#2527 – Bite Back at Mosquitoes | Take Under-Deck Space to New Heights | Steps for Ladder Safety

[Theme Music]

If your roof starts 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.

 

[Producer Jim]

The Money Pit is presented by Trex RainEscape and The Metal Roofing Alliance. Now, here’s Leslie Segrete.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit. Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there. We love every minute that we get with you.

 

Maybe this is the weekend that you tackle a project with your dad. We’ve got some great home advice to share this hour, and perhaps some projects that you want to get started on. So, here’s something that we’re going to help you with this hour.

 

Is your midsummer night’s dream becoming a nightmare because of all those annoying mosquitoes? I feel like they just get started earlier and earlier every season, and they are already out there on the attack. So, we’ve got tips on the most effective way that you can stop those mosquitoes from taking the bite out of your backyard fun coming up.

 

And, we all love to get the most of our outdoor spaces, but if you have an elevated deck, you could be missing out on some valuable real estate below. With a little creativity and the addition of an underdeck drainage system, that area beneath your deck can be used for almost anything. We’ve got a great guest joining us to share how to get that project done.

 

And, do you want to contribute to a sustainable environment and maybe save a few bucks along the way? Well, if the answer to both of those questions is yes, then reclaimed lumber might be the perfect fit for your next home improvement project. We’re going to share some tips coming up.

 

So, give us a call now at 888-MONEYPIT. Jim, who is first?

 

[Producer Jim]

Heading out to Baltimore, Leslie, we’ve got Darlene. Darlene’s dealing with some noise issues. I should say, Darlene’s dealing with some noise issues.

 

What’s happening? Well, I’m sorry. What’s happening out there, Darlene?

 

[Darlene in Maryland]

Well, I have a wall between my upstairs apartment and my downstairs apartment, and there’s no insulation in the wall. And, I want to insulate it so that I have sound barrier to places. And, I wanted to know what insulation would be the best thing to use.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. So, is it the ceiling that you’re talking about?

 

[Darlene in Maryland]

No, I’m talking about the wall that goes up the stairs.

 

 

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Oh, you’re talking about the stairwell wall. All right. So, you’re hearing everything.

 

People going up and down the stairs. People talking. Yada, yada, yada.

 

So, the best insulation to kind of use for that is a mineral wool insulation. And, Owens Corning makes a product that’s called ThermoFiber, and it has excellent sound resistant qualities to it. You would, however, have to open up a wall to do this.

 

So, you’d have to take off the drywall, put the ThermoFiber in. And, in addition to the ThermoFiber, you could also install a sound deadening drywall. Because you’re taking the drywall off anyway to put in the insulation, you could go sort of double dewey here and put the extra sound barrier with the sound deadening drywall.

 

There’s one that you can find at home centers called QuietRock. So, it would be sort of a ThermoFiber insulation and then the QuietRock sound deadening drywall. And, in a combination of the two, I mean, it’s going to be super quiet.

 

[Darlene in Maryland]

Okay. Well, that sounds really good. I appreciate your calling me back so quickly.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Too bad you have to take off the wall, but now is a great chance to get the sound qualities you need, the insulation that you want, and pick a new paint color. What’s not to love here? It’s like a win-win, right?

 

 

 

[Darlene in Maryland]

Thank you very much. I enjoy your program.

 

[Producer Jim]

Okay, Leslie, let’s head to somebody’s home state of Michigan and handle a flooring question for Tim.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I wonder whose home state that is. Who could that be? Does it rhyme with Tim?

 

[Producer Jim]

Yes. Yes, I do. Hey, Tim, fill us in here, Tim.

 

[Tim in Michigan]

So, we had the floor laid a couple years ago. It’s your standard floating vinyl linoleum floor, one piece. When it was laid, the floor, to me, was not laid correctly.

 

They didn’t stretch it out as it should. And now we’re dealing with wrinkles in the floor. We’re dealing with in front of our dishwasher, in our door area, it’s kind of wrinkling up.

 

We’re just wondering what some of the simple ways would be to fix it, aside from just taking all of the appliances out of the kitchen. And also, what would be an alternative without breaking the bank?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. Well, it could be very difficult for you to fix what’s happening to that floor, Tim. And I’m not quite sure why it’s happening.

 

I mean, you’re mentioning that maybe it wasn’t stretched. But you don’t really stretch linoleum when you put it down. And if it’s floating, there’s no adhesion.

 

And that can actually help you here because if there’s no glue, it’s going to be really easy for you to take it up. Now, typically, when you put down a sheet product like vinyl, the care and the prep there is making sure that the subfloor is very smooth and totally flat. And very often, installers will put a second layer of a type of plywood that we call Luan.

 

It’s sort of a very smooth, finished plywood on top of what’s already there. And they’ll attach it with a ring nail. And this is a nail that has rings in it and grooves.

 

And it attaches very, very well to the floor that’s below it. But that’s pretty much it. Now, if that Luan has sort of detached or loosened up, maybe then that sheet product is kind of stretching and moving on its own.

 

And probably in the areas of wear and tears where like you walk up to the dishwasher, you know, high traffic spots in the kitchen. So, these are the kind of things that you should be looking at because all of those areas where you’re going constantly, you’re going to see a lot of that wear and tear. But I would personally try to give up on trying to fix what you’ve got.

 

I mean, you know, if you’re going to try to fix it, you have to take out the appliances. You have to glue it down. But there are so many good flooring products out there that are affordable that you don’t actually need a sheet product.

 

You can go to any home center, any local flooring supplier, and you can look at something called an engineered vinyl plank, an EVP, or an LVP, which is a luxury vinyl plank. And these are a manufactured product that are sold in plank form. They look like every type of wood and every width of, you know, pieces of flooring here.

 

So, you can come up with a beautiful pattern. You can have something that feels very country. You can have something that feels very modern.

 

And in all types of looks, finishes, wear and tear. Like, it could look like a beautifully beat-up wood floor, you know, with, like, the little nail marks and the holes and the aging. Or it can be super sleek.

 

And they are super easy to install. And they’re waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about water in the kitchen or in a bathroom. So, it’s something to think about.

 

If you’re seeing this really give you a lot of movement, it’s not looking great, this is a good alternative rather than trying to chase what’s happening with what you’ve got. And fix it.

 

[Tim in Michigan]

Sure. Let me ask you another question. Because the problem that we’re dealing with, there is a little bit of a dip where they added on the kitchen, but they never leveled out that floor.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah. And again, you need that floor to be perfectly level. So, if you’re finding areas of unevenness, you can get a floor leveling compound.

 

You can find it at the home center. And you kind of put it on the floor. It kind of travels in and it sort of levels itself out.

 

And it gives you a good idea as to smoothing out that floor and making it level and making it even. And a lot of them are very, very intuitive and very easy to do. You just sort of feather it away to the lower parts or the higher parts that you’re filling it in.

 

And it’s, you’ll, trust me, when you start working on it, you’ll be able to fill in these areas to level it out. And make sure you follow all of the instructions there. And mix it the right way.

 

And let it cure the right way before you put the underlayment on and the flooring. And it really is great. So, a floor leveling compound.

 

And then let’s look at a different sort of flooring. An EVP or an LVP. And you’re going to be super happy.

 

All right, Tim. Hope that helps you out. Because that’s definitely a pain in the butt.

 

Hey, Money Pit Podcast fans. You want to help us out? Well, go ahead and leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.

 

And we’re going to give you a virtual high five. Plus, you’ll be helping us spread the word about our show. Just go to moneypit.com slash review. Well, this summer, you’re pretty likely to have some unwanted visitors at your barbecues, the pool parties, and all those backyard gatherings. You know, the kind that loves to just take a bite out of you and your guests. Talking about mosquitoes.

 

Everybody relax. Mosquitoes. I mean, they’re not only a major hassle.

 

They’re also among the world’s most dangerous insects. Because of their ability to transmit viruses to people. That’s right.

 

So, the best way here is to protect yourself from mosquito bites. And not give those mosquitoes a chance to make themselves at home near your home. So, the first step is eliminating all of those sources of standing water.

 

Which is where the mosquitoes love to lay their eggs. And a female mosquito can lay over 100 eggs at a time. Which can grow to full-size, ready-to-bite adults in as little as 8 days.

 

[Producer Jim]

Wow.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

That is quick. So, one day, no mosquitoes. A week later, bam, 100 of them right in your yard trying to bite you.

 

[Producer Jim]

No doubt.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, that sounds terrible. And we’re not talking about looking for leaks around the property. I mean, this isn’t going to be like a lot of water.

 

I’m talking about things like standing water in an empty flower pot. Or a bucket. Or a jar.

 

That wheelbarrow. Whatever kind of container that you’ve got just around the yard. Maybe from a project you just finished.

 

Or something you forgot to put away. Even that tiny little bit of water from a rainfall. Or a sprinkler landing in it.

 

Is going to be the perfect amount for those mosquitoes to breed in. So, it’s all of those little spots of water. So, go ahead and drill holes in the bottom of your trash cans.

 

The recycling bins. That will allow them to drain out. Check your kids’ toys.

 

Like the wading pools. And the sandbox covers. And the buckets.

 

Turn them over if you have to. Put them away. Whatever.

 

Whatever. Just avoid that little bit of standing water. But if you do nothing else.

 

Just cutting back on the standing water around the property. You’re just going to give yourself far less exposure to those mosquitoes this summer. Which means no more itchy bites.

 

I mean, who am I kidding? They’re still going to find a way to get me. They love me.

 

What can I say?

 

[Producer Jim]

It’s that Italian blood, Leslie.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

It’s true. I am just always a mosquito magnet.

 

[Producer Jim]

I’m with you.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Just invite Jim and I over. We’ll take care of the mosquitoes for everybody else.

 

[Producer Jim]

We’re in the wrong line of work.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Professional mosquito bite getters.

 

[Producer Jim]

Tractorsers.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, see? Add the ER. You’re good.

 

[Producer Jim]

I’m working on it.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. Jim, who’s up next?

 

[Producer Jim]

With the foundation question out in Michigan. Hmm. I wonder who might be from there.

 

We have Brittany. Brittany, what’s going on with your foundation?

 

[Brittany in Michigan]

We had bought an old farmhouse back in July of last year. That is just over 2,100 square feet. It was actually two homes combined into one.

 

The back half of the house was built in the 1800s and has a cobblestone foundation. The back half of the house does not have a basement. It’s just a crawl space.

 

The previous owner had remodeled the house, but in doing so, there was no support under any of the beams, and the cobblestone now has been crumbling. I guess what I’m asking is what would be some ideas or the best way to go about replacing or repairing a cobblestone foundation that is so old.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. You’re having issues with the foundation that is load-bearing. It’s the same whether it’s on brick or cobblestone or clay tile.

 

Essentially, what you have to do is build a temporary support system to hold up your house because you have to hold the house up while you’re doing the work on what’s currently supporting the house. In most cases, it’s a technique called needle beaming. It’s called needle beaming because what the contractor will do is poke a hole in your foundation and then run beams through at strategic points to be able to support perhaps like a section of maybe that exterior wall.

 

They would run through these holes in the foundation where a beam goes in, and then they kind of jack it up on either end so it’s lifting up that piece of the wall, if that makes sense. They don’t so much lift it up off of the foundation as more like they kind of take the pressure off of the foundation so that they can work on it. Then once it’s completely supported, then that foundation can be disassembled and rebuilt, and you kind of put everything back together.

 

This is like a very specialized type of work. It’s not the type of thing that your average general contractor is going to do, and it’s probably something that you want to have a structural engineer and even an architect get involved with because whenever you’re doing this type of major structural work, if you don’t have a licensed professional in it, it becomes a bit of a question mark, and that could be a big concern for people that are going to perhaps buy your home down the road in the future.

 

So if you have an engineer design the repair and then have them come back in and inspect that whole repair after the fact, then you know it’s done right and you have sort of this documentation of the project that when you do sell down the road, you can show the buyer and say, hey, we’ve done this work. It’s been inspected. It’s all done correctly.

 

Here’s how we did it.

 

[Brittany in Michigan]

Since we bought this home under a rural development loan, which is obviously an FHA loan, there was an FHA inspector that came out. We received all the pictures with that. The pictures of the crawlspace were never included.

 

So she did not inspect the crawlspace. I don’t know. I don’t think that would have ever passed.

 

There is literally just a landscape rock under the middle main beam of the back half of the house, and that was literally all that was supporting it. So I had been given an idea that one thing to maybe temporarily at least stop it from sinking any farther would be to build almost like if you were to wrap up the floor and set almost like shutters, like cement shutters, if you will.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, I mean, you do see that type of approach being done, and that DIY stuff is fine. Usually it doesn’t cause any harm, but it’s not the answer to your problem. And the least that you should be doing is getting some professional advice from an engineer.

 

Even if you’re not fixing everything right now, you want that pro to come in and give a real inspection of that area and tell you exactly what’s going on, what is required to help support everything correctly, and then potentially, depending on what that engineering professional comes in and says, you might be able to sort of break this up into different parts of a project, do it in stages. But I wouldn’t just wing it based on advice from a contractor, who I’m sure could be a great contractor. But let’s make sure that structurally, this is going to be engineered correctly, because you want to be targeted in your approach and not just kind of see what sticks, if you know what I’m saying.

 

[Brittany in Michigan]

I had heard that possibly there was recommendations that you could maybe give for people.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

You know, sure. I mean, the other option, if you can’t find an architect or a structural engineer and you just want to get another opinion, it would probably be a little less expensive, although not the kind of a professional that could actually design the repair for you. But what you could do is hire a professional home inspector.

 

You want a very experienced one, and you want one that is certified. So you can go to the American Society of Home Inspectors website, which is ashi.org. And there you can find the inspector tool.

 

You sort of pop in your zip code, and you will find a certified home inspector, and you want them to be ASHI certified. And then they can give you an idea of what’s happening, and that might give you a better approach when speaking to that engineer. But ultimately, I think you have to speak with an engineer.

 

Yeah, I’m just still floored that the inspector… Yeah, don’t feel bad. I mean, what happened to you is pretty typical.

 

Those FHA inspectors are not the same as professional home inspectors. They’re sort of more like an appraiser inspector that just really comments on just the basic structural integrity of the building. They’re not specifically trained or experienced to look at everything in detail.

 

They’re just sort of like, okay, great, this light switch works on. Oh, this panel has a burned wire. You know, they’re probably not even turning on the heating or cooling systems.

 

They may not open every door or window in the house. So that FHA type of inspection, although people think it’s pretty thorough, it’s not. They’re just sort of cursory.

 

And it doesn’t surprise me in the least that the inspector didn’t go in the crawl space. I’m sure they probably also didn’t go in the attic or really look at the roof. But if you go with a certified professional home inspector, they do that.

 

And as a buyer, it’s on you to get the inspector. I mean, I’ve seen selling agents be like, hey, here’s my inspector who’s going to come in and do the inspection. But it’s kind of biased because they work for the person that’s selling.

 

So they might, not that they would or should, but potentially could skew the inspection so things don’t seem as bad. Or, you know, or need a repair as quickly as it might. So you want to have your inspector go in and do this job for you.

 

And then this way they would say, here’s the foundation issues. And they also kind of come up with a checklist of like, these are the things you should be doing in this order to get this house in tip-top shape. All right, Brittany, good luck.

 

It’s going to be a great house. It’s just in a process right now. Thanks.

 

Welcome back to The Money Pit. I’m Leslie Segrete. Well, the summer season has all of us wanting to get the most use out of our backyards.

 

And sometimes we’re stuck with spaces that are kind of too damp and then become an unusable spot. Now, what most homeowners don’t realize is that that area underneath an elevated deck can have a tremendous amount of potential if you add an underdeck drainage system. Trex RainEscape is a great product that does that.

 

And it makes you have so much more valuable real estate for a lot of uses. So joining us is Dave Kyle, the CEO of Trex RainEscape, to explain how all of this works. Welcome, Dave.

 

[Dave Kyle]

Yeah, thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it. Yeah, we manufacture a deck drainage system that is installed before the decking goes down.

 

So as you’re building a deck, you’ll take our product, you’ll staple it to the top of the joist. Once you’re done installing the system, it creates a dry, livable space underneath. So you can utilize it for TVs, outdoor kitchens.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Anything and everything that you want. And I think what’s so different and special about Trex RainEscape is that because it’s going sort of over the joist and under the decking, it kind of protects the whole structure from rot and decay and moisture damage. And it really does a terrific job of moving that water away.

 

[Dave Kyle]

Yeah. Typically when water comes and it rains on a typical deck, the water passes through the deck boards and will saturate the joist structure, the under structure of the deck. And with RainEscape, what we do is we capture that water before it ever comes in contact with the wood.

 

In fact, projects that we’ve been on for the last 20, 25 years, you can lift up the decking and take up the RainEscape.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

And all of those joists are perfect?

 

[Dave Kyle]

Yes.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, that’s great. So now you mentioned this is sort of in the line of new construction. But if I’m changing just the decking boards themselves, it’s a great time to install RainEscape as well, right?

 

[Dave Kyle]

Yeah, it’s a perfect time. You’ll actually see when you’re lifting up old deck boards that you’ll start to see some possible rotting or the screws loosening on the top of the deck. So it’s a perfect opportunity to put the RainEscape in and then protect those joists.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, and what’s great is because of the positioning of the material itself, you’re then able to run electric lines, run gas, so that you can really finish that area below quite beautifully.

 

[Dave Kyle]

The nice thing about the Trex RainEscape product is it allows the customer to accessorize however they feel. With a lot of different systems out there on the market, the finished ceiling is a plastic ceiling. With the RainEscape system, you can actually hang up really whatever you want.

 

If it’s fiber cement, tongue and groove, you can paint it, stain it, so it looks like part of the house.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I mean, it’s really great. And again, you can have an outdoor kitchen, a beautiful sort of living space and watch a game, a hot tub spot. There’s so many uses.

 

Now, is there sort of a height limitation? If I have just like a lower elevated deck, can I use the Trex RainEscape to create just a dry spot for storage?

 

[Dave Kyle]

Yeah, we’re finding more and more consumers out there that have a garage that’s full of a bunch of junk.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Never a car, always junk.

 

[Dave Kyle]

And they want to get it out of the garage and make room. And what you can do with the RainEscape is if you have a deck, let’s say it’s maybe five feet off the ground, put the RainEscape in there and underneath. Then you can store your lawnmower, any of your garden equipment, and it’s just a nice little storage shed.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

That’s awesome. And the Trex RainEscape system, how easy is it to install as a DIYer?

 

[Dave Kyle]

Really easy. Tools required to install the system is a staple gun, a utility knife, and a caulking gun. So it’s really, really simple.

 

And then we also have a whole bunch of videos, and we have a hotline that you can call in with any questions to make sure it goes smoothly.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

That’s awesome. And don’t forget, Trex RainEscape is backed by a 25-year limited warranty, so everybody can get that extra peace of mind. And you really have such beautiful finished projects on the website as well.

 

It’s like those spaces that have been created because of Trex RainEscape, outstanding. So, Dave, awesome job.

 

[Dave Kyle]

Yeah, thank you very much. I appreciate your guys’ time and having me on the show.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. If you guys want some more info, you can head on over to trexrainescape.com. That’s T-R-E-X-R-A-I-N-E-S-C-A-P-E dot com.

 

Thanks again, Dave.

 

[Dave Kyle]

Perfect. Thanks so much. Have a great day.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

You too. Thank you. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

 

Are you looking for a great way to celebrate the dad in your life? Well, why not turn your garage into a gear-ready workspace for dad? You can add a sturdy workbench, wall-mounted tool storage, even bright task lighting.

 

It is a gift that says, go build something awesome. We can all enjoy it. We can do this project together.

 

Whatever. It’s a great thing for dad, and we love to give dad something he loves to do, and we love to spend time with our dads. So, you got a lot of great ideas.

 

Go have a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. And remember, for more great home improvement advice, join us on the Money Pit Podcast every Monday and Thursday. You can grab yours for free at moneypit.com slash podcast. Jim, who’s up next?

 

[Producer Jim]

Out in Iowa, Leslie, we’ve got Maya. Maya’s dealing with some steps outside that have carpeting glued to them. That sounds like a terrible combination of things.

 

What’s going on, Maya?

 

[Maya in Iowa]

My house has brick steps on the west side of my house, and it’s covered in carpet, outdoor carpet that’s been glued on. Now, there are some holes starting in that carpet, and I’m wondering what the best way is to remove it. Once I get it removed, what would be your advice on what I should do with that step?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

That sounds like a slippery, mildewy mess. I mean, you really got yourself in a situation here, because trying to remove that carpet that’s been glued on is, like, difficult under the best of circumstances. Now, put it outside on concrete, it’s just going to be really difficult.

 

So, you may want to look at a chemical, like, adhesive remover. And that’s probably going to be the best that you’re going to do, because you need to soften up that adhesive, and then you can kind of scrape it flat. It’s definitely a pain in the butt in every way you look at it.

 

But you just want to make sure that you’re getting rid of as much of that adhesive as you can, flattening out the area, and then you can try to add pavers on top of this step. You just want to make sure that you’re not altering the height. But there’s a paver called a Milano paver by the Pavestone Company, and it’s like a thin paver.

 

It’s sort of like half the thickness of a regular paver. It might even be less than that. So, you’re not going to compromise the step height of this stair, because as you’re sort of piling things on, you could be alternating that rise and then making the tread different and feel awkward for stepping.

 

But it’s definitely a great thing to use. You could also look at a tile that’s rated for outside, like ceramic tile, but you want one that’s truly rated for outside, because you want to make sure that that has the right slip resistance, because it’s going to be outside, and you want to make sure that people are not slipping. But if you were to think about gluing back on top of that concrete surface, you could do the tile, you could do the paver.

 

There’s a lot of different things that you could choose, as long as it’s level and you’re not getting an uneven surface from all the buildup of glue, you should have no problem getting something else to stick and stick well. All right, Maya, good luck with that. Say bye-bye to outside carpet.

 

Never a good thing. Well, if you love the beautiful wood floors and moldings that you see in older homes, but you live in a much younger home, you can still get some of those same benefits by using reclaimed lumber. Now, reclaimed lumber is wood that’s been rescued from old houses, barns, that sort of other building like that.

 

And it’s a great option for home improvement or even decor projects, because it offers truly unique qualities that brand new hardwood simply doesn’t have. First of all, reclaimed lumber is often more durable than commonly available hardwood. And that’s because these pieces originate in old growth wood, which nowadays is just harder to come by.

 

Now, using that reclaimed lumber can also be highly cost-effective. Depending on the type of wood you plan to use, selecting reclaimed wood can save you over $10 per square foot. And because you’re giving the wood a second life, reclaimed lumber is also an environmentally conscious choice.

 

There are so many ways that you can use reclaimed lumber. It makes for a beautiful hardwood flooring, and it can also be used for counters, for cabinets, shelving, drawers, accent walls, partitions. If you decide to use this reclaimed lumber on your next project, you’re just going to fall in love with it.

 

And I promise you’ll be finding ways to use it again in a different way the next time around. All right, let’s see who’s up next on the Money Pit. Jim, who do you have?

 

[Producer Jim]

Marcia in Nebraska. You’ve got Leslie on the Money Pit. How can we help out today?

 

[Marcia in Nebraska]

We have a 15,000 BTU. It’s a window air conditioner, and it keeps popping our breaker. It does it in, like, the heat of the afternoon.

 

If we have it on the fan, is it the window, the air conditioner, or the breaker?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

No, see, it’s doing that because the breaker is doing its job. You’re pulling too much power. Is this unit in a bedroom?

 

Where is this? It’s a living room. All right, the living room.

 

So in some houses, especially older houses, you could have typically too many things on that circuit that’s set up in your living room. And you really need to identify what else is on that circuit so you can reduce what else is on at the same time that you’re trying to use that air conditioning. It’s definitely an issue, but, Jim, I’m super nervous about electrical stuff.

 

So what’s the best way? You would have to hire a pro to tell you, like, hey, this circuit goes to the kitchen where you’ve got the fridge plugged in. Like, they can identify it through tracking from the circuit, but you as a homeowner, there’s not, like, a little detector that I could see.

 

[Producer Jim]

Well, there is. Actually, you can do what they call a fox and hound, and you plug it in a wall socket, and it generates a signal through all the wires that are on that breaker. And then you walk around with a little receiver, and if it goes beep, beep, beep, it’s on that circuit.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Oh, interesting. I love this. And I love the fox and hound is, like, you know, a little detective work here.

 

[Producer Jim]

I believe that’s the name.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. So that’s a good way to know. This way you can really see what’s happening at that circuit, why it’s pulling so much power.

 

Because an AC is going to pull a lot of power, and if it’s on a low amperage circuit, it’s just not going to be enough.

 

[Producer Jim]

Well, let me see. I was running the AC on the same circuit as my air fryer and toaster, and for some reason…

 

[Leslie Segrete]

And the microwave.

 

[Producer Jim]

Yeah, and then I tried to use the hair dryer, and everything went to heck.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah. So this is a good way to know. And then what you could do is, you know, short of rewiring the house, just know that when you’re using the AC, those other things are sort of off limits.

 

Eventually, what you should be doing is having an electrician come in, and perhaps you just don’t have enough amperage coming into the house to power things sort of in like a modern configuration. You know, my house was built in the early 20s. When we bought the house in the early 2000s, it only had 100 amps of service coming from the main to the house, which wasn’t enough for things like, someday I might want to put in central air conditioning.

 

[Producer Jim]

Or a hot tub or something, yeah?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yes, a hot tub, Jim. At that time, my priority was air conditioning. So I did, I mean, we ran new lines to the house, upgraded it to 200 amps, which, you know, it’s a small home, but that’s standard now.

 

You’re not going to see anything less than 200, and you’re going to see homes that have far more. So it could be time to upgrade the panel. It might just be that you don’t have enough service coming into the house for the way a modern home functions.

 

And that’s definitely something a professional electrician can tell you.

 

[Producer Jim]

Yeah, plus when they upgrade that, they’re going to check to make sure everything’s balanced on the panel. Make sure you have three wire grounds everywhere you need them. GFCIs, all the new stuff for code that wasn’t code back then, everything gets updated.

 

So it’s not just replacing the panel.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, so a lot of things. You know, it might just be sort of time to have an electrical checkup for your home, if you will. But know that when that circuit pops, it’s doing its job.

 

It’s protecting you. That’s what I needed to know. Thank you.

 

Happy Father’s Day, Jimmy. What are you and the kiddos up to?

 

[Producer Jim]

Thanks. Well, we’re going to be doing the FaceTime thing this year, unfortunately. All right.

 

But we got a lot of time around Mother’s Day, so that was cool. Oh, good. We doubled up.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. I love it. All right.

 

Let’s answer an email question quickly. I know we got a little time.

 

[Producer Jim]

Yeah, we do. Marcus in New Jersey has an interesting question. He says, I’m installing a new exterior door and wondered if I still need to install a storm door, too.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, you know, that’s a great question because most people put storm doors up because they think they need one. But I don’t think storm doors are really necessary for energy efficiency because the doors are actually built so much different than they were, and they’re much more energy efficient. I think a storm door is definitely a preference thing.

 

You know, I like a storm door because I like to open the front door or the rear door so that I get some air, I can see what’s going on outside. But that’s totally up to you. It can even just be a screen door.

 

You don’t necessarily need that storm door. And remember, though, if you do put in a storm door, you’re going to get direct sun, and that sun can actually get so hot between the glass and the door itself that it can melt the trim. So keep that in mind.

 

It’s generally not necessary. It’s just up to you. I also feel like if you don’t have a storm door or a screen door, people just feel so much more compelled to come into the house.

 

So either way, your call. But it’s up to you. You don’t need a storm door.

 

[Producer Jim]

If you’re heading outside for some home repairs up high, a sturdy ladder sure is a help. But ladders fail, sending hundreds of people to emergency rooms every year, and some falls can even be fatal. Leslie’s got safety tips for using a ladder in this week’s edition of Her Last Word.

 

Leslie?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

That’s right. You know, it’s crazy. I mean, the biggest mistake that you can make is taking a shortcut.

 

In order to be safe, that ladder needs to remain stationary. If you are working with an extension ladder, you do have to level the feet by digging out the ground or by using ladder levelers. And people are like, I don’t do any of that.

 

Well, you could be in for a very serious injury. So you have to make sure. If you’re working on a hard, dry ground, you want to make sure that you rest those feet flat.

 

You want to make sure that slippery plastic tarps, debris, that kind of stuff are not under that ladder’s foot. You want to make sure that the textured rubber pads on the bottom are still there and intact. If you are working on grass or soft ground, you’ll notice that some of the feet flip up and then that ladder has like a spiky end.

 

And that’s meant to stake into the ground to give you extra stability. Or you can lay the feet flat and just tie them down on the side. Or you can even brace them in the front with some stakes.

 

So there’s a couple of ways that you can make sure that that ladder base is secure and very stable on that surface. Next, you want to make sure that you position the ladder so that the distance from the base to the wall is a quarter of the height of the ladder at its resting point. So you’re kind of creating this 75 degree angle.

 

If you want a quick check on the angle of your ladder, stand facing it with your feet touching its feet and your arms extended. Your palms should rest on a rung right at shoulder height. That’s kind of completing that angle on the other side of the ladder.

 

You always also want to make sure that you’re looking overhead for wires before you’re carrying or setting up that ladder. And don’t rest an extension ladder against a tree or a pole, anything that’s rounded because it can rotate and fall. I know it’s a lot of safety tips here, everybody, but safety first.

 

We can tackle a lot more projects if we’re, you know, alive. So let’s not be dumb when it comes to ladder usage.

 

[Producer Jim]

Funny how that works.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I know, right? Thank you again so much for joining us this Father’s Day weekend. Coming up next week, natural stone countertops.

 

They are a popular choice for kitchens, but they’re also very high maintenance. So is the beauty and durability of that stone top worth the hassle? We’re going to find out.

 

Whatever you guys are doing, enjoy the weekend. Happy Father’s Day. Remember, the show continues online at moneypit.com.

 

And you can do it yourself, but you don’t have to do it alone.

 

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