#2529 – Diving into Pool Safety | Roof Rejuvenation Adds Life to Shingles | One-and-Done Drywall Repairs

[Producer Jim]

The Money Pit is presented by Roof Maxx Roof Restoration Treatment. Now, here’s Leslie Segrete.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit. I’m Leslie Segrete, and as always, I’m joined by my friend Jim Kenzie. Welcome, Jimmy.

 

[Producer Jim]

Hi, Leslie.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I’m so glad it is summer. It’s warm, we’re swimming. What are you guys doing this summer?

 

Any big fun plans?

 

[Producer Jim]

There’s a lot of outdoor gigs, both playing and doing sound reinforcement stuff for other groups.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I love that. That’s a lot of fun.

 

[Producer Jim]

It’s a great summer.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

We are doing a lot of college visits.

 

[Producer Jim]

Oh yeah, it’s that time, isn’t it? Sure is.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Wow.

 

[Producer Jim]

Boy, I remember that. Enjoy that. Have fun there, Leslie.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah. Let’s distract ourselves, though, now with some fun home improvement talk, because truly, I’m like, I can’t even believe how quickly life is going and all of these decisions are happening. So let’s think about some things that we can tackle and we can feel really proud of doing, like home improvement.

 

Now, it’s summer, so if your home has a pool, good for you. When can we come over? Jim can play a gig.

 

I can barbecue for you.

 

[Producer Jim]

Money pit serenade.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

We will knock on your door and we’ll have a great summer fun party. But truly, let’s be serious here. If you have a pool, you know that a fence is integral in making sure that you have a safe time at home.

 

But you may not know that pool fencing is very different. It has very different requirements from any other type. So we’re going to help you out with a pool fence checklist in a little bit.

 

And also ahead, we have a great guest joining us to discuss an alternative to roof replacement that’s way more affordable and environmentally friendly as well. We’re going to welcome Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx in just a bit. And drywall repairs like fixing wall cracks, nail pops and seams that split open can be a constant hassle for homeowners.

 

But if you do them right, you’re not going to be doing them over and over again. So we’ve got some tips to take care of those common fixes coming up. But first, we are here to help you.

 

Have you started a project and you need some help? Are you planning a project and you want to bounce ideas off of us? Whatever you are working on, we can help.

 

So call us right now at 888-MONEYPIT. Jim, who’s up first?

 

[Producer Jim]

All right, Leslie. It’s time to talk roofing or roughing, as some folks say, with Kelly from Delaware. What’s going on, Kelly?

 

[Kelly in Delaware]

We have a home that’s a 2002. It’s not architectural shingles. It’s just the flat shingles.

 

It’s in a resort town, a lot of salt water. We’re wondering if the shingle rejuvenation products are worth trying to attempt to get extended life on these shingles. I know Lowe’s sells a brand and I know there’s a company out there that is like a national company that sprays a roof.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. So first of all, Kelly, at 20 years, your roof is getting to the end of its normal lifecycle. So this could be a great time to explore this idea of a shingle rejuvenation.

 

We work with a company called RoofMaxx. It could be exactly what you’re talking about. It’s RoofMaxx.com.

 

We’ve reviewed their process. We have looked at what it does. Basically, what they’re doing is they look at the shingles.

 

Are they dried out? Are they curling? Are they in good shape?

 

There’s sort of a checklist of things that they’ll determine to say like, hey, you could go with a rejuvenation project with RoofMaxx or not. They’re not going to install this if it’s not going to be beneficial. So they will come out and evaluate.

 

And then what they’re doing is resaturating those shingles with an oil. So it’s kind of rejuvenating and bringing new life into that shingle. And you can do this treatment two times.

 

And each treatment can extend the life of the roof about five years. So it’s definitely worthwhile to talk to the folks over at RoofMaxx, have them come out, have them examine it, and see if it can make a difference for your home. I mean, it is a fraction of the cost of having the roof replaced.

 

And think about all of how helpful it is by not putting all those shingles into the landfills and sort of not recycling them properly and creating more waste. So if you can extend the life of your roof five years, 10 years, even better.

 

[Producer Jim]

And, Les, if they check out your roof and say, no, it’s beyond hope. We can’t help you with this product. They’ll tell you you need a new roof flat out.

 

And they’re not going to sell you the RoofMaxx product.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Exactly.

 

[Producer Jim]

So I think that’s pretty cool.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah. I mean, these are stand-up guys, and it’s a great, great product. And in the process of evaluating the roof, if there’s any repairs that need to be made, they do that for you in the whole process of prepping the roof to be ready for the RoofMaxx rejuvenation.

 

All right. Give them a call. Check them out at RoofMaxx.com.

 

[Producer Jim]

That’s two X’s, Leslie. There’s two X’s in RoofMaxx.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Thank you, sir.

 

[Producer Jim]

Thank you so much. All right, Leslie, we have a twofer. Martha is in Ohio on the line with a leaky door and a leaky window.

 

All right.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Oh, lucky her.

 

[Producer Jim]

If you’re going to do it, do it right. All right. What’s going on, Martha?

 

[Martha in Ohio]

We had some sliding glass doors in our family room that’s paneled. And we had them taken out, and we wanted just a picture window in there. So when they came to do the picture window, they took the door out, the sliding doors out, and, you know, the foundation was like, oh, maybe a block or two up, and the, you know, door had been left empty down lower.

 

So what they did was they took two by fours, I think it was, wood, and built up to the block level and then proceeded to put in the supports for the window. So now when it’s – I made a flower bed out there, and now when the ground gets real saturated and water tends to puddle there, collect, it runs under the wood, through the wood.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, it sounds like instead of building the foundation up with concrete block, which is what they should have done, they kind of filled it in with wood framing. Does that sound correct? Yes.

 

Yeah, that probably wasn’t the best choice.

 

[Martha in Ohio]

Or do we need to start over?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, I mean, I would just start over because, you know, it’s kind of hard to advise that you seal something that wasn’t done right to begin with. I mean, it really should have been concrete block, but having said that, if you’re going to just trap that much water against the foundation, whether it’s a wood patch or a concrete block, it’s still going to leak. You just can’t hold that kind of water against your foundation.

 

And we tell you all the time here at The Money Pit that you should not have too much moisture building up against the foundation because it’s just going to find its way into the house. Anyway, especially in an area where you live like Ohio, you’re going to get a significant freeze-thaw cycle. And because of that, that water saturates the soil.

 

The soil freezes. It’s going to push inward on that wall and then weaken that basement wall. So what we recommend here is that if you’re going to have a planter, you have to make sure that there’s some drainage in there so that that water doesn’t puddle up.

 

Because if you do trap it against the wall, regardless of how you’ve built that wall, even if it wasn’t repaired or built correctly, it’s going to leak. It’s going to cause damage. So I think the issue really is what you did after the fact more than what they did when they installed the picture window.

 

Okay?

 

[Martha in Ohio]

Okay. Okay.

 

 

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Good luck with your project. And thank you so much 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. Well, now that it’s summertime, woo-hoo!

 

Let’s work smarter and not harder when it comes to lawn care. You want to mow high and water early. Set your mower blades higher, around three inches, because that’s going to shade the roots and that’s going to help retain the moisture.

 

And water your lawn early in the morning to reduce evaporation and fungal growth. Your grass is going to thank you with greener, healthier growth. And who doesn’t love a nice green lawn?

 

I mean, Jim does for sure with all of his land in Michigan. Right, Jim?

 

[Producer Jim]

That’s my home state, but not my current residence.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I know!

 

[Producer Jim]

I’m on the lam, Leslie.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I just love to harass you about Michigan. I’m so sorry. I know you live in Ohio.

 

[Producer Jim]

You know what? I deserve it.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right. Well, you know what? You also deserve to give us a caller.

 

Who’s up next?

 

[Producer Jim]

All right, Leslie, we’re going out to Kansas to talk to Terry. What’s going on at your money pit, Terry?

 

[Terry in Kansas]

I have a stucco exterior on my house. Years ago, I had painted the outside and it did not last. I’m a stucco probably a month and it came off in sheets.

 

I had washed it, prepared it, everything that I know. I painted it probably in August when it was really hot out here. My question is, when is the proper time to paint stucco?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, so the last time you did a painting project, Terry, did you use a primer on that stucco or did you just paint over what was there?

 

[Terry in Kansas]

I painted over what was there.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, so if you just painted over what was there, there are a few things that could have caused this condition. First of all, a primer is super important because a primer has sort of different properties than the actual top coat paint does. It is specifically designed to have super adhesive properties, so it’s going to stick and grab a hold to that old surface and then really bond to it, and then that’s stuck there, and then the paint goes over it and really sticks to that.

 

So there’s different paint manufacturers, Benjamin Moore, Behr, Sherwin Williams. They all have very specific products, and there is a Benjamin Moore product that’s specifically made as a primer for masonry surfaces that’s called UltraSpec. Now, the second thing is the temperature.

 

You mentioned August, which could be really hot, and you know that the warmer the temperature, the faster the paint is going to dry, and that can also hinder the adhesion of the paint as well. And unfortunately, you’ve kind of found this out the hard way when it peels off. So to go forward, let’s properly clean the surface, and when it’s good and dry, then you prime it.

 

But remember, don’t do it during the super hot parts of the day. Don’t do it in the middle of the summer. Fall is great on a weekend with no rain.

 

Same kind of thing. So this may be something you just kind of put off until it’s a little cooler and drier out. But if you see a good stretch where it’s not too, too hot, you can go ahead and do the same.

 

Now, you can apply it with a roller. You can apply it with a paint sprayer. Wagner makes some great paint sprayers that you can put on, so it’ll get good coverage.

 

You can go on pretty thick to cover that. So it really depends. There’s a lot of different ways you can approach this project, but primer is critical here to making sure that this project lasts.

 

We’d love to lend a hand. I know this is going to be a project, but you’ll be so happy when it’s done.

 

[Terry in Kansas]

Okay, thank you.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, now is the season for swimming and fun, and if you have a pool in your backyard, a properly designed pool fence is the most effective way to keep those small kids safe from danger. But pool fences aren’t like any other type of fence. These are designed especially to keep kids out, and a lot of times people don’t realize that it’s a specific type of fence, and they put the wrong kind in.

 

So first of all, fence height should be at least 48 inches, and the spacing between those links should be only 1 1⁄4 inches, and it’s really small because you want to prevent anybody who might climb the fence from being able to kind of get their toes in and get a hold up so they can kind of climb over it. Now, these special fences are also required to have self-closing hinges to prevent those gates from accidentally being left open, and then the latches are special, and when that fence gate closes, that latch kind of locks in place, and it’s not like officially locked. It’s almost like a child safety lock.

 

You kind of have to twist and push. You can’t just open them very easily. So for a kid, it’s challenging, and that’s important because you want to keep those kids out because pools look great to everybody, and a kid is just going to want to jump in and not realize that they can’t really swim.

 

Now, I’ve got some other pool safety tips to help you keep everybody safe this summer. Never leave those kiddos unattended. Always have an adult designated as the water watcher.

 

Drowning happens quickly, and I think people don’t realize that drowning happens very silently. It’s quiet, and it happens fast, so somebody’s always got to pay attention. You want to use safety covers and alarms.

 

Cover that pool when it’s not in use, and consider water surface alarms or gate alarms to give you that extra peace of mind. Get some rescue gear. Keep it nearby.

 

Have a life ring, a reaching pole, a first aid kit accessible just in case there’s any emergency. Establish pool rules. Even though it’s your house, have some rules and post them and enforce them, like no running, no diving in the shallow end.

 

Swim with a buddy. Don’t pee in the pool. Whatever it is, make your list and keep it there.

 

Also, learn CPR. You should try to make sure that at least one adult is on site who is trained in CPR. It can save lives in an emergency, and it is not difficult to learn, and your local Red Cross offers lessons very frequently, and it’s just a few hours of training.

 

Now, when it comes to pool chemicals, store them safely. They should be stored in a locked, dry place away from the kids, the pets, and the heat, and also maintain that water clarity and balance because that clean, clear water, it doesn’t only look inviting. It also helps you see the bottom, and it prevents accidents, and it prevents bacterial issues.

 

Let’s all do our best to have a safe and happy summer. All right, Jim, get out of the pool. Who’s next?

 

Oh, Mom!

 

[Producer Jim]

All right, Leslie. We’ve got Catherine on the line in Arizona, and she’s got a problem with sod, and in Arizona, the heat could be an issue there. What’s going on, Catherine?

 

[Catherine in Arizona]

I live, actually, in the mountains in Arizona, and so our issue is not the heat but the cold, and so what we’ve had happen is that we laid sod about eight years ago, and unbeknownst to us novice homeowners, it had mesh netting on the backside of the roll, and I don’t know if we were supposed to remove that or something, but now the sod did not take to our climate, and it has died, and we would like to reseed or lay down some new sod or something like that, but in order to prepare the soil and till it and all of that, I just don’t know what to do because there’s this mesh netting all over the ground, and in some areas it’s exposed, in some areas it isn’t, but I just wondered what your advice would be.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

First of all, I didn’t realize it got so cold in Arizona, especially in the mountains. I mean, my goodness, you’re kind of getting the best of everything, like beautiful landscape, beautiful sunsets, gorgeous days, cool nights, kind of a win-win for you there, but obviously not for the sod, so it seems like the sod never kind of really bit.

 

I mean, it just doesn’t seem to have grown through the mesh netting and connected with the soil below, right?

 

[Catherine in Arizona]

Not really. I mean, it did in some areas, but it just did not grow well for our climate. It couldn’t handle the winters. It just wouldn’t recover.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, I mean, the first thing you want to do when you’re thinking of resodding or seeding is you kind of want to do a soil test, and sometimes your county extension services and offices can come and do that for you. They’ll test it, or maybe your landscaper can do the test, but if you know what’s in that soil, you know how to adjust the pH to kind of get it right for that new lawn, whether it’s sod or seed, to really, really take a hold. You want to make sure that you’re fertilizing correctly.

 

Otherwise, you’re giving the food to the lawn that it doesn’t need or want, so if you know what you’re working with and not going in blind, you’re really going to do a great job of making sure that lawn is fed well, that it will grow well, and those seeds or that sod will really take a good hold of everything. Now, the other thing to keep in mind is the timing here. It doesn’t do well with the seeding or the sodding in the beginning of the summer.

 

Kind of the best time is the fall when it’s a little bit cooler because if it starts to grow in the intense heat, and then it could burn out. It could kind of ruin all of that work you’re doing, so maybe if it’s super hot or you’re going through a heat spell here, give it some time, gather some info, see what you want to do there, and then wait until it’s more consistently cool and not such a big fluctuation between heat and cold at night. Do you also find that that soil there, I mean, through what you’ve seen, has it been very weedy there?

 

[Catherine in Arizona]

There are lots of weeds, so it’s not so much the sod that’s the issue, but it’s the plastic mesh netting that was on the backside of the sod that’s there, and I just don’t know, can we till with that there, or is that going to get all caught up in the tiller?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, I think what you’re describing with the sod is that mesh backing, and generally those backers are meant to stay there. They’re not removed. They kind of just deteriorate naturally as it’s growing, so I don’t think that would be an issue.

 

Otherwise, how would you ever lay sod down? It just kind of wouldn’t stay together, right? Right, right.

 

[Catherine in Arizona]

Yeah, I don’t know. I didn’t know what was supposed to be common, just that it hasn’t degraded at all after I hear that it’s still totally there.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Well, here’s an idea. One thing that you could do is you could rent a seeding machine that slices the lawn. There’s machines that actually slice the lawn and drop the seeds kind of into the slits of your ground there, and it’s really a good idea because it gets the seed where it wants to be.

 

It’s not going to wash away, but I think really the first thing you have to do is that soil test so that you know how to grow it, you know how to take care of it. You want to do the work, but you want it to stick, and you want it to grow well, and that soil test, whether you’re going with sod or whether you’re going with seed, is going to be that first key to making sure you’re having a successful project. Now, when we’re talking about the weeds, if you’re seeing a lot of weeds, you could get a product called Roundup.

 

Some people feel very poorly about that product because there have been some issues, but it is a very successful product in getting rid of weeds, poison ivy, things that you don’t want. You just have to make sure that you really aim it well and that weed that you don’t want will not grow back. All right, that makes sense.

 

All right, Catherine, good luck with your project. Let’s hope we hear more from you, and you tell us all about your beautiful green lawn. Thank you.

 

We have the great pleasure of Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx. He’s the co-founder and CEO of RoofMaxx joining us, who got to spend a pretty fun and dirty day, let’s say, with Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs. This is going to be confusing.

 

Two Mikes we’re talking about, but Mike Feazel is joining us. Welcome, Mike. Mike, I can’t wait to hear about this great day.

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

Yeah, thanks for having me on, Leslie. Great to talk to you.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Mike Rowe is just an awesome dude. I remember before I got to meet him in a professional sense, I was on an airplane with him, and he couldn’t have been more lovely to everybody who had a million questions for this poor guy just because he’s a regular dude. Did you have the best day, and I’m sure did he have a million questions for you?

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

We did, we did. Like you said, he’s very authentic. The guy you see on TV is the guy that you meet when you’re in person, and we had a lot of fun.

 

We spent probably seven, eight hours together, just Dirty Jobs style, going around with live cameras rolling the whole time and talking about all things roof rejuvenation, why shingles are failing premature today, and the solution that my brother and I created some years ago.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Let’s talk about that a little bit. Why are roofing shingles just not holding up the way that they used to? Is it the way they’re built?

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

It is the way they’re built. Back in the mid-’80s when I got in the roofing industry all the way up until the early 2000s, asphalt shingles had about a third more asphalt than they have today, and that’s the main component. Just like a road, as the oil dries out, a new road goes down, it’s a nice black tar, and it starts to become gray over time as the oils dry out.

 

It starts to get cracks, and then you get a pothole. As the oil dries out, that roof starts to break apart, and that happens to an asphalt roof, which is pretty much 85% of all homes have asphalt shingles on them.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

But with the construction of the shingles recently, it’s less asphalt, correct?

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

Yeah, less asphalt just means that the shingle, the oil dries out sooner, and like that road, needs to be replaced quicker, unless you can reintroduce the oil back into it, and that’s what roof rejuvenation and RoofMaxx is all about. That’s why we founded this company.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

How do you know when a roof is savable? I imagine you and your brother have come up with a whole system to really look at a roof and understand if it is savable with the roof rejuvenation, with RoofMaxx.

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

Yeah, great question. So we have a very detailed process of coming out and assessing the roof. All of our dealers nationwide are trained on how to assess a roof to see if it qualifies.

 

The exciting thing is about 90% of the roofs that we look at were able to at least extend for another five years, and these are roofs that otherwise would be torn off and taken to the landfill. And about 80% of the roofs that we look at, we will be able to give two treatments because we treat every five years. So we can take about 80% of the roofs out an additional 10 years, and then a smaller percentage we’ll be able to take out for a third treatment and essentially double the life of an asphalt roof.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Now, generally, Mike Rowe likes to take on jobs that no one else wants to do, but the roofing industry is so interesting, and I think the process of building a roof and thus the process of treating a roof with RoofMaxx doesn’t seem like the dirtiest job. So what was his opinion of the whole thing?

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

Exactly that. RoofMaxx is just not a dirty job. Roof replacement is.

 

You know, it saves money, but it’s very low impact on the property owner. We’re in and out in a few hours, saves money, keeps debris out of the landfill. So no, we’ve got a bunch of footage that’s coming out on our Facebook page.

 

People will start seeing and are already seeing some TV ads as we roll out all of the, basically the day spent with Mike.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

What did your dealers sort of get a sense? Was it, you know, validating for them to know that they’re really doing a great job and reducing sort of an eco footprint of what the roofing industry generally has an impact on when they’re removing a roof? I mean, you guys really do an amazing job.

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

Yeah, thank you. Yes, the dealers are very excited about the Mike Rowe relationship, but not only that, and one of the things that Mike was excited about is, you know, we’re over 17,000 reviews and an average of 4.9 stars on Google and on the review sites. So, you know, it’s because our product works.

 

It’s because our dealers really care and because we really hold them accountable to doing the right thing, and that’s just through the training and the processes, making sure that, hey, if we make sense, then great, let’s rejuvenate the roof that the customer wants to do it. But if it doesn’t make sense, let’s point them in the right direction, you know, and let’s suggest a replacement.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

I love that, Mike. Thank you so much for joining us. We’ve been talking with Mike Feazel, the CEO and co-founder of RoofMaxx, who had a great day with Mike Rowe learning that RoofMaxx really isn’t a dirty job, which I love.

 

So if you want to check it out for yourself, find a dealer in your area, see if your roof qualifies, you can head on over to RoofMaxx, that’s RoofMaxx with two X’s, M-A-X-X dot com, and get some more info and meet with the dealer in your neighborhood. Thanks so much for joining us, Mike.

 

[Mike Feazel from RoofMaxx]

Yeah, thanks for having me on, Leslie.

 

[Producer Jim]

All right, Ms. Segrete, we’re heading to Tennessee, and apparently so were the moles to Kim’s yard.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

What’s going on?

 

[Kim in Tennessee]

Yes, I’m trying to get rid of these moles in my yard. Please help me.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Oof, you know, moles, I feel like in cartoons they were always portrayed as being, like, super cute, but they are not cute. And boy, can they cause a lot of issues in the yard, especially those star-faced moles. Have you seen them?

 

And I love all creatures and rodents, but I’m very happy for them to go to somebody else’s yard. They’re not so cute. Baby bunnies, I want to keep them all.

 

But moles, they can go anywhere else. All right, Kim? So let’s talk about some ways that we can get these moles to go elsewhere.

 

And I think the issue is that they love something in your lawn, so they’re hanging out in your yard, they’re eating whatever it is, and generally it’s a grub. You know those gross little, like, fat worms, for a better term. They live in the lawn.

 

I mean, you know that’s right, Jim. That’s what they look like.

 

[Producer Jim]

That’s what they are, yeah.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

They live in your lawn, and they are an especially tasty treat for moles. And so if they know that they’re in your yard, they’re all going to come hang out, they’re going to eat those grubs, they’re going to make those tunnels, somebody’s going to fall and break an ankle, and the moles are going to be like, oh, look, I’m eating this yucky little grub. So what you want to do is get rid of it.

 

And there’s definitely a product out there called GrubX, and you put it onto the lawn, and it will make the grubs go away, and the moles will say, hey, where’d my tasty treat go? And they will go away. So that’s really the process here, and it’s a nice, humane way to do it and let them bother somebody else.

 

[Kim in Tennessee]

All right, well, good. Thank you so much. I’ll try the GrubX.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, good luck with that, Kim. Well, drywall repairs are some of the most common home maintenance chores that homeowners have to take on, but if you don’t do them right, you’re just going to be doing them again and again. Now, the three most common types of drywall repairs needed are nail pops, holes, and cracks.

 

Nail pops are a result from a nail that’s kind of loosened up over time and starts to back its way out of the drywall. So to fix that, you simply want to tap that nail in and then drive a new nail right next to it. But you want to make sure that you cover the head of the old nail with the new one so it kind of sucks it tight to the drywall.

 

Then spackle that area, smooth it, allow it to dry really well, sand, and then touch up that area with your paint. Now, you can also use a drywall screw instead of that nail because there’s no way that screw is going to back itself out ever. Now, the best way for a homeowner to fix a wall or a ceiling crack is to use a strong perforated drywall tape.

 

Now, this tape has large squares and it kind of looks like sticky netting. You want to apply this first to kind of bridge the gap in the crack and then smooth a generous amount of spackle or mud over that wall or the ceiling crack. Once the area is dry, you sand it and you repaint it.

 

Now, if you have a big hole in the wall, you don’t need a kit, you just need a scrap of drywall, a leftover piece of window screening, and some joint compound, and a few common tools, and that’s all it takes. Our favorite patching method includes a great tip. Tom always said this and it always kind of made me nervous, but he’s right.

 

You want to cut the hole to fit the patch and not the other way around. Even if it means making that hole a little bit bigger, this method is virtually foolproof because this way you’re really working to create a space that’s fixable, repairable, and so it doesn’t matter if you have to make it a little bit bigger. Now, here’s the trick.

 

When it comes to working with joint compound, it’s kind of like an art project. You have to take your time, you want to apply thin coats, you don’t want to fuss with it. After two or three strokes, leave it alone until it’s dry, sand it, paint it, good as new.

 

It’s really a great skill to have, how to sort of patch drywall here. Hopefully you don’t have to do it too many times, but if you’re good at it, it’s just easy to fix, it looks great, and it just saves a lot of time and fuss. All right, Jim, let’s get back to our callers.

 

Who’s up next?

 

[Producer Jim]

Now we’re going to talk insulation with Albert from Massachusetts. What’s going on, Albert?

 

[Albert in Massachusetts]

Well, my house is about 50 years old and the attic is unused space. It’s not very large and it’s got minimal insulation. It’s just the strips of the fiberglass insulation.

 

I’m thinking that it needs more than that and I’m wondering if I should get, should it be blown in or sprayed on, open cell, closed cell? Do you have any suggestions on that?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Sure, it’s definitely smart to add insulation. You’re going to see so many benefits from having cooler temps when the air conditioning’s going, warmer temps when it’s heating season, the attic will feel more sort of neutralized temperature-wise. It should mimic the outside, so you have to make sure that you have the correct insulation.

 

Spray foam is an excellent choice if you plan on being in the home for many, many years because it will expand and then it will seal and it has a higher R value than a fiberglass insulation, but these kind of things need to be done at very specific times. Like with the spray-in, you would do that if you’re making any repairs for the roof or any of the repairs done in the attic because it kind of gets sprayed to the bottom along the roof rafters. The sheathing there kind of effectively seals your entire attic space.

 

It sort of is sprayed everywhere, but that’s kind of a bigger project, but it’s a great option. Now, if you’re not using the space much, it’s probably a good case for blown-in as well, but once you do that, you’re definitely not going to be able to get around the attic. It’ll just have to be covered and you’ll have to continue to ventilate that because if you use fiberglass insulation, you actually can grow mold on the fiberglass if there’s too much moisture and too much humidity, so you kind of still have to remember to get airflow through the attic whether you’re using the blown-in or the fiberglass baths.

 

If you go with a spray foam, it’s going to kind of seal everything.

 

[Albert in Massachusetts]

Now, with the spray foam, they would have to remove all that old fiberglass rolled-out insulation.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Now, it depends. With the spray foam, you don’t necessarily have to remove all of that fiberglass insulation. If it’s on the floor, say, you can leave it because it’s going to just still do its job because you’re not sealing the floor.

 

You’re sealing the roof rafters. You’re sealing the whole entire area around it, and that spray insulation is going to have to be done by a pro, and they will tell you if you think it’s best to sort of remove that rolled-back insulation from the floor, but if they’re just doing the roof rafters and that surrounding area of the attic to seal it and not the floor at all, I would leave it in place. You know what?

 

You can head on over to moneypit.com, and you can search the guide to insulation. There’s a lot of great stories in there. Tom had a lot of experience with the spray foam insulation.

 

I know he had done it in his house, and I’m sure his story is still available online for you to check out, but there’s a lot of great ways that you can get a higher insulated value in that space.

 

[Albert in Massachusetts]

I appreciate the call back.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

All right, good luck with that. Thanks again for calling us at 888-MONEYPIT. Jim and I have some emails that we want to answer this part of the show.

 

Jim, who wrote in?

 

[Producer Jim]

Well, Tim from New York wrote in, and he said, I’m redoing pots in my kitchen. I want to add a glass tile backsplash.

 

[Leslie Segrete]

This sounds way too familiar to me.

 

[Producer Jim]

Yeah, yeah. Do I need to put anything on the wall under that tile, or can I just put adhesive straight on the wall?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yeah, I mean, I think you could glue it right to the wall. I guess it depends on whether you think you’re going to get tired of it because that’s where you’re going to get into trouble, right? If you try to take it off the wall, you are going to destroy the wall in the process.

 

So your options are either just go for it and think you could put up with it and love it for forever, or you could put a thin piece of plywood over that area first, like a quarter inch, and then glue directly to that. This way, you know, it would be easier to take down in the future. I mean, I love the idea of using the plywood rather than putting it right to the wall because it’s great.

 

You can also do this if you’re adding a backsplash because it doesn’t take on that much water. If you’re going to, you can use marine, like a waterproof membrane, but it’s something like a green board or something like that is more for a shower. But there’s definitely ways that you can do this so you’re putting it on something that’s not destroying the wall because you may love something now or you go to sell the house and that person doesn’t love it.

 

It makes it easy to change.

 

[Producer Jim]

Are messy pets creating a decorating dilemma for you? Are you afraid that anything you buy will be ruined by your well-meaning pooch? Well, Leslie has tips to help you get the best of both worlds in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

 

Ms. Segrete?

 

[Leslie Segrete]

Yes. Well, truly, having a pet is great. It’s rewarding in so many ways, but they do tend to make a lot of messes, especially when they’re little pups or kitties.

 

So you want to make sure that you have things that can stand up to it. You need to create a space that will work for both the people and the pets. So, first of all, let’s pick up some pet-friendly furniture options.

 

And it doesn’t have to be like, oh, it’s a chair that’s shaped like this. It’s the fabric. The fabric is really what you want to go for because you want to make sure that it’s going to stand up to their nails or they’re rubbing up against it or if they’re a little dirty, are you able to wipe it clean if they get on it?

 

So there’s a lot of ways that you can do that. If you have furniture that you love and you’re not replacing anything in the very near future, you can get a pet-proof cover so you don’t have to worry about all of that. It kind of just drapes over.

 

It’s almost like a slipcover, but it’s not fitted to the piece of furniture. So, yes, it can be annoying. And if you’re like me, you’re always going to fuss with it.

 

But it helps to maintain the look of the furniture underneath. When company’s over, you just kind of pull it off. If somebody’s coming to visit that’s allergic to cats, you don’t have to worry about the cat hair.

 

So that’s great. But if you are redecorating or you’re changing things up or you’re getting a new piece, look for fabric options like denim, canvas, even outdoor fabrics that are washable. Synthetics.

 

You want to find fabrics resistant to odor, stain, moisture. Lots of things to consider when you’re getting furniture so that it will stand the test of time. Now, if you’re thinking about adding a pet washing station to your home, this is great.

 

If you and your dog head out on a rainy day, only you know to wipe your feet before you come back inside. So if you have a mudroom, that’s a great spot to install one of these. And a dog washing station is basically like a shower stall, but just for your pooch with a spray hose.

 

It makes all of that rainy, muddy playtime a lot more bearable. Plus, I feel like our dogs always dig in and make a mess. So this is a great way to just wipe their feet off and clean them up before they come back home.

 

If you want some more tips, check out Pet Friendly Design and Decorating for your home on moneypit.com. Thanks so much for spending your first summer weekend with us here at The Money Pit. Give us a call anytime at 888-MONEY-PIT so we can take this home improvement adventure together.

 

Coming up next week, adding a backyard deck is one sure-fire way to increase your home’s living space. But if you’re not careful, it’s easy to make some costly mistakes. We’re going to show you what you need to avoid when building the deck of your dreams.

 

Thanks again, everybody. Remember, you can do it yourself, but you don’t have to do it alone.