Show Notes
- Kitchen Cabinets: Should you replace, reface, or refinish your kitchen cabinets? Find out budget-friendly options.
- Roof Restoration: Dried-out shingles? This rejuvenation treatment can extend the life of your old roof.
- Mosquitoes: Avoid unwelcome backyard barbecue bites and get mosquitoes to buzz off with these easy steps.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Inground Pool: Dorothy doesn’t want her inground pool anymore. We discuss what’s involved in having it filled and how to use the space.
- Bathroom Ventilation: Milt has no ventilation in his bathrooms. We have info on installing bathroom exhaust fans and humidistat controls.
- Shower Leaks: Water leaks are coming from the upstairs shower. Kirsten should follow these steps to track down where the leak is coming from and fill the gaps.
- Carpenter Bees: Thousands of carpenter bees are drilling into Jim’s log cabin! He needs a new pest control professional who will use the right product to keep bees away.
- Cleaning Brick: What’s the easiest way to clean mold and mildew from brick without damaging the mortar? We recommend that Judy use a slow-acting mildewcide product and perhaps a gentle pressure wash.
- Driveway Cracks: Todd wants to repair his cracked driveway. We tell him which product will adhere to the concrete so he can easily refinish the driveway surface.
- Brick Walls: Debbie discovered brick behind the drywall, but it was attached with glue. Heat guns and adhesive softeners will probably damage the brick, so she may need to add furring strips and a new layer of drywall to cover it up again.
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 0:00:32 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:00:38 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:00:39 | TOM: And happy spring, everybody. It’s a beautiful spring weekend where I am. I hope it is where you are. And if you are ready to take on some spring fix up projects, you’re in exactly the right place. Maybe you’re sprucing up your deck, maybe you’re sprucing up your yard, maybe you’re sprucing up your kitchen, maybe you’re sprucing up some other aspect of your DIY life. But if you’ve got questions on how to get those projects done, big and small, reach out to us with your questions. A couple of ways to do that. You can call us at 1-888-Money-Pit. Or better yet, post your questions. The moneypit.com/ask. Coming up on today’s show, if your kitchen cabinets are getting older or just need a pick me up, you don’t necessarily have to tear them all out. We’re going to share tips on how to get a brand new look for your cabinets without breaking the bank. And if your roof shingles are dried out and you’re getting ready to replace it, well, hold up. We’re going to tell you about a product that can re-energize roof shingles and add five more years of life. And it’s the season to get outside and enjoy the barbecues, picnics and parties. But that enjoyment can quickly end when mosquitoes are on the hunt for their next meal. And that could be you. So we’re going to share some tips to prevent that from happening. But first, what is your home, Reno, plan for the year ahead? You got a project or two in mind? Well, we want to help you create your best home ever. Reach out to us with your questions right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or post your questions to Moneypit.com/ask. Let’s get started. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 0:02:11 | LESLIE: Dorothy in Tennessee is on the line and has a question about an in-ground pool. What’s going on? I have a definite money pit. |
| 0:02:18 | TOM: All right. Welcome to the club. |
| 0:02:21 | CALLER: Shirley. I have a huge. |
| 0:02:23 | LESLIE: In-Ground pool. |
| 0:02:24 | CALLER: That it. |
| 0:02:25 | LESLIE: Just wouldn’t do any. |
| 0:02:26 | CALLER: Of us to not buy this house with this pool because we thought we’d just love it. And, yes, the kids promised to help take care of it and all that stuff there and gone. I don’t want to take care of it, don’t want to pay all that money. And I’m wondering if there is a solution to doing something interesting with this space that isn’t such a money pit. |
| 0:02:47 | TOM: You know, you’re not in an unusual scenario. I spent 20 years as a professional home inspector, and when we did inspect homes that had pools, I’d say a pretty good portion of the time. The question from my client was the same question you just asked. I don’t want the pool with nothing to do with it for a whole variety of reasons. What can I do with it? And in those cases, generally what folks do is they fill it in. You know, they tear up any concrete edges or it’s anything on top that might be part of their patio or whatever. And they basically fill it in and tempered and compacted and it becomes yard space. So if you don’t use it as a pool, that’s pretty much your only option. |
| 0:03:26 | CALLER: Well, exactly. Is there an inexpensive way of doing that? The little bit of research I’ve done and it’s not inexpensive to fill it in. Well. |
| 0:03:37 | TOM: Look, you need to find it’s not a hard look. Putting dirt in a hole is not a difficult thing to do. What you have to do is, first of all, obviously, you have to disconnect all of the mechanical systems, Right. The power out there, all that has to be disconnected and only plumbing, right? Disconnected. So you get rid of all of the stuff that’s easy like that. And then for the rest of it, if you have, like a decking or curving around the outside edge of the pool, that will have to be broken up. Now, if that’s the case, I can’t imagine that would take more than an hour or two to break up with a jackhammer, because it’s only going to be a few inches thick of concrete. So it’s actually pretty easy to break up. And then you have to have excavators that will come in and probably with a small piece of equipment like a bobcat, start to move a lot of dirt into that space because it has to be tamped. You know, you can’t just put it in there without tamping it. And in fact, you might also where you actually you may need to break up the bottom of the pool, otherwise you won’t have drainage. Right. So you probably have to bring that up, too. And that’s just going to be filled in and tamped and filled in in Tampa and filled in in Tampa, because if you don’t, it’ll become a sinkhole, just a depressed area in the yard. You want to really fill it up. You’re going to use clean filled dirt for that. You’re not going to use topsoil, obviously. So the dirt is pretty much the cost, the transportation. It’s almost like you don’t pay for the dirt. But that’s probably the best thing to do with it. And then start thinking about what you do want to do with that space. |
| 0:04:56 | LESLIE: Well, I can imagine a really nice, normal garden out there. |
| 0:05:00 | TOM: Well, there you go. |
| 0:05:01 | CALLER: Or a fire pit gazebo, all kinds of neat things. But getting to that point is not going to be cheap. |
| 0:05:07 | TOM: How long do you plan on staying in this house? I mean, this is basically is this it forever or probably. Yeah, because, I mean, that is one thing to consider. And that is if the pool is functional and you take it out, whether or not it’s going to deter from the value of the value. And sometimes it will and sometimes it won’t, depends on who’s buying and what their needs and wants and desires are. Well, hopefully we’ve given you some ideas on what is possible and good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit. |
| 0:05:37 | LESLIE: Milton, Delaware. Need some help with the ventilation? What’s going on in your Money Pit? |
| 0:05:42 | CALLER: Well, I thought this house, an older house. I got this two bathrooms and they have no ventilation, so I’m trying to put some ventilation in or figure out a possible ventilation. And I was wondering and I just put, like all of that and blow it outside the sidewall and I blow it up into the attic, I guess what can I do to get something nicer? Cause you guys say water makes mold and I don’t want to have any more than one bathroom. Yeah. |
| 0:06:17 | TOM: Okay. So you certainly could either install the bath exhaust fan on the wall so it flows directly outside. That’s possible. You need, of course, to make sure you have the right termination on the on the outside so that you don’t get a lot of drafts going in, especially an exterior wall. If you want to blow it up towards the attic, you cannot dump the moisture into the attic. So you certainly can go up in that direction once it gets to the attic, hook up a duct that will take it to the exterior, which could be through the roof or it could be through the sidewall up there. But either way is fine. And then make sure that since you’re going through all this work that you wire it with the fan doesn’t have this built in which many do, especially the better ones. But wire it so that it is you made statically controlled so that when you step out of the shower and dry off and leave the bathroom, the fan stays on until the air is dry in that space. And that’s what’s going to cut back on the mold and the cleaning that would be required. |
| 0:07:15 | CALLER: Okay, so I can’t ventilated out there like that. And cable and gable and I mean, it’s on a leaf in the roof, but that’s not good enough. I have to run it up through. |
| 0:07:25 | TOM: No. Yeah. You don’t want to dump it like at that roof. And what’ll happen is you’ll get a lot of condensation because you’re taking a warm, moist air. So you don’t want to drop it underneath the roof. And I’ve seen those ducks sort of being tacked the side of a rafter, like right under a roof vent. And then what happens is the roof sheathing rots out in that area or even the rafters starts to grow mold. So now we want to we want to take it right after that gable. And you going to put it through a dryer vent. There’s a piece of flashing that has like on the outside and it has a flap, a damper that closes. So no birds get in there and then you’re basically going to drive it out that way. |
| 0:07:59 | CALLER: Okay. Okay. So I can’t talk it out. Think about me going out through the fascia on the on the side of the roof over there. Can you run it out that way or does it matter? |
| 0:08:09 | TOM: Oh, you mean the soffit? Yeah, I know what you’re saying. The soffit. So, no, no. Same reason, though. First of all, the soft vents are those pores are not big enough to let the dryer exhaust get out there. It’s just going to clog up. So you’re better off just running it right through that cable on the end. If you can do that, that’s what I’d recommend. |
| 0:08:26 | CALLER: Okay, great. Thanks for your help today. |
| 0:08:29 | LESLIE: Kirsten in Michigan is on the line with a leaky situation. What’s going on? We have been in our house for 15 years, Colonial, and came home the other day and my husband said that there were water spots, about four of them on our family room ceiling. And just above that is the master bathroom where lots of showers take place. |
| 0:08:48 | CALLER: Okay. |
| 0:08:49 | TOM: Do you have a shower or a bathtub? |
| 0:08:51 | CALLER: We have both. |
| 0:08:52 | TOM: Is a standard standalone shower stall. Yes, it is. All right. And what’s the shower pan made out of? Is it tile or is it fiberglass? Is it. |
| 0:09:01 | CALLER: Fiberglass? |
| 0:09:02 | TOM: It’s fiberglass. Okay. And what you’re going to have to do here is to try to do a little bit more. Detective work, trying to figure out where this is coming from. I mean, obviously, it’s coming from somewhere in the bathroom. I can tell you the culprits. The first is the shower pan, which we hope is okay. But I’ll tell you how to test it, because if it’s not okay, you have to rip out a good bath, shower, shower and all the fix it. What you’re going to want to do is take a washcloth or you know, like one of those rubber pads. It used to open up jars that are like lids that are too tight. Those things work good, too. You put it over the drain and then you fill that shower, pan up with three or four inches of water. I mean, as much as you can take without overfilling and you let it sit there for a while and pretty much as soon as you fill it up, I want you go downstairs right away and look at the ceiling and see if you have any leaks. Because I’ve done this test and had it leak immediately because basically what you’re doing is you’re filling the shower, pan up, and you’re making sure there’s no fine cracks in that pan. Okay. Important if you have tile, by the way, because the water goes through the tile and. |
| 0:10:06 | LESLIE: We do have in the. |
| 0:10:06 | TOM: Bathroom. Yeah, well I mean on on the shower pan. You don’t have that on the shower panel sometimes you’ll see LED lined shower pans where this goes through quickly. So we do that if that’s okay. Next thing you want to do is look carefully at the tile walls and make sure that the joints are corked in the corners and also where the where the tile meets the shower pad itself, because those are the other areas or tends to leak through. And lastly, examine the tile very carefully for gaps in the grout, because what can happen is it may not leak when you’re just draining water straight through the shower pan, but when you step into the shower and the water starts hitting your body and bouncing off, getting all over the walls, that’s when it leaks, because that water is now being sort of forced in against those tiles and then we’ll get down behind it. It’s going to be something in that sort of area that generally causes this if it’s right under a bathroom. And now do you notice that it’s consistent with rainfall at all, by the way? |
| 0:11:07 | CALLER: No. Okay. |
| 0:11:08 | TOM: Because if it was, I would tell you to look at the flashing where the plumbing that comes through the roof, which is also going to be vertical at that spot. But I suspect it’s probably something in that master bath. And I hope I gave you a few things to check for there that make some sense. |
| 0:11:21 | CALLER: Yes. Thank you very much. |
| 0:11:23 | TOM: Well, guys, kitchens are one place in the house where most of us spend a ton of time. But if you ever feel like your kitchen cabinets are dated and kind of bringing down the whole space, there are lots of options for getting a new look without breaking the bank. Now, those would include replacing or defacing or just refinishing the cabinets. So let’s review the difference. Now, replacing, of course, is just that you tear it all out, you start again. It’s a good way to go when you want to reconfigure the layout or when the existing cabinets are really junk kind of fallen apart. Now, refinishing is when you resurface the cabinets with new doors and drawer fronts and hardware that can be less expensive and also make a big difference. But how do you determine if your kitchen is a good candidate for that approach? The key is you got to be happy with that existing configuration because with refocusing, you’re not changing the layout adding cabinets, right? The cabinets need to be good quality, structurally speaking, so they can sort of stand up three facing. There’s no sense in replacing a cabinet that’s going to have a very weak structure to it because you’re kind of throwing good money after bad. Now, lastly, refinishing a cabinet is probably your most cost effective move because repainting or retaining is a great DIY project that delivers good results. And with the trend in Cabinet, colors like gray and white, painting is a really inexpensive option that can totally update your kitchen very, very easily. And lastly, don’t forget about that hardware. If you want to do one thing, not spend a lot of money, get all new hardware, it’s like adding new jewelry to the kitchen. It really makes the whole room pop. |
| 0:12:55 | LESLIE: Jim in Tennessee is on the line and is dealing with some BS. What kind of BS Are they all over you getting stung. What’s happening? |
| 0:13:02 | CALLER: We have a log cabin in East Tennessee, and shortly after we built it, we started having a problem with boring these. So these are these are giant bumblebees that so far have not stung anybody. |
| 0:13:16 | LESLIE: They have big black shiny touches and they can drill a perfect hole in all surfaces, five inches around. |
| 0:13:23 | CALLER: They decided to make our cabin their home as well. And about this time of the year, we’re inundated with thousands of bees. We’ve had exterminators come through and nothing and nothing seems to eradicate them. |
| 0:13:35 | TOM: I don’t know what material they’re applying, but usually the right pesticide will prevent them from coming back. What they’re basically doing is they’re drilling holes in wood surfaces and then they go in those holes and they lay eggs, and then they just kind of let it sit there and hatch. Now, with the right types of pesticide, usually there’s a powdered pesticide that they actually put into the holes and around there that will that will stop that. Now, is it happening in the logs themselves or is it on like the fascia and the trim? |
| 0:14:04 | CALLER: No, it’s every pretty much everywhere. Wow. Yeah, it’s in the logs and it is. It’s in the fascia and trim as well. |
| 0:14:10 | TOM: Yeah, because the fascia and the trim I had some patient trim like that that was getting ravaged in a garage, and. And I got tired of treating it every year, so I just replaced it with a composite material. And it was funny because the first year after that, the bees kept flying around it, like thinking, Hey, it looks like wood, but doesn’t taste like wood. So they eventually gave up and didn’t come back. But it sounds to me like you’re just not dealing with the right type of pest control professional, because I don’t understand why if they’re applying some of the standard products that are out there, which you can’t buy, by the way, because they’re not over the counter, that these bees keep coming back. |
| 0:14:48 | CALLER: Right. Well, we have a home contract for a pest control company, and we’ve had them since we built the house. And they’ve applied treatments several times, but it doesn’t seem to really eradicate the bees. |
| 0:15:02 | TOM: I can’t give you a specific pesticide, but I will tell you that insecticidal dust is typically what works best. It has to be applied to the holes even inside of those holes. And then once it’s inside of them, you do not want to seal up the holes. You want to let it sit and do its job. And then after the season, so to speak, then you should seal up the holes because if you don’t, they’ll come back. But you want to make sure that all the bees have been killed, because if you don’t make sure they’re all killed, they’ll just keep drilling to find new spaces because you seal off the ones that they had. But if you apply the insecticidal dust, that will do it. And then after you have it all sealed up, then you might want to think about staining or refinishing those outside surfaces, because that will also discourage bee infestation. You know, typically paints or stains with any kind of a varnish. They’re not going to like the taste of that stuff. |
| 0:16:03 | CALLER: Okay. All right, great. |
| 0:16:04 | TOM: All right. Yeah. Good luck with that project. And thank you again for calling us at 88 Money Pit. |
| 0:16:09 | LESLIE: Judy in Louisiana, you’ve got the Money Pit. What are you working on? Hi. |
| 0:16:13 | CALLER: I was asking about mildew and mold on brick. |
| 0:16:21 | LESLIE: How do I get it off? The easiest way. I mean, it’s outside. |
| 0:16:26 | CALLER: How do I get it off? The easiest way without damaging the mortar? |
| 0:16:32 | TOM: So there’s a variety of products out there that can do that. And these cleaners essentially saturate the mold or the moss or the mildew, and then they break down the fibers and then rain essentially washes it away. They’re slow working. It’s not like you’re going to do it once and it will be done, but it will get clean. So there’s products like spray and forget or wet and forget. Can chromium, there’s ginger has one. And you know, all of those products are basically another side that are designed to kill that material. I use them on a roof of a shed last year that was literally totally covered with moss. And I just happened to notice this past weekend was you’re out doing some work on the yard that I could see all the shingles again as if it never existed. So it just basically melted it all away. So that’s the way to do that. You can pressure wash some of that off, but if you do it, you just have to use a gentle pressure washer so that you don’t destroy the surfaces underneath. Good luck with that project. Thanks for calling us at 88 Money Pit. |
| 0:17:38 | LESLIE: Well, every year, millions of rooves are replaced because they’ve simply dried out, They’ve become brittle and they’re no longer protecting your home. But of all the jobs that homeowners have to tackle, replacing a roof is one of the most complicated, expensive. And let’s not forget life disrupting projects. |
| 0:17:55 | TOM: Well, fortunately, there’s another solution restoring the protection provided by your roof. It’s called roof. Max roof. Max is a roof. Restoration and rejuvenation treatment that is safe, easy, proven. And in affordable alternative to roof replacement. With us to talk about how it works is Mike Faisal, the CEO of Roof. Max, Welcome, Mike. |
| 0:18:15 | CALLER: Hey, thanks for having me on, Tom. Hi, Leslie. |
| 0:18:17 | LESLIE: Hey, Mike. So interestingly, as your roof gets older, things start to dry out. The roof doesn’t function as well, and therefore isn’t protecting the house as properly as it should do. And I think a lot of people immediately jump to, well, now I have to replace my roof, even though maybe we haven’t reached the lifetime capacity of that roofing shingle itself. So what roof Max is doing is something completely different from a roof replacement. Can you explain to us a little bit about what roof Max is and how it works? |
| 0:18:46 | CALLER: It’s very simple. As your roof dries out, the oils, there’s petrochemical oil and the asphalt. And as they dry out, the shingles become brittle. Same reason you get a pothole on the road. And basically, our product, our formulation is a plant based oil that when applied like a skin moisturizer, it soaks down into the shingles and it replaces the dried out petrochemical oils and restores flexibility. And we’ve passed flexibility testing by the same testing labs that the manufacturers, the roofing manufacturers used. So we passed the sand flexibility testing required of a brand new roof. Yeah. |
| 0:19:23 | TOM: When I first heard about your product, I’d seen the 20 years I spent as a home inspector, a wide variety of roof treatments that didn’t make any sense. But the first thing I did is once your site and checked out the research done by Ohio State and it’s very, very impressive. And in fact, I think we’ve been talking about Roof Max now for over a year since we introduced the product to our audience. And since then, you have gained wide acceptance in the industry as an alternative to that roof replace. And I think that’s huge because, I mean, let’s face it, you’re a disruptor. You’re in an industry that hasn’t had much change in 50, 100 years. And now you’re coming in saying, wait, you don’t have to replace those shingles. You can rejuvenate them. So that must have been a challenge. But it seems like you’re broken through. |
| 0:20:07 | CALLER: Yeah. I mean, anything new that anything disruptive people are going to be very skeptical. They should. But we’ve been in this now for five years. We’re over 100 million square feet applied. And now we’re working with a lot of national brands, architects, engineers, referring us engineering firms. Roof management is the largest roof asset management company in the country. We’re now involved with them. So but it’s taken time. You know, it’s definitely been a an educational battle. |
| 0:20:33 | LESLIE: You know, and what’s so interesting is that generally when you see a product, it’s either for multifamily, single family you don’t see a lot of crossover. And so what’s interesting here is that while Roof Max is doing so well in the single family home developments, you’re seeing now a real need in multifamily developments as well. And I think proof of that is you’re in the process of working with live core, which is the largest real estate investment trust in the nation. |
| 0:20:57 | LESLIE: So that’s huge. This is amazing. |
| 0:21:00 | CALLER: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it’s our first project with them coming up a little later this month down in South Florida. So yeah, we’re excited to be working with them. And of course that gives us credibility to that entire industry, to the property management sector. So yeah, we’re real excited about that. |
| 0:21:15 | TOM: Now folks are interested in Roof, Max, you have dealers that you work with, that you train your dealers all across the country. How many are they? What would happen if I call the roof next? Dealer What’s sort of the first step? I mean, is every roof going to be a candidate for roof, Max? |
| 0:21:28 | CALLER: So we’ve got dealers across the country. As you said, we have over 300 dealers. Now. You go to our website, Roof, Match.com, fill out the form, and then our form is through our automation. It goes to the dealer that’s closest to you in your area. They’ll reach out to you and schedule a time to look at the roof. About 90% of the roofs that people think they need to replace were able to treat. But that requires an onsite roof assessment. So we get a look at the roof and just make sure that roof, Max, is a good candidate and it’s not always a good candidate and there are parts of the country where 20% of the roofs maybe don’t qualify, but on average across the country, it’s about nine out of ten roofs. We’re able to treat and at least get five years. Each treatment lasts for five years. Some of these customers, if we get it soon enough, we can treat up to three times and really just double the life of the roof at 50 more years. |
| 0:22:18 | LESLIE: That’s pretty impressive. I mean, if you put it on, it’s good for five years. So is there a warranty that’s available? |
| 0:22:24 | CALLER: There is. We have a flexibility warranty, so we guarantee flexibility for that five year period. And it’s a pro-rated warranty. It’s also what we do different with our warranty than most product manufacturers home improvement products. We don’t attach the warranty to an individual, we attach it to the home so it stays with the home. If you sell the property, that warranty gets basically transferred over to the new buyer because it’s attached to the home, not to the individual. |
| 0:22:51 | TOM: Yeah, let’s talk about that because in the state of Florida, I’ve come to understand that insurance covers have been giving people a hard time about insuring homes that have roofs that are 15, 16 years old. So really not reached the end of a normal life cycle, but they’re still requiring them to put on new roofs with roof. Max, though, there’s an alternative to that. |
| 0:23:10 | CALLER: There is. And we’re having a lot of success with property owners. Well, they’ll get a letter from the insurance company saying, hey, you wrote this 15 years old, you need to replace it. And then we come out, treat the roof, get a certified inspector to inspect the roof and state that there’s five years more remaining life and they are able to keep their insurance policy intact. |
| 0:23:32 | TOM: Well, that’s fantastic, Mike. Feasible from Roof. Max, thank you so much for continuing with the roof Max product and giving folks the option to avoid having to tear off a roof that can rejuvenate the roof, instead pick up lots of years of life expectancy and spend a fraction of the cost, which is about 20% of the cost. Right, Of replacement? Yeah. Tax treatment by yourself. Five years of life, maybe again and again for a total of 15. |
| 0:23:59 | CALLER: Yep. Absolutely. |
| 0:24:00 | TOM: Mike, thanks so much for stopping by the Money Pit. |
| 0:24:02 | CALLER: Hey, thanks for having me on, guys. Take care. |
| 0:24:06 | LESLIE: Todd in Florida is on the line. Is having some issues with the driveway. Tell us what’s going on. |
| 0:24:10 | CALLER: I’ve got a house I’m renovating here in Florida, and the driveway is in pretty decent shape. Has got all these just like half a dozen cracks running through different ways through it, like almost spider cracks. And I don’t know what’s the best way to sort of tear it up and report it to fix that and make it look good. |
| 0:24:25 | TOM: Yeah. There’s a new product out by Quecreek that’s perfect for that. It’s called Recap. And essentially it’s designed to go on top of the old concrete surface and. |
| 0:24:34 | LESLIE: Just stick to it. |
| 0:24:35 | TOM: Yeah, you could travel it. It has tremendous adhesion power and you can go right over those cracks. You could have a trowel finish or broom, finish whatever you want, and you will completely resurface that driveway. You’ll find the different home centers, I think Home Depot and Lowe’s. But if you go to Quecreek AECOM, our user dealer locator, it’s called Recap, recap. |
| 0:24:59 | TOM: And we’ve seen this stuff demonstrated. And it’s amazing when it adheres to the old concrete in test. They try to pull it out, pull it apart, and it’s so hard to pull apart. Actually ripped out the old concrete with. So it really works well. Prep is pretty easy. You basically going to pressure wash that driveway. You get old dirt and debris and moss and mildew off of it, and then while it’s wet, you apply the recap and stuff, hardens and is drivable within about 24 hours. |
| 0:25:25 | CALLER: Oh, great. So a lot cheaper than spending thousand dollars. |
| 0:25:28 | TOM: Oh, yeah. This is exactly what it was designed for. Spider cracks in driveways. They don’t look so hot. You just completely resurface it. Okay. |
| 0:25:37 | CALLER: Awesome. That’s why I’m like, Do I look I up? Thank you for your help. I appreciate. |
| 0:25:40 | TOM: That. Yep. Good luck, Todd. Thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit. Well, now is the season to get outside and enjoy all what the warm weather offers us, like barbecue, picnics and parties. But that enjoyment can end very quickly when mosquitoes are on the hunt for their very next meal, which, of course, could be you. So we’re going to share some tips to prevent that from happening. Now, the first step toward making your home less inviting for mosquitoes is to eliminate standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs. And here’s why. According to the CDC, mosquitoes grow from eggs to full size, ready to bite adults in as little as 7 to 10 days. And the best way to stop that from happening is to eliminate any standing water around your house. Now, you might be thinking, my yard doesn’t have puddles. I don’t live next to a lake. So I’m good on that, right? Well, probably not. There are literally dozens of places standing water can collect in an average home. Mosquitoes need only a cup or more of water to drop a whole brood. Young’uns are going to grow up fast and start stinging right away. So think about places like your gutters. If they’re clogged, you’ve got a breeding pond. Don’t miss places like pull covers, pet dishes, kids toys, buckets, even overturned garage can lids that can hold a bit of water. Really Anything at all that collects an inch or more of water needs to be drained. Because remember, it’s only going to be there for a week and they’re already ready to bite. So if you stop standing water wherever it exists, the only thing you’re going to be slapping the summer are steaks on the grill. |
| 0:27:12 | LESLIE: Debbie in Arkansas is on the line and has a question to help her daughter’s house. What can we do for you guys? Hi. My daughter recently bought a house. It’s an older house that’s been remodeled and she was going to renovate around her fireplace and she discovered that the large wall behind the fireplace, which is about a 20 foot wide wall, has got it had brick behind the plaster. And so she took all the plaster down, but it had been put up with liquid nails. So there’s liquid nails all over this brick, all over it. And it’s made a terrible mess. And she’s called in a couple of people to get bids. And it was thousands of dollars to either re-brick over it or chisel it down. And they said it would probably ruin the brick if they did. And so I was just curious if you had any ideas that I really looked up on the Internet and there was one about a heat gain possibly, but I thought maybe you might have it a cheaper or easier way of doing it. |
| 0:28:11 | TOM: Well, it’s quite a mess. Yeah. I mean, certainly you can use a heat pump, but if he goes very hot and it’s going to cause all kinds of fumes. And the problem with the fact that you had this type of adhesive, it’s going to soak into the pores of the brick. So at best, even after doing all that, you’re going to paint the brick, which we hate to tell anybody to do, because it’s going to otherwise it’s just going to look terrible. You never going to have that natural brick. That decision was made for you by whoever decided it was going to be a glue, the plaster, right of the brick without any kind of a foreign stripper or something of that nature. There are various types of adhesive softeners out there. But I fear that even if you went through all that trouble, you’re still going to have a very undesirable looking surface. So I think if I’m sorry, that’s all torn up now, but I think if it was me, I would probably fur over that attach wood strips to that brick surface and I would probably put new drywall or some other surface over it at this point and give up on the idea of having a exposed brick wall. Unless, of course, you want to rework the whole thing, which is a big mess and a big job. |
| 0:29:12 | LESLIE: And a big expense to the expense. |
| 0:29:15 | TOM: Yeah, of course. Yeah, absolutely. |
| 0:29:16 | LESLIE: Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Well, Eden in Florida wrote in saying, My wife unplugs all of our appliances in a thunderstorm, including the refrigerator. I’ve argued for years that she doesn’t need to do this. Can you tell me who’s right? I’d love to settle a spousal fight, but, I mean, this seems excessive. I do feel the pain because we had that before I put in the whole house surge protector. We had the lightning strike and lost the dryer. So I do know that those things are possible. |
| 0:29:46 | TOM: They are possible. They’re not common. They’re not likely. But I have seen this very thing happen. It happened to my neighbor and it was really the first time even that I that I had a personal experience with it. And it shook out. Let me see. It took out her microwave. It took out her cable boxes. There was a few things, and I think it might have affected the washing machine, too. But hey, you never really know. And I think the idea of putting the surge protector in that system is really the hot ticket there, because that’s going to stop a lot of that damage. Something electrician can install inside the box. I mean, just picking out the refrigerator I don’t know. I mean, the chances of it, getting rid of it getting damaged is pretty rare. But it makes me your wife feel better. And I would just advise you to not argue with her. And remember, she’s always right and keep the heat, the marriage happy. You know. |
| 0:30:35 | LESLIE: What is the saying? Happy wife, happy life. |
| 0:30:38 | TOM: Yeah, exactly. |
| 0:30:39 | LESLIE: I think that’s how the saying goes. Whereas in my house it’s do everything to annoy mom. And then mom just goes hides in another room and you’re okay. Well, I hope that helps out Aiden. And in the end, she’s saving your money by not having to replace those appliances. Maybe not the groceries. Yeah, but the appliance for sure. |
| 0:31:00 | TOM: The one time you don’t do it you’re going to get hit with lightning and all the food will go bad or something like that. You know, a better option maybe is to put it in a standby generator, whole house generator. They never have to worry about your power going out. Well, maybe the vegetables in your garden can be eaten, but can they be shaken or stirred? Leslie has tips on the most popular plants for cocktails and today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word. And when I say what a fun topic for this holiday weekend. |
| 0:31:26 | LESLIE: I mean, it really is. I mean, come on, guys. Move over. Tomatoes, growing fruits and herbs for drinks really is a fun new approach to your backyard garden. And spring is the perfect time to get it going. Now you can add some zest to seltzer beer or cocktails with your homegrown limes. They can dress up a plain old glass of water or bring out those floral notes in the finest of alcoholic beverages and limes can be grown in pots outside during the summer and then go on and bring that pot inside your house and keep it in a bright area so you can have limes when the weather cools down as well. Now, lavender is another great addition to your traditional cocktails. It pairs especially well with gin because it brings out that floral element that is in the gin itself. And lavender is also super easy to grow. You can either do it right in the garden or in a container and have cocktails are the end goal. You want to go with English lavender, which is the sweetest variety, and lavender also works great in lemonade. Plus it makes it like a fun purple issue, which is just so lovely. Now, if alcoholic drinks aren’t for you, you can add fruit or herbs right from your garden to your ice cube trays for flavorful and eye catching ice cubes. They’re the perfect touch to any summer party and they’re going to get you and your guests totally in the mood for summer. So come on, summer and come on all your fun gardening projects. |
| 0:32:41 | TOM: This is the Money Bin Home Improvement show on air and online at Money Pit, NBC.com. Coming up next time on the program, whether you have a green thumb or need to hire a pro, sprucing up your landscaping is a great way to step up your outdoor space. We’ll share tips on how you can create a simple landscape plan for a beautiful exterior to your home. |
| 0:32:59 | TOM: On the very next edition of The Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:33:03 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:33:04 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 0:33:06 | 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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