Show Notes
In today’s show, we share special tributes and calls to remember the personal and professional legacy of Tom Kraeutler, longtime co-host of The Money Pit. We’ll also share answers to some of his favorite and most common home improvement questions.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Remembering Tom Kraeutler: Money Pit Co-Host Leslie Segrete speaks with colleagues and partners to honor the special legacy of Tom Kraeutler.
- Favorite Calls: Listen as we share Tom’s expert advice to callers about some favorite home improvement questions.
Top Questions & Answers
- GFCI Outlets: Pat is concerned about not having GFCI outlets on the kitchen counter. We explain how they work and why they’re important in wet areas like kitchens and bathrooms.
- Deck Stain: Jeanie doesn’t want to reapply deck stain every year. We recommend prepping the surface well and using an oil-based solid color stain that will last longer.
- Flooring: Moisture is coming up from the concrete slab under the carpet and linoleum. Russell gets tips for improving the outside drainage and installing new vinyl flooring.
- Refinishing Furniture: What’s the best way to refinish oak furniture? It’s a lot of work and Ruth may want to consider having a professional strip off the stain and refinish the wood surface.
- Electrical: Phillip has questions about installing smart switches in his home. We have recommendations for a line of smart home controls by Lutron products.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:24 | LESLIE: Thanks so much for joining us here at the Money Pit. This is Leslie Segrete. So we’re taking this hour to really share our best memories about Tom and all of the things he helped us learn and influenced us to do and share this love of home improvement. And joining us, we have Debbie Robinson, who was Tom’s co-host here at the Money Pit from 2004 to 2006. So I would say Tom’s first work wife. Well, really second. I’m the third. So welcome, work wife. How are you? |
| 00:00:54 | DEBBIE: Yes, thank you, Leslie. It’s great to be here with you today. Proud to share in work wife status with you. It was great being Tom’s co-host for those few years. I worked a lot with Tom both on my agency side, and we had a lot of clients together. And then I was honored to come on the air and co-host with him. And we certainly went to a lot of events together from the hardware show to race tracks to the Craftsman Tool Symposium and everywhere in between. So we were always ready to take the show on the road and have some fun and educate folks in the process. |
| 00:01:32 | LESLIE: I mean, you guys really were a great team, and your partnership really continued off camera and off mic for all those years after 2006 until now even. We continued to work together on lots of different projects. How did it sort of start? Were you guys working on some agency stuff way back when? And Tom was like, you know, Deb, you’d be great here with me. Like, how did this all come about? |
| 00:01:56 | DEBBIE: That’s kind of how it started. I subbed a few times. His first work wife was Mary Beretta. And Mary was taking on some other responsibilities, and they were starting to look for a new co-host. So I subbed a few times. And Tom and I worked really closely together on clients like Owens Corning and ThermaTru Doors and Stanley Tools and a lot of folks in the home improvement space. So, you know, we were awesome. We were already doing content together, so it kind of was a natural fit to come on the air and work with him. |
| 00:02:26 | LESLIE: And, you know, all of these trade shows that we would go to, Tom loved to eat. He loved to go to the places and meet the people. Do you have some fun stories about, you know, a builder show or hardware show that just bring a smile to your face? |
| 00:02:39 | DEBBIE: I remember doing live broadcasts from the builder show, from the hardware show. And we were the team that led the broadcast for the hardware show when they relocated from Chicago to Las Vegas, which was a huge deal in the industry at that time. We anchored those broadcasts and really helped communicate to the entire industry what was going on with the new hardware show. We did a show from NAB, the National Association of Broadcasters, with Ed McMahon, of all people. So got to share a mic with him. You know, we got, I think, got banned from the builder show one year because I think we were not credentialed correctly. So I remember doing it from some remote location. We did it from several displays at race tracks, like Craftsman Tool display from a tent with race cars going on behind us. So we definitely had a lot of experiences. |
| 00:03:30 | LESLIE: I mean, and a lot of fun. And just from sitting in the seat at some of these live events with Tom, the stress of that clock sitting between the two of us, you know, like, Oh my God, we got to do this. We’re doing this now and it’s live and there’s everybody here. Let’s go. And he loved it. |
| 00:03:45 | DEBBIE: He did. And he thrived on that. When I first started doing the show, we were still live, Saturday afternoons. And we would be watching the callers come in and Jim was screening the callers for us and you could see who was coming up next. And Tom always would send any southern question my way. If it involved a mobile home, a rodent under a porch, hail damage on a metal roof, any of those questions, they were definitely coming my way. |
| 00:04:13 | LESLIE: He knew your wheelhouse. |
| 00:04:14 | DEBBIE: He knew what he didn’t want to touch. Yes, exactly. Yes. I got every roadkill possum question you could imagine. |
| 00:04:22 | LESLIE: He’s like, I don’t even want to use this one on air, but Deb, take it. I want to hear what you’re going to say. |
| 00:04:28 | DEBBIE: It was definitely that way. And he’d throw me some oddball ones every now and then just to keep me on my toes. |
| 00:04:35 | LESLIE: I mean, he definitely had questions that he loves to answer and questions that he wanted nothing to do with answering. Any time somebody would be like, paint color, wall covering, upholstery, decor, he’d be like, oh, this one’s you. I’m like, I don’t know. I don’t want to know about it. |
| 00:04:47 | DEBBIE: Any time somebody called a question about water in your basement, a downspout, how much slope you needed from your house for correct drainage, that was all him. |
| 00:04:57 | LESLIE: Come on. You know that by heart by now. Yes. I know that by heart now, too. Yes. You know you can answer that with your eyes closed. I mean, truly, I’ve never met a person who just thrived so much on educating people. And I think that was his sort of favorite part of it. You know, he started as like a shop teacher. Yes. And then ultimately became a shop teacher for the world. |
| 00:05:19 | DEBBIE: Yes, exactly. And he loved doing that. And even in the Boy Scouts, you know, that was part of his pride in the Boy Scouts was helping teach people new things and new skills and to step out of their comfort zone and learn new things. |
| 00:05:33 | LESLIE: And boy, did he like to wear that uniform. I’m just saying. |
| 00:05:36 | DEBBIE: Yes, he did. |
| 00:05:38 | LESLIE: I knew Tom was in the marching band growing up, but it wasn’t until when, sadly, we were at the wake. There was a poster. There was a poster in a frame of Tom in high school, I think, in his marching band outfit with his bugle. And I took one look at that and I was like, oh, my God, Tom was such a nerd who loved all of these amazingly unique things that ended up being what everybody loved. And that picture just made my heart break but also made me laugh so much. |
| 00:06:07 | DEBBIE: He lived his full experience. He got to do everything that he wanted to do in terms of succeeding in the Boy Scouts and being on the National Council. And leading the media efforts at Jamboree, that was always so important to him. Being on the air for so many years and really building the Money Pit into such a great national resource, getting his book published in partnership with you. I think working with this old house, that was such a big deal to him to have that partnership with them and to, you know, share the national stage with them. You know, he took such pride in all of those things and still made time to be such a great dad and a great husband. And his kids are such proof of that, too. Yeah. |
| 00:06:46 | LESLIE: And a great work husband to you and me and Mary. Yes. |
| 00:06:50 | DEBBIE: I mean, I could call him any time, day or night, and say, my house has this. And he always had an answer, was always willing to help me out. Yeah. |
| 00:06:58 | LESLIE: It was weird. This past winter or the winter before was the first time I noticed the sound of gas going into people’s houses. I remember it was like an exceptionally quiet night and I was walking the dog. And I remember calling Tom at like 10 p.m. from the street being like, why do I hear gas? He’s like, go to the next house. Do you hear gas there? I’m like, I do. He’s like, that’s the sound of the gas coming in to the homes. It’s nothing to be afraid of. But he truly, like, filled this amazing role for me and for all of our listeners of just the supportive educator who was willing to help. And I, for sure, am going to miss him terribly. |
| 00:07:38 | DEBBIE: Yes, I will miss him terribly, too. I mean, not just as a resource and a colleague, but as a dear friend from 30 years. |
| 00:07:46 | LESLIE: And I think that’s how all our listeners feel. Tom has become a dear friend to everyone. |
| 00:07:50 | DEBBIE: He surely will be missed by so many people. |
| 00:07:53 | LESLIE: Well, Debbie, from Work Wife 3 to Work Wife 2, we love having you here. So anytime you want to slide into the Money Pit seat with me, I will gladly share our mic with you anytime. |
| 00:08:04 | DEBBIE: Well, I’d be happy to take you up on that. |
| 00:08:06 | LESLIE: Thanks, Debbie. Debbie Robinson, co-host number two of The Money Pit. And dear friend, thanks so much for stopping by. |
| 00:08:13 | DEBBIE: Thanks, Leslie. |
| 00:08:14 | LESLIE: Here’s a question that Tom certainly loved to answer. Let’s hear what he’s got to say. Now we’re heading up to our neighbors in the north where Pat in Ontario has got a question about electricity. What’s going on? |
| 00:08:25 | CALLER: So we have in our kitchen, I understand that according to building codes, at least in Canada, you’re supposed to have GFCIs on your kitchen counter. We do not. And we’ve been planning to change those out for a while. But we actually had an electrician in today. We’re going to inspect our breaker box for an unrelated issue. As it happens, our house was hit by lightning. Thankfully, nothing seriously damaged, but an interesting experience to see how that affects things. But thankfully, like I said, everything in the breaker box is all fine. But while the electrician was here, I mentioned our kitchen outlets. And he said that it wouldn’t matter if we upgraded them to GFCIs because the circuitry in our house is not configured for it. Something to do with the breaker box. The breaker box needing to be changed. Something needed to be, I don’t know, adjusted. But my understanding of GFCIs was that they just sort of operate independently regardless of what type of circuitry they’re connected to. |
| 00:09:19 | TOM: That’s a great question. And the answer is yes and no. So how old is your house? |
| 00:09:25 | CALLER: About 30 years. |
| 00:09:26 | TOM: You know, I can’t imagine what he’s referring to with the box. It might be that he was, was he saying that he can’t put a ground fault breaker in the main panel because you can certainly put it in the outlets. There’s two types of ground faults. One is built into a circuit breaker and the other is built into the outlet itself. |
| 00:09:43 | CALLER: Right, okay. |
| 00:09:43 | TOM: So he may have been referring to the panel itself. But as far as the outlet is concerned, the reason I said yes and no is because usually one area where people can’t put them in or have difficulties when you have a really old house, like one that was built in the 1930s that doesn’t have a ground wire. Right. No, that’s definitely not the case here. And actually you can, even in a two-wire system, you can do it. But basically what you’re doing is the electricians that know how to do this, they’ll essentially wire the ground fault. So that any diversion of current to the ground side of the outlet will essentially turn it off. So it’s kind of like a faux ground. It’s not a real ground, but it serves the same purpose of shutting the breaker off. But I think they’re really important in those wet locations, not only in the kitchen, also in the bathroom and at the outside. And for those that are not familiar with GFCIs, that stands for ground fault circuit interrupter. And essentially detects any diversion of current to a ground source, which would be you if you were, say, plugging in an appliance that had a short or something of that nature. And if it detects two one-thousandths of a volt, it will shut it down instantly and prevent harm. There’s actually a more sophisticated version of that now called an arc fault, which is great because an arc fault protects your house from fire. If it detects any arc, it will shut down the entire circuit. But I think you should go ahead when you’re ready to do those improvements and add the ground fault in the kitchen. You may, depending on how the circuit is designed, you may be able to put it in one location and it will cover all of the outlets that follow. You may not necessarily have to put in separate ones at each outlet position. One thing, though, that you want to be careful not to do is to put it on the refrigerator outlet or even on the refrigerator circuit. Because refrigerators, when they go on and off, they have a big power draw from that compressor as it starts to operate. And that will sort of trick the ground fault into thinking that you have a diversion of current and it will shut off the refrigerator and ruin your food. So you don’t want to put it on refrigerators or freezers. But all those other outlets should be good to go. |
| 00:11:38 | CALLER: And because you’re not going to be handling the refrigerator plug all that much, it’s not a big safety concern anyway, right? |
| 00:11:43 | TOM: Well, that’s part of it, yes. But certainly the chance that your refrigerator can go off and all your food can go bad is a bigger concern. Okay? |
| 00:11:51 | CALLER: Okay. All right. So basically you’re saying that regardless of how our electrical circuitry is configured, it’s a good idea to put GFCIs in those outlets? |
| 00:12:03 | TOM: It absolutely is. Oh, yeah. |
| 00:12:04 | CALLER: Okay. All right. Thanks very much. |
| 00:12:06 | TOM: Oh, you’re welcome. Good luck with the project. Thanks for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:12:10 | LESLIE: All right. Well, we’ve got one. This always brought a smile to Tom’s face when we’d hear this question. Jeannie, you’ve got the Money Pit. What are you working on? |
| 00:12:18 | CALLER: We moved into a house that had a big deck around the house. And so we ended up taking all the boards off because the old boards had never been treated with anything. So we put the boards and everything on. And then we went to like Lowell’s Home Depot and all that to find a stain that we could put or, you know, like a liquid that we could put on there that we wouldn’t have to do it every year. It was an oil-based stain. Okay. We put it on there and they said, well, you shouldn’t have to do it every year. You know, you should be able to go three or four years. And every year we’ve had to redo it because our deck is in the sun all the time. |
| 00:12:53 | TOM: Is that right? Yeah. I’m not sure what product you’re using, but there’s a wide variety when it comes to stains that you can choose from. Yeah. Okay. So what we generally recommend is solid color stain. And what most people get is semi-transparent stain. So what I would tell you to do is the next time, make sure you prep that deck really well, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. But I would apply a solid color solvent-based stain, not water-based, solvent-based stain that has a lot of pigment in it. And what that will do is you will still see the grain, but it will actually last a lot longer. In terms of how it stands up to that surface. Solid color, not semi-transparent. And I think you’ll see a significantly different result. Okay. |
| 00:13:40 | CALLER: Well, I listened to you on Saturday morning and I thought, well, I’ll ask them. |
| 00:13:46 | TOM: All right. Well, we’re certainly glad you did. And we hope that works out. Perfect time now to do that to the deck, get it ready for spring. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:13:57 | LESLIE: Russell in Texas is on the line with a flooring question. How can we help you today? Hi. |
| 00:14:01 | CALLER: We’re doing a remodel of about a 35-year-old house with a slab floor. And we’ve noticed the current flooring, we have moisture problems like underneath our bed where we store plastic boxes and wooden foot lockers. Moisture will accumulate on the bottom of those things and deteriorates the carpet. Okay. Also, in the kitchen and bathrooms, the linoleum will show some discoloration. Like there’s moisture coming up. So we wanted to know, before we put down some nice wood, engineered wood flooring on our slab, what should we do to prevent the moisture from coming up? Is that a right approach? |
| 00:14:43 | TOM: Yeah. Well, a couple of things come to mind. First of all, in terms of reducing the amount of moisture the slab is subjected to, that’s going to start outside the house. So I want you to make absolutely certain that you have continuous gutters at all of the roof eaves so that you’re collecting the water that’s coming off the roof. And I want you to also make absolutely certain that you have continuous gutters at all of the roof eaves so that you’re collecting the water that’s coming off the roof. That’s going to result in about 70% of the roof. Make sure that that these downspouts are discharging at least six feet from the house, because the idea here is that if we can keep the area right around the foundation perimeter as dry as possible, that first 4 Feet or so away from the house, that’s going to mean you’re going to have a lot less water that gets pulled in through that slab, because the slabs are very hydroscopic. They’re like magnets. They suck that water in and then just sort of wicks its way up through the concrete and can end up even in the middle of the house under the floor and causing these sorts of issues. We do want to see you dry out as much as possible. In terms of flooring choices, since you do have these humidity issues and these moisture issues, I would suggest perhaps a different direction than engineered floors. Certainly engineered floors are okay in damp locations, but you might want to look at some of the new vinyl products that are out there. I know you’re thinking, vinyl, I really don’t want vinyl. Vinyl is like what I grew up with, that’s like my grandmother’s vinyl. It’s not like that anymore. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and it looks just like the hardwood that you are trying to accomplish. There’s two types of vinyl. One’s called LVP, Luxury Vinyl Plank, and the other one’s called EVP, or Engineered Vinyl Plank. You’ll find that the engineered plank pretty much works anywhere. It’s a bit stiffer than the luxury vinyl plank. |
| 00:16:20 | CALLER: Well, it’s built like an engineered hardwood would be. Right. |
| 00:16:23 | TOM: It’s like engineered hardwood, but it’s a vinyl surface. Yeah, well, look at that. Yeah. It’s really durable stuff. And if you have these kinds of moisture… Yeah. …and if you have these kinds of moisture issues, I think it would be really a good option for you to look at. Pretty affordable, pretty easy to install, and the dampness and the humidity will have absolutely no effect on it. |
| 00:16:40 | CALLER: Okay. Well, we’ve checked out some of the vinyl, and we’re open to that. I mean, I certainly don’t want to put down a wood floor that’s going to be ruined by this, so we want to put down the right flooring. But it seems like they’ve offered us two options. You can either have a floating floor with like a little pad underneath, or you can have it glued down. Now, I think I prefer the glued down because you don’t hear that little…you know, you kind of hear the hollow of the floor as you walk across it when it’s floating, and I don’t like that. But I’m concerned that I want to make sure that I can seal that floor to keep the adhesive from coming up if moisture gets up in there. What do you think of that? |
| 00:17:16 | TOM: I would rely on the manufacturer’s recommended adhesives for this because certainly they’re used to working with the concrete. I would be concerned that if I put down a standard concrete sealer that it would have an adverse effect with whatever adhesives being recommended by the manufacturer. So I would trust them on that. You know, if it was a floating floor and you wanted to reduce moisture, then I wouldn’t have any issue with you putting down a concrete sealer first just to kind of stop some of that evaporation up. But since you want to glue the planking to it. And then I definitely think you should rely on the product that’s provided by the manufacturer to do that. Because you’re talking about chemistry here and you don’t know what’s going to happen when you mix sealer in with the adhesive. It may affect its bond. And that would be a big issue. |
| 00:18:02 | CALLER: Okay. So before we completely throw in the towel on the wood flooring, are there any wood floor options you think that remain open to us? |
| 00:18:09 | TOM: No, you’ve got it. The engineered wood floor is the only wood flooring product that you can put against concrete slabs. And look, it might be fine. It might not. But I don’t think it’s worth the risk. Yeah, I really think that if you get some of these new vinyls down. I mean, there’s one other option, by the way, that’s more expensive and incredibly durable and also very good looking. That’s called wood look porcelain tile. And that can be glued directly to the concrete slab. And it’s absolutely the most durable wood look product that’s out there. So take a look at that as well. And if you have the budget, that’s another option for you. Okay? Okay. Well, I appreciate your opinion. And let us know our options. All right. Well, listen, good luck with that project, Russell. And thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:18:53 | LESLIE: While we are all terribly missing Tom, we have some good friends stopping by the studio with us to share their love of Tom and what they feel they’re going to miss the most and, you know, what his influence has been on all of us. Joining us is Kevin O’Connor from this old house. Kevin, we have been persistent in pursuing a friendship with you guys. And boy, are we so glad we did. |
| 00:19:12 | CALLER: Well, you’re not the only one that’s glad, Leslie. It’s, I don’t know. 20 years in the making, possibly. Right? |
| 00:19:19 | LESLIE: I think so. I mean, I’ve definitely been with Tom for 20 years. |
| 00:19:23 | CALLER: Yeah, it goes way back. I can’t even remember how early. But, yeah, it feels like you guys have always been there by our side as we’ve done our thing and you’ve done your thing. |
| 00:19:31 | LESLIE: You probably grew up being super influenced by this old house and then found yourself luckily in this position you’re in and have grown with the team and with the guys. And we sort of watched in awe of what you guys were all doing. And we were so thankful when, you know, we pushed our way in for a seat at the table with you guys. And I know Tom enjoyed visiting with you guys more than anything. I mean, these were the highlights of his year coming out to see you guys on location. |
| 00:19:57 | CALLER: Well, nice of you to say he didn’t have to push at all. You guys were always welcome. The door was wide open. And, you know, I can remember reminiscing with Tom, you know, both Jersey guys and, you know, he was like, oh, my God, kid, you got that job. How’d that go? And we would talk about it. And we would share stories. And, you know, I was super grateful that I had the opportunity, but also just developed, you know, a relationship with both of you over the years because I felt like, I don’t know, I just always felt like we were sort of on the same team. Always looking out for the little guy, trying to help homeowners. You know, that’s what I grew up admiring about the people who I had the pleasure to work with. And that’s what I saw in the two of you on the show. And it was always a delight when you guys showed up. We had a chance to talk and, as you know, it was partly work, but it was also mostly just a good, solid hang. |
| 00:20:54 | LESLIE: Well, and I think it’s so interesting. It’s like I see such a similarity with you and Tom where you both just have this curiosity and this love of the building process. And I think that’s why you guys bonded so much. But I think that’s why the job site was always the best place for the two of you. Yeah. |
| 00:21:13 | CALLER: You know, I was thinking about just our conversation. And as you know, we talked about everything job site related, you know, because of our jobs and because many times that’s what brought us together. But the conversations I remember are the ones, you know, about his kids. You know, he would bop stories with me about Thomas. You know, his kids were a little bit older than mine, but mine were right up on his heels, you know, and scouts and the college application process. And I can remember pinging him once and being like, where is he? And he’d be like, oh, Tom’s coming. He’s got a job. Engineer is phenomenal. And we’d talk about the economics of it and all that. Those are the conversations that I remember, you know, which was that sort of connection as two dads who had kids who were trying to figure it out and very proud of their kids and listening to him tell the stories. |
| 00:21:58 | LESLIE: So proud. You should have seen the boys at his services. I mean, so poised, so grateful and thankful for the life that they shared with their dad. And I think the support and scouting and the guidance. And just. While Tom was persistent at work, he was certainly persistent with his kids and he was there and it was really phenomenal. And I loved watching you and Tom talk about family. And, you know, I was certainly following behind you guys with the kids, too. Yeah. And Tom always would interject scouting advice. You know, I remember for a hot minute, Henry was like, I think I want to be a boy scout. And Tom would be like, we’re going to do all these things. And Henry would be like, boy, this guy’s intense. Just learn. Go with it. |
| 00:22:43 | CALLER: There were a lot of scouting stories. There was the big annual. I mean, my dad was a scout master. My brothers were scouts, you know, so we shared that. And he was a supporter, but he was also super proud of it and what it did for young people, especially his kids. And that’s awesome. I can picture the two boys standing up there at the service. I can totally see that they would be poised. |
| 00:23:02 | LESLIE: So heartbroken as well. I felt. |
| 00:23:04 | CALLER: Yeah, no, I know. I get that. Absolutely. |
| 00:23:07 | LESLIE: I’m still going to come knocking on the door of these rapping shows and try to find a spot in the bathroom or the basement to set up a table with my little microphone. And harass you guys continually about the project. But what do you think? I mean, I’m looking back of all of the stuff that Tom has sort of brought to the home improvement industry and truly the two of you are hosts, educators, leaders. What do you think you’re going to miss most about this guy? |
| 00:23:31 | CALLER: Well, the friendship, for sure. You know, like I said, it was the conversations were good about, you know, this advice or that advice, whether we were in one of those bathrooms on Mike or if we were on camera in studio. But no surprise. It’s those stories about the families. And he was a good businessman, too. Like, I can remember, you know, talking to him about the economics of it and the distribution. And he had it nailed, you know, and he had sort of all the ad rates. There was so much going on behind the scenes. And I know that the fans appreciated the wisdom, the kindness, the advice. But, you know, if they didn’t know, there was just a ton going on behind the scenes in terms of his intelligence, his dedication and all that. And so that’s going to be the big thing that I miss right there. I’ve got plenty of people that I can talk to, you know, about home improvement. Not a lot of people I can talk to about the stuff he and I talk about. |
| 00:24:22 | LESLIE: Well, we are going to miss him, and I know you are going to miss him. And you always, Kevin, have a seat here with us at Team Money Pit. Anytime you want to stop by or you want to chat, we are here for you. |
| 00:24:32 | CALLER: I appreciate that. And that offer goes right back at you guys. Whatever you need from us, it’s a big hole. And I feel for you and for his family. And I’m super sorry about it. But, you know, I do know how much he was loved and how much he was loved. I appreciate it. |
| 00:24:46 | LESLIE: Well, we appreciate you as well. Thank you so much for your time and your memories. And thank you to everybody for having Tom with us and for spending time with us here at the Money Pit. Kevin O’Connor from This Old House, thanks so much for stopping by. |
| 00:25:00 | CALLER: Yeah, you got it. |
| 00:25:02 | LESLIE: Here’s a question that Tom certainly loved to answer. Let’s hear what he’s got to say. Heading north to Ruth in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Ruth, what’s going on? Tell us what’s happening. |
| 00:25:12 | CALLER: I have a dining room set that we’re going to have. It was custom made and it’s solid oak. It’s like carved and curved and it had six chairs, a buffet and a china cabinet that was all solid oak and custom made. Sounds beautiful. And my husband, well, we had to move into a townhouse and it’s just too big. Right. And I really don’t want to get rid of the table because it is so ornate. And unique and solid. You know, I don’t want to buy another table and like in five years have it be rickety and whatnot, you know? So I would like to know if I could refinish it. It’s like a medium oak right now. |
| 00:26:02 | TOM: What color do you want it to be? |
| 00:26:03 | CALLER: Like an off-white maybe. Okay. |
| 00:26:06 | TOM: So right now it’s stained oak and you would prefer it to be like a white, like a sort of like a gray wash, gray white, almost like a pickled kind of a color? |
| 00:26:14 | LESLIE: Yeah, that would be perfect. But like a sheer where you can see the grain and not a solid paint. That would be nice. I mean, at this point, what you’re going to have to do is remove the finish and the stain that’s currently on the piece so that you can get to a raw wood surface that will accept the new stain. Because if you want to see the grain, it’s going to be a semi-transparent or a solid-ish stain where you can still see the grain through, but it has more of a more saturated look to it. Depending on what type of finish is on there, you should generally use a chemical product. I know in Canada, they’re very specific about what’s allowed and what’s not. So you’ll have to see what type of chemical stripping agent is available to you. It might be something that you brush on and then sort of scrape off. I’m not really sure what the products are up there. If the finish isn’t too thick or is more worn, you can probably sand it off. So there are ways that you can do so. And then once you’re down to raw wood, you can then apply whichever stain and whatever color tone you like. |
| 00:27:15 | TOM: Yeah, it’s going to be a project. It’s a lot of work to take that wood table from a finished stain surface like that down to the raw wood. I just did a project like this for a friend of mine, and his table was made out of pine. And it was a lot of work with a pine table, and it wasn’t nearly as ornate as what you’re talking about, but it was a heck of a lot of work. It’s not just a matter of pulling the finish off. There’s a lot of hand work. There’s scraping and sanding, and you may need to use files or scrapers to get into the nooks and crannies. And then let’s say you get the whole thing is done. It’s clean as best you can get it. What I would suggest you do is turn it upside down, and I would definitely also sand a good section of the bottom of the table so that you can test the finishes that you want to use because the fact that the table has had another finish on it is going to result in a very unique situation because it will have already absorbed some of that old finish. And when you put the new finish on, it may not come out like it’s the same color as it shows like on the can or on the website when you chose it. You know what I mean? So you’re going to have to sort of test it and make sure this is what you want before you commit yourself to doing the entire table because after all that work, you don’t want to end up with something you didn’t expect. |
| 00:28:28 | CALLER: I think it would probably take me six months to a year just to get the finish on because of all the nooks and crannies and curves and whatnot. |
| 00:28:36 | TOM: Yeah. It’s a big job. I mean, it might be one you want to hire out or maybe a company furniture stripper you can take that to that has the tools and equipment to do it for you. Yeah. |
| 00:28:48 | CALLER: I should see if I can find one of those. I guess I could look on the internet and just see if there’s one somewhere in the area. Thank you. Thank you. I was hoping there would be something easier, paint it on and wipe it off, but I guess not. |
| 00:29:03 | TOM: Well, those final pieces of furniture are worth saving if you can figure out a way to get it done, Roof. So good luck with that project. Thanks for calling us. Thank you. Bye-bye. |
| 00:29:12 | LESLIE: All right. Phillip in Arkansas is on the line, has some questions about smart switches. How can we help? |
| 00:29:17 | CALLER: For about a month or so, I’ve been always kind of wanting to turn most of my single pole light switches in my house into a smart switch. Well, such as, for example, my living room. Right. I’ve been trying to kind of think of, you know, how about I do this? I’m an IT guy here thinking, you know, how can I, you know, turn an IT concept into an electrical concept? Well, I was doing some research and everything, and a lot of electricians were telling me, you need a ground wire, a neutral wire, and a load wire. Well, every single switch that I had been doing research and noticing out there all had four. I’m like, well, how am I going to do this? Two loads, a ground and a neutral. How am I going to do this? Well, turns out that there was only one brand out there that I noticed. Anyways, that’s why I was kind of turning to you guys, because, you know, when I hear your podcast and everything, I’m always, you know, finding ways around things. I said, let me turn to these guys. See if they have… See if they have heard of anything else, because I’m looking at all these different brands, and they’re all based off of four wires, two loads, a ground, and a neutral. My system doesn’t have that. So that’s why I was kind of hoping maybe y’all knew of something. |
| 00:30:28 | TOM: One brand that I would recommend that we have a lot of personal knowledge of is Lutron Caseta, L-U-T-R-O-N, and Caseta, C-A-S-E-T-A. If you just, you know, Google Lutron Smart Home Products, this is a line of very sophisticated, sophisticated smart home, smart phone controls. So they’ve got the switches. They’ve got all the different lighting systems. You can have mixed types of light on this. You can have all sorts of things. And it also is programmed in with the sun. So in the winter, like, the lights come on outside earlier than they would in the summer and that kind of stuff. It’s a really smart system and really well made. And the nice thing about Lutron is that they have a 24-7 call center that’s staffed by technicians. So when you run into these types of questions, you can call them and they will have a solution for you. So I would recommend the Lutron by Caseta Wireless Smart Home Products very highly. I think you’ll find your solution right there and you won’t have to deal with all of these opinions from all these electricians. You’ll be able to do most of this yourself. These are the guys that invented the dimmer, okay? That’s how long this company’s been around. They were the first inventors of the dimmers. You know when there used to be big round knobs on the wall? They invented it. So I would definitely take a look at the Lutron Caseta Wireless system. I think you’ll be satisfied with that. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:31:52 | LESLIE: I want to thank everybody for joining us this hour. It’s really been a strange few weeks coming to this realization that Tom’s no longer with us. It’s been a shock and as much it is to me, I know it is to you all as well. And we are definitely going to miss him. I want to thank everybody for joining us this hour. Debbie Robinson, who was Tom’s work wife prior to me joining Team Money Pit. It’s always great to catch up with her even under these circumstances. We both have spent so much of our lives with Tom and sharing home improvement information with everyone. And so it’s nice to hear how her journey with Tom affected her life and her career and how much I know she’s going to miss him as much as I will. And Kevin O’Connor, host of This Old House. It’s always great to hear from Kevin and I love that his favorite memories and interactions with Tom was talking about the Boy Scouts and their kids and truly being dads. And that’s what they really connected on. So it’s so lovely to hear from Kevin and how much Tom influenced him as Kevin influenced us. And it’s so nice to hear from all of you about all of your thoughts of Tom and how wonderful his relationship has been with you all and educating you about home improvement. And I promise that we’ll continue to do the same going forward here on this foundation that Tom built here at the Money Pit. Of course, it was nice to hear Tom’s wonderful answers to all of his favorite types of questions, an electrical question from Canada, Jeannie in Missouri with a decking question, and Russell in Texas with flooring. It’s always great to hear Tom’s wonderful advice. It’s going to be interesting to see how we continue this wonderful legacy of the Money Pit. And I promise that we will do so with pride and home improvement passion. Joining us now, we have some good thoughts from Craig Greiner and Doug Stephan, who were good friends of the show and good friends of Tom. Let’s hear what they have to say. |
| 00:33:52 | CRAIG: Hi, this is Craig Greiner from Crystal Lake Communications. I worked with Tom for almost 25 years and through thousands of media interviews. We dodged breaking news, every type of prop and product malfunction you can imagine, gale force winds in Las Vegas, and rogue regulators in Times Square. Tom was the hardest working person I ever knew, but he was also incredibly loyal. My last memory of Tom is him hopping on FaceTime to help me diagnose a problem with my water heater. Predictably, he was right. I did not need an expensive replacement, and I now know how to replace a thermostat and a heating coil for good measure. My sincerest condolences to the Kraeutler family and the Money Pit team. We’ll all miss him. |
| 00:34:33 | DOUG: Hi, it’s Doug Stephan of the Good Day program. Tom Kraeutler and I got together 20 years ago. We both shared the same agent and immediately hit it off as far as sharing information is concerned, understanding broadcasting. He was the top of the list as far as I was concerned. You could never ask him a question that he didn’t have an answer to. He was great at sharing not only the tips that made him so well known on Money Pit, but he was a great broadcaster who helped other broadcasters to be good and great broadcasters. I considered him a great friend. I want to make this as upbeat as possible, but I can’t tell you how much his leading has left a hole in my heart. A fabulous, fabulous guy. Great family. Loved his kids. He had so much fun with the boys because we talked about it. He was on my program at least once a week talking to people about how to make their lives better in their homes. But he went on a lot of other things that were beyond just what went on in my life. He was a wonderful, wonderful kid. And so I just said, God love him. I wish him the best and speediest trip to the next beyond. Thank you, Tom. You’re a great friend. |
| 00:35:57 | LESLIE: Thanks so much for joining us this hour. I know this has been a rough couple of weeks, but I promise you the Money Pit will be here for you and all of your home improvement questions. So call in, post your questions, email us. We are standing by to help you out with all of those home improvement projects. I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| (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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