Show Notes
In this show, we’ll share ways to keep animals from feasting on your garden, how to store leftover paint to make it last, and tips for inspecting your gutters to prevent leaks and water damage. Plus, we’ve got answers for DIY callers on more home improvement questions!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Wildlife: Wildlife-proof your garden to keep animals from damaging your plants.
- Storing Paint: Extend the life of leftover paint with smart storage tips.
- Gutters: Prevent leaks and floods by prepping your gutters for spring rains.
Top Questions & Answers
- Heating: Ralph says the heat just isn’t reaching upstairs in his home. We suggest installing registers in the floor to redirect the heat or adding a mini-split ductless system.
- Mold: Contractors have given Karen different advice about mold on the basement walls. She needs a professional mold mitigator to test it and recommend the best plan.
- Siding: What are the pros and cons of Hardie board siding? Steve learns about the durability and update of that and other good options for siding.
- HVAC: Is it worth having your air ducts cleaned? Sherry should start by getting good-quality filters and changing them regularly.
- Countertops: John wants to update his Formica countertops. Good budget options are either adding a new layer of laminate or using paint to refinish the countertop surface.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:21 | LESLIE: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit. I’m Leslie Segrete. Well, it is officially the spring season, you guys. So what are you working on? What are you planning to tackle this weather season that’s perfect for being outdoors? Unless you happen to be in a rainier part of the country. But I promise you, the sun’s gonna come out and we’re all gonna get crackin’ outside and make everything look beautiful so we can have a wonderful summer. Coming up this hour, guys, as the weather warms, we’re seeing more and more signs of spring cropping up everywhere. But along with the flowers and the trees and a whole lot of green, there’s a lot of wildlife that crosses over that wild side and ends up right in your yard. And of course, they can disrupt your plans for a beautiful summer. We’re gonna share some tips to keep those deer, rabbit, and groundhogs and whatever else may be coming into your yard out of your yard and garden. Also ahead, if you’ve taken on painting projects in your home, have you accumulated a few partially filled cans of paint that maybe you want to use again? And by maybe, I mean probably never, but you’re gonna hold onto them for a while just in case. Come on, we all do it, you guys. So we’re gonna share some tips on how you can double the life of your garden. We’re gonna share some tips on how you can double the life of that stored paint so that it is ready when you decide to use it. Also ahead, spring rains are drenching yards and gardens right now. But unless you have a well-designed system of gutters, they can also lead to some serious damage to your home. We’re gonna explain how to check to make sure that your gutters are flowing freely. But first, we are here to help you plan and help you save some money. And to do that, we have a great prize this hour from our friends over at Daich Coatings. We have the Die Hard Maxx Industrial Strength Epoxy Floor Coating Kit up for grabs to one lucky listener. So give us a call, send us an email, let us know what you are working on so we can help you win that prize and help you with that project. Let’s get to the calls first. Jim, who’s up? |
| 00:0 | JIM: We’ve got Ralph in Pennsylvania with a heating conundrum. Fill us in here, Ralph. |
| 00:02:23 | CALLER: I have a wood burner downstairs. It’s real nice and warm. You go to the top of the stairs, and it’s just locked like it won’t go any farther. You open it, open it. Well, I use it. I use it. I use it. I use it. I use it. I use it. I even put a screen door at the top of the steps. I thought that would help. |
| 00:02:36 | LESLIE: Well, why don’t you do this? Why don’t you put some registers in the floor, which are essentially holes in your floor between your basement and your first floor, so the heat has a way to work its way up. I mean, you would trim them out and frame them out and put a register in the floor so that the heat can actually get from the basement to that first floor. And you can cut out the hole in your flooring, and you can actually buy some beautiful registers at the home center that are all scrolly and pretty, and some of them are brass, and some of them are black metal, and some of them are wood, and they go in the space that you’ve cut out to make it look like an actual finished design to register. |
| 00:03:11 | CALLER: Yeah, I would suggest that to my wife. She won’t go for it. |
| 00:03:14 | LESLIE: Is she there? Can you put her on the phone? I mean, maybe Jim and I can talk her into it. I don’t know. I’m guessing no. No? All right. Well, look, I think you’re able to put a couple of vents in that floor. That’s definitely going to help move that warm air from the basement up, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough to have you completely comfortable upstairs. So I do think probably the best, most cost-effective way for you to add heat upstairs and not have it be radiated from the ceiling would be perhaps to add a mini split ductless system. It’s a unit, kind of hangs on the wall. It can deliver air conditioning in the summer, heat in the winter. It can also act as a dehumidifier, and it’s going to be a heck of a lot more cost-efficient for you than just that electric radiant heat coming from the ceiling, because when you’ve got electric heat and it’s coming from the ceiling, and it’s got to be in this constant state of discomfort at home, and then you’ve got your bills, which are going to be expensive. I mean, I just imagine that you’re laying in bed and feeling a chill all the time, and then the only time you’re warm is when your head reaches that heated air that’s lingering by the ceiling. So there’s other ways we can supplement this heating. At some point, I think you’re going to be in for a major heating overhaul, but I hope this helps get you comfortable, because this winter was chilly, and, you know, who knows what next winter brings. So thank you so much for calling the Money Pit at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:0 | JIM: Okay, Leslie, we’ve got Karen in Pennsylvania. She’s dealing with some mold in her basement. Tell us what’s happening there, Karen. |
| 00:04:41 | CALLER: My mom has a house that the basement is—we put it up for sale, and nobody noticed this. And one person came in and tore wallpaper off the wall, and we noticed that it had mold from the floor to the ceiling and even in the inner walls. So I had a gentleman come and look at it, and he said it would take $30,000 plus, and he would come in, remove all the interior walls, all the wood, the paneling, everything off the wall, down to the bare. He would have a chemical put on, clean it, and then it would never come back. And then the second guy came in, and he said he would rip everything out, as he said, he would coat it, clean it, and guarantee it that if it did come back, he’d fix it for $10,000. |
| 00:05:37 | LESLIE: Yeah, you know, I don’t know that you need either of those guys. I don’t think you have enough information yet, and I don’t know that you’re necessarily talking to the right people at this point in time with this project. I know mold seems scary. You’re seeing a lot of it. But I think you need to get a professional mold mitigator to come in because these first two contractors might just be kind of sizing you up for how much you need. Yeah. you’re going to have to figure out how much money they can get from you. So the first thing you would want to do is test the mold to figure out what kind of mold it is. And that’s done. I mean, there’s really a couple of easy ways for you to test that mold. You take a sample, send it out to a lab, and they tell you what you’ve got. And then you can come up with a design for a mitigation plan around that. You know, we really need to get a sense of how much mold is there. It’s a little bit different because it’s mold behind the wallpaper. You may not need to pull all of this out. You might be able to treat it right in place. But definitely ripping everything out doesn’t sit right with me. I mean, how much mold are we talking about here? Can you sort of guesstimate the square footage? Is it like a four by four foot space or what? |
| 00:06:37 | CALLER: We’re going to take all the outer walls because we since went around and pulled off some wallpaper here and moved some paneling. And we also, the first guy that came in for $30,000 brought in a light. And to me, it looked like a black light. But he brought the light in that was a special light, and it can tell what type of mold it was and where the mold was. |
| 00:07:00 | LESLIE: I mean, that’s a completely wrong process there. Do not call that guy back. It’s completely wrong, okay? That guy was not giving you accurate information. If he comes in with this magical light that tells you it’s mold, that doesn’t sound right in any way, shape, or form. And they can’t actually tell you what kind of mold it is unless they do a test on a physical sample. Oh, good. It’s a mold test. You’ve got to get one. It gets sent out to a lab. It gets read. And then you can formulate a plan for that exact type of mold and come up with really what you need for your home. |
| 00:0 | JIM: Versus the snake oil salesman she’s been dealing with, sounds like. |
| 00:07:35 | LESLIE: Yeah, I mean, it’s crazy, especially when you hear the words mold. People get nervous. And, you know, not everybody has the best intentions, and certainly money is appealing in some of these situations. And so if they see you’re nervous and they’re not the most honest of folks and then they kind of start pitching you something, it might not be the right plan of attack. So definitely start with a test and then go from there. 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. Spring is here, you guys, and we’ve been getting a ton of rain. And I, sadly, have a big project to tackle at my money pit. I have been getting this leak in this window in the foyer. Probably forever and a day. And it’s just been something I’ve been managing and re-caulking. Well, join me on this journey this spring season. Let’s find out how much this is going to cost. I’m waiting for a quote because I am not going to replace this whole window flashing, siding, everything myself. So stay tuned, guys, because I’m about to enter a big project myself. Coming up this hour, we’ve got a great prize to give away for a good springtime project. Maybe you’re organizing the garage. So we’ve got Up For Grabs, a Daich Coatings diehard. Maxx Industrial Strength Epoxy Floor Coating Kit. It’s a tough, high-gloss finish for your garage or even your basement floor. And one kit is going to cover 250 square feet in either a clear coat, a gray, or a tan. You put those decorative vinyl flakes in there. It is super durable. Really easy DIY kit. You can check it out at daichcoatings.com. It’s a prize that’s valued at $127, but it’s going out to one lucky caller this hour. Jim, let’s find out who’s next. |
| 00:0 | JIM: Steve in Kansas is on the line, Leslie, and he has a question about siding. So what’s going on at your money pit, Steve? |
| 00:09:27 | CALLER: Well, it’s time to repaint my money pit. And the windows are old. I’ve replaced them, but they’ve got wood frame on the outside and brick mold. And they’re like an annual event, and I’m tired of that. My wife and I have narrowed it down to the hardy board siding. We’re getting conflicting reports from friends and people that have it. Some like it, some don’t. I like it because I’m out in western Kansas, and we like hail out here. And so I said I would go to a neutral party, and you two are the party. |
| 00:09:58 | LESLIE: All right. Well, welcome to our neutral party here. And I’m kind of leaning, well, I’m going to be neutral. But I actually do favor the hardy plank. I personally have hardy shingles on my entire home. And I did it because I wanted the shingles to be durable. I had like an asbestos shingle on the house before. And after my husband passed away, I wanted to get the house sort of in tip-top shape for me and the kids so that things would be sort of self-maintaining and not require a tremendous amount of upkeep but also look adorable. So I went with the hardy shingle. I went with it in a beautiful gray. It has sort of variegated shapes on it, so it does look like a natural shingle. And I will tell you, in the 14 years almost that it’s been on my house, I have never painted it. I have pressure washed a couple of areas. But it is wonderful because it’s a composite material. That said, there are a lot of other composite materials out there that do bring new elements to the table. For example, we were recently working with the guys at Tando Building Products, and they have a shingle that’s a composite shingle similar to the hardy plank, but they’ve got the coloration down. So if you want that natural siding look, more of a natural cedar look, they have one. You should check out their website. They’ve got a bunch of different colors. I think that one, that really looked like that sort of aged shingle. It was called a beach house shake. You know, when we as a Money Pit team travel to these trade shows, we see what these experienced remodelers have, what they’re putting up, what this stuff is like. We touch it. We scratch it. And truly, you know, you can’t believe some of these things are composite. It’s not real wood, but it looks so good. So if you want a product that looks like a shingle, that takes a stand like a shingle, but doesn’t wear like a shingle, you could look at something like the Tando products. If you want a shingle that you’re maybe just going to have to paint and is really durable and stands up to hail, I think the hardy shingle is a great choice as well. |
| 00:11:52 | CALLER: Our biggest thing is we’ve had some people say that they’ve had some fading issues with it. And I’ve looked at the houses, and I haven’t seen it from the beginning, so I really can’t be a judge of it. But I’ve had people say they’ve had it for 13, 14 years and have no issues with it. I’ve got some that are 10 years, and they don’t like it. |
| 00:12:09 | LESLIE: Well, you know, look at each vendor that you’re looking at. Many of them will have a stain fade worn out. It’s a warranty. It’s something to consider. Tando, I think, was something like 20 years when we were chatting with them. I personally don’t even know what the warranty is on my hardy shingle. But it’s been up a long time, and I haven’t noticed any fading. And my little tiny home takes a ton of sun. So there’s a lot of options when it does come to that composite siding. But there are products like stone as well, and there are composite stones. And it does look a lot like the real thing. I mean, I can remember when Tom and I first started together at the Money Pit, which was, Jim, what, like 22 years ago? |
| 00:12:46 | CALLER: Yep, yep. |
| 00:12:47 | LESLIE: Something cuckoo bananas like that. You know, we couldn’t say that there was composite stone materials. Now you can go to a home center and find a composite stone that’s just a thin layer. It goes up very easily, almost like a tile. And it’s more affordable than using the real stone. So there’s a lot of choices out there for things that look like a natural material but are made of synthetic composite materials and will stand up to weather, sunlight, age, time, and truly require little, little, little bit of maintenance from you. |
| 00:13:17 | CALLER: Yeah, we’ve had to get out of the car a couple times, driving around and go up to the house. If it was a composite wood or the hardy plank, and I’ve got a neighbor behind me. He’s got one of the wood composites. And I like it, but we just kind of, you know, settled into the concrete mode, I guess. |
| 00:13:34 | LESLIE: I mean, just to see if it was real, right? You know, don’t forget, you can knock on the door. You can leave a note in the mailbox. People who are proud of their homes are happy to share. I don’t think you can really make a bad choice here, Steve. You’re asking the right questions. So good luck with that project, and thanks again for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, if it seems like every single spring season, more and more animals like deer, rabbit, groundhogs, possum, whatever, are finding their way into your backyard, the flower bed, and the gardens, now might be a good time to take some action to limit any damage that they could be causing. We’ve got a few options here to send the message that the party is over to these unwanted guests who’ve chosen your yard as their favorite local buffet. No more, you guys. All right. Repellents. You know, there’s plenty of homemade remedies and commercially available products to help keep deer, rabbits, groundhogs out of the garden and yard. And they do work, but you have to apply them about every three weeks. So there is some maintenance here. And wildlife are creatures of habit. And when you apply those repellents, you’re trying to break that habit. But it’s not a one and done. If the wildlife learn that sometimes your landscape tastes bad and sometimes it’s super delicious, they’re just going to keep coming back to check. So if you go the natural repellent way, you have to make sure you reapply. And I would just look at whichever one you pick. Check out the directions. Maybe it’s three weeks. Maybe it’s two. Just follow what the manufacturer says. The other option is fencing. A physical barrier like a fence is going to be the most effective. But, of course, they’re also the most expensive. And they do have a visual impact on your yard. And deer, you guys, I didn’t realize this. Deer can jump eight feet. So if they really want to get into your yard, they’re going to figure out a way to jump over that fence. And if there’s a lot of neighborhood food choices, shorter four-foot fences could work. Especially if you’ve kind of got a double layer of fencing. I know Tom had done this over at his home in New Jersey. And it was very, very effective. If you have rabbits or groundhogs, you want to make sure that that fence has smaller openings along the bottom two feet. You know, you can use a four-foot black wrought iron style fence. But on that bottom sort of, you know, two-foot area, attach some sort of black flexible fencing so that it also keeps those little critters out. But it doesn’t sort of diminish the look of that beautiful black fence. Also, think about changing up the menu. Perhaps these animals have gotten used to the trees and whatnot in your yard and the plants. But you also have to remember that some plants and trees out there are going to be naturally resistant to wildlife. As the deer population had gotten worse over the years, you can remove that old line of bushes that they love and replace them with something that they’ll hate, like a giant arborvitae. They’re gorgeous. You can get them fairly grown and a nice size to really make that sort of natural barrier look fantastic. And they will be effective. I mean, you can see deer walk up to an arborvitae and be like, bleh, I don’t like it. So there’s a couple of things. And I would definitely head into the local garden center and ask them, like, what don’t the deer love in our area? Or the raccoons or whatever it is you’re dealing with. I bet you the local garden center is going to have a great idea of what could be effective. Hopefully this helps you guys out. |
| 00:1 | JIM: Sherry in Iowa, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:16:48 | CALLER: Been living in my house for like 20 years. My house is probably 50 years old. Is it worthwhile to have the air ducts or the furnace ducts cleaned? |
| 00:16:58 | LESLIE: Well, unless you’re having a problem. I mean, what most people drop the ball is here is that they don’t replace their filters soon enough. So if you’re not doing that and you haven’t replaced your filters recently, then that would be kind of the first place I start. But I don’t think you necessarily have to get your ducts cleaned. There’s such a wide variety of quality when it comes to air filters for your heating and cooling systems. And I would tell you to invest in a very good quality filter and make sure that you’re changing it on a regular basis. Sometimes it’s quarterly. Sometimes they’re once a month. Definitely pay attention to the manufacturer’s directions. |
| 00:17:31 | CALLER: The furnace guy comes in the spring and the fall. And he changes it then. |
| 00:17:36 | LESLIE: Yeah, but when your furnace service is happening, which is usually twice a year like you say, that’s generally not enough. Again, depending on that type of filter you have, you’re probably going to be changing that filter every couple of months. So at the minimum, four times a year. But it could be more frequently than that. I know with my central air conditioning system, I have to change that return duct filter once a month. So there’s a lot of different variances depending on the filter that you’re using at your home. Okay. Thank you. All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. What are you guys working on this spring weekend? I know it’s always so early in the spring weekend, and I feel like everybody’s so excited to get a jump on these projects. So whether you are doing the job yourself or you’re hiring a pro, we here at Team Money Pit love sharing our lifetime knowledge of how you can get the job done right the first time. So check out the Money Pit podcast. You can join us on the Money Pit podcast at moneypit.com slash podcast. All right. Let’s get back to all of you home improvers. We’ve got a question for Team Money Pit. Jim, who’s up? |
| 00:1 | JIM: John in Georgia. You’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:18:44 | CALLER: I’m in the middle of remodeling after 25 years. I built my house 25 years ago. I’ve remodeled two bathrooms already, and they look great with the tile and marble-top vanities. |
| 00:18:55 | CALLER: All right. |
| 00:18:55 | CALLER: And this month has been a bad month for me. I had a tooth extraction, a hot water heater replacement. I talked to the carpenters, and I’ve got a tooth extraction, a hot water heater replacement. I’ve got the floor mica countertops in my master bathroom and my kitchen. And obviously, I’m going to just paint my cabinets and reuse them. I’ve talked to two different people. I’ve had one gentleman tell me that he could paint the floor mica countertop, and it would look just like marble or one of the other products, and it would also take the seam out. And I’d be pleased with it. And then my cabinet maker says that the floor mica has improved over the last 25 years, and it looks great. much better. It looks I want to get your take on it, and if I need to, I can dip into my retirement fund and get marble or granite countertops to replace the old ones, because I just want to update my house to make it look new again. |
| 00:19:50 | LESLIE: All right. Well, first, we want to make sure that you are well cared for into your retirement. So let’s leave those funds where they are. So if I’m understanding you correctly, one contractor is saying he can do a paint treatment on the countertops. And the other one is suggesting replacing the floor mica with new. Is that correct? Yeah. |
| 00:20:08 | CALLER: Replace the old, which is not real noticeable, but it just looks dated. Okay. And that’s why I remodeled the bathrooms. So many people have new homes, and I’m going to live in my home. Okay. But I have pretty good people to come visit, and I just want to look better than cheap. |
| 00:20:24 | LESLIE: I love that you have good people to visit, and you want to impress them with your house. I love it. But really, either is a good option. So, you know, we’ve replaced laminate, and we found that as long as the counter itself, the countertop base, is structurally in good shape, you can put a new layer of laminate right on top of that countertop structure, whether it’s for mica, which is a brand, or LaminArt, which is another brand. They’re all just manufacturers of the same thing. It is definitely more work as far as a project goes than a painting project, because you’re pulling off the old top, you’re disconnecting the sink, all of that. And you pretty much have to have a workbench to do this job correctly, but it’s definitely, I think, better than just painting. However, if you want to stick with painting, there are a ton of products out there that are specifically designed to go on a laminate countertop and make it look like granite or make it look like stone, and they do a really good job. I mean, I used Rust-Oleum. I think it was a product called Countertop Transformation. It came in a kit. It was something that I did on a budget for a hotel for an episode of Hotel Impossible several years ago. And because of the volume of bathrooms, you know, we had to do probably 12 bathrooms in an overnight period. And it’s labor intensive. I mean, there’s some sanding in between the layers, but you put on a base coat, you kind of let it settle in, you put the top coats on, you can spray, you can use rollers. It depends on what you’re comfortable with for applying those coats. And then there’s like this flake that you put in. That makes it look like a granite. And you put them in with those little seed spreaders, and it spreads the chips all over, and it sort of dries in place. And once it sits there, you kind of sand it again and again to make it smooth. And when you get it to that nice smoothness that really does look like the natural stone, you put a top coat on. It’s hard work, but it looks gorgeous. And you can kind of control the amount of speckle there, so to speak, in each countertop that you’re working on. So if you’re in a lower budget, I’m talking about $30 to $50 per kit, there are some kits out there that are more expensive. And there’s definitely more vendors, Rust-Oleum, Daich Coatings, you know, head to the home center, and you’ll find a lot of good ones out there. But it is a project you can do yourself very much so on a budget. |
| 00:22:38 | CALLER: How long will it last? |
| 00:22:39 | LESLIE: I mean, as far as how long it lasts, you know, I would say a good guesstimate, since I didn’t go back to that hotel, is probably about five years that I would say you have to kind of redo it. |
| 00:2 | JIM: You weren’t allowed back there, Leslie. |
| 00:22:53 | LESLIE: That’s not true, Jim. I just renovate hotels, and then I get the heck out. |
| 00:2 | JIM: The check cleared, I am out of here. |
| 00:23:02 | LESLIE: No, but you know what I’m saying. It’s like I didn’t put it in a personal space, so I can’t tell you exactly how long it’s going to last. It also depends on how much cleaning, how much scrubbing, what kind of product are you using to clean the countertop. Definitely, you know, look at the manufacturer’s directions, because I’m sure there’s some products that you can use to clean and some that you shouldn’t. Do you have a lot of water sitting on the surface? Those are all going to be contributing factors to how long it will last. And I mean, truly, if you want to give it a shot and see how long it lasts, you’re in it for less than a hundred bucks, and you know, if you’re not thrilled with the job or it’s not holding up the best, you can replace it then, or replace it with laminate. But for now, since budget is an issue and it’s something you can do yourself, I think if you do a kit, it’s going to do a great job. |
| 00:23:45 | CALLER: All right. Well, I want to invite you to Georgia. I live on an island 13 miles long and three miles wide. It’s a great place. It’s a resort area, and we have Southern hospitality if you come visit us. Wait. |
| 00:23:57 | LESLIE: Are you inviting, you know, me and Jim over because you want us to bring our tools and do work, or are we coming over for iced tea? |
| 00:24:02 | CALLER: I’m old school. I’m old-fashioned Southern. |
| 00:24:04 | LESLIE: All right. Thanks, John. That is a very generous offer. It does sound like a lovely place, and maybe, just maybe, we’re going to come and knock in this summer. You never know. Road trip. John’s like, well, did I just really invite them to my house? |
| 00:24:20 | LESLIE: Well, when it comes to storing paint and the life expectancy of a house, it’s a little bit of a mystery. It’s a little bit of a mystery. Most of the manufacturers are going to tell you that paint can last two to three years, but our personal experience here at The Money Pit is that it can last longer. I mean, even as long as five to six years, but that success depends not only on where that paint is stored, but how you store the paint. How is the can? What is the condition? You know, the enemy of storing paint is simply air, and the more air that gets into that can, the shorter the life of the paint. So the seal is like a little piece of paper. That’s key here to storing paint for the long run, and here’s a few things that we’ve learned that can help. First of all, when you open a new can of paint, don’t use a screwdriver because prying open the lid with a screwdriver could bend that edge, and then it makes it more difficult to get a full seal when that lid is replaced. Instead, use a paint can opening tool. I mean, most of the times at the home centers, they’re going to give you one for free. If not, they’re like a dollar at the hardware store. So definitely have one. Keep it with your paint supplies because it opens it. But the proper way without bending that sort of edge. Now before you start to paint, you want to poke drainage holes in the bottom rim of the paint can. You know, this is that little well that goes all the way around that every time you sort of rub your brush on it, it fills up with paint, and then it dries, and then again, you’re not getting a good seal. So you can use a screwdriver and a hammer and just sort of poke some holes, and this way that paint is going to drain right back into the can, and when you’re done painting, you can use your brush to clean that seam as much as possible on the paint can, even use a rag to wipe the opposing seam on the lid. Paint that dries in either of those spots are again going to prevent that lid from sealing completely. Next, you want to cover the open can with a piece of clear plastic wrap, like a saran wrap or something, because this is going to act as a gasket and provide an additional level of seal protection, preventing air from getting into the can. And finally, place the lid on the can. Tap it down. Kind of gentle at first, using a rubber mallet, because that will prevent dents and damage to the seam portion of the lid, which again is going to let air in, and once you’ve sealed this can well, store the paint can upside down. Doesn’t seem right, but you’re going to do it. Store it upside down in a cool, dry area that really isn’t subject to temperature extremes. Storing it upside down is one more way to make sure that no air is going to sneak in. We’ve got one last tip here, you want to get in the habit of writing the date the paint was first opened on the can. This way you can easily track that paint’s shelf life. I mean, who knows? You might find out you can store that leftover paint a lot longer than anyone thought possible. I always on the can, too, write, like, living room, and I do rewrite the paint name color on it, just in case I’ve gotten paint on the lid or something and I can’t read it. This way, you just have a great chance of sort of replicating that original color or, you know, finding out that the paint’s bad ten years later and picking a new one. |
| 00:2 | JIM: So you don’t like my lazy method of just taking a picture of the paint coat? No, no, no, no. |
| 00:27:21 | LESLIE: No, because then where’s the picture five years later? Somewhere buried in your phone? |
| 00:2 | JIM: In my timeline? Yeah. |
| 00:27:26 | LESLIE: Yeah, that you’re never going to remember and then you’re just going to pick a different color anyway. Let’s be honest, Jim. We know this is true. There’s that. Good luck, guys. Store that paint right. What are you working on this weekend? I’m sure you’ve got a list of projects that either you’ve come up with or your spouse has decided you need to be doing. Either way, whatever you’ve got going on, we are here to lend a hand. We’re also here to help you out. We’re here to give away some great prizes. Up for grabs this hour, we’ve got a Daich Coatings Kit. It’s the Die Hard Maxx Industrial Strength Epoxy Floor Coating Kit. It’s a super tough, high gloss finish that you can use in a garage or a basement. Now you’re going to get about 250 square feet of coverage in that kit in either a clear coat or a gray or tan color with a decorative vinyl flake that you put in there and it really looks snazzy on the floor. The kit itself is $127, which is way less than hiring a pro and it gives you that awesome do-it-yourself pride in a very easy DIY kit. Check it out online at daichcoatings.com, but give us a call now for your chance to win and of course help with all your projects. Well with heavy spring rain in many parts of the country, now’s a good time to take a look at your gutters. I mean, truly before the water starts coming inside. Let’s take a look outside. So we can keep that water outside because a gutter performs one simple task that’s controlling the water around your home. But if you don’t have the gutters or they’re disconnected or they’re clogged or maybe they’re not sized correctly, you could be facing expensive home repairs like a flooded basement, cracked foundations, cracked sidewalks, a leaky roof. Even it can cause wood destroying insects to find a tasty, tasty meal in all of that damp wood around the house. So here are a few things you need to know. The first thing you need to know is that your gutters are going to have a 5-inch gutter system. Most homes are going to have a 5-inch gutter system and that’s designed to drain 600 to 800 square feet of roof surface per downspout. That’s sort of how they calculate how many downspouts, how many gutters. So step back and take a look at your house. Now, you have to look at all of the roofing above the gutter line and kind of do the math there. If you have more than 800 square feet of roof per spout, your gutters are going to overflow in heavy rains. It’s as simple as that. Next, it’s important to know where those downspouts are discharging water. You don’t want to drain all of that water. That water should drain no closer than four feet from the house and the grade, the way the soil slopes away from the house. It’s got to slope away. You don’t want it sloping back to the house and going right to the foundation. Now, next, you want to check for clogs because with a 5-inch gutter, they will need cleaning at least twice a year, spring and fall. And if you really want to know how well your gutters are working or not, the next time you get a heavy rain, grab your rain boots and an umbrella and take a walk around the house. See if you can get a heavy rain, grab your rain boots and an umbrella and take a walk around the house and see where all of that water is going. Do you see it sort of flowing into the gutter and then draining out or do you see it kind of overflowing over the edge? I mean, if it’s overflowing over the edge, you might not have a big enough gutter. They do make a 6-inch gutter. And that 1-inch wider width can drain 50% more water. And the biggest benefit of having a wider gutter is that the downspouts are also so much wider, so they almost never clog even if your child drops a tennis ball in it, which happened in my home. So, you know, years later, we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do next. I have gutter guards now. It’s the best thing ever because I don’t have to clean the gutters anymore. So there’s so much you can do. You just have to think about it. I mean, truly, with a gutter guard, I think it’s been like 10 years since I’ve cleaned my gutters, which, you know, is a pretty yucky chore. So think about it. If you’ve got the budget, it could be a great project for spring. If not, keep an eye on those gutters and keep that basement dry. |
| 00:3 | JIM: I’m still locked on the visual of you walking around with an umbrella and your little rain boots. |
| 00:31:15 | LESLIE: And my rain boots are yellow. They really, really are. Jim’s rain boots are red, I imagine. |
| 00:3 | JIM: You said that it was our little secret, Leslie. |
| 00:31:24 | LESLIE: Never. |
| 00:31:27 | LESLIE: Now’s the time where we jump into our email questions. Jim, who do we have first? |
| 00:3 | JIM: First up, Kathy Lee asked, well, not that Kathy Lee, a different Kathy Lee. That’s not Kathy Lee Gifford? Nope. Nope. Not this time. |
| 00:31:37 | LESLIE: Maybe next time. Yeah. |
| 00:3 | JIM: Kathy Lee non-Gifford says, I have white marble in my bathroom as the countertops. Suddenly it started showing black spots. It looks like dirt, but it won’t cover it. It’ll come out when I do my normal cleaning. I’m wondering if you have advice. Could it be mold? What do you think? |
| 00:31:53 | LESLIE: All right. Well, first of all, Kathy Lee, not Gifford, never, never, never use bleach. I know it seems like I’m cleaning my bathroom. I want to use a good, strong cleaning product like bleach, and you can on ceramic tile and the toilet, but never on a marble or a natural surface countertop. It’s just so bad and harsh for it, and it can destroy the surface, so just don’t do it. Now, when it comes to cleaning marble. The safest and most effective way to remove that mold is to use a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide and water, and you can mix it right in a clean spray bottle and then spray the surface, and you want to allow it to sit for a minute and then wipe it away. You may have to do it a couple of times, but that should do the trick because the hydrogen peroxide is going to oxidize that mold and try to get rid of it like a bleach would. Obviously not as effectively, but it can do it, and that should do the trick. All right. So let us know how you do. Jim, who else we have? |
| 00:3 | JIM: We have Mary, and Mary writes, I’m getting to do a really deep cleaning to start the spring season, but I’m noticing some products under my sink that have been there for a long time. Do cleaning products expire like other things? |
| 00:33:02 | LESLIE: I mean, it seems like they shouldn’t, but they actually do, Mary. Really? So they do, Jim. Jim and Mary, both of you are inquiring minds. I love this. But they do expire, and they don’t expire in like, oh, my God, it’s so awful, and it’s going to destroy the countertop. It expires. It expires in a way where it’s just not going to be as effective as it has been or it should have been. And usually an expiration date is going to be printed right on the packaging or on the label. So kind of look around for it. Disinfectants typically last about a year, whereas general household cleaners can last about two years. But you can kind of tell if a product isn’t really, like, it isn’t within its sort of working time period because they’re just not going to work as well. Maybe they can stay in there for a little bit longer. Maybe the consistency is off. Maybe it smells weird or something. Those are all kind of clues that maybe it is time to replace it. I find that it kind of happens with me when I buy that large refillable bottle from, like, the big stores. Yeah. And then I put it somewhere that’s not normally where I keep the stuff, and then I just keep going out and buying the smaller bottle. And then years later, I’m like, oh, dude, I still have it down here. Now I wasted it. So kind of pay attention and keep things where you can see them so you know that you’re going to use it. Use them properly and use them within the right timeframe. And if you do find that something isn’t right, don’t just dump that cleaner down the drain or put the whole thing in the trash. Try to see if your local municipality has a disposal center. If they do, they’re going to take all those things right off your hands. I mean, generally, it’s, you know, weird types of trash like tires and batteries and paint. But a lot of these centers will also have a spot for cleaning products and chemicals, to be honest. So definitely check with your local center. Sometimes they do it, like, one Saturday a month. I remember when the boys were little, we used to do it with all the leftover paint from our projects that we swore we would use them again for, but we never did. |
| 00:3 | JIM: So Leslie, when you find this cleaner three years down the road, you end up using twice as much. |
| 00:35:01 | LESLIE: So the volume discount you got buying it kind of averages out. And you can get rid of those cleaning products at these centers and the paint. Two birds, one stone. |
| 00:3 | JIM: There you go. |
| 00:35:11 | LESLIE: All right. Thanks, Mary. Thanks so much for joining us this hour on The Money Pit. Remember, the show continues. The Money Pit continues online at MoneyPit.com with tons of helpful information for all of the projects that you are tackling this spring season. So check it on out. And remember, guys, 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.) |
Leave a Reply