Show Notes
Say goodbye to cold floors, sticky doors, and unused spaces! Today, we explore the benefits of radiant floor heating, simple fixes for stubborn doors, and how to create a hobby studio you’ll love. Whether you’re repairing, improving, or designing, we’ve got the tools and tips to guide you through all your home improvement projects!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Stuck Doors: Finding solutions for stuck doors requires some smooth moves.
- Heated Floors: Step into comfort by adding radiant heat to your floors.
- Hobby Space: Craft your escape by designing the perfect hobby space.
Top Questions & Answers
- Electrical: Why do some outlets have 2 prongs and others have 3 prongs? Lisa learns how they’re grounded differently and that it’s always a good idea to update wiring.
- Brick: Some areas of Julian’s brick chimney are flaking off and getting tiny holes. He should use a vapor-permeable silicone-based sealer to reduce moisture soaking into the brick.
- Water Heater: Colleen wants to replace her two old water heaters with tankless units, but we offer two options that would be more efficient for an electric system.
- Heated Driveway: Is a heated driveway a good idea for a snowy climate? Dylan gets info on how the cables are installed and the operating costs involved.
- Generator: Rich is looking for a good natural gas generator to power his whole house. This Kohler whole-house generator comes highly recommended for ease of use and peace of mind.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:01 | TOM: Cost to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:06 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:08 | TOM: Happy New Year everybody! Hope you are enjoying yourselves as we slide right in to a brand new year of 2025. If you’ve got projects on your to-do list for this new year, we’d love to help you get them done. Reach out to us right now with your questions, because that’s what we do. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974. Coming up on today’s episode, adding radiant heat to your floors can make your home incredibly comfortable and energy efficient. Plus, no more cold floor shocks first thing in the morning when you step out on your tippy toes. None of that’s going to happen. You’ll be stepping on a very warm, comfortable floor. We’ll explain two systems that can help you achieve radiant heating that work for both new homes and existing homes. |
| 00:01:16 | LESLIE: And you got a door that sticks? Yeah, it’s an annoying problem, but it’s one that’s a pretty easy fix. We’re going to share how you can make that problem disappear for good. |
| 00:01:25 | TOM: And are you looking to spend time enjoying your favorite hobbies this year? Well, creating a studio space in your home could be the perfect solution. We’ll share tips on how to make that happen. |
| 00:01:34 | LESLIE: But first, let us help make your home improvement dream a reality. It’s a new year, so whether you are planning to repair, improve, make a new design plan, we will share all the |
| 00:01:45 | TOM: tools, the tips, the tricks that you need to get that project done. Whether you’re doing or dreaming home improvement is a fantastic adventure, and we can help you get to the other side. |
| 00:01:55 | LESLIE: So let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? Heading over to Texas where we’ve got Lisa on the line who’s got a question about outlets. What’s going on at your money pit? |
| 00:02:03 | CALLER: Hi, we have an older home. It was built in 1960. And in some areas of the home, there are older outlets with only two holes. And then in some other rooms, we have holes that have outlets that have three holes. So my first question is, is it safe to leave them as they are with just the two holes? Or should we have all consistent outlets within this house? |
| 00:02:35 | TOM: Well, certainly, you’re talking about two different types of wiring. And the wiring, the outlets that have three, that have the ground plus the two prongs, that’s a grounded wire, which is basically run separately. The ones that have the two prongs is basically a two-wire system. And the ground is done through the box itself. So is it safe? Yeah, it can be safe. It’s not as safe or as durable, I would say, as having the modern outlets. But it’s just not a matter of switching out the outlets. You have to make sure you have the wiring there to support it. Now, if you’re going to plug something that has three prongs into the two prong, you have to use an adapter. And then you have to actually attach the adapter using the center screw between the outlets, because that’s how you’re picking up the ground. And even doing that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s grounded, because who knows how those were put together behind the walls. So if you want to be sure, you could have an electrician check them all out and find out if you will be creating a grounded situation if you use that adapter or not. But if you’re going to do some upgrading, I never think it’s a bad idea to upgrade your wiring and make it safe and make it current. |
| 00:03:38 | CALLER: I see. Well, that is very helpful to know, and that is something we can definitely take care of and contact actually a friend of the family who’s an electrician so we can remedy that problem. Excellent. |
| 00:03:52 | TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. |
| 00:03:53 | CALLER: Thank you so much, and you guys have a wonderful week. Bye-bye. |
| 00:03:57 | LESLIE: Heading out to Illinois where we’ve got Julian on the line. What’s going on at your money pit, sir? |
| 00:04:02 | CALLER: I’ve got a 60-year-old brick house in northeast Tennessee. I don’t think any maintenance has really been done on them, but I notice how only the bricks that make up the chimney and, of course, on the outside, I notice how some of the outside of the brick. There has been flaking off, and I don’t know if there could possibly be an insect or animal at work. I’ve noticed some tiny holes on the outside of the brick, but it’s only in the chimney area, and, of course, I only have one fireplace. I didn’t know if there was anything that I could do or if I could hire somebody to do something in a proactive way. |
| 00:04:53 | TOM: All right. Well, we can solve this for you. So this is not uncommon. What you’re describing is what we call spalling, and it happens because water soaks into the brick, and then that water freezes and expands and then breaks or pushes off little pieces of the brick. Now, it may be that it’s only happening to the chimney because that might be a different brick than what the house was built with or a different lot, and sometimes those bricks can be more or less absorbent. So if the brick is not seriously deteriorated but it’s just the surface, what I would recommend is that you use a silicone-based sealer. Make sure it’s silicone, and when you pick up the sealer, one of the things you want to do is read the specifications. It should say vapor permeable, which means that even if moisture gets beyond the silicone, it can still drain out or evaporate out of the brick. Some sealers try to block it all. You’ll never do that. Use silicone sealer designed for masonry that’s vapor permeable, and that will reduce to a tremendous extent. The amount of moisture that is getting soaked into those bricks, and if it does that, then there’s going to be nothing to expand and freeze and break the brick off, break those little pieces off, form those little holes when the weather turns super cold. |
| 00:06:09 | LESLIE: Hey, Money Pit Podcast fans. You want to help us out? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review 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. Head now to OCAP.com. We’re live in Calif, Florida. We’ve got Colleen on the line. Colleen, what’s going on at your money pit? Hi. |
| 00:06:29 | CALLER: Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. We are in a home that’s fairly large and has two of the regular conventional water heaters, one on one side of the house and one on the other, and the other one is smaller. It’s actually in the ceiling above our bedroom. So that’s a little unnerving. Okay. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Audio is in the garage so that one’s not as bad but we’ve done a little bit of repair work on that one in the garage they’re both fairly old the previous owners we’ve only been in the house for about a year previous owner said that they’re over 20 years old so it’s probably time to get into a new system before something really bad happens okay it sounds wise we’ve been looking we’ve been looking at conventional systems still and we were thinking about doing a tankless water system but we’ve had plumber or a plumbers just one that we’ve gotten a quote from and they recommended the conventional style over the tankless saying that they’re not as energy efficient for the tankless |
| 00:07:43 | TOM: wanted to get your opinion on that sure happy to help you with that so first of all what type of water heater do you have what type of fuel are you using is it a lot of water? electric water heater or is it gas yeah it’s electric okay so yeah so your plumber is correct when it comes to tankless water heaters there is no such thing as a electric tankless water heater that is efficient on there are what’s called heat pump water heaters which are very efficient but they are a full-size water heater like a tank it’s like a regular you know any other type of tank water heater but they’re also more expensive now there’s another option that is just out now that you might want to look at and especially since you have one of these is going to be right over your bedroom it is called the Reem Gladiator hot water heater and the Reem Gladiator water heater is unique in a number of ways first of all it has a technology built into it that helps it run at peak efficiency and also it kid monitors the system and alerts you on your phone if anything’s going wrong you can even tell you how much hot water you have left if you want to take a shower and the other thing that’s really cool is that his the first water here I’ve ever seen it has a |
| 00:09:17 | TOM: You mentioned one was near your bedroom. That’s probably the reason that you don’t have to wait so long for water to be hot in the morning. If you just had one water heater and a long run to get to your bedroom, by the time you step in that shower and turn the water on, you’re going to have to wait 15, 20 seconds for that water to turn hot. But the closer that bathroom is to the water heater, the quicker it does actually turn hot. So it’s a little more efficient. So I think if I was you, I definitely agree you should replace them. They’re well past their prime. I would take a look at the Rheem Gladiator units. Just go to Rheem.com slash Gladiator. They’ve got a great page there that kind of explains the benefit for that. And that’s R-H-E-E-M, R-H-E-E-M, Rheem.com slash Gladiator. And you can learn about that. And I think that’s probably giving you the best of all worlds. You’re going to get the same, a very similar efficiency to a heat pump water heater. It will cost less and it’ll certainly be more energy efficient than what you could do with electric tankless water heaters. And again, if it was gas, I’d say go with it. I’d say go with a tankless water heater, but that’s because it’s a lot less expensive to run. |
| 00:10:22 | CALLER: Do I need somebody to put that in for us, install it, or is that something we can do? |
| 00:10:28 | TOM: You do. Yes. |
| 00:10:28 | CALLER: We do. Okay. Yeah. |
| 00:10:29 | TOM: It depends. I mean, if you and your husband are advanced do-it-yourselfers, maybe you could do that. But for the most part, I think that that is a good job for a professional because not only do you have to plumb it, you have to wire it properly. And I wouldn’t want to see you make any errors on that. So I would have a pro do that. But you may know more about the most advanced water heaters on the market now than the pro does. So you can certainly specify what you want. And I know those water heaters are sold at Home Depot because I bought one there. And you guys should go there and take a look at them as well. Okay. |
| 00:11:01 | CALLER: That’s great. Oh, I’m so glad I called. Thank you so much. |
| 00:11:04 | TOM: You’re welcome, Colleen. Good luck with that project. Let us know how you make out, okay? |
| 00:11:07 | CALLER: All right. Will do. Thank you. |
| 00:11:09 | LESLIE: So we all know that stepping onto a cold floor with bare feet is one of the most unpleasant experiences that can happen to you. Even in your home. That’s why adding radiant heat to your floors is just a great idea. Not only does it eliminate that dreaded toe shock, but it also makes your entire home more comfortable and it helps reduce those energy bills. |
| 00:11:28 | TOM: Now, there are two types of radiant heat, hydronic and electric, and choosing the right one is going to depend on your home’s layout, installation needs, and efficiency goals. So let’s start by talking about hydronic radiant heat. Hydronic radiant heat, or water-based radiant heat, is one of the most common types of heat. It’s ideal for whole house hot water heating due to its effectiveness and its efficiency. It’s typically installed using a track system that holds PEX tubing. Basically, it’s like a plywood board that goes down that has already grooved out to accept the PEX tubes. So think of it as the subfloor upon which you install the PEX tubing, and then you put the finished flooring over that. So it’s completely invisible when it’s done. But I’ll tell you what. If you lay on that floor, it is all but invisible because it feels great. Nice warm, even heat across the entire floor surface. Now the other option is electric radiant heat. This is best suited for supplemental heating. So let’s say you have a kitchen or a bathroom that’s got a cold tile floor and you want to just warm that up. It’s more expensive to operate and less efficient for larger spaces, but electric radiant is really a good option for those contained areas when it’s paired with a programmable thermostat. So this allows it to run only when it’s needed. The installation is similar. It goes basically down on top of the subfloor. But then above that, you could put, for example, a tile floor. And so when you’re all done, you have a very warm tile floor, but only limited to that small area, like a kitchen or a bathroom set up on its own thermostat, which also has a timer. So it only runs when necessary. Now, both systems can significantly enhance comfort in your home. It’s all about choosing the right fit for your needs and your budget. If you want to go big, think about hydronics. Hydronics are a great option for a small room with a kitchen or bath. But if you want to just warm up a small room with a kitchen or bath, electric radiant is a perfectly solid option as well. |
| 00:13:22 | LESLIE: Well, the West Coast has been certainly getting pounded with their fair share of snowfall, especially Utah. Now, as East Coast skiers, we’re pretty jealous about all that snowfall that’s happening over there. But Dylan, who lives in Utah, is pretty tired of shoveling. So what do you got going on over there, Dylan, besides snow? Yeah. |
| 00:13:41 | CALLER: You know, we’ve been getting, just like you said, we’ve been getting hit with a lot of snow. I actually woke up this morning to 12 inches of new snow overnight. And where I’m located, just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, in Cottonwood Heights, we’re at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, which on average, those mountains can see 500 inches of snow. So we see a fair share of snowstorms. And, you know, I have to break out. The shovel pretty much just lives outside of this point with a bag of salt next to it. So. So my question for you guys today, as I’m looking at it in this upcoming spring, I really want to replace my driveway and, you know, with the amount of snow we got, you know, season in and out and all the way through spring, we get it. So we’re looking and thinking about doing a heated driveway. Just seeing if you guys have any recommendations or any experience there. |
| 00:14:35 | TOM: Sure. You know, it’s basically, it’s kind of like a radiant floor heating system where you put the heating cables underneath the driveway or you can embed them in the concrete. It could be underneath like a brick driveway or it could be embedded in the concrete when it’s poured. Of course, you got to do it very carefully. And then when it gets cold, you click it on and it warms up the driveway and everything melts. The thing you have to consider is the cost of operation. And for that, you’re going to want to think about how many square feet you need to heat. Sometimes folks will heat the entire driveway. Sometimes folks will heat a portion of the driveway. Sometimes folks will only heat where the tire tracks are, sort of that split between the two tires, that width. And you’ll see sometimes that you’ll see driveways that have, you know, no snow right there but a lot of snow around it. And that’s often because that’s where they chose to put the heating cables in an effort to control costs. There’s a company called Warmly Yours that we know well because of their radiant floor systems for interiors, especially bathrooms, which is super nice. But they actually make an exterior product too. And one thing I like is that on their website, they have a calculator so that you can actually figure out what the cost of operation is. Now, you know, what most folks will do is be weigh this against the cost of paying for snow removal and, you know, kind of seeing where you end up on that. But, you know, it’s essentially just that. You put these cables underneath. They come like sort of wound together in like a mat in the concrete itself. And then they have the circuitries inside the house. And you turn it on and off. You can do it based on the temperature or you can do it just based on an on-off switch. But you really want to calculate that operating cost because you don’t want to find that, yeah, you got no snow but it’s now costing you a thousand bucks a month in electricity cost to have no snow. So it’s really going to be a tradeoff on those two things. |
| 00:16:34 | LESLIE: But, I mean, you won’t have to shovel. |
| 00:16:35 | TOM: Yes, there is that. Or you can buy a snowblower. Now, I’m guaranteeing those listening that we will not have any major snowstorms in the Northeast area. And I can tell you that with absolute confidence. You know why? Because I bought a brand-new two-state snowblower. It’s ready. It’s good to go. It’s sitting in my garage. I’m ready to take it out. But I’m telling you right now, it’s not going to happen. You’ve cursed us all. Only those in my area. You’re still going to get plenty of snow there at the bottom of the Wasatch Mountain, my friend. |
| 00:17:05 | CALLER: Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Yeah, I’ve heard about, you know, potentially doing a boiler system. But I think that sounds like a lot better of a system. |
| 00:17:16 | TOM: Well, yes, you can do a hot water hydronic system. But then again, you’ve got to deal with, you know, frozen. Well, you would be in antifreezing there so it wouldn’t freeze. But still, you’ve still got to pay for the water to be heated, for the heating coil to kind of bring it up. It’s electric or for the water to be heated if it’s a hydronic system. So, to me, I think the electric system makes a lot more sense to me. And I could see it being used like on a porch and on steps where safety is an issue. You’d have to really be annoyed and unable to do any snow shoveling to do the whole driveway because it’s going to cost you a bundle. |
| 00:17:48 | CALLER: Yeah. |
| 00:17:49 | TOM: But pretty awesome product, though. Absolutely. Good luck with that project. Thanks for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:17:56 | LESLIE: Well, if you’ve got a door that sticks, it can go one of two ways. You can either put up with it, letting that little annoyance build up over time, or you can resolve to fix it. Fix it once and for all. We’re advocates of that second approach. So, here’s what you need to know. Yeah. |
| 00:18:10 | TOM: First, it helps to understand why doors stick. Now, most doors are made of wood. So, the best way to understand the sticking door problem is to think of wood as a sponge. When the sponge is dry, it’s small, it’s compact, it’s hard. But when it gets moist, that sponge swells up to its full size, but becomes slightly softer. And this is exactly what happens to your door. As it swells and then dries out, either extreme can cause it to stick. In fact, this is what happens. I know people where one spot sticks in the winter and another spot sticks in the summer. It’s a year-round problem. Yeah. |
| 00:18:41 | LESLIE: I mean, it really can be tricky and it can stick for a variety of reasons. So, to fix that sticking door, your first task is to find out exactly where that stick begins. And you’ve kind of got to discover this by slowly opening and closing the door. Make note of where that door is in relation to the frame when it starts to stick. Now, if you want a visual guide, this is great. You can use a piece of chalk to color the door where it kind of seems to be sticking. You can also use lipstick. That’s a great way to do it if the chalk is too light. And then you open and close that door a couple of times. And that chalk mark or that lipstick mark is going to transfer to the exact place where that sticky door is touching the jam. And then you can easily wipe away that lipstick or chalk, you know, without even leaving a mark. But now you know exactly where the trouble spot is. |
| 00:19:24 | TOM: Now, there are two ways to fix a door that sticks, which I like to call easy and harder. The is the easy way. And that’s simply this. To tighten up the hinges. If the door opens on the right, you’re going to be able to fix the door on the left. If the door is too tight and sticks towards the top, the most likely culprit may be the opposite hinge on the left. If you tighten that hinge or replace just one or two of the screws with ones that are long enough to go through the jam into the framing behind, it can actually pull that door over just enough to free up that sticking area. Next, let’s talk about the harder but sometimes necessary option, which is to sand down those areas of the door where it’s sticking. What you want to do is take a rough piece of sandpaper and rub it firmly along the section of the door that’s been sticking. This is a good time where you could use the trick that Leslie just talked about by marking it with chalk first. Then just repeat the process until the door no longer sticks to the frame, but try not to overdo it. And once the door fits well, use progressively finer sandpaper to smooth that rougher edge and prepare it for repainting, which by the way, is an important step because once you have this door working, if you seal in those edges that you’ve just sanded with paint, it’s not going to swell up again and you’ll be good to go for the long run. |
| 00:20:32 | LESLIE: We’re going to chat with Rich from Myrtle Beach, who’s thinking about a generator. How can we help you? |
| 00:20:37 | CALLER: Well, as you mentioned, I am in for a generator for the home. As you mentioned, I’m from Myrtle Beach, so we tend to have a lot of hurricanes coming during hurricane season. But you do. We get more warnings though, truthfully, than we actually do hurricanes. But either way, as a family, I want to keep them safe and with food and everything. So I’m looking to get a good generator that will work for the entire house. |
| 00:21:02 | TOM: Sure. So first question, do you have natural gas? Yes. Perfect. Yeah. That’s important because when the power goes down, it becomes hard to get gasoline, right, for portable generators because the gas stations are also down. But if you have a whole home generator that’s powered by natural gas, then you have that fuel 24-7 because the utility lines rarely go down in a storm such as that you would experience down in South Carolina. Now Leslie and I both have had whole home generators for a number of years and for me, I’m super happy. I have a Kohler 20K. And the way it works is… Yeah. It’s a very powerful generator. And the power goes off. Within about 10 to 15 seconds, the generator kicks on automatically. And I’ll tell you what, it’s a really nice sound when you have no power and you hear that generator kick in because it basically replenishes all the power for the house. I used to have a generator years and years ago before the developments that these machines have gone through over the years where I only powered part of the house. But now every single circuit in my house is covered, the refrigerator, the air conditioner, the boiler, all the lights, everything. Yeah. |
| 00:22:03 | LESLIE: And you don’t have to think about anything. |
| 00:22:05 | CALLER: We have a special needs child, so sometimes if I need to get the oxygen going or monitors going, that’s one of my biggest concerns is having constant electric. |
| 00:22:15 | TOM: Now Leslie, if I remember it right, you actually went into labor during a power failure, didn’t you? |
| 00:22:19 | LESLIE: Well, Charlie was born during Hurricane Sandy. Right. When you had no power. I know. And Hurricane Sandy was a major storm event, I should say super storm, Sandy, for the East Coast, New York especially. And we had no power for four weeks following Hurricane Sandy. And then sadly, if you’ll remember, then my husband passed away. So there I was with no power for ages and ages with a newborn baby and then this major tragedy. And I did not want to find myself and my family in that situation ever again, never again. So we also put in the Kohler 20kW. And it’s excellent because, I mean, truly since then, I think the most we’ve ever been without power when the generator was running was possibly six hours. So luckily, we’ve never had an event like that again, but it is so comforting to hear it test every week and kick on even for those short 30-second little power outages that happen every so often just to know that I don’t have to think about it. Every circuit will come on that I need. I will have access to all of the power that I need and I don’t ever need to be scared or unsure again. And I think that’s super important for peace of mind. It’s just important. |
| 00:23:24 | TOM: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the other thing that it does for us is it keeps us on the air. Because we both have home studios, and so we don’t ever go down when the power goes out. So for all those reasons, we’re big believers in whole home generators. We both have Kohlers. They are really built to last and they need very little maintenance. I think I have my generator service tech come about once a year to service it. It also automatically comes on once a week to sort of exercise itself and keep the battery charged and that sort of thing. But it’s pretty much hands-off and it does a great job. |
| 00:23:54 | CALLER: Now, what about installation? How is that working? |
| 00:23:57 | TOM: So you purchase the generator. And then you have to hire an installer. But a lot of companies are out there that do both. There’s companies that specialize in generator installation because it is a fairly big installation project in the sense that you’ve got to run a gas line. |
| 00:24:10 | LESLIE: And we had to run the gas line ourselves beforehand from the installation of the generator. We spoke with the installer. They said, this is where it has to go. Our town had to sign off on it. There’s certain noise variances that your village town community may say it’s got to be X amount of feet from a neighbor’s line or from here or from there. And they’re just because of these ordinances. But I feel like the process was super easy. Okay. |
| 00:24:34 | CALLER: Yeah. |
| 00:24:34 | TOM: And the other thing you’ll need is an electrical permit because obviously there’s a lot of electrical wiring involved in making sure that you have – there’s a new switch that goes in called a transfer switch that does just that. It senses when the street power has gone down and transfers power to the generator. So, you know, there’s a bit of work to be done. But I’ll tell you what, they’ve become very, very affordable. And I think they’re just really smart to have. They also improve the value of your home. So for all those reasons, I think it’s a good project. Especially if you’re living down there in South Carolina because you’re certainly more prone to hurricanes than those in other parts of the country. |
| 00:25:03 | CALLER: That’s a great endorsement. Kohler. Okay. Are there different sizes based on the size of the home or how many electrical appliances you’re running off of? Yep. |
| 00:25:12 | TOM: There is. And that’s when we mentioned 20K. That’s short for 20KW or 20 kilowatts. That’s the size generator that we both have. Our houses are about the same size and have relatively the same systems. But there are calculators that the manufacturer will provide where you can actually enter in, you know, the same system. So the number of circuits and whether you have central air and all that sort of stuff that consumes power. And they’ll recommend a generator for you. But generally, it’s going to be, you know, somewhere in that 20 to 26 KW range for your average single family. Okay. |
| 00:25:41 | CALLER: One other question. Am I contacting Kohler through the internet? |
| 00:25:46 | TOM: You certainly can. I would encourage you to go to their website, Kohler spelled K-O-H-L-E-R.com. On that website, they actually have a locator, there’s a button to get a free quote. You can complete a form. And submit it and let them know if you need the installation and the generator, the installation by itself. And then someone will be in touch with you. So I think it’s important to work with dealers and installers that are familiar with the product. And most of these dealers are. I mean, they work with Kohler. It’s probably all they work with and for a very good reason. Okay. I appreciate that. All right, Rich. Well, good luck with that project. And let’s hope that once it’s installed, you never have to need it. |
| 00:26:19 | CALLER: You know what? I’d actually like to see it work. |
| 00:26:22 | TOM: It is kind of fun when I come home at night during a power outage and I’m the only house that’s got lights on. |
| 00:26:26 | CALLER: You know what? Do you go outside and rub it in and put your Christmas lights on and everything else you blow up? |
| 00:26:31 | TOM: Hey, during Hurricane Sandy, I kept the neighborhood flush with fresh eggs and milk and ice cream and butter. |
| 00:26:37 | CALLER: My house was their house. You just got to watch out for those extension cords coming from the neighbor’s house. Yeah. |
| 00:26:42 | TOM: Well, we would never do that. But certainly, we offered them the opportunity to keep their spoilable foods from getting in bad shape was something we were happy to do. Yeah. Rich, thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit. Good luck with that project. Thank you, sir. |
| 00:26:58 | LESLIE: So, have you ever wished for a dedicated space in your home for your favorite hobbies like crafting, woodworking, sewing, even painting? Well, now is the perfect time for you to make that dream a reality. Setting up a studio or hobby space doesn’t have to be complicated. All it takes is a little planning and a lot of creativity. |
| 00:27:17 | TOM: Now, the first step is finding the right space. And if your home is short on extra rooms, don’t worry. Because you can definitely get creative. Think outside the box. Like, for example, repurposing a closet. You can remove the doors, add some shelves, maybe a small work table, and you’ve got a functional mini studio. Another option is reclaiming underused areas of your home. For instance, if your dining room only gets used for holiday dinners, why not turn it into a dual-purpose space for everyday creativity? Just because it’s called a dining room doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Yeah. |
| 00:27:48 | LESLIE: I mean, think about it. Who really eats in the dining room anyway? It’s more of like a homework space, the puzzle room. Yeah. |
| 00:27:53 | TOM: It’s a bonus space. Truly. So let’s own up to it. Right. All right. |
| 00:27:57 | LESLIE: Now, once you’ve picked that location, it’s time to think about how that space is going to function. You kind of want to borrow a design principle from your kitchen layout. It’s sort of that working triangle. And this concept focuses on creating an efficient flow between your main work areas. For example, in a sewing room, there’s kind of three key areas that could be a cutting table, the sewing machine, an ironing station that you kind of work between, so you want to make that workflow functional. If you’ve got an art studio, your focus could be the easel, a storage area for the supplies, and a clean workspace for finishing up the pieces. Just kind of have to think about, like, what are the three main things you do in this project? Yeah. |
| 00:28:37 | TOM: And if you’re a woodworker, your key zones might include a table saw, a joiner, and a workbench. Whatever your hobby, aim to keep your main workstations close to one another so you minimize movement and maximize efficiency. Yeah. |
| 00:28:50 | LESLIE: And don’t forget the practicalities. You need to think about access to power outlets for your tools, for lighting, even appliances, as well as any other utilities that you might need. Maybe it’s running water if you’ve got an arts and crafts studio. Good lighting, both natural and artificial, is super important for detail work. I mean, especially as we’re all getting older and I’m pushing my glasses up on my face, lighting is super-duper-duper important. So make sure you just plan accordingly. Yeah. |
| 00:29:16 | TOM: Now, storage is another critical element. You want to use shelving, pegboards, or cabinets to organize your tools and supplies so everything is within easy reach. And if your space serves multiple purposes, consider portable storage solutions like rolling carts to keep things flexible. |
| 00:29:31 | LESLIE: You know, with a little effort and planning, you can really create a space that inspires creativity. It can bring you joy every time you use that space. So whether you’re building, crafting, sewing, painting, whatever that perfect hobby space is for you. It truly can be just a weekend project away. |
| 00:29:48 | TOM: And if you already create a studio in your home, we’d love to hear about it. So let’s talk about it. Reach out right now with your questions, your comments to 1-888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:29:59 | LESLIE: Olivia from Kentucky wrote in to Team Money Pit asking, our house is brand new with white vinyl siding and an Owens Corning Harbor blue roof. That’s kind of like a bluish gray, but definitely leans towards like that sort of colonial blue. We value your opinion and we’d like to know what paint color you’d like to see in your house. So, we’re going to be talking about the color and brand you would suggest for the front door and shutters. Oh, my goodness. Good question. |
| 00:30:21 | TOM: What are you thinking? |
| 00:30:22 | LESLIE: There’s so many directions you can go in here with this very neutral sort of base. White home, blue roof. For the shutters, you can do like a darker blue, like a navy. You can do like a bluish black. You can do a dark bluish gray. For the door, you can go crazy and like pick any color really. I mean, like all colors. A red. A berry. A yellow. A pink. You can go in so many directions. It’s like, what kind of works in your neighborhood? Do you think that there are predominantly black doors on your block and maybe you’d feel weird standing out or is everybody kind of welcoming and happy with a ton of different colors? You’re in such a neutral base, you can really go anywhere. |
| 00:31:08 | TOM: And you got to consider how it’s going to look with your landscaping, right? When it’s all fully done. Yeah. |
| 00:31:13 | LESLIE: Right? |
| 00:31:13 | TOM: Beautiful green lawn, green landscaping, what color is missing, what’s going to really bring it all. So those are some really good ideas, Leslie. Yeah. |
| 00:31:20 | LESLIE: And as far as paint, which paint to pick, you know, I’m a Benjamin Moore gal. That’s just what I like, but there’s so many wonderful brands out there. You have to make sure that you choose an exterior paint for a front door. Obviously, you want to go with a glossier finish so it stands up to the conditions outside and it will wear well. Prime first, paint whichever color you like and it’s going to be awesome. Send us a pic so we can see where you landed. |
| 00:31:43 | TOM: I agree. Benjamin Moore is a great brand. I like Sherwin-Williams as well. I’ve used that in a lot of projects. I think you want to know that you should use very good quality paint. Don’t shop paint based on price because when you buy cheap paint, you get a really lousy paint job that’s not going to last. So stick with a good name brand. |
| 00:31:59 | LESLIE: All right. Next up, we’ve got one here from Alan who writes, my wife and I would like to add a two-car garage with a small apartment. What are the key questions we need to ask a prospective builder contractor? Also, is it best to pay the subcontractor separately? Or through the contractor? Well, my first question is, who’s your architect? Did they draw it up? Like, do we know what we’re building? Exactly. |
| 00:32:20 | TOM: I was thinking the same exact thing. Yeah. You guys are starting to talk about, you know, who are we going to hire to build this thing? You need to start with who we’re going to hire to design this thing and get all the approvals and the permits done for it in advance. So start there. But when it comes to the pro, you definitely want to use a written contract because that’s really critical. It details the scope of work. You might want to always include a time of the essence clause that will impose a penalty for delays. And keep back, hold back about 25% of the payment until you’re satisfied with the finished work and they’ve completed all the necessary inspections. There’s other things to check for. Insurance coverage is really important. If there’s any inspections to be done, you could consider hiring an outside pro, like an independent home inspector, to do these from time to time. It will help you make sure it’s doing a good job. And keep detailed records as the progress goes on. Make sure you know what has to be done, when it was done, if there’s any changes, make sure you do that. Make sure you document those in the records as well because you don’t want to be surprised with extra charges at the end of this project. |
| 00:33:18 | LESLIE: All right. Super good tips and good luck on that project, Alan. We can’t wait to hear how it comes out. |
| 00:33:22 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Happy New Year, everybody, once again. We hope that you have plans to fix up your home sweet home this new year. And if you do, you’ll reach out to us with those questions, those comments, because we love to help you get those jobs done. Reach out to us 24-7 at 1-877-422-4222. 888-Money-Pit or always post your questions to MoneyPit.com slash ask. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:33:48 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:33:49 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:33:51 | 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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