Show Notes
In this episode, we’re sharing what you need to know about potentially harmful cookware, clever tricks to pick the perfect paint color, and how to choose the most efficient heating fuel for your home. Got a DIY project on your list? Listen in for answers to more home improvement questions.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Cookware: Enjoy toxic-free cooking by buying safer nonstick pots and pans.
- Painting: Say goodbye to color confusion by picking the perfect shades of paint.
- Home Heating: Stay warm and spend less by picking the most efficient heating fuel.
Top Questions & Answers
- HVAC: William wants to heat an addition to his house. Adding insulation is a good start and he should consider installing a split ductless system.
- Kitchen Remodel: Where should Joan start when remodeling her kitchen? A home center or kitchen and bath designer can help her lay out options and ideas.
- Flooring: What kind of underlayment should be used with a luxury vinyl plank floor? Pete should check with the manufacturer for recommendations for comfort and moisture protection.
- Dehumidifier: Kayla’s dehumidifier keeps tripping the circuit breaker and stopping the condensate pump. Simply adding a new circuit should solve the problem.
- Latex Paint: Is latex paint that’s been frozen still good to use? Ronnie should bring it to room temperature and stir the paint to make sure it’s creamy rather than lumpy.
- Mold: Derek can’t see any mold but thinks he can smell it. A licensed mold inspector or public health official can determine if there is any mold to worry about.
- Gutters: Lulu’s brick steps are breaking down from water coming under the gutters. We’ve got tips for properly extending the roof shingles so rain flows into the gutters.
- Shutters: Can Ruth install shutters on vinyl siding? It’s a DIY project using special fasteners to avoid leaks and taking care not to crush the siding.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:24 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler |
| 00:00:29 | LESLIE: I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:30 | TOM: Welcome to episode 2491. You can listen when you want by following the show at moneypit.com slash podcast. But we are here right now to help you take on projects you want to get done around your house. So what is on your to-do list? I’ve got stuff on my to-do list. Leslie, I bet you’ve got stuff on your to-do list. I mean, we have perennial to-do lists, right? I mean, have you ever had a project that you’ve carried from year to year? I know that I have. But it’s there. It’s at the top of the list. It’s just at the beginning of those lists. And maybe we can help you move ahead on your challenge to take on those projects by answering a few questions to help you get them done. So reach out to us right now. A couple of ways to do that. You can call us at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Or you can post your questions at moneypit.com slash ask. Coming up on today’s show, did you guys know that pots, pans, and utensils that we use to cook with can contain harmful materials that actually could leach into food you eat? Well, Consumer Reports knows all about this, and they’re out with a great story about how this can happen and what you need to know to prevent it. All right. And if painting is on your to-do list, the hardest part of that project is not the prep or the paint. It’s really picking out that color. So we’ve got some cool ideas for helping you simplify that part of the project. And there are many choices in heating fuel, but have you ever wondered which type of fuel is most efficient? We’re going to sort out the |
| 00:01:54 | LESLIE: differences between oil, gas, propane, and electric heat to help you determine which delivers the best energy efficiency for your home. All right. But first, our focus is you because we make DIY doable with clear tips and advice to get your project done. So if you’ve got a DIY project on your to-do list, let us help it make it a DIY done project. Let us know what you are working on. We are still in winter. There’s lots of planning that can be done for those big spring projects. There’s some great interior projects you can tackle this time of year. So let us know what you are working on. |
| 00:02:26 | TOM: Reach out right now with your questions at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:02:35 | LESLIE: William in Illinois is on the line with a heating question. How can we help you with your project? |
| 00:02:40 | CALLER: I live in the Midwest here in Illinois. I’ve got a smaller house, about 1,100 square foot. It’s got an addition on the front of the house that is about 12 foot by 10 foot, something like that, relatively small room. It’s got a pretty good-sized window facing the road. It’s on a foundation, but it’s not attached to the garage and it’s not heated. I don’t have a heating duct running out there. It’s attached to the attic space, which is insulated. That room gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and I wondered if I just ran a heating duct out there, if that would be enough, or should I put a vapor barrier down, or should I knock a hole in it to attach it to the basement, or get up under there and insulate and then run a heating duct, or what? |
| 00:03:35 | TOM: First of all, whenever you have a standalone space like that that’s pushed off the rest of the house, you have more exterior surfaces. You have more ways for the heating duct to basically build in the chill. Adding insulation is always a no-brainer. Adding insulation to the floor, adding insulation to the attic, making it as insulated as possible is good. Now, you ask, can I add a heating duct to that? Maybe. Depends on a lot of things. Depends on the existing layout of your HVAC system and whether or not you can get a properly sized supply and return duct to that space. Does this room get heat from the rest of the house, but just not enough heat? |
| 00:04:13 | CALLER: It doesn’t get anything right now. It has just a door. It was used as a bedroom in the summers, I guess. |
| 00:04:20 | TOM: So what I would do is I would consult with your HVAC contractor to see how difficult it would be and whether or not the pro thought you could get enough BTUs into that room to provide enough heat, and I don’t know if it includes air conditioning or not. If not, the other thing to look at is what’s called split ductless. Basically, you would install what is essentially sort of a miniature heat pump. Right. Right outside the wall of that house, and you would hang on the wall a register that has the fan built into it, sort of a blower unit, and that can supply cold air in the summer, and that can supply warm heated air in the winter, and that would basically be a separate heating system for that room, a separate HVAC system for that room, but it’s easier than trying to sort of extend sometimes the core system of the house. Does that make sense? |
| 00:05:09 | CALLER: Right. Yeah. Yeah, it sure does. All righty. Well, thank you. I will look into both of those options. |
| 00:05:15 | TOM: Great, William. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:05:19 | LESLIE: Joan in California needs some help with a kitchen remodel. How’s it going? |
| 00:05:22 | CALLER: Yes. Well, we haven’t started yet, and I just need some advice on how to get started. Do you start with an architect, or what do you do? |
| 00:05:30 | TOM: That’s a good question. So planning makes perfect. You want to start with a plan. Now, are you essentially going to replace the kitchen in sort of the same layout that you have right now, Joan, or are you thinking about really changing things up a lot? |
| 00:05:42 | CALLER: Well, it’s a very small kitchen. It’s a very small kitchen, and I just want to know how to maximize everything. |
| 00:05:47 | TOM: All right. So if it’s a small kitchen, you can probably do this inexpensively by perhaps starting with a home center. A lot of the home centers have designers that work on designing kitchens for the cabinetry that they sell, and for a very small fee, they can help you lay it out and take advantage of all of the latest options. If you want to do more than that, what you’re going to do is hire a certified kitchen and bath designer. If you’re going to start with a home center in the kitchen department and see if they’ll lay out some options for you using the type of cabinets that they sell, those cabinets are usually pretty affordable at that level, and they’ll be able to give you some ideas on things perhaps you haven’t thought about. |
| 00:06:35 | LESLIE: You know what, Joan? I think it’s really smart to keep a notepad in the kitchen, and everybody and anybody, yourself and your family, who use the space, actually have a lot of space in the kitchen. So as you walk through and notice little areas where you’re tripping over one another or things that just don’t make sense or you wish that, you know, X was here and not there, sort of jot all of those down so when you do go sit down with, whether it’s, you know, a certified kitchen and bath designer or someone in the home center, you sort of have all of these issues that could be addressed or might be able to be addressed. |
| 00:07:04 | CALLER: One thing I really want is more electrical outlets, so that’ll have to definitely be in the plan. |
| 00:07:10 | TOM: Well, that’s definitely in the plan, and, you know, you’ll do these, you know, these things in order. The first thing you’ll do is rip out the old cabinets, and the next thing you’ll do would be too rough in new wiring and new plumbing to have it exactly where you want it, and then, of course, you’ll start the installation of the new cabinetry as almost the last step. It’s also a good time to think about universal design in the kitchen, maybe having countertops of different height so as you get older, you could sit down and work at the kitchen counter as opposed to just standing up. So think of the sort of accessibility issues when you design this kitchen as well. |
| 00:07:42 | CALLER: How much time should I allow for something like this? |
| 00:07:45 | TOM: Well, it depends on whether you have sort of all your ducks in a row. Sometimes it takes a while to get all the cabinets delivered, but if everything is accessible and on-site, you know, you can tear out this kitchen and rebuild it inside of a week. |
| 00:07:57 | CALLER: Oh, wow. |
| 00:07:58 | TOM: If you have everybody lined up and everybody’s there when they need to be there, and, you know, the plumber shows up on time, the electrician shows up on time, and so on, sure, I don’t see any reason you can’t get it done in a week. |
| 00:08:08 | CALLER: Well, thank you very much. |
| 00:08:10 | TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project, Joan. Thank you. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:08:16 | LESLIE: Hey, are you tired of living in a money pit? Well, we’re here to help. And if you want us to help out, it would be awesome if you could leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Just go to moneypit.com slash review. It’s only going to take a minute, and it means the world to us. |
| 00:08:30 | TOM: Hey, did you guys know that a burglar actually enters a home every 30 seconds? That’s kind of a scary statistic, and one reason that we are excited to partner with Vivint Home Security. And right now, Money Pit is the largest home security agency in the United States, is it? |
| 00:08:52 | TOM: Yeah, and why is that? Well, that’s because of the more advanced home security system, the most advanced home security system in the United States. |
| 00:09:08 | LESLIE: The more advanced home security systems, the more expensive more expensive home security Kyle, we’ve got Pete on the line who’s having some issues with an underlayment. What’s going on? |
| 00:09:17 | CALLER: I’m looking for options to put down an underlayment beneath the luxury vinyl that I’ll be laying down. I want to put a little distance between myself and the concrete. |
| 00:09:30 | TOM: So does the luxury vinyl product that you’ve selected have an attached underlayment? Some of them do, some of them don’t. |
| 00:09:36 | CALLER: Yes, it does. |
| 00:09:37 | TOM: Pete, who makes the luxury vinyl plank flooring that you’re installing? Pergo. Pergo, okay. So that’s a great brand, and all these manufacturers have a specific recommendation for an underlayment. Pergo, I know, has a product called Pergo Gold, and it’s sort of like a fan-fold product that you buy. It’s 100 square feet, and it costs around $80, so it is not inexpensive, but it is designed specifically to work with Pergo flooring and to give you a moisture protection between the two and a little bit more comfort as well. Okay. So that’s what I would do. I would stick with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Okay, great. So you have recommended underlayment. There are generics, and they may work, they may not work, but you can’t go wrong if you stay with the same brand. Kind of like the same paint. You know, I like to choose primers and paints that are all made by the same company and not mix them up. This sort of applies to flooring in your case as well. And you know, the other advantage of sticking with the same manufacturer is warranty. Should there be a warranty issue, you know, it prevents them from saying, well, you didn’t use our recommended underlayment, right? So again, staying in the same family is the best way to go for all those reasons. Okay, that makes sense. Great. |
| 00:10:42 | LESLIE: Well, nonstick cookware is a staple in many kitchens. It’s easy to use. It’s easy to clean. It makes cooking a breeze. But did you know that some of those nonstick coatings could come with some hidden health risks? |
| 00:10:54 | TOM: Yeah, that’s right. Nonstick coatings, especially those that are made with PFAs, which are also called forever chemicals, have been linked to health concerns like cancer and reproductive issues. And these chemicals are slow to degrade in the environment, and they can even release harmful gases. If they’re overheated. |
| 00:11:12 | LESLIE: So what’s a home chef to do? I mean, Consumer Reports has some great tips to help you choose safer cookware and keep your family healthy. I mean, do you just avoid it altogether? |
| 00:11:22 | TOM: Yeah, well, first, yeah, you do avoid products that are made with PFAs, but it can be a little tricky because manufacturers can label their cookware as PFOA-free, but it might still contain Teflon or other PFAs. So to be safe, you want to look for cookware that explicitly says, it is free of PFAs, including Teflon. And if a product just says nonstick without listing the material, I would assume it does contain PFAs and just stay away from it. |
| 00:11:53 | LESLIE: Now, many manufacturers are using ceramic coatings as an alternative to those PFA coatings, and Consumer Reports found several ceramic options that perform really well. |
| 00:12:03 | TOM: Yeah, and third, you can always opt for uncoated cookware. You know, kind of go back in time a little bit. I mean, stainless steel, carbon steel, cast iron, we love our cast iron cookware around here, but they’re all great options. That cast iron in particular can develop sort of a natural nonstick surface when it’s well-seasoned, and it lasts forever if you take care of it. |
| 00:12:23 | LESLIE: Yeah, I mean, I do love our stainless cookware. I do have a couple of the ceramic pieces, and I love the way they both cook. It’s funny, the ceramic ones are almost too nonstick. Like, sometimes you want things to get a little bit crispier coated from that natural stickiness in the pan, and you almost don’t get it, but they’re great. They perform really well, and they look awesome. But I think the most important here, at the end of it, you’ve got to care for those nonstick pans properly, no matter what type of nonstick coating that you’re using. You want to avoid high heat. You never want to heat an empty pan. You want to stick to silicone or wooden utensils. Hand wash those pans. Skip the abrasive sponges. You kind of got to treat these a little delicately. And if you do find that those pans are scratched or flaking or damaged, it’s just time to replace them. And always ventilate your kitchen when you’re using nonstick pans, especially if you’re unsure about the PFAs because they are toxic. |
| 00:13:16 | TOM: Yeah, these few simple steps can make a big difference in your kitchen and potentially in your health. So shout out to Consumer Reports. Great job on this post. And you can find it on their website. There’s a full guide on safer cookware at ConsumerReports.org. ConsumerReports.org. |
| 00:13:34 | LESLIE: Kayla in Iowa, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today? Just got married and moved into a new home. |
| 00:13:39 | CALLER: And it already had a Honeywell whole home humidifier installed in it. And it seemed like a dream come true. I thought it was going to be amazing. But we have 100-amp service. And every now and then our breaker will trip. And you don’t even know downstairs unless you’re down there. |
| 00:14:05 | CALLER: I’ve gone down a couple times. And the basement is flooded. And it floods like over into the other room. Like into where I eventually want to lay carpet and have like a family room. |
| 00:14:21 | TOM: Is that because the dehumidifier condensate pump stops working? |
| 00:14:25 | CALLER: I’m not sure what it is. There’s like an overfill thing for it. And I’m assuming it’s supposed to lead to a drain. But the drain is in the laundry room, which is in the opposite direction. Okay. |
| 00:14:38 | TOM: So when everything is working correctly, this dehumidifier is going to take moisture out of the air, drop it into a reservoir, which you either have to empty or it will pump out somewhere. Usually, if it’s got a condensate pump associated with it, it could pump up sort of against gravity. And there’s a clear plastic tube that goes out and leads to a drain somewhere or even outside the house. If you have a power failure, you know, it’s not going to work. And it might actually start to leak maybe back into that room where you are. Of course, the dehumidifier is not working at that time. So it’s not going to leak for long. But I could see how it could create a bit of a puddle. So your problem is not so much with a dehumidifier but why you’re having a problem popping these breakers. Now, 100-amp service is actually a pretty darn good service. And it frequently doesn’t get the respect it deserves. When these breakers pop, it’s not usually because you’re pulling more than 100 amps. Because whatever circuit you have this particular dehumidifier on needs to be improved perhaps by adding an additional circuit. But the service for the house should be fine. |
| 00:15:42 | CALLER: Okay. It does have a clear hose that leads outside. |
| 00:15:46 | TOM: That’s what’s going on. When your power goes out, the pump stops working and that’s why it’s leaking. Okay. So focus on getting this plugged into a circuit that is a little bit bigger than what you have right now. An electrician could help you sort this out. But it’s not a big deal to add an additional circuit just for that device. |
| 00:16:03 | CALLER: All right. Sounds good. |
| 00:16:05 | TOM: All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:16:09 | LESLIE: Ronnie in Maryland is on the line and has a question about a paintsicle. You know, when a gallon of paint freezes and you wonder if you can still use it. Welcome, Ronnie. How can we help you? |
| 00:16:18 | CALLER: Yes. I was wondering if I have some latex paint that was out in the garage. I live in a part of Maryland here where things freeze up. I was wondering if the paint was still good. It’s good when it’s frozen. And if it is frozen, how I find out if it was frozen or not. |
| 00:16:36 | LESLIE: All right. So is it currently frozen? Do you know, has it been frozen only once? Or have you had it like a year or two and it’s probably frozen a couple of times? |
| 00:16:44 | CALLER: I have no idea how old it is. Actually, I bought a house and there’s lots of gallons of leftover paints that were in the garage. |
| 00:16:52 | TOM: You not only have frozen paint, you have old frozen paint that could have had a long history to it. I mean, the short answer is a definite mayhem. Maybe. I mean, I think that if you asked the manufacturers, Leslie, they’d say no. But I think we’ve all used some frozen paint before. |
| 00:17:07 | CALLER: I mean, they’re brand new cans of paint. I opened up, I could see that they’re separated a little bit. But that’s why I didn’t know if they were actually good or if they were bad. If I mixed them back up, they were good or… |
| 00:17:17 | LESLIE: Well, I mean, here’s the deal. I would start by bringing the paint indoors. Let it get to room temperature and then stir it. If it stirs and starts to go creamy, then it’s probably okay. If it still looks lumpy, then I’d say no. You know, the issue is that latex paint has a large quantity of water in it. So, obviously, that’s going to freeze and cause things to separate. And then you might end up with problems with adhesion and peeling and perhaps color not matching. |
| 00:17:43 | CALLER: That’s what I thought. If there was any lumpy stuff that might have been, I could run into a cheesecloth or something like that. |
| 00:17:48 | LESLIE: No, you wouldn’t want to. If it’s lumpy or cottage cheesy looking in any kind of way, that just means that all of the, you know, additives that cause it to adhere have completely separated. They’re not sort of going back into the paint itself. So, I wouldn’t strain it off because then it’s just truly not going to stick. So, if it’s separating like that, chuck it. But if you mix it and it looks creamy and it seems okay, I’d give it a go. |
| 00:18:11 | TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:18:15 | LESLIE: All right. Well, sometimes you think you have mold, but you’re not sure if it’s mold. And that is what’s going on with Derek in Ohio. Tell us about the situation. |
| 00:18:23 | CALLER: Nothing that I can see, but I smell something. And I don’t know if it’s in my hair. We’ve had a problem before, and I don’t know what’s going on. And I want to make sure that there’s nothing there. Okay. |
| 00:18:35 | TOM: Tell me about your house. Is it on a basement first? Yes. Okay. And is the basement dry? |
| 00:18:40 | CALLER: Yeah, the basement is dry now. It did have a problem with it when we first moved in where one of the slabs was sloping towards the house. So, I was getting water, but we’ve got that totally cleaned out now. |
| 00:18:53 | TOM: Oh, good. You learned a lesson early about the importance of drainage outside, making sure that water is moving away from the house. Not toward it. So, good for you. Yeah. |
| 00:19:00 | CALLER: Well, not early enough. |
| 00:19:03 | TOM: Well, if it’s been dry for some period of time, then I don’t think that’s going to be a source of an ongoing mold problem. It certainly could have caused some mold issues at one point. And you had mentioned in your message to me that you had had some experience with mold companies or a contractor or inspector. Can you talk about that? |
| 00:19:19 | CALLER: The first one that we got to work on the basement, he went out of business. Then the next one, he did the inspection. And he also did the contracting. So, I’m kind of leery about that. But he seems to have done a good job. The most recent one, well, they were kind of far away. Okay. |
| 00:19:41 | TOM: So, what you really want at this point is a competent mold inspector. Yeah. Now, the problem is that there’s not a lot of states that license mold inspectors. And there’s a lot of companies or guys that promote themselves as certified mold inspectors. And that might mean simply that they took a course that was offered by like an associate. Or maybe at best, OSHA or a government organization like that. So, I think you need to like dig to the next level. Don’t just take at face value someone that tells you that they’re a certified inspector and an expert at mold. You need to understand what expertise they have and what work they’ve completed to use that title. That’s going to be really important. Now, one place you may find a good inspector that inspects for mold and absolutely has no conflict of interest would be through the American Society of Homeless. These are home inspectors. These are the inspectors that inspect homes before you purchase them. And one of the things that they often look for, although not always, is mold. And the ASHE qualified inspectors, the American Society of Home Inspectors inspectors, don’t have conflicts of interest. So, they’re not going to say, hey, you got a mold problem, but don’t worry, I’m just the guy to fix it for you, which is what happened to you last time. So, I think you just have to dig a little deeper. If you could find someone that is a licensed public health official, that would be good as well. That’s another closely aligned profession. And one that requires extensive training and experience. You might even want to stop by your local municipal office, the building department, and ask them if there are good quality mold inspectors in your area. You’re just going to have to work it a little bit because it’s not quite as clear as, you know, looking at somebody’s driver’s license and seeing if they have a valid date, right? |
| 00:21:17 | CALLER: Yeah, that’s kind of what I ran into. |
| 00:21:19 | TOM: It can be done. You’re just going to have to do a little work. Now, the other thing that you could also do is you could go to the website for Angie, A-N-G-I. And you could, this is a site where you put in the specifics of your project. So, in this case, you’re looking for a mold remediator or a mold inspector. And you put in your zip code and they’ll return to you a list of companies in your area that do that work. And what’s good is they’ll also return with those companies links to all of the reviews that they’ve earned on that website. And I think they verify the reviews as well. And you could read through that and get a sense as to whether or not the folks that have hired these guys were happy with the end product. So, another way for you to try to dig in and find the right person for your project. |
| 00:22:06 | CALLER: All right. Well, very good. I’ll do some more digging then. All right. Well, good luck. Thank you for your help. |
| 00:22:11 | TOM: You got it. Well, when it comes to painting, for some, the hardest part of the project isn’t the prep. It’s not even the painting. It’s picking the color. And if that’s you, there are easy tricks. There are tricks for getting the color just right. Yeah. |
| 00:22:26 | LESLIE: First of all, those tiny little paint chips that you see at the paint store, yeah, they’re super fun to look at. There’s a lot of them. Even if you have one of those old fan decks at home, it’s great to look at that tiny little piece just to kind of get an idea. But I think when you narrow it down to three, five, heck, even seven, like if you’re just undecisive, you know, try to narrow it down to two or three. Because you can buy a quart of your paint or even some stores sell a tinier sample size of it. You’ve just got to ask at the paint counter and see if they’ll mix you a smaller sample size. But even if not, a quart of the paint, granted, you could paint a whole wall with it. But if you’ve got a couple and you put out a good-sized swatch of that paint color in that room, this will help you understand what that paint is going to look like in that room at different times of day. You’ve got to see it in the morning light. You’ve got to see it in the midday light. You’ve got to see it at night when you’ve got your lights on so you can really get a sense of that color. And I always find that. Even if in my mind I think it’s, oh, it’s this type of color, I still throw in a completely different color because it could be something else I was thinking of rather than just looking at tones of one color. I may go completely left field of something just to kind of satisfy that that’s what I want, that’s not what I want. So really narrow it down to two or three choices. Paint a larger swatch in the wall and live with it. And that’s really going to help you make the best decision. You’re painting the room anyway, so paint on some swatches. |
| 00:23:51 | TOM: It really allows you to try it before you buy it or at least before you commit to it and have to live with it for a long, long time. Correct. All right, good advice. |
| 00:23:59 | LESLIE: Lulu in Delaware, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:24:01 | CALLER: So I noticed this fall that my bricks in the front steps were starting to break down and I was paying attention finally on the rainy day and I said, okay, there must be water coming from the gutters. And I thought maybe, I’ve been in my house for three years, so I thought maybe the gutters need to be reattached. I had someone come out because I saw some screws coming out and so they reattached them with some new screws. And then, of course, more rain came, still rain coming down. My bricks on my front steps are decaying very rapidly. So I thought, okay, let me do more research and I found out about the drip edge. So I was like, all right, is there a drip edge or not drip edge on this house? This is built in the 1950s, 48. And so I crawled up to the roof, I’m scared of heights, and I went there and there is a drip edge but it was flat. So I decided to get one of those T drip edges, like those that actually comes out more drip edge. And so I installed those. I installed those underneath the edge. |
| 00:25:03 | TOM: So are we talking about putting in an additional piece of flashing underneath the shingles to kind of extend the reach into the gutters? Yes. |
| 00:25:09 | CALLER: I’m thinking that may be the problem. Still rain again, still rain water coming down onto like in the front of my steps, but it also will. |
| 00:25:19 | TOM: Okay, so first of all, what’s this roof look like? Has it got a pretty steep pitch to it? |
| 00:25:24 | CALLER: Like more than 45 degrees, yeah. Yeah. |
| 00:25:26 | TOM: So if you have a roof with a really steep pitch, you end up getting sort of a lot of inertia of that water. So the water is sort of rolling down the roof and it will tend to kind of jump across the gutters sometimes. Are the gutters clogged and then leaking or is the water that does get in the gutter actually draining out? |
| 00:25:42 | CALLER: It’s not clogged. No, we cleaned it. |
| 00:25:45 | TOM: It’s not clogged. So they’re not overflowing and leaking, they’re just, it’s the water just sort of missing the gutter. |
| 00:25:50 | CALLER: Because I’ll look up and see that it’s coming through underneath the gutter and then I’m like, I’m trying to understand how that’s possible. |
| 00:25:59 | TOM: The way that’s possible is if the gutter does get clogged, it can back up and then sort of spill over the back edge of the gutter. That’s how that often happens. Now, if it’s not clogged, the water is not getting there in the first place. And I think your approach is right, but you need to make sure that the additional extension of the roof shingles into the gutters is done adequately enough. So if the shingles are installed right, they should overlay the edge of the gutter by at least two inches. |
| 00:26:26 | CALLER: I didn’t put shingles in. I just put like that plastic, more like a drip edge, like another like a drip edge. Okay. |
| 00:26:32 | TOM: Did the shingles overlay the gutter edge by a couple of inches or are they short of the gutter? They’re short. It’s an O-roof. Yeah. So that’s obviously the problem then. Now, this drip edge that you put in, you said it was plastic? |
| 00:26:44 | CALLER: Or metal. I don’t know. I got it at Home Depot. |
| 00:26:48 | TOM: What I would do in a situation like this is I would take four-inch aluminum flashing. Okay. Comes in a roll, very inexpensive. It’s easier to work with if you cut it into maybe four-foot long strips, and I would work it underneath the shingles. It has to go under the shingles and then on top of the back edge of the gutter so that it truly does serve as a bridge. You need to extend the reach of that shingle into the gutter because it sounds like the gutters are a little bit short of the edge of the shingles, and they’re never going to work well in that case. We’ve got to get the water running over the shingles, then onto the flashing. And then into the gutters. You have to kind of create sort of an extension. If you do that, it should work well. Okay. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-FIT. Well, I feel like every winter, we get bombarded with ads that compel us to choose between fuels, like propane over oil or natural gas over electric. Well, all those competing claims can really make it hard to figure out what is truly the best deal. |
| 00:27:49 | LESLIE: Well, according to the Department of Energy, the best home heating fuel option for your home is the best home heating fuel option for your home. It’s going to depend on a variety of factors, including the cost and availability of that fuel, and then the cost of maintenance and installation. |
| 00:28:03 | TOM: Yeah, and the truth is that for most of us, our home heating fuel options may not really be up to us. I mean, since the fuel has to match the heating appliance that was installed in your home, your apartment, your condo, switching from one fuel to another isn’t usually very practical. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still ways to save. |
| 00:28:21 | LESLIE: Now, if you heat by oil or, in some cases, propane, one way to do that is to heat it up. But there is a way to cut costs, just to join fuel oil cooperatives. Now, a cooperative is a group that’s formed to purchase that fuel oil in bulk at a discounted price, and then that’s passed along to the end user. Cooperatives have been around for more than 20 years, and if you join one, it really can result in some substantial savings. You just have to remember that these providers do not offer services like emergency oil delivery on a cold winter night or something like that. It’s kind of very scheduled, it’s very regimented, but you do see a good savings. |
| 00:28:54 | TOM: Yup, and when it comes to replacing heating or cooling equipment, opt for efficiency, as many of the more efficient systems qualify for federal, state, or local incentives, including tax credits and generous rebates. |
| 00:29:08 | LESLIE: Alright, now we’ve got Ruth in Michigan on the line. How can we help you today? |
| 00:29:11 | CALLER: I have an older house that’s in need of some pizazz and wanted to put shutters over my vinyl siding. Is that possible, and how would I attach them? |
| 00:29:21 | TOM: Yeah, it’s done all the time. And there are special fasteners that are used. They’re used in that situation so that you pierce the siding without causing a leak to happen. And most of the shutter companies will sell those as part of the shutter, too, so you certainly can do that. You do want to be careful not to squish the siding, because remember, the siding is somewhat soft. And so, as long as you’re careful about the way they attach, you certainly can have shutters on top of vinyl. Okay, Ruth? |
| 00:29:46 | CALLER: Alright, well, good. I was wondering if it could be a do-it-yourself project. Absolutely. |
| 00:29:52 | TOM: Ruth, thanks so much for calling us at 888-325-9000. |
| 00:29:56 | LESLIE: You’re welcome. |
| 00:29:59 | LESLIE: Awesome. |
| 00:30:12 | LESLIE: And we’ll be back with another episode of our show when we talk about the future of the market. Bye-bye. |
| 00:30:14 | TOM: Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. |
| 00:30:26 | TOM: www.audio.com.au |
| 00:30:54 | LESLIE: Nancy in New York wrote into Team Money Pit saying, I’ve got a problem in my basement. Most of the blocks in the bottom two rows on the north foundation wall are crumbling. Do I need to remove all the paint on the wall before using an epoxy patching compound or just scrape away what’s loose? Yeah. |
| 00:31:10 | TOM: So Nancy, we get this kind of question all the time and I sincerely doubt that the walls are crumbling. What I think is happening is you’re getting moisture in that wall and what happens is when the moisture gets in the wall and then it evaporates into your basement, it leaves behind mineral salts, which can look like a crumbling foundation because they’re usually dark gray or sort of an off-white. Sometimes you’ll have black streaks in there and all it is is salt. And you can prove this to yourself by just sprinkling some vinegar on it, at which point you will see it all disappears, kind of evaporates right away, dissolves right before your very eyes. So this just points to the need to improve your drainage outside. I can bet you have a downspout disconnected or a gutter that’s clogged or something of that nature. That’s allowing too much water to collect against that wall and that will solve it. |
| 00:31:57 | LESLIE: All right. Good luck with all your projects, everybody. |
| 00:32:00 | TOM: Well, these long, dark days of winter tend to give the project-loving homeowners amongst us the blues, but you don’t have to wait for spring to add some cheer. There are a few dollar-wise home improvement projects that can spruce up your space and your spirits. Leslie has some tips on how to do just that in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. Leslie, what do you got? Yeah. |
| 00:32:21 | LESLIE: You know, it may sound obvious. But the first thing you can do is just turn on those lights. It’s a good time to add a lamp or some sconces or at least increase the brightness of the bulbs and the fixtures you’ve already got around your house. Another great way to brighten the mood is to plant an indoor garden. You can plant some colorful flowers or something edible that just kind of reminds you of springtime and then transfer it outdoors when that warm weather does return. You can also spruce up your front door. The front entry is such a wonderful feature. It’s a wonderful, welcoming spot that when you’ve been out and about in the dreariness, as you pull up to your house and see something really vibrant and inviting, it kind of just brightens your day. I mean, if you’re not going to paint the door, just polish the hardware. You can also get a new, inexpensive doormat, update the lighting around the porch to something with more maximum wattage allowed by that fixture. That’s going to help you just kind of lighten things up and freshen the look of the front of your house. And you’ve got to remember that spring really isn’t that far away from home. So if you’re going to be out and about in the middle of the winter, you want to make sure But a few fix-ups now can make you feel a little cozier as you hibernate in your home through the rest of the winter. |
| 00:33:30 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time on the program, we’re going to talk about some trends here in women taking on DIY projects. They’re taking them on more and more frequently than ever before, which is awesome. But what’s interesting is that their strategies and motivations are really shaking up the traditional approach. So we’re going to reveal how female DIYers are reaching out to women. Meet the Finding Home Improvement on the next edition of The Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:33:58 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:33:59 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:33:60 | 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 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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