Show Notes
In this show, we’ve got tips for planting bulbs for a beautiful garden, breaking free of stuck windows to let the fresh air in, and protecting trees and shrubs with proper mulching. Spring forward and get home improvement advice to last all year as we answer your timely questions!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Spring Bulbs: Think flower power and plan ahead for spring by planting bulbs now.
- Stuck Windows: Break free of stuck windows with these easy tips.
- Mulch: Learn the right way to use mulch for insulating trees and shrubs.
Top Questions & Answers
- Sliding Doors: Nancy’s sliding doors are hard to open. It’s possible to replace the rollers, but we recommend replacing them with new, more efficient doors instead.
- Crawlspace: The dehumidifier runs constantly in Peter’s crawlspace. He should check his gutters, downspouts, and grading to keep water away from the foundation.
- Roofing: Should Ella add a third layer of roofing? It’s a bad idea because it can shorten the life of the new roof, but we have some suggestions.
- Structural: Vincent is worried about cracks inside his home and exterior bricks that seem to be pulling away. A certified home inspector or structural engineer can specify the proper repairs.
- Fireplace: Whistling and howling noises are coming from Sharon’s gas fireplace. It sounds like an issue with the roof venting that she should discuss with the manufacturer.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:21 | LESLIE: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, welcome to the Money Pit! I’m Leslie Segrete, welcome spring! Everybody is so happy to get rid of the winter. You guys know though that me and my family are big skiers, so this is always a season of mixed emotions for me. I love that everything is sort of regrowing and green and beautiful, and we’re about to be outside all the time, but I’m outside all winter long. If you guys are not winter people, give it a try. The winter weather is lovely, crisp air feels amazing on your face, skiing is awesome, I get it, it’s not for everybody, but winter hikes and winter outdoor activities do make the season pass so much more enjoyably. But now that the sun is returning, let’s all get out there and enjoy it with some home improvement projects. So whatever you are working on, give us a call at 888-Money-Pit so we can help you make those projects go much more efficiently. Coming up on today’s show, nothing signals the start of spring better than those fresh blooms like daffodils and tulips in full color. But if you want to enjoy those beautiful spring blooms, you need to be planting those bulbs right now, so we’re going to share some tips in a bit. And speaking of spring, there’s nothing like being able to open those windows for some fresh air, unless those windows have become stuck. So we’re going to help you free them up the easy way, and if you’re planning to start that garden in this early spring season, I kind of tend to not put anything in the ground until Mother’s Day, but if you are planting now, mulch is a great insulator, but if you put on too much, you can suffocate the growth. So we’re going to walk you through the best mulch practices in a little bit, but first, guys, we are here to help you plan and help you save some money on those home improvement projects, and to do that, we have a great prize this hour from our friends 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 or send us an email so we can help you with your projects and help you get those projects done right. Jim, who’s up? |
| 00:0 | JIM: On the line now, Leslie, we have Nancy from Arizona with a broken patio door. What’s happening over there, Nancy? |
| 00:02:30 | CALLER: It’s very, very hard to open, and it’s getting worse. Okay. When I go to open, I have to lift up on the handle a little bit to even get it to open. Okay. I had a friend come by, and he said, Oh, there’s the kit. You can fix that. So that’s fine. But my question is, should I replace this door or get one of those French doors? Which one would be more energy efficient? |
| 00:02:56 | LESLIE: So you have an old aluminum sliding door. Yeah. |
| 00:03:01 | LESLIE: You know, that door is never really going to be very efficient, and the rollers do wear out, and they probably are at this point. And sure, you can replace those rollers, but it is what it is. And I’ll say that because new sliding glass doors, they’re going to be vinyl clad. I mean, you can look at a vinyl clad Anderson door. Anderson makes one that’s designed for remodeling and one that’s designed for new construction. And the difference there is really important, because the remodeling door is exactly one inch shorter in height than the new construction door, which you’re not going to notice. You have to pay attention to the labeling on these doors. But if you’re putting it in, it does make it a lot easier because the remodeling door is built to fit into an existing opening. So if you get the right door, you can replace that slider with a brand new Anderson vinyl clad sliding door. It’s not a complicated job for a carpenter to do. They can do it in a couple of hours. So it would be cost efficient. And it’s really a beautiful door that’s going to perform well. It’s going to be energy efficient. Now, you mentioned French doors, which are really nice, too. And, you know, I have French doors from my dining room that go out into, like, our screen porch to the yard. But I love them, but they’re a little harder to keep airtight. But I just love the look of it. And I say it’s harder to keep airtight because you’re dealing with more opening points. And you’ve got a similar sort of opening. Point situation with the slider. But with the slider, you’re only dealing with the top and the bottom. But if you go with French doors, you’re dealing with an opening point down the center. And you may tend to get air leakage around the top, the sides, sort of at all of these functioning points. However, there are things that you can do as far as weather stripping. You can put weather stripping on the bottom of the door that kind of locks it into place. But they’re really gorgeous, a French door. And they do change the look of the room. And there’s just something that really makes the room look finished. And gorgeous with the French door. So I think if you find the right French door or the right new glass slider and it’s properly installed with the right weather stripping, you can reduce the amount of drafts, the amount of air leakage that occur with it. And I think you’re going to love the look of this space. It will be totally transformed. All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks for calling in at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:0 | JIM: Let’s head out to Virginia where we’ve got Peter. Peter, you’re on the Money Pit. How can we help? |
| 00:05:23 | CALLER: I have a house built 13 years ago. And one of the rooms on the first floor extends past the basement. So there’s a crawl space. I noticed just after they built that that there’s some moisture and mold in the adjacent closet in the basement to the crawl space. What they did was they put some thick plastic sheeting in the crawl space. And they put a dehumidifier and just a standard one that you can get like in the Home Depot or Lowe’s with a drainage hose. It goes into, I guess, a pipe or a drain. And that’s been running continuously for 13 years. And I haven’t had any moisture problems since. So I was just kind of wondering, is that the safest solution? And I guess I just have nightmares that the dehumidifier catches on fire because it just runs continuously. |
| 00:06:13 | LESLIE: All right. Well, let’s think about the reasons why that humidifier is running constantly. I mean, you’re probably needing to control the moisture that’s coming into the space. So let’s take a look at the exterior. The exterior of your home. You know, anywhere around the foundation, you want to look at how the soil is. Is it sitting all the way up against the foundation? Does it slope towards the house? Because you want to look at that and think about how that water is moving. Anything that’s out there, you know, if that soil is up against the foundation, if it’s sloping toward the house, that water is going to run right towards the house. So you want to slope it away from the house, and you want to angle it just to get things moving away. Now, the next area you want to check out are your gutters and downspouts. You need to make sure that they’re clear, they’re free-flowing, the downspouts aren’t just placing all of that water right next to the foundation. With the downspouts, the important thing here is that as it comes down, it sort of, again, slopes away from the house. And you want to get that downspout depositing that water about three feet, if you can go six feet, even better, away from the foundation. Because that’s super important, again, to get the water away. Also, check that out. Check out those downspouts because you could have a clog in a downspout and not even realize that it’s there. And it could be taking all of that water and maybe putting it right next to the foundation rather than moving it away. And that water, once it’s kind of in the foundation and moving through the sort of envelope of the home, really can move quite a good distance and cause a lot of havoc. So if you can control where it’s coming from and where it’s going to, that is super-duper-duper helpful. |
| 00:07:46 | CALLER: I think they have the dehumidifier set to run continuously. I think that’s, like, an option on the machine. You know, when they built the house, they put in French drains around the outside. I don’t have any trees next to the house that was shedding leaves. So, you know, I’m thinking the gutters are probably clear. And I’m thinking, you know, they just have the dehumidifier set just to run continuously. I was wondering, is that safe? You know, it’s been doing it for 13 years. Yeah. |
| 00:08:15 | LESLIE: Well, that type of dehumidifier that you’re talking about isn’t the kind that I would leave in a crawl space. You know, if you’ve been in a crawl space for over a decade, there are better dehumidifiers for that exact use. And they usually hang from the ceiling of a crawl space. And they can cover a much wider area. And they do a much better job of getting that moisture out. You can look at Thermastor. That’s T-H-E-R-M-A-S-T-O-R. They’re a manufacturer of this type of dehumidifier. They’re good for a basement unit. I mean, they’re really good. So even if you have all the grating and the drainage, and you’ve got all of that stuff fixed up and looking good, a better dehumidifier is going to help and just do a good job of getting all of that moisture out. So double-check everything. If you don’t have plastic sheathing on the floor of the crawl space, add it. It goes a long way, and you want it to go wall to wall and overlap. |
| 00:09:05 | CALLER: Yeah. |
| 00:09:06 | CALLER: Okay, great. Thank you very much. The entire height of the crawl space is maybe three and a half feet tall. And I haven’t noticed any, you know, issues in the closet next door. |
| 00:09:15 | LESLIE: Well, I think it’s just kind of there to head off the problems. I would personally replace that dehumidifier with a better quality one. Check out Thermastor. Look at Santa Fe. That’s another one of their brands. It’s a little less expensive. You can have an outlet installed where you’re placing it to help plug it in. You want to make sure that outlet is ground fault protected. And I think you’ve really got nothing to worry about. You can also have a condensate pump added so that it basically takes all that water and pumps it wherever you need it to go. Just, again, make sure it’s going away from the house, away from the foundation, not adding to the problems. |
| 00:09:48 | CALLER: Thank you very much. |
| 00:09:49 | LESLIE: All right, Pete. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Hey, you want to make our day? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and we’ll be jumping for joy. Plus, you guys, your feedback helps us make the show even better for you. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review. What are you guys tackling this weekend? You got some projects that you are thinking of taking on? Well, don’t do it alone. Let us give you a hand. Give us a call. Let us know what you are working on so we can help you get things done right the first time and keep you from running back and forth to the home center. One thing you don’t need to pick up at the home center is a prize that we are giving away this hour. It’s the Die Hard Maxx Industrial Strength Epoxy Floor Coating Kit. And this really is a great start to the spring cleaning projects you may have on your to-do list. This is a floor coating system in a high-gloss finish for garage and basement floors. So do this first and then get organizing in that new space. This kit can cover two things. It’s 250 square feet. It comes in a few color options, clear, gray, tan. And then you’ve got some decorative vinyl flakes that you put in to give it a really nice finish. The kit’s $127, which, believe me, if you were to hire a pro to do this project for you, you will be spending a lot more. And then you wouldn’t have that awesome do-it-yourself pride when you finish that project. It’s going to resist cracking and fading. Check it out at DaichCoatings.com. But give us a call or send us an email for your chance to win. Jim, who do we have on the line? |
| 00:1 | JIM: On line three, Leslie, we’ve got Ella from Arkansas with a roofing question. |
| 00:11:22 | CALLER: What’s up, Ella? I got a roof job coming on in a couple of weeks. They’re doing my roof and they’re doing my sliding. It was there so many years, it left mold, you know, the green stuff growing on my shingles, right? The guy that’s going to do my roof said that, oh, that’s okay, you can get up to three shingles before you have to take the old shingles off. Mold strikes a negative vibe in me because my husband and I have allergies. Would that affect us? They say they’re going to put the new roof over the old roof and the mold. I told him, no, that’s not going to happen. He said, well, what we’ll do, we’ll spray it with bleach, the mold, and we’ll rake it and then we’ll just cover it with the new roofing. And my question is, it is so much money. Is that wise? |
| 00:12:19 | LESLIE: Yeah, well, here’s the thing. When it comes to roofing, you can have multiple layers. Is it a good idea? Not always. I mean, one layer, great, everything’s fresh, it’s going to put the heat away from it, it’s going to keep the attic at the temperature that you want it to be, and then, you know, not too much weight on the roof. When you add a second layer, you’re reducing the lifespan of that layer that you’ve just put on because of the heat buildup. And in Arkansas, you can have a lot of heat in the summertime, and it will accelerate the deterioration of that top layer of roofing. Now, if you’re talking about adding a third layer and you’ve got some sort of growth on the roof already and you’ve got the heat of Arkansas, I don’t know. I mean, you could be putting a shingle on there that maybe would last 20 years now that you’ve got a layer or two underneath, maybe that 20-year shingle is only going to last 13 years. I mean, I’ve seen it cut a quarter to a third of the life off by doing that. So it’s always smart to remove those layers, get down to the sheathing, and I mean, you’re probably trying to avoid this part because this is the part that gets expensive. I mean, old layers, you’ve got to pull them off, you’ve got to dispose of them, but it really is the best way for you to tackle a roof replacement. And if you’re planning on being in your home for most of the life of the roof you’re putting on, it’s well worth it. And I know I say, like, oh, if you plan on being in the home for the life of the shingle, but it’s also whoever else is going to buy the house from you. Like, I hate to be like, oh, here’s a brand-new roofing shingle, but by the way, there’s two layers underneath, so it’s only going to last 13 years instead of 20. You know, it’s like, do the project right. Now, when it comes to the moss or the mold or whatever you’ve got going on there, there’s a lot of things that can grow in there. It can grow on a roof depending on the environmental conditions you’ve got. And it’s not always mold, although people tend to call sort of a growth that’s green mold. There’s a product that you can use. I think there’s one spray and forget. There’s one called wet and forget. And you spray that roofing surface. It kind of smothers all of that biological growth and then stops it from coming back. It will kill what’s there. It kind of just sort of naturally dies off and goes away. There is a bit of a residual effect that will stay on there. But if you apply it about every two years, you won’t see any further mold, moss, algae, lichen. You know, those are the names of all of those odd things that can grow on a roofing shingle. So it’s up to you here. But if I was going to replace the roof, I would just get everything off, go down to the sheathing, make any repairs to the sheathing, put proper underlayment on there, and start over. Get the best lifespan and get the best roof that you can for your money and for your home. |
| 00:1 | JIM: Another thing you might want to consider, Ella, before you do any of that, is consider having a Roof Maxx roofer come take a peek at it and give you his opinion. You might be able to buy 5, 10, 15 years out of the roof you have as opposed to replacing it. |
| 00:15:24 | LESLIE: Jim’s right. Roof Maxx is another great product. They’ll come out and assess to see if your roof is even a viable candidate. And what Roof Maxx is, it’s sort of like an oiled roof. It’s an oiled formula that goes on top of the shingle that sort of rejuvenates it and gives it a second life. It might not work if you have multiple layers, but they’ll tell you that. And they’re going to give you a very valuable opinion. And for a fraction of the cost, you can extend the life of what’s there. So Roof Maxx 2X is also a great way to check out. |
| 00:1 | JIM: And they’re super eco-friendly. |
| 00:15:56 | LESLIE: Okay, I appreciate it. Thanks for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, nothing signals the start of spring better than all of those fresh plants. It’s got blooms popping up from the ground. It’s daffodils. It’s crocus. It’s tulips. And tulips come in so many colors. But if you want to see those beautiful spring blooms soon, you need to be planting those bulbs now. I mean, the secret here to successful blooms do start with the timing. So summer bulbs aren’t tolerant of cold temperatures. And those should be planted after the ground warms up and there’s no longer a threat of frost. But if you’re ready to start planting, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind. First of all, bulbs do not really like super wet soil. So you want to make sure you plant them in well-draining sandy soil. You want to add a good bulb fertilizer to the bottom of the hole and scratch it into the soil really, really well before you put the bulb into the hole. You also want to be careful not to plant too shallow. You want to follow the instructions on the package. But the general rule is to plant two to two and a half times deep as the bulb is tall. Believe me, squirrels love to eat these. These are like the tastiest snack for them. So if you don’t plant them deep enough, I think they can like sniff them out like a shark with blood and water. And they’re like, ah, tasty snack over there in Garden City. I’m going to get them. So definitely mind how deep you plant those bulbs. Now, if you’re trying to decide which bulbs you want to plant, here’s a couple of good options. Tulips, they’re super popular. One trick with tulips is you can replant the same colors in the same bed. You can do that year after year to make up for the bulbs that just don’t come back. But remember, if deer are in your area, they love tulips. They love them when they’re bulbs. They love them when they’re flowers. They love them in every phase of growth. So if deer are in your yard, try to go for something else. The other great one is a daffodil. And these really are sort of the workhorses of spring flowering blooms. They’re available in a large variety of colors and bloom times. I kind of like to plant these in large groupings, like hundreds of bulbs if you’ve got the spot, for a huge impact. When you plant in moss like that, you can snip a few for inside, but still not miss them outside. And you want to buy varieties that naturalize. They’re going to grow and flower year after year without replanting. You also want to consider timing as well. Some bulbs are going to bloom later in the summer, or bloom again, or bloom for a longer time, like dahlias bloom well into the fall. So kind of take a look at the bulbs you’re planting, and then create a timeline so something’s always growing, something’s always blooming. And if you do have questions about what’s going to work in your area, your local garden center is going to be your best friend. So head on over there. Thanks so much for joining us. Let’s get into those calls. Jim, who’s first? |
| 00:1 | JIM: Heading out to Delaware, Leslie, we’ve got Vincent on the line with a plaster issue. Tell us what’s cracking up at your money pit. |
| 00:18:55 | CALLER: My cousin has a two-story house. It’s all brick. It was built in the 1930s. Upstairs in the bedroom, there’s a crack going from the ceiling to the floor in both outside corners. And there’s a crack going from the corner to the center of the room. And in front of the house, the brick is pulling away from the molding on the floor. |
| 00:19:19 | LESLIE: So for a house that was built in the 30s, this kind of cracking isn’t all that uncommon. Has it always been this way, or do you think this is more of a recent development? |
| 00:19:29 | CALLER: Last time I was talking with him, he showed me the house. He says, look, do you have any idea what’s causing these cracks? To me, it looks like the walls are separating from the building. Okay. Especially in the front, between the molding and the outside wall, you get a flashlight, look down there and see the brick. Well, |
| 00:19:43 | LESLIE: I think if you think that it’s recent, then you’ve got two options at this point. One of which would be to hire an ASHE certified professional home inspector. And that’s a guy who’s a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors. And that’s really important because those are the guys that are the pros in the business and they’re certified. The second option might be to hire a structural engineer. It’s going to be a more expensive option, but if it turns out to be something that you need, because if it’s a serious problem, that structural engineer is actually going to specify the repair, then you can have it corrected. And then you can have that engineer certify that that repair was done correctly. If you think this is active, that’s important information. And I would have it looked at by a professional. I would not mess around with a contractor or anybody like that. I would have it looked at by someone who has nothing to gain from giving you repair advice, only diagnostic advice. And you want expert diagnostic advice for that. Because they’re going to tell you what exactly is going on. |
| 00:20:40 | CALLER: Yes, and what was the abbreviation for that home inspector? |
| 00:20:43 | LESLIE: Yeah, that was ASHE, A-S-H-I. It stands for the American Society of Home Inspectors. You can go to ashe.org, you put in your zip code, and you get a list of all of these certified home inspectors in your area. |
| 00:20:56 | CALLER: Okay, thank you very much. |
| 00:20:57 | LESLIE: All right, good luck, Vince. Thanks again for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, spring is here, and it’s a time when there’s nothing like being able to throw open those windows for some fresh air. I mean, truly, you’re kind of stuck inside all winter. Windows down, heat on. So as soon as it gets a little bit warm, you do just want to throw open those windows. But sometimes the winter season gets those windows simply stuck. I mean, if you’ve got a wood window and you paint a window, the paint kind of acts like glue and seals that window in place. And that adhesive quality of that paint really is something to behold. I can’t believe how much paint can stick something shut. But you have to be careful with a window how you free up that stuck paint because if you damage that window or break the glass, it could be a bigger, bigger problem. I mean, obviously, you’re going to get the fresh air you’ve been looking for, but not in a way that you wanted. So how do we free up those windows so we can enjoy the spring season? First of all, you’ve got to break that seal. And you can do that with a metal putty knife. It’s a spackle knife or a 5-in-1 painter’s tool will also do the trick. And you want to slip this between the window sash and the frame and kind of saw all the way around it with the horizontal and vertical sides of the window being where you focus around that sash. Then you want to move outside of the window if you can, if it’s on the first floor, and repeat the process, cutting the paint seal around the entire sash. Next, you can slip a flat pry bar underneath the sash directly in line with that window’s vertical style and kind of gently pry up both the left and right sides of that sash until it breaks free. Now, Jim, I swear you told me another trick where you actually tap the window sash downward with the hammer to kind of free it up. How does that work? |
| 00:2 | JIM: Yeah, actually, Tom taught me this. It kind of ties into mechanics. I do a lot of mechanical stuff, and sometimes you’re trying to get a bolt loose or a nut off or something. You go the opposite direction you want to go just for a little bit, then try to crack it free that way. So I tried all the things you had just mentioned in that segment, and it still didn’t work. I couldn’t get the window free, so I called Tom. The first thing he said is, Why did you paint it shut in the first place? So he gave me this little tip, and it actually worked great. You take a little wood block, and you put it on top of the window frame right along the side of the channel that the window runs up and down in. You put a wood block on either side, and you tap down on the window. When you’re trying to lift it up, you tap down on both sides, and that shock was enough to actually crack what I couldn’t get with the putty knife and everything else I had tried prior. That was enough to work it loose, and sure enough, it opened up, and guess who had to buy him lunch? love that. But it saved me a lot of time, and it makes sense when you tie it into other kinds of things. I just hadn’t thought about using it for a window. |
| 00:23:47 | LESLIE: All right, we’ve got to love Tom’s trick of the trade. |
| 00:2 | JIM: Oh, yeah. |
| 00:23:51 | LESLIE: What do you guys have on your project list this weekend? Is it maybe emptying out the garage so you can reorganize it? Well, if that’s what you’re doing, don’t put the stuff back in yet, because we have a great prize this hour that goes hand-in-hand with spring cleaning. It’s the Die Hard Maxx Industrial Strength Epoxy Floor Coating Kit. It’s basically a super tough high-gloss finish for your garage floor, even a basement floor, and it comes in a kit, covers about 250 square feet, and it comes in some great colors. You’ve got gray or tan, but of course clear if you like that look of the gray concrete, and then you sort of add in these decorative flakes. That gives it a wonderful finish. Now, the kit’s only $127, which, let me tell you, is way less than you would be paying if you hired a pro, and then, of course, you’re going to end up with that awesome feeling of doing a project yourself in a very easy-to-follow DIY kit. You’re going to end up with a finish that resists cracking, fading, peeling, mold, mildew growth. It is a super way to finish out your garage. You can check it out at DaichCoatings.com, but of course, give us a call for your chance to win a kit. Jim, who’s on the line? |
| 00:2 | JIM: All right, Leslie calling in from my home state of Michigan. We’ve got Sharon on the line. How can we help, Sharon? |
| 00:25:05 | CALLER: We had a new fireplace, gas fireplace, put in last July, and almost constantly, since we’ve had it put in, we hear a whistling, howling noise behind the glass, behind the fireplace. We’ve called the installers, and they had a wind guard made and came out just a few months ago and put it up by the new cap, and the noise is still there. I hear it almost every single day. |
| 00:25:47 | LESLIE: That’s weird that you have a sound, and it’s a gas fireplace. It’s completely brand new, or this was a masonry fireplace that you converted to gas? |
| 00:25:55 | CALLER: The fireplace and all the venting is brand new. When we had the house built 12 years ago, that fireplace went out about a year or so ago, and we couldn’t find replacement parts. Everything was discontinued and obsolete, so that’s why we had to put in a brand new fireplace. |
| 00:26:17 | LESLIE: What brand is the fireplace that you put in? |
| 00:26:20 | CALLER: It’s a Travis 864 TRV. |
| 00:26:25 | LESLIE: And the venting on this, is it up through the roof, or does it go out the back of the fireplace? |
| 00:26:30 | CALLER: No, it goes up through the roof. The fireplace is almost in the middle of the house. I did call and ask the guys that put in the venting, the new venting, the angles and the length, and they told me that they went up, and the two angles are going to be at 45 degrees. Initially, from the fireplace, it goes up 12, then turns and goes 10 feet, and then up 10 feet to the roof, and the two angles are 45 degrees. |
| 00:27:05 | LESLIE: Where it goes through the roof, there’s a rule called the 2-10 rule of chimney construction, which means that it’s got to be at least 2 feet above any part of the roof within a 10-foot radius. So if you were to kind of have a 10-foot string swing around that chimney, it has to be 2 feet above the roof at the closest point. Alright, well here’s what I would do. I think you’ve already talked enough to the installers and the folks that brought you this form. I would now talk to the manufacturer, and I would go directly to the folks at Travis Industries. Their website is simply travisindustries.com, but they do have a separate website for this particular fireplace brand, and it’s called fireplacex.com. And I see the information on the 864. It’s a beautiful unit, but I suspect that you’re having an issue with the venting. And the problem in the venting might have to do with the type of vent that you use, or the installation of the vent, or the height of the vent above the roof perhaps not being tall enough. But it sounds to me like what’s happening is the wind blows over that vent, and you’re getting this whistling noise, and it should be something that they can kind of figure out and design a workaround. But I still would call the manufacturer, and kind of figure out what the issues are. I mean, there could have been a manufacturing issue, and it could be a simple replace, or it could just be something that wasn’t installed right, and they’ll know instantly since they’re so familiar with the product. I mean, you really shouldn’t be putting up with this, okay? All right. All right. Thanks so much. All right. You’re welcome, Sharon. Good luck with the project. I hope it quiets down, and you get to enjoy that fireplace without the noise. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. Well, if you’re getting ready to plant a new tree, or a bush this spring season, adding mulch can both protect its roots and prevent weed growth. But there can be too much. I almost said too mulch of a good thing. Truly, though, you can put too much mulch, and you can apply it the wrong way. So here’s a few things to think about. First of all, you want to avoid creating that mulch volcano, that kind of layered up mulch that builds up to a volcano-looking dome that covers the tree root flare. This is where that trunk of the tree swells outward and transitions into the root system. And when the mulch is piled too high above that root flare, the primary root system can suffocate, and that can cause the bark to fall off, and then, of course, that can kill the tree. So let’s talk about how you apply that mulch properly. First of all, you want to make sure the soil is already weeded before you apply the mulch. You don’t want to just dump a wheelbarrow full of mulch. You want to use your hands so that you can gauge the depth of the mulch you’re applying. You want to lay down a thick enough layer to discourage those weeds from coming up through it. A four-inch layer of mulch will discourage weeds, although a two-inch layer is usually enough in a shady spot. So you kind of have to determine what you need for what area of the yard. In terms of the type of mulch, I prefer the wood chip mulch over the shredded mulch, which sometimes can contain a type of fungus called artillery fungus. It can become airborne, and it kind of can stick to your house or your car, and it looks sort of like a paint splatter. I think they call it artillery fungus because it kind of looks like, you know, shots from a shotgun, like it’s a lot of little speckles, and it can really stick and be super tough to get rid of. So I definitely like the wood chip mulch over the shredded because of that reason, and I also love the look of a black mulch over that brown or the red, but totally your preference. There’s a lot of great options out there. Good luck with all of your spring plantings. Subtitles We’re going to jump into our email questions. Jim, what do you got? |
| 00:3 | JIM: Kim has a question about her water heater. Leslie, she says, it’s 20 years old, and there are yellowish rings in my sink and tub from what I’m guessing is the hot water. Sometimes the water is a bit yellowed and has a slight odor, and do you think it’s time to replace the water heater, or is there anything else I could do? |
| 00:31:02 | LESLIE: Well, I mean, you’re saying it’s about 20 years old, and generally water heaters are going to last about 10 years, Kim. And definitely over time, water heaters are going to collect rust at the bottom, and it’s especially common if you’ve got hard water. Now, you should be draining that water heater once a year. Most people don’t, and let’s be honest, I never have. Jim, have you? |
| 00:3 | JIM: Oh, yeah, Leslie. I do it three times a week. No, no. I put mine in maybe five years ago, and I’ve done it once. |
| 00:31:29 | LESLIE: Yeah. So, I mean, you’re not alone, Kim, if you haven’t done it. If you do choose to drain that water heater, which I suspect is going to help you a bit, you should cut the power to the unit, assuming it’s electric, turn off the gas. If it’s a gas supply heater, open the vent, be super careful, because it can spill out when the hot water is out. Oh, I also should say turn off the water supply before you open that vent. Then drain without opening the pressure valve. If you don’t open that pressure valve, it’s going to take a long time. That said, you can let it cool a few hours before you open the valve and drain. Wear eye protection, long sleeve, heat gloves, those chunks of rust should come out with the water. Once that’s done, do the reverse. Once it sort of fills up, re-apply the power or the gas. Let us know how it goes because it might be time to replace the unit. And if that’s it, we’ll help you with that project too. |
| 00:3 | JIM: Well, Leslie, small kitchens can be a tough place to work in, right? |
| 00:32:21 | LESLIE: Yeah, they are. |
| 00:3 | JIM: But a few modest updates can make it feel bigger and work way better. So why don’t you share some of those tips that you’ve compiled in today’s edition of, drum roll, Leslie’s Last Word. |
| 00:32:35 | LESLIE: All right. Thanks, Jim. You know, small kitchens, they can be cozy, but opening them up might involve a whole lot of expense. But it doesn’t have to, you guys. We’ve got some secret ways that you can add the feeling of space. And one way to do that is adding a skylight. If you’ve got the space for it, you can open up that ceiling to add more light and also visually expands the space. But if you don’t have the right roofline for it or if it’s too big of a project, you can add a sun tunnel, which is a round skylight that you set in the room with a tube that fiends down to the ceiling, like sort of like a light diffuser. The tube is mirrored on the inside, so it collects that sunlight and kind of just shoots it down the shaft right to that, you know, skylight, if you will, or sun tunnel in your ceiling. It’s a great way to just let that natural light in. If that small space is dark, it really does help out a lot and isn’t a huge project. Now, another idea is to remove any soffits that you’ve got above the cabinet because that’s going to create the illusion of space by allowing the eye to follow a wider ceiling. You can also consider removing the doors of your cabinets for open shelving or use glass-fronted doors to give the room some more depth. I find, though, once you sort of take the cabinet doors off, you better be a super organized person or not have a ton of kids that love every cup in the land because you will just have too much stuff that you can’t hide. Again, same with the glass-front doors. If you’re going to make this commitment, you better be ready for it. And so, you can just add some other lighting to the space. You can get these wonderful attachments that screw into sort of a ceiling can light bulb socket that creates a hanging pendant. And that just changes the feel of the space and kind of could be great over a sink or if you have a small island. This is a great way to just kind of change up the look, give the illusion of more space. You can go with a lighter paint color. You can paint the cabinets a lighter color. You don’t have to spend a ton of money and you can do a lot of this stuff. You can do a lot of these yourself. So, give them a try and see how you enjoy your newly improved kitchen space. Coming up, does your home make a good first impression? Well, we’re going to share some low-cost landscaping ideas to help your home be the standout of the neighborhood on the next Money Pit. Remember, whatever you guys are working on, 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