Episode #1956: How to Avoid a Dusty House | Renters Insurance that Protects | Preventing Household Poisoning

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

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Happy Holidays. We hope that you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas, which has just passed, and are planning ahead for the new year. If you’ve got home improvement on your mind for the year ahead, you’re in exactly the right place because we are here to help. Help yourself first, though, by picking up the phone and calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

And now that we’re spending all of this time inside our homes, have you ever thought about how healthy the air is that you’re breathing now that you’re stuck inside in all this cold weather? Well, a whole-house air filter can help if you know how to pick the best one. We’re going to walk you through that project, just ahead.

LESLIE: And if you happen to rent your home or even your apartment, did you know that your possessions might not be covered by that building’s insurance? Now, contents insurance is designed just for renters and it can help. And it’s not expensive. We’re going to tell you what you need to consider before you make that purchase, in a bit.

TOM: And we’re going to clue you in on some surprisingly common household poisons. We’re going to tell you what they are and how to make sure they are stored properly.

LESLIE: But first, we want to hear what projects you are planning for the brand-spanking new year that’s just ahead. Maybe you’ve got some holiday money that you got as a gift, that you want to put towards something. Maybe you got some new tools that you’re dying to use and you need some guidance. Whatever it is, 2020 is a good year to get started on your home.

TOM: So, give us a call right now. That number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

Leslie, even though we are in the holiday week, the home improvers are lining up. So, who’s first?

LESLIE: Pam in Missouri is dealing with some mysterious water noises. Tell us what’s going on at your money pit.

PAM: When I run water down the kitchen sink and after I stop running the water, that kitchen sink gurgles.

TOM: Well, your problem is very simple: you have to stop running water and flushing toilets.

PAM: Can’t do that.

LESLIE: Stop using the plumbing.

TOM: Alright, look, what’s going on here is your plumbing system is starved for air; you don’t have enough ventilation. And you know when you look at a house from the outside and you see the plumbing pipes sticking up through the roof?

PAM: Right.

TOM: Those are vent pipes. And what they do is they let air into the system so that when the water runs out, it’s replaced by air without gurgling. When your plumbing can’t get enough air, it gurgles like that.

And the solution here is going to be figuring out what’s wrong with the existing plumbing-ventilation system. You may have a blockage somewhere that’s causing this. There are ways to add additional vents if necessary but you’ve got to get to the bottom of it, first, and figure out why it’s blocked.

How old is your house?

PAM: It’s 14 years old.

TOM: Has it always been this way?

PAM: I don’t think it has always been that way. It seems like the more that we use – when I’m home on a weekend and use it a lot, it gurgles more.

TOM: I think you have to have a plumber take a look at that, because you don’t have enough air getting into the system.

PAM: OK.

TOM: Something is wrong with the venting and you may need to open that drainway’s vent pipe up somewhere else to get some more air in there.

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

LESLIE: Alright. Now we’re heading to Tennessee where Ty is on the line. What’s going on at your money pit?

TY: My wife and I had an area rug in our den. And it was a large area rug. We needed to replace it so we picked it up and there’s sun damage where it’s faded the hardwood floors. So there’s a line of demarcation. And I was wanting to know if there was an easy way to fix that without having to sand the hardwood floors.

TOM: Yeah, time. Time will fix it.

You know, I have hardwood floors in my very old house and I remember once having to do a pretty significant repair where an old floor furnace – remember those old floor furnaces that would sit flush with the floor?

TY: Yeah.

TOM: So I had a big, square hole in the floor. And I had to take that out and put framing in and then replace the flooring. And I actually had to make some of this flooring, because it was an unusual shape. And despite my best efforts, of course, the new flooring was like – it was like the difference between white and brown. It was that distinct. It looked clearly like a patch.

TY: Right.

TOM: And I had the same feeling about – well, maybe I can stain it. But I knew that if I just let it alone it would eventually fade. And I’ll tell you what, within a year, it had faded to match the other floor perfectly.

TY: Really.

TOM: And I’m so glad that I did not try to mess with it and I just let ultraviolet light and time do its thing. The same way it protected that floor under that carpet, it will eventually fade and be the exact same color as the rest of the floor. So I wouldn’t do a thing.

Leslie, what do you think?

LESLIE: I mean it’s always really interesting when you have a beautiful floor and you want it to look fantastic. So, I think if you give it some time and learn to live with it, you’ll enjoy it.

TY: OK. Well, thank you because I wasn’t sure if you could put a glaze or something on the faded part to try to match the other part. We just didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of resanding that whole room and then the dust and all that stuff that goes along with it.

TOM: Sure. Yeah.

LESLIE: It is a big project.

TOM: It’s a very big project.

TY: Yes.

TOM: So, I really think you should just give it some time and let it fade back. And you give it some time, you’ll save all that money and time and aggravation.

TY: OK.

TOM: Because the only way to skip this step is to basically refinish the whole floor.

LESLIE: Yeah.

TOM: And there’s really no reason for that.

LESLIE: Or just cover it up again with another rug.

TY: Right. OK. Yeah, that – we were thinking about covering it up with a smaller rug but that still leaves the line of demarcation.

LESLIE: Yeah.

TY: So, we may just go back with the 8×10 again.

LESLIE: Or a 9×12 until you eventually cover the whole floor.

TY: Well, that’s true, too. OK. So, we may – we’ve lived without the rug on there for three or four months now, so we may just go for another year and see what it does.

TOM: There you go. See what happens. Alright, Ty. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Anna in Oregon is on the line and she’s got a question about sheds and critters. What’s going on?

ANNA: Well, I have a question. I was thinking of getting one of those sheds that you build yourself, like from Home Depot, and you put it in your backyard. And a neighbor of mine did that and another friend that I know did that and then they said they got rats underneath. And I’m wondering, is there any way to prevent that problem from happening?

TOM: Well, if you build this in such a way where it’s supported up in the air so you basically have created, for lack of a better term, sort of a kind of crawlspace underneath the shed, then you could get animals that are going to nest down there. But a better way to do this might be to put it on a simple foundation.

And so, to do that, essentially what you’re going to want to do is dig down into the area where the foundation – where the shed perimeter is going to be and set blocks into that area. Now, you would put them on a simple footing and set blocks into that area, compact the soil, set bricks or blocks in that area and then position the shed on top of that block foundation. And this way, it’ll be kind of a sealed bottom, as opposed to an open bottom. So if you put it on a small foundation – or the other thing you could do is you could pour a slab and then you don’t have to have a wood floor; you could just have an open floor.

ANNA: I see. Well, OK, I appreciate that suggestion.

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

Hey, the rats need a place to live, too.

LESLIE: Give us a call with your how-to, décor, remodeling – whatever kind of home improvement question you’ve got, we are standing by at 888-MONEY-PIT.

888-MONEY-PIT is presented by HomeAdvisor, where it’s easy to find top-rated, local home improvement pros for any home project. Just go to HomeAdvisor.com.

TOM: Up next, if you are a renter, did you know that your possessions are usually not covered by your landlord’s insurance? We’re going to tell you the one thing you can do to make sure you are covered in the event of a flood, fire or other disaster, after this.

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

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. The Money Pit is presented by HomeAdvisor. You can find top-rated home service pros and book appointments online, all for free.

TOM: Do you have some projects planned for the year ahead? Give us a call right now. We would love to chat with you about just that. That number, again: 888-666-3974.

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Nathan in Texas on the line who’s got a concrete-stain question. What’s going on?

NATHAN: Just wondering, we have a place on our stained concrete floors that a chair has sat at and rolled around a lot and it’s faded all the stain away. Didn’t know if you knew of any way to make it look any better or should we just leave it alone?

LESLIE: So the floor itself is not damaged, just that the color has gone away.

NATHAN: Right. Just from a roll-around chair being – sitting in front of a computer, moving around a lot.

TOM: And what kind of stain color are you working with right now, Nathan?

NATHAN: It’s a rust-type brown with a little bit of – almost a kind of slight maroon-ish tint to it.

TOM: Alright. Well, I’m glad that it’s darker rather than lighter because it seems like that might be a bit easier to match, right, Leslie?

LESLIE: Yeah. I think you’re going to have to try to mix up some new stain. And I say mix up only because if you’ve got any of the original color left, you might need to add a little bit of a darker stain to it just to sort of get it to match the current color situation for the rest of your floor? And you should be able to sort of blend that in to make those bald spots, for lack of a better word, go away, that faded area to sort of come back to life.

Now, as far as repairing it or making it more robust or sturdy, I should say, for that future rolling-around on it, have you done any sort of clear coat or protective coat to the top of the stain? Or is it really just like a dry, matte surface finish?

NATHAN: It is dry. We did have a clear coat initially when we built the house. But what happened with that is any type of – if a dog walked on it, the paw prints showed and you couldn’t get them off, so we had to buff it all out.

TOM: So it never really – it sounds like it remained tacky.

LESLIE: It never cured.

TOM: Yeah, that can happen if there’s moisture under the slab.

NATHAN: And that’s probably what happened. We had a little bit of a problem with our contractor and never really got it right.

TOM: Well, look, you could always try this in an inconspicuous area but I think if you were to get the color right and then clear-coat it again with satin, it would stand up a little bit better. But I guess the good news is that this is obviously under a desk or an area where a chair is, so it’s not going to be terribly noticeable. But why not just put some sort of protective mat under that chair this time, after you get it right?

NATHAN: Yeah, I agree.

TOM: Alright. Well, good luck with that project, Nathan. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Alright. Heading out to Massachusetts where Diane has got a question. What can we do for you today?

DIANE: Yes, I’m calling about my side door that I use all the time when I come in from outside. It’s very drafty and it’s the original door since I’ve been in the house for 40 years. And I don’t know the best way to fix the draft that’s around – I do have a storm door in front of the – my regular door. I don’t know – do I replace the door or can I insulate it somehow?

TOM: Well, if you’re concerned about drafts, I will tell you that, you know, given the fact this is a 40-year-old door, if you do replace it – and you could replace it with a very simple fiberglass door. You can buy them at the home centers today starting at around a couple hundred bucks. They’re not that expensive. And fiberglass doors are five times more energy-efficient than wood doors and they also seal very, very well on all of the sides and across the sill.

So, you could go with a replacement or if you want to try to fix the one you have, it’s basically going to be a job of chasing down those drafts. And they’re going to be coming around the seams of the door. So, when the door closes, if you don’t have a continuous seal – think of it like your refrigerator. You know when you open or close the refrigerator, you have that gasket that sticks to the other side, makes a really good seal? Same thing applies to the door. If you don’t have a really good seal around all edges of the door, as well as a sill at the bottom of that seal, you’re going to have a lot of air.

One of the things that you might do is when the door is closed, hold the back of your hand – not the front, because the back of your hand is more sensitive – around and work it around that whole door seam, right? The whole outside perimeter of the door from the inside. And see if you can spot a place or feel a place where air is really coming through. And if that’s the case, on the outside you’re going to look for those gaps that are letting it come through.

Now, the other thing that happens is sometimes the locks loosen up over time, so the door jiggles a little bit, it doesn’t seal properly. If the door is installed right, when you close it you won’t have to – it gives you a little extra pressure so that you’re actually compressing that seal and making it nice and tight.

So, really, your options are to work on trying to identify where those gaps are around the door and seal it or just replace it. And the good news is that the doors that are available today are just much better and much more energy-efficient than what you have and what was available 40 years ago. It might be time for an update.

DIANE: OK. Would you recommend a door – a solid door – so it haves no glass?

TOM: Well, if you used one that had glass, even the glass is going to be insulated today. Do you have a glass door now? So you like seeing out?

DIANE: Yes.

TOM: Well, then, by all means go ahead and get another one. The glass is going to be insulated. It will be just a little bit colder than if it was a solid door. But again, look for fiberglass doors with insulated glass panels and I think you’ll be very happy.

DIANE: OK. So fiberglass is the way to go.

TOM: Yes, absolutely. Fiberglass. And they can look like wood doors, as well. They don’t have to look just like old metal doors. There’s lots of different choices.

DIANE: Oh, OK. Thank you very much.

TOM: Alright. Good luck, Diane. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Well, from the cooking to the open flame to the space heaters, winter, it turns out, is the time of year when fire is most likely to break out in your home.

LESLIE: That’s right. But prevention has got to be your first priority. But if a blaze does happen to break out in your space, you want to be sure that you’ve got insurance that you need to cover whatever belongings that you have that could be damaged or ruined.

TOM: Now, this is why we have homeowners insurance. And if you own your own home, most homeowner’s policies are going to cover this. But if you rent your home, you need to be aware that there’s a very good chance your belongings are not covered by your landlord’s insurance policy, which is why renters need to have their very own tenant contents insurance.

LESLIE: Now, the great thing about contents insurance is that it covers more than just fire damage.

Now, most policies protect your possessions against 16 different causes and they range from the usual suspects, like fire to theft to unlikely catastrophes, like explosions or damages from an aircraft.

TOM: And the best news, though, is that renter’s content insurance can be purchased for a very small fee: as little as 10 bucks a month. It’s a very small price to pay for peace of mind.

888-666-3974. Give us a call, right now, if you’ve got a project on your mind. We’d love to talk with you about it, give you some tips on how to take on that project, what you should do first, what you should do last, whether you can actually do it yourself or need to hire a pro. All great topics for us. Call us now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Sean in Ohio is on the line and needs some help with a moist basement. Tell us what’s going on.

SEAN: Yes. My basement, I finally got the outside fixed. I heard you guys say if it’s a rain event, it’s usually drainage. So I got that done and now there’s some kind of ceramic – or some waterproofing on the walls and it is flaking off onto the floor.

TOM: Oh, great.

SEAN: And it’s been there – the house was built in the 70s and I was wondering a good way to clean that up or what I could put on the walls to re-waterproof it.

TOM: OK. So, I think what you’re talking about are mineral-salt deposits. Is it sort of like a whitish, grayish, powdery substance?

SEAN: Yeah, yeah. This is like it’s been spackled on, though.

TOM: Oh. So somebody put something on the walls and it’s releasing and falling off the block?

SEAN: Right.

TOM: Hmm. OK. What do you plan to do with these walls?

SEAN: I just want to just waterproof them again, get the mold off of them and clean them up.

TOM: So, I don’t know that you have mold on the walls. It sounds to me like you’ve got some sort of a finish that’s separating. So, can you scrape it off? Will it release easily?

SEAN: Yeah, yeah. I just didn’t know, being the 70s, whether it might have asbestos in it or is there a good – better way to clean it up?

TOM: I would say not likely. Of course, you could have that tested, too. But if it’s coming off easily, I would remove it and if I put anything on the walls at all, it would simply be a damp-proofing material, like a Thompson’s WaterSeal.

And remember, the purpose of that is not to waterproof your walls; it’s to slow down the evaporation of moisture from the soil outside into the walls and any mineral salts that will be drawn through because of that. You’re not going to waterproof simply by painting your walls; it just doesn’t happen that way. You waterproof by redirecting the water away from the house, which it sounds like you’ve already tackled on the outside.

SEAN: Yeah. It took me about 15 years but I finally got it done.

TOM: Yeah. If it scrapes off easily, I would continue to take the rest of it off. I’d clean it up, I’d put a couple of coats of damp-proofing paint on it and I’d call it a day.

SEAN: Oh, OK. Well, thank you very much.

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

You know, people tend to think sometimes that everything that’s black and dark is moldy and it’s not always the case, especially when you’re talking about concrete-block walls. The walls themselves don’t grow mold. It’s what’s attached to them that grows the mold. And those home test kits are notoriously inaccurate and they can be misleading.

LESLIE: Well, there’s so many different kinds. I think you’re bound to get some sort of reading.

TOM: And it’s normal to have mold in a house. You’re always going to have some level of mold. So it’s – as I said, it’s very misleading and really should only be used in the hands of a professional.

LESLIE: Alright. Thanks so much for calling The Money Pit. We love hearing what you are working on. Give us a call. Let us know how we can help with whatever is going on at your money pit in the new year, right now. Whatever it is, we are here to lend a hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week right here at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Hey, does stuffy, stale indoor air have you wondering how healthy every breath you’re taking in actually is? Well, you can get rid of household contaminants like dust, allergens and even germs with the right indoor-air cleaner. We’re going to tell you how, in today’s Pro Project presented by HomeAdvisor.com, next.

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: We hope you are having an amazing holiday. If you’ve got questions about a project you’d like to take on, maybe a quick repair to get done before the new year comes, give us a call, right now, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

Who’s next?

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Nathan in Texas on the line who’s got a concrete-stain question. What’s going on?

LESLIE: So the floor itself is not damaged, just that the color has gone away.

NATHAN: Right. Just from a roll-around chair being – sitting in front of a computer, moving around a lot.

TOM: And what kind of stain color are you working with right now, Nathan?

NATHAN: It’s a rust-type brown with a little bit of – almost a kind of slight maroon-ish tint to it.

TOM: Alright. Well, I’m glad that it’s darker rather than lighter because it seems like that might be a bit easier to match, right, Leslie?

TOM: So it never really – it sounds like it remained tacky.

LESLIE: It never cured.

TOM: Yeah, that can happen if there’s moisture under the slab.

NATHAN: And that’s probably what happened. We had a little bit of a problem with our contractor and never really got it right.

NATHAN: Yeah, I agree.

TOM: Alright. Well, good luck with that project, Nathan. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Well, the EPA has named indoor-air pollution as one of the top five environmental risks to public health. And they tell us that indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted than the air outside.

But if you’re thinking, “They can’t be talking about my house,” well, they can, guys, especially if you don’t have the right kind of air filter. We’re going to sort out the options, in today’s Pro Project presented by HomeAdvisor.com.

TOM: OK. So, first off, you need to understand that there are basically four types of air filters. There’s your sort of generic, flat filter. These are the basic filters made from fiberglass and they typically need to be changed on a monthly basis. And while they will capture some degree of dust, they do not capture the kinds of contaminants that can make you miserable, like allergens.

Then we have extended media filters. Now, these use a particle filter and a very small, electrostatic charge to clean the air. They do a much better job than those plain, flat filters.

Now, if you really want to move up from there, you should look at electronic filers. These use a very high electrical charge. And that makes the device able to capture particles just like a magnet. They are very, very effective on tiny, tiny particles and they can perform about 30 times better than flat filters.

And if you really have no tolerance for anything in your air that’s not fresh, then you need to look at an ultraviolet filter. These UV filters are extremely effective at capturing particles and bacteria and viruses. Now, these are the kind of filters that hospitals use to prevent disease, so they are very, very thorough.

LESLIE: Now, when it comes to the installation, this is a job that is best left to a pro because they do need to be built into the existing HVAC system on the return side of that system itself. This way, the air is continually cleaned as it passes through that filter.

Now, you’re going to find that the prices will vary, depending on the type of filter that you go with and the size of the filter itself. But it really is well worth the investment, especially if anybody in your home suffers from allergies or has any other type of respiratory illness. And not to mention, you’re going to be doing a lot less dusting around the house, because that filter is going to trap everything that is flying through the air. So you see lots of benefits, health-wise and habit-wise, as well.

TOM: And that’s today’s Pro Project presented by HomeAdvisor.com. With HomeAdvisor, you can get matched with top-rated home service pros in your area and book appointments online, all for free. No matter the type of job, HomeAdvisor makes it fast and easy to hire the best local pros.

LESLIE: Vivian in Texas is dealing with a mysterious odor in her house. Tell us what’s going on.

VIVIAN: I don’t know what’s going on. I have had three plumbers out there, thinking they could find out what it is. But one of them told me I had a bird in my air-conditioning vents upstairs, because our air conditioning-and-heating system is in the attic and it wasn’t that. And it’s only been a year-and-a-half since I had the septic tank pumped out.

TOM: Where is the odor most prevalent?

VIVIAN: When you walk in the back door.

TOM: Do you think it could be originating near the kitchen sink?

VIVIAN: I had one plumber tell me that, too. And he opened it – opened the grease trap or whatever you call it outside. And he says, “No, that’s clean as a whistle.”

TOM: One of the areas in the house that is often overlooked when it comes to odors, and especially sewage-like odors, are the kitchen-sink or the bathroom-sink drains and not, though, the traps themselves. But what happens is that you will get bacteria that will form around inside the pipe and actually line the pipe. And it gives off what we call “biogas.” And biogas has an awful odor to it and it really is difficult to track down because sometimes it’s worse than others.

So, what we would recommend that you do, before you do anything else, is to get the equivalent of a bottle brush and some bleach-and-water solution and carefully scrub the inside of the drains of the kitchen.

Now, to do that, you might have to take that trap off again and kind of work up. But you really want to make sure that you get rid of any debris that could be stuck to the inside of those pipes, because that’s what the biogas is built upon, so to speak. Does that make sense?

VIVIAN: Well, thank you very much. I’m going to sure try it because three plumbers couldn’t tell me what it was.

TOM: Alright. Well, thanks very much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Coming up, did you know some surprisingly common household products are actually really, really poisonous? We’re going to tell you what they are and what to avoid, next.

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. The Money Pit is presented by HomeAdvisor. You can find out what it costs to do your home project before you hire a pro and instantly book one of HomeAdvisor’s top-rated pros for free.

TOM: Call us, right now, with your home improvement question at 888-666-3974.

LESLIE: Sue in Ohio needs some help cleaning a carpet. Tell us what’s going on.

SUE: I have a concrete sun-porch slab that has – had been covered with black carpeting. And it’s – we had a very muggy summer this year and green mold started to grow on it. And though I tried washing it off and rinsing it off – and it just won’t take care of it. And I know that you had helped other people with mold problems, with 10-percent bleach. But I wouldn’t dare put bleach on that black carpet and I wondered if there’s something else that will kill that mold.

TOM: Well, how do we know it’s mold? It sounds like algae.

SUE: Could it be?

TOM: It could be, yeah. What I would do is I would simply – if the carpet’s that dirty, I would simply go out and rent a steam cleaner – rent a carpet cleaner. Those carpet cleaners are pretty darn effective. I rented one myself at The Home Depot just a few weeks ago for a couple of rooms in an apartment that we own that was getting a new tenant. And I’m always astounded with what a phenomenal job those steam cleaners do on what looks like carpet that has to be torn out.

But when you steam-clean it with the right materials, use the chemicals that come with the machine, it does a really good job. You’ve just got to take your time. Usually have to go over it a couple of times and it takes a little bit of work but it really does a great job. So I wouldn’t try to do this any other way.

The way the steam cleaners work is water is injected into the carpet and then almost at the same time, a very strong vacuum pulls that water back out with the dirt and debris attached to it.

SUE: Oh. So the steam kills the algae.

TOM: Yes. It’ll clean it. And then if you dry it really well after that, it should stop it from coming back.

SUE: OK. OK. Well, that’ll help me, yeah.

TOM: Alright? And that won’t damage the color.

SUE: OK. Thank you.

TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us.

Well, every 15 seconds in the U.S.A., a Poison Control Center gets a frantic call about an accidental poisoning. And a whopping 90 percent of those poisonings happen in the home.

LESLIE: Yeah. So here are a few ways that you can stay safe. First of all, most adult poisonings are a result of mixing chemicals that shouldn’t be combined. So, for example, never mix cleaning chemicals and always read the labels about potentially deadly combinations of products.

Now, more than half of all home poisonings happen to children under the age of six. Now, you’ve got to remember that kids are fast. You can’t just keep an eye on them; you’ve got to keep those poisons out of reach and keep them locked up.

And it’s also super important to discard old prescription medications promptly. You don’t want to flush the medications. They end up in the water supply and can damage folks in other ways that way.

But you’ve always got to prepared. Keep things out of reach, keep things locked up.

TOM: Speaking of which, let’s talk about those areas where you both work and play, like garages and basements, sheds and those sorts of places. You need to recognize that cleaning products and solvents and paints and automotive supplies are often right next to the board games, the bats and the balls. So don’t do this. Keep them separate to keep the kids safe.

LESLIE: Larry in Ohio is on the line with a heating question. How can we help you?

LARRY: Yes. I’ve got a house – it’s 6,000 square foot – and they divided the utilities up into two separate houses. And right now, I have a hot-water tank that we use all the time and we have a hot-water tank that sits on the side that the kitchen is on, that is only used for the dishwasher.

And I’m wondering, would I be better off to get me a tankless hot-water tank or just deal with the electric? I’ve got an electric, 50-gallon one. I don’t know which one would be more cost-efficient.

TOM: So, the only thing that you’re using that water heater for, on that side of the house, is the dishwasher? And that’s a 50-gallon water heater?

LARRY: Yes.

TOM: Wow.

LARRY: But like I say, this house was actually set up to be a bed and breakfast.

TOM: If the only thing that water heater is serving is the dishwasher and there’s no way to get that dishwasher fed off of the other water heater, you just need a very small water heater for that dishwasher and I mean a 20-gallon electric or something like that. Really small. Because there’s really not much water that it needs to heat and it would be foolish to have it heating 50 gallons, 40 gallons of water, 24/7, when you really don’t need it except to wash dishes and I presume, to run the kitchen sink.

So a very small electric water heater, perhaps even on a timer so that it only kicks on maybe in the evening hours when you’re using that dishwasher, would be the smart thing to do there and the least expensive way to both install the new water heater and to run the new water heater. OK?

LARRY: OK. Actually, there’s two bathrooms that are also hooked to this but it’s just the idea right now – we’re not using it. We’ve got two bathrooms on the other side of the house, too.

TOM: OK. Well, that’s different. That’s different. If you have two bathrooms – full bathrooms?

LARRY: Yes. Full bathrooms.

TOM: Well, then, OK, so that’s different. If there’s a full – two full bathrooms – I’d asked you if it was just the dishwasher and you said, “Yes.” But if it’s two full bathrooms on it, then you do need a larger water heater. And again, I would probably recommend – if you’re not using it that often, I’d probably recommend an electric water heater, in that situation, on a timer.

LARRY: OK.

TOM: But you’ll probably need more like a 40-gallon.

LARRY: Actually, on the tankless ones, I’ve noticed the different amount of water per minute.

TOM: Yeah, well – but you – do you have gas? Do you have natural gas?

LARRY: I’ve got propane.

TOM: You have propane? Well, you could use a tankless water heater. The installation cost will be a lot higher. It does deliver you 24/7 endless supplies of hot water. Except in that side of the house, again, you’re not really using those bathrooms that much, so that’s not as big of a concern to you.

That’s why I’m suggesting a minimum, inexpensive electric water heater for that. At least you’ll maintain your home value. Because if you didn’t have adequate – an adequate water heater to supply those two bathrooms plus the dishwasher, your home value would suffer. But I wouldn’t necessarily recommend you put in a $1,500 tankless, because I just don’t think it’s going to be cost-effective for you.

LARRY: OK. That was my big question right there: would it be cost-effective (ph)?

TOM: Alright, Larry. Hope that helps. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Remember to call in your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, 7 days a week right here at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Well, snow is certainly pretty to look at but it can cause some serious roof leaks if you’re not careful. We’re going to tell you how to prevent that, next.

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

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT presented by HomeAdvisor. It’s the fast and easy way to find the right pro for any kind of home project, whether you’ve got a small repair or a major remodel.

TOM: 888-666-3974 is our phone number. You can also post your questions to The Money Pit’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/TheMoneyPit.

John from Pennsylvania did just that.

LESLIE: That’s right. John writes: “Is there a way to keep snow from forming at the edge of my roof and collapsing the gutters?”

TOM: Hmm. Yes, there is. What you have described here, John, is essentially an ice dam. You’re calling it “snow” but really, it’s ice that forms at the edge of the roof.

So, first thing to understand is why that happens. Imagine that the area right above the interior of your house, when you get to the attic, that’s going to be warmer than the area of your roof where it overhangs the exterior wall. So, because your insulation probably needs to be improved, a lot of that warmth from your house is going up, getting into the attic space and melting the snow, which is directly above that living space, at which point it runs down and starts to freeze at the roof edge. And that’s what leads to that heavy chunk of ice that can bust up your gutters. And in the worst-case scenario, it can cause a leak because the water will hit that sort of ice dam and it will reverse and go back up under the shingles and leak into your house.

So, the way you can fix this is really two things. Right now, what you should be doing is adding more insulation to the attic space. Most homes don’t have enough. If you don’t have 15 to 20 inches of fiberglass, probably need to add some more. Easy project. We’ve got a complete insulation guide that’ll walk you through it, on MoneyPit.com. Just search that insulation guide and you will find it on our site. Also, the overhang should be fully vented. If you don’t have enough vents in that soffit, that means that that definitely could warm up and be a problem. So make sure you vent that and don’t block that flow with the insulation.

Now, if you don’t do any of that and you get some ice and turns out you get leaks, then you, my friend, can do the happy dance because that means you’ve got a defect covered by your homeowners insurance. And they will pay for a roof replacement, at which point you could install ice-and-water shield, which is a type of roofing material that goes from that roof edge, at the gutter, up about 3 feet into your roof. It won’t help you with those gutters that are getting frozen but it will stop any leaks from getting in the inside.

LESLIE: Alright. Next up, we’ve got here a post from Ben who’s in New Hampshire.

Now, Ben writes: “I paid a lot of money for copper guttering. It performs perfectly but it’s turned a dirty-green color. Is there any way to remedy this?”

TOM: Isn’t that what we call “charm,” Leslie? That beautiful …

LESLIE: It’s called “patina” and it’s gorgeous.

TOM: Yeah. Yeah. Just take them off and bring them over to Leslie’s house.

LESLIE: I think in this case – seriously. I think in this case, it’s called – is it called “verdigris”? Is when it becomes greened from its aging? And it’s just really from the oxidation of the copper itself.

Now, there are ways that you can remove it. I believe it involves some lemon juice and some elbow grease.

TOM: But I mean you’re talking about gutters here. There’s mile of that stuff, so there’s no way …

LESLIE: Yeah. This is a lot.

TOM: There’s no way you’re going to want to clean those gutters on a regular basis. Just not going to happen, so you’d better just get used to it.

LESLIE: Ah, I just keep thinking, “Is this a brick house with a beautiful verdigris gutter?” My goodness, it must be so gorgeous.

TOM: I can’t believe you spent all that money for copper gutters and now you want to basically get away from the reason you bought them in the first place. They were never going to stay that shiny.

LESLIE: No, it’s gorgeous. Enjoy it, Ben. And seriously, if you do decide, there are ways you can reverse the oxidation. Then you can coat them with something so that it doesn’t happen again. But enjoy it. It’s doing what it’s supposed to.

TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey, we hope that you guys are having an amazing holiday week, you had a great Christmas and are looking forward to an even more amazing new year. If your new year, if your 2020 is going to involve making your home more energy-efficient, adding some space, sprucing up the outdoors so you can get out there and enjoy it when the warm weather hits again or maybe just need to take on a repair or two you’ve been putting off, we will be here to help you every step of the way. You can always reach us at 888-MONEY-PIT for the answers to your home improvement and décor questions.

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.

END HOUR 1 TEXT