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Concrete Countertops Offer Rock Solid Style | Rent Relief: 7 Ways to Make Rent More Affordable | Cut the Clutter of Summer Stuff | Ep #2329

Concrete Countertops: Learn why durable and versatile concrete countertops are a popular trend. Rental Costs: As rent prices skyrocket, find out 7 ways to make your rent more affordable. Summer Storage: More summer fun means more summer stuff!…

Leslie Segrete & Tom Kraeutler, Hosts of The Money Pit by 1 Comment
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Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:

Do you have a home improvement or decor question? Call the show 24/7 at 888-MONEY-PIT (888-666-3974) or post your question here.

Podcast Transcript

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0:00:31 TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
0:00:37 LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:00:37 TOM: Ready here to help you take on the projects that you want to get done around your house. You got a question? Reach out to us by calling 1-888-Money Pit. 888-666-3974 or better yet, for the fastest possible response, go to MoneyPit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button. So what are you guys planning for the weekend? Is it a project you like to get done in help solving a problem? We are here to help you do just that. Reach out to us with your questions. Coming up on today’s show, if your kitchen is ready for a new countertop, we’re sure tips on a very green and very durable countertop material. Concrete? Yep. Concrete. It’s gaining in popularity. It looks fantastic and it lasts forever. We’ll tell you the details just ahead.
0:01:22 LESLIE: And also coming up, according to a new survey by clever real estate, Americans nearly everywhere are struggling to afford skyrocketing rent. Since 2009, rent prices have eclipsed income growth in 46 out of the 50 biggest U.S. metros. But hey, renters, it’s not all gloom and doom. We’ve got seven ways to make your rent more affordable just ahead.
0:01:43 TOM: And is Summer’s stuff clogging your house? You know, summer stuff, its own special brand of clutter. Beach toys, big towels, coolers, chairs, boogie boards, basketballs, you name it. Well, we’ve got room by room advice on how to edit down your summer stuff and get refreshed for the sizzling months remaining.
0:02:03 LESLIE: All right. But first, are you dreaming about a project that you’d like to tackle this summer season? Well, if you can dream it, you can do it and we can help. So let us know what projects you have in mind and we can help you figure out how to get it done, whether you’re doing it yourself or hiring a pro.
0:02:18 TOM: Reach out to us at Moneypit.com/asked and click the blue microphone button. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first.
0:02:25 LESLIE: And in Illinois, is on the line with a question about a porch. How can I help you today?
0:02:29 CALLER: Well, I have this problem. This porch is closed and even on the north side. But the north side of it is not finished. And recently, I have had this moldy, musty smell. And now yesterday it was nice. I opened the windows and you couldn’t smell it or when I have the dehumidifier on. But if I have neither, I can smell that musty snow. And my question is this. I’ve taken off the old insulation that was in there. And do I need to do anything like to the boards, to the wood before I put the new insulation in it? And will that help?
0:03:12 TOM: Okay. So first of all, this is a porch, so it’s not a heated space. Is that correct? Yes. Why are you insulating it if it’s not a heated space?
0:03:18 CALLER: I just thought maybe that would help the moisture for this damp smell.
0:03:24 TOM: No, not at all. In fact, it will make it worse. You want to you basically want to let this dry out as easily as possible. Look, anything that’s outside in is always going to be damp just because of the nature of it. But I don’t think you want to close this in, add insulation or anything like that that’s just going to hold moisture. It has absolutely zero benefit as insulation because you’re not trying to keep the heat on one side and the cold on the other. So I would definitely pull that insulation out into and I would air out those spaces. And what I would also do is I would spray those walls with a good quality cleaner like spray and forget that will take care of mold, mildew, algae, even dirt that forms on those walls and take that out of the equation as well. So pull the insulation out, spray them down and then let them air out. And I think that will solve it. Anna, thanks so much for calling us at eight. At eight Money Pit.
0:04:16 LESLIE: Stephen, Delaware, need some electrical help? What’s going on in your Money Pit?
0:04:19 CALLER: I have an outlet that died on me. I changed the outlet, but it still doesn’t work. All the breakers, none of the breakers went and all the EFI are all good. It just don’t work.
0:04:33 TOM: So it’s just one outlet? That’s correct. And you haven’t. You have no ground faults that tripped it, and you have no breakers and tripped it. Do you know if the wiring is hot in the outlet?
0:04:42 CALLER: I put a test on it. It says it’s not hot. Now all of a sudden it just died.
0:04:47 TOM: Well, it says the outlets not hot. But I wonder if the wiring feeding the outlet is hot. That’s my question. So you first of all, you probably shouldn’t be doing this repair, Steve, unless you’re very, very competent with electrical work because it’s potentially dangerous. But if I was you and I was faced with this problem, what I would do is I would take the cover plate off of the electrical outlet. I would use one of my electrical testers that detects current not the outlet, but current and I would stick it in there and see if I actually have hot wires. If I have hot wires and I know I’ve got a bad outlet. And if that’s the case, we need to turn the power off completely, make absolutely, positively sure that the power is off and then switch out that outlet with a new one.
0:05:27 CALLER: Well, I checked the wires what I saw when I went to switch the outlet out because there was a crack on the outlet. I switched the out and I checked the wires when I did that. And I’m not getting any electric to the wires.
0:05:40 TOM: So, Steve, this is now beyond the scope of what I think you probably should be doing yourself because outlets can be wired in series. And so the actual failure can be somewhere else down the line. And I think you ought to turn to electrician and have them investigate it and repair it. Just make sure it’s safe. Okay?
0:05:56 CALLER: All right. Thank you.
0:05:57 TOM: Very much. You’re welcome, Steve. Sometimes it’s the do it yourself project and sometimes it’s not.
0:06:01 LESLIE: Cindy in Ohio is on the line with a question about cedar shingles. How can we help you?
0:06:05 CALLER: I live in a raised range home, and I have cedar shingle siding on the front of my home and the shingles themselves are in good shape. They were previously stained. And I’m wondering now that they’re fading, if there’s any way I could paint them or do something different to them other than staining them.
0:06:25 TOM: So, Cindy, the one thing to know about the siding like this cedar siding in particular, is that once you paint it, you’re kind of committing to paint for the rest of the life of the siding on your house. If you continue with the stain, as you’ve noticed, the stain will fade, change color, but it doesn’t ever get to the point where you have like cracked strips of stain that that would have to be pulled off with paint. That’s what happens. It ends up cracking and separating from the cedar below and you’ll have to scrape it all out to do another coat or at least rough up what’s there. So I’m a big fan of stain and siding. Now, that said, you have a lot of choices in stain. It doesn’t have to be dark. You want to brighten up? Not a problem. You want to turn it to like a red cedar. You can do that. You want it to be gray. You could do that. I would recommend that you use a good quality, solid color exterior stain. And the other thing about cedar siding is that sometimes it’s helpful if you prime it first with an anti and primer, The certain types of primers that work well with Cedar and by doing that, you stop some of the oils from leaking through and impacting the quality of the stain. You know, we’ve taken care of the cedar siding on our house doing just that for many, many years. And I’ve had my son in the last years and years and years like way longer than it should have between coats of stains, because we did it right the first time out. So I recommend you skip the painting step and go right with the stain. Is the solid color stain prime it first and that’s going to last as long as it possibly can.
0:07:46 LESLIE: You know, we love hearing from our listeners, and if you want to make our day leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.
0:07:52 TOM: You know, it really helps us know what we’re doing right and how we can improve our show for you. So just go to Money Pit dot com slash review, Money bootcamp slash review, and you might even win a copy of our book. Hey, you’ve got some nasty looking concrete surfaces around your house, inside or out. We’ve got a solution we’re giving away. Today on the show, the terrazzo decorative granite Resurfacer from Dish Coatings. This is a liquid flooring system made from real stone, and it works for surfaces inside and out, and it will totally turn those ugly patios or walks or steps into very attractive, durable surfaces. And it comes in seven colors for 5995 a gallon. Plus we’ll throw in painting supplies for a total value of 75 bucks and send that out to one listener drawing at random. So make that you call us now with your how to or decor question at 88 Money pit at 888-666-3974. Or go to moneypit.com/ask.
0:08:48 LESLIE: Alex in West Virginia is on the line with a question about grading. Tell us what’s going on in your money pit.
0:08:54 CALLER: I bought my house last year to 1926. American four square home. The lot that the home was built on is 140 feet deep by 30 feet wide. But the problem is the drop from the very back lot to the very front, a lot. It’s pretty significant. It’s about ten feet. So the house is on a hill, and I’m wondering what I can do to level up the front yard so it’s easier to mow. And so it looks nice if I could build some sort of retaining wall and then I want to do something in the backyard the same way because playing on it for dog and the kids, it’s kind of hard. I was wondering what you thought about maybe trying to level that out somehow.
0:09:30 TOM: Well, right now it sounds like the house is sort of cut into the hillside, so it slows down towards the street in the front or slopes away from the house?
0:09:38 CALLER: That’s correct. It slopes down. If you stand in the very front yard, you can’t you’re not even above the one in the back.
0:09:45 TOM: So, I mean, a retaining wall is the best way to achieve that. But of course, building a retaining wall, especially if you’re talking about several feet like that, is no small task. I mean, it’s a pretty big project and it’s got to be done well because if it’s not engineered properly, it’s going to fail. Fortunately today there are a lot of good masonry products, precast masonry products that work extremely well for retaining walls. It used to be that your best option was, you know, something like railroad ties that were stacked up and you had these railroad ties that would go back into the hillside. They were they were called dead men because they would just lay there and hold the wall in. But obviously it was what was called was called the dead man. And it was the piece that was perpendicular to the wall and was basically covered with soil, because that would be sort of the tie that would hold it in place. But today you could use precast retaining wall blocks. They’re made by a number of great manufacturers and you can stack those up once you prepare the base properly and then just sort of backfill as you go and remember to provide for proper drainage because that really is the key. Whatever you do, you want to make sure that you’re handling the water that’s running down that hillside properly. And if you weren’t built, if you are built into a slope like that, it’s really more important than ever to have what’s called a swale, where the water sort of divides before it gets to the back of your house and goes around the left and the right sides and then runs down, you know, to the street. But certainly that’s an option. But it’s a big project and it’s one that I would recommend you get professional help with because of the size and the scope of it. Well worth having a landscape architect or designer kind of spec that out for you because if you’re going to do it yourself, you’ll know exactly what you have to do. And if you’re not going to do it yourself, you can use that spec to get bids from qualified contractors and you’ll know that they’re all going to be sort of bidding apples to apples. The problem is if you just call a contractor and say, build me retaining wall, everyone’s going to build a slightly differently and it’s going to be hard for you to figure out what’s the best choice because the guy that’s the cheapest may not be doing the best job or using the best materials, if only.
0:11:45 CALLER: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:11:45 TOM: That’s the way I approach it.
0:11:47 CALLER: Oh, I appreciate your, your answer. I would keep I guess every week.
0:11:49 TOM: Well, thank you so much for doing that and we’re so glad you called.
0:11:53 CALLER: All right. Thank you.
0:11:54 LESLIE: Well, concrete is a beautiful, durable and versatile material, which is why it’s become so popular for kitchen and bathroom countertops. It provides the high end modern look that you see with marble and granite and other premium countertop materials. But here’s the thing. It doesn’t come with that hefty price tag. It also handles wear and tear, especially outdoors, better than laminate tile and other common countertop materials.
0:12:16 TOM: Yeah, but the other reason that so many people like concrete as a countertop material is because building one can actually be a DIY project now quickly makes a high strength countertop mix that’s formulated to be very flow able, which is important for concrete countertop projects. Now the process involves basically building a form which is then filled with concrete, and you can even add color in to give that finished top, the exact color that you desire.
0:12:44 LESLIE: Yeah. And while the mix is designed for concrete, it can be used for concrete projects like vases or even pendant lamps. You can find some tips and videos for all of these projects on the Quickcrete website. And the other nice feature about a concrete countertop is that since it’s DIY friendly, concrete really gives homeowners the flexibility to make completely unique concrete countertops, you know, ones that are going to fit your style, your personality, your taste.
0:13:08 LESLIE: You can do them in any shape or size or thickness, color, texture, configuration. So if you’ve got amazing ideas and you can’t find the material for it, I’m telling you, concrete is a really great solution and it looks amazing.
0:13:20 TOM: Quickcrete mix can be special order at the contractor desk of any Home Depot or Lowe’s. Quickcrete, what America’s made of.
0:13:27 LESLIE: Now we’ve got Allison Wisconsin on the line who has a question about imitation bricks. What can we do for you?
0:13:32 CALLER: Well, I just want your opinion on some of the advantages or disadvantages or other types of infill installation, whether it’s better one way than another and just your opinion on it.
0:13:45 TOM: Where are you putting these imitation bricks.
0:13:47 CALLER: On the front of the house from top to bottom, but just a section.
0:13:51 TOM: Okay, well, like all projects, Alice, it can be done well or done poorly, but the idea of using synthetic brick and synthetic stone is one that is a solid process. And not to coin a phrase, but I mean, it’s a good idea. You can get a lot of beauty out of those bricks and out of that sort of synthetic stone at a lot less weight then you would have to deal with if there were real masonry materials. You might want to take a look at the company called Boral. Boral, Boral, brick, they make brick and stone synthetic products that are adheres to the outside of homes and look absolutely terrific.
0:14:30 CALLER: And then there’s different ways. I’ve got information on three or four different styles. Some are nails, some have clips and some has no mortar. Okay.
0:14:40 TOM: Well, the ones that are nailed or clipped, that’s a type of siding that’s not like a stucco process where it’s adhered to the outside of the house. That’s basically siding that looks like brick. And I don’t know about you. I said I haven’t seen any of the siding products that really look like brick.
0:14:55 LESLIE: No, I mean, I really would go with a full product. Tom’s recommendation is a good one. Kodiak is another one that makes an exterior faux stone and those will all be applied like a tile would be with mortar, with, you know, to really stand the test of time. And they’ll look amazing and they’ll look more realistic. And basically when you’re dealing with a faux stone, it’s made from is it poured concrete. Tom They like poured into the forms and colorize it to give it all of that natural depth and beauty, right?
0:15:25 TOM: It’s a slurry mix, but it basically is made in a factory and can take on any shape or color or form that you wish I would look into Zodiac or Boral as the manufacturers of those synthetic brick products. I think you’ll be very happy with either one.
0:15:43 CALLER: Okay. Okay. Are they fine in a northern climate?
0:15:46 TOM: Absolutely. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at eight. At eight Money Pit.
0:15:51 LESLIE: Philip in Arkansas is on the line and needs some help cleaning stainless steel. How can we help you today?
0:15:56 CALLER: I have got like six stainless steel scenes in place where I usually work in my life works and they are really dirty. One of them, somebody put a lot of dry ice in it and it’s really corroded white whatever color and then others or just collapsed. A lot of spots have done everything. I can use some of that bar stuff in S.O.S. and everything you can, but I don’t know how to clean it.
0:16:33 TOM: Well, I mean, it might be that you that these stains, these things are not so much dirty, but they’re just sort of discolored. And you really can’t get back where you want to go. The product that I usually uses is by a woman. I mean, it’s a stainless steel cleaner and a polish and seems to work pretty well. But it sounds to me like you’ve already thrown everything you could find against these stainless steel sinks and you’re not get anywhere with it.
0:16:58 CALLER: Yeah. Yes, sir.
0:16:59 TOM: Especially if you use that bar keepers, best friend.
0:17:02 LESLIE: That’s fine. Keep your friend is very good stuff.
0:17:04 CALLER: Yes, I’ve used the bar keeper friend and, you know, sort of pasted it up, put it on there. I leave. Use that drill.
0:17:13 TOM: Oh, boy. Yeah. I think it’s fair to say that these things are beyond cleaning. Leslie, you’ve hooked up a drill and a cleaning will with it. I don’t think you’re going to get them any better.
0:17:23 CALLER: Oh, okay. We’ll need newest help. I don’t guess I can say They say I can’t get fired over it, then.
0:17:32 TOM: Well, I don’t think you should get fired over it. No, I think you’ve done the best you can. You certainly made every effort and you’ve used some very good products. I think what’s happened here is that the metal itself is discolored, it’s changed, It’s a chemical reaction. It’s not something you’re going to be able to pull out of it.
0:17:46 CALLER: Okay. And what was that stuff you said?
0:17:49 TOM: Yeah, it’s by Weiman. I mean, it’s a stainless steel cleaner.
0:17:55 CALLER: He-Man Stainless steel plate. Okay, Well, I haven’t tried that stuff yet.
0:18:00 TOM: All right, we’ll give it a shot and good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 Money Pit. If they want to fire you, make sure they call us first. Okay? We’ll straighten them out.
0:18:09 CALLER: Okay. Thank you very much and God bless.
0:18:11 TOM: All right. Take care.
0:18:13 LESLIE: Well, according to a new survey by Clever real estate, Americans nearly everywhere are struggling to afford skyrocketing rents. Now, since 2009, rent prices have eclipsed income growth in 46 of the 50 biggest U.S. metros. So you’re not making enough money to even cover these rents, you guys. So we asked Clever for tips that can make rent more affordable. I think they came up with some good ones. Yeah.
0:18:37 TOM: So first up, negotiate with the landlord when it’s time to renew the lease. Landlords do want to keep good renters, so you might have some leverage. Just research comparable properties and offer a fair price.
0:18:49 LESLIE: Yeah. Also think about signing a longer lease. Landlords don’t want frequent vacancies, so they may be more likely to lower the price. If you sign for a year and a half or two years, you know something more than just the one year.
0:19:00 TOM: The other option is to move apartments in the off season. Now we see this a lot in my area of the country because the homes are very popular for summer rent. That’s because most people make those moves in the summer, which increases demand and leads to higher rent prices. The landlords may have a tough time finding tenants to fill vacancies in the fall or the winter, so as a result, they may offer lease specials or be more open to negotiations.
0:19:24 LESLIE: Also, think about referring your friends. Some apartment complexes will offer a cash bonus or even a rent discount for current renters who bring in new tenants. And it’s always nice to have a good neighbor.
0:19:34 TOM: That’s right. And also be flexible with your standards. Now, you shouldn’t settle for an apartment that has serious problems, such as maintenance issues and insect problems. But you don’t really need a ground piano or top and you don’t really need stainless steel appliances. So if you lower your slice just a little bit, you can end up paying a lot less for rent.
0:19:51 LESLIE: And lastly, I mean, you can relocate, you know, living downtown or in a highly desirable area is, of course, going to be more expensive. And you can still find nice apartments and safe neighborhoods that are just a little bit further away. Hugh in Missouri, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
0:20:06 CALLER: I have quite a few Japanese beetles that have really attacked my cherry tree and my plum tree and my raspberries and my rosebush. A couple rose bushes. I’ve talked to a national company that will help me, but I have a couple of dogs that are in the backyard. Some. And I’m wondering if. How important is it to avoid chemical sprays to take care of those Japanese beetles?
0:20:38 TOM: Everybody puts chemical sprays in a big, you know, sort of a big pile of being something bad. But you have to remember that pesticides and various products like that today, they’re relatively safe if they’re applied by people that understand what they’re applying in the applied properly because they are so thoroughly tested. So I wouldn’t necessarily seriously applied. Yeah, well, it’s not like a one size fits all, so I wouldn’t get so worked up about not using a so-called chemical on my landscaping because frankly, it actually would be the right thing to do. There are so many people in this country with insects especially, that will buy, you know, a way ridiculous amount of over-the-counter products and spray everything and make their homes more toxic than ever just so that they don’t have to hire a, you know, a pest suicide pro to do it for them. But the pest pros know exactly what to do, what to apply, how much to apply, and what insect they’re trying to get rid of. Now, if you want to try this a natural way, one solution that I have heard of, but I can’t attest to how successful it is, but I have read about it is to make your own application, your own pesticide, so to speak, out of red cedar planks. You now use red cedar in closets because it keeps moths away from clothes, moths away. Same principle applies. You basically get yourself some red cedar and you soak it for a couple of days in in water and let that cedar sort of leech into the water. And then you apply that as your as your spray. So that’s one thing that you can try. You can also buy like red cedar chips online or you can find them in a pet store. Sometimes they sell red cedar for like the bottom of like hamster cages and things like that. But you can, you know, saturate some water with that and then apply that as your pesticide and see if it works for you. But again, I’m not concerned. I’m not so afraid to pick up the phone and call a pest control operator or purchase the right product to get rid of the insect that I’m dealing with.
0:22:37 CALLER: Okay. Thank you. I’m really enjoying listening to your program every week.
0:22:41 TOM: Well, good. Thanks so much for calling. So glad we could help you out.
0:22:43 CALLER: Thank you.
0:22:45 LESLIE: Give us a call with whatever you are working on, two Team Money Pit, and we’ve got a great reason for you to do so. We’ve got up for grabs this hour. The terrazzo decorative granite resurfacer from date coatings. Now, this is a liquid flooring system that’s actually made from real stone that you can use inside or out. And it’s durable and decorative and available in seven colors. You just roll on two coats and then you seal and add some anti-slip you’re going to get great results. It retails for 5995 a gallon plus. We’re going to throw in the painting supplies that you need for a total value of $75.
0:23:18 TOM: This coatings, Terrazzo decorative granite servicer is going out to one listener drawn at random. Make that you must have a home improvement question to qualify. The number here is one 888-MONEY-PIT or go to moneypit.com/ask.
0:23:31 LESLIE: Pam in Florida has a porch question How can I help you?
0:23:34 CALLER: Today we live on the water and in Florida, there’s a lot of wind on the water. We’re close to the Gulf of Mexico and we have a screen porch with aluminum railings and the wind keeps blowing the screen sections out. We’ve tried all different types of screens and double screening them and all different types of lines. And I wondered if you had any better ideas for us.
0:23:56 TOM: Are we talking about on doors or windows?
0:23:58 CALLER: We’re talking about our screen sections on a screen porch.
0:24:01 TOM: Screen, porch. Okay. And so how big are these sections?
0:24:06 CALLER: Probably four by six.
0:24:09 TOM: Pretty big. Are you using vinyl screening or using metal screening?
0:24:12 CALLER: Vinyl?
0:24:13 TOM: Yeah, I think that’s the issue. The vinyl screening is pretty soft and pretty flexible, not very sturdy. I think you’re going to need to use a heavier gauge screening in order to make this more permanent. And you’re also going to need to consider not only attachment points. I’m not quite sure how you’re doing that, but it’s got to be super secure. And you might want to add grills to divide that up into a bit smaller space. It could be a thin grill, but it could. But a grill would give it some additional strength. So I think you’re going to need to use much heavier screening and not vinyl screening. Okay. Because I think putting on a double layer of the vinyl is going to really not, you know, get you where you need to be. Really should be heavy metal screening. One step one is a four by six foot area, right?
0:24:58 CALLER: You know, if metal screening comes in a fine enough mesh to keep no seams out.
0:25:03 TOM: Oh, yeah, it comes in different mesh densities and different gauge metals. You just got to find a good source supply down there for it.
0:25:10 CALLER: Thank you very much. Appreciate the help.
0:25:11 TOM: You’re very welcome. Well, now that we’re halfway through the summer, is Summer’s stuff clogging your house? You know, summer has its own special brand of clutter, like beach toys, big towels, coolers, chairs, bicycles, boogie boards, you name it. But you can easily cut all of that stuff down to size and get refreshed for the sizzling months ahead. Leslie, you’ve got two boys that have lots of stuff, so you must face this all the time. That’s right.
0:25:40 LESLIE: Yeah. I mean, every season comes with its own interesting combination of stuff. So in the summer, you have more stuff and it’s just all over the place. So I’m not going to lie. I do use my car as storage for summer stuff because we’re going to the beach a lot. So I keep like our folding chairs in there. This way, I know they’re there, they’re ready to go. And I keep like a small cluster of things that they know that they want or need for the beach as well. In my car, like a boogie board or, you know, some sand toys for the little guy. You know, it depends. But this way, that’s kind of organized. I also do bins for things like in the bathroom closet upstairs, which is the only bathroom closet. You know, you’ve towels, but there’s house towels and there’s beach pool towels. So I’ve done a little bin at the bottom of the closet that has all of the beach pool towels. So there’s no confusing and not taking the nice ones from the bathroom. You have the specific ones. And there’s also the beach bag. The pool passes all of the sunblock, everything you need so that if you’re getting ready to go to the pool or if the sitter’s here or if I’m on a project or something, they can easily grab that one specific thing and know that it’s ready to go. So I try to just keep things categorized and organized. And then of course, there’s, you know, reinforcing to your family where everything has to go back to. So chances are, is the adults in the house, we’re going to be the ones that end up doing the most of it. But if you’ve got a space for everything to go, then that really helps. Same thing for the garage. Keep a bin that’s specific for the season so people know where to grab the stuff from and know where to put it back to.
0:27:13 TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. Reach out to us with your home improvement questions at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or moneypit.com/ask.
0:27:22 LESLIE: Tim in Illinois is on the line with a mold question. What’s going.
0:27:24 CALLER: On? The house was painted five years ago. It’s got a new roof, new gutters, and underneath the soffit I have this black mold that it’s kind of splotchy, pretty skinny. It’s like a black blackish film, and it’s starting to come down the siding in there wasn’t like that last year. I’m just I don’t know what to use to clean it in to prevent it from coming back.
0:27:53 TOM: I wonder if it’s mold. It could be something else. I mean, sometimes we see any kind of growth. We call it mold, but it could be moss or mildew, mildew or algae. There’s a product on the market called spray and forget that’s very effective against all those things mold, mildew, moss and algae. And as the name implies, it’s very easy to use you spray and then you kind of walk away and the product goes to work, basically inhibiting the ability of that of that growth to continue. And then it will basically dissipate after that. So I would go ahead and pick up some spray and forget. And it is safe to use around plants. It’s a clean an effect, a very effective cleaning product for situations like that.
0:28:35 CALLER: So thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
0:28:37 TOM: You’re very welcome. Thank you for calling us. At 888 Money Pit.
0:28:42 LESLIE: Mike wrote in to Team Money Pit saying I’m having a hard time installing the dryer vent tube. The inlet outlet won’t line up and I end up squishing the vent tube up against the wall. I know this is restricting airflow. There has to be a better way. What products methods can you recommend?
0:28:57 TOM: Yep. Good question. And you’re right, getting that dryer vent connection sort of just right so you don’t have any obstruction is really, really important for a couple of reasons. I mean, first of all, for safety, if it’s not smoothly transitions the outside, you’re going to be more likely to build up lint. And that can cause a fire. And the longer the dryer also has to work to vent that moisture, the more energy it burns up in the process, not to mention all the wear and tear on the clothes they tumble around. So I’m going to give you a couple of ideas. It sounds like you tried the straightforward approach and found it didn’t work so well. There is a type of event extension for this called a periscope vent. If you think of the way a periscope works, you kind of look in at the bottom of one side of it. And then there’s also a place that you would, if it was a periscope, be able to see out the top. Well, that enables you to connect to the back of the dryer and then reposition the top of it to wherever the vent connection is in the wall. And this way you don’t have that kind of obstruction. The other thing is to take a look at the dryer and see if it’s possible to side vent it because some dryers can be modified and go out the side. In my house, the dryer duct goes out the side or reposition it that way because I only had to go 12 inches to be outside. So no obstructions whatsoever. And the closed dryer super fast.
0:30:04 LESLIE: All right. Good tips.
0:30:06 TOM: Well, summer’s a good season for closet cleaning, but if you have a lot of accessories, it can be hard to find places to keep all that organized. The solution might be to repurpose some of your common household items. Leslie explains how in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word, Leslie, take it away.
0:30:22 LESLIE: Yeah, I mean, truly, you can use kitchen items that will help you organize your bedroom closet. You just kind of have to think creatively and something that you recognize as one use in the kitchen totally makes sense for something else. For example, a rolling pin. You can use a rolling pin as a great bracelet or watch storage system. You can use shower rings on a hanger to hang scarves, ties, belts. You can use a muffin tin to store little trinkets like pins or earrings, and you can use them for cufflinks, tie pins, even to sort spare change. And I’m not talking about like the 24 cupcake one. You can get a six muffin tin, you know, things that are smaller that specifically work excellently for stuff in your closet.
0:31:02 TOM: Unless you have a lot of little stuff to store, then you need it to work, right?
0:31:05 LESLIE: Then maybe you do need the 24 one. But if we’re talking about trying to fit it in a drawer, go for the six or the dozen. Now toilet paper rolls, normally you just throw that cardboard out, but if you have tights or pantyhose, you know that they can get snagged very easily in your drawer. So you can use those toilet paper rolls to just sort of tuck those tights right inside of it. And it keeps them perfectly protected. You can also do this with socks if you kind of have a one Navy, one black sock. You’re getting dressed in the dark. You know, you can go ahead and be like, I know if I grab this toilet paper roll, I’m getting a pair that matches. So that’s really a great way to solve that sock problem. And finally, a corkboard and with some really cute decorative pushpins is a great way to hang costume jewelry like your necklaces. And it makes it a great way so that you can see the accessories that you’ve got available to you. You’re wearing them more because you can actually see them rather than trying to dig through a box or a different storage system if they’re right in front of you. You’re going to wear them and you’ll be able to see exactly what you’ve got. And there really are some cute pushpins. I actually did this in my closet slash dressing area with really beautiful drawer pulls. I did a fun collection of door pulls. I screwed them right into the wall and I just hang all my necklaces there. So it’s a great way to see what you got.
0:32:16 TOM: Cool idea. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. Hey, coming up next time on the program, if you’re thinking about an outdoor project and love the sound of a babbling brook. Water features like ponds or waterfalls can be a really fun feature to add to your backyard. We’ll talk you through how to build one yourself on the very next edition of the Money Pit.
0:32:36 LESLIE: I’m Tom Kraeutler, and I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:32:38 TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
0:32:39 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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  1. Irza, The Supermelon

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    Reply

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