11:48 | TOM: Oh, good. I appreciate that. All right. Good luck. Thank you. |
| 00:11:52 | LESLIE: Well, your washer and dryer are two of the hardest working appliances in your home, but they also have the ability to cause significant damage to your home. If they are not properly maintained, that could include floods and fires. Now, we’ve pulled together a few tips to help keep them humming happily along. First of all, washer and dryer disasters are more common than you may think. Now, according to the National Fire Protection Association, almost 17,000 washer and dryer fires occur a year, which can cause well over $200 million in property damage. And 92% of these fires started from a dryer. Now, the good news is that the fires are easy to avoid if you know what to do. |
| 00:12:33 | TOM: Now, most dryer fires occur because the dryer exhaust duct is dirty. So cleaning your dryer’s lint trap filter after each load is great, but it’s not nearly enough to protect against a fire. The lint has to be removed from the dryer’s exhaust line and the vent that goes to the outside of the house as well. Now, besides cleaning, take a look at your dryer exhaust duct. The best ones are made of metal because metal ducts are less likely to allow lint to stick and they’re easy to damage. They’re easier to clean than the vinyl or the flexible foil ducts. And check your dryer’s exhaust duct to determine what kind of duct you have and think about updating the ductwork if it’s necessary. |
| 00:13:08 | LESLIE: Now, if you’ve got rubber water supply hoses on your washing machine, those can really be a big weak link in the entire system. Those hoses tend to dry out and when they do, they burst. And then that allows thousands of gallons of water to come rushing into your home. So to avoid this plumbing disaster, you want to check those hoses regularly for cracks and blisters and be sure to turn off the water supply valves to that washer before you leave home for an extended period of time. Better yet, you can replace those hoses entirely with the braided steel models and think about installing an easy to reach single lever shut off just specifically for that washer. |
| 00:13:43 | TOM: Now, some washers are high efficiency machines and there’s really no difference from a safety perspective. But since these machines can have a turbo rotation speed of 1,200 RPMs and above, these machines may vibrate more so. If there’s a problem with the water supply, you want to make sure that the water supply valves are not properly supported and level. Now if that’s the case, of course, you want to level this as much as possible. But even if you do that and you still have vibration, you could consider adding what is known as an anti-vibration pad under the washer’s feet. These are like rubber blocks that are wide enough to accept the washer foot and they kind of act like a shock absorber. They’re widely available and they can help steady the machine. They also make them run a lot quieter so they’re not nearly as loud to hear. I’ve used these on a number of machines and they work fantastically. They’re very inexpensive. They’re a little bit of a difficulty to get them in because they’re, you know, the machines are so heavy. You got to tilt them up and slide these blocks underneath. But man, once you get them set up right, they work great. So look into the anti-vibration pads. |
| 00:14:44 | LESLIE: We’ve got Sally on the line from Decatur, Illinois who wants to talk metal roofing. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:14:49 | CALLER: Well, my grandkids have purchased a home and it’s going to need a new roof and they are heart set on doing a metal roof. Okay. My question is, is that a good idea or shall we go with the shingle roof? |
| 00:15:02 | TOM: Yeah, it’s a great question. So first of all, a metal roof is really an investment-grade roofing and what that means is when you put a metal roof on, you rarely have to replace it ever. I mean, they last like 50 to 100 years. Today, they also have coatings on them that help reflect the heat of the sun so they just stay cooler in the summer as well. So it’s a great roof. It really comes down to the house. Is this going to be a forever house for them? Or is this sort of a temporary house? Is this sort of a house that they’re in, you know, for the next five to 10 years or so? |
| 00:15:30 | CALLER: Probably so. It’s their first home. Yeah. |
| 00:15:32 | TOM: So it’ll be fairly short-term then, right? Yeah. |
| 00:15:35 | CALLER: Yeah. |
| 00:15:35 | TOM: So they’re not going to get the benefit of paying for a roof that’s going to last 50 years. You know, they’re going to get the same benefit out of an asphalt shingle roof that might last 20 years. And if they sell the house in 10 years, you know, they’ll have gotten their money’s worth out of it. So while I love to recommend metal roofs, it is an economic question as well as a durability question. Now, if you’re in a house and you’re going to be there, you know, forever, you might want to get a metal roof because that is a roof that’s never going to have to be replaced again. It’s super durable in all sorts of climates. |
| 00:16:03 | CALLER: Well, with them being young and this is their first home, I’m kind of with you. I would go with maybe a shake shingle or whatever instead of the metal roof because I know eventually they will move. |
| 00:16:15 | TOM: The house will definitely have a better value if you put a metal roof on it, but I don’t know that you’re going to get 100% return on investment. |
| 00:16:20 | CALLER: All right. Well, thank you so much. |
| 00:16:22 | TOM: Happy to help. |
| 00:16:23 | LESLIE: We’ve got John in Mississippi on the line with some gurgly toilets. Definitely not a fun noise we want to hear. What’s going on? |
| 00:16:30 – 00:1 | ANNOUNCER: I have two bathrooms that were built back-to-back and the toilets are back-to-back. So when one flushes, the other one either half drains or mostly drains. So I’m wondering what the answer would be to stop this from happening. |
| 00:16:45 | TOM: Hey, John. Well, when you have toilets that have that sort of gurgling or where they tend to drain when another toilet is flushed. It’s caused by one thing and one thing only and that is a lack of proper venting. Think about it. When you flush the toilet and the water goes down, it’s pulling air at the same time and it pulls that air from the vent pipe which goes, I would bet, through the wall between these two bathrooms up to the roof. So the first thing I want you to do is go outside and look up and make sure you got that vent pipe there. And the second thing is if you do, figure out why it’s blocked because I think that’s what’s going on. I think that vent pipe is obstructed. And so for that, you might have to have a drain cleaner come in and run a drain snake. But if it’s clogged, then you’re not going to be able to take air into the plumbing system and that’s going to basically cause the plumbing system to try to pull air wherever it can. And it’s exhibiting itself by partially flushing the adjacent toilet because it’s the nearest fixture. So totally solvable and not that uncommon. Interesting story in the news this week, Leslie. The average age of U.S. homebuyers has jumped to 56, increasing by six years since last July, since July of 23. And the shift now highlights how young Americans are not going to be able to get out of the housing market due to high ownership costs. The experts are now describing homes as wildly unaffordable for young buyers. And I think that means those who do manage to buy these houses are often settling for lower price fixer uppers, which means that making reliable home improvement choices is really going to be essential to keeping these homes in good shape. |
| 00:18:15 | LESLIE: Well, you know what? It sounds like job security for us. |
| 00:18:19 | TOM: think so. Yeah. And we’re happy to help. Hey, if you’ve got home improvement questions or maybe you’ve got a house that’s a little bit too much for you and you need to know what to fix first, what to fix second and so on, reach out to us right now at 1-888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:18:32 | LESLIE: We’ve got Joan from Illinois on the line who’s got a question about a deck. What’s going on at your money pit? |
| 00:18:38 | CALLER: Well, I’ve got a deck that is looking a little aged and I was wondering instead of replacing boards, which are still sturdy enough, I heard about some kind of cover you can put on the boards to… To put a new surface on it without removing the boards and I was wondering your take on that. |
| 00:18:57 | TOM: So, I think you’re referring to some of these new very thick paint products. They’re used for deteriorated decks and docks, like boat docks. My experience with these has not been good. I have not done personal projects with this, but I’ve heard enough from this audience and other sources to know that they simply don’t seem the same. They don’t stand up very well and in some cases result in massive peeling of the product. So, I don’t really feel good about those really thick paints. If you want to try something else, I don’t know how much of this deck is deteriorated, but I’ll give you a trick of the trade that works every time and that is that the boards that are cracked and checked and splintery, if you’re able to take those up and turn them over, so get to the backside of it. You will find that the backside in many cases is as perfect as the day it came there from the lumberyard. I did this to a deck not too many years ago and I was astounded. I could still see all of the original stamps and this deck was a disaster. I mean it was cracked, checked, rotted in some places, but the deck boards themselves when I flipped them over, they were perfect. So that might be the easiest way for you to solve this. Now, the other thing that you can do is if you decide that you want to, you know, replace those deck boards is you don’t have to replace the structure of the floor joist if it’s in solid condition. You can pull off the deck boards and you could put composite decking over that. So you got some options here, but I’d tell you to stay away from the paint. It sounds easy, but it’s really not and it can make a heck of a mess. |
| 00:20:37 | CALLER: Okay, sounds good. Thank you very much for your help. |
| 00:20:40 | TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Well, they’re pretty creepy to look at and they aren’t any better on the nose. Stink bugs are pests that emit a very distinct odor for protection. And of course, they see you as a large predator. |
| 00:20:53 | LESLIE: Yeah, I see them as predators too. Come on. I mean, they are harmless, but they are super weird looking. And just because they are harmless doesn’t mean you want them in your house and you want them being smelly where you are. Well, now is the time of year that stink bugs are really looking for shelter and warmth. So if you take a few steps to keep them out of your home now, they’ll stay out for the season. |
| 00:21:12 | TOM: Now, if you want to prevent a stink bug infestation, you want to seal all cracks and crevices in and around your home. And as an extra measure, install weather stripping under interior doors. Yeah. |
| 00:21:23 | LESLIE: You can also protect your vents in the attic and crawl spaces with screening and then make sure all screens on your windows are in good repair. Also store any outdoor chopped firewood on a rack and keep it away from your home’s exterior walls and remove any boards, boxes, or other possible stink bug hideouts from your yard and garden. |
| 00:21:41 | TOM: And finally, here’s our favorite tip for cleaning up stink bugs. You want to vacuum them, but don’t smash them. So what you can do is you can take like a piece of cheesecloth or an old stocking and you can stick it into the end of the vacuum and then put the nozzle on. It acts as a filter, right? Turn the vacuum on and then vacuum up the stink bugs, turn the vacuum off and then take that filter out, which will now hopefully be filled with the stink bugs and throw it away outside. Don’t even put it in your kitchen trash because it’s going to smell up the trash. Take it out of the house, toss it in the outside garbage and say bye-bye to the stink bugs once and for all. |
| 00:22:15 | LESLIE: All right. Now let’s welcome Jason. He’s looking to refinish some steps and needs help with the finish. What’s going on? |
| 00:22:20 | CALLER: I’m about to put a coat of poly on a set of stairs that just raw pine have never been coated before. So I’m going to give them a sanding and I wanted to use a water-based poly. Now I thought I heard recently that you counseled someone refinishing a wood floor against using a water-based poly. I’ve seen a couple of products by Varathane, I believe Minwax makes one as well, that claim to be water-based poly formulations that are made for floors. So I was just wondering what you thought about these kinds of products and if they were, these special formulations allegedly are durable enough for floors and stairs. |
| 00:22:59 | TOM: Hey Jason, thanks for reaching out. So yes, I have a concern about using water-based polyurethane on a floor or in your case on steps because I have found in the time that I’ve used it that it just simply does not have the same abrasion resistance as a solvent-based polyurethane does. So I’m going to give Jason a few tips on that. So when I do floors or steps, I always use one that is solvent-based. I had some bad experiences with the water-based for that reason. So I’m not really likely to ever try it again. So in your case, especially since stairs are so darn hard to refinish, so much work associated with them, I would definitely recommend that you use a solvent-based polyurethane, oil-based polyurethane. You know, suck it up and clean the brushes with mineral spirits when you’re done, but it really does work better. It will lay nice and flat. And I would recommend also that you use satin and not gloss because satin, especially in an older stair like that, is not going to show any defects in the wood as well as a high-gloss product would. So good luck with that project. Hope that makes sense. |
| 00:24:01 | LESLIE: Here’s another great reason to reach out to Team Money Pit. We’ve got up for grabs the new Luxrock Ultra-Solid Surface Granite Kit. Now, this is a new DIY kit that allows homeowners to add a smooth as glass granite surface over your existing countertop or a table. And it’s a revolutionary real stone resurfacing system. It looks like granite, performs like real granite, and it simply rolls on. It comes in six colors, including a new silver ice white. It comes in a kit, so you’re going to have everything you need there. And it ranges from $149 or $229, depending on how much square footage you want to cover. Check it all out online. You can find it at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Daich Coatings. It really is an awesome new product, Luxrock Ultra-Solid Surface Granite Kit. Yeah. |
| 00:24:46 | TOM: We’ve got a kit going away to one very fortunate listener. So if you’d like to win that, call us right now with your questions. You might just be selected at random and sent that Luxrock Ultra-Surface Granite Kit from Daich Coatings. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit. Well, if you’re thinking of updating your bedroom, a new mattress is a good place to start. You spend a third of your life in bed, so the right mattress is definitely a must. And if you’ve got an old, saggy mattress that doesn’t provide the support you need for healthy sleep, that’s going to leave you achy and sore in the morning. Now, five to seven years is the typical lifespan for a mattress, but buying a new one is kind of a big project in more ways than one. Not only is it a physically large and heavy piece of your bedroom belongings, there’s also the need to get rid of the old one at the same time. |
| 00:25:30 | LESLIE: Yeah. But if you’re due for a replacement, which you might be, we’ve got some smart shopping suggestions here. First of all, you need to know the different comfort levels that are available out there because, quite frankly, there’s a lot of choices. You can choose from firm, plush. Yeah. Plush, pillow top, a lot of different option mattresses out there. Firm is kind of self-explanatory. Plush offers support but allows more pressure points to kind of sink into the mattress. And a pillow top is going to be the softest option of all. You can also see salesy labeling, such as like ultra firm and super plush, just to kind of make things more confusing. But don’t pay attention to all the hype. There’s really no regulation for those types of categories, so it’s kind of tough to determine what they actually mean. |
| 00:26:12 | TOM: And also, you want to be aware that the stuff that makes up a mattress can impact your comfort and well-being. Now, if you’ve got allergies or other kinds of sensitivities, shop for mattresses constructed from all-natural hypoallergenic materials like organic cotton, synthetic-free latex fills, and naturally flame-retardant wool casings. And if you’re going to pick up a foam mattress, you know, a lot of the manufacturers now have great programs where you can order the mattress, it comes to your house, and if you don’t like it, they’ll take it back. Sometimes I’ve seen them take it back three months, six months, nine months, 10 months, nine months, a year later. So, look at all the options there and choose carefully. Give yourself some time to really test it out and make sure it’s right for you. |
| 00:26:52 | LESLIE: James in Texas is on the line and having some issues with a window. What’s going on? |
| 00:26:57 | CALLER: Well, I have a 1928 brick veneer home in Texas. It’s on the register of historic properties in Texas, so the exterior of the house is dedicated to the public. I have problems with condensation. I don’t know. |
| 00:27:18 | CALLER: It’s a single pane. I’m looking for some kind of an option to reduce the condensation and not alter the window casing. Okay. |
| 00:27:30 | TOM: So, you have single pane windows? Is that what you’re saying? Correct. Yes. And you have condensation inside those windows because they’re not very efficient, so there’s no insulation in the windows at all. |
| 00:27:41 | CALLER: Correct. So, when we have a change in temperature, we have to change the windows. That’s when the condensation occurs. |
| 00:27:47 | TOM: Of course. Yeah. Because if it gets cold outside and you have warm, moist air inside, it strikes the windows and condenses, and that’s why you get the condensation. So the only way to change that scenario is to either insulate the window, which you don’t want to do, or to potentially reduce the amount of condensation and humidity inside your house. What kind of heating system do you have? Is it forced hot air? |
| 00:28:09 | CALLER: It’s a central air and heat. |
| 00:28:11 | TOM: Okay. So, you could consider installing what’s called a whole house dehumidifier. This is an appliance that’s installed into that duct run, and when it’s activated, it actually takes out quite a bit of humidity and moisture out of the air. Some of the ones that I’ve seen can take out like 50, 60 pints of water a day, so a lot of water can come out of that. And it’s not inexpensive, but it is a solution. Other things that you could do would be to take some steps. Try to reduce the amount of moisture that forms in the house by improving the grating and the drainage at the foundation perimeter, because as water sits around the house, it soaks into the foundation, and that ends up converting to water vapor and adds the humidity inside the house. And, of course, making sure you’re always using exhaust fans in the bathrooms and exhaust fans in the kitchen that actually vent outside. So it really comes down to that. You’ve got to reduce humidity, or you have to increase the insulation. Okay. I appreciate your help. All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-422 |
| 00:29:12 | LESLIE: You’re Andy wrote into Team Money Pit, saying, I have gutters that run the length of my house. There are four downspouts that are clear of debris. However, in the middle of the gutter run, the water overflows in heavy rain. How do I raise the support of the gutter to allow the water to drain through the downspouts? I mean, would you add another downspout there, or is it maybe not a good spot, depending on the house? I mean, there’s got to be a way to move that water. |
| 00:29:36 | TOM: A couple of things. First of all, I would want to know if that existing gutter is properly pitched. If he’s got two downspouts on a straight running gutter, he probably has enough downspouts. But if you want to sort of gauge whether you do or not, you want to have one downspout for every 400 to 600 square feet of roofing surface. So if that roof surface is less than 1,200 square feet, you probably have enough spouts. I do suspect that what’s going on here is that the center of this gutter is really not pitched properly. The center of the gutter has to be up as high as it can be. So you’re probably going to have to pull out the gutter spikes, lift this gutter, and get it as high as you can in the middle while still, of course, not losing fact that it’s got to drain, the roof’s got to drain into it. And then over on the ends, you want to do the opposite. You want to lower those so where the gutter spouts are attached, those ends of the gutter should be lower so you have a good slope from the center to the far ends. Now when you take out those gutter spikes, and this is at least a two-person project because you can’t, it’s hard to handle a long piece of gutter by yourself. When you take out those spikes, I would replace them with a special type of gutter screw that’s as long as the gutter spike, but it has like a lag thread to the end of it. So once you attach it, the gutters just don’t move. The problem with the spikes is they loosen up and the gutters tend to rotate and pull away from the fascia behind them, and if that happens, you definitely can get some drainage. Lastly, I’m not sure if you have gutter guards on this, but some gutter guards in heavy rain don’t really work so well. And what happens is the water runs over them and off the gutter. So if you’ve got gutter guards, you’re going to have to evaluate that as well. My solution for all of this is to not use standard-sized gutters. I would use a bigger gutter, a bigger, say, five-inch-sized gutter instead of a standard four-inch-sized gutter. And this way, it’s going to have bigger downspouts, they’re going to drain properly, and they’ll never have an issue with backup. |
| 00:31:31 | LESLIE: All right, now we’ve got Carmen who wrote in saying, my back door swells and I have to use all my strength to open it. Sometimes I even have to push it with my butt. Is it moisture causing the problem? And if so, how do I get rid of it? Listen, girl, I know. You’ve got to sometimes do it. |
| 00:31:44 | TOM: Sometimes you’ve got to butt-check those doors, you know what I mean? What else are you going to do to get them closed, right? Well, look, I understand you’re focused on the moisture here. And yeah, that probably is the problem, but you can’t change that, right? So what you have to do is you have to allow for it. When doors are installed, we allow for the issue of swelling with the way it’s installed. If the door is installed so that it has an even reveal or even space all around the front door, it’s not going to be an issue. It’s not going to be an issue. It’s not going to be an issue. The first thing I would do is close that door very carefully and look to identify where it’s catching. It may be that you can sand down that area to create enough space to eliminate this by just doing that and then repainting that space. But it’s got to be adjusted. Once it’s adjusted properly, it won’t stick. |
| 00:32:34 | LESLIE: Yeah, and then you can, you know, figure out another way to close something with your door. But, you know, there’s a lot of things. Kitchen cabinet. |
| 00:32:41 | TOM: You can save the butt checks for the hockey rink, right? Yeah. |
| 00:32:44 | LESLIE: Maybe that’s a new hobby. |
| 00:32:46 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey, thanks, guys, for spending part of your day here with Leslie and me. We hope that we’ve been able to give you some great tips and info to help you make your home more comfortable, more energy efficient, and just all around a better place for you to be. If you’ve got questions you didn’t get through today or you think of something during the week, remember, you can reach out to us 24-7 by going to MoneyPitHomeImprovementShow.com. When you get there, just click the blue button and record your question. We might feature you on the show. In any case, we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible with an answer. So until next time, I’m Tom Kraeutler. And I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:33:24 | LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. |
| (Note: The above referenced transcript is AI-Generated, Unedited and Unproofed and as such may not accurately reflect the recorded audio. Copyright 2024 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.) |
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