LESLIE: Next up, we’re going to help Derrick in New York tackle a basement remodel.
Derrick, have you started the work yet or are you thinking about it?
DERRICK: I’m thinking about it. I just recently bought the house.
LESLIE: OK.
DERRICK: And I was talking to my dad, who is the one that watches your show all the time, and he suggested calling you guys.
LESLIE: Your dad’s a smart man.
TOM: He’s a fan. (Leslie chuckles)
DERRICK: I was curious to what I would have to do. Like when I’m framing it, somebody mentioned that …
LESLIE: So the basement is completely unfinished at the moment?
DERRICK: Completely unfinished but the foundation looks good. There’s no cracks, no water coming in or anything like that and it’s very clean.
LESLIE: And your walls are cement block?
DERRICK: Yes.
LESLIE: OK.
DERRICK: The question I had was that I was concerned, do I – when I frame it, do I want to put the wood right up against that or do I need to leave a space in that? Somebody mentioned that there might be a lot of mold that’ll get in there and then …
TOM: Typically, I would recommend leaving the wall a few inches away from the concrete.
DERRICK: Oh, OK.
TOM: So, stepping it in a little bit so that you have a bit of an air space behind that wall. And then another little trick of the trade is if once you finish that off, if you’re going to panel it or put drywall on it, get some registers – as if you had a forced air heating system – and so you have, basically, vents in the wall. You put two down low and two up high so that some air will circulate behind that wall. It keeps it nice and dry.
DERRICK: Oh, OK.
LESLIE: Yeah, and since you’re starting from scratch, you might want to think about a drywall board that has some sort of anti-moisture protection built into it. And Georgia-Pacific has a great one; it’s called Dens Armor Plus. And instead of drywall, where it’s sheathed with paper, this one’s sheathed with like a glass compound so it gets rid of the paper, which is the food source for the mold. And when you’re starting a project, it only works out to be like one percent more in cost than regular drywall. So to save yourself a headache later, you can just get a preventative product like that.
DERRICK: Oh, OK.
TOM: And Derrick, you tell your dad that Leslie said “Hi.” (Leslie chuckles)
DERRICK: OK.
TOM: And I tell what we’re going to do for you because Dad’s a big Leslie fan. We’re going to send you one of the brand new While You Were Out books …
LESLIE: Gee thanks, Tom.
TOM: … available at bookstores now; published by Meredith – yeah, I’ll give your books away. I can do that – and autographed by Leslie. How about that?
DERRICK: Great.
TOM: Alright, you stand by; we’ll get your information. And thanks for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: OK, I heard laughing in the background. Are they laughing at me?
TOM: I don’t think so.
LESLIE: Alright, then they can still have the book.
TOM: I don’t think so. Then we’ll let them have the book?
LESLIE: Yeah, I’ll let them.
TOM: Alright, sounds good. (chuckles) Let’s get to the phones.
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