Show Notes
On this show, tackle top home improvement challenges by learning how to tell if your windows need replacing, conquering garage clutter to make space for your car, and uncovering the benefits of a home energy audit. Plus, listen in for more expert advice for DIY callers like you!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Replacing Windows: These 7 key pane points will tell you when it’s time to replace your windows.
- Garage Space: Take back that parking space with tips for organizing your garage.
- Energy Audit: Learn how to improve your energy efficiency with a home energy audit.
Top Questions & Answers
- Plumbing: Are faucets from a big box store just as good as those from a plumbing supply store? Joni shouldn’t worry about quality if she’s still buying a good brand.
- Garage Doors: Frank’s garage door opener won’t close them. He can try doing a factory reset, but they may need to be replaced if they’re too old.
- Groundwater: It’s not worth the work involved for Shawnee to redirect an underground spring that keeps a small area of her yard wet.
- Water Heater: James noticed moisture inside the fiberglass insulation on his water heater. He gets tips for finding leaks, regulating the water heater, and installing a timer.
- Mold: Broken pipes inside the walls have caused a lot of mold. Sharaine needs to call a professional to safely remove the mold and avoid contaminating the rest of the house.
- Concrete: One area of Roy’s concrete driveway is tilting toward the garage. Mudjacking can lift and stabilize it as long as it’s done evenly and doesn’t crack the slab.
- Toilet: Patty’s toilet runs a few times each day and the water bill is going up. It’s an easy fix to replace the worn-out fill and flush valves inside the tank.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. | |
| LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. | |
| 00:00:24 | TOM: And we are here to help you take on projects you want to get done around your house. Is it a home improvement? Is it a home maintenance project? Is it a full-on home renovation that you’d like to tackle? Reach out to us with your related questions because that’s what we do. We’ve been at this for a long time. We love talking with you about the projects you have in mind. We’ll try to save you some money. We’ll try to make it easier for you to get those jobs done so you can get them done. Write the first time and then go about enjoying your home sweet home. A couple of ways to reach us. You can call us at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or you can post your questions to moneypit.com slash ask. Just click the blue microphone button. Coming up on today’s program, it’s not that hard to know when it’s time to replace your windows. If you know what to look for, we’re going to share answers to seven key questions that can help you decide if it’s time to replace your windows. |
| 00:01:24 | LESLIE: And if you have finally decided that this is the year you will park your car in the garage, you probably have a big chore in front of you. You’ll probably have to organize the garage, probably have to make room for a car in the garage. So there’s a lot of things going on that’s going to help you kind of get the car in there to begin with. So we’ll help you sort that out. |
| 00:01:43 | TOM: I wonder what the statistic is, Leslie, if we were to do a survey and say, first, do you have a garage and is your car parked inside of it? Like what percentage of folks that have the garage actually use it for a vehicle? I think it would probably be pretty low. I’m going to say under 50%, maybe 25%. What do you think? |
| 00:02:01 | LESLIE: Yeah. I’m going to say like 80% of people do not park their car in the garage. |
| 00:02:05 | TOM: Right. Yeah. Okay. |
| 00:02:06 | LESLIE: Although I find that the people who have like the nice fancy attached garages, I do not. My garage is standalone in the back. I feel like if you’ve gotten attached and it’s a two car, like you get your car there. I don’t have that. |
| 00:02:17 | TOM: Well, you can use one space for your junk and one space for your car. |
| 00:02:20 | LESLIE: Exactly. But you’re still getting a car in there. |
| 00:02:22 | TOM: All right. And also ahead, if you’d like to make your home more energy efficient, a home energy audit is a great place to start. We’re going to share details on how you can get home energy audit done and highlight a DIY option that of course you can do yourself. |
| 00:02:36 | LESLIE: But first, whether you are doing or dreaming, maybe you’re actually thinking of putting that car in the garage, whatever it is, whatever projects you have on your to-do list, or maybe you’re even in the works, let us know so we can lend a hand to help you get those projects completed. |
| 00:02:52 | TOM: The number here again is 1-888-Money-Pit. And so you don’t have to figure out what that means on the phone. It’s 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:03:02 | LESLIE: Joni in New Jersey is on the line and is having a plumbing issue. What’s going on with your faucet? |
| 00:03:07 | TOM: Joni, how you doing? A fellow New Jerseyan. |
| 00:03:12 | CALLER: Hi. Hi. I’m good. |
| 00:03:13 | TOM: You’re doing fine, thanks. What’s happening? |
| 00:03:14 | CALLER: We just recently, we’re replacing our counter cap. Okay. We’re going to an upgraded counter. And so I wanted to get the whole faucet, you know, to go with it. It’s the high faucet, and we almost always get melon. My question is this. A friend told me that if you get the same exact part, the same exact faucet, even if it’s the same model number, that they have two runs. In other words, if I buy this faucet from a big box store, and I will save $135, say, but I’m being told if I go to a plumbing store, you might pay a little bit more, but the parts inside actually can be better. And I looked it up on the internet, and they kind of said, somebody was saying that there’s two runs that these manufacturers make. And so the big box stores, actually, the parts inside are not, you know, as good as getting it from a plumbing store. |
| 00:04:16 | TOM: Yeah. I think that’s the plumbing store lobby there talking to you. I don’t believe that. I’ve bought many, many faucets in my life from big box stores. I’ve never had a concern. You know, I judge the brands on their own. And today, almost everything has ceramic disc valves, which are marvelous because they really just don’t wear out. And so I would have no hesitation to buy one from a big box. If you found the faucet that you like there, and the price that you think is right, you can buy it. Right. I would go ahead and buy it. Yeah. And by the way, if you’re changing that countertop, I’ll give you a tip. It’s a heck of a lot easier to assemble that faucet and sink if it’s got a sink going with it before that countertop gets dropped in place because trying to work behind the sink through the cabinet is very difficult. Take that from a six-foot-two man that has to often squeeze into spaces like that very uncomfortably. |
| 00:05:05 | CALLER: Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much for the advice. |
| 00:05:08 | TOM: Okay. Good luck. |
| 00:05:09 | LESLIE: We are heading down to Armand Beach, Florida, where we’ve got Frank on the line, who’s dealing with a tricky garage door opener. What’s going on? |
| 00:05:17 | CALLER: It’s been in here for quite some time. And of course, you know, you’ve traced them to change the batteries and all that stuff, but it won’t, on both my cars, the keypad and the sun visor won’t let either one of them go down. I can go up, but I can’t go down. |
| 00:05:39 | TOM: You did the basic to change your batteries, as you said. Now, Yes. What brand opener is this, Frank? |
| 00:05:45 | CALLER: It’s a Craftsman half horsepower. |
| 00:05:48 | TOM: Okay. So that’s a good brand. Here’s what I think you should do. When you have situations like this and you’ve done all of the very basics of changing batteries and such, it’s worth it to do a factory reset on all of the openers. And Craftsman is a good brand. So the first thing to do is to write down that model number, get online and download the owner’s manual for that particular garage door opener. And in an owner’s manual, there ought to be some instruction on how to reset all of your remotes. I would reset them from scratch and start again, because sometimes, you know, things happen, right? You get, you know, power spikes and other things that happen, and it just takes one thing to kind of get everything out of whack. And it sounds like something like that happened here with those openers. If you had one that was working and one that wasn’t working, I’d maybe suspect a bad remote. But in this case, I think the first thing to do is to do a reset, factory reset on those remotes, and then program them again. |
| 00:06:45 | CALLER: Okay. Well, these are brand new remotes. I reset them. They’re brand new remotes. I reset them. And I went to the diagnostic on YouTube, and it said that if it won’t go close going down, it could be the circuit board. |
| 00:07:06 | TOM: Is this the circuit board on the garage door opener or the circuit board on the remote? |
| 00:07:10 | CALLER: On the garage door opener. |
| 00:07:11 | TOM: Does the garage door opener itself have instructions on how to factory reset all the remotes? |
| 00:07:16 | CALLER: Yes, which we did a couple times. This is a 2001 Craftsman garage door opener. |
| 00:07:28 | TOM: If it’s that old and you’ve done everything you can, maybe you can even return those new remotes that you bought, which I’m sure were not inexpensive. And maybe it’s time just to replace it then. |
| 00:07:38 | CALLER: Okay. Well, thank you very much for calling back. |
| 00:07:40 | TOM: Yeah. You’re welcome, Frank. Sorry you’re having that trouble. |
| 00:07:44 | LESLIE: Hey, you want to make our day? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and we’ll be jumping for joy. Plus, you guys, your feedback helps us make the show even better for you. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review. Shawnee in North Carolina needs some help with a backyard problem. What’s going on at your money pit? |
| 00:08:01 | CALLER: When it would rain, all the water would drain toward the back because it’s on the downslope. Right. And then I had some contractor come in and connect all my downspouts and all to this black pipe, and they connected all of it and ran it out to one source toward the end of that little creek. And in doing so, I mean, everything was fine. It worked fine. And they thought where I was having such water problems, they sort of made a horseshoe out of the black pipe with styrofoam peanuts and all of that in it. Right. Right. Right. Right. And then they dug around the horseshoe area. They found that that was dry because they figured if it was wet, it would drain and take care of the problem. But when they put that horseshoe in it, wherever they put it, it was completely dry, and it was further down that they realized that I had underground spring. So all of my drain pipes, everything’s draining perfectly, but it’s one little problem I had with that underground spring. |
| 00:09:04 | TOM: But is that underground spring rising? Yeah. Is it rising up to the point where the yard is flooding? And how much flooding are we talking about here? |
| 00:09:12 | CALLER: It’s not necessarily flooding, but it stays wet. I can’t mow it. And there’s a place about, I’m going to say 12 inches square, squarish maybe, that has puddled. |
| 00:09:25 | TOM: I don’t think this is a problem worth solving. I think it’s a fairly small area of the yard, and areas of the yard that get soft like that, yeah, the grass can be hard to cut sometimes. Sometimes you have to cut it by hand instead of using a power mower on it. But I don’t think it’s worth you doing anything about it. You would have to do some major, major work to try to take the water that’s collecting there and run it downstream and have it sit somewhere else. So I don’t think it’s necessarily a big issue. Shawnee, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, if you’ve been wondering if it’s time to replace your windows, the answers to seven key questions can help you decide if it makes sense or not. So first up, let’s talk about your heating and cooling bills. Are they growing every year? Windows and doors are one of the largest sources of energy leaks. And a blower door test, which can be done by an energy auditor, can actually pinpoint exactly how leaky your windows are. A lot of times we think the source is windows or we think the source is doors, but a blower test tells you with absolute certainty if that’s the problem. So check with your utility company to determine if they provide such services. |
| 00:10:34 | LESLIE: Next, you need to think about how old your windows are. Every product in your home has a lifespan. For windows, a good time to start assessing their condition is after about 10 years on the job. At that 15-year mark, it’s time to seriously determine if your windows are still even doing the job. |
| 00:10:50 | TOM: And next, are your old wooden window frames so swollen that your windows won’t go up and down? You know, windows that stick or those that are so loose they won’t stay up are a big detraction from home value and also a source of drafts in and of themselves. |
| 00:11:05 | LESLIE: Yeah, and another thing to consider is, how do you know if your windows are going up or down? How many panes of glass does your window have? Single-paned windows are the least energy efficient and can cause your energy bills to soar. You want to replace those inefficient windows with double or highly efficient triple-paned ENERGY STAR® qualified windows to enhance that energy savings and make your home a much more comfortable place to be during all seasons. |
| 00:11:27 | TOM: And let’s talk about condensation. Do you get condensation appearing inside the glass on double-hungs or triple-paned windows or even inside the glass? Yes, you get condensation in the glass on single panes. This, again, indicates a leaky, drafty window and it could also indicate a seal failure if you have double-pane or triple-pane windows. So, if that’s the case, you might need to replace the glass or the entire window, but we’ve found trying to replace those glass panels by themselves is really expensive compared to just replacing the window. |
| 00:11:55 | LESLIE: Yeah, also think about how easily do your windows open and close. If your windows are hard to open or close or they don’t stay open or they don’t lock, this is definitely a sign that those windows need replacing. |
| 00:12:05 | TOM: And lastly, if your windows are hard to open or close or they don’t stay open or they don’t lock, this is definitely a sign that those windows need replacing. I mean, if you live near an airport or a busy street, you might want to think about replacing your windows with laminated glass or double-pane windows because that will actually make a big improvement in the amount of noise that transmits through the glass into the home. So, all good things to think about if window replacement is on your to-do list. And I will add one more thing. If you’re shopping for windows, look for the NFRC label. It’s an independent rating organization, the National Fenestration Rating Council, and they will provide statistics on how energy efficient each and every window is. So, once you find that label, jot it down or take a picture of it, note the brand window that you saw it on, and that will help you compare and contrast between different windows and make the right decision for your home. |
| 00:12:53 | LESLIE: Oh, now we’ve got Katherine from Colorado on the line. Not something we like to deal with, pest control. What is going on with the mice and the rats? |
| 00:13:01 | CALLER: Well, the downstairs in the house, it’s not finished. So, somehow, they’re getting in downstairs, and I see little drop-ins in different places. So, what I’ve been using so far is those green pellets of poison. But I’ve heard from a friend that there’s new products out there, the ultrasonic plug-ins. I wanted to get information about that, |
| 00:13:21 | TOM: if you would know. Yeah, I would skip that. I think that’s kind of junk science. So, I would skip any of those ultrasonic plug-in things. What you want to do is a couple of things. First of all, you want to eliminate nesting areas. So, around the area of your house, you want to eliminate nesting areas. So, around the area of your house, you want to eliminate nesting areas. So, around the area of your house, if you have firewood, trash cans, debris of any sort that’s anywhere near the foundation, those are nesting areas for rodents. You eliminate those. Secondly, you plug up any openings in the outside walls of that house. Now, mice need something the size of about a quarter or even less to get in. So, any openings should be plugged. Inside the house, you want to make sure that there’s no food for them. So, a lot of times, people will make mistakes by providing food when they don’t realize they’re doing it. For example, I had a friend who used to keep her pet food in the garage, and it was a big sack, 50-pound, whatever it was, bag of pet food. Never really even noticed that the mice had dug themselves a nice little front door for this that wasn’t obvious, and they were just getting a big meal every single day from the pet food. So, look for things like that where food is being left out for them. Moisture is also very attractive to rodents. So, water that collects at the foundation perimeter can bring them in. And inside the house, I think you’re doing the right thing using the baits and the poisons because they’re very effective with most of the baits today. I know, for example, the Decon, one hit of that, so to speak, it takes them out. I mean, it’s just one and done. So, I think all those things together is what’s going to control and |
| 00:14:53 | LESLIE: reduce the rodent population around this house. James in Minnesota, you’ve got The Money Pit. |
| 00:14:58 | CALLER: How can we help you today? I bought a house about a year ago, and I don’t know how old the water here is because it was a foreclosure. I had gone downstairs and took the cover off and turned up a little bit to try to get a little more hot water out of it temperature-wise, and I noticed on the inside that it seems wet, like the fiberglass insulation on the tank. So, I was wondering if that means the tank is going bad, or do I need to start saving money to buy a new water heater? The water heater’s in your basement? Yeah, it’s in my basement, correct. |
| 00:15:32 | TOM: You know, sometimes you get a little condensation inside of that, uh, does your water stay hot, or does it seem to run out quickly? |
| 00:15:40 | CALLER: No, it stays hot for a while. It’s just not as hot as I’d like it. So, I just went down to dial it up a little, and I saw it was wet inside, |
| 00:15:49 | TOM: and I don’t see anything leaking from the bottom. Okay, well, generally, when water heaters leak, everybody knows it, okay? It’s not subtle. Yeah, okay. All right, so I doubt it’s leaking badly right now. You may have a bit of condensation in there. Uh, how do you deal with that? Uh, I don’t know. Uh, I don’t know. Uh, I don’t know. Uh, I don’t know. Uh, I don’t know. Uh, I don’t know. However, what you want to keep in mind with However, what you want to keep in mind with electric water heaters is that, first of all, electric water heaters is that, first of all, they’re very expensive to run, and so it’s a good idea to have a timer on them. Secondly, with an electric water heater, there’s two coils, not just one. So, on the outside of your water heater, you should see two panels, one up high and one down low, and each one of those has its own thermostat. And so, in order to adjust the temperature, you have to open both of them up, and with a screwdriver, an insulated screwdriver, you turn it very carefully until it’s about 110 degrees on both of them. And with a 40 or 50 gallon water heater, how many bedrooms, I mean, how many bathrooms do you have in the house? Two. So, 40 gallon would be smallish, maybe adequate. 50 gallon would definitely be good. Uh, if you’re wondering the age of it, on the, uh, on the label on the water heater, there’s generally a date that’s either written plainly on that, or it’s coded into the serial number. So, if you look at the serial number, you look at the date, you may see a date on there, |
| 00:17:09 | CALLER: and you can figure out how old this is. Okay, great. Thanks so much. |
| 00:17:12 | LESLIE: All right, Money Pit listeners, Vivint Home Security has an amazing offer just for you. You can get their award-winning, smarter, simpler home security system starting at a dollar a day, plus free professional installation with signed agreement. Now, restrictions do apply, but don’t wait, because you must call now at 800-586-9606. That’s 800-586-9606. Sharani in Colorado is on the line, has a question about mold. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:17:44 | CALLER: The pipes have broke inside the walls, and we fixed the pipes and everything. Now, we got this problem with the mildew in the mold. So, we have, we want to know what’s |
| 00:17:52 | TOM: the best way to treat it. Yeah, you know, first of all, when that happened, did you, uh, file a claim with your homeowner’s insurance company? |
| 00:17:57 | CALLER: No, we just got the homeowner’s insurance company. No, we just got the homeowner’s insurance company. We got the house, we got it as is, so we’re fixing it before we move in. |
| 00:18:01 | TOM: Oh, wow. Okay, got it, got it, got it. Okay, well, is it a lot of mold, or is it a little bit of mold? |
| 00:18:07 | CALLER: A lot. We’re ripping out drywall, and as we rip it out, we’re finding more. |
| 00:18:11 | TOM: Oh, boy. Yeah. Yeah, this is generally not a do-it-yourself project, because when you have a lot of mold, you can contaminate parts of the house with this. I really think this is the kind of thing that you want to stop and get some professional help with, Sharani, because if you release all those mold spores into the air, you potentially could be causing a big, bigger problem. I mean, generally, when you have that much mold, and you say a lot of mold, you have to be careful about how you take that apart. What you generally do is you depressurize the house, you put fans in the house so that it pulls the air out as you’re breaking out the dry wall and so on, and flushes all of those mold spores to the outside, and then all of the framing gets sprayed down so that you kill anything that’s left behind. You get it good and dry, and then you re-insulate and re-drywall. But it’s a pretty big job, and when you have a lot of mold like that, you can be exposing yourself to that mold, and that could make you sick. So I would say to proceed very cautiously when you’re trying to rebuild a house that’s got heavy mold damage. It’s not an easy problem to resolve. Oh, okay. So good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:19:19 | LESLIE: Well, if you’ve decided that it’s time to start parking your car inside the garage, you first have to organize and store all the stuff. That’s parked in there. That’s not your car. So if you have a plan, it’s not all that hard. Here’s where to begin. |
| 00:19:33 | TOM: Garage storage is something that has to be set up once and then maintained daily by all members of the family. Now, safety for your family and your storage should be the first priority. So make sure chemicals and tools are stored beyond the reach of the younger kids, and large storage items should be kept beyond the parking zone, and the heavy stuff should be stored at a level that won’t lead to injury or property damage if it was to fall. Or frankly, even if you have to reach up to put it there in the first place, you don’t want to have to reach over your head with really heavy stuff. |
| 00:20:04 | LESLIE: Yeah. And after you’ve done sort of this big clean out and determined what tools, household products, and gear get to stay, you’re going to be able to formulate a garage storage plan that’s going to accommodate every category and all the stuff that you’ve got. Now, the only thing remaining on the floor of your actual garage should be the car. So you want to make smart use of ready-to-use racks, hooks, shelving systems, cabinets. All of this is available from home storage retailers, but you kind of have to look at what you’ve got and decide what’s the best way to store it. |
| 00:20:34 | TOM: Now, if you do use storage units, you want to make sure that you anchor them for safe support of the heavy stuff inside. So that means they need to be connected to the walls. You need to use brackets that are usually provided with them or come up with your own to make sure that they are secured and they can’t tip over. And it’s also wise to include a flame-proof cabinet to store flammables like spray paint and stains and cleansers. So remember, safety first when it comes to garage organization and get everybody to follow the plan that you’ve set up and you’ll be good to go for the season ahead. |
| 00:21:04 | LESLIE: Rory in Illinois is on the line and there seems to be a crack in the front of the garage. What is going on? Are you getting water in the garage? Is it on the door? What’s going on here? |
| 00:21:13 | CALLER: When the house was built about 21 years ago, they brought in a cement saw and they cut marks in it to control the cracking. Well, the first cut is four feet from the garage door. Well, now that part next to the garage has settled down. So when it rains, the water runs towards the garage, which is making it worse. And I saw a commercial on TV for this mud jacking outfit, and they say for a little more than half what it costs to replace the cement, they could jack it back up in place. But you’ll see the marks where they drill the holes to put the cement in. And will it last? Should we do the whole driveway over or is there some way we can do something to make it look good and last? It’s a beautiful place. We have no problems with |
| 00:21:57 | TOM: anything except you drive in the driveway and you see that. Yeah. So when you get close to the driveway, that last slab, so to speak, tilts in towards the garage and it’s running water up against the house. Is that correct? Yes. Yeah. And that could affect the foundation that’s holding the garage up because you throw a lot of water under it. It becomes less stable and you get a lot more movement. So I do think it’s an important thing to fix. Mud jacking will work. And it can replace that area as long as they can lift that slab nice and even so it doesn’t crack and become worse. I would just try to get their guarantee that they’re not going to crack the slab in the process. But if they can get the mud underneath it, they’re basically filling in the low spots, bringing that slab up, and then it’s not going to collapse anymore because the concrete they put under it, the mud, so to speak, takes up that void. So I wouldn’t be afraid of doing that. And if it turns out that that’s less expensive than breaking that one piece out and just pouring that one piece new, then I think you can do that. If you decide to break that out, I don’t think you have to do the whole driveway. You can just do that one piece and make sure the soil below is properly tamped. You’re going to have to replace that with fill dirt and stone and get it tamped down. Tamping is really key. So it’s really solid. What’s happened is water’s gotten over there over the years. It’s softened the soil and that’s what’s caused that slab to sort of rotate with the car going back and forth. So I think either option is okay. It becomes an economic choice. I think it’s going to be a good choice. I think it’s going to be an economic choice. My only concern is that you commit to spending money on mud jacking and end up breaking the slab and then you’re kind of almost back to the beginning. |
| 00:23:29 | CALLER: Okay. It sounds great. Sounds like you got the answers. |
| 00:23:31 | TOM: Yeah. Well, we try. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Hey guys, this week, our thoughts continue to be with the people of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas who are dealing with the devastating wildfires that have swept through the entire region. You know, the destruction and the loss caused by these fires is truly heartbreaking and our hearts go out to everyone. |
| 00:23:54 | LESLIE: Absolutely, Tom. You know, these fires not only claim homes and property, but also deeply impact the lives of so many families. And to those who are facing this unimaginable challenge, please know that our thoughts and our prayers are with you. |
| 00:24:08 | TOM: We also want to remind everyone, whether you live in a fire-prone area or not, it’s smart to take steps to protect your home and family. You know, wildfire season is lasting longer and longer than ever before. And there are things you can do to make your property more resilient. Like, if you live in a fire-prone area, you don’t have to worry about what’s going to happen. Creating defensible space around your home, keeping gutters and roofs clear of debris, and ensuring fire-resistant materials are used whenever possible. |
| 00:24:31 | LESLIE: And remember, if you’re in an area affected by fires, prioritize safety above all. Follow those evacuation orders, have a plan in place, and stay informed through local authorities. |
| 00:24:43 | TOM: And to all those impacted by the fires, stay safe. You are in our thoughts, and we stand with you during this very difficult time. |
| 00:24:51 | LESLIE: All right, now we’re heading over to Patty in Illinois. Patty in Illinois, who’s got a toilet that is running constantly. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 00:24:57 | CALLER: Well, it doesn’t run constantly, but it runs about five seconds, you know, several times an hour. And it’s gone to the point that my water bill has gone up quite a bit, and I’m needing to know if I need a new toilet, or if I need new seals, or a |
| 00:25:13 | LESLIE: new handle pump, or what would you think? It’s actually an easy fix. And I mean, this tends to happen kind of regularly. You know, unfortunately, people don’t realize that there’s actually some level of toilet water that’s going to go up and down. So, if you’re in a fire-prone area, you can’t really see it because it’s all just a little bit of water, and you’re not going to see a lot of water. Because, you know, it’s just an appliance in your house that’s there, and you use it, and you expect it to work. But inside the tank itself, there’s a fill and a flush valve, and those need to be replaced not that often, but, you know, every couple of years or so. And, of course, now that you’re dealing with this water running issue. Tom, is it Fluidmaster? |
| 00:25:45 | TOM: Yeah, Fluidmaster is sort of a mainstay of replacement valve parts. And, you know, they just wear out, Patty, over time. So, this is a pretty easy fix. |
| 00:25:54 | LESLIE: And, I mean, it’s probably $10 to get both of them. But if you go to Fluidmaster’s website, the only reason I recommend that is because on their website, they’ve got a really great how-to video. So, you can actually see what the fill valve is, what the flush valve, the flapper valve. So, you know exactly what you’re looking at and how to replace it. And it’s a really easy, do-it-yourself project that you can, you know, do confidently and, you know, definitely decrease your |
| 00:26:14 | CALLER: water bill. Thank you. That sounds wonderful. I appreciate it. And thank you so much for |
| 00:26:19 | TOM: taking my call. Love your show. You’re very welcome, Patty. |
| 00:26:22 | LESLIE: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, if you’re interested in making your home more efficient, the first step is a home energy assessment. Now, a home energy assessment or audit, as it’s sometimes called, is a way to measure your home’s energy efficiency and where |
| 00:26:39 | TOM: improvements can be made. Now, to be valuable, energy assessments must be thorough and properly conducted. Now, most of the time, professionals do these inspections in person, but remote energy assessments have become more popular recently. Now, in a remote assessment, you actually do the walk around through your house with a tablet or a smartphone while an assessor |
| 00:27:01 | LESLIE: walks through the data collection with you. Now, you can also do your own sort of DIY energy assessment here at your home. The Department of Energy offers a walkthrough checklist on energy.gov that’s going to guide you. And while it’s not as thorough as a professional home energy assessment, it can pinpoint some of the easier areas to |
| 00:27:20 | TOM: address. Yeah. So, bottom line, whether you hire a pro or do it yourself, you want to start any efficiency upgrades with a home assessment because this way you’ll have a benchmark. You’ll know where you are. Then you can repeat it after the improvements to see where you are after that and really determine how effective it’s been. So, I think you’ll be really glad you did. So, look into that home energy audit. Start by calling your utility company and find out where you are. And if you have any questions, I’ll provide it for you. |
| 00:27:46 | LESLIE: Mike in Missouri is on the line with a roofing question. What is going on at your house? |
| 00:27:50 | CALLER: Okay. My problem is I have a stain on my ceiling in my second floor hallway, which is directly underneath my AC unit. I went up in the attic. I look on the roof and I was thinking maybe it was blown in the ridge vent. I looked all around the beams. I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t see any water. But I noticed the AC unit itself, it kind of seemed like there was condensation on it and there was little rust spots in the corner. The house is only about eight years old. |
| 00:28:21 | TOM: What I think is going on, there’s one or two possibilities. If it is condensation, it can happen in the winter, but it has nothing to do with the AC system. When you go up into the attic, here’s a home inspector’s trick of the trade. I learned something in 20 years doing this. When you look up on the underside of the roof sheathing, you’re going to see the nails that come through it from the ceiling. Mike in Missouri is on the line with a roofing question. If the tips of those nails are rusty, then you have got a lot of vapor pressure, a lot of condensation, humidity that’s building up in the attic, forming the condensation and dripping down. That’s one way you can get water drips on the ceiling. I think, however, it’s more likely given its position that this was either condensation or a condensate link that happened during the air conditioning season. It may not even be active anymore. I’ve had condensation problems that I’ve seen happen because you had a particularly humid month, and you’ve got a lot of moisture forming on ducts that actually leak through the ceilings below, but when the conditions change, it goes away. What I would tell you to do is to prime over that section of stain with something like Kills because if we just paint over it, the stain will continue to come through. You’ve got to seal it. So I would prime it and paint over it now and see if it comes back. It might just have been a one-time thing. I suspect it’s more likely that it has to do with the AC, but you can eliminate the possibility of the roof sheathing by looking for those rusty nail tips. I would go with that theory before I started to explore any other far less likely causes for this. Thanks so much for calling |
| 00:29:54 | LESLIE: us at 888-Money-Pit. Anthony wrote in to Team Money Pit and says, we’re purchasing a condo built on a concrete slab in Ashburn, Virginia. Do we need to get a radon test done by the home |
| 00:30:05 | TOM: inspector? Is that who normally does it, Tom? Well, sometimes, yeah. I mean, areas where there’s, there’s high radon, home inspectors often do radon testing. I mean, we did it for years and years and years with my home inspection company, but not all home inspectors offer it, but it’s a good idea to get it if you’re in an area of either high or I would say medium risk for radon. Now, Virginia has areas of high, medium, and low risk. So you need to figure out what the risk is in your area. And generally, the state health department will have a map or indication of radon levels across different counties, for example, that you should look into. But basically, I would definitely do a test and the test will determine what that radon level is. And you’re looking for a level that is below four peak curities per liter of air. So 4.0 is sort of the mark that you want to stay below. If it’s below that, then it’s considered to be low risk. If it’s above that, then you would need to install a radon mitigation system or your seller would, by the way, not necessarily you. The other thing to keep in mind is that radon levels are going to vary. So if you do a radon test for radon, you’re going to need to install a radon mitigation system. For example, in the winter, when the house is sealed up tight as a drum, that’s going to be usually the sort of the seasonal high. Try to do this though in July when it’s 80 to 100 degrees and people are pretty loosey-goosey about whether or not they close the doors behind them and things like that, you’re going to have a lot more fresh air in there. And that radon test may not be totally accurate. And the truth is that a long-term test, you have tests that can go on for months, is the most accurate. But in a real estate transaction, you don’t have that kind of time. So you need to do a short-term test. Generally, it’s called a charcoal adsorption. Canister is a way to do that. The other way to do that is something called a working level monitor, which is another type of test. And that is effective because it plots the radon levels across time on a graph. I used to like those, Leslie, because I could actually look at that graph and tell you if somebody opened a window or a door. And the people that were trying to cheat, it would start out with a steady level. Then I’d see it drop for the next 36 hours, and then I’d see it come back up. Just coincidentally, about when the time was, I was going to come back in and pick that device up and see what kind of levels we had. So people, try all sorts of things to get by. Listen, just figure out what it is. |
| 00:32:12 | LESLIE: How would they even know that they had the high radon to do that? |
| 00:32:15 | TOM: They may have had some sense. Look, you live in an area for a long time and you hear about a neighbor that’s got radon and this and that. The word gets out. If they want to cheat, they’re going to cheat. There’s nothing you can do about it. |
| 00:32:24 | LESLIE: All right. Now, Jessica writes in wanting to know how often she should have her chimney |
| 00:32:28 | TOM: inspected and cleaned. Well, it depends on the use of the kind of fuel you’re burning, Jessica. So for wood-burning chimneys, you want to have the chimney inspected and cleaned at least once a year or once for every quart of wood you burn. That’s important because it prevents creosote buildup, which can cause chimney fires, and that’s a really bad thing to happen. So a chimney sweep can perform that service safely and effectively. But I’ll warn you, if they are all of a sudden coming down to the chimney and say, oh, you have this terrible, terrible problem and it has to be fixed right away, and it’s going to be $1,000, but don’t worry, I’m here and I can do it now. That would make me very suspicious because they have a conflict of interest. So if you do hear something like that from a sweep, get a second opinion from somebody like a professional home inspector that doesn’t |
| 00:33:07 | LESLIE: have that conflict before you peel your wallet open. And how often should you do a gas fireplace? |
| 00:33:12 | TOM: Yeah, another good question. For a gas fireplace, first of all, you may not have a masonry chimney, but if you do, I would have that inspected maybe about once every two years. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show on air and online at moneypit.com. Hey, guys, thank you so much for spending this part of your day with us. We hope you’ve picked up an idea or two that will help you improve your home. If you’ve got questions, remember, you can reach us 24-7 at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or for the fastest possible response, just go to moneypit.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. But for today, that’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself. | |
| 00:33:48 | TOM: 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 2025 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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