Show Notes
- Deck Safety: Avoid outdoor disasters by recognizing the 5 causes of dangerous deck collapses.
- Storing Paint: Leftover paint can be useful, but only if it’s stored properly. Find out when it’s time to can those paint cans.
- Window Screens: Let fresh air in and keep insects out with updated options for window screens.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Driveway and Deck Sealants: Bill wants to know if he needs to seal his new concrete driveway or his pressure-treated deck. We’ve got tips for both.
- Musty Odors: There’s a musty odor coming from the slab foundation in a home that was vacant. We advise Mary to pull up the carpet, improve the outside drainage, and start using the HVAC and a dehumidifier to clear the air.
- Fascia Board: Should Martin repair or replace a fascia board that’s separating under his porch roof? He just needs to resecure it with screws instead of nails.
- Popcorn Ceilings: Ben needs to repair damaged areas of his popcorn ceiling. We explain how to replace some of the texture and repaint the ceiling.
- HVAC Odors: There’s an odor when the air conditioning comes on. Jeff can start with duct cleaning, but should also use a good-quality HVAC filter with activated charcoal.
- Wood Playground: A pressure-treated wood playground is cracking and turning black. Erin gets tips on a product to clean the wood, using a solid stain, and safe surfaces.
- Wet Drywall: After an under-sink water filter bursts, Richard’s not sure if he needs to replace the drywall. It’s not necessary if it’s dried out and not warped.
- Converting a Tub to a Shower: Mil needs to convert a tub to a shower but can’t find a fiberglass unit that’s rated for the proper weight. Adding a mortar mix underneath the shower pan will provide a rock-solid base.
- Flood Repair: A flash flood left a foot of water in Gary’s basement. We go through the steps to get rid of the water, remove damaged items, clean the surfaces, and dry out the space before starting over.
- Painting a Fireplace: Susan would like to paint her brick fireplace but there’s tile on top of it. She should consider using a special primer and painting the tile, too.
- Restoring Old Flooring: Is it possible to restore a dingy old kitchen floor? After 20 years, it sounds like it’s time for Harry to update the floor with new materials.
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 0:00:29 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:00:35 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:00:36 | TOM: On a beautiful summer day. Hope you’ve been enjoying this awesome summer. Hope you’re relaxing and having fun. And if you’re taking out home improvement projects, you’re avoiding working outside in the heat if you can. It’s also a good time to work inside on those projects. The T yourself up for the cooler weather ahead. But whether you’re inside or out, whether you’re doing it yourself or you’re hiring a pro, we are here to help you with your how to you questions your remodeling dilemmas. If you have a question, reach out to us. The number here is 1-888-Money-Pit. Or you can post your questions at moneypit.com/ask. Coming up on today’s show, you know, every summer, Leslie, we hear about decks that collapse, right. And frequently it happens during summer weekend. You got a big party going lots people over. Yeah, but really, there’s only five reasons that these deck disasters happen. So I thought it’d be valuable time for us to share the most common causes of deck collapses along with how to do your own safety check on your deck. |
| 0:01:34 | LESLIE: And also, have you ever tried to use paint leftover from an earlier project only to open it up and find that it’s like chunky and gross. It’s know not in the best shape, but we’re going to share some tips on ways that you can save paint after a project and when it’s time to canned those paint cans and how to do it. |
| 0:01:50 | TOM: And window screens letting in fresh air to your home while keeping those pesky bugs out. We’re going to tell you more about new options, the screenings that do that in a lot more. |
| 0:01:59 | LESLIE: But first, we want to hear what you are working on from bathrooms to basements and demolition to decor. We’re here to share expert advice to help you tackle your to do’s with confidence. |
| 0:02:08 | TOM: So reach out to us right now. The best way to do that is to go to MoneyPit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button. If you do that, your question will be sent directly to us for the quickest possible response. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 0:02:23 | LESLIE: Bill in Missouri has a new driveway and need some help with finishing it. What can we do for you? |
| 0:02:27 | CALLER: I had a new driveway, concrete driveway put in, and I’m wondering if I need to put some kind of a sealer on that or just leave it like it is. The finish they put on. It looks like they used a real stiff broom or something on it and it’s got the lines cut all the way down and I’m all over it, you know? |
| 0:02:45 | TOM: Yeah, that’s designed to give you some traction in the winter so that you don’t slip on it as easily. I don’t think it’s necessary for you to seal it. If you were to seal it, you would need to make sure you’re using a vapor permeable sealer, because what happens with some sealers is the moisture gets trapped underneath them and then it can evaporate out and it will cause the concrete spar, crack. But, you know, concrete driveways are not necessary. This is not necessary to seal them on a regular basis. |
| 0:03:10 | CALLER: Okay. |
| 0:03:11 | TOM: Just be cautious with, you know, the type of salt that you use to de-ice. Don’t use anything. That’s it has rock salt in it. |
| 0:03:20 | CALLER: I got a real quick question for you. I had a new deck built in the back and they use pressure, treated yellow wood on it. And I had no idea that the yellow they were talking about was going to be the sap coming out of it. Okay. And I was wondering, is there some kind of a sealer or something that I can do about that? |
| 0:03:36 | TOM: Well, when you have a new pressure treated deck, we generally suggest that you wait about a year before doing this and then you could apply a solid color stain to it. If you put a solid color stain to it, it will cover some of the sap as well. And frankly, by then some of it will have, you know, already evaporated. You could you could sand those areas to try to get rid of any, you know, big deposits. But that would wait about a year. And then I would treat it with a good solid color exterior deck stain. |
| 0:04:00 | CALLER: Oh, okay. Well, I sure appreciate your help. |
| 0:04:03 | TOM: New driveway, new deck. You know what to do next. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MoneyPit. |
| 0:04:09 | LESLIE: Mary and Virginia, welcome to the Money Pit. What can we do for you today? |
| 0:04:12 | CALLER: Looking to purchase a home that has a slab foundation. And when I went in, I kind of smelled a musty mildew odor. And I’m just wondering, like, how would you know that water is coming up from the ground and saturating that slab? And how do you protect a home that has just the spill just on a slab? There’s nothing under for water to drain under or anything. |
| 0:04:33 | TOM: Was this a home that was vacant or didn’t have a family living in it? |
| 0:04:36 | CALLER: It has been vacant for a while. |
| 0:04:38 | TOM: And that makes sense because when you don’t run the HVAC system as frequently as you would if it was occupied, sometimes you’re going to get high humidity inside the homes because it’s a slab. Does it make it any more or less susceptible to water infiltration? But of course, because it’s above grade, you don’t get floods. What you do get is the power of the of the concrete basically drawing water up from the ground. It’s called capillary and then letting it evaporate into the air. The correction for that is the same thing you would do even if you did have a basement, which is to improve your drainage on the outside, extend the downspouts the gutters, improve the soil slope so that water is sort of shunted away from the foundation perimeter. But I think that once you move into the house and use the HVAC system, you’re going to find that that moisture is not nearly as detectable as it is right now. And if it does become more detectable, you could always add a dehumidifier. |
| 0:05:31 | CALLER: Okay. So that smell I’m getting is not coming from the carpeting that’s on top of the slab, laying on top of the slab. |
| 0:05:39 | TOM: Ooh carpet on top of slab? That’s a bad thing. |
| 0:05:41 | CALLER: Well, I mean, I don’t know what’s under the carpet and I’m assuming that there’s some kind of subfloor there. But yeah, I mean, it’s wall to wall carpeting. And I know underneath it is basically a slab. Yeah. |
| 0:05:53 | TOM: We don’t like carpet on concrete for a whole bunch of reasons. So I would be recommending that you find another type of flooring for that because when you put carpet which is, you know, largely an organic material against those damp, moist concrete slabs, bad things happen. You get mold and mildew growth, you get allergens that form, you’re going to get dust mites, things like that. So we really don’t like carpet on concrete slabs. If you can choose a different type of flooring, if you going to do some remodeling, that would really help out a lot. |
| 0:06:25 | CALLER: Okay. Thank you so much. You’re very welcome. |
| 0:06:26 | TOM: Mary, Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Mioney-Pit. |
| 0:06:31 | LESLIE: Hey there. We’ll be enjoying this episode of our podcast. If you are. You know, it would totally make our day as if you leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:06:39 | TOM: Absolutely. Just go to moneypit.com/review and let the world know how much you enjoy our home improvement tips and tricks. And you might even win a copy of our book. |
| 0:06:51 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Martin on the line who wants to talk about fascia boards. That is an excellent design detail on the exterior. What can we do for you? |
| 0:06:58 | CALLER: The face boarding fix connects the ceiling of my porch roof to the overhang I separated from the ceiling and I want to know if I need to do I need to rip that out and replace it, or can I just feel it and maybe put a larger molding over it? |
| 0:07:15 | TOM: Well, if the fascia board is loosening up, then I would tell you to secure it. And that’s actually not an unusual thing to happen because the nails that hold that are usually going into the ends of the of the rafters behind it, they tend to expand and contract a lot. But what I would do is I would tell you to re secure it, but do it with screws, not with nails. If use long screws like two and a half inch case hardened drywall screws or wood trim screws that will pull that fascia board back in tight and it’ll be impossible for it to loosen up again. So don’t think of it in terms of something covering it. Just put it back where it was, but use screws instead of nails and it won’t come out again. Okay. |
| 0:07:53 | CALLER: And do I do that by going under the molding? |
| 0:07:55 | TOM: Well, you want to try to get that fascia board re secured in. So if that is going to require you to take off piece of molding to get to it, then that’s what you do. But you want to get to the original fascia and tighten it up. |
| 0:08:05 | CALLER: Okay, I can do that then. Thank you very much. |
| 0:08:08 | TOM: All right, Martin, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:08:12 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Ben in Illinois on the line with the popcorn ceiling question, How can we help you today? |
| 0:08:17 | CALLER: Got a probably seventies ranch style home. |
| 0:08:20 | TOM: 1970 was a very good year for popcorn. |
| 0:08:23 | CALLER: Yes. You would say they had this popcorn ceiling all the way in the TV room, owner uninterrupted that goes through the kitchen and on a interrupted flow goes all the way down the hallway. |
| 0:08:40 | TOM: Okay, so what happens? You have a leak or something. |
| 0:08:42 | CALLER: Had from when damaged to some shingles and it came down through the attic and it stained some of the popcorn ceiling in the TV room, I sense to put a new roof on. But yeah, it stained it and some of the popcorn stuff came off. |
| 0:09:01 | TOM: So is the popcorn physically damaged? Except for losing a few kernels, so to speak? |
| 0:09:06 | CALLER: Well, there’s still a little bit of staining on the stuff that didn’t fall, but there’s some sections that did. |
| 0:09:14 | TOM: You’re going to have to repaint the popcorn ceiling and it’s kind of a pain in the neck job, but it can be done. The key here is this. You want to use a very, very thick roller and one that slit the rollers are about, oh, three quarters of an inch or even an inch thick. And they have a slice kind of in the memory every inch or so. And so it uses a lot of paint. And the key thing is you’re going to want to use a primer first. Don’t just do this with topcoat because that leaks. They will come right through. So you prime the popcorn ceiling first and then you paint it. Now, if you’re missing a bunch of area of popcorn and you want to touch that up there are a number of companies that make popcorn repair products, one of which is called Homax. And they have a spray where it’s as easy as using an aerosol spray cam that you basically shoot up there and it will replace the texture. So you can kind of fill in the area where some of that material has come off. And then since you’re painting, you paint the whole thing over again. Now, whether you go from end to end in the house, that’s up to you or whether you, you know, just kind of decide where you’re going to stop painting, that’s your call. Maybe there’s a natural place for that, maybe there’s not, but you have to paint it. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to get this to look normal again. And by the way, one final thing. When you when you do paint it with the top coat, makes you use flat ceiling paint. |
| 0:10:36 | CALLER: Gotcha. Okay. Well, you got me motivated. |
| 0:10:39 | TOM: Sounds good. Thank you so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:10:43 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Jeff in Iowa on the line. Who’s got an air conditioner that doesn’t always smell so great. What’s going on, Jeff? |
| 0:10:48 | CALLER: I can’t smell, the wife can smell. Okay. We live–. |
| 0:10:52 | LESLIE: We smell everything. |
| 0:10:55 | CALLER: There is a smell emanating from somewhere. I thought it was maybe the basement drain was not, you know, flowing like it should. She seems to think that it. She says it comes on. The smell comes about when the air is turned out there comes out. Okay, maybe it’s the cleaning or am I on the right track? |
| 0:11:18 | TOM: Maybe. So let’s talk about some basics. If we want to get to the bottom of this, we could start with cleaning. Just kind of eliminate that as a possibility. The second thing we should talk about is what kind of filter do you have? |
| 0:11:30 | CALLER: Just your generic basic one from, you know, the hardware store. |
| 0:11:33 | TOM: Yeah, that’s a problem. So what I want you to do is I want you to pick up a filtrate filter 3 a.m. filter brand, and they sell one that that has a activated charcoal built into it and specifically designed for eliminating odors. It’s called the filter at home odor reduction filter. And it’s got activated charcoal built in and so that’s designed specifically to get rid of the odors. And of course, it does a great job with dust and pollen and mold and that sort of thing. |
| 0:11:59 | CALLER: All right. Thanks. I appreciate it. |
| 0:12:01 | LESLIE: Well, every summer we hear about deck collapses where people are seriously injured. And when large groups gather on them, you know, like, say, for a weekend summer party. Bad things can happen. That’s why now is an excellent time to do a deck safety check. |
| 0:12:15 | TOM: That’s right. And there are really only five major flaws that you need to focus on. These are the kinds of things that typically lead to serious deck failures, including a complete collapse. So let’s start with this one. Loose Connections. If you notice, for example, the railing is not secure, it’s wobbly. It’s got to be fixed and just as important, are missing connections. If you inspect your deck and you see it’s not secured to the house or is just nailed to the house rather than bolted or secured, huge cause of deck collapses, typically those decks will just sort of rotate and push right away from the house and come crashing down. So that’s definitely an issue that we see time and time again. Next, corrosion, Rusty Fasteners. Fasteners have become so deteriorated, they’ve fallen apart or fallen away. Got to be replaced and then just general rot. It’s a condition that weakens the wood because the fungus digests part of the wood, which gives the wood its strength and its stiffness. And finally cracks. Look for cracks in all the lumber that’s visible. And a final note of caution is to also look for insect damage like termites, which might be visible as cracks, but could be a lot worse. |
| 0:13:22 | LESLIE: All right. So now you go ahead and check out the deck and you see that you’ve got a problem. What do you do next? While you can repair most of these issues, I mean, you have to look at all the different ways that these are attached to your home. So it could be something as simple as replacing or tightening a fastener. Maybe you need to replace a post to give it more structural integrity as to where its foundation point is in the ground. You know, there’s so many different ways that these can fail. So when you kind of see what’s going on, that really does give you a guideline of what direction you need to go in to correct it. |
| 0:13:53 | TOM: Yeah. And if it’s something simple like a cracked deck board, I’ll give you a trick of the trade on that. You know, that’s not a big structural problem, obviously, but it’s kind of an annoying one. All you do is pry that deck board up and turn it over because the back side has not been exposed. Sunlight is probably just as good as the day it was put down. Typically, the cracks do not go all the way through and all you going to do is touch it up in terms of staining and you’re good to go. |
| 0:14:16 | LESLIE: Erin in Ohio is on the line and needs some help with the playground. What can we do for you? |
| 0:14:20 | CALLER: Have a thing said things that fast placement. It’s made out of treated wood and it’s about ten years old. The flat surfaces, they’ve turned black and the wood is cracking. I’m wondering how I can best clean that up. |
| 0:14:34 | TOM: Well, the best thing to do is to use a wood cleaner. But let me ask you this. Is it pressure treated this wooden place? |
| 0:14:40 | CALLER: I believe so, yes. |
| 0:14:41 | TOM: Because, you know, pressure treated lumber is sort of fallen in a favor as a as a as a place that because of the chemicals that are in the pressure trade, lumber leaching out of the lumber, getting into the soil and so on. So I’ll just give you a bit of a warning on that. But if you want to clean this flood mix, a product called flood wood cleaner that works really well, basically what the lumber down, you apply the wood cleaner, you that set for 20 or 30 minutes, you don’t let it dry. You may have to moisten it again and then you kind of scrub it clean. You can use a pressure washer after that to scrub it clean and does a pretty good job of brightening up the finish, taking away the dirt and grime and lifting up that old gray sort of oxidation that settles on the wood or the black oxidation that settles on the wood. You can find that at most home centers and hardware stores. And again, it’s called flood wood cleaner. |
| 0:15:26 | CALLER: Okay. Once I have it clean, then and I better, do you think sustain it or paint it? |
| 0:15:31 | TOM: No, you’re better to stain. And what you want to do is use solid color stain as opposed to semi-transparent stain, because it will last a lot longer. The solid color tends to fade a little bit better and doesn’t like peel, like paint wood. |
| 0:15:45 | CALLER: And the same thing like we have a thing like a porch sling that I like to put on there as well. Same thing then with that to clean it up. It’s been outside for some time. |
| 0:15:54 | TOM: Yes. If it’s if it’s natural wood, that’s a good product. Clean up with in the same advice applies to the porch swing those that also made it a pressure treated lumber or is that something different? |
| 0:16:04 | CALLER: You know it’s about the same age. I believe it is. |
| 0:16:06 | TOM: All right. So they can use the solid color stain. |
| 0:16:08 | CALLER: Okay, Very good. Thank you. You’re welcome. |
| 0:16:10 | TOM: And good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:16:14 | LESLIE: Richard in California, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 0:16:17 | CALLER: Oh, well, my question is, well, what happened is I had an under the sink water filter burner right at my house. And I’ve had two people say that one person said that I need to replace all the drywall that got wet. Another person says, that’s fine. That drywall is fine. My question is, is what do I need to do? What is the proper thing to do? |
| 0:16:39 | LESLIE: Well, Richard, what does the drywall look like? I mean, did it dry out or does it look all like spongy and gross? |
| 0:16:44 | CALLER: I looked like it just dried out. |
| 0:16:46 | TOM: Right. If it dried out and there wasn’t enough water to form it. There’s no reason to replace it. I mean, sometimes when you get a bad leak, and especially with a ceiling leak, water will sit above a drywall and it will cause it to kind of swell and buckle downward. And one of the forms like that, there’s no fix for it. You have to cut it out and replace it. But if it just got wet because of the leak and then it dried out and still flat, then I wouldn’t worry about it. You may have, you know, if there’s any joints in the drywall that have to have separated, have the re taped or repaired, certainly you could do all of that. But otherwise I think you’re fine just the way it is now. I would recommend that you prime it first with a solid base primer and oil based primer to make sure you’ve sealed in any staining. Well, once you do that, I think that you’re pretty much good to go. And you’re Don, I don’t see a reason to replace it. |
| 0:17:37 | CALLER: There’s a lot of work. |
| 0:17:38 | TOM: All right. Well, that’s what we try to do. Rich, thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit. |
| 0:17:44 | LESLIE: All right. Now we’re going to mail in Arkansas. We’ve got a question about a shower. What can we do for you today? |
| 0:17:48 | CALLER: Well, we need to change a tub into a shower and it is for a handicapped person that uses a shower chair. And everything that we are finding so far is a fiberglass type stuff that is not rated for the person weight that’s going to have to be used in it. And they use a shower chair. Any suggestions on how to stabilize it so that it’s not going to break through when the shower chair goes in it? |
| 0:18:18 | TOM: You’re looking at zero threshold showers that basically are flush with the. |
| 0:18:22 | CALLER: Floor, not necessarily. It doesn’t have to be the zero threshold, but it needs to be a shower, not a tub. |
| 0:18:31 | TOM: Right. Okay. So when you put in a fiberglass shower pan, you’re right there. Sometimes there’s flex underneath of it, but there’s an easy trick of the tray to deal with that. And that is that you can mix up a concrete mix or a cement mix or mortar mix, and basically you put it underneath the pan. Well, it’s wet, and then you press the pan down into it. And what that does is it takes out all the space between the pan itself and the floor. It provides a rock solid base to that fiberglass shower stall. Does that make sense? |
| 0:19:02 | CALLER: Okay. |
| 0:19:03 | TOM: All right. Well, good luck with that project. |
| 0:19:05 | LESLIE: Well, if you’re taking on a painting around your house, it can be hard to tell exactly how much paint you’re going to need. And then, of course, you might end up with some extra paint and sometimes a lot of extra paint. And now that’s not always a bad thing, since when you have the extra paint, it can be great for touch ups, you know, maybe an additional project, maybe another room. But now this only works if you keep it from drying out or going bad, right? |
| 0:19:27 | TOM: Which happens a lot too. Things that cause paint to go bad exposure to air will affect the consistency of the paint and eventually dry out. And secondly, microorganisms actually can get in the paint and cause bacterial growth and a very rancid smell here. Open up an old can of paint and just smells awful. That’s bacteria. Now, if a paint can’t is actually bulging its means, it’s probably definitely going bad. And if you take a whiff, if you open it and you’ve got that sour or rotten egg smell, the paint may have mold. And if it seems okay though, look for a thick film on the surface of the paint or paint that doesn’t mix well or has any chunks of dried out paint in it, I have from time to time found that layer of thick film and very, very carefully lifted it, being careful not to break it and taken out of the paint and been able to use what’s left. So if you don’t break it up, it’s not going to, you know, get chunky on your walls or whatever you’re painting. You can definitely pull it out. |
| 0:20:23 | LESLIE: All right. So what do you do once your paint project is finished? How should you be storing leftover paint? Well, first of all, you need to make sure that you’re putting it in an airtight container, either the original can or a clean jar or a container with a secure lid and carefully clean the rim and then firmly close the lid to seal it as well as possible. Now, here’s another trick that can help. Since closing up, the paint can never give you as good of a seal as when that can is brand new. Get in the habit of storing the paint can upside down on your shelf. It’s not going to leak in any tiny openings. Letting air in will be sealed off by the paint that’s left in the can. |
| 0:20:58 | TOM: Yeah, the paint does the sealing for you that way. Now, as for storage, it’s best to store the paint at room temperature in a dry place that’s out of direct sunlight or extreme hot or cold temperatures. So like a basement, if you have one, is perfect or a closet rather than an addict or a shed. And if you do that, chances are the next time you need to open that paint for a project, it will be in almost perfect condition. |
| 0:21:22 | LESLIE: Gary in Pennsylvania unfortunately had a flood and needs some help picking up the pieces. What can we do for you? |
| 0:21:28 | CALLER: We had a flood here, a flash flood of rain came down in 8 hours, about 7 to 10 inches. It’s flooded our basement with about a foot of water. And I’m interested in finding out from you folks how we can get the get back to normal. As far as the basement is concerned, it smells. We did manage to get sump pump going, get the water out of the basement, but it was like I said, it was a foot around the furniture and everything. And how can I manage to get things back to where they were before the flood? |
| 0:22:04 | TOM: All right. So when you have a flood situation like that, you know, of course that’s human nature that you want everything back just as the way it was as soon as possible. But from a practical standpoint, it doesn’t always work that way. You know, here at the Jersey Shore, we faced one of the worst hurricanes in history with Hurricane Sandy. And that was the natural reaction everyone wanted to get back. And we always say, no, you can’t get back that quickly because you’re going to make some mistakes along the way. So what you want to do first is you want to, as you’ve already done, get rid of the water. Secondly, you want to prevent further damage by removing all of the wet materials. So wet carpet has to be tossed out. If the basement is finished, does it have drywall down there? Those what those drywall sections have to be cut out to above the flood line. There’s insulation in the walls that has to be pulled out. If you have furniture that’s water damaged, you may have an option of saving some of that. You can get it upstairs and start to dry it out and kind of make a decision as you go. But frankly, a lot of that should be covered by insurance. So I wouldn’t maybe try too hard to save it, but get all of that material out of there. Now, you said it was a flash flood and it flooded the basement quickly. Any time you have water infiltration that’s consistent with rainfall, it can always be reduced if not eliminated, by making sure that your drainage conditions outside are proper and that you have gutters. They’re clean, they’re extended from the house 4 to 6 feet, not just a few inches like normal gutters are, and that the soil slopes away. So those sorts of things could prevent further water infiltration. And then after it’s all torn out, then you can want to spray those or that basement floor and the walls down with a solution of bleach and water, about 10 to 20% bleach with water that will kill any mold spores that are left behind. Then get some fans down there, dry that all out. And then once it’s dry, then you can think about putting it back together. And next time I would not put carpet on the basement floor because that’s a breeding factory for mold, mildew and dust mites as well. |
| 0:24:01 | CALLER: Okay. Sounds like a winner to me. I certainly appreciate it. |
| 0:24:04 | TOM: You’re welcome. Gary, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 0:24:09 | LESLIE: Susan in Alaska has got a fireplace issue. What’s going on? |
| 0:24:12 | CALLER: The heart is covered with tile and I would like to remove it and just paint the brick underneath. So how difficult would that be for me to do? |
| 0:24:22 | TOM: Hey, Susan. Well, I’ll tell you, you know, if you remove that tile, you’re probably going to have some adhesive and some other kinds of goo. We will call it on the brick itself. So I’d first be concerned about starting with a clean brick surface. Second, that even if you do start with a clean brick surface, just remember tile is easier to clean than brick, which may be why it was tile in the first place. And once you paint brick, you’re kind of committed. You have to repaint from time to time as well. Now, in terms of difficulty, the first step would be getting that old tile off. And that can be a challenge, especially given, you know, how sticky and how solid a lot of the adhesives that would have been used. I mean, the mastic tile mastic is not going to get the tile up quickly from the brick surface itself. But the other thing that comes to mind is that you could actually paint over the tile if you buy the right kinds of paint. There are paints and I would go to perhaps a Sherwin-Williams store for this or a Benjamin Moore dealer for this, and you’re looking for special types of primer. They’re called high bond primers or high adhesion primers that are designed to help paint stick to a shiny surface like tile. If you put them on the first coat, then you could put a regular paint on as the second coat. And perhaps that might be the easiest way to get the effect that that you’re looking to achieve. |
| 0:25:37 | LESLIE: Well, windows screens, they’re about as low tech as it gets, but they do play a big role in improving your home comfort during these milder months and they let you open your windows to let fresh air into your home while keeping all those pesky bugs and insects out. |
| 0:25:51 | TOM: Now, most of us don’t pay much attention to our window screens until they fail or begin to look worn and tattered. And if that sounds like your house, we’ve got some ideas that can help. Now, first, you should note that window screens have changed a lot since we were kids. I remember them always being made a very stiff, strong metal mesh. But today most of the stock window screens are soft and fiberglass. So let’s start right there. |
| 0:26:13 | LESLIE: Yes. So fiberglass screens, they come in a few different sort of weights, I guess. Fine. Standard, heavy duty. And these grades all have a different purpose. So first off, the fine fiberglass screening is best to use if all you’re really trying to do is keep out those small insects. Standard fiberglass screen is the most common and least expensive screen type, and that’s why it’s found in most homes around the U.S. It’s reasonably durable for the cost, but it can break down quickly from UV rays when the windows are in full sun. So see like the south side of your home. And then lastly, we’ve got heavy duty fiberglass screening, and that’s typically used in larger windows where the screen needs to be strong or needs to cover a much larger opening. |
| 0:26:53 | TOM: Now, the one thing to note about fiberglass screens is that they pop out easily, which is not what used to happen with the old metal screens. So you have to be super careful with second floor windows around kids and pets because they can push through those screens and fall pretty easily. Now, speaking of pets, if you’ve got pets that scratched your screens or you’ve got young kids that can inadvertently be kind of rough on screens, pet screening is a great choice. Now, pet screening is made of a very heavy duty vinyl coated polyester, and it’s heavier and stronger than regular screening material. Now, we use this on our full height, a screen door back last year, because we’d always find that the other screening would work its way loose in the track. But once we put the pet screening on, it just became super sturdy. |
| 0:27:37 | LESLIE: Yeah. And there’s also something else that’s super new, and it’s called high visibility screening. Now, this is made with a very, very fine fiber and it’s nearly invisible. It’s a lot more expensive, but it’s worth it for the windows in your home that look out onto your favorite views. I mean, because think about it, when we look out the window, we’re first looking at the screen. So it’s such an interesting thing that we’re trying to, like look past it or pretend it’s not there. So there’s really some great options to get that effect for you. |
| 0:28:03 | TOM: Yeah, lots of options to consider. If your screens are ready for replacement, now’s the time to replace them and choose the option that’s best for you. |
| 0:28:11 | LESLIE: Head now to Delaware. Where Harry’s dealing with the dirty kitchen floor. Tell us about what you see. |
| 0:28:16 | CALLER: Over the years. It’s become quite dingy and you want to wonder if you have these suggestions or recommendations on a product to bring it back right it up again. |
| 0:28:26 | TOM: So, Harry, with a 20 year old floor, I don’t think you’re going to be like sprucing it up to the point where you’re feeling like you’ve achieved what you want. I mean, Florida’s an oh, yeah, a dime buddy. It lasted all those years and I think it’s time for an update. The good news is that there’s plenty of floors available now that weren’t in existence 20 years ago that are great for kitchens, a whole bunch of different products that are out there for wet locations, places that are really durable. You can choose from a laminate floor that have a product called laminate. There’s an Aqua SEAL product from L.A. Flooring where the laminate boards seal together and let water come through. You can use an engineered vinyl plank. You can use an engineered floor, if you like, real hardwood, or you can use a stone hybrid product. These are all products that are really, really tough and great for a kitchen space. And you know what? The insulation has gotten a lot easier, especially with those vinyl products. They just snap together and they float on top of what’s there. So all you have to deal with is really the transition to whatever room is adjacent to that and maybe a little trim around the side and that’s it, you’re good to go. So I think that’s really the best solution. Now, I don’t think we’re going to be able to give you any other grand ideas for a 20 year old floor. We’ll bring it back. |
| 0:29:33 | LESLIE: Kelly wrote into Tim Money Pit saying, My house has a concrete walk to the front door with a slight bump where one section has settled. The bump is two inches at most, and sometimes people miss knowing it’s there and trip. I know I should have done something about it long before now, but what can I paint it, light it, or even add some sort of cement to turn it into a gentle slope? |
| 0:29:54 | TOM: Well, certainly you could paint it and add light to it, but I don’t think that’s going to solve your problem, because when you have an uneven sidewalk and two inches is definitely uneven, you basically got yourself a tripping hazard, Kelly. So you need to change that. And the best way to do that is to add additional concrete to level it out, make the slope more gentle, as you say, but you really can’t just add concrete because what happens if you put new concrete on old concrete? Guess what? It doesn’t stick. It will separate, it will sprawl, it will crack, and it will just become a real eyesore. Fortunately, there are products that are designed for that type of structural repair. They are typically modified polymers. I know quick read makes a good one for structural repair and when you use them, they are specifically designed to stick to the old concrete surfaces. So this way you can get that gentle slope. And in fact there is another product called recap, which is also good for just doing sort of a coating over everything and making it look like fresh concrete. So if you do this right, you’re going to end up with a walk that looks like a brand new sidewalk and it will no longer have that nasty trip hazard which you really need to address. |
| 0:31:07 | LESLIE: Yeah, and you’re not going to want to address it with the big bright yellow paint line. Yeah. All right. Now we’ve got one from Elisa who says I have a 1790s brick house with a gable roof. Flanked on each side by two sets of chimneys. The attic is unfinished and has no ventilation. Two questions. I think I’m going to add a window screen then. If so, should I leave the window vents open in the winter or should I remove and reinstall them when it warms up again in spring? And the other is I’m thinking of replacing my roof in the near future. And I’m wondering if I should have a ridge vent installed at the time. Does it ever make sense not to add one? |
| 0:31:43 | TOM: Huh? Good question. Both good questions. Okay, So first of all, when you say window screen vents, I’m thinking I’m envisioning in my mind that you’re talking about replacing what could gable than at the end wall of the attic space with a window screen type vent. So however you’re planning on doing that in terms of whether you leave it open in the winter. Yes. You leave ventilation open and additional vented attic all year long. You don’t close it and open it. But in terms of replacing the roof in the near future, it does make sense to install a ridge vent. I don’t see a reason not to install. The most effective ventilation system is when you have a continuous ridge melt down the peak of your roof and then you have soft vents at the overhangs. And what happens is air will enter in the soffit, it will right up under the roof sheathing and excellent that ridge vent. And as it does that, it takes out moisture in the winter and it also takes out heat in the summer and all in. It’s a much more effective way to adventure attic than even an attic fan, which we recommend against because all that does is drive up your cooling costs because what happens is it will actually reach into your house not to stop at the attic, but it will reach down into your condition, living space and pull some of that air and basically waste it. So ridge and socket vents is definitely the way to go. |
| 0:33:01 | LESLIE: All right, Elisa, good luck with that. |
| 0:33:03 | TOM: You are listening to the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. We hope you’re enjoying a beautiful summer weekend in your part of the country. If you’ve got questions now or you come up with questions later, really anytime you can reach out to us at Money Pit dot com slash s, just click the blue microphone button, the fastest possible response. But for now, that’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:33:25 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:33:26 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 0:33:28 | LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. |
| (Note: The above referenced transcript is AI-Generated, Unedited and Unproofed and as such may not accurately reflect the recorded audio. Copyright 2023 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.) |
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