#2518 – Waste Not: Water-Saving Fixtures | Remodeling Impact Report | Best Lawnmowers | Daich Sweepstakes

[Producer Jim]

The Money Pit is presented by Daich Coatings. Now here’s Leslie Segrete.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Leslie Segrete. Well, Memorial Day is right around the corner, everyone.

 

I can’t believe the year is just zipping by. How is that even possible? I just feel like everything is kind of on fast forward, but maybe those summer vibes upcoming will kind of force everything to just slow down, please.

 

Well, coming up this hour, we’ve got a great show for you, lots of wonderful home improvement advice to get to, so let’s tell you what’s happening this hour. You know that heat of summer is on its way, and we’re going to see the importance of saving water as droughts begin to occur throughout the U.S. However, rather than just relying on your kids and family to simply use less water, new fixtures can actually do that water savings for you. It’s a simple plumbing project.

 

We’re going to tell you how to find faucets, toilets, showers, even sprinklers that can do that job without wasting water or sacrificing any pressure. Also ahead, according to the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of the Remodeling Industries 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, Americans spent an estimated $603 billion on home remodeling projects in 2024. We’re going to explore which projects received the highest joy score.

 

I love that this was the rating system from this article, the joy score. So we’ll talk about those, and if your lawn is looking like it’s ready for a haircut, but your mower is not really ready for the busy season, we’re going to share Consumer Reports’ top picks for walk-behind battery-powered mowers. And guess what?

 

They do work just as well as their gas-powered cousins. But before we get to what we want to talk about, we want to hear what you want to talk about. So whether you are planning a small decor project or you’re diving into a full-blown renovation, we have got you covered.

 

So give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. Jim, who’s first?

 

[Producer Jim]

All right, Leslie, let’s head to Illinois, where Brad’s got a window question. Brad, fill us in, please, sir.

 

[Brad in Illinois]

Well, we have a 1948 bungalow with the original windows, and the windows, we like the looks of the windows, but the windows need a lot of work, and of course, they’re only single-pane glass. We’d like your recommendations on should we just replace the windows, more efficient windows, maybe repair, or what should we do?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, so this type of window in your bungalow, is it a double-hung window?

 

[Brad in Illinois]

Yes.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, so the standard double-hung windows, if you really like the look of them, I mean, there’s really no reason why you couldn’t restore them, scrape the paint away, prime, paint them again, repair and add some weather stripping where it’s needed, and then go ahead and add a storm window so you get that insulative value. I mean, putting up the storm window kind of does change the look of them at the same time, but, you know, if that’s giving you the option of keeping that existing window. The other option is getting a replacement window, and it’s really just replacing the operational parts of the window itself.

 

It’s designed to fit inside the wood frame of your existing window, take out the sashes, the parts that go up and down, and the molding that’s around the side of the window, and then you replace it with the window that fits inside all of that. You trim it back up. You’re covering up that old wood.

 

It’s trimmed on the outside, so you cover up the old wood out there, and then the whole thing looks brand spanking new, and it’s sort of like a one-to-one swap-out. You know, you’re not doing a tremendous amount of construction. You’re not building something from scratch.

 

If you went to try to tear out the whole thing to get to the opening, I mean, it’s expensive. It’s a bigger project, but a replacement window, you have a lot of options there as far as energy efficiency, looks, design style. I mean, you can get them from a home center.

 

You know, there’s a lot of options in a lower-cost area to help you, and they’re installed pretty quickly. I would tell you, though, when you decide to do a replacement window, if that’s the route you go, whoever you’re looking at as this window retailer or the window installer, have them do the measuring because the measuring can be a little tricky. You want to make sure that it fits perfectly when they get to your house.

 

I wouldn’t do your own measurements because you could make the simplest mistake that would slightly throw something off. Plus, then, if you need to have it remade, the cost is on you to have it remade. If you have that pro come in who’s going to do the installing, then they measure something and it’s slightly off, then the cost is going to be on them to replace it.

 

So it’s kind of a protection there. You might be paying a little bit more of a fee to have a pro come in and do the whole process, but it’s definitely worth it, and you’re going to find so much better energy efficiency, and you might find something that you like better looks-wise.

 

[Brad in Illinois]

Okay, well, thank you very much.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Oh, you’re welcome, Brad. Good luck with your project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

 

[Producer Jim]

Leslie, we’re heading to Tennessee where Dorothy’s on the line. She has a question about an in-ground pool. Tell us what’s going on, Dorothy.

 

[Dorothy in Tennessee]

I have a definite money pit. I have a huge in-ground pool that it just wouldn’t do any of us to not buy this house with this pool because we thought we’d just love it. The kids promised to help take care of it and all that stuff.

 

I don’t want to take care of it, don’t want to pay all that money, and I’m wondering if there’s a solution to this space that isn’t such a money pit.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I would love to move into a house with a pool, but I would never expect my kids to take care of it. It’s like asking my kids to walk the dog. They don’t do that.

 

How are they going to clean the pool and figure out chemicals and take care of everything? It’s a big ask. Truly, I don’t know that pool maintenance is right for every homeowner.

 

There’s really a lot that goes into it, and a lot of it is super scientific to make sure that it is well-maintained. But if you’re at the point where you’re like, I’m done with it, I don’t want this pool, how do I get rid of it? Basically, what you need to do is disassemble it.

 

You break up the patio or whatever it is that’s around it, and then you take out any lining or whatever might be there, stair forms, ladders, etc., and you kind of fill it in and tamp it and compact it, and then it becomes yard space. But that’s really your only option. It doesn’t become something else.

 

[Dorothy in Tennessee]

Is there an inexpensive way of doing that? The little bit of research I’ve done, it’s not inexpensive to fill it in.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I don’t even know how to estimate what the cost would be to sort of make a pool go away. But you have to think about it. You’re taking a dirt hole, which isn’t difficult.

 

You’re filling it, but you have to think about the mechanical systems. You’ve got power out there. That’s got to be disconnected.

 

There’s plumbing that has to be disconnected. So you get rid of all of the stuff like that. And then for the rest of it, we’re talking about the decking, the edge around the pool.

 

That all has to be broken up and removed. I mean, I can’t imagine that it would take more than a few hours with a jackhammer because it’s going to only be a few inches thick of concrete. So that could be pretty easy to break up.

 

And then you have to get excavators. They sort of come in at the end with a small piece of equipment to move dirt into that space. And you’re going to need a lot of dirt because it’s got to be tamped.

 

I mean, you can’t just kind of fill it and be like, we’re good once it gets to the top. Just because of the nature of the dirt, you have to tamp it in. You need to really tamp it in so that it fills in that space properly.

 

You also need to think about was there anything at the bottom of the pool before you start filling it back in with dirt because you don’t want to have drainage issues and then have issues with that patch of land. So once you’ve gotten rid of all the mechanicals, the concrete that’s at the bottom, the sides, the patio, etc., that’s all cleared away. You have to fill it with clean fill dirt.

 

You have to tamp it. You have to fill it in more. You have to tamp it more.

 

You have to fill it in more. You have to tamp it more. Otherwise, this whole area could be like a huge sinkhole and just kind of be this sort of depressed spot where it’s sort of lower than everything else.

 

And you want to make sure that you do it right so that, you know, God forbid nobody gets hurt, so that it just doesn’t look weird. It’s a lot of work. And once you’re done, you can have lawn space.

 

You can have a garden. You can have a vegetable garden. It really depends on how you want to use the yard.

 

[Dorothy in Tennessee]

I can imagine a really nice formal garden out there, fire pit, gazebo, all kinds of neat things. But getting to that point is not going to be cheap.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, the other thing that you need to think about, Dorothy, are you planning on staying in this home forever and ever or do you think you’re only in for a couple more years and then you plan on moving? Okay, so you’re planning on staying. So you’re really over this pool.

 

You want it out. But I was going to say if, you know, if there’s a lot of pools in your neighborhood and you’re thinking of moving in the next five to ten years, perhaps removing the pool could be detrimental to the resale value. So you have to kind of think about it that way as well.

 

If having a pool that’s well-maintained and is going to help you sell the home for a higher price, then maybe you just want to kind of deal with it and have some fun parties and go for some swims before you eventually sell the house. But if you’re done with it and you’re staying put, then definitely filling in is what you’re going to have to be doing.

 

[Producer Jim]

And if you need that pool to disappear.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, Dorothy, good luck. Jim’s apparently willing to make your pool go away, by the way.

 

[Producer Jim]

Well, you know, it’s just a ting we do. Silly, silly, silly.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

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. Hey, guys, it is the summer, almost really, and we all love spending time outdoors. So we are thrilled to announce that we’ve partnered with Daich Coatings to bring you the ultimate porch and patio makeover sweepstakes.

 

Now, through June 9th, you can enter to win amazing, easy-to-use DIY products from Daich Coatings that will transform your porch, your patio, any concrete surface into an attractive surface that will last for years. Just visit moneypit.com slash sweepstakes now through June 9th. There’s going to be two grand prize winners that will each receive about $1,000 in Daich Coatings products.

 

You can choose a decorative surface of spread rock granite stone coating, the TrackSafe anti-slip color coat, or the roller rock rollable stone coating. And you’re also going to get a final coating of TrackSafe anti-slip sealer, and that’s going to create a gorgeous new space in your home. There’s also going to be 20 runner-ups who will each receive their TrackSafe anti-slip color kit valued at $150.

 

Enter today at moneypit.com slash sweepstakes for your chance to win. You can enter every day, so make sure you do. Jim, let’s get back to the phones.

 

[Producer Jim]

Bryce, you’re in North Carolina, and you’ve got Leslie Segrete on The Money Pit. How can we help out?

 

[Bryce in North Carolina]

I was considering using a polyethylene sheet to replace or repair the ceiling in my bathroom and wanted to know if that’s a good substitute for a wall board and what material to seal it up with.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

So when you say a polyethylene sheet, are you talking about like a sheet of plastic?

 

[Bryce in North Carolina]

I’ve used some of the material on the fascia board on the outside.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Are you talking about like waterproof paneling, like a panel?

 

[Bryce in North Carolina]

Yes, a panel.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, I mean, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use it if you like the look of it. I mean, it’s not necessary. You could make the repair with a standard green board, which is a water-resistant drywall.

 

Did you have to tear open the ceiling for any reason? Why are you replacing it? Well, we had a roof leak.

 

Well, I mean, the easiest thing that you could do is add a second layer. Even if the drywall below is damaged, the existing drywall would be damaged. But as long as it’s not swollen or deformed in any way, you could put a second layer of drywall right over that.

 

It’s going to be the easiest and fastest way that you can make that repair. And then you would tape and prime and spackle the corners between the two. This way it looks normal because if you put a piece of plastic paneling up there, you have to trim it out.

 

[Producer Jim]

Put a piece of plastic paneling?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, it was hard.

 

[Producer Jim]

You got through it. You got through it. First try.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

It was hard.

 

[Producer Jim]

Let’s try it again just for that cut. No.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, but if you do that with a piece of plastic paneling, you’re going to have to trim it out. It’s going to look odd. It’s going to seem like a strange configuration.

 

I would simply go with a piece of water-resistant drywall, spackle it, three coats, you know, sanding in between, prime it, paint the whole thing. And you’ll never know that that leak ever happened.

 

[Bryce in North Carolina]

Very good.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. Well, I’m happy we could help you out, Bryce. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT.

 

Well, now that summer is almost here, saving water becomes more and more important. But rather than relying on your kids and family to just use less water, you can update your plumbing fixtures and they will actually do that water-saving for you. It’s actually a very simple DIY plumbing project.

 

So we’ve got a few tips on how you can find faucets, toilets, showers, even sprinklers that will do this water-saving job for you. So first, let’s talk about toilets. I mean, they really last decades, which makes them one of the most durable plumbing fixtures in your house.

 

But while they don’t really wear out, old toilets are just simply wasting plenty of water with every flush. So you can switch to a WaterSense certified toilet. Now, WaterSense is a program run by the EPA, and it’s kind of just like Energy Star.

 

You know, it’s a program that helps you, the consumer, find products that are saving energy. WaterSense is designed to help you, the consumer, look for products that are going to save you water. So to qualify, that product must be certified to use at least 20% less water, save energy, and perform as well or better than those regular models out there.

 

Now, beside toilets, if you were to also replace your bathroom faucet and shower head, the EPA reports that you could save 26,000 gallons of water a year, create 380 fewer pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce your utility bill by $250 annually. I mean, all of that is huge. And while we’re on the topic of your utility bill, if you use less water, you will also then use less natural gas or electricity to heat that water.

 

So it all adds up. Plus, beside bathrooms or kitchens, WaterSense fixtures are also available for the outdoors. Think about lawn sprinklers, rain controllers, irrigation products.

 

All of those can be updated to help you avoid wasting water but still enjoying a beautiful landscape. So this is kind of a win-win for everybody. All right, Jim, who’s up next?

 

[Producer Jim]

Ginny, Ginny, who can you turn to?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

The Money Pit, of course.

 

[Producer Jim]

Obviously, and she did. How can we help you, Ginny?

 

[Ginny]

We have turned our garage into a living room, and consequently we have windows only on the south side where the door was. We have a nice, large living room, but it’s been very dark on the north side. So I found a wonderful deal on a tubular skylight, and I bought it.

 

But because it’s our living room and we have our television in there and such, now I’m concerned about putting it in, because is it going to interfere with being able to watch the television in the daytime? And no one seems to have information about this.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, Ginny, so you haven’t yet put in this sort of sun tunnel, which is basically a name of a tubular skylight that you would put in a room through a ceiling. And you’re concerned that maybe it would allow too much light in, and then you wouldn’t be able to see the television?

 

[Ginny]

Right. It won’t be directly over the television. It’ll be in the middle of the north part.

 

But we’re just concerned because of reflections and things like that.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, well, I think, Ginny, that the issue here is that you’re concerned it’s going to sort of brighten this entire space. But I think when these sun tunnels, solar tubes, you know, there’s a variety of names for them. When they’re installed, it almost becomes kind of like a hi-hat light fixture for the space.

 

It kind of directs that light so focused but in a diffused way that it really looks like a light. So I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for you. They really are great products, and it just directs the light in a way without being this sort of massive skylight.

 

And they’re really great. It looks kind of like an exhaust duct. It comes in through a tube, and it’s polished like a mirror, so it just takes all the light down and directs it to this diffuser at your ceiling level, which just ultimately ends up looking like a hi-hat.

 

So it really is a good use, especially in this type of space. VELUX, SolarTube, those are the two brands we would most recommend. Check them out online.

 

You can find a lot of information about how they’re installed, what they look like, and I think it’ll help you put your mind at ease.

 

[Ginny]

Well, I really thank you, because it was very difficult to find information.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, Ginny, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT. Well, with summer storms on the way, all of that rainwater can very quickly find its way into your money pit. So take some time this weekend to make sure that your gutters and downspouts are clean and clear.

 

Grab a buddy to spot your ladder, some gloves because it’s pretty gross in there maybe, and a trash bag, and clear all of the debris from those gutters. You also want to run a hose down those downspouts to make sure they’re not clogged as well. It’s messy, but it’s definitely an easy project that could potentially save you thousands of dollars if you end up with a flooded basement.

 

So take the time, tackle this chore this weekend, and, you know, kind of think about all that money you just saved from the water that’s not going to be in your basement. Am I right? All right.

 

According to the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Remodeling Industries 2025 Remodeling Impact Report, Americans spent an estimated $603 billion on home remodeling projects for 2024. And they go through a rating system and look at which projects received the highest joy score. So this report really looks at the reasons why homeowners tackle home improvement projects, the project outcomes, and the level of increased happiness once that project is completed.

 

[Producer Jim]

That’s so cool.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I love it. And the joy score is a system that’s rated from 1 to 10, with 10 bringing the most happiness. So for homeowners, these three all received a joy score of 10.

 

And these were the addition of a primary bedroom suite, a kitchen update, and a new roof. Now, the contrast side of this here is the projects with the highest cost recovery. According to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, it doesn’t match the ones that bring the homeowners joy.

 

The best recovery came from a new steel front door at 100 percent, closet renovation at 87 percent, and a new fiberglass front door at 80 percent. And I think this all sort of takes into account housing affordability. I mean, they’re not affordable.

 

The availability inventory is super low. And, of course, lower mortgage rates. I mean, people who own their homes already probably refinanced during COVID or purchased during COVID at these unheard of mortgage rates.

 

I mean, Jim, mine’s 2.25. Wow. Like, what the heck? 2.25. I’m never moving. I’m never selling my house.

 

[Producer Jim]

Mine’s 34.9, but it’s because I put it on a visa.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

No, I can remember growing up and my parents talking about a home loan interest rate of 17 percent. Wow. So, for someone like me who has a super low mortgage rate in the twos, even where we’re at now in the 6 to 8 percentage area, you know, things fluctuate.

 

They go up. They go down. So, it’s kind of discouraging people from moving.

 

Everybody’s kind of staying put. They’re updating. They’re renovating.

 

Those are kind of the best approach. So, there’s a lot to take into consideration, but I know, for me, the joy score is going to be when I replant all of the trees that my neighbor took out. I’m going to get a joy score of 1,000.

 

[Producer Jim]

You might get your bees back.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Joy score, 1 million. Jim, who’s next?

 

[Producer Jim]

Leslie, we have Pete in Arizona on the line, and he has a question about a tar roof. What’s going on at that money pit, Pete?

 

[Pete in Arizona]

I have a patio roof that runs the whole length of my back of my house, which is pretty long. When they put the roof on, they put plywood and paper, and they had some kind of machine or whatever it was that was burning wood. And they melted tar, and they filled up a bucket, and they took them up, and they went all over the roof with this tar.

 

And then they got some kind of rolled shingle-type material, and they put it on the roof. Now, it looks like when they put this shingle-type material on the roof, whatever squeezed out, that was the seam between each shingle and wherever the rolls stopped and the new rolls started. But around the outside of the roof, they have a metal trim that goes on the front of the roof and both sides, and it looks like they tarred it.

 

Well, the tar now, I’ve been here 18 years, and it’s 120 degrees heat in the summertime. And the tar is all cracked, and it’s missing pieces. And what I wanted to do is buy some of this Flex Seal you see on TV, and I wanted to go around all these edges and fill in all those cracks.

 

Is that a good idea?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah. I don’t know, Pete, if there’s any way to know if this sort of product is going to work with your old tar roof. I mean, it could be that you’re just at the end of the roof’s life cycle.

 

You get about 10 years out of that type of roof. So, I think you’re working towards putting on a new roof here, and you might want to look at how this is being done. Maybe there’s a different type of roofing product.

 

You might want to use a rubber roof or a modified bitumen roof. You could have a torch-down roof. But to do tar and to build up a tar roof in that way as you’ve described, it doesn’t really seem like it’s the best approach now.

 

And anything that you try to do to patch what you have is just going to put off the inevitable. So, you probably got good use out of the money you spent on it. I think it’s just time to update.

 

[Pete in Arizona]

On this metal strip that they put all around the outside of the roof, when they put it on, I guess it’s for a beauty effect or whatever, because it doesn’t look like it does anything, really. But it sticks up a little bit above the roof. And when it rains, my main roof is pitched towards the patio roof, and I get water laying up there, because it can’t go over this hump that it just lays there.

 

I have to get a ladder and squeeze it off, because I don’t want mosquitoes and stuff building up there.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, so that’s another reason to consider replacing that roof, because when you install the new roof, you can actually build it up in areas to help you get a better pitch to move that water away from your patio and not right onto you guys when you’re hanging out. So definitely, when you’re talking to roofers about getting a new roof, address those problems. Talk about moving the water to a different spot.

 

And they’ll be able to fix it that way and install it in a way that’s just better for you.

 

[Pete in Arizona]

Okay, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, good luck with that, Pete. Roofs are big projects, so we get it. But thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT.

 

Don’t forget to enter our Porch & Patio Makeover sweepstakes now through June 9th. We’re giving away $5,000 in Daich Coatings product. You can learn more and enter daily at moneypit.com slash sweepstakes. That is moneypit.com slash sweepstakes. Jim, who’s up next?

 

[Producer Jim]

We have a flooring question coming out of Wisconsin. Leslie, we’ve got Robin. Robin, how can we help you out?

 

[Robin in Wisconsin]

Hi. We’re refinishing our finished basement, and the former owners glued down the carpet on the concrete. And we’re scraping off what we can.

 

Do we need to? I’m going to put in vinyl plank flooring. Do we need to sand that down, or should we put a leveler, or is there an underlayment that we can put under?

 

Or is it going to matter if there’s some glue on there?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, you’re making it sound, Robin, like there’s a tremendous amount of glue on this floor. Is it just in little areas? Is there, like, inches of it all over?

 

What’s going on?

 

[Robin in Wisconsin]

Just little areas of unevenness. And we’ve been sanding it, but that’s quite a procedure.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, and you’re going to find that sanding it is just going to kind of gunk up the glue and get everything all stuck. It’s always so funny. I feel like when you try to sand an adhesive, it just kind of warms up and reactivates it back into an adhesive.

 

So that’s kind of not the best. So generally, with the vinyl plank flooring, certain manufacturers might have an underlayment on the backside, and some might recommend something as the underlayment. But most of the times, I would just say follow that manufacturer’s recommendations because they know what’s best for the product.

 

But for the most part, with vinyl planking, you’re really not going to need any kind of underlayment. They’re either going to overlap and adhere to one another with double-sided tape, or they’re going to click and lock together. It depends on what type of flooring product you’re working with.

 

But if it is a thinner vinyl plank and you are going to get a lot of flex to it, you might see those areas of unevenness from the adhesive below. If you go with a more rigid plank that has an underlayment that’s going to kind of even out the spaces, I mean, especially if it’s truly just little areas, that should do the trick of covering over it and creating a smooth and level surface. And then it’s going to really look great.

 

All right, well, good luck with that flooring project. Thank you so much for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT. Well, if your lawn is looking like it’s ready for a cut, but your mower is just not up for the challenge, Consumer Reports has a few suggestions.

 

Their experts cut 500,000 square feet of lawn to compile a list of the best mowers that you can buy right now. And two battery-powered mowers stood at the top of their rankings. Now, the first is the Greenworks MO80L421.

 

It’s a lot of letters and numbers there, but it is a battery self-propelled mower, and it retails for $750. They do note that you are getting a lot for your money with a long battery runtime of nearly an hour and a quarter. Plus, it’s enough to cut at least one third of an acre.

 

And they also note that the mower is great for mulching, cut evenness, handling, and noise. That’s all great. And, I mean, considering that a few years ago, these battery-powered options just weren’t cutting it, you know, compared to their gas siblings.

 

[Producer Jim]

Boy, you would put that very diplomatically. Early cordless stuff was horrible. But they’ve really turned it around.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

They really have turned it around. The other one that they love is the Ryobi RY401220, and it makes quick work of your regular mowing. It’s also $750.

 

This one comes with two batteries, which means you can swap one for the other midway through the mowing and get as much as an hour and a half of runtime in one session. And that’s really more than any other battery mower that they tested. And what’s more, the batteries only need an hour to charge fully, and it scored high marks for discharging, mulching, evenness of cut, and even noise at 25 feet.

 

I mean, in total, Consumer Reports tested 140 different models, including battery- and gas-powered walk-behind and ride-on mowers. If you are in the market, you are going to find their impartial expert recommendations to be super helpful. Check them out at ConsumerReports.com.

 

All right, let’s get back to the phones. Jim, who’s up?

 

[Producer Jim]

Conrad in Texas. How can we help you out today on the Money Pit?

 

[Conrad in Texas]

And I wanted to get your advice as to whether or not it would be advisable to put up a solar vent over my garage and leave the ridge vents throughout the rest of my house. I am getting ready to re-roof my entire house and garage.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

So when you say a solar vent, do you mean a solar-powered attic fan?

 

[Conrad in Texas]

Yes, yes, right.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, well, generally, we don’t recommend use of an attic fan. And it’s typically because when the attic is over a living space, that living space is going to be air-conditioned. And then what happens is that fan is so powerful that it starts to pull the conditioned air from the living space through all of the nooks and crannies that kind of cause your house to breathe that you don’t even know exist.

 

And it sort of sucks all that air up into the attic and then out into the atmosphere. So you’re kind of paying for cool air to do nothing. So it’s really important that you don’t run an attic fan when you have a conditioned house.

 

That said, though, if you have an attic that’s not over a conditioned living space, maybe you have a hip roof that’s sort of like a pyramid. It goes up on all four sides. You know, if it’s something like that where it’s not over a living space, then I think it’s okay to put in a solar-powered attic fan.

 

It’s not going to remove any cooled air from the space that you’re paying for, but it will be drawing the air through and out of that attic space and sort of exhausting that space. It’s going to keep your roof cooler, and it can actually increase the longevity of your roof. So there are ways that you can use an attic fan, but anytime that you have it over a conditioned living space, I do not recommend using it.

 

Do you know, does your roof have all of the other sort of areas for ventilation? Is there a ridge vent? Are there soffit vents?

 

You know, there’s other ways that you can bring air into the attic space to sort of create that ventilation and keep that space cool and, you know, enhance the lifetime of your roof. There’s so many ways that you can do it. But again, if that attic space is over a conditioned space, do not use an attic fan.

 

All right, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT. You can give us a call. You can email us your question.

 

I know Jim’s got an email question that we can answer right now.

 

[Producer Jim]

Yep, I’ve got one from Cindy, and she writes in, and I quote, I have an older home with an older furnace and air conditioner. I’ve been thinking about getting a home warranty policy. Is it worth the cost?

 

And do you have any recommendations for a provider? Now, I didn’t realize you could get, I didn’t even realize you could get a warranty on an old house like that. So I figured I’d reach out to you two pros for the answer.

 

Wow, what a compliment, Leslie.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, thank you so much for writing in, Cindy. First of all, there are new construction warranties if your house is brand new. And that’s not all we’re talking about.

 

There are warranties that cover typically systems, ones that cover appliances. They’re sold by a whole bunch of different companies. And I tell you that, you know, it’s kind of 50-50, six of one, half a dozen of the other, however you want to phrase that.

 

We’ve known people that have had great experiences with them where it’s been cost effective. But we’ve also heard a whole heck of a lot more bad experiences because of the fine print that is in those contracts. It used to be that if your air conditioning went out, they would give you a new air conditioner.

 

But they would charge you these kind of weird additional charges, like maybe a duct modification charge. Of course, you have to modify the ducts to put in new systems. They would charge you extra for that to try to make up for their loss.

 

Either the warranty company would do it or the contractor would do it. But I tell you, Cindy, I’ve seen that these new clauses are showing up in their contracts, which are called depreciate value clauses. And because of your question, we kind of looked one up because I think it’s really important to understand what this means.

 

What is a depreciated value clause? If you’ve got an old system, you’re going to be more likely to buy a warranty to cover them because they have a higher incidence of repair. And here’s what this says.

 

And this is from a company called Service Plus. And I just, you know, the language on the Service Plus reserves the right to offer cash back in lieu of a repair or replacement in an amount that is based on the depreciated value of that system or appliance, which could be significantly less than the retail cost to repair or replace that covered system or appliance, end quote. So let’s talk about that.

 

What do you think the value is of, say, an eight- or a nine-year-old dishwasher? What do you think, Jim?

 

[Producer Jim]

Zero.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, you’re right. Probably not very much. And the same thing could be with a 15-year-old air conditioner.

 

So they’re really not going to give you very much money if the system fails. The only way a warranty makes sense is if something’s brand new or is still within that manufacturer’s warranty. And then maybe you’re dealing with a manufacturer error or something else might fail.

 

But definitely, I don’t think this is a situation where you want to look into a warranty because you’ll just be paying more than you’re going to get out of it. And you’re eventually going to need to try to get something out of it. So I’m going to say pass here, Cindy.

 

[Producer Jim]

And there you have it.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Thank you so much for joining us here on The Money Pit this hour. We’ve shared lots of great home improvement advice, plus tons of things that can help us around our Money Pit, not just useless information.

 

Jim and I like to share. So it’s really great, and we are truly working here to make The Money Pit better for you. So we want to know, what are you working on? How can we make the show better? How can we cater some of our tips directly to the projects that are on your to-do list? Give us a call at 888-MONEYPIT.

 

Post to those projects at moneypit.com. We can’t wait to hear what you’re planning on working on this summer season. And thank you so much for joining us, guys. Remember, you can do it yourself, but you don’t have to do it alone.