#2474 - Clear as Glass: Decoding Window Labels | DIY Granite Countertops

Show Notes

In this episode, we’re simplifying window shopping with tips for reading energy labels, sharing a weekend-friendly solution for sleek granite-look countertops, and helping you safely deck the halls for the holidays. Tune in to The Money Pit to hear expert advice and answers to your DIY dilemmas!

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Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript

New Windows: Window buying is made clear as glass with these tips for decoding window energy labels.
Stone Countertops: Give your countertops a sleek and stunning granite finish with an easy DIY kit.
Holiday Lighting: Twinkle without trouble by taking the right precautions for holiday lighting.

Ask Your Home Improvement Question

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

Podcast Transcript

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00:00:24 – 00:0	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.
00:00:34	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:00:36	TOM: You guys have a project you’d like to get done before the holidays arrive? Well, you better get started because they’re just about here. If you need some help, reach out to us with those questions. If you’re planning a project for the days ahead, the months ahead, the seasons ahead, we’d love to talk with you about that. You have a decor dilemma now that you’re stuck inside the house. Is there a room or two you’d like to brighten up? All great reasons to reach out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974. Coming up on today’s show, if you plan to do some window shopping, for windows I mean, you may find that it’s one very confusing experience. But fortunately, there is a label that’s required to be on every new window. And if you know how to read it, you’ll be able to find the best windows for your home. Very, very simply. We’ll explain this insider secret, help you decode what this is talking about in just a bit.
00:01:28	LESLIE: And if you’re thinking about giving your kitchen countertops a fresh, sleek look, just ahead, we’ve got an easy DIY solution that delivers a smooth granite finish in just one weekend.
00:01:38	TOM: And it’s time to roll out the holly and get those holiday decorations up so you can start enjoying them. So we’ve got some tips on safe and sound decorating as well.
00:01:46	LESLIE: But first, our focus is you because we make DIY doable. We’ve got clear tips and advice on how to do it. We’ve got a list of ways to help you get all of your projects done. So if you’ve got a DIY project on your to-do list, let us help make it a DIY done project. Let us know what you are working on, what your timeframe is, or maybe just help you plan something out. We are standing by to lend a hand.
00:02:05	TOM: And one lucky listener is going to win the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig from our friends at Kreg Tools with accessories. It’s worth $250. We’ll tell you more about that in a bit. But you can qualify to win by calling us with your question at 1-888-Money-Pit or posting your question at moneypit.com. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
00:02:25	LESLIE: All right, time to talk wallpaper with Nora. What is going on in your money pit?
00:02:29	CALLER: Well, I have a lovely wallpaper that looks great except for some of the seams, like about half of them are curling up a little bit. And I haven’t been able to find a good product to keep them flat. I’m looking for a product that I can use because I hate to have to strip off that whole wall worth of wallpaper just because I can’t keep the seams flat.
00:02:51	LESLIE: Is it just in that one area or is it in multiple spots around the room?
00:02:55	CALLER: It’s multiple spots across a load-bearing wall in the center of the home. So it just seems to be that whole wall because that’s the wall I put the wallpaper on for an accent.
00:03:10	LESLIE: Is it in sort of the same spot, the same height across the wall? I’m just trying to figure out if there’s something maybe weird going on with the wall.
00:03:17	CALLER: Yeah, because I have wainscoting down below. Okay. And then wallpaper above. And so it’s the seam up the wall where the wallpaper is.
00:03:26	LESLIE: Right. Is it the vertical seam or the seam where the bottom of the paper meets the wainscoting? Vertical. The vertical seam where the two pieces meet. Two pieces meet together. And it’s happening at every panel? Pretty much across the wall. So that’s a lot. So, I mean, it could have been a couple of things. It could have been during the installation process you just didn’t get enough of the glue on the ends and then it just kind of didn’t adhere right. Or you didn’t bookmark it long enough so that that glue sets up properly. But what you can do now is there’s several seam repair products. And I know they’re kind of annoying, but you sort of put that glue on and then you do sort of re-roll over that whole area of the seam until it kind of adheres and sticks itself down. So hopefully that can repair it. But I’m just curious that it’s happening over the entire room if there’s like a moisture issue or something else going on like at that wall at every seam.
00:04:19	CALLER: No, it’s not the entire room. It’s the one wall, correct? It’s the one wall because I do have a second wall and those seams look fine. It’s just that one wall. So that’s what I’m dealing with and I, like I say, I don’t want to have to strip it all off.
00:04:39	LESLIE: No, I don’t want you to. Have you tried a seam repair glue at all?
00:04:42	CALLER: I did. It’s been a while ago and it didn’t work at all. So it’s like, I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s something on the market now that works better than the product I tried to begin with.
00:04:51	TOM: There’s a brand that is available on Amazon. I mean, when it comes to something like this where I don’t have a lot of personal experience with it, I do like to look at the reviews because I think it is a good indication. And there’s a brand on Amazon called Solvite, S-O-L-V-I-T-E, and it’s a wallpaper repair adhesive. And they’ve got 7,000 four-star reviews. And another similar product has 2,500 four-and-a-half-star reviews. So I think that’s probably a good indication of something worth trying, right? And it’s only, what, 10 or 15 bucks to buy a tube of this stuff. I would give it a shot. I’d pick one of the seams and see how well it works before I commit to the whole wall. The one thing is you want to make sure you find what works before you do more than that because you can’t keep putting multiple different types of adhesive on top of the one before it because that’s just not going to work. Right. All right. We’ll give it a shot. Good luck. Let us know how you make out.
00:05:41	LESLIE: Thank you very much. Heading on out to Nebraska where we’ve got Cliff on the line, who’s looking to match some new wood to old. Tell us about your project.
00:05:50	CALLER: Well, I’m making some barn wood frame, picture frames. And before you have to make a cut, unless you want to miter the joints, how do you make that cut look old?
00:06:04	TOM: Okay. So there’s a bunch of techniques that people use to distress wood to make it look old, usually involving beating up the wood one way or the other. And they do that with chains, smacking it with chains, poking it with screwdrivers, using a really coarse file to rough it up, that sort of thing. Or there’s another way to do this, and you have to get out of the house to do this, but if you have a plumbing torch, like a propane torch, you can burn the wood. And then after you burn it, that’s going to burn off the softer wood, which is going to be, you know when you have the rings of a tree and you have a thick ring and a thin ring, well the thick ring is softer, so the torch will burn that part off more and you’ll get some dimension to it. And then you take a brush, you can do it probably with a scrub brush, but you can also do it with a wire brush, and you brush away any of the char. And you’ll get a really, almost drift woody look to that, that’s similar to that barn wood. But once you’re done with that, you can either leave it like it is, or you can stain it, depending on what technique you choose. And I would use an oil-based stain on that, and I would start with a light coating of that and then kind of work in more as you go. So basically you beat up the wood and stain it, or you can also burn it and stain it if it’s not quite the right color.
00:07:23	CALLER: Thank you.
00:07:24	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.
00:07:36	TOM: And hey guys, if there is a DIYer on your holiday gift list, we’ve got a very unique product to give away to one lucky listener who reaches out with their home improvement question to 888-Money-Pit or MoneyPit.com slash ask. It is the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig 720 Pro. The package is valued at 250 bucks. And you know, you’ve seen pocket holes, even if you haven’t created them yourselves. They’re the angled holes that make building wood projects like furniture and cabinets and stairs faster and easier. You can build them without even using any glue and they’re super, super strong. So the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig Pro helps you do just that. Helps you build those projects faster than ever. And it features AutoMax, which is a cool technology. It’s a one motion clamping so you can put the work into the pocket hole jig. You can clamp it in place with a single motion. There’s no tools required. And it’s not going to ruin the surface because it has GripMax, an anti-clamping surface that keeps your project secure so it’s not going to shift. Now this giveaway is going to come with the pocket hole screw project jig and the 3-inch project wood clamp and the right angle clamp for added convenience. The whole package is worth 250 bucks. If you want to learn more, Kreg Tools are available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or your local specialty woodworking retailers. Or you can check them out at KregTool.com. That’s K-R-E-G-Tool.com.
00:08:53	LESLIE: Cindy, welcome to the Money Pit. We hear you have a porch decking question.
00:08:57	CALLER: What’s going on? I’m calling about a manufactured porch deck I have. And the builders did not put space between the boards. And now when it rains, it puddles. And in the wintertime, the puddle turns to ice. So it’s unusable. So I was wondering your suggestions on how to fix this. We’re not able to take it all apart, but can we use a drill and make holes in it? And how can we do it so it’s not atrocious looking?
00:09:25	TOM: Well, Cindy, if the decking boards are put up edge to edge to the point where they’re holding water, there is actually a pretty easy way to fix that. It’s got to be done carefully. But what you can do is you can use a circular saw. And I’m saying you. But this is really more of a pro kind of thing. Somebody’s really familiar with a saw and can do this in a straight and professional way. But basically, you take a circular saw. You set the depth of the blade to be even with the depth of the decking board. And then basically, you cut right through the seam between the two boards leaving the space of a kerf, the saw blade, in its wake. So basically, you’ll be putting like an eighth of an inch slot in between those boards, essentially adding in the space that was not put in there when the contractor first installed those boards. So you can use that kerf on as many boards as you have to kind of relieve the water. You may not have to do it to every single board on the porch. But do enough so that it doesn’t hold the water. And then that will let it drain. So that’s the easiest way to do this. And that should solve this problem of the water puddling. All right? Good luck.
00:10:26	LESLIE: Well, considering that most homeowners only replace their windows about every 20 to 30 years, choosing the right windows among the dozens of choices that are available today is extremely important, but it’s also very challenging. Luckily, there is a rating code that’s been developed by the NFRC, and that’s the National Fenestration Rating Council. It can definitely help you quickly compare the energy efficiency performance of those windows, doors, and skylights.
00:10:53	TOM: Now, two of the NFRC’s ratings are particularly important to know. The first one is called U-factor, and the next is solar heat gain coefficient. Now, if you understand these ratings, you can really make smart decisions when comparing the energy efficiency of replacement windows. And that can help you save money on heating and air conditioning costs. So first, U-factor. That measures how well a window prevents heat from escaping a building, and it’s rated from 0.09 to 1.2. Now, the lower the U-factor, the better the product is at keeping heat from escaping. Now, solar heat gain coefficient tells us how effectively the window blocks the sun’s solar radiation and heat, and it’s scaled from 0 to 1. The lower the SHGC, the better the windows are at blocking unwanted solar heat.
00:11:38	LESLIE: Now, there are two other ratings that are part of the NFRC. Visible transmittance, and that measures how much light is getting through the windows, and condensation resistance, which tells you how good a window is at keeping the moisture from forming on the inside or even between the panes. And air leakage, which is also going to tell you how good that window is at keeping out those drafts.
00:11:59	TOM: Now, the best part is that all this info is contained in the NFRC label, which is on each and every window. So make sure you refer to that sticker when you’re shopping for windows, as it is definitely the most independent and accurate information you’ll find. I’ve always noticed that when I’m shopping for windows, every dealer says their window is the most efficient and is going to stop all the drafts and do this and do that. But you know what? They can’t hide behind their claims when the window sticker says something different. So check out the NFRC label.
00:12:29	LESLIE: Heading out to Alaska where Matt’s on the line and needs some help building a closet. What’s going on?
00:12:34	CALLER: I have a closet that’s about 10 feet long and 3 feet wide. And currently the entrance is on the short wall from my hallway. It’s a long, skinny closet, and it’s not very useful because if I store anything inside, I have no room to maneuver past it to access items stored behind it. And one wall is right by my front entrance. So what I’d like to do is create an opening in that wall, and that would provide much needed front entryway storage. And the walls of the closet do run perpendicular to my roof trusses, so I believe them to be load-bearing. My question is, do I need to build a temporary support wall while I create that opening? Since the other wall of the closet, which is right next to it, will remain intact. So any insight you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
00:13:20	TOM: Hey, Matt. So you know what? I have a house that I bought some time ago that had that times two. We had two of those exact shaped closets like that where, you know, the wide wall was closed off and the short wall. I guess I kind of expect you to sort of shimmy in sideways to use the closet. It’s a complete waste of space. So I did exactly what your suggestion is I closed off the short wall and I opened up the wide wall. The question about whether or not it’s load-bearing or not, it may or may not be. I can’t really tell. And even if you do have trusses that cross it, it may not be load-bearing in the same way that a house that’s not built with trusses is because those trusses actually transfer a lot of the load around. But look, when in doubt, go ahead and build a temporary wall, right? I mean, there’s no point in not building a temporary wall. There’s no point in not doing it. It’s a pretty easy step. It’s going to take you an extra couple of hours to put one on both sides. So I say go ahead and build a temporary wall. Reframe it as if it is load-bearing. Better safe than sorry. And enjoy that newfound closet space.
00:14:14	LESLIE: All right. We’ve got Lisa from Illinois on the line right now. She’s got a question about grout. What’s going on?
00:14:19	CALLER: Well, we have big porcelain tile and then there’s grout lines that you can see very easily. And they were light color. But in the high-traffic areas, they’re darker. And I’ve tried to clean them and they just, I don’t know, I just don’t feel like I can get them to that lightness again. So I’m wondering what, if you had any recommendations on how to get them much lighter or what we might have to do.
00:14:47	TOM: Yeah. So two things. First of all, there’s a type of product called grout cleaner. But there’s another type of product called grout stripper. And the grout strippers are much stronger. So whatever product you’re choosing, you want to make sure it’s a grout stripper. And not a grout cleaner. And then follow the manufacturer’s directions and see how that goes. Grout strippers usually work a lot better at pulling out dirt and floor waxes and dust and things that spill. You know, all that kind of stuff is better with a grout stripper than a grout cleaner. Secondly, if it still is kind of gross, the other thing that you could consider doing is just re-grouting that area. You would have to have a tile installer grind out the old grout strip. You would have to have grout joints, which is actually not that hard to do. And once that grout joint is removed, then kind of replace it with new grout and you start from scratch again. This time, though, I would use a grout sealer, which helps protect the quality of that grout. But when you have wide grout joints on a big tile floor like that, it’s going to be a sandy grout. So it’s kind of a target for dirt. And that’s kind of where you’re at right now. So let’s see if we can get that restored.
00:15:51	CALLER: Now, it does have sealer on it.
00:15:53	TOM: Yeah. Well, sealer is not the kind of thing that you do want. You’ve got to do it on a regular basis. And if you put the sealer over the dirty grout, then that makes it even harder to clean it. But the grout stripper will pull all that out.
00:16:03	CALLER: Oh, great. Super deal.
00:16:05	LESLIE: Thank you so much for your help.
00:16:07	TOM: Good luck with that project.
00:16:08	LESLIE: Heading out to Michigan where we’ve got Tiffany on the line who seems to have a painting project gone wrong. What happened?
00:16:14	CALLER: A can of dark spray paint leaked on the bottom and got all over our wood laminate floor. Is there any way to remove the black paint that’s remaining? We tried wiping it up. Some of it was removed, but there is still a spot where the paint remains.
00:16:30	TOM: Oh, I’d love to hear the whole story behind that, Tiffany. That sounds like a real mess. But it does also sound like you’ve gotten some of this done. Leslie, you know what would be a very good paint remover for this situation, at least to try? Nail polish remover. Because it’s what? Acetone. It’s acetone, right? So, I mean, you know, it takes the paint off your nails. It’ll probably take the paint off that floor.
00:16:49	LESLIE: Do you think it would take the finish off the floor?
00:16:53	TOM: No. And here’s why. If you have a laminate floor, right, the color of the floor, the pattern, is underneath a protective finish. And that’s pretty durable stuff. I mean, I would not, like, flood the floor with this stuff. And you might just want to buy a small can of acetone directly, even though it’s the same as nail polish remover. But I would rub it very, very carefully over that surface and see if it starts to take it off. I mean, I wouldn’t soak it. And you can kind of watch it as you go. But I bet you that will take off the rest of that paint, Tiffany.
00:17:21	LESLIE: I mean, that definitely seems like a good plan and definitely worth the try.
00:17:24	TOM: And if you’re worried about whether it’s going to take the finish off the floor, I mean, go ahead and test it out in some place that’s not too noticeable. Like, I don’t know, inside a closet or just up really close to the kitchen cabinets where you have, like, that overhang for the kickboard.
00:17:36	LESLIE: Under the couch.
00:17:37	TOM: If you’ve got a laminate floor. Yeah, exactly. And we’ve got a new podcast review.
00:17:42	LESLIE: All right. This one comes from Kells45 from the United States, the five-star rating. And it says, This is the most informative podcast out there. It’s motivating and inspiring. I like how you guys throw out safety tips. I like how you guys throw out your episodes as well. They have been a huge help. Tom and Leslie are always in sync and they know their stuff. I am so glad I found this podcast. Keep up the good work, you two. Love the show and love you guys. That’s a great review. Thanks, Kells.
00:18:09	TOM: I love the title, too. Tom and Leslie equal podcast perfection.
00:18:13	LESLIE: You forgot the smiley emoji.
00:18:15	TOM: Oh, and the double exclamation points as well. Hey, listen. Thank you so much. These really help us, guys, when you submit a review on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify. So if you’re so motivated, we’d really, really appreciate you considering doing just that. Post us a review. And you can find a way to do that if you go to moneypit.com slash podcast. We walk you through the process.
00:18:35	LESLIE: All right. Can’t wait to hear from you guys. We’ve got Georgiana on the line from Arkansas who’s dealing with a very chilly bedroom. What’s going on?
00:18:42	CALLER: I have two bedrooms that have outside walls. When I moved here in 1989, I’m assuming that it didn’t get as cold in the wintertime as it does now. So my bedrooms are very cold when the temperature changes. And I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do to warm up those rooms.
00:19:02	TOM: What kind of heating system do you have?
00:19:04	CALLER: I have a heat pump.
00:19:05	TOM: You have a heat pump. It’s electric.
00:19:07	CALLER: It’s electric.
00:19:08	TOM: It’s an electric heat pump. Right. How do you use the heat pump? Do you set it and do you forget it, so to speak? Do you leave it or do you sort of bounce the thermostat up and down?
00:19:15	CALLER: Well, I have it set for when it’s warmer for the fan to come on in the house. And when it gets cooler. When it gets cooler, the heat will come on.
00:19:25	TOM: Right. What do you have it set at?
00:19:26	CALLER: It’s at 72. I have a ranch house that’s kind of big, long.
00:19:31	TOM: Right. Okay. So a couple of things come to mind. First of all, heat pumps tend to feel like they blow cold air because the temperature that the air comes out of the registers is like 100, 110 degrees as opposed to like 130 or 140 if it was gas-fired or oil-fired. So that kind of works against you. The reason I asked you if you just sort of set it and leave it alone is because if you get in the habit of turning the heat up when you’re uncomfortable, the heat pump won’t keep up and it’ll bring on its backup system, which is an electric resistance system that’s built into a heat pump. And the difference is that that costs about twice or three times more to run than the heat pump itself. Heat pumps are pretty efficient. What you should have is a special type of clock setback thermostat that you could utilize to raise the heat and lower the heat at a very, very slow pace. And that will stop the backup system from coming on. Other things to check. Insulation. You mentioned you have a ranch. So the insulation above this room, do you know how much insulation you have in that attic in terms of inches?
00:20:32	CALLER: I have no idea. I’ve been here for 35 years.
00:20:35	TOM: Yeah. Okay. So I’m going to tell you this. The first thing you should be doing is adding more insulation. If you haven’t touched it in 35 years, I can tell you right now you don’t have enough. You probably have maybe enough to be flush with the ceiling joists, the beams that you sort of walk on when you go up there. But you really need to have 15 inches of insulation. So the first thing I would do is I would get unfaced fiberglass bat insulation and I would have it laid on top of the old insulation. I don’t know if you have a floor up there or what. But in that area and maybe even in the whole ceiling, lay those unfaced bats. You can just put them right down perpendicular to the insulation you have right now. That added layer of insulation is going to make a huge difference in your comfort in that house and in your heating bills. That one thing might address this. But the other things to look at might be the windows. If you have 35-year-old windows, we don’t know if those windows are drafty or not. A very simple way to figure out if they are drafty is to take the back of your hand and hold it alongside the jams of the window, the sill, the sides, the top. The reason you put the back of your hand is because that side of your hand is much more sensitive to temperature than your palm. And you’ll feel air coming in there. And if you do, then you could try to evaluate ways to stop that. So you may need to caulk the outside of the window. The window trim against the siding. I always like to caulk the inside of the trim against the window and the wall as well because sometimes air slips through there. You may want to think about adding a cellular shade instead of whatever kind of shade you have now. Cellular shades are the ones that are hollow in the middle and they actually act as a barrier between the warm air in the bedroom and the cold air outside. And it helps to avoid the convection that happens when that warm air strikes the glass and then falls and then sort of circularly rotates itself throughout the room. And that also causes drafts. So I would look to things like that. And the last thing I will tell you to do is to look at your outlets on the exterior walls. Take the cover plate off and you can get an outlet gasket which is like a foam gasket that fits right under the outlet and then put the cover plate back on. And that will seal the area around those outlets because very often you’ll see that you’ll get drafts that come through those holes where the outlets are actually placed in the exterior walls. So I would start with insulation. Okay.
00:22:48	CALLER: Thank you so much, Tom, for calling me back. You’re welcome. Have a great day, both of you.
00:22:51	TOM: Good luck with that project. Hey, guys, if you’re getting your home ready for the holidays and thinking about giving your kitchen a quick but dramatic upgrade, we’ve got a fantastic DIY solution to share.
00:23:00	LESLIE: Yeah, it’s the new Luxe Rock Ultra Solid Surface Granite Kit from Daich Coatings. And it’s an easy, affordable way that you can add a stunning granite finish to your countertops, to a table, even a vanity. And the best part is you can get it done in just one weekend. Yep.
00:23:17	TOM: The new enhanced version of their award-winning Luxe Rock product features a smooth-as-glass roll-on application, and the kit includes everything you need. So you get the prime coat, the stone coats, the stone-set epoxy, a clear coat finish, plus all the tools necessary to cover up to 40 square feet of surface, all for just $229.99 or $149.99 for a smaller kit that covers 20 square feet.
00:23:40	LESLIE: I mean, that’s really great. And the variety of colors is awesome. I mean, it includes classics like Galaxy Black. Crystal Quartz. Even Carrara Marble look. And that’s definitely a shade to fit every style out there. And that finished product, well, it’s food-safe, stain-resistant, heat-resistant, and it’s really durable.
00:23:59	TOM: I’ll tell you, I did a countertop about two years ago, maybe three years ago now, actually, with Luxe Rock, and it looks fantastic. There’s no need to remove sinks or plumbing fixtures. It works on laminates, on concrete, plywood, MDF, that’s medium-density fiberboard, and more. And it really makes it a low-hassle product. It’s a project that’s perfect for the holidays because you can get it done quick.
00:24:19	LESLIE: So if you want to add some sparkle and shine to your kitchen this holiday season, check out the Luxe Rock Ultra-Solid Surface Granite Kit. You can order it online at Lowe’s, the Home Depot, or Daich Coatings website, and all with free shipping.
00:24:33	TOM: It’s really a one-weekend transformation that is sure to impress your guests and last for years. Definitely a holiday gift worth giving your home. To order Luxe Rock Ultra-Solid Surface Granite Kit and get free shipping, visit Lowe’s or Home Depot online or go direct. To Daich Coatings at daichcoatings.com. Well, if you’ve got a home improver on your holiday gift list, we have got a unique product to give away to one very lucky listener who reaches out with their home improvement question, especially if it’s a home improver that does a bunch of woodworking.
00:25:04	LESLIE: Yup, it’s the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig. It’s the 720 Pro Package, and it’s valued at $250. And a pocket hole is an angled hole that makes building wood projects like furniture, cabinets, stairs, furniture, and more. Faster, easier, way more professional-looking. It’s really awesome because it features GripMax, which is an anti-slip clamping surface, so it keeps that project secure, so it’s not going to shift while you drill. It’s a really amazing kit. It’s valued at $250. You can find Kreg Tools available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or even your local specialty woodworking retailer. You can learn more at kregtool.com, and that’s K-R-E-G-T-O-O-L dot com.
00:25:45	TOM: Yup, that pocket hole jig. The 720 Pro really helps you build pocket hole projects quicker than ever. Again, that website is kregtool, K-R-E-G-T-O-O-L dot com.
00:25:56 – 00:2	ANNOUNCER: Now, we’ve got Mark in Kansas on the line who’s got a question about a countertop. What’s going on? Well, we have a Formica countertop. It’s darker, and my wife is wanting something lighter. And I’m wondering, do I have to replace it?
00:26:13	TOM: No, actually, there’s a product that you can replace that, or you can actually cover that top with. It’s made by a company called Daich Coatings, D-A-I-C-H. I actually just used the product myself in the last few months, and it’s called Luxe Rock, L-U-X-R-O-C-K. They also have another version called Mineral Select. And essentially, these are products where you put on a primer, and then once the primer dries, you put on a coat of the Luxe Rock. You let that dry, and then you very carefully sand it. And what you see come through are like all the flakes of different colors. Like gold, for example, that you would see in a granite piece. And once you reveal that, and you’re sort of happy with that appearance, then you put on like an epoxy topcoat, and that sort of locks it all in. So in my case, I had a really old kitchen, and I had the option to go over the old top, which I would have been happy to do. But I was reconfiguring cabinets, so I decided I would build a countertop myself from scratch using plywood. And when people said, you’re going to put a plywood countertop in? Well, I got to tell you, I had friends that saw this Luxe Rock product after it was complete. And they were kind of like, what do you mean that’s not granite? They’re like looking at it, they can’t see anything that tells them it’s not granite. I finally had to turn a piece of the top upside down and prove it wasn’t granite. That’s how darn good it looks. So check out daichcoatings.com, D-A-I-C-H, coatings.com. You’ll find those products there. They’re really good at this, and I was very happy that I made that choice.
00:27:44 – 00:2	ANNOUNCER: Well, thank you. I appreciate it.
00:27:46	LESLIE: Well, it is almost Christmas, and if you are in the middle of holiday decorating, we have got some tips to help you stay safe and help you save money on your decor. First of all, before you deck those halls and trim that tree, you’ve got to test all of those holiday lights, both indoors and out. You want to make sure that all of those lights are marked with a UL Underwriter Laboratory seal of approval and are marked for outdoor usage, if that’s where you’re going to display them. You also want to make sure that each strand is clear of damaged and frayed wires. And if you have any doubt, you know what they say, when in doubt, throw it out.
00:28:21	TOM: Yep, and if your strands aren’t lighting, you can check each bulb to see if it’s loose and replace each one individually with a working light bulb to see which bulb is the dud until the strand comes on. But if that doesn’t solve the problem, my advice, give up. It’s just not worth trying to fix old holiday light strings. Instead, use this opportunity to pick up LED holiday lights. They are a lot less expensive and actually a lot brighter.
00:28:46	LESLIE: If you take a look at your monthly electric bill, that’s really going to tell you all the info you need there. Now, you can be paying $20 a month to have those colorful strands of Christmas lights outlining your home’s rooftop, or you can be paying $0.30. Now, that’s the typical cost difference between powering five strands of those old-fashioned incandescent holiday light bulbs and the same number of LED lights. That’s a big difference. Thanks so much for reaching out. We know you guys are so busy this time of year. Lots going on. Well, Chase in Colorado took a moment to reach out, saying, My wife and I just bought our first house, and we want to replace the faucets in the bathroom and the kitchen sinks. We have zero DIY skills, but we have watched some YouTube videos and think we can handle it. Are we crazy to try?
00:29:32	TOM: Well, I guess it depends on how many takes that YouTuber needed to make it look so easy, right? I mean, look, it is possible to do this yourself. And there’s sort of a, as far as I’m concerned, like a go-no-go point in that project, Leslie, and that is this. If you can turn the water supply valve off to the sink on both the hot and the cold side, and it actually turns all the water off, then I think it’s worth trying, because nowadays the manufacturers have made these faucets a lot easier to replace. They actually often have the tools you need right inside the box. But those valves are really a sticking point here, because very often they don’t turn off all the way, and they still leak a little bit. And if that happens, I would definitely skip the project and call a pro, because, look, you could turn off the main water valve to the house, but still, if you run into a problem replacing the faucet, now your water’s off, it’s just going to become a mess. So if you can’t turn the water off, don’t do it. If you can, give it a shot.
00:30:33	LESLIE: All right. Next up, we’ve got one here from Linda, who writes, My dryer vent is running under my house, and it’s built on a slab. Since it’s such a long run and hard to clean the lint, I’m venting on the inside of the garage with a device. It’s a device that catches it in a large container with a small amount of water. Will this device cause moisture damage in the walls and the stored items? I mean, I feel like it’s probably still super dusty in there with all the lint fibers, right?
00:30:58	TOM: Yeah, I do, too. I’ve seen those things. I don’t think they’re a good long-term solution. What you really ought to be doing is cleaning those ducts, and it’s easier than you think if you have the right tools. There’s a product called Lint Eater. I’ve never seen anything better than this. In fact, I just used this, I guess it was about two, three weeks ago at Mom’s house. Her ducts run at about 20, 25 feet through a crawl space, so it’s perfect for that. And what a Lint Eater is, it’s a dryer vent cleaning brush, so it’s shaped to fit inside that dryer duct. And it comes in sections, and the threads on the sections are reversed so that as you spin them on, they get tighter and the lint eater gets longer. And then as you pull it out, you can unscrew the sections, and basically store it away. It makes it a really easy way to clean long dryer ducts. So what you would do is you would clean from the outside in and then from the inside out, running that brush in as far as you can go. It’ll actually make its way around 90-degree turns. It gets a little noisy and rattly because it kind of slaps the sides of the ducts as it does it, but it does work really, really well. And as you pull that brush out, you will be amazed at how much lint you take with it. So I would much rather see you use something like that to maintain your dryer ducts and not that water filter you described previously.
00:32:14	LESLIE: All right, Linda. Good luck with that because you definitely can have a lot of issues from dealing with an excess amount of lint. In addition to dust, it’s just not good. It’s a bad, bad fire hazard. So hopefully we can get this sorted out for you and get it all cleaned out and have you enjoying those holidays lint-free.
00:32:31	TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com. Thank you so much for sticking with us this holiday weekend. As you’re probably busy decorating and shopping and doing all the fun things to your home that we all get to tackle this time of year, if you’ve got questions about projects you’re thinking about now or in the future, remember, you can reach us 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit. Or for the fastest possible response, just go to MoneyPit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. You can record your question to us right there. We’ll get back to you with an answer the next time we produce the show. Until then, happy holidays, everybody. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:33:11	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
00:33:12	TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
00:33:14	LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.

	(Note: The above referenced transcript is AI-Generated, Unedited and Unproofed and as such may not accurately reflect the recorded audio. Copyright 2024 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.)