Easy Ways to Brighten a Room #1107162

TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Pick up the phone, give us a call, right now, because we are here to help you with your home improvement project 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

Hey, what are you working on this weekend? And the holidays are here and you’re probably getting ready to fix your house up before all the hordes of family and friends stop by. That’s a project we can help you with if you call us at 888-MONEY-PIT. Maybe you just paid your very first true winter heating bill and you’d like to pay a smaller one next month. Well, give us a call right now; we’ll talk about some ways to save some energy on your house. All great topics. Whatever is on your to-do list, slide it over to ours and call us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Coming up on today’s show, we get asked more about floors on this program than any other topic, so we’re going to have some tips on advances in laminate flooring that can make it more water-resistant than ever before.

LESLIE: Plus, do you have a spot in your house that could use more light but you don’t have the budget to hire an electrician? Well, we’ve got the lowdown on a new wireless option that can be installed for under 30 bucks.

TOM: And also ahead, if you want to give your walls a new look, we’ve got tips on wall covering that can add interest and color to your décor.

LESLIE: And if you call in your home improvement question, you might just also win a copy of our book, My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure.

TOM: We’ve got three copies to give away. Would you like one? Well, pick up the phone and call us, right now, with your home improvement question, 888-666-3974.

LESLIE: Brenda in Michigan, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

BRENDA: Yes, hi. We were just wondering – we have a basement that we’d like to remodel. And the only problem is that, right now, it currently has a glued-on carpet. It has paneling in the walls. And we had a termite problem. So we want to know: what would you put for – once we gut everything all out, because the termite problem has been corrected, what kind of walling material could you use that would be anti-termite, anti-mold-resistant and moisture? And it’s against a block basement. What would you recommend?

TOM: So, first of all, what you would do is you would frame the wall out away from the block wall. You don’t want to attach anything directly to the block wall. Because you need to have sort of an air space between the wall and the concrete block so that it can breathe. If there’s moisture that gets into the wall, it can evaporate.

In terms of what kinds of materials you use, you’re going to use either steel framing or you’re going to use a pressure-treated sill plate. That’s the bottom piece of wood – the bottom 2×4 – and then typical traditional 2x4s on top of that.

In terms of the wall covering, there’s a type of drywall called DensArmor, which is fiberglass-faced as opposed to paper-faced. And that’s a good option for a basement because this way, that paper face can’t feed a mold problem.

In terms of the termites, if the home was properly treated, you shouldn’t have to worry about those. It’s not like you need to worry about building a termite-proof basement down there. The termite-proofing is the application of the right pesticides that keep them at bay. Typically, today they use a type of pesticide that’s called an “undetectable pesticide.” It goes in the soil, at the foundation perimeter. As the termites pass through that, as they go to the nest, they pick it up and spread it to the rest of the insects in the nest, kind of like germ warfare. And that wipes out the whole colony.

And those treatments are effective for 10 years-plus. So if it was done, you shouldn’t have to worry about that. Just concentrate now on the best materials for finishing that basement.

BRENDA: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

LESLIE: Rob in Oregon, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?

ROB: Oh, I’d like to get some information about putting down floor tiles. I know there’s a right way to do it and a lot of people I’ve seen do it doesn’t look like they’re doing it right.

TOM: What kind of floor tile are we talking about? Are we talking about ceramic tile?

ROB: Yeah, ceramic tile.

TOM: And what are you going to be putting the tile on? Is it a wood substrate or what?

ROB: Yeah, it’s a plywood, ¾-inch over floor joists.

TOM: What size are the tiles that you’re going to put on? Are they small tiles or large tiles?

ROB: They’re 12-inch.

TOM: OK. So the most important thing is that you have a really sturdy base, because tiles don’t bend, right? And if you don’t have a good, sturdy base, you could have those tiles break and crack. Three-quarter-inch plywood is pretty thick but I suspect that you’re going to need to put an underlayment under that tile or to put a wire mesh down and put a mud floor under it, which is the best. Because that absolutely, positively will not move. And the better job you do with getting those tiles on the right base, the longer it’s going to last. If you don’t have a solid base and you start getting some movement, you’ll get cracks in the joint and then you’ll get cracked tile on top of that.

Is this the first time you’ve done tiling?

ROB: Yeah. I’ve seen at Home Depot, they have that ¼-inch snap board and ½-inch snap board.

TOM: Yeah. The snap boards, yeah. And I think that that’s a great idea. In fact, what you – if you put that down, you want to make sure that you overlap the joists – the joints – of the plywood below it. And that would give you a good, solid base. Alright?

ROB: That’s why you probably measure it out, make sure you don’t come up with a little sliver of tile.

TOM: Measure twice, cut once, Rob. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: You are tuned to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com. Now you can call in your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Just ahead, did you ever have a space in your house that’s just too dark but you don’t want to go through the hassle of hiring an electrician to add a new light? Well, there’s a super-easy wireless way to add light where you need it now. And we’re going to have a preview, after this.

TOM: Up until now, you purchased insulation to insulate, to help keep warm spaces warm and cool spaces cool.

LESLIE: But now, Owens Corning has changed all of that with Pure Safety High Performance Insulation. Pure Safety not only insulates but also actually contributes to a healthier, safer and more comfortable environment for your family.

TOM: That’s right. First, it’s a high-density, all-purpose insulation that efficiently fills cavities in your home with a layer of thermal protection. Next, Pure Safety contributes to healthier indoor air. It stays put in walls and floors and produces 50 percent less dust than some other insulation products. That means healthier air for your family to breathe.

LESLIE: Pure Safety is also fire-resistant. In case of a fire, you’re going to have extra minutes to escape to safety. And those are minutes that can make all the difference.

TOM: And finally, Pure Safety reduces noise up to 50 percent. It helps to keep outside noise out and reduces inside noise from traveling from room to room inside.

Pure Safety High Performance insulation from Owens Corning, a single product that will enhance your family’s health, safety and comfort. Learn more at PureSafetyInsulation.com. Pure Safety, the greatest home improvement you’ll never see.

ANNOUNCER: Today’s Money Pit is presented by Mr. Beams. Lighting solutions that can be installed in five minutes. No wires, no electrician, no kidding. Find Mr. Beams lights at major retailers and learn more at MrBeams.com.

TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Give us a call now at 888-MONEY-PIT. You will get the answer to your home improvement question. Plus, this hour, we’re giving away five copies of our book, My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure. It is full of the same kinds of tips and advice that you love to hear, right here on the radio.

TOM: Yep, except it’s got pictures. Going out to one lucky caller drawn at random. Make that you. Give us a call, right now, for the answer to your home improvement question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Sam in South Carolina has a question about a counter. What can we do for you?

SAM: I have a countertop that – I guess it’s Formica on wood. And it comes up at the back, kind of rolls, you know, like maybe it’s a cove. Anyway, it rolls. It’s about 3½ inches up the wall. And then it rolls on the edge, too. I’m thinking Formica on wood? It was constructed in maybe 80.

My question is – it expands and contracts away from this wall during different cycles of winter/summer and just a little bit. It pulls away from the wall and I wondered – I wanted – always wanted to put, oh, glass or tile as a backsplash up from it. But as it expands and contracts, there’s no way to seal it next to the wall.

TOM: So, first of all, you’re talking about something that’s called a “post-formed countertop,” with that sort of rounded edge that sort of goes up and over. Now, what you can do is you can put in what’s called a “backer rod,” which is like a foam tube that goes right – push it down behind the countertop in that space. That kind of takes up the gap. And then you could use a flowable caulk on top of that, which would stick to the wall and the countertop. And it would expand and contract as the house moved.

But I do like your idea of the backsplash and that sounds like a perfect application for that.

Right, Leslie?

LESLIE: Yeah. And the small, glass tiles really do look great on a backsplash. And they’re really easy to install as a do-it-yourselfer, because there’s not a lot of cutting or snipping or shaping of tile to make it work for the puzzle that becomes the backsplash.

SAM: Fantastic. Now what did you say to put in there?

TOM: So you want to use – there’s a foam rod called a “backer rod.” It’s like a thin foam tube that you’ll find at home centers. And you kind of want to fill that up. Because if you just caulk the caulk, it’s going to sort of fall down into that big gap. So you want to stuff something in there so the caulk sort of sits on top. And then you push it down just right below the surface and then you caulk over that.

SAM: Great. OK. That sounds like a perfect solution. I really appreciate that and I’m looking forward to having it just much more attractive.

TOM: Alright. Well, we’re so glad we could help you out. And thanks, again, for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Well, many times, there are areas in our home where you just can’t get enough light. It could be a closet or a shed or maybe even your pantry or an attic. But other than running an extension cord and dropping a light or hiring an electrician to run wiring to install a new light fixture, which can be expensive, there’s really no easy way to make that space more usable.

TOM: Now, I had that exact problem in my home and I decided to give a new product a try from Mr. Beams. It’s called the UltraBright Ceiling Light. And it’s basically a motion-activated light that is battery-operated, so it can really go anywhere in the home.

And what’s really surprising is that you’re thinking, “Battery-powered. I mean how bright could it be?” Well, it’s actually pretty darn bright. It puts out about 300 lumens of light and it’s got a diffuser on it that spreads the light over a space of about 300 square feet. Now, that made it perfect for my attic, where we needed the extra light. But it’d be great for a pantry or a shed or really any place you just want to pick up some additional light.

LESLIE: Yeah. And it’s great and I think it’s also cool that the batteries can last a year if you use it 8 to 10 times a day. Which, when you think about it, that’s a lot.

TOM: Yeah, definitely. The UltraBright Ceiling Light sells for 29.99 and you can find it online at Amazon.com, as well as in major retailers like The Home Depot or Lowe’s. Mr. Beams delivers surprisingly bright light anywhere. Learn more at MrBeams.com or call them at 877-298-9082.

LESLIE: Rob in Massachusetts, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

ROB: So my wife and I just bought a brand-new house. And when we first got there, I turned on a light switch and our fan in the attic started smoking. So I went up there. It looks like it’s the back of a submarine. It looks like this really big, old, propeller-driven fan, so that’s got to go.

So, as I’ve been doing a little bit of research online, it seems like there’s kind of two camps going on as to whether or not it’s really worth having an attic fan or not, whether it really saves energy and saves you money over time or if it’s really just something that’s kind of a legacy or holdover from a different era. So I guess I just want to get a take from that.

TOM: OK. So is your home air-conditioned?

ROB: It is not.

TOM: It is not. OK. So you’re using, what, window air conditioners in the summer?

ROB: Yep. We have [two eight] (ph) window air conditioners up on the second floor. Down on the first floor, it’s actually been pretty cool.

TOM: So here’s the thing. You’re going to run this attic fan in the summer and I presume this would be one that’s repaired and not smoking. So let’s assume it’s operational. If you run it in the summer, what it’s going to do is it will depressurize the attic. Now, it’s going to try to make up that air from somewhere.

Now, theoretically, it would pull in air from other vents in the roof – other passive vents – like vents at the gables or vents at the soffits or other roof vents to be able to kind of take air from the outside. It will go in those roof vents, up through the attic fan and out and sort of just cycle.

Truth is, though, that those fans are usually a lot more powerful than the amount of passive venting available to make up the replacement air, so they’ll sort of reach down deep into the house and start pulling out air from your house and venting that, which they’re not really intended to do. They’re only really supposed to be venting the attic.

So, what happens in that scenario is they pull out not only the warm air in your house but the air-conditioned air, which is your expensive air that you paid to cool. And so that’s why they can be very inefficient, because they can rob air-conditioned air from the house: a bigger problem when you have central air than when you just have window units. But that’s why we generally don’t recommend them.

The other reason is that you really don’t need them. You could do just as good a job with proper passive ventilation. And by that I mean generally continuous ridge vents, that go down the peak of the roof, and soffit vents at the overhang. With that combination, air will always press in under the soffits, right up under the roof sheathing, and exit at the ridge. And it just does a good job, passively, of keeping the attic cool without impacting the cost of cooling or having attic fires because your fan motor blows up.

ROB: And then I guess, just to go off of that for a second, in the winter I’ve heard that you can run the attic fan in reverse and push the hot air that’s risen up into the attic down into the rest of the house. Is that also a myth?

TOM: That’s a complete myth. I wouldn’t do that. That would be – actually be foolish. You could mess with your – the natural ventilation, the natural draft of your heating equipment by doing that and it could be dangerous. You could build up carbon monoxide and cause fireplaces to backdraft. It could just be a real mess. So, yeah, I would not do that.

ROB: OK. Perfect. Thank you guys so much.

TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Mike in Pennsylvania is on the line with a flooring question. How can we help you today?

MIKE: My kitchen floor is vinyl – a vinyl floor with a couple of dings. And there were – things have been dropped over years. So it’s broken the outer seal and the black is showing through the underlayment or whatever.

So, a couple of options – and I’ve had experience with sticky-back tiles on a – on the laundry-room concrete floor. I’ve also put ceramic tile down in a foyer with the cement board and so forth. And what I’m thinking – in my kitchen, if I went with the ceramic, then I’ve got a problem with putting the cement board down plus the ceramic tile. And I’d have to cut some doors. My question is: say I take the easy way out, would sticky-back tiles work over a vinyl floor?

TOM: I think probably not too well. I’ve got another option for you. Have you considered laminate flooring? Are you familiar with it?

MIKE: Yeah, yeah.

TOM: So, laminate flooring is perfect for this situation because you can lay it down right over the old vinyl or you could pull the vinyl up if you choose to. It doesn’t have to be glued down. The boards simply lock together. The tongue and the groove joint of the laminate boards, whether they’re strips or whether they’re square planks, will lock together.

And then, essentially, it will just sit on top of that floor. You’ll leave about a ¼-inch space between the edge of the laminate and the floor. You can use a piece of shoe molding to cover that between the baseboard molding and the laminate itself. And it doesn’t take up a lot of room. Not as much room as putting down – you mentioned the backer board and the tile and so on. It’s only going to take up about a ¼-inch or so.

Now, I’ve had laminate floor in my kitchen for almost 20 years and you could hardly see any wear or tear on it at all. You’d be hard-pressed to find any worn areas. It’s really incredibly durable stuff.

MIKE: So there’s no grout or anything? They just interlock, basically, like a tongue and groove, right?

TOM: No. And the thing is you could find laminates that look like stone tile. You can find them that look like ceramic tile or marble and you could find them that look like hardwood floor. They’re absolutely beautiful and they’re super durable, so I think that’s the best solution for your situation.

Mike, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Wendy is on the line from West Virginia with an interesting project. How can we help you?

WENDY: Hi. I am interested in purchasing a property that was formerly a golf clubhouse. And I’m curious what would be the pros and cons between a commercial and a residential …

LESLIE: As far as purchasing or the use of the space once you get it?

WENDY: What is the difference in a commercial versus a residential building? I’m trying to find out, you know, are there big differences in the way that they’re built? Is that a plus? Are they built extra sturdy kind of thing?

TOM: Assuming that they were both built to code, commercial codes are usually more stringent than residential codes. So, I would expect a commercial building to be built as well, if not better, than a residential property. But it also has a lot to do with the zoning, what you’re allowed to do with that space.

Can you have a residence in a commercial space? Maybe. That’s a question for your local zoning officials for you to thoroughly understand. And if it is zoned commercial, it may have a higher value than it would if it was zoned residential. And if you turn it back into a house, you might devalue the property. So I think there’s some economic questions there.

But in terms of how it’s built, I mean generally speaking, it’s going to be as – built as well or better, assuming that the construction followed all the relevant building codes. I think the trickier part of this is to take a commercial space, which is kind of sterile, and making it feel warm like a home would.

And that’s kind of a décor challenge, right, Leslie?

LESLIE: Yeah. But I think with a golf clubhouse – and correct me if I’m wrong, Wendy – they kind of have a residential, homey feel to begin with. So I think you might have some good bones to work off of there.

WENDY: Mm-hmm. Yeah. It’s kind of that lodge feel.

LESLIE: Well, I think that’s a good place to start. Now, I think part of your challenge is going to be modifying your kitchen, because you’re probably dealing with a larger commercial space. So that’ll be something that’ll probably be a full gut renovation and sort of a redo to make that more residential and perhaps a kitchen/dining area or a kitchen/eat-in area. I think the benefit is you’ve got this tremendous space that was built very well – as far as code goes, as Tom mentioned – so that you can really work within that. And it sounds like it’s probably sitting on a great piece of land, too.

WENDY: It is. Beautiful. Thank you for the advice.

TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Hey, laminate flooring really is a great flooring choice. But one thing it’s not? Water-resistant. Well, thanks to a new technology, this is all about to change. We’ll share those details, next.

TOM: Up until now, you purchased insulation to insulate, to help keep warm spaces warm and cool spaces cool.

LESLIE: Pure Safety is also fire-resistant. In case of a fire, you’re going to have extra minutes to escape to safety. And those are minutes that can make all the difference.

TOM: And finally, Pure Safety reduces noise up to 50 percent. It helps to keep outside noise out and reduces inside noise from traveling from room to room inside.

ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is presented by CliqStudios.com, the smarter way to a designer kitchen. Submit your measurements at CliqStudios.com/Free and receive a free custom kitchen-cabinet design. That’s C-l-i-q-Studios.com/Free.

TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: And what are you working on this beautiful fall weekend? We are here to help, soup to nuts and floorboards to shingles. Give us a call, right now, at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Well, if you’re planning a flooring project this fall, one of the most important considerations is water resistance. Some floors do better in damp locations than others. And only a very select number of floors should even be considered where things like spills and splashes and even the occasional flood could occur.

LESLIE: Yeah. You know, carpets, it’s a fine choice for first floors and above. But for basements, it’s really not a good idea. Your basements are damp and when combined with all of that organic nature of carpeting and padding, that can create the perfect breeding ground for mold and dust mites and a ton of other allergens.

TOM: Good point. And likewise, while solid hardwood is a beautiful choice for almost any room, if you use it in a room that can get wet, you are asking for trouble. Hardwood can swell when it’s saturated and it doesn’t go back to its original shape when it dries, meaning you’ll be looking at a pretty expensive replacement project.

LESLIE: Now, one great choice for almost any location is laminate and especially the new, water-resistant laminates, like the new Pergo Outlast+ with SpillProtect24, which you’re going to find at The Home Depot for $2.79 a square foot. This is a water-resistant laminate flooring and it can protect against spills that you might miss, for up to 24 hours. Now, that makes it a perfect choice for any active household.

TOM: And here’s one important installation tip that can improve the water resistance. The Pergo floor uses a unique locking joint called a Uniclic joint, which seals out those spills for up to 24 hours. But to make sure the water can’t seep around the perimeter of the floor, it’s always recommended that the perimeter be caulked once the installation is complete. And there you’ll have it: a very water-resistant floor.

888-666-3974. We’d love to hear about your flooring projects or your roofing projects or pretty much anything in between. Give us a call, right now, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Theodora in Hawaii is on the line with a leaky ceiling. What’s going on?

THEODORA: We got a leak. We don’t know where it came from. We don’t know if it’s from an outside frame on a window or if it’s from vines that were crawling up the outside, which we pulled out, and loosened the frame.

Anyway, we’ve got a leak. It’s a two-story house. I live on the main floor and it’s my ceiling that’s leaking. And it’s left – it barely leaks and it rarely leaks unless we get water from that side.

TOM: So kind of like a driving rainstorm?

THEODORA: That’ll do it.

TOM: Yeah, OK.

THEODORA: And the thing is that we cleaned it with bleach and we put KILZ on there. And then about a month later, we put latex on there.

TOM: OK.

THEODORA: And I was told that ought to work but the stain came back. It’s kind of a rusty color and pretty ugly.

TOM: So the question is: do we think it’s still leaking, Theodora? Or do you think it’s just a stain you’re having difficulty with?

THEODORA: It leaks only when we get those Kona storms. And otherwise, it doesn’t leak. Storms come and go and it does not leak.

TOM: So, if the leak is active no matter what you put on there for paint, obviously, it’s going to keep coming through again. So we have to deal with the active leak.

Now, you mentioned that you live on the first floor of this home. Is it a two-family house or – who’s upstairs?

THEODORA: My daughter lives up; I live down. I rent from her; she’s my landlord.

TOM: Oh, I see. OK. Well, you’re going to have to complain to the landlord here, I think. Obviously, you’ve got a leak that’s caused by driving rain, which means it’s coming in generally through flashing. What kind of siding is on this house?

THEODORA: I guess I would have to say that the walls are hollow tile? That brick that has a hole in the side? And there is no flashing I – there is on the second story, on the ceiling – on the roof. But in my area, it’s just kind of – if you put adobe on there, you’d have kind of a brick house.

TOM: Well, what you’re going to have to do is basically have a contractor look at the side of this house, because you’re getting water up and under somewhere. And if you don’t deal with it, the mold could get worse.

Now, because it’s a driving rainstorm, it’s going to be probably flashing-based, like I said. And so, that may involve you taking apart some of the trim around windows, for example, or where roofs intersect or where plumbing pipes come through in trying to get to the source of this.

One thing that you could try to do is you could have a contractor run water down the house, starting at the top and working down, to see if we can recreate the leak. That might help you narrow down where it’s happening.

THEODORA: The second-story roof has vaulted ceilings. It’s way up to heaven. They won’t get up there with water. I know that.

TOM: Well, look, you can get as high as you need to get, with the right tools, Theodora. But the problem is you’ve got to deal – this is not – you called a question about how to deal with the stain. It’s not a stain issue; it’s a leak issue. The leak has got to be addressed. I can’t tell you where it’s happening on that side of the house but I can tell you it does exist and you’ve got to identify that. And you could try caulking obvious areas and things like that to see if it makes it go away. But I would recommend a more comprehensive approach. And unfortunately, you’re going to need a pro to get that done.

So, complain to that landlord. Get somebody in that can fix that. I’m sure your daughter will understand.

Theodora, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: And just ahead, easy tips to add color and pop to your décor with wall coverings. We’ll explain that project, next.

TOM: Up until now, you purchased insulation to insulate, to help keep warm spaces warm and cool spaces cool.

LESLIE: Pure Safety is also fire-resistant. In case of a fire, you’re going to have extra minutes to escape to safety. And those are minutes that can make all the difference.

TOM: And finally, Pure Safety reduces noise up to 50 percent. It helps to keep outside noise out and reduces inside noise from traveling from room to room inside.

TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. You will get the answer to your home improvement question. Plus, this hour, we’re giving you lots of answers. We are giving away three copies of our book, My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure, full of all the great advice that you love to hear, right here on the radio.

TOM: Going out to one lucky caller drawn at random. Make that you. The number, again, is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Mark in North Carolina is having some issues with door paint. Tell us what’s going on.

MARK: I’ve got a metal door. It faces east. The sun rises on it. It’s a solid-white steel door but it’s got a solid-glass storm door in front of it. And I have painted it for the last 19 years and the paint peels off. Looks like Shirley Temple’s curls.

TOM: So here’s what happens. When you keep putting paint upon paint upon paint, eventually those layers just delaminate and they will not stick. So, what you have to do, at this point, is pull that door off and strip it all the way down to the metal. You need to get all that old paint off.

Once all that old paint is off, you sand it very lightly. And then I want you to use an oil-based primer, like a Rust-Oleum. Paint it on, let it dry. And once it’s good and solid, then you can put one or two coats of topcoat over that.

But I think you’re putting good paint over bad paint and it’s just finding a new layer and separating. And you’re right: when you have those storm doors on, it does add to the stress of that finish. But I think if you strip down all that old paint, get it back down to the metal, sand it up, put a primer on it and a couple of coats of finish paint over that, I think it’ll stick that time, Mark.

LESLIE: Cindy in Louisiana, you’ve got The Money Pit. Tell us all about your roofing problems.

CINDY: We have a camp and it’s got a – it’s a metal building with a – the pitch on the roof – there’s several different layers of the pitch. It goes down and so let’s be like three different pitches on it. We had it put in, oh, probably in ’07 or ’08. And then, around 2011, we decided to pull off that plastic-wrap insulation off the inside of the roof and spray on some of the spray insulation on it. And once we did that, that’s when we started noticing the leaks.

So, we tried different things. We even had another company come out, pull out all the screws and put it new ones that were a little fatter and so – with the washers and all that mess with them, to seal it. That has not worked.

We’ve been up there on that roof I don’t know how many different times, trying to put silicone on top of the screws after we clean it down along the seams. Sometimes, we’ve even had to get up there and he’s had to pull out the screw, put silicone in and put the screw back in. It’s just been an absolute nightmare to try.

TOM: You said these are metal roof panels? Is it like corrugated roof? What kind of metal roof is it?

CINDY: Right. It is. It’s like a corrugated roof.

TOM: So they’re big metal panels, right?

CINDY: Right.

TOM: When you try to replace these screws, I guess you’re essentially taking the panels almost off the roof, right, because you’re removing all the fasteners?

CINDY: Yeah. Well, we can’t – with the spray and everything else, we had even thought about could we take the roof off and start over. And now, with the spray down on it, we can’t even do that.

TOM: Oh, so this spray is actually up on the underside of the metal roof itself?

CINDY: Right. So it’s glued down now.

TOM: Oh, boy. So there was basically no sheathing or anything underneath this?
CINDY: No. When we started this project, we started it with someone who we thought – we didn’t know anything and we thought the person knew everything. And now we know better but we messed up and now we’re kind of caught in a bad position.

TOM: So, yeah, it’s not a good situation. Because it’s kind of hard to try to repair something that probably wasn’t put in well to begin with. So I have one idea for you and that is to put another layer of roofing over the roofing that you have now but put ice-and-water shield in between the layers.

So, ice-and-water shield is very effective at sealing these kinds of leaks. It’s specifically designed to seal around fasteners. And if you were to – if it was possible for you to put another layer of metal roofing over this but put ice-and-water shield in between, that would definitely stop the leaks from happening.

Short of that, I think this is a situation where the roof has to come off and you really have to do it right from the get-go, because I don’t think – the roof was just put on, I guess, over some sort of furring strips or something like that. There was never any ice-and-water shield underneath that. And so I’m not surprised that it does leak, especially from driving rain. I don’t think you can rely just on the fasteners or even fasteners that have rubber gaskets on them to keep that kind of a roof completely leak-free.

CINDY: Alright. Well, I tried. Thank you.

TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

I wish we could give everybody a quick fix. But sometimes we just can’t, especially when you have a roof that’s been going so wrong on so many levels for so long. You just can’t bring it back.

LESLIE: Well, wall coverings can have a big impact on a room’s décor scheme, both in design and if you’re not careful, your wallet. Well, fortunately, affordable products are making it easier than ever to achieve professional results on a DIY budget.

TOM: Now, when you’re looking at wallpaper, you want to choose the best-quality paper that you can afford and then use it sparingly. Consider papering a powder room, for example, or a focal wall in the family room. Or use wallpaper inside squares that are trimmed down in a molding in a dining room. You can paper the bottom half of the walls under a chair rail. You get the deal.

LESLIE: Also, think about adding wall murals. You know, they’re making a big comeback, possibly because many are temporary and they’re easy to remove when you’re ready for a change. And they’re not just for your kids’ rooms. You can bring the outdoors in with a full wall photo of a forest. I mean that’s really great for a walk-out basement or a bonus room or maybe even a sports-themed mural for that man cave.

TOM: They’re all great ideas but somehow, I can’t imagine a trip to the wallpaper store, Leslie, where they say, “What room are you putting this in?” And I’m saying, “My man cave?” I don’t know. I just don’t think it’s a guy thing.

LESLIE: Listen, I love wallpaper. I will put it anywhere and everywhere if you will let me.

Larry in Arkansas is on the line and has a problem with a well pump. Tell us what’s going on.

LARRY: Yes. I’m out in a rural area and have a well pump. And I don’t want to have a plumber come way out here and then tell me some silly, little thing that I could have taken care of. But the problem is that day and night, this pump keeps going on and off, on and off. I’ve looked everywhere I can think of where there might be a leak in the system. And I can’t find any leaks. But the well pump just keeps going on and off all the time. Is there something that I’ve overlooked or should be looking at?

TOM: How about your toilets? Have you checked for leaky fill and flush valves?

LARRY: Yes, I put dye in the tanks and watched and no appreciable leakage.

TOM: So, you might – this is called “short-cycling” and it’s a pretty common condition in houses. Usually a lot to do with the water-pressure tank not having enough air in it. What I would suggest you do is to have not necessarily a plumber but have a well company take a look at it. Because I don’t think it’s that you have a leak in your house that’s running; I think this is an issue with the well pump itself. It’s either the control circuit or the pressure tank.

LARRY: Well, one thing that I – that comes to my mind, that I haven’t been able to check is – there is some kind of a check valve in that system that could be faulty after so many years, like 15, 20 years or …?

TOM: Yeah. And letting some of the water back into the well line and then reducing the pressure down to the point where the pump thinks it has to come back on? Yeah, it’s all possible. But I think it’s in the well equipment; I don’t think it’s a leak.

LARRY: OK. I want to thank you for – so much for taking my call. And I want to compliment you on one of the greatest shows that I listen to every week on the radio.

TOM: Oh, well, thank you very much. We really appreciate that.

LARRY: Thank you so much.

LESLIE: Well, skylights are one of those projects that seem like a good idea at the time, until they leak. If you’re ready to say goodbye to your skylights, don’t make a move until we tell you where to start. That’s all coming up.

TOM: Up until now, you purchased insulation to insulate, to help keep warm spaces warm and cool spaces cool.

LESLIE: Pure Safety is also fire-resistant. In case of a fire, you’re going to have extra minutes to escape to safety. And those are minutes that can make all the difference.

TOM: And finally, Pure Safety reduces noise up to 50 percent. It helps to keep outside noise out and reduces inside noise from traveling from room to room inside.

TOM: Where home solutions live, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Give us a call, right now, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or pick up the phone or post your question online at MoneyPit.com, just like Sue did from Illinois.

LESLIE: Yeah. Sue writes: “One of our countertops is about 2 feet of butcher block. We put in new countertops and sanded down the butcher block to fresh wood. Should I apply anything to that wood? Someone suggested mineral oil.”

TOM: You can use mineral oil or another organic oil. But the problem is it doesn’t really do a good job of keeping that space completely fresh. It’s still going to attract, potentially, bacteria. I would rather see you use a non-toxic, say, latex-based finish on it that will really seal the pores so you have a surface you can clean. That’s the problem: you’ve got to be able to clean that wood. Because if not, you’re going to have to treat it all the time with something like bleach or other mildicide so it doesn’t grow bacteria.

So, there are non-toxic products that are out there specifically for finishing butcher-block surfaces. I’d encourage you to pick up one of those and use that rather than the mineral oil.

LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got one here from Joann in Ohio who writes: “My house has skylights – seven of them – that constantly leak. The added light isn’t necessary so I’d like to get rid of them but I have no idea where to start.”

TOM: That’s too bad. I’d hate to see you walk away from skylights because they’re – when they’re not leaking, they’re beautiful. All that light is going to be very popular, especially if you’re going to be selling your house in the future.

You know, skylights don’t have to leak if they’re installed properly. And if you’re going to go through the trouble of taking those skylights out, you’re going to have to put new roof sheathing in, you’re going to have to put new roofing in, you’re going to have to put new drywall in. You’re going to have to do so much work to fill those holes, I’d rather see you replace them with better-quality skylights that don’t leak.

I’ve had very good success with skylights from Andersen or Pella or VELUX. Because the key difference with those types of skylights is they’re curbed. So in other words, the skylight itself doesn’t sit flush with the roof; it sits up on sort of a box. And because it does, that box is really easy to flash or seal at the roof level. In fact, some of those have flashing kits that pretty much make it almost impossible for those skylights to leak.

I’ve had skylights from those manufacturers in homes for years – years – and through hurricanes with never a leak. So, if you have the right kind of skylight, one that sits up off your roof with a good flashing kit, you never have to worry about leaks again. And I’d encourage you to do that rather than tear those skylights out and worry about having to patch those holes.

LESLIE: Yeah. That’s good advice. I mean you can really make them work and they can really be great for you.

TOM: Well, when you run your dishwasher, are dishes coming out dirtier than when they went in? The culprit could be a clogged drain valve that’s easy to fix. Leslie has advice on how to tackle that project, in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

Leslie?

LESLIE: Yeah. You know your dishwasher drain valve? That should only open during the draining cycle. But if it’s clogged, it’s also going to let water out during the wash cycle. Now, you’ve got to listen very carefully during that wash cycle. And if you hear water flowing back into the sink, then that means your drain valve is definitely clogged.

Also, you’ve got to check the bottom of your dishwasher for any food-buildup particles. They kind of end up there. You’re going to see that many dishwashers have a ball-style check valve that can get gummed up. And that’s going to prevent dirty water from draining out of the unit itself. A wet/dry vac is really all you need to clean out those hard-to-reach areas. And then you can get that drain working again.

Bottom line, guys: it’s not hard. Take a couple of steps and your clogs will be fixed and your dishes will come clean once again.

TOM: And it’s a lot cheaper than calling in a plumber or an appliance repairman.

This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. With the garage getting so much wear and tear these days, it makes sense to give the floors a protective coating that will do double-duty and also beautify the space. Next week on the program, Kevin O’Connor, the host of This Old House, stops by with a step-by-step walkthrough for that project.

I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …

LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.

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