#2513 – Trex RainEscape Product Features | George Oliphant Interview #2 | Soil Tests for Lush Lawns

[Theme Music]

If your roots start to leak, or your floor’s really squeak, you’re living a money pit, money pit. If your basement needs a pump, or your place looks like a dump, you’re living a money pit, money pit. Pick up the telephone, fix up your home sweet home, by calling 888-MONEY-PIT.

 

[Jim]

The Money Pit is presented by Trex and Moen. Now, here’s Leslie Segrete.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Welcome to The Money Pit, where we make good homes better. I’m Leslie Segrete. What are you guys working on this weekend?

 

We are, like, quickly approaching Memorial Day, which is awesome, except I feel like it’s, oh, it’s like New Year’s Eve for me. It’s like this big build-up Memorial Day, and then, like, usually it rains. So, you know, it’s like, you’re like, oh man, New Year’s Eve is gonna be the best.

 

And then you get in a fight with your boyfriend, and you’re like, no, that was terrible. You know what I mean, though? So, it’s like, I’m so excited that Memorial Day is, like, approaching.

 

Summer’s gonna be happening. We’ll be back at the beach. We’ll be grilling.

 

It’ll be all the great summer stuff. But I’m always like, ugh, the weather, you know, is not gonna be that great. So, whatever you’ve got going on, let’s get excited for summer.

 

We’re gonna do all the things to get the yard and the house in tip-top shape so we can enjoy the outdoor spaces. Whether or not, you know, Memorial Day brings the official weather we want, it’s definitely gonna be the opening gates of an awesome season for everyone. So, let us know how we can help you with all of your projects.

 

Solve your home improvement dilemmas. Whatever you’ve got working on, we are here to lend a hand. Coming up this hour, with summer being around the corner, if you are short on space because you’re about to have a lot of friends, or you want to make a new outdoor space in the yard, we will help you figure out how to best create that outdoor space, or find extra storage because you’ve just got all your yard stuff kicking around the lawn.

 

We want you to have the most awesome backyard. So, we’re gonna share tips to help you get organized. And this hour, again joining us, we’ve got George Oliphant.

 

You know him as the host of NBC’s George to the Rescue. He’s just an awesome guy who’s gonna share some great building tips and tell us about his wonderful caring show, George to the Rescue. So, that’s coming up.

 

Plus, are you ready to see your lawn grow bright and green? Well, that will only happen if the soil is set for the season. So, we’re gonna tell you how to test and tweak that soil so you get that lush green lawn that will be the envy of the entire neighborhood.

 

And whatever project you have got working on, maybe one of them is a bathroom makeover. Well, if so, we have a great prize for you this hour. Really, it’s a great prize for everyone listening.

 

One lucky listener, though, will get the super smart Moen handheld shower that saves water in a lovely chrome finish worth $79.99. So, give us a call right now at 888-MONEYPIT. Jim, who’s first?

 

[Jim]

Out in Missouri, we’ve got Lori on the line, Leslie. And she needs help with spackling. What’s going on there, Lori?

 

[Lori in Missouri]

Well, I have, basically, it’s that popcorn ceiling. I’d like to know an easy way that’s not so messy to remove it. I want to have a flat ceiling.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, unfortunately, you can’t do that project without having a big mess. And it’s gonna get quite messy. But there are a couple of tricks of the trade that will help you get through this project.

 

So, let’s walk you through it. The first thing you need to do is test for asbestos because you want to make sure that there’s no asbestos in that popcorn material. You can pick up a testing kit for the asbestos at any kind of home hardware store near you.

 

Or you can use an outside lab. I mean, it’s not terribly expensive, but you do want to make sure that it’s not asbestos in any way before you tackle this project. Now, once you know that, the best process here is really something called, like, a wet scrape.

 

And you get a one-gallon garden sprayer, any kind of garden sprayer, and you spray that popcorn material very lightly. You don’t want to over-spray it, but you want to kind of saturate it and then let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. And then you should be able to take that wide spackle knife or putty knife and simply scrape that popcorn right off the ceiling.

 

You want to go slow. You want to start in a small area, but you have to make sure that it’s really absorbed that water well. And once you’ve scraped that entire ceiling, you can kind of take a survey of the job.

 

Did you miss some spots? Do you have to go over an area again? But you want to make sure that you’ve got it all off.

 

The other thing is you can try to do it dry, but it really isn’t going to give you the same level of success as that wet scrape. If you do have asbestos, obviously it’s not a project that you could do. If there’s lead paint, it could be a problem.

 

It’s so much easier for the stuff to become airborne when it’s dry, so the wet approach is definitely better for a do-it-yourself project. If you do choose to go with the dryer approach, definitely have a vacuum handy. It’s going to be super dusty.

 

Same for, you know, a wet-dry vac helps you out with the other approach as well. You just want to make sure as you’re pulling off all the debris, it goes right into the vacuum, it goes right into proper drop cloths. You just have to make sure that you’re working with that wide scraper and just know that you’re going to get super messy.

 

And the other thing you should consider here is as you’re scraping, try to be careful and not gouge that ceiling. It’s not going to be a perfect project because you are working hard to get all of that popcorn off. But if you do end up with any gouges in the ceiling, you can kind of fill it.

 

Primer is going to be your best friend here to make sure that you’re getting good adhesion. Don’t go with any sort of sheen in that ceiling paint because if there are any areas of unevenness, you’re going to notice it a lot more. But, you know, and your neck is going to hurt.

 

This is a project that’s definitely, like, not a fun one. I hate doing anything on the ceiling. But you’re going to be so pleased with the difference you see once that popcorn ceiling is down.

 

And real proud of yourself for a do-it-yourself well done. All right. I appreciate it.

 

My husband’s laughing at me. Yeah, I don’t think your husband’s laughing at you. I think he’s laughing because he’s happy because he doesn’t have to do it.

 

[Jim]

All right, Leslie, out in Michigan, my home state, is Dennis. And he has a roofing issue or something along those lines. What’s going on, Dennis?

 

[Dennis in Michigan]

Well, a while ago, I dropped a container of roofing cement off a shelf in my garage. It was a powder form, and apparently it got a little wet at one point. It then dried onto the floor.

 

Now, the floor is a concrete cement floor, which I had stained years ago and put a cement stain on it to protect it. So I’m wondering, what is going to be the best way to get that off? Am I going to have to use some uratic acid to loosen it up and then scrape it off?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, the first thing you should try is to just physically scrape off as much as you can. I truly don’t think, though, that you’re going to be able to save that finish that you put on the concrete underneath. You’re going to end up having to restain that whole surface again, but you do need to physically get off as much as you can.

 

I think the fact that it’s been sitting there for so long and it has cured is going to make this a very difficult project. You might be able to use a solvent after you get as much off physically as you can first, maybe like a mineral spirits. And then you could also work it in with a wire brush that you’re really getting into the concrete and see if that starts to help break it down.

 

Acetone would work as well. I know that the roofers of the world will tell you to put gasoline on it, and it would probably work, but that seems super dangerous to me. I would not recommend spilling gasoline on any type of surface purposefully.

 

I think mineral spirits is going to be enough. You apply it. You brush it in carefully with the wire brush.

 

It gets into that material. It gets into sort of the pores of the concrete. And then you may have a shot of sort of getting it up a little bit.

 

All right, well, good luck with your project, and thank you again for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT. Hey, Money Pit listeners. If we’ve saved you some time, money, or hassles with your projects, you would totally make our day by leaving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.

 

Just go to moneypit.com slash review. You guys, it was a big to-do here at the Segretti household. I paid the deposit on my new Foyer windows, which could have been a new car.

 

Sweet Jesus. Windows are expensive. But I’m super excited for this leaky mess to be taken care of.

 

So I’m going to say the countdown to six weeks until that window arrives. Woo-hoo!

 

[Jim]

It’ll be eight. It’ll be at least eight. Thanks, Jim, Mr. Positive.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, whatever, what do you guys have? What’s on your plate this weekend? Let us know so we can lend a hand.

 

And you could win a great prize that isn’t going to take eight weeks to get to you because I’m going to make sure Jim puts it in the mail immediately following the show.

 

[Jim]

Yes, ma’am.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

We’ve got up for grabs the Moen handheld shower that saves water in a chrome finish. It’s a super innovative handheld shower that is set to reduce water flow to a trickle once it reaches your desired temp. So that water is going to be exactly how you like it.

 

You are not wasting water while you’re doing all those other things for the water to heat up. It also has the Magnetic’s technology which will release that handheld from the magnetic dock and really kind of snap it right back into place even if your eyes are closed because you know, you’re singing, you got shampoo, you’re like dancing around and you’re just putting the handheld back up there. At least that’s what goes on in my shower.

 

It’s got five unique spray functions. Listen, you do it too, don’t lie.

 

[Jim]

Not in your shower.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

No, but in your own. And I know everybody at home is like, yeah, I do that myself.

 

[Jim]

Exactly.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Anyway, it’s got five unique spray functions so you’re always going to get that perfect shower. It’s a price worth $79.98. You can check it out at moen.com, but that chrome finish is going out to one lucky color. Jim, who’s singing in the shower next?

 

[Jim]

Okay, Leslie, we’ve got Helen in Massachusetts. She’s dealing with a leaky sewage system and it’s causing a bunch of issues for her. What’s going on there, Helen?

 

[Helen in Massachusetts]

Unfortunately, I have had a crack in the waste pipe that takes all the waste from my top floor to the septic system. It has flooded my basement. Number one, is there a way to fix the waste pipe or do we have to go and have a plumber come in and cut the waste pipe and reinstall a new one?

 

Number two, I need something to put on the floor of the basement. We had carpeting. The carpeting is ruined now and I don’t want to put carpeting down again.

 

What would you suggest?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

That is absolutely terrible, Helen, but here is the good news. Because this was sort of a sudden situation, it was a crack, a sudden leak, this would actually be covered by your homeowner’s insurance policy. Definitely call them immediately.

 

File a claim. If it was something that was like a slow leak that was happening over time, that’s on you, but something like a crack like this and it causes a flood and all this damage, you definitely want to call your insurance company. They’re going to send out an investigator.

 

They’re going to estimate the damage, but you guys could also hire a public adjuster. These guys work on a percentage of the claim and often they find a lot more than the insurance team does because they’re basically working to make sure everything is covered from the layer of paint to the nails to the screws, like everything in between from top to bottom. You also need, because this was a sewage issue, they’re going to have to call in a remediation company and they’re going to come in and treat all of these sewage affected areas because obviously it was a lot of waste down there and that’s very unhealthy.

 

I’m sure it doesn’t smell great and the interesting thing, the remediation team will also sort of evaluate everything else in the house. When we had a flood at my folks’ home, the house ran out of oil, the pipes froze, it was cold, nobody could get to the fill because of the snow. When the pipes thawed and they were able to fill, the amount of water in the house was insane and continually running.

 

This remediation company came in, I believe it was ServPro, and not only did they remove all the drywall and assess all the furniture, they went into the other rooms and were like, oh, these clothes were exposed and there could be mold spores, so we’re going to clean them. These companies really help to sort of set you back up for success and make sure anything that’s salvageable is, anything that needs to be cleaned or taken care of or treated is also, and then anything that’s bad, they’re getting rid of for you. There’s a lot of help with these remediation companies.

 

Now, for your carpet, generally in a basement, carpet’s not a good idea. You get dust mites, it’s damp, it could be moldy, it’s a real mess, so definitely choose a hard flooring surface when it’s time to kind of reevaluate what you’re doing down there. And, you know, now you guys can spend more time outside because, you know, the inside’s kind of a mess.

 

Which is fine. Yeah, so I think once you’ve sort of gone through this process with the insurer and the remediation company, whatever’s left over, this is a great time to sort of reorganize, declutter, get rid of the things that you don’t want in that new space so that when everything is redone and fresh and healthy, you’ve got a nice clean palette to work with all of the stuff that you definitely want to keep. I’m sorry this all happened to you, but it could be a blessing.

 

Well, a functional outdoor living space is one of the most sought-after features among today’s homebuyers, and let’s be honest, pretty much every homeowner out there wants one too. In fact, COVID saw all of us, like, revamping our outdoor space in such a big way so that we could really enjoy the most of our home, but not everyone was able to create that outdoor dream space because maybe you’ve got a sort of dark damp area below an elevated deck, and depending on the height of that elevated deck or that space, you could either have an outdoor room, you could have great storage space, but you need proper drainage to achieve that. Trex Rain Escape is an innovative under-deck drainage system. I mean, previously to drain an elevated deck, you were kind of stuck looking at that whole system below the joist, so it was very present in your, you know, eyesight every time you used that space, but Rain Escape is a series of troughs and downspouts that’s going to move that rain and snow away from the deck, and that’s going to keep that space underneath dry, all the while protecting your foundation from moisture damage and deterioration. Now, unlike those other drainage systems, Trex Rain Escape is installed between the joist and the decking, so it will protect the surface and the structure and the space below the deck, but you are not going to even notice it at all.

 

And once that’s protected, that space below, you can use it for everything from storage to a fully functional outdoor room. I mean, if you’ve got this space sort of all buttoned up, you can add in gas lines for an outdoor kitchen, electricity for safe lighting, ceiling fans, even a TV so you can catch those baseball games from your own outdoor stadium. To see for yourself how Trex Rain Escape works, you can check them out online at trexrainescape.com.

 

That’s T-R-E-X-R-A-I-N-E-S-C-A-P-E-D-O-T-C-O-M. Let’s see who’s got a project they need a hand with. Jim, who’s up?

 

[Jim]

Jason in Arkansas is on the line. Leslie has a question about lightning control. Ooh, what’s going on there?

 

[Jason in Arkansas]

Due to a hailstorm a couple years ago, I replaced my roof with a metal roof, and in a recent storm, lightning destroyed my heat and air unit, and the technician was out here, and there’s actually an old grounding rod on the southwest corner of my house that I didn’t even know existed, but it is no longer connected to anything, so I need to know what I can do to prevent further loss of air conditioning units and whatever other appliances are at my house here.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright, well first of all, let’s talk about homeowners insurance. Do you have any?

 

[Jason in Arkansas]

Oh, sure. Yeah, the insurance paid for the heat and air unit.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright, good. I want to make sure you knew that, because lightning is covered.

 

[Jason in Arkansas]

There’s this ground rod in the ground, and it has a wire connected to it that’s buried, but it is no longer connected to anything. I didn’t even know it existed here.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright, well I’m not sure if that wire was ever connected to this lightning rod on the old roof, or maybe it was taken off and replaced with a metal roof, and just sort of never reconnected, but typically, if you had a lightning rod on your roof, there would be a heavy copper cable that went down the exterior wall of your house, and that would be connected to the grounding rod, which is a long metal stake, about 4 to 6 feet long, and that goes deep into the ground, and the idea here is that if lightning strikes, it strikes that lightning rod, the electricity is carried through the cable down to the ground. Now the position of that cable is important. If you know that there’s plumbing in the exterior wall, you do not want to run that cable along where the plumbing is, because it could happen that the electricity could jump across the cable to the plumbing pipes and electrocute anybody that’s in contact with them, so it has to be done correctly.

 

But I suspect here that you’re talking about parts of an old lightning rod system that was in place but definitely is no longer active.

 

[Jason in Arkansas]

That’s what it would appear. So I need to purchase some, is this something that’s available at Lowe’s or somewhere, these lightning rods?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, I don’t know if you’re going to find sort of a kit, if you will, at a big box retailer. I’ve never seen it, but then again I don’t really shop for lightning control in my area. Perhaps where you live, you do, but I would sort of start online, and if they’re going to have it, it’ll be in their big box stores, you’ll find it on the website, but I think the placement is the most important part, and you’re going to have to know some stuff structurally about your home, about the plumbing of your home, and what’s in the ground.

 

[Jason in Arkansas]

Alright, well I appreciate it very much.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright Jason, well good luck with that project and thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEYBIT. As a person who lost a dryer in an electrical storm, I understand this frustration. This is Leslie Segretti.

 

We are here with George Oliphant, good friend of mine and of course the amazing host and heart of George to the Rescue on NBC. So George, you’re telling us how you sort of got in with this first family, Uncle Al and his niece and nephew.

 

[George Oliphant]

Uncle Al.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Uncle Al. So you started this program, and when did you realize at this point, obviously you’re doing a kitchen, you’re doing a big repair, you’re doing a lot of work. How did it sort of, now all of a sudden, we’re going to give you a whole chunk of time?

 

[George Oliphant]

We beg, borrow, and steal, and everyone, we had no budget especially at that time, we had no budget.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

You still beg, borrow, and steal, George?

 

[George Oliphant]

Right now we still beg, borrow, and steal, and then we were like we didn’t have the pool we do today and so the project took us like what a regular kitchen project would take. Six months, you know, had to do the planning and getting all the materials and ducks in a row and then we did it and when it came time to, you know, as we finished it we said this is too much, A, too much generosity, but also too great of a story. We want to tell who Uncle Al is, we want to show what we did, we want all the elements which currently you see in a George Rescue and so we went to battle with the execs, which they were thankfully accommodating and we said we should do a half hour open house to the rescue special they said we’ll entertain it, we did it, and it got an incredible reaction people said this is what I want to see, I want more of that.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

You’ve done 180 rescues.

 

[George Oliphant]

And that wasn’t even number one, that was that’s not even counted, Uncle Al.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

So, since then, 180 rescues, how does this all come together? Are people nominating folks that they know in their community? Are people nominating themselves?

 

Like, where do you find every story?

 

[George Oliphant]

Oh, we find stories all over the place. We see people on the news and for instance, there’s this boy, Sparsh Shaw who I was just literally sitting with my dad, like, having a snack and he had the TV on and it was that show, Little Big Shots and there’s this boy in a wheelchair and he’s this musician and I was like, wow he’s captivating, he’s incredible and I reached out to my senior producer who’s my right hand, left hand he’s a part of me Andrew Bank and I said we should see where this kid lives and what his living situation is like and if possible maybe we can, you know, help him out and sure enough he lived in a very small house in New Jersey and he was in his wheelchair, he couldn’t fit into his bathroom his parents had to carry him into the bathroom if they wanted to brush his teeth or anything like that and like I said before he was a musician so we created a studio for him, we fixed up his house so that it was more ADA compliant, that’s just one of many we hear word of mouth especially once you have this rescue community of families who whether they have suffered a spinal cord injury or they have a child with some disability or just all these different fields where they get early intervention or rehabilitation, we know all those people and they’ll sometimes be like, oh you know maybe George Rest you can figure that out or help you out or fix up your house.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I think what’s interesting George is that, you know, having worked on these makeover shows, you’re given such a limited amount of time to sort of go into the how to’s of things so are you hoping to sort of develop something a little further? Where you’re keeping up these great stories but you’re able to then share additional information about the construction process and the how to’s?

 

[George Oliphant]

I am I am. With George to Rescue and it being a human interest show that uses home improvement to tell the story a lot of the who, what, when where, why, that’s an incredible transformation how did that happen? A lot of it gets lost or is glazed over so I am utilizing the world of YouTube and just give a little bit more deeper dive into kind of what we did, how we did it, why we did it, things to look out for, things to keep in mind whether it’s where you live what type of house you live in or what type of materials you’re going to use cost, all the different things that you, I, anyone who’s listening to this show has to deal with when they’re working on any project in their house, big or small there’s always these questions that you have and I’m going to try and answer as many as I can.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, we thank you so much for joining us and answering all of our questions as we get through everything that’s going on in your 16th season of George to the Rescue. You guys can check out George and his truly amazing team of just like the nicest production folks I’ve ever met in my life. You can head on over to georgetotherescue.com You know, this spring has been pretty rainy in my part of the states but there’s so many projects that you can tackle indoors, you can kind of start planning your outside projects even if the weather’s a little yucky, but maybe you have sort of a bathroom redo on your plate. If so, we have got a great prize up for you this hour It’s the Moen handheld shower that saves water in a chrome finish It’s a gorgeous shower. It’s got five different spray functions. You’re always going to find that perfect shower that you want but it’s super smart because it will always monitor the temperature.

 

So if you say I need a 95 degree shower and turn on the water, it’s going to heat up and kind of stop that water to a trickle once it reaches the temperature you’ve asked. So you’re not wasting a ton of water doing the other things that you’d be doing waiting for that water to heat up. So it’s super smart It looks great.

 

It’s a prize worth $79.98. You can check it out at moen.com We’ve got the chrome finish going out to one lucky color. So Jim, who’s next?

 

[Jim]

Alright, we’re heading to Mississippi now, Leslie. With Laura who has a very humid home has a lot of moisture on the walls What’s going on, Laura?

 

[Laura in Mississippi]

Tell us about it, please I was calling to find out what do you have to do to keep moisture build up on the walls and the inside of the house that could turn maybe too cold We’ll do. What do you have to do to keep that away?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

So I kind of think it’s a combination of some things, Laura. First of all, if you have air conditioning, you want to make sure that you’re running it consistently because air conditioning happens to be a pretty good dehumidifier. Secondly, if you have vent fans like in your bathroom and your kitchen, you want to make sure that those are venting to the outside and not just recirculating that moisture back into the house.

 

You know, the one over your stove could potentially be a recirculating fan, especially if that stove is just on an interior wall Sometimes they don’t vent outside and that doesn’t put a lot of moisture back into the house but it does put some back in. The other thing is your bathroom. You want to make sure that that vent fan, if you have one, isn’t just venting into the attic or just sort of dumping it somewhere else.

 

You want it to move that moisture outside Now, if you still have excessive humidity, there’s a couple of things that you could do outside of the house I know you’re like, but it’s inside. But yeah outside because the moisture is coming in from somewhere. So perhaps there’s water collecting at the foundation of the house and that moisture is going to end up inside because it does get absorbed into the concrete foundation and then evaporates into the space You want to make sure that your gutters and your downspouts are getting that water away from the foundation.

 

And if you’re still having a lot of humidity issues after checking into that stuff, you can install something called a whole home dehumidifier. And it’s not like the smaller dehumidifiers that you kind of just put in the basement and then empty that little bucket every now and again A whole home dehumidifier goes into the HVAC system, it’s professionally installed, and it can take out 90 to 100 pints of water a day. And it’s all done through the system, you never empty a bucket so it’s constantly kind of monitoring the moisture in the air and adjusting to do so.

 

And hopefully some of these suggestions help dry up your home. Alright, thanks so much for calling. Well if you’ve been trying to create a lush lawn around your home but you feel like you’re constantly losing that battle to bald spots and weeds you could be wondering what you should be doing to get your lawn back in shape.

 

Here are four key tips to help you achieve that green lawn. First of all, a soil test. It’s really going to be the best place to start because this will determine if your soil pH is too acidic, do you have to adjust something that soil pH is important to know because it does determine the level of nutrients that are available to plants as well as the activity of soil microorganisms.

 

So you’re basically measuring the acidity or the alkalinity of that soil. Now the scale runs from 0 to 14 and the ideal pH for most lawns is 6.5 to 7. If that test reveals that the acidity is too high, you need to add lime to reduce it.

 

But if your soil test indicates too much alkalinity then you would add sulfur to increase the soil’s acidity to reach that target pH of 6.5 to 7. If all of this sounds too confusing, you can do that test and then go to your local garden center and be like, help it’s 13 and they’ll say here, you need something like this. So don’t worry, just know that you want this target area of 6.5 to 7 and we can help you get it there. Now if your lawn looks too thin, it could just be time to reseed. So it’s best to kind of rototill the soil, mix in any fertilizer that you may have applied that’s going to kill off most of those annual weeds which is why it’s best to do this before you go seeding. Now perennial weeds on the other hand, those are the ones that come back year after year.

 

They have roots, I know, hooray! And it’s not even like a plant that you want, it’s like a dandelion.

 

[Jim]

Right, exactly, wouldn’t it figure?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

It’s like, great. But those roots really remain in the soil. So tilling that soil is only going to break up that root into pieces which will result in more weeds.

 

So the quickest way to control weeds is by applying a post-emergent herbicide, meaning it’s already come out of the ground, I know where it is, I’m going to use the herbicide to kill those weeds. And that should do a good job of getting it right to the root. Now the timing here is important.

 

So the best time to plant grass seed is late April through May so right about now and late August to early September. You want to use a fertilizer spread, apply half of the amount in one direction and the other half at right angles because that will give you uniform coverage of the lawn. And most importantly, I know every step has been very important, but here you have to water.

 

You want to sprinkle lightly several times a day. You’ve got to keep that soil moist and cool and as the grass begins to grow, you can water less often but sort of more soaking the soil each time rather than like a little bit while you’re still waiting for those seeds to germinate. It is a lot, it does take a bit of work, but you can once you sort of get everything normalized have a super gorgeous lawn that’s not going to require a ton of work.

 

Alright Jim, who’s up next?

 

[Jim]

Alright Leslie, we’re going to head out over to Illinois right now and talk to Richard. He’s got a problem with his chimney and Richard, you say you had a damp spot for 50 years in this chimney? I guess we better hop right on this hot project.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Let’s take another 50.

 

[Richard in Illinois]

Well, it doesn’t make the wallpaper come off, nothing, the plaster doesn’t loosen up, it’s damp. We’ve put two or three different kinds of chimney liners in it and redone the whole chimney and still hasn’t solved the problem.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright, well first let me ask you about your chimney. I see that you’ve got an old house, it’s like 108 years old. I presume that you’ve got a brick chimney.

 

Is it coming up through the middle of the house or is the chimney on like an end wall of the house?

 

[Richard in Illinois]

Pretty much the middle.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright, well the middle, okay. Have you checked the flashing around the chimney where the chimney goes through the roof? Has anybody looked at that for you?

 

[Richard in Illinois]

Yeah, we’ve replaced it and we’ve redone the whole thing up there.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, when it comes up through the attic, does it get damp up there as well or it’s not noticeable? Do you have a cap on the chimney? Is the liner just basically opened up to the atmosphere?

 

[Richard in Illinois]

It’s got a cap.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright, well it’s got a cap. Okay, so with the cap on it, that’s very helpful. Now, have you ever sealed the brick?

 

Have you used a masonry sealer on the brick like a silicone sealer?

 

[Richard in Illinois]

I know what you’re talking about and we’ve never seen any reason to do that.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Alright, well you’ve never sealed it, so this could be a clue here. Now, the reason you would seal the brick is to slow down the absorption of the water. It doesn’t stop it completely but instead of that brick being so porous and so hydroscopic, I mean the brick, the mortar, all of it, it just absorbs that water and kind of keeps going.

 

It’s like sticking a dry sponge in a pail of water. It’s going to soak up that water until there’s no room left and that’s basically what the brick does during heavy, heavy rainfall. And it sounds to me that that brick is probably very damp because it’s getting saturated and it’s pulling itself downward.

 

It also sounds like it’s not been a problem for you since it’s been going on for a very long time. But the next thing that I would do is definitely think about applying that masonry sealer. And when you look for sealers, you want to look for one that says vapor permeable.

 

So what that means is if the moisture gets in, it can vent out. So it basically will dry itself out. And the sealer is not going to hold that moisture inside of the chimney.

 

You want it to evaporate. Okay. All right.

 

Well, thank you so much for calling the Money Pit. Jim, let’s see who’s emailed in a question.

 

[Jim]

Well, Jackie did. She’s dealing with a driveway that’s past its prime, in her words. She’s got a driveway that’s 28 years old and showing signs of cracks along various sections.

 

She was told by one company it can’t be resurfaced, probably because that’s the company that wants to tear it out and replace it. But what are some of her options besides that?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, Jackie. Well, there’s a great product by Quikrete, and it’s called ReCap. And it basically just sort of restores the surface.

 

So if it’s cracked, but not so badly, it’s just sort of superficial cracks, you can use the ReCap, you wet down the surface, apply the product, and it completely restores the surface. However, Jackie, if these folks are telling you something different because maybe it’s cracked so badly and you have sections that are shifting, that is completely another thing and it may need to be redone. But if it’s just surface cracks, they’re not moving, ReCap from Quikrete looks great.

 

It is a very easy do-it-yourself project and it will allow you, yourself, to completely restore that driveway.

 

[Jim]

Are you ready to swing into spring cleaning? Well, the first step is to clear the way with some strategic decluttering. And that’s what Leslie’s going to share in today’s episode of Leslie’s Last Word.

 

Leslie?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. Well, cleaning might not be everybody’s favorite. It’s certainly not mine, but it is greatly satisfying once you get into it because clearing away household clutter will make your housekeeping easier.

 

It’s also going to make your home safer and more efficient. So here are some of my top tips for strategic spring decluttering. First, you want to start small.

 

Start by clearing out a closet in a single room. You can sort things by things you want to keep, things you haven’t worn or used in, like, a year, that you want to donate, and a trash bag for those undonatable items. I find, and this is terrible, but I find if I take everything out of the closet, I have no choice but to finish that task before I move on to the next project.

 

[Jim]

Self-motivating.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah. Especially if it’s, like, the closet in my bedroom and I’ve put everything out on the bed and then I can’t go to bed until that project is done. So, kind of, you know, you push yourself in a corner and then you’re like, I gotta finish it!

 

[Jim]

Or you sleep on the couch.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Or on top of the pile of clothes. Not that I have done that. Next, let’s talk about clearing out the clutter in the kitchen.

 

Because the kitchen clutter is especially dangerous. I mean, it’s the most common place where a fire starts. So if you’ve got paper, cloth, other flammable stuff kind of just tucked next to those heat-generating appliances, that’s no good.

 

So find a spot for those things and make sure everything goes back to the spot that you have decided where that should go. Now, junk mail. That is the thing that a lot of people tend to tuck next to the stove.

 

But it shouldn’t take up a counter space in your kitchen or any valuable flat surface. You want to get in the habit of going through the mail as soon as it arrives or you get home from work. Shred anything that contains confidential information.

 

Cut down on all that paper mail. Pay your bills online. Bank online if you feel comfortable to do so.

 

I still know some people that don’t feel comfortable banking online. And that’s fine. But you want to make sure that you sort of get rid of this junk mail as it’s coming in so you don’t let it pile up.

 

I promise, taking control of these spaces that we kind of just shove things or place temporarily in air quotes is kind of a great start to fully cleaning out your home. And you can do it and it will feel great after. Definitely not during the process but after 100%.

 

So definitely a good place to start. Coming up next week, guys, on The Money Pit. Are you ready to dig up some dirt and spruce up your landscaping space?

 

We’ve got some tips on how you can create a simple landscape plan to create a beautiful exterior for your home. That’s coming up next week, plus all of wonderful home improvement advice from all of our listeners asking questions and us tackling them. Remember, guys, you can do it yourself but you don’t have to do it alone.

 

[Theme Music]

On The Money Pit Radio Show On The Money Pit Radio Show Pick up the telephone, fix up your home sweet home by calling 888-MONEY-PIT Woo!