Show Notes
Today, we share more memories of Money Pit’s Tom Kraeutler, plus answers to DIY callers’ favorite home improvement questions.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Tom Kraeutler Tributes: Home improvement friends and colleagues share Money Pit memories and Tom Kraeutler tributes.
- DIY Questions: Listen as we share Tom’s expert advice to DIY callers about some favorite home improvement questions.
Top Questions & Answers
- Noisy Pipes: Plumbing noises shake the house and faucets spit when Jason fills the tub! It could be excessively high water pressure, but he should start by checking for bad washers.
- Bath Remodel: Christine needs ideas for a window above the tub. We suggest options for windows that are designed for bathroom privacy but still let in the light.
- Patio Addition: Michael’s got lots of issues with an old sunroom that was improperly built properly over a patio. He’ll need to rebuild it with proper footings.
- Drafts: What is the best way to stop window and floor drafts? Anne needs new weatherstripping and caulk on the windows and insulation around the floor joists.
- HVAC: The bedroom adjoining the garage gets very warm. Jeff gets tips for installing a smart thermostat with sensors to adjust the temperature in different rooms.
- Plumbing: Linda is worried about a cast iron sewer pipe that’s corroded and cracked. It can be sealed with silicone caulk rather than being replaced.
- Roofing: What type of insulation should be used for a flat metal roof? Mark should discuss the options with an experienced roofing contractor.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:01 | LESLIE: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit and I’m Leslie Segrete. And we are missing our very good friend and partner Tom Kraeutler. So we thought we’d take this hour to reminisce and share our favorite memories of Tom and share some of yours as well. We’re going to go back to some great questions that Tom loved to answer and listen to his advice, which we will continue to listen to forever because he was good at it. We have some very special guests joining us who really enjoyed working with Tom and building a relationship with our team is two of our very good friends from this old house. We have Richard Trithui and Tommy Silva joining us to talk about our love of Tom and all the amazing things we all did together and really how much we’re going to miss him. Welcome, guys. |
| 00:01:09 – | RICHARD: Glad to be here. We’re not happy about the circumstances, but if we get a chance to sort of talk about old Tommy boy. |
| 00:01:15 | LESLIE: So I believe our partnership sort of started as early as 2009. You know, we started small and then we kind of hit the road with you guys on and off over the years. You know, what do you sort of remember about the beginning of our partnerships together and meeting Tom? |
| 00:01:30 – | RICHARD: I’ll jump in on that because I remember we would get these notices from our producer that did say, we got some guy that wants to do his radio show. You know, this Tom, Tom K, you know, okay, and he would. And then it was like, you know, we’d roll our eyes and we didn’t really want to do it because it was one more obligation. |
| 00:01:49 | LESLIE: Just another thing. |
| 00:01:51 – | RICHARD: Yeah. And then, then he would come and we would always set up in these just obscure corners of the shoot days. |
| 00:01:59 | LESLIE: We’d be in the attic. |
| 00:02:01 – | RICHARD: Yeah. And then we just ended up liking him and liking doing it. I mean, it was like this, you know, we’d roll our eyes and then we’d find ourselves in the middle of it and say, we just liked it. Yeah. |
| 00:02:14 – | TOMMY: And it was a big conversation basically about the, about, about what we all do. And he was part of it. |
| 00:02:21 | LESLIE: I mean, Tom loved to talk shop and you guys are the shop itself. So for us to find a very small space in these big projects that you guys were in sure of a hurry to finish, you know, basically you had a party being set up in the kitchen while you were finishing shots on the finishing of the house and Tom and I would be waiting in a bathroom on the third floor. That’s right. Are we getting Kevin? Yeah. Who’s coming in? Tommy’s coming in? Yeah. |
| 00:02:47 – | TOMMY: Yeah. That’s right. It was always, it was always turmoil. That’s for sure. |
| 00:02:51 | LESLIE: Yeah. But you know what? I think Tom really enjoyed all of that. And it’s funny that you say that these emails would come across your desk because Tom was nothing short of persistent in, in his, in his goals. Yeah. |
| 00:03:04 – | RICHARD: And he was, he was a planner too. He, he, he wanted to stay on point and he wanted to, you know, he worked his scripts hard to make sure that the content was good. The content was there. He, he was a pro. He was also likable. You know, he’s got that little devilish twinkle in his eye and Jersey accent. How could you not like that? |
| 00:03:22 – | TOMMY: I remember many times if we were at the builder’s show, we’d all go to the builder’s show and I’d always run into Tom somewhere on some aisle. He said, come on over here. He’s going to be here doing this and that. And we’d talk shop about whatever and anything new and exciting and that kind of stuff. He always wanted to know what we were doing and what he found. He’s telling us about something new. He was very into it and very excited about it, but also making sure that whatever he was saying was right. |
| 00:03:53 | LESLIE: I mean, truly a perfectionist in his craft and, you know, in his craft of carpentry, but also in his craft of radio. I mean, it was always so interesting to see the two merge. Yeah. |
| 00:04:04 | CALLER: Right. Yeah. |
| 00:04:05 | LESLIE: And truly a gentleman who was so appreciative of the work that both of you do on all of these projects. I can remember being in, I think it was a basement somewhere in Massachusetts and probably one of the earlier times with PEX. I mean, this had to be in the early 2000s and just the beauty of this PEX plumbing in this basement. I’ve never seen Tom more giddy about plumbing and heating and it was fascinating. |
| 00:04:36 – | RICHARD: He liked the less showy places. He liked that. He liked the bones of the building. He liked my little part of the world. So that made me like him even more. Yeah. He was a good guy. I just, it’s so hard to believe he’s not going to be with us. It’s just, it’s just, you know, this just leaves you. |
| 00:04:55 | LESLIE: I mean, it really does. Now, you guys are such an influence to all of your viewers and pretty much everybody in DIY in any way, shape or form at home. You inspire them to greatly pursue what their home is. You inspire them to do what their homes could be, should be, and how they really want to be these homes. And Tom very much did that as well. Do you think that’s why we sort of found this great synergy all of these years? |
| 00:05:24 – | TOMMY: He was always interested in the bones, the hidden things about a building and whether it’s inside, outside, whatever it was. But he wanted to know how and why it worked. And that’s what he, I think, you know, did very well as presenting. |
| 00:05:37 | LESLIE: I mean, it’s interesting to know that all of the generations that this old house has been in, it’s interesting to know that all of the generations that this old house has been in and will become, you know, truly influenced Tom as a younger person. And it really was, I tell you, the thrill of a lifetime for him when we, you know, were so persistent in trying to sit down with you guys early on. And, you know, I can remember that first time he was like, we’re going, this is happening. It’s going to be great. |
| 00:06:05 – | RICHARD: He came in and you could tell he was a fan of ours and then you guys were so persistent and we’d come every year. And yeah. and then we ended up liking it, that we ended up becoming a fan of his, which is high praise, you know? |
| 00:06:18 – | TOMMY: Yeah, that’s true, absolutely. I think you hit it right on the head there. |
| 00:06:22 | LESLIE: Tommy, can you remember a time with Tom, sort of where you got to take him behind the scenes and really show him something that just knocked his socks off? |
| 00:06:29 – | TOMMY: I remember when he was prepping to get things ready but not ready to go on with any of the interviews and stuff, he’d always ask me some questions about, you know, what do you got new, anything going on, can we take a look at this or that or whatever? And he was always interested in seeing what we’ve done and how we did it. You could sense that he loved knowing what and how to do something, but he was also capable of doing a lot of it. |
| 00:06:55 | LESLIE: You know, and I think it’s interesting because it really takes a certain type of person like the two of you and Tom to teach someone something. And even though what you guys do isn’t… always instructional takeaway, more aspirational, inspirational, and what could be done with a home, it really takes a special person to convey that messaging and instill that confidence or that desire in a listener or viewer. |
| 00:07:20 – | TOMMY: The type of person that does that well is the type of person that loves doing what they do. They want to express that knowledge in a way that you can understand it. That’s what makes the success of the show. |
| 00:07:33 – | RICHARD: The other thing is Tom got really… really good at it. Meaning, you know, he’d been fielding questions from the public for so long that he had the data at front of mind, you know, to make a concise answer for people. He just, you know, you do anything enough and you get enough questions, you learn, and then he retained it. So he was hardworking and he was honest. He had the answers and he wasn’t looking in some reference book. He wasn’t scribbling onto his phone. |
| 00:08:03 – | TOMMY: He knew his stuff, which is really high quality. Yeah, and you can spot that right away. There’s no fake in that. |
| 00:08:09 | LESLIE: And he truly appreciated the work that you guys did. Every time we were in these homes, you know, he would be pointing out not so much small details, but details that perhaps a regular viewer might not notice about how the corner of a roof line came together or the way a post was installed. You know, all of these little things he was always paying attention to. And it’s phenomenal to me that he was always paying attention to. He was always able to figure something out, learn how it was done, try to figure out a better way to do it, and if there wasn’t a better way, really lean into sort of the method that’s been tried and true and convey that to everyone. He was just a teacher at heart. |
| 00:08:52 – | TOMMY: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. He shot at the little details, the subtle details, and the subtle details basically are what set off a house for its uniqueness and, you know, having the right overhang on a molding, having the right size molding, having the right return on the windowsill or whatever, that threshold and the trim, the casing, the headers, all of that stuff is details that your eye looks at. In most cases, they see it, but they don’t understand it. He understood it. |
| 00:09:23 – | RICHARD: I think all of us at this house just found him hardworking and honest and likable, and we rolled our eyes when we had to do this. We did the sessions with you guys, and we ended up loving it. That’s just high praise, and he worked really hard at being good at it. The world’s going to miss him, I tell you. Never mind you, Leslie. I don’t know how you’re going to cope. |
| 00:09:46 | LESLIE: We are trying our best. I thank you both so much for joining us and sharing your memories of Tom, and we here at The Money Pit look forward to both you, Richard, and Tommy joining us here on the show again whenever you always have a seat with us here at The Money Pit. Thanks so much, you guys. |
| 00:10:03 – | TOMMY: Thanks, Leslie. You will be missed. |
| 00:10:06 | LESLIE: Check out this call Tom and I took. Everybody always has a question about those clanging pipes, so let’s hear about this one. All right, now we’re going to chat with Jason who’s got some noisy plumbing. That is never any fun. What’s going on? |
| 00:10:18 | CALLER: Started about a month ago, but when we fill up the master bathroom’s tub, it sounds like the whole house is vibrating and shaking, and the cold water supply seems to, like, spit from the other sinks. Do we have to call somebody in? Or is that an easy fix? |
| 00:10:35 | TOM: So, Jason, I know this is kind of freaking you guys out because you’ve probably never experienced it, but it’s actually a pretty common problem. There’s a couple of causes of this kind of noise, like sort of a loud vibration when the water’s being filled. It often happens in homes that have excessively high water pressure, so you ought to just double check that your water pressure is between about 40 and 60 PSI coming into the house. But I think the cause of it is probably a bad washer in the faucet. If the washers get sort of out of shape, if they break, if they get mineral deposits on them, if they kind of get out of alignment, they actually vibrate as the water goes over them, and that causes that, like, really crazy kind of loud pulsing sound. And because you probably have copper pipes, it echoes, and it sounds worse than it is. The solution is pretty easy to take the faucet apart and replace the washer, but if you’ve never done this before, you may find it a little bit challenging. But that’s generally what the solution is. You replace that washer, or if you find that it’s caked up with mineral deposits, you can also soak it with vinegar and white vinegar, and that will melt them away and put the whole thing back together, and you should be good to go and have a much quieter experience in filling up that tub going forward. |
| 00:11:49 | LESLIE: Well, I mean, it’s never going to be, you know, a quiet experience taking a bath the way it is now. No relaxin’ for you. |
| 00:11:59 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Christina in Missouri on the line, who is about to tackle a bathroom renovation. But has a lot of questions. Tell us about the project. |
| 00:12:06 | CALLER: So my project, it’s the master bathroom, and it’s one of those bathrooms where it has the tub, and there is a window, a big window right above the tub, and a very, very narrow shower. And so I would like to be able to remove the shower and the tub out completely, and make an expanded shower, and use the space where the shower is at, make that into storage. And so my question is, what do I do with the window? Do I, I like the light that comes in, but it’s very, very drafty. So if I were to replace the window, would I use like a double pane or triple pane? Or if I were to kind of shore up the window, then would that mean probably obviously some masonry work that needs to be done? I’m just trying to figure out what is the most cost effective and quickest way, I guess, to be able to resolve the window issue. |
| 00:13:12 | TOM: You might want to look into privacy windows. You know, there’s some really pretty privacy windows that are designed for bathrooms. I’m thinking of one that looks like glass block. Leslie, you know, that kind of has like sort of the wavy glass to it. It’s not designed to open, but it brings a lot of light in. |
| 00:13:26 | LESLIE: But there are, you know, double hung windows that are privacy glass as well, that are meant for bathroom spaces. I mean, otherwise, how would the window that’s directly next to my toilet function? I mean, it’s amazing. It’s the worst place for it. But luckily, the glass is, you know, clouded in a way. So there are options that give you the privacy within the glass, but also the functionality of the window. But you definitely do need to upgrade that window system that you have, so you’re not getting those drafts. |
| 00:13:55 | CALLER: Right. So I have seen some frosted glass. And, you know. And other like Instagram pictures and things like that. But are those types of windows, are they like double pane windows? Do they even? I don’t even know. I guess, I mean, I have a lot of research to do. |
| 00:14:15 | TOM: Those type of decorative windows with the frosted glass, they are available and we call it thermal pane. Double pane is thermal pane windows. Certainly, you could buy a privacy window that is an Energy Star rated window. It’s not a good thing to look for. The other thing I’ll point out is make sure that the bathroom, I don’t know if your bathroom has a ventilation fan in it, because sometimes bathrooms with windows don’t have these vent fans. But you’re definitely going to need to add one, especially if you decide to use a non-openable window. And even if not, if you’re going to do the renovation, I would add a bath fan at the same time. Okay. |
| 00:14:44 | CALLER: Yep. We do have one. And I was thinking of replacing that one also, because I think it’s one of those things where if I’m going to do the upgrade, I might as well upgrade that too. Yep. |
| 00:14:56 | TOM: You know the four most important words? You know the four most expensive words? For bathroom renovations while you’re at it. |
| 00:15:04 | CALLER: Yes, exactly. Well, it’s all the small things that start adding up that make the project that much more expensive. But having a plan, having a good plan, and doing my research and part of the call to you was part of that. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. |
| 00:15:20 | TOM: Well, you’re very welcome. Good luck with this project. |
| 00:15:22 | CALLER: Okay. Thank you. Take care. |
| 00:15:24 | LESLIE: Michael and Raleigh is on the line. New listener, new homeowner, and definitely has a lot of questions about how this home is built. What’s going on? |
| 00:15:32 | CALLER: There’s a sunroom that’s attached with the roof. The roof is new. The sunroom is old. And it has footings that seem to be partially buried. We’re not sure if there’s enough footings down there. We’re not sure how to check yet. And then the inspector said that the frame of the sunroom isn’t bolted to the foundation of the house. So we’re not sure if that’s going to be working. We’re worried about. And there was an unfinished support beam underneath the frame of the house that had no peer to the ground. So those three things are just kind of weird. And we weren’t sure how scary they were, but we were going to try to get them fixed. And we’re just not sure the best way to go about it. |
| 00:16:16 | TOM: So, Michael, you definitely have a lot of reasons to be concerned. What you’re describing to me sounds a lot like a scenario that I often saw as a professional home inspector. And it kind of goes like this. When the house was built, at some point there was a slab, like let’s call it a patio, off the back of a wall. Somebody got the bright idea that, hey, we’re going to create a sunroom. And we’re just going to build this sunroom, which very often they come in kits or they’re built from scratch. And they build it on top of the patio. But here’s the thing. Patios are not foundations. They’re patios. They’re only four or five inches thick typically. And they’re not designed to be stable enough. To become really living space of the house. So now that the sunroom was built on top of it, and then you mentioned that the new roof overlapped the sunroom. It sounds kind of sloppy. Obviously, your home inspector found that it wasn’t bolted to the house or it wasn’t bolted to the homeless foundation. Again, kind of like bringing me down that path to thinking that this was just all thrown together very haphazardly. And you say you don’t know how to check if it has a foundation. That I can help you with. But that’s actually pretty easy. The way I used to do it is I would take a very long screwdriver. I used to buy these screwdrivers, Leslie, when I was home inspecting. I must have been like one of the only people to buy these. I’d always get them at Sears. And it was a straight screwdriver that was about 14 inches long. |
| 00:17:45 | LESLIE: Like what do you actually use that for? |
| 00:17:47 | TOM: Like I don’t know. If there was a straight screw in a diesel engine, you need to reach to it. But I used to use it so much that I would like almost wear off the tip of it. And I would take that. And I would use it a lot because I would check for termites with it, right, by poking wood. But I would also poke for foundations. I would take that screwdriver and I would insert it underneath the slabs in buildings like this at a 45-degree angle. And almost all the time, it would go straight in, indicating there was no footing ever. And so basically, if you’ve got a house that’s got one of these sunrooms on, it’s worth nothing. It’s not fixable. There’s nothing that you can do to make it any better. If it becomes a problem, you simply got to tear it off. Go back to where you were with the patio. Or take the patio out and actually build it like an addition, which means you put a slab in first that has footings built into it. The other thing of concern, as you mentioned, that there’s some sort of unsupported beam in the basement. You know, that’s all bad stuff. So it sounds like your home inspector did a decent job with flagging this stuff for you. I’m a little bit surprised you didn’t take it further by telling you how serious it is because just from your descriptions, I’m concerned. So I think you need to do that. You need to get more information from your home inspector or get a second opinion, perhaps from even a structural engineer or an architect before you move forward. Because I’m concerned that one, if not both of these things, could lead to some very expensive repair bills in your future. |
| 00:19:08 | CALLER: Now we’ve got Ann on the line who’s feeling the chill. What’s going on with the insulation in your place? I was just wondering what the best way or best product to use for a very drafty house. Around the windows, underneath the floor. Feeling like it’s coming through on the base of the cabinets in the kitchen. Drafty. |
| 00:19:30 | TOM: So, Ann, tackling drafts sounds like it’s a constant battle for you. So I’m going to give you a couple of tips. First of all, with respect to the windows, we need to figure out where these drafts are coming in. If the weatherstripping is worn or missing in, say, their old double-hung windows, then that needs to be replaced. I often find, though, that you’ll get drafts that’ll be around the outside of the molding. Even on the inside of the house, that casing, that trim, will sometimes allow air to draft in from the outside, especially on a windy day. So for those areas, we recommend that you caulk the outside perimeter. And for the windows themselves, you should be adding new weatherstripping to that. Now you also mentioned being very chilly towards the floor and the base cabinets. So that might be, to me, Leslie, it sounds like it could be the box beam. You know, the floor underneath that part of the house. |
| 00:20:22 | LESLIE: It’s just open. |
| 00:20:23 | TOM: Yeah, it might not be insulated. You know, that box beam, which is where the floor joists sort of intersect with the outside of the house, that area needs to be insulated. And in fact, if you have an unfinished crawl space, the floor system itself needs to be insulated. So I would start there with weatherstripping the windows. And secondly, I would insulate the floor underneath that area and especially that box beam area. And if you want to go the extra mile, you could also use a product like Great Stuff to seal any large areas. You know, you can do your own kind of draft inspection if the wind’s blowing right just by sort of holding the back of your hand against the window area. Not without touching the window, but just right up against it because I find that the back of my hand is much more sensitive than my palm. And I can really pinpoint drafts sometimes by doing that. |
| 00:21:11 | LESLIE: All right. Here’s a classic Tom Kraeutler call. Heading out to Phoenix where we’ve got Jeff on the line. What’s going on at your money pit? |
| 00:21:18 | CALLER: Well, my situation is I have a condo in Phoenix, Arizona. And it’s all on one floor. It’s on the ground floor. However, the way the condo is constructed, the master bedroom adjoins an unheated garage. Consequently, especially in Phoenix in the summer, the master bedroom area of the condo gets very warm. The thermostat is in the general living area. The living dining room area. And there is, of course, a wall separating the master bedroom from that area. So, I’m trying to figure out how can I make the master bedroom, master bath a more livable situation. |
| 00:22:11 | TOM: And because it’s a condominium, you probably can’t add like a supplemental air conditioner or something like that. You’re pretty much stuck with what you have. Is that right? |
| 00:22:17 | CALLER: That’s my understanding. There’s HOAs and they govern all these things. And from what I understand, I haven’t tested those waters yet. |
| 00:22:26 | TOM: How’s the airflow through the registers? Is it pretty strong or you feel like maybe it’s obstructed? |
| 00:22:30 | CALLER: No, I don’t think it obstructed at all. In fact, I had a fellow look and he said it’s absolutely clear and it’s not an obstruction issue. |
| 00:22:40 | TOM: The problem here is the positioning of the thermostat. It’s only going to operate the heating and cooling system based on the temperature where it is. And that’s normal. But in your case, you’ve got such a differentiation between where the thermostat is and your master bedroom bath area that it’s not doing the job. So, there is a solution here. Now, Ecobee is a type of smart thermostats. And the reason I bring up that particular type of thermostat is because they also sell a sensor that works with the thermostat. And once you install this new Ecobee thermostat, you have the opportunity to add sensors. And the sensor would be in your master bedroom. And then you go into the operation of this thermostat and you basically tell it what temperature to operate based on. So, you could say to this thermostat essentially, if my bedroom gets to be over X, then bring on the system. Even though where the main thermostat is located, it hasn’t reached that temperature yet. So, you have the opportunity to sort of balance your comfort across the home. And you can do that on a calendar basis. Or a clock basis. So, it’s not like that all the time. Maybe it’s just in the afternoon. You can just work with it after a while to kind of dial it in. But the thing here is that you get a thermostat and some number of sensors. You might need one. You might need more. And you can adjust it accordingly. Does that make sense? |
| 00:24:02 | CALLER: It does. However, I’m a bit concerned. Would that mean that the thermostat would kick on if it reads that the temperature in the bedroom is 84? Yes. It would be 85. Whereas, the rest of the house is 72. Is it going to kick on? And therefore, the rest of the condo would go down to 60 even though the bedroom would now be a comfortable 72? |
| 00:24:32 | TOM: It may be. But then you wouldn’t have the opportunity to shut down some of the ducts or some of the vents in the rest of the place to get things balanced out where you want it. It’s going to be a learning experience for you and the thermostat. Because we’re trying to do something here where we don’t have the ability to add an additional unit. In my house, I’ve got two rooms in my very old house that don’t keep up well with the air conditioner in the summer because of their exposure. One room, which is the kitchen, is an addition that was done in the early 1900s. And of course, the ceiling and three of the walls are exposed to the outside, so it needs more air conditioning than the rest. And then I have an office on the west side of the house, both of which are pretty far away from where the central air conditioning system is located. And so for those, I use a split ductless system to supplement it. If you can’t add air conditioning because your condominium association does not allow that, we have to get more creative. And that’s why I suggested a thermostat system that includes sensors where you have the chance to balance it out. |
| 00:25:38 | CALLER: Appreciate your help. |
| 00:25:40 | LESLIE: Heading over to New Jersey, we’ve got Linda on the line who’s dealing with some plumbing issues. What’s going on? |
| 00:25:44 | CALLER: Well, because we had installed a new HVAC at my parents’ house, and I don’t go down in their basement that often, but when I took a look at this sewer pipe, I asked the fellas, what is this? She said it was a sewer pipe, and I said, my God, it looks like it’s corroded or something. And he said, yeah, it looks like you’re starting to get a slight crack in it. So I just was curious to know what kind of a plumber, you know, I don’t know if they profess in their… write-ups, you know, in their advertising that we do sewer, if I should be looking at that, if it’s something more important, because there’s another problem that, besides it going up, that we had remodeled the house like 50 years ago. The house is here 73 years. And 50 years ago when my parents redid it in 72, the plumbing then had to go under a cement porch in the back. So it looks like I see that same pipe going out to the porch. So probably we’re going to have to lift that up, and I’m waiting for someone to come. I just wanted to be sure I might be choosing the right person to be repairing it or replacing it. |
| 00:26:54 | TOM: Well, based on what you said, I’m not convinced you need any repairs. |
| 00:26:58 | CALLER: So cracks, I’m presuming we’re talking about a cast iron waste pipe here. |
| 00:27:02 | TOM: Yeah, and cracks in those pipes are pretty common. I wouldn’t panic over that. Those can be sealed with something like a silicone caulk. It’s not going to be a leak issue. It rarely is. I’ve seen these many, many times in the years. And sometimes the joints between the cast iron pipes, they have something in them called oakum, and that gets dried out. They can be repacked. But there’s no reason to replace that. The reason it looks so, like, rough and old is because it is. But cast iron is incredibly durable, and it doesn’t really break, and it rarely leaks. So I wouldn’t focus on that at all. You’re opening yourself up to a real song and dancer. That’s from a contractor, especially when you get into tearing out a porch and stuff to replace that pipe. It may not be an issue at all. |
| 00:27:49 | CALLER: What type of a plumber then would be good to be able to identify that it just needs a patch? |
| 00:27:55 | TOM: Well, is it leaking? Is it leaking now? |
| 00:27:57 | CALLER: No, it’s not doing any of that. But my concern was here you spend $15,000 to put a whole new— |
| 00:28:03 | TOM: If it starts to do something, then you can call somebody to fix it. If I had a crack that was open in a pipe like that, I would just take some silicone caulk. I’d buy a $5 tube of silicone, and I’d caulk it myself and call it a day. I’d clean it. I’d use a brush, like a stiff brush or a wire brush, to get any loose dust or rust away from it. And then I’d just seal it with silicone. That’s it. That’s all I do. |
| 00:28:24 | CALLER: All right. That sounds good to me. All right. |
| 00:28:26 | TOM: Sometimes it’s just not that complicated. |
| 00:28:28 | CALLER: Yes, that’s right. |
| 00:28:29 | TOM: All right. Good luck, Linda. Thanks for calling The Money Pit. |
| 00:28:32 | LESLIE: All right. Here’s classic Tom Kraeutler at his best. Mark in Missouri is on the line with a roofing question. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:28:39 | CALLER: I’ve got a house that’s probably about 50 years old, and it’s had the roof replaced on it one time. It’s got a tar and a gravel lava rock roof, tar. And I know I’m going to have to replace that here one of these days. Now, the decking on the roof is actually my ceiling. It’s a two-by-six tongue and groove. And I’m sure they’ve got tar paper on top of that and then some insulation. And then the tar and lava rock. And I’m wondering how I’m going to have to replace that, what type of insulation I could use on that. It doesn’t have a lot of pitch. |
| 00:29:19 | TOM: And when you say decking, we’re talking about the structural decking. You don’t use this as a recreational deck. Is that correct? |
| 00:29:25 | CALLER: No. No, the two-by-six is the actual decking for the roof. Like I said, it’s the ceiling on the inside of my house. |
| 00:29:33 | TOM: So you’re looking for options in low-slope roofing then. Is that correct? Right. |
| 00:29:37 | CALLER: Yes. I’d like to go back with metal roof. But, you know, what do I do on top of the decking that I’ve got? Right. |
| 00:29:46 | TOM: Well, if you were going to go with metal roof, you’re going to probably go down to the original decking. And then you’re going to put a new insulating board on top of that. And then you’re going to put the metal roof over that. And you’re pretty much going to do that same assembly regardless of the type of roof you use. If you were to use, you know, traditional flat roof like a modified bitumen, which is sort of like a rubberized asphalt kind of product, you know, you would do it in the same sort of fashion. It’s real important, though, that when you choose your roofer, you want to make sure, Mark, that you find one that’s really experienced with flat roofs. Because what I’ve found is that very often you have, you know, groups of roofers that are just terrific with pitched roofs. But when it comes to flat roof, it’s only sort of the occasional job. And they don’t always have the skill set to do that. The guys that do flat roofs a lot are more the commercial roofers. And, you know, you could pretty much go with any technique that they recommend based on your particular situation. And it’s going to get done well. But I would just say that make sure that the devil is in the detail with these flat roofs because if you have any defects in the assembly of the roofing material itself or more commonly the flashing points where, like, you know, pipes come through the roof and that sort of thing, that’s where the leaks actually show up. |
| 00:31:03 | TOM: So it’s not an impossible situation. It’s just unusual for residential. |
| 00:31:06 | CALLER: The original builders here, they put a thin insulation up there. And it got so hot in the summer that they took it out and put more insulation in. I don’t know what they’ve done. |
| 00:31:16 | TOM: Yeah, there are insulation boards for that. And by the way, about the heat in the summer, if that’s an issue, that’s something that the metal roof can actually help you a lot with. Because the new metal roofs today, they actually have a low E coating and they reflect the heat back off of the roof. So it doesn’t become, you know, this huge heat sink that’s throwing a lot of radiant energy down into your room. |
| 00:31:34 | CALLER: Okay, great. Yeah. So you’re going to go metal and then forget it. |
| 00:31:38 | TOM: Got it. |
| 00:31:39 | TOM: Got it, Mark. All right, man. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:31:45 | LESLIE: I want to thank Tommy Silva and Richard Chithui from This Old House joining us here at The Money Pit. We always pushed our way into all of those home projects that they were working on with This Old House. And it’s nice to know that the persistence created a wonderful lasting friendship. I want to thank our callers from some of our favorite highlight calls here, Plumbing with Linda in New Jersey and Jeff in Arizona. Let’s hear from our industry friends, Joanne, Kathy, and Norma with some of their memories and best thoughts of Tom. |
| 00:32:14 – | JOANNE: Hi, this is Joanne Colella. My business is Colella Communications. Along with the rest of Tom’s team, I was stunned by his sudden passing. And I know he’s left a huge void and a lasting legacy to countless people. Tom and I were introduced by a mutual friend. And I’ve worked as a copywriter and editor for Money Pit for the past three years. I worked on his weekly podcasts and radio shows and newsletters. It was a privilege to know Tom, to work with him, and to share and learn from his incredible wealth of knowledge. I happen to be married to a do-it-yourselfer myself. And Tom was a frequent resource of tips in our household. He spoke with passion and enthusiasm not only about his work but about his family, his home, and his volunteer service with the Boy Scouts of America. He gave and demanded only the best from everyone around him for all of his projects. And I have a feeling he may be fixing the pearly gates right about now. Rest in peace, Tom. And thank you for all your talent and guidance for so many years. |
| 00:33:22 | KATHY: Hi, this is Kathy Zipric with Daich Coatings. I have worked in the building products industry for about 30 years. And for all of those years, I’ve known Tom. And we have collaborated. We’ve worked on a lot of projects together, mostly sweepstakes and contests. I remember working on the ugliest door contest with him way back when for ThermaTru Doors. And just last week, we were starting to put together the porch and patio makeover sweepstakes for Daich Coatings, which is going to be coming out this springtime. So for almost three decades, we’ve been putting together sweepstakes and contests together and doing all kinds of special things on the radio show. And he will be very missed. He is my New Jersey guy. I grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey. And he, of course, is located in New Jersey, so we always had New Jersey stories to share and seashore kind of things to talk about. Tom was the best. He will be dearly missed. And we look forward to supporting Leslie now in how she is going to be bringing the show along. And we will be right there with her. We will be missing you, Tom. |
| 00:34:47 | NORA: I’m Nora DePalma from the Dialogue PR Agency. I met Tom about 25 years ago when I was searching for a home savvy subject matter expert to represent my brand, which at the time was an online contractor matching service. The concept was new, and we had to build credibility and trust with our audience, and that was Tom. His expertise is what caught my attention, but it was his ability to share that expertise in an understandable way that empowered homeowners to confidently take action. And that was the skill that made him so valuable to construction industry marketers like me. On a personal note, I will forever miss my Jersey buddy, our shared appreciation for Bruce Springsteen and Great Jersey Diners. Godspeed, my friend. I’ll see you further on up the road. |
| 00:35:34 | LESLIE: All right. Thanks so much for joining us this hour. I know it’s been a rough couple of weeks for everybody, and we are certainly going to miss our friend Tom. But Tom built this amazing foundation that is the Money Pit, and we will be here for you in whatever this Money Pit 2.0 is going to be. So email us, post your questions, call in. We are standing by to make all of your home improvement dreams a reality. I’m Leslie Segrete. Remember, you can do it yourself, 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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