Show Notes
- Women in Home Improvement: Women are taking on more DIY home improvement projects than ever before, so why does gender bias persist?
- Deck Materials: Wood is the most popular choice for decks, but what type of lumber should you use? We’ll discuss several kinds of wood for decking.
- Bathroom Moisture: Tired of dealing with a damp and moldy bathroom? Get tips on how to get rid of bathroom moisture.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Soundproofing: Marilyn doesn’t want to listen in on her neighbors’ conversations! We’ve got tips for soundproofing the walls, outlets, and other openings.
- Home Remodeling Value: How can you market improvements you’ve done when selling your home? Mike can say it’s newly remodeled and offer an inventory of the updates he’s done.
- Floor Nails: One nail keeps popping up from the wood floor. Tammy needs to use a trim screw that won’t move as the floor expands and contracts.
- Water Heater: It’s time for David to replace his old electric water heater. Switching to natural gas would be best, but he can also consider a standard electric heater with a timer or an efficient heat pump water heater.
- Squeaky Floors: Nancy wants to fix a squeaky subfloor before installing new hardwood flooring. We tell her how to find the floor joists and stop the squeak.
- Painting Siding: Should you paint vinyl siding if you hate the color? We tell Van it’s not a good idea because it won’t last long and offer suggestions to improve the look.
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:31 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:37 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:38 | TOM: And welcome to episode 2300. That’s right, Leslie. I said 2,300th episode believe in sanity. Oh, my goodness. Well, I tell you what, thank you so much for checking us out and for being loyal and passionate DIYers and listeners to the Money Pit. We are absolutely privileged to help you guys with your projects and that’s what we’re going to do once again today. So if you got a project you want to get done, now’s the time to reach out to us with those questions. You could do it two ways. You can call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. That’s 888-666-3974. Or better yet, you can go to Money Pit, E-Comm, Slash, Ask and click the blue microphone button and leave us your question right there. That voicemail will come right to us and we’ll get back to you the next time we are producing the show. But for today, we got a lot of cool stuff coming up. First up, a new survey is predicting that 2023 will be the year of DIY for women, with more and more ladies taking on serious DIY projects. But and this is going to really tick you off because it did me the survey also found that many women feel like they’re not taken seriously in home centers and hardware stores. So boo to that. We’re going to share the details just ahead. |
| 00:01:48 | LESLIE: Yeah, I mean, that’s a very real thing. And I can’t tell you for years and years you get that sort of same icky feeling when you’re in a home center. And it’s not every time you go in there, but it happens far more often than I’d like. So hopefully this is the year that a lot of changes take place. |
| 00:02:03 | TOM: Yeah, I bet you when you go into a home center and you look at some of those representatives and you go, Hey, I need a number 12 copper wire to do X or whatever, you know? And they probably look at you like, what did you did your man tell you to say that they like to have. |
| 00:02:20 | LESLIE: A list of your picture and you’re just and you know, I’m a New Yorker, so sometimes I’m not always as friendly as I’d like to be. Yeah, well, in. |
| 00:02:29 | TOM: That case, you don’t have to be. You my permission. |
| 00:02:32 | LESLIE: All right, I’m going to. I’m going to hold you to it. And then the next time I snap at somebody in the storm, I do like. But Tom told me I could and he or she can call him on the phone. All right, guys. Also ahead this hour, you know those warmer weather months coming up. It means it’s time to start getting outside and joining those outdoor spaces. And having a wood deck really is a great way that you can do just that. But if you’re planning on building a new deck, what exactly is the right type of lumber that you should be using? |
| 00:03:00 | LESLIE: We’re going to walk you through the pros and cons of the four most common options in just a bit here. |
| 00:03:05 | TOM: Are you guys tired of dealing with a damp and moldy bathroom? We’re going to share the key to keeping this nasty stuff away from your space. |
| 00:03:11 | LESLIE: But first, what are you guys working on? Are you dreaming about a certain project that you’d love to tackle these warm weather months that we’ve got going on? Well, whatever it is, if you can dream it, you can definitely do it and we can help. So give us a call. |
| 00:03:25 | TOM: The number here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT or go to Moneypit.com/ask and leave us your question. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:03:33 | LESLIE: Well, we all deal with neighbors sometimes and sometimes they’re better than others. And sometimes they’re really, really loud. And just like Maryland’s daughters neighbor, what is going on over there? |
| 00:03:43 | CALLER: The walls are so thin that she can hear them at a regular. She says, I haven’t heard it, but she says at a regular volume. So she has moved her. She switched her bedroom over and her living room over. So they don’t share that wall, but it’s still just as bad. So it’s not that there how do I put it hollering or. |
| 00:04:08 | TOM: Yeah, they’re not loud parties. |
| 00:04:09 | CALLER: Yeah. No, they’re not. Yeah. She can hear them and she says the worst thing is I can hear what they’re saying in there. 23 years old, this couple of girl yells and. |
| 00:04:20 | TOM: It’s too much information. |
| 00:04:21 | CALLER: Now she’s starting to realize, Oh, my gosh, what they’re talking about is not what I want to be talking about. So. Okay, so what do you say? Okay. |
| 00:04:34 | TOM: You know, that’s a yeah, I love that. I love that that phrase. The walls are very thin. I mean, I if folks think they’re actually physically thin like paper, they’re not usually it’s just that that’s because of the way the construction is done. There’s a lot of ways for sound to transmit. So typically in a condo, they take steps to make sure that doesn’t happen. They use different types of sound tending approaches. They put some types of insulation. There’s a there’s a type of rock wall insulation that has sound deadening capabilities that is typically used in a wall like that. But the problem is that these kinds of changes can’t be made without taking the wall apart, basically taking the old taking the sheetrock off. |
| 00:05:12 | CALLER: Can you do something on her side of the wall? That’s what I’m questioning. I don’t think that that’s going to happen. |
| 00:05:17 | TOM: Yeah, no, I understand that. You’d have that right. You’d have to disassemble her house from her side. And I don’t think that’s going to happen. She’s probably not even allowed to do that. Here’s the things that you could do. First of all, you can put a second layer of if you want to go this far, you could put a second layer of drywall over the drywall that’s there right now. And there’s a special type of group of glue. It’s called Green Glue and the sound deadening glue. And you need a lot of it. And basically it comes in like a caulking tube and you cover the wall with the stuff and then you glue, essentially glue and screw the drywall, the second layer drywall on top of that. And that creates a barrier that will absorb some of the sound. There’s also a type of drywall that has sound deadening built into it. One of the manufacturers is quiet rock. Forget what company makes it. But I know that name Quiet Rock. And basically it’s a sound deadening drywall. But you have to remember that sound gets in not only through the drywall itself, but it also gets in around the holes that are in the wall. And I’m talking about the outlets, the light switches, the heating ducts. There are other ways to seal around those. But again, it’s something you usually do from behind the outlet box. For example, there’s a material, it’s kind of like a putty. It comes in a sheet that you pack behind these to kind of quiet them down. So this is not easy. Leslie, what about from a decorating standpoint? Is there some sort of a wall covering you can think of that might act as a barrier and help to cap some of those sound waves they don’t is easily sort of transmit through. |
| 00:06:50 | LESLIE: Well, I mean, it’s interesting because I’ve definitely kept sound within a room, like when you’re making a home theater or something like that, there’s acoustical wall tiles or acoustical wall framing systems. And in some of those you kind of put a channel system onto the wall that kind of snaps open and closed. And then there’s a piece of acoustical foam that you can wrap with fabric or get sort of pretreated with a color, depends on the system that you buy and put together, and they’re all relatively easy to install. The DIY ones. I mean, the flipping and snapping can be tricky when it gets the last parts of the fabric depending on which one. But for the most part I’ve had success. They’ve done well in my sister’s apartment. When they lived on Sixth Avenue, their neighbor was super noisy. We did the wall behind their bed. They had a lot of success with reducing the noise there. I’ve done them in home theaters, so there are systems that you can do yourself and that can be done with fabric, with this acoustical foam, with these track systems. It’s just a matter of what budget you’re comfortable with and the level of self installation or hiring the pro. |
| 00:07:57 | CALLER: Oh, think I can’t thank you enough. I can’t believe that you call back this is great. |
| 00:08:02 | TOM: Oh, you’re welcome. Good luck to you. Now. |
| 00:08:04 | LESLIE: Mike in Little Rock, Arkansas, You’ve got the money, but what can we do for you today? |
| 00:08:08 | CALLER: Well, I’ve been doing some remodeling on my house, and it’s been going on since about 2018. I’m kind of doing it piecemeal as I can afford things, and we’re getting ready to list it probably earlier this I mean, later this spring time. And I want to know if I can listed as newer models or freshly remodeled what will be the best way to list it? Because it has taken me three or four years to do it. |
| 00:08:39 | TOM: I mean, I think it’s fair to say that it’s newly remodeled. I mean, remodeling doesn’t you know, doesn’t wear out. And if you had an older house, what kinds of projects did you do? What was remodel here? |
| 00:08:49 | CALLER: Oh, I added a den. I put down new laminate vinyl floors, I put in several pocket doors and the powder room changed the bathroom from the tub. Now. |
| 00:09:05 | TOM: How about a newly remodeled and freshly updated? Because that kind of covers it. Realtors are always good at those all those descriptions, right? But, no, I think it’s fair. Listen houses last a lifetime. And the fact that you spent three years fixing this up, especially since two of the last three years, pretty much were slowed down by the pandemic. I think it’s fair to say that I don’t think you’re misrepresenting anything. And then you could you could fill in the blanks there, let folks know what you did. In fact, that would give you kind of a leg up on the competition, too. We always say that it’s a good idea to have an inventory that lists your improvements when you put the house on the market, especially they those improvements are energy saving because that’s really attractive to folks that as well. So I think that’s certainly fair for you to use those phrases in your listing. And then, of course, you could add some additional detail when you completed kind of a property sort of inventory. We sort of list the features and benefits of the place, include those types of improvements. |
| 00:09:59 | CALLER: Right. I appreciate that. That’s what I’ll do. |
| 00:10:02 | TOM: All right. Good luck with your project. And we hope that you sell it quickly. And for a lot of money. |
| 00:10:05 | CALLER: Made to work for. |
| 00:10:08 | LESLIE: Tammy in North Dakota is on the line, has a question about flooring, what’s going on? |
| 00:10:12 | CALLER: We have hardwood floors on the upper level of our home and we have a nail that just keeps popping up. No matter how many times I hammer down, it keeps popping up. Okay. What I’m wondering is why and what do I do? |
| 00:10:27 | TOM: So the reason it’s happening is because of expansion and contraction of that floor. If the nail is loose that doesn’t have enough binding on it, it’s just going to work its way back out again. So the solution is to stop fighting the tide here, pull out that nail and replace it with a screw. Now there are many different types of screws and one in particular that may be helpful if you even need it. I mean, most us have hundreds of nails in them and maybe you don’t even need this nail in there is pull it out. But if you want to replace it, you could replace it with something called a trim screw. You’ll find those at a home center and they’ll look like other types of sort of case hardened screws, except they have a really small head that’s just a little bit bigger than a finished nail. And you drive them in. They usually have the bit in the package. When you buy it, you drive them in with like a power drill with this bit in the, in the chunk and it will sit right below the surface. And then you could just use a little bit of a filler on top of that. You’ll never see it again. But that’s actually not that all not all that uncommon. It’s happening in your floor a lot of times it’ll happen with walls where you see drywall, nails were back out of the hole and sometimes it’ll also be the source of floor squeaks. Because when you put subfloor down, there’s a type of nail use, let’s call it. It’s called the tray. It’s called a cooler because it’s rosin coated. And as the nail gets driven in, the friction melts the glue, and then as it cools, it sort of sticks in place, except it doesn’t stick that well. And sometimes it works its way out, or sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s kind of like I think of rosin on the bow of a violin, except it sounds a lot worse and it makes a really loud squeaking sound. So not unusual. Nothing to panic. Easy fix. |
| 00:12:06 | CALLER: Sounds good. Now, I would not go into the same hole, right? I would move over one. |
| 00:12:11 | TOM: If you use the screw, you could put it back in the same hole. It’s not going to come out again because it’s not you relying on the size of the hole to hold the nail tight, the screw would just once drive it. That’s it. Stays put. It does not back out. |
| 00:12:22 | CALLER: Perfect. What did you say? The name of that screw as. I’m sorry. It’s called. |
| 00:12:26 | TOM: A trim. |
| 00:12:26 | CALLER: Screw. All right. Thank you so much. You’re welcome. |
| 00:12:29 | LESLIE: Well, a new survey by Lombardo Homes is predicting that 2023 is going to be the year of DIY for women. And more and more ladies are taking on serious DIY projects like bedroom, bathroom and even kitchen renovations. And in fact, 93% of women have completed a DIY project in their homes and spent an average of 2300 bucks. Lots of 23 is here. This is the year for this, I’m guessing. |
| 00:12:53 | TOM: Absolutely. But here’s a very disappointing detail. It’s not always easy being a woman in the DIY world. The survey also found that many women feel like they’re not taking seriously or respected in home centers and hardware stores. |
| 00:13:07 | LESLIE: Yeah, and just listen to these numbers, guys. Now, one in ten don’t feel comfortable navigating large stores by themselves. Two in five feel that they’re treated differently than men by the employees, and one in five have felt judged when they ask for help, and 16% have even been made to feel stupid when they ask for help. And I mean, this is totally ridiculous because a customer is a customer and money is good everywhere. |
| 00:13:32 | LESLIE: Am I right about that? |
| 00:13:33 | TOM: Absolutely. |
| 00:13:34 | LESLIE: So, ladies, as you’re taking on projects, you should be taken seriously. |
| 00:13:39 | TOM: Yeah, but I say keep asking because the tide is definitely turning on the dinosaurs who are making you feel that way. In fact, the survey also found that 72% of women feel confident doing home improvement projects and 78% enjoy doing them. Saying doing the projects themselves saves money, gives them a sense of accomplishment, and three in five find DIY is just plain fun. So don’t take that gruff from those old guys in the hardware and home improvement centers. Just get what you need and get your projects done. And if you need help, we never judge. We are here to help you. The number here again, 188 money Pit. |
| 00:14:17 | LESLIE: Next up, we’ve got David on the line who’s got a question about a water heater. How can we help? |
| 00:14:22 | CALLER: Yes, Leslie, I’ve got a hot water heater that apparently reached its age limit and is starting to leak out the bottom, probably rusted out. And so I was thinking about putting in a tankless water heater, but I live in Tennessee. And for me the ground temperature is really cool. And I’ve heard that it’s you know, if you’re in Florida, maybe it’s a little better situation. But in the winter months, I was thinking maybe it would be too expensive to operate. |
| 00:14:53 | TOM: First of all, what kind of fuel do you have? Are you on natural gas? |
| 00:14:57 | CALLER: I have access to natural gas, but actually the hot water heater I have now is electric. Well, first. |
| 00:15:03 | TOM: Of all, an electric water heater is electric tankless. Water heater is not going to be cost effective if. How was your house heated David. |
| 00:15:13 | CALLER: Made central heating there and. |
| 00:15:14 | TOM: Like the heat. The heat pump. |
| 00:15:16 | CALLER: Yes, sir. |
| 00:15:17 | TOM: Okay. So you’re talking about using a ground source heat pump that’s like a whole new deal. And that’s I mean, that certainly it’s good technology if you don’t have access to gas. But I would say that my very first choice would be if I was going to upgrade my HVAC system and had access to gas, I would get that gas at my house because it’s going to be less expensive for you to put that type of system in. Because as you start to say, if you were to use a heat pump, you’re going to have to bear the cost of drilling a ground coil deep into the earth, which is not inexpensive. So it’s very costly to do it that way. Now, in terms of just the water heater itself, if your project is of a limited nature and you just want to replace that water heater because it is old, I would say either use a standard electric water heater, but put it on a 240 volt timer so that it doesn’t run 24 seven. You know, water heaters are kind of dumb in the sense that they you set whatever temperature you want, you water, and it’s going to be that way, whether it’s 7 a.m. in the morning and you just take any morning shower or like, you know 1 a.m. in the overnight when you don’t really need it heat it up to 120 degrees or whatever it’s set for. So if you put a timer on, you’ll cut back on the number of hours it actually has to run. That will save you some money. And if you want to make something that’s just more efficient, you could use a heat pump. Water heater is like you have a heat pump for your heating system right now with there’s a heat pump technology that applies only to water heaters. And again, those heat pumps are or these are pretty expensive, but they’re also often rebates on them and tax credits would also apply as well. So those are your two options for electric. You can either use a heat pump water heater or you can use a standard electric water heater, but put it on the ticket for your timer to save some money. |
| 00:17:05 | CALLER: Okay, gotcha. Gotcha. Well, I appreciate your time. |
| 00:17:09 | TOM: You’re welcome, sir. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit. |
| 00:17:14 | LESLIE: Nancy in Georgia is dealing with some flooring squeaks. What is going on at your Money Pit? |
| 00:17:19 | CALLER: I’m hoping you can tell me. Okay. |
| 00:17:21 | LESLIE: Tell us what you’re hearing and what kind of floor. When does it happen? |
| 00:17:24 | CALLER: The House is 48 years old and I have pulled up the carpet that was in there. And I’d like to put hardwood, but there’s a squeak right in the doorway. It’s in the top floor of my two story home. And I can’t get to the flooring unless I tear out the ceiling of my dining room. |
| 00:17:41 | TOM: Yeah. You’re thinking you have to deal with this from the bottom, and that’s not the case. Now, when you took the carpet up, what are you looking at or are you looking at plywood like old plywood subfloor. |
| 00:17:49 | CALLER: So, I mean, yeah, subfloor. |
| 00:17:51 | TOM: Right. So it’s a solid subfloor. |
| 00:17:53 | LESLIE: It’s not like slats where you can see through. |
| 00:17:55 | CALLER: No, it’s like eight by fours maybe. Or. |
| 00:17:58 | TOM: Right, that’s one six. Okay. So what you want to do here and this is typical, what you need to do is you need to figure out where the floor Joyce are under that floor. And it’s not that hard to do because if you look at the floor itself, you’re going to see a nailing pattern where the floor dresser run and they’re probably going to be every 16 inches and they going to go from the back wall, your house towards the front wall and what you want to do is screw where those nail heads are. You want to drive a drywall, screw through the floor and tighten up the flooring. Was what’s happening is the foreigners loose in that area? And as you step on the floor and you get that squeak, squeaks happened for one or two reasons. It’s either because the floor boards themselves, the plywood itself is moving against it and the adjoining seam is squeaking. Right? Or it could be that the plywood is pulling the nail in and out of the Florida’s below, and that’s squeaking. But when you screw the floor down as opposed to nailing it down, you tighten everything up. And it’s a really good idea to do that before your carpet because even though you found one now, chances are the minute you put that floor down, you’ll find three more. So if you screw that floor down, all that’s up for down nice and tight using these long drywall screws which you can drive in with the drill, you’re going to find that that floor is going to be a lot quieter in the long run. |
| 00:19:17 | CALLER: Okay. I want to put hardwood over it. Can I put those under hardwood? Sure. |
| 00:19:21 | TOM: Yeah. They’re going to be flush with the surface when you’re done. What kind of hardware are you going to? Solid hardware do you want to use engineered or what? |
| 00:19:29 | CALLER: I want to use solid hardwood. I have hardwood in the hallway that it meets and then I have tile in the bathroom. And so I have the space is there for me to use the hardwood. And I’m in the south so it’s not as expensive here. |
| 00:19:45 | TOM: Yeah. You could use pre finished hardwood or you could use raw hardwood and finish it yourself. So a lot of options in pre finished today though it’s beautiful on the floor finishes are actually tougher than what you can apply on your own. |
| 00:19:55 | CALLER: That’s what I’m thinking and I’m thinking I’ll have to pull the baseball weeds. |
| 00:19:58 | TOM: Yes, absolutely. |
| 00:19:59 | CALLER: And leave some space, a little space between the wall and the flooring. Yes, that’s correct. I’ll take the hole. Okay. |
| 00:20:06 | TOM: Yep, that’s correct. Yeah. You got the right idea. Yeah. Just make sure you screw that subfloor down with as long drywall screws or wood screws that you put in with the drill, typically they’re going to have a Philips or they’ll have a hex head. And you could just drill them right. |
| 00:20:18 | CALLER: In, huh? Okay. Okay. I’m from. I’m from here with us. That’s fantastic. All right. I appreciate your help so much. |
| 00:20:24 | TOM: You got it, Nancy. Good luck with that project. |
| 00:20:27 | LESLIE: Well, if you’re planning to build a deck to expand your outdoor living space, you might be wondering what kind of materials you should be using. Well, according to Consumer Reports, Wood does remain the most popular choice for decks, even with all of those composite decking products out there. But we all know that wood needs a fair amount of regular maintenance to stay in good shape and some types of wood actually need more than others. |
| 00:20:50 | TOM: Well, first, let’s talk about climate and weathering. Now, whether you live in the strong sunshine and the arid heat of the West or the warm humidity of the south, weather definitely has a big impact on the durability of your deck and slip resistance is also pretty important, especially if your deck is going to be near a pool. Now, next up is strength also key? Do you like to entertain a crowd? Wood decking stands up pretty well for bending and bowing and also some wood materials are better at resisting accidental stains and dents, which often come with the act of families or the use of heavy grills. And of course, there’s also the cost factor, which can definitely vary very widely. |
| 00:21:27 | LESLIE: Now, the four most common choices for wood decking are cedar, eBay, pine and redwood. And they all do vary when it comes to their rankings for performance and value. So let’s start with the natural Western Red Cedar. This was named the top choice for its overall performance and value, and it scored highly for its resistance to flexing and weathering. And surprisingly, it’s about half of the price of natural EPA, which is a popular and very strong South American hardwood, that was ranked a close second. I mean, EPA is gorgeous, but boy, is it pricey. Now, cedar is a soft wood, though, so it is susceptible to surface damage and it’s also about 30% more expensive than pine, which is the cheapest wood option. |
| 00:22:09 | LESLIE: But you’ve got to have pressure treated if you want to resist rot. And that’s going to be ranked third overall for performance. |
| 00:22:15 | TOM: So between its cost and it’s pretty fair performance ratings. Natural Redwood Place fourth in the rankings. Some homeowners do still love the look, although just like Cedar and EPA, Redwood is naturally resistant to rot and decay. Now, that said, you should know that that beautiful redwood or cedar color, it just doesn’t last for long. Give it a year or two. You’d be looking at a much darkened surface that needs staining to get back to its natural glow. And actually, at that point, Leslie, it’s not natural anymore. It’s the stain that you’ll be seeing. So you get the decay resistance. But the wood’s going to fade out. |
| 00:22:48 | LESLIE: Yeah. And I mean, there’s really nothing wrong with that. That’s just naturally what occurs over time. So when it does become time to stain and seal, you have to make sure that you do all of those things regularly because that’s going to keep your outdoor living space looking totally decked out. So again, there is some maintenance, but with all of that hard work, you’re going to have a wonderful space to enjoy. |
| 00:23:09 | LESLIE: Dan in Georgia, You’ve got the Money Pit. What can we do for you today? |
| 00:23:12 | CALLER: I want to tell you, I love your show. But the thing about stations. Yeah, no problem. But we just bought the south, knocked over, and my wife saw where you could change the color vinyl side. And so I’ve looked at a few things. There’s not really a whole lot on the Internet that tells about it, and there’s not a whole lot of products choose from the old advice. |
| 00:23:34 | CALLER: Would you do it if you would, or would you use it and all that stuff? |
| 00:23:38 | TOM: Why do you hate the vinyl siding car right now? Is it faded or you just want to change it up? |
| 00:23:43 | CALLER: Yeah, it doesn’t bother me. The color, but my wife just wants to, I guess, like, paint the wall she wants to paint the front of. Okay. |
| 00:23:50 | TOM: I don’t. I don’t. |
| 00:23:50 | LESLIE: I guess it’s fine. |
| 00:23:53 | TOM: But I don’t think that’s a good enough reason. Here’s why. Because put painting vinyl siding. While it’s possible, you’re basically opening yourself up to a you know it comes after paint, right? Repaint. You’re opening yourself up to that. There are paints that are designed for vinyl. And if you work with a major manufacturer like Sherwin-Williams, you’ll have options and colors and such. But it’s just not going to last as long as vinyl because let’s face it, vinyl is color all the way through. If you put a layer on top of that, at some point you to start to peel and it’s going to look nasty and you’re going to have to do it again and again. If she doesn’t really like that vinyl, I would tell you to, why not change the color of shutters or trim and kind of work around it? It’s kind of like when you get somebody that’s got a really old bathroom with like 1970s colors, but it’s a beautifully done solid tile job that you can probably get done today. Sometimes we say we’ll live with the ugly yellow tile, but change everything else around it. And sometimes that’s enough. So I would tell you to change the colors of the of the shutters or the trim to make the accent really pop. Maybe think about replacing your door or a new front door can make dramatic changes in the perceived value of your home. It looks so much cooler from the street, but I would not paint vinyl siding unless there was a really good reason. And just changing the color to me is not is not strong enough. |
| 00:25:16 | CALLER: Yeah, well, I’m glad to hear that because I don’t really want to do it. |
| 00:25:19 | TOM: Well we can. We can be the bad guy. We’ll take that hit for you. But there’s a good reason for it, because I just don’t want you to open up a whole series of having to repaint this as years go by and every 5 to 7 years, vinyl expands like crazy. You know, I just getting that paint to stand up to that and it’s a real challenge. |
| 00:25:39 | CALLER: Yeah, that’s what I saw too, was five 5 to 15 years ago. They would guarantee on the on. |
| 00:25:44 | TOM: The back of this thing, I would be, I would think close to five. I would be very surprised if you got more than five or six or seven years. |
| 00:25:51 | CALLER: Out of it. I appreciate it. |
| 00:25:52 | TOM: You’re welcome. Well, good luck with your wife and talking about that project, but maybe she’ll find that if you do change up the colors of the trim, the shutters that will make the impact that she wants. Okay. |
| 00:26:03 | CALLER: Okay. Cool. Thanks. You’re welcome. |
| 00:26:06 | TOM: Well, are you tired of dealing with a damp and moldy bathroom? Well, you don’t have to suffer anymore because the cause is condensation. And we’ve got some practical tips to help you prevent it from forming. Now, first and foremost, let’s talk about ventilation. Is that is really key. |
| 00:26:22 | LESLIE: Oh, yeah. You know, first of all, you want to make sure that your bathroom has an exhaust fan because that’s going to help you circulate the air and reduce that moisture buildup. If you have one, you need to turn it on and go outside and look for that exhaust hood and then make sure that the flap or inside the hood is opened by the force of the air. Now, in some parts of the country, the building code doesn’t actually require you to have an exhaust fan if you have a window. But I mean, that really doesn’t make any sense because even when you leave a window fully open, it doesn’t exactly vent the room the same way as an exhaust fan does. You know, the fans actually pulling that moist air out of the space and sending it outside, whereas a window, unless the air is circulating in the right direction from outside the inside and vice versa, you’re not going to really move much. So if you’re the only one with the window there, you got to add a fan. |
| 00:27:12 | TOM: Yeah. Not to mention it’s a little chilly to do that in the middle of the winter as well. Now, another tip is to keep the bathroom door open after using the shower or the bath to help the steam escape and prevent it from condensing on surfaces like the ceiling. It’s also a good idea to use a squeegee or a towel to wipe down the walls and in the shower after every use. We always have had a squeegee in our showers and gotten the habit of just striking the walls once to get most of the water off. It definitely does help. And better yet, all that moisture that hangs around after you’re done with the shower. That is a huge contributor to mold growth. So another easy way to dry things out is to add a timer that the exhaust in or better yet, the new exhaust fans have built in using the stats, which means they’re only going to run as long as there’s moisture in the room in the autumn, have to go off. And either way, this will result in a big reduction in how quickly that mold forms and a lot less cleaning. |
| 00:28:05 | LESLIE: James in Rhode Island, Rodents Team Money Pit and he says he’s got a 3100 square foot home with an electric water heater in the middle. The problem is, when I call for water from either end of the home like the kitchen, it’s too far away. And it takes 10 minutes to get the hot water there. What are the options to avoid this? |
| 00:28:22 | TOM: Yeah we get this question a lot, James, and there’s a couple of things you could do. You could add additional water heaters that are located closer to the bathroom and in a tankless water heater mounted on an exterior wall or a place where you could vented up into the attic. And the outside is an option. But the other thing that you could do is you could add a hot water recirculating pump. And this eliminates that wasted water caused by waiting for that water to heat up and always just sort of running it cold for a while. The pump basically gets installed at the water heater and a sensor valve is added under the sink. And the sink that you add this to is the one that’s farthest away from the water heater. And what this does is it allows any cold water in the hot water supply line to bypass and spill back into the cold water line. So you’re not really wasting anything. And this is going to keep the temperature in that hot water supply line kind of at a no weight hot temperature throughout the home. It also uses a timer so you’re not going to waste energy. What I would do in this case is I would set it to kind of match with my usual bathing schedule. So if you’ve got a you know, if you get up, if you’ve got a I don’t know, you’ve got to work 824925. And you’re taking showers at six or seven in the morning. I’d have it operate only during that shower ticking time and maybe there’s another block at the end of the day. And this way you’re getting that hot water exactly when you need it and without waiting for it. |
| 00:29:39 | LESLIE: All right. Now, we’ve got one here from Susie in Washington state who’s got a question about Trex decking. She says, My Trex decking and rails have gotten very slippery and are covered with a green growth. Do I need to pressure wash the deck or is there a product I could leave on to prevent that green stuff from showing up again? I have a lot of cedar trees around my house and I think that’s part of the problem. Well, it sounds pretty shady if you ask me to get a lot of mold growth out there. |
| 00:30:03 | TOM: Well, absolutely. Because the best mill, the site is sunlight. |
| 00:30:06 | LESLIE: Yeah. It doesn’t seem like she’s getting it. |
| 00:30:08 | TOM: Now, when you’re in the shade like that, you’re really kind of asking for it. So I always suggest that if there’s anything you could do to thin out those trees a little bit, let some light in. That’s going to make it a lot easier for you. But there are a different there are a number of products that you can use to remove what you have. ZINSER makes one that we like called Jo Max. And then there’s another one called House Armor, and they both work well. You’ll find them in home centers, generally speaking. And the nice thing about them is that they work quickly. Now, there are other products that you spray on and then you wait for them to work and they do work and they do have sort of a longevity to them and that they keep working even when the initial moss or mold or lichen or algae is gone. But if you just want to clean the darn thing up for the spring, I would go with zinnias Jo Max product or the house armor and you’ll really like the way it worked out. You don’t necessarily need a pressure washer. And frankly, if you have one, you have be really careful. These are gentle settings. You could damage the deck. |
| 00:31:01 | LESLIE: And you know what, Suzy, since you’re about to be outside and full on deck season before everybody starts coming over, now’s a great time to sort of check that structure of the deck, make sure everything is really attached well and in good shape, structurally and safe. So you want to go on over to Money Pit dot com, you can find a whole deck safety checklist. You should just be doing this at the start of every season and then I’ll make sure you’re in tip top shape so you can start having all those people over and having fun in the yard. |
| 00:31:25 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show wrapping up Episode 23. So thank you so much for spending this part of your day with us. We hope you’ve picked up some great ideas, some tips, some tricks on how you can get more out of your DIY projects. Remember, we exist because of you, so call us with your questions any time. 24, seven and one 888-MONEY-PIT. Or better yet, just post your question as Money Pit Scum Slash Ask. Until then, I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:31:51 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:31:52 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:31:54 | 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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