#2476 - Door Décor to Sleigh the Season | Cleaning Germs from Surfaces | Flush Toilet Problems Away

Show Notes

On today’s show, get festive with front door decorating tips that make a great first impression, learn how to properly clean and disinfect your home to keep germs at bay, and discover an innovative way to stop a running toilet from wasting water. Don’t miss these and other quick and impactful home improvement ideas as we answer questions from DIY callers!

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Podcast Transcript

Holiday Décor: Welcome guests to your home with door décor to sleigh the holiday season.
Cleaning: Wipe out germs with these cleaning tips for sanitary surfaces.
Running Toilet: This innovative toilet flapper flushes away water waste from a leaky toilet.

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	ANNOUNCER: The MoneyPit is presented by Super Flapper by Fluidmaster. Now here are Tom and Leslie.
00:00:30	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.
00:00:35	TOM: What are you guys working on this weekend? Are you in full-on holiday preparations right about now? We bet you are. If you’ve got a project you’ve been thinking about doing, maybe a quick one inside or maybe a big one you’re planning for the months ahead, we’d love to talk with you about that because we can help. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974. So if you’ve got a project you’d like to get done, let us help. Reach out right now with your questions. You can also reach us at moneypit.com ask. Coming up on today’s show, are you a last-minute holiday decorator? Well, if you’ve got to choose one thing to decorate, first impressions matter. So we’re going to share tips to help you decorate the first thing your guests see, and that’s your front door. Whether your style is classic or contemporary, we’ll show you how to make it.
00:01:23	LESLIE: And according to the CDC, many of us are not cleaning and disinfecting our homes the right way. Well, we’re going to share a simple tip that can help make sure you’re getting rid of bacteria and viruses and all those other things that are gross and can make you sick on the hard surfaces
00:01:39	TOM: in your home. And maintaining your toilet is totally a DIY project, which is made even easier with a new product from Fluidmaster. It’s called Super Flapper. We’ll share how this new innovation can help stop leaky toilet flush valves that waste a lot of fluid. And we’ll also share how this new innovation can help stop leaky toilet flush valves that waste a lot of water.
00:01:53	LESLIE: But first, we want to help you create your best home ever. So what are you working on? I know we’re all in full holiday mode, and we’re very busy this time of year, but you probably have some good ideas come the new year on how you want your house to be, operate, function, whatever it is
00:02:07	TOM: that we can do to lend a hand. Let us know. Plus, if you reach out today with your questions, you might just win a copy of my new book, Home Maintenance for Dummies, going out to one caller, drawn at random. Make that you. Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-FIT. You’ll get the answer to your home improvement questions and maybe a copy of my book to help you get those
00:02:25	LESLIE: jobs done. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? Thomas in Tennessee is on the line with a
00:02:31	CALLER: wallpaper question. How can we help you today? I have two layers of wallpaper and a small half bath that I’m trying to take off. And I was wondering what your guys’ best solution is. One is a lighter wallpaper like you would find in the rest of a house, but the other one is a very thick waterproof type that’s mostly used in bathrooms. Yeah,
00:02:51	TOM: well, removal is pretty much the same regardless of that type. Essentially, what you have to do is you got to run a tool across the paper called a paper tiger. And it’s a tool that puts small prickly sized holes in the paper. And then once you have those holes in there, you can apply a wallpaper paste remover to it, which will soak into the paper, get behind it, and start to loosen it up. Now, it’s a lot of work, but considering it’s just the bathroom, perhaps it won’t be that difficult for you. If you really, really, really have a hard time getting that paper off, you could always rent a wallpaper steamer and that will make the job a
00:03:25	CALLER: little bit easier. Oh, okay. Well, do you have any home remedies for this where you don’t have to buy a whole lot of tools?
00:03:32	TOM: Because I’m kind of on a budget. Well, the paper tiger is not very expensive. It’s a little hand tool. It’s probably seven or eight dollars, something like that. So that plus a few dollars for the wallpaper paste remover, that’s really all you’re going to need. Okay. Well, thank you. All right, Thomas. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for
00:03:47	LESLIE: calling us at 888-Money-PitT. We’re going to Monday. We’re going to Monday. We’re going to Monday. All right, everybody, thanks so much for tuning in. We’ll see you next time. Mike, in Michigan who’s got some concerns about working in the cooler temps. Welcome, Mike.
00:03:55	CALLER: I heard a rumor that there’s sealant that can be applied in much colder temperatures, but upon my research, I haven’t found any company that sells it or has any knowledge of it. You talking about caulk? Yeah. The sealed joints and cracks.
00:04:11	TOM: Well, generally, the solvent-based caulks can be used in a lot lower temperatures than the latex-based caulks. Are you using silicone caulks?
00:04:20	CALLER: We’re using caulks. We’re also using polyurethane.
00:04:23	TOM: You might want to look at the silicone products. Now, this is nothing special. It’s not a new type of product, but I know that some painters use these down to zero degrees. Now, the trick is keeping it warm enough to apply it so it flows well. But if you can keep the caulking tube warm and then go outside and use it, the application should be okay down to almost zero degrees, as I recall. Okay.
00:04:48	CALLER: And the pre-solid cycle, I know as water turns to ice, it expands. That will not expand the sealant being wet?
00:04:56	No. Well, it’s because it’s solvent-based. You don’t have the same expansion issues. Okay.
00:05:01	CALLER: And how well does that level out? Do you have to more or less putty it in and smooth it out yourself?
00:05:08	TOM: It is more difficult to level out because of the cold temperature. As you know, if you’ve ever used this kind of thing on a warm day, it flows really nicely. But because it’s chilly, it doesn’t. It definitely doesn’t flow as well. But if you’re skilled with the caulk gun, you should be fine with it. You know, and clean-up’s a little bit more difficult as well. But again, it comes down to your skill and I’m sure if you’re doing it all these years that you’d be able to overcome that issue.
00:05:32	CALLER: Yes. We’re just looking, when we heard about it, we figured, well, if we can get another month or two out of this season of doing sealant, we can make more money each year by doing so.
00:05:46	LESLIE: You know, there’s also a product out there called a caulk warmer. And it looks like a sort of like an insulated lunchbox, but it’s more like an envelope style. And you can hold two to five tubes depending on which size you get. And that can help you keep the caulk at a flowable temperature while you’re getting ready to work. Oh, okay.
00:06:07	CALLER: I appreciate all your help and assistance. You folks have a great day.
00:06:10	TOM: All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-PitT.
00:06:15	LESLIE: Hey there. We’ve got a question for you. We hope you’re enjoying this episode of our podcast. If you are, you know what would totally make our day is if you leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.
00:06:24	TOM: Absolutely. Just go to MoneyPitt.com slash review and let the world know how much you enjoy our home improvement tips and tricks, and you might even win a copy of our book.
00:06:36	LESLIE: Here’s a great reason to reach out to Team MoneyPit. We’ve got up for grabs the perfect holiday gift. It is Tom’s new book, Home Maintenance for Dummies. You guys. This book is chock full of awesome information that will help you get your house in tip-top shape whether you are a seasoned DIY-er or you’re just getting started. Home Maintenance for Dummies is available right now on Amazon.com and at MoneyPitt.com slash dummies for $24.99, but one of you lucky callers and listeners gets your chance to win one this hour.
00:07:04	TOM: Don’t miss your chance to win a free copy and take control of your home maintenance like a pro. Call us now at 1-888-Money-PitT.
00:07:12	LESLIE: Dena and I was on the line with a painting question. How can we help you today?
00:07:16	CALLER: I have this brown paneling and it goes all the way from the floor to the ceiling in every room and I wondered if I can paint over this or wallpaper or what is your suggestion?
00:07:30	TOM: Wow. That’s a, what’s that, 1970s? Yeah. You know, I kind of remember that growing up. We had those, that error in my house and you know, it’s always better to remove it, but you can paint it. What you want to do, Dena, is you want to print it. You want to prime it. So, the first thing you would do is you would clean it, you would lightly sand it, and because there’s so much of it, I would, when I go to the paint store, I would get a sanding extension on a pole. It’s like a pole with an indexing head at the bottom, at the end of it, I should say, and you can run this pole over the surface and sand it, rough it up a little bit, and then you’re going to want to prime it, and I would use a good quality oil-based primer. It’ll go on nice and thick, it’ll give you a good solid surface on which to add the wall paint, and then you can use latex wall paint on top of that, and I think it’ll come out nice and it’ll go on easy if you do those steps in that order, because once you prime it, you get a very nice even surface. It fills in any of the imperfections in the surface and it will make sure that that top coat can be accepted properly.
00:08:37	CALLER: What about those grooves?
00:08:38	TOM: You’re always going to have those grooves. You can’t do anything about it unless you want to take the paneling down, which by the way, could be an option, because sometimes when they put the paneling up, they just nailed it with these types of small, very thin ring nails. You could experiment with the possibility of taking that paneling off the walls, and you may find that underneath it is drywall. Now, generally, you have to do a lot of spackling, sometimes re-taping and that kind of thing, but it is possible that underneath that paneling are some decent, typical drywall covered walls. Okay.
00:09:08	CALLER: It sounds like a Saturday job. Yeah.
00:09:12	TOM: Well, at least. If you’re doing the garage paneling, it might be a couple of Saturdays jobs, a lot of Saturdays. All right, Deena, good luck with that project. Thank you so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:09:22	LESLIE: Rich in Arkansas, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? Yes.
00:09:25	CALLER: My question is concerning ceramic valve cartridges and faucets. Since they theoretically resurface themselves during each operation, I’m wondering if it would be prudent to open them. Yes. You can open the valve. It’s full radius and then back down to your desired flow in order to ensure proper, even resurfacing.
00:09:54	TOM: I don’t think so. So just to back up, for those that are unfamiliar with this, most of the good quality faucets today have ceramic valves, which basically are two ceramic disks that rub against each other. They’re very finely polished. In fact, it’s interesting that if you touch them together when the valve is all apart, which most of us will never see, but because I’m kind of a geek, I’ve never seen a ceramic type end of these factories. If you touch these two sides of the ceramic valve together, you almost can’t pull it apart because of the surface tension. It’s almost like magnetic. And as Rich, as you said, the more you use these, the more worn they get, but they actually get tighter. They don’t really wear out. So I wouldn’t worry too much about this. I think they’re far tougher than you give them credit for, and I wouldn’t worry about the evenness of the wear. I just think it’s a real terrific technology that’s probably the best we’ve ever had. Okay.
00:10:42	CALLER: Well, I kind of expected that, but my theory, my mind works in mysterious ways.
00:10:51	TOM: Apparently. Well, put your mind at ease, Rich. There’s going to be no issues with that. I’m sure there are other projects that you can put your attention to now. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, are you short on time and wondering what to decorate? Go with the first thing your guests see, and that is your front door. Yeah.
00:11:09	LESLIE: And because it’s the first thing that your guests are going to see. Your door and really the whole entryway leave big impressions. Now, you can easily dress that door up for the season with just a classic Christmas wreath or silver bells or simply some ornaments, but you can make a big difference with very little stuff.
00:11:26	TOM: Or you could hang a set of sleigh bells on the doorknob or the knocker. They’ll give a festive jingle every time guests pass through. Really anything that can be hung over the knob or even the top of the door that doesn’t impact with the operation works. I mean, I remember last season, someone gave us bells. They were beautiful, evergreen wreaths. So I took some coat hanger wire and a pair of pliers and I carefully created a bracket that would slide over the top of the door and allow us to hang the wreath without damaging the door whatsoever. Oh, and by the way, I should mention that if you don’t have coat hangers and pliers and you don’t really want to do it yourself, they actually make brackets, but I couldn’t help myself.
00:12:01	LESLIE: I mean, it is true. You just have to be careful because some of those brackets are meant for doors that are much slimmer. So it’s like you got to make sure you get the right bracket for the right thickness of door that you have. Right. So they definitely are a time saver. Now another easy holiday update is to actually just wrap the door with decorative paper. And this is great in houses with kids because it’s a fun project you can do together. You wrap the door just like it’s a present. You can even put a big bow on it. So it really makes the house look just so happy.
00:12:29	TOM: And once the door is all set, you can extend those holiday touches to your entranceway too. You can set up pots that are planted with seasonal greens, maybe add a holiday welcome mat and consider some vases and dishes. Full of pine cones, it’ll all look very festive and very fun and create a great welcome for all your guests.
00:12:48	LESLIE: Now we’ve got Linda in Pennsylvania on the line with an insulation question. Welcome, Linda. We have a two-story house built in the late 1980s.
00:12:56	CALLER: In the winter, it’s colder upstairs than downstairs, and especially in the summer, it’s just really hot upstairs.
00:13:03	CALLER: We have a whole house fan, and I don’t want to get rid of that. The one person that had come and talked to us about insulation said, well, I don’t want to get rid of that. He said, we should get rid of that. I don’t know. Rather, the fan has blown some of the insulation over the blocks, the soffit vents that we’re not getting enough circulation, so I guess I just don’t really know what to do about adding more insulation.
00:13:22	TOM: All right. Well, first of all, a 1980s house probably has a minimal amount of insulation, which you really want is 15 or 20 inches of insulation. Do you have decent space in the attic? Can you walk around up there? No.
00:13:33	CALLER: Okay.
00:13:33	TOM: So how is it constructed? Is it made of trusses where it’s hard to get around?
00:13:37	CALLER: Yes. And it’s not real high in the center. I mean, you can get around, but no, it’s not very high up there.
00:13:42	TOM: I would have blown an insulation install because you can easily, you know, a professional can get that where it has to go. Professionals are also good at making sure that the baffles are in place, which keeps it out of the soffits. And then when it comes to the whole house fan, you should have a cover for that for the wintertime just to kind of seal it up a little bit, perhaps cover it with some sort of an insulation blanket. And then you could pull that off in the summertime. It will be a source of energy loss, so you have to kind of take that additional step. But I agree. It’s a great thing to have. But I will say it must have good exit venting, though, too. Do you have the gable vents on the side walls of the house? Because when you turn that fan on, you don’t want to pressurize the attic. You want to make that air go out. No.
00:14:25	CALLER: We have the ridge vent. And when they replaced the roof a couple years ago, they did put in, they said there is a slightly larger size ridge vent, and that’s what they put in.
00:14:33	TOM: All right. Well, then it’s probably big enough to handle the exhaust venting. So that’s what I would do. I would use blown-in insulation. Now, around the fan itself, what the installer will do is put sort of a wall around that made of sort of like a stiff cardboard or some type of material like that so that they can pile the insulation up higher against that opening and keep it away from the operation of the fan. Okay. It’s done all the time, Linda, and it will definitely make a big difference in how comfortable you feel in that house. Okay?
00:14:58	CALLER: All right.
00:14:59	LESLIE: Thank you very much.
00:15:00	TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:15:05	LESLIE: Heidi and Orson. We’re in Oregon. Oregon’s dealing with a stinky shower. What’s going on?
00:15:09	CALLER: We have a two-story house. The one shower is in the basement downstairs. It’s a daylight basement, but it’s built back into the side hill. And what I’ve noticed is that after showering, you know, you leave the bathroom and you come back in, and there is this sour towel smell. It’s not a sewer smell or a septic smell, but it smells like a towel that has been left damp somewhere. And it’s just been left to kind of mold or do whatever. But I’ve changed the towels, and I come back in the bathroom, and I’ve located the smell with my nose and gone right down to the drain, and it’s coming out of the drain in the shower.
00:15:49	TOM: What this might be is something called biogas. And when the water drains and he takes with it the soap scum and everything else, you can get germs that are going to grow in that. And that biological material off-gases and can make horrible smells.
00:16:11	CALLER: Well, you know, that’s what we thought, too, because it’s in both showers, upstairs and downstairs. And we only smell it, obviously, after someone has showered and it was wet. So we’ve taken the grates off. We’ve cleaned with a bottle brush. You know, I look with a flashlight down there, and those pipes, they’re spic and span clean all the way down to the P-trap.
00:16:32	TOM: Have you used any kind of an oxygenated bleach?
00:16:34	CALLER: No, we don’t do that because we’re on a septic tank, and we don’t want to kill all the good bacteria in the septic, and so I’ve been afraid to use anything. I’ve tried vinegar. I’ve used Lysol spray.
00:16:45	TOM: Well, not so much vinegar, yeah. Well, okay. Why don’t you use Borax? Borax.
00:16:51	CALLER: Okay. And pour it down into the drain?
00:16:54	TOM: Well, now, what I want you to do is I want you to get a solution of hot soapy water with Borax in it, and I want you to scrub the inside of that drain, all the different parts. You know, with a big, thick bottle brush, get as much of that trap cleaned as you can and see if that reduces it. And by the way, do you have ventilation in those bathrooms?
00:17:13	CALLER: Yeah, there’s windows. Uh-huh. Do you have fans that you could leave on after bath fans? Yes. Yes. And we always turn the fan on when we shower. And keep it on when you’re done? Well, no. We usually shut it off when we’re done.
00:17:23	TOM: So yeah, that’s another thing I would change, that behavior I would change. What I would do is I would replace the bath fan switch with one that’s on a timer or a humidistat. So that after you are done showering and leave the bathroom, it stays on for another 15 or 20 minutes.
00:17:38	CALLER: But we’ll go ahead and try that then and see what happens.
00:17:42	TOM: All right, Heidi. Thank you so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Good luck with that project.
00:17:46	LESLIE: Don in Pennsylvania’s got a question about windows. What can we help you with?
00:17:50	CALLER: These windows are mid-1700s. That’s before the Revolution. The ones I’m working on, the building actually had a date on it, 1746.
00:18:00	TOM: Wow. Wow. That’s impressive.
00:18:01	CALLER: And the glass on these was like poor glass. It wasn’t manufactured the way they make them now. And I’m trying to save the glass, and I’m trying not to damage the wood at all, but I’m scraping and painting and weatherizing these windows. And the reason I’m doing that is because a lot of the glaze is falling out and the paint is flaking away and everything. But some of that glaze that’s on there… and this hasn’t been done. It’s been done, I would say, for more than 30 years because we’ve lived here 30 years and have never done it to this window. And so some of the glaze is falling out, but others, it’s really tenacious and stuck to that wood and that glass. And I don’t want to ruin the glass or ruin the wood. So what’s the best way to get that old glaze out of there?
00:18:52	TOM: Are you using any heat to help you here? Not yet. So what you want to try to do is get a heat gun, which kind of looks like an industrial-size hairdryer.
00:18:59	CALLER: Yeah, I have an electric heat gun and I’ve used that to help remove some of the paint. But I don’t know the temperature of that heat gun, but…
00:19:09	TOM: Well, I mean, you want to use it cautiously. I wouldn’t lean into it with a nozzle, but I would try to warm that old putty. Generally if you warm it, it loosens up. Now some guys that do windows all the time will actually use steam to soften the putty. And I’ve seen guys create almost like steam chambers. Where they kind of build a box, fill it with warm steam, and then slide the sashes in there and then pull them out and now they’re warm and they strip them off. One way that you could try to do this without sort of building that chamber might be to get a wallpaper steamer. And then use some of that steam, use it against the window, warm it. That warm, moist steam may also help to loosen it up. But if you already got the heat gun, I would try trying to warm it up gently and see how the old glazing reacts to that. Oh, okay.
00:19:57	CALLER: I will.
00:19:57	TOM: Thank you. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:20:03	LESLIE: Well, we’re all doing our best to keep our homes clean and safe from viruses and bacteria these days. But did you know that those germs can hide beneath the dirt and grease on your surfaces where those disinfectants can’t reach them? Well, they can. And that’s what the Center for Disease Control is reminding us that we need to clean before we disinfect. Yeah.
00:20:22	TOM: And here’s why. You know, if you’re baking a cake, there’s a good chance your kitchen counter is covered in residue from eggs and flour and sugar. And that can easily lead to salmonella contamination, which could potentially make you pretty sick. So to eliminate the risk, it’s really important to clean the counter first. You can use an all-purpose cleaner like Simple Green to remove the visible dirt. And then you can use the disinfectant to eliminate any of those lingering germs. Now the same applies to greasy messes on the stove. You have to clean or remove the grease first and then disinfect. Otherwise, what happens is you guys will be leaving a layer of bacteria. Doesn’t that sound good? A little layer of bacteria hiding under the grease and that may never even come in contact with your disinfectant and therefore still be a potential problem.
00:21:07	LESLIE: And here you are thinking you’re doing the right thing and you’re not actually at all.
00:21:11	TOM: You’re layering in some bacteria there, sealing in good.
00:21:16	LESLIE: What is the joke? I’m one stomach virus away from my goal weight. So you know, use that as you will. But next, guys, you need to remember that those disinfectants that you may have under the sink. You know, not all of them are equal, so you want to make sure that you’re following the label’s directions for proper disinfecting procedures, especially when it comes to things called dwell time. I mean, this is something I never even thought about. Dwell time is the amount of time that that disinfectant needs to stay on the surface in order to kill the germs and get this depending on the product. It can be anywhere between two minutes and 10 minutes. It’s not just like spritz spritz, clean, clean, and you’re done. Sometimes it’s got to sit there to actually work.
00:21:56	TOM: You know, when I first learned about dwell time, you know what came to mind? You know when you go into a restaurant and the hostess says, oh, your table is just about ready. We’re working on that right now. And you look over in the corner and there’s the waitstaff and yeah, they’re giving you those spritz spritz, wipe, wipe. And then what happens? They seat you. It’s all ready. Well, the truth is it may not be ready because that disinfectant, even if it is disinfectant, didn’t sit on the table long enough to do any good. So think about that the next time you use quickly sit down to a table and it’s still wet, it needs a few more minutes to really do its job. So when you’re working at home, make sure you consider that dwell time. It’s going to be printed on the packaging for the disinfectant so you’ll know exactly what it is.
00:22:37	LESLIE: Sherry in Texas is on the line with a siding question. How can we help you today?
00:22:41	CALLER: We had this little cottage moved in that has siding on it, but we want it to look like the other outbuildings and put redwood siding on it. To put it on the table. To put siding over siding, do you use a special nail, is it possible to do that, or do you use screws?
00:23:03	TOM: Well, first of all, the siding that you have right now, is it flat or is it clapboard? What does it look like?
00:23:09	CALLER: It’s flat siding.
00:23:11	TOM: So like a plywood kind of a surface?
00:23:14	CALLER: Yes, yes. It’s an ugly siding and we want to go with a redwood siding.
00:23:20	TOM: All right, so here’s what I would do, and this is for a shed?
00:23:23	CALLER: Yes.
00:23:24	TOM: So what I would do is I would take building paper, tar paper or even Tyvek, but it’s really not necessary, but just tar paper, I would put that up first, and then I would attach the siding on top of that, driving the nails into the original siding. You do not need to remove the original siding. That said, remember if you’ve got doors or windows, you may have to build out the edge a little bit around to make up the difference because the siding’s going to be thicker than the old stuff.
00:23:48	CALLER: Okay, all right, put tar paper under it. Thank you so much.
00:23:53	TOM: Thank you. You’re welcome, Sherry. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if you had like sort of a seasonal maintenance checklist to sort of troubleshoot all your common home issues? Well, you can if you pick up a copy of Home Maintenance for Dummies, my new book. I’m going to give one away to one lucky listener that reaches out with a question right now. So call us at 1-888-Money-Pit or go to moneypit.com slash ask, click the blue microphone button and post your question. Hey, this is a great holiday gift as well. You can find it at moneypit.com slash ask. You can find it at moneypit.com slash dummies as well as on Amazon.
00:24:27	LESLIE: Lane in Arkansas is looking to do some countertop updates with the cement countertop. How can we help you with that project?
00:24:32	CALLER: I’ve been wanting to get granite countertops forever, and I can’t really afford it being a single dad and paying the mortgage and everything. So I was looking at the concrete method. I’ve watched some videos on YouTube and whatnot, and I really like how it looks because it looks a lot like the granite. And my question is, how do you get the granite? And kind of where is it? Pretty simple for a guy that knows not a lot about concrete but, you know, a little about it. And the edging stuff that they sell on websites, do you need to buy that or is there a way that you can do it with just normal like wood where you can form it up yourself?
00:25:19	TOM: So first of all, concrete countertops are beautiful. And they’re a lot of work to build, as you’ve learned if you’ve watched all of those YouTube videos, which I commend you for doing. In terms of the edging, you certainly, having those tools certainly makes it a lot easier. But if you’re crafty, you probably could make your own edging tools to get an acceptable edge to that concrete surface. The good news is that the materials itself is fairly inexpensive. So if you really screw it up, you could break it up, throw it in the garden and start again. But the key is really the prep and making sure that you’ve got the form built correctly and you’re totally ready to go and you know exactly what you’re going to do once you start to pour in that concrete because you don’t get a second chance.
00:26:09	CALLER: Would you recommend a certain type of concrete?
00:26:13	TOM: You know, Quikrete makes a commercial grade countertop mix. So I would just go buy that. You can pick that up at a home center. Hardware store. And just go for that.
00:26:26	CALLER: Well, that sounds good. That’s probably what I’ll end up doing then.
00:26:30	TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:26:34	LESLIE: Well, have you noticed with all the guests in your home and the bathroom being used quite a bit that maybe that toilet is noisy or running? If it is, it could mean that your flush valve is leaking. Now, you can stop wasting all that water by replacing that toilet flapper, which is definitely a DIY project thanks to the new Super Flapper from Fluidman. Yeah.
00:26:54	TOM: This is a very innovative design. It replaces either a 2-inch or a 3-inch flapper, and it takes just minutes to install. It’s the only flapper that you’ll need. Installation is really easy, especially with the expert guidance that you’ll find on Fluidmaster.com. So you can start saving money and stop watching your cash get flushed down the toilet. Fix that old, noisy running toilet today with Super Flapper. Yeah.
00:27:17	LESLIE: And you know, the installation is a breeze in just a few minutes. You can actually replace that old, worn-out flapper with the Super Flapper. Yeah. You can replace that old, worn-out flapper with the Super Flapper and start saving water immediately. Fluidmaster has been that go-to brand for those plumbing pros for 65 years, so you know you’re getting a product that’s built to last and trusted by the experts.
00:27:34	TOM: Super Flapper is available at most home centers and hardware stores. Learn more at SuperFlapper.com. That’s SuperFlapper.com. And Leslie, you know, I was actually suspecting that I had a leaking flush valve in my toilet. It wasn’t so bad that it was running all the time, but I thought I heard occasionally that it would start to run. Yeah. So I had to do a refill, and that means the flush valve is leaking. And so you know what I did? I did a little test, and if you think this is going on with your toilet, you can do the same test. I opened up the lid of the tank and put in a few squirts of food coloring. You know, I raided the spice cabinet where we keep the food coloring that my wife and my daughter like to use on cupcakes and that kind of stuff. Used once a year. Used once a year, exactly. You know, pull the dust off the box. But I put some in the tank, and then I didn’t flush it. And I came back about 20 minutes later, and guess what? My water was green in the toilet. The green food coloring went right through the flush valve and showed up in the bowl, and that means that that valve has to be replaced. So, now it’s got a new super flapper in it, and problem gone.
00:28:33	LESLIE: Mark in Illinois is on the line with a question about heating a bathroom. How can we help you?
00:28:37	CALLER: Well, I was wondering if it would be cost-effective to run floor heat off of my gas water heater in my bathroom. No.
00:28:46	TOM: First of all, you have the initial installation of the piping under the floor. Secondly, a water heater produces hot water at around 110 degrees, which is not nearly warm enough to warm your floor. A boiler, on the other hand, is going to come out much, much hotter, more like maybe 160 degrees. And so, you really can’t use a water heater to provide enough heat to deliver radiant heat. Now, is this a new bathroom you’re putting in, Mark? No.
00:29:19	CALLER: As a matter of fact, it’s a new bathroom. There’s a crawl space under it, too.
00:29:23	TOM: So, I think that you’re probably best just insulating that floor and not trying to heat it, because it’s an awful lot of work for just a bathroom to add that.
00:29:32	CALLER: Right. Well, that answers my question.
00:29:34	TOM: All right, Mark. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
00:29:39	LESLIE: Rory reached out to Team Money Pit and asked, I recently bought a ranch-styled house built in the 60s, and I’d like to insulate the exterior walls. Is blown-in a good option?
00:29:50	TOM: So, definite maybe there. First things first, insulating behind that siding is important, but not as important as insulating the ceiling of the uppermost floor. You know, a lot of times folks will ask us about the walls, but it really is the last thing I think you should be insulating. I would do the ceiling first, then the floors, then the walls. Take a look at that attic. If you don’t have, say, 18 to 22 inches of insulation there, you need to add more than that. Do that first. That will deliver far more energy savings than insulate the walls. And the same thing goes for the floors. If they are over or under heated spaces, you want to make sure you’re insulating them. Now, as for those walls, blown-in is a good option, and it can be done professionally with very little risk of settlement being an issue. The insulation is basically put in under a slight amount of pressure, and that accounts for the settlement. And the installers can use, then, an infrared camera, which is pretty cool. They’ll scan the exterior walls before and after, and they can see the cold spots where insulation is missing, and then from the inside, drill an additional hole in that wall and go ahead and fill it up with more blown-in. So, definitely a good way to go if you don’t have insulation. But, by the way, homes in the 60s usually had fiberglass insulation, so I’d make sure that it’s missing before you tackle a blown-in project.
00:31:11	LESLIE: Now, Tom, when you are using blown-in, if you do go that route on those walls that are the exterior, is it better to sort it out? Well, you know, it depends on the space in the interior. You know, I don’t know if you’re doing, like, a construction project, or repainting, or hanging wallpaper. Like, does that make the installation process a little easier because you’re more readily able to cover up those holes? Or is it so minimally invasive that you can kind of just carry on after?
00:31:34	TOM: You know, I wouldn’t call it minimally invasive because you do have to drill holes in the interior wall. You drill one hole…
00:31:41	LESLIE: Like, several per bay, correct?
00:31:43	TOM: Well, at least one up high and one down low in each bay. And when we say bay, guys, we’re talking about the space. We’re talking about the space between the studs, the hollow area. And, you know, they make the holes consistent, and then they use a plug that’s sort of wedge-shaped. It gets pressed in there, and then they tape and spackle over it. So it’s not like it’s going to be an invisible project. You’re definitely going to have some little warts there you’re going to have to correct. And considering the number of them, you know, you’re pretty much going to be painting the whole interior of that room anyway. So if you have a wallpaper project to plan, I wouldn’t be planning it before this is done.
00:32:15	LESLIE: All right. Good tips. Jessica wrote in to Money Pit saying, why are my plumbing pipes in the wall making a knocking sound after I’ve turned on the hot water in the bathtub?
00:32:24	TOM: Ah, there are two common reasons for that noise. The first is expansion, and the second is known as water hammering. But I think because the noise is only happening when you’re running hot water, what’s going on is that pipe is expanding. And because it’s secured tightly to the studs, it sort of drags across the wood, and it makes that knocking sound. Some people would describe it as a dripping sound. And it’s really a non-issue. If you happen to have the wall open, you can re-secure the pipes. But for right now, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
00:32:54	LESLIE: All right. Good tips. Hope that helps you out, Jess.
00:32:57	TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. We hope you guys are having a fantastic holiday season. We wish you the best for this year, your holiday season, and the new year ahead. And we are so appreciative that you’re here listening to us every single week, and so happy that we’re able to help you. Take care of your home. If you’ve got questions, remember, you can reach us 24-7 at 888-Money-Pit, or better yet, go to moneypit.com slash ask, post your question by clicking the blue microphone button, and we’ll get back to you the next time we produce the show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
00:32:57	LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself. But you don’t have to do it alone.

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