How to Pick a Light Bulb, Keeping Humidity Low at Home, Mother's Day Home Improvements and more

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

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: And what are you working on this fine spring day? You working outside your house? Inside your house? Are you building a deck? Are you up on the roof? Do you have a paintbrush in your hand? Are these projects you’re thinking about doing but don’t know where to start? Pick up the phone; we’re here to help. Give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

Coming up on today’s program, home remodeling is on the rise with more homeowners than ever taking on fairly big projects this spring. But what part of the house brings the best ROI and where exactly can you find money to finance these projects? We’ll have tips, in just a few minutes.

LESLIE: And also ahead, one great project to take on that costs very little but brings big results is cleaning the exterior of your home. We’ve got information on a great product that will be part of our top-products highlights from the National Hardware Show, so stay tuned for that.

TOM: Plus, close to a million children are rushed to the emergency room every year because of accidental poisoning. We’re going to have tips on how to keep toxic items safe and out of reach of children.

LESLIE: And one caller that we talk to today is going to win a podium ladder from Werner Ladders worth $129.

TOM: So, let’s get to it. The number, again, is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Wally in New Jersey, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

WALLY: I’ve got a little problem with a drainage tile. I have a 3-foot drainage concrete over tile that was running through a property. And it’s right on the property line and it goes into and marries up to a 3-foot steel tile – 3-foot steel drainage tile. The concrete tile has corroded and broke and is collapsing, which is causing water to come up through the ground. I’m not really sure how to get these two tiles back together, what the solution is for this, whether it needs to be an excavator or – I don’t know.

TOM: So, how deep are we talking about here?

WALLY: The top of the tile is only about 10 inches below the ground. It used to be – what it is – it’s a runoff off the road, which goes through, actually, three properties. And then it goes back into an open (inaudible at 0:02:53). All this tile that was …

TOM: But Wally, if it’s only 10 inches off the surface, then the easiest thing to do is to dig it up from the surface and repair it.

There are ways to repair pipes that are in place underground. There are ways to line pipes. There are systems out where, essentially, a fiberglass sleeve can be put inside of an existing pipe that has failed and cracked. But they’re pretty expensive and you usually reserve those for places where you can’t dig. But if you can access this thing within a foot of the surface or 2 feet at the surface, then it’s definitely worth it.

WALLY: Definitely worth it. Yeah, it’s making a big mess. We had such a hard winter up north up here that I think some just gave and broke and got a big mess, actually.

TOM: Yeah. Well, if it’s that high up in the soil line, it’s above the frost line so, obviously, when it gets wet, it freezes and it cracks. It expands and cracks. So, that’s something that’s going to keep repeating itself because of its position.

WALLY: So, that’s the solution is some kind of fiberglass liner or so. So break the – break that tile or the concrete pipe back further, then try to slide a bigger tile into it? And then into the steel?

TOM: No, no. No, no, no. No, no. You misunderstand.

WALLY: OK.

TOM: What I’m saying is that you want to dig down and replace the sections of broken pipe.

Now, if you don’t want to do that, you can line the pipe. It’s not a do-it-yourself project. You need to find a company that can do it. And the way that’s done is they push from – they access the pipe at one point and they push what kind of looks like a fiberglass sock into the line. And then they fill the pipe with hot water that cures it and forms sort of a tube or a pipe within a pipe.

But that’s the kind of thing that you do if you’re going under driveways or around pools and stuff where you really don’t want to cause any …

WALLY: Nope. This is just through a yard.

TOM: Yeah, if it’s just through a yard, just dig it up, replace it and call it a day.

WALLY: OK. Thank you very kindly.

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

LESLIE: Nadine in Iowa has an interesting question. Your countertop has gotten noisy? Tell us what’s going on.

NADINE: Yes, it does. We had it installed, I would say, between three and five years ago. And right after we had this Corian counter installed, we started getting very sharp, loud bangs occasionally. And I mean like somebody-just-shot-up-the-house bangs. And it has been going on since we had it installed, to varying degrees. Louder sometimes than others.

But they’ve been out to check and can’t figure it out and I don’t – the only unusual thing that happened when they put it in was that one corner didn’t want to go down, so the guy had to put his full weight on it to push it down and finally make it go down. And my feeling is – or something must be bound in there that every once in a while builds up enough energy to really snap.

TOM: Well, that’s certainly an unusual situation because countertops aren’t known for their noise.

NADINE: OK.

TOM: We get squeaky-floor questions, we get banging-pipe questions.

I don’t think we’ve ever gotten any loud-countertop questions, huh, Leslie?

NADINE: Well, I doubt that it’s the countertop. My feeling is something might be bound in there, having been caused by having the countertop put on.

TOM: Well, you might be correct and what could be happening is that you could have expansion and contraction going on, either with the walls or even with the plumbing. Especially with the water being right there, when a pipe heats up, it tends to expand. And if it’s attached to the framing very, very tightly, it will rub across that framing and it can make a creaking sound or a banging sound.

NADINE: OK.

TOM: And I’ve heard that before in bathrooms and also in kitchens.

NADINE: OK.

TOM: The other thought is that if the countertop is bound, as you say, against part of the frame of the house and you’re getting expansion and contraction, that could be the source of the sound. Although, I tend to think that, even though it’s annoying, it probably isn’t really very damaging if it’s one of the other of those things.

NADINE: No, I don’t think it is damaging at all. It’s just that when you have guests and their eyes get wide and they start to go for the floor, you think maybe – I mean it is quite loud when it does it. So you think it could possibly be plumbing?

TOM: It could very well be because plumbing really carries the sound. And especially if you’re running a dishwasher and the hot water comes on, that could cause a noise.

NADINE: However, we’ve kind of checked that out – what’s on, what’s running and all of that – and that doesn’t seem to come into play. What would your suggestion be as to sleuthing this problem out?

TOM: Well, I guess I would have to be sitting there staring at it, thinking about it for a long time. But reinstalling the countertop would probably be the best solution, although it’s a boatload of work and you could potentially damage the countertop in the process. If they had to really squeeze it in, I suspect that something is a little bit too tight in its intention and it’s really not designed to be pulled out.

NADINE: Yeah. Alright. Thanks so much.

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.

Up next, is your home’s exterior looking dirty and dingy? You can brighten it up and clean your house for a sparkling-fresh look for spring. We’ll tell you how, next.

TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. And we want to hear from you and what you are working on, so pick up the phone and give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Now, one caller that we talk to on the air this hour is going to win the Podium Ladder from Werner Ladders. It’s got four times the work zone, so you don’t have to move your ladder around as much, which is great. And it’s super-comfortable; you’re actually going to feel like you’re standing on the ground. And it also features a HolsterTop PRO, which is extended guardrails. And that securely wraps all around the work zone and you can store all the tools that you’re working with right there.

TOM: Yeah. And this brand-new ladder style, it allows you to reach around in any direction. It’s got a 300-pound load capacity. And the Werner Podium Ladder is worth $129 and going out to one lucky caller.

So pick up the phone, give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. This product will also be a part of the top products we talk about from the floor of the National Hardware Show later this month. 888-666-3974.

LESLIE: Greg in Illinois is doing a project with flooring and heating. How can we help you?

GREG: Yes. I was calling with a question related to trying to make my floor tile in a bathroom remodel – make it warm underneath. And wanted to get your recommendations on the type of system to use and then what type of tile and grout.

TOM: Well, you can use any type of tile and grout that you’d like. But the systems that you would use would be radiant floor heating systems. They’re designed specifically to be laid in underneath the tile and they’re electric. And they will warm the floor, you know, based on the command of the thermostat.

Now, they’re not inexpensive to install and/or to run, because it is electric-resistant heat. But it clearly does take the edge off that chilly floor, especially first thing in the morning. I would suggest you hook them up to a setback thermostat so you can have it come on only when you need it.

GREG: So like a digitally-controlled, preprogrammed-type thermostat?

TOM: Yeah, it could be digital or not but as long as it’s programmed to come on those times of the day where you really want the floor to be warm. You don’t want it on 24-7 unless you’re a really rich guy, because you’re going to be paying a lot for the electric bill, Greg.

GREG: Do you recommend an electrician do this part of the work or is it something I can put into the electrical grid of our home or …?

TOM: Well, the installation on it is not terribly complicated but I would recommend that you have it done professionally and here’s why: because once it’s down and once that tile is down, if it doesn’t work, you’re going to have a very expensive project on your hands. So I would hire somebody to do the whole thing and be guaranteed that it’s going to work.

GREG: Any type of price ranges that I could expect to pay for one of those systems or do I just buy them from a local box store or …?

TOM: No, not necessarily a box store. There’s a number of different manufacturers. You could reach them – you could research them online. There’s companies like EasyHeat or SunTouch that sell those radiant systems.

Costs on it – let’s see, if you were to do, say, a small bathroom, you would probably be spending somewhere between, I would guess, $800 and $1200 to purchase the retrofit material.

GREG: OK, sir. Thank you for your help.

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

Well, it’s this time of year when we’re outside more and more. And while you are, you’re probably noticing all of winter’s dirt, grit and grime on the outside of your home and especially after the – all the salt and the sand that might have been spread throughout your neighborhood. And because of all that snow we had, it’s just really sticking up. And even though the snow is gone, all the dirt is staying behind.

LESLIE: Now, one of our sponsors has the cure. Concrobium Mold Stain Eraser is a powerful cleaning solution that targets tough and embedded mold and mildew stains on your outdoor and even your indoor surfaces. It’s perfect for black-mold stains. It’s great for restoring decks and other outdoor surfaces to like-new condition, with no bleach or harmful chemicals.

TOM: Concrobium Mold Stain Eraser can be used on decks, patios, fences, walkways, railings, siding, gutters, roofs, tile, showers, bathrooms, basements and even outdoor furniture.

LESLIE: And it even works well on wood, composite wood, concrete, masonry, drywall, grout, stone, fiberglass, tile, plastic, laminates, aluminum and metal, you name it. You can fight mold like a pro with Concrobium Mold Solutions.

And this is one of our top products that we’re featuring at our special pavilion on the floor of the National Hardware Show next week.

TOM: You can learn more at CureMyMold.com. That’s CureMyMold.com.

LESLIE: Ed in Minnesota is on the line and needs some help getting his deck ready for summer. What can we do for you?

ED: Yeah. I’m needing to restain my deck. Wondering what the proper prep is for that and what – most of all, what the moisture content should be before a guy stains.

TOM: That’s a great question. Is this an older deck? Something that you had on for a number of years?

ED: It is. And it’s a pine – 2×6-type pine wood.

TOM: OK. So, the most important thing is that you clean the deck thoroughly before you stain it. You need to make sure you get rid of any mildew or algae. And you can use a mildicide to clean any debris that’s off that deck.

You asked an important question about moisture content. We’d like to see the deck be a few days without rain, or certainly without it being sort of washed down, so that the new stain or finish absorbs properly. One little, quick test that you can do is if you put a cup of water on the deck and it all gets absorbed pretty quickly, then it’s probably OK to go ahead and stain it. And this way, the stain will really bite down into that.

When it comes to the stain, you’re going to have choices of clear, semi-transparent or solid color. You’ll find that if you use a solid-color stain, you’re going to get a lot more pigment. And it’s going to stay that color for a lot longer than if you use a semi-transparent, which tends to show the grain of the wood through a little bit more. But frankly, with a flat grain like pine, it’s not going to make that big of a difference. So I would recommend solid color.

LESLIE: Susan in Pennsylvania is dealing with a woodpecker, except it’s not Woody the Woodpecker giving her the heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.

Although he might be, as he’s making holes in your house. What’s going on, Susan?

SUSAN: Well, thank you very much for taking my call. I’ve learned so much from listening to this show. I live with my daughter and son-in-law and there is a woodpecker every morning. He comes and has breakfast, compliments of our home. And my son-in-law has looked and there is damage and of course, he’s going to have that taken care of. But we’re trying to find out how do we deter this woodpecker from coming back or just picking another spot.

TOM: Does he generally like to pick the same kind of spot?

SUSAN: Yeah. He seems to be right over top of their bedroom, right in that area on the side of the house.

TOM: Oh, great. So it can wake them up in the morning.

Alright. So, let me give you a couple of things that you can try that are really easy. One of which is to get some tin pie plates, like the aluminum pie plates. Hang them from fishing line or sort of a thin cord or something so that they sort of dangle in the area where the woodpecker likes to hang out. Because they really are annoying to the birds and they don’t like to see their reflection; they think there’s other birds around. And sometimes, that’s all it takes to make them go away.

Another thing that you can do is you could take strips of a plastic Hefty bag, cut it into 3-inch strips so that it kind of blows around in the breeze. That kind of has the freak-out effect. And neither of these, obviously, hurt the birds. You don’t want to leave them on for very long but they do work pretty well at keeping the woodpeckers away from your house. And maybe they’ll just decide that, you know, your neighbor’s house is a better place to be.

SUSAN: Oh. OK. That’s fantastic. Yes.

LESLIE: I had a woodpecker put a pretty nice-size hole in the soffit material of my home. And I was re-siding and changing out all of the soffit material for one of those AZEK type of extruded PVC product that looks like wood but obviously, the woodpecker is not going to eat it. So I didn’t bother repairing this pretty nice-size hole that the woodpecker made. And in the process of the work happening, before that soffit and fascia material came off, a whole family of squirrels moved in.

SUSAN: Oh, aren’t you lucky? Well, thank you very much.

LESLIE: Now we’re heading on over to Iowa where Brian has a crack on the wall that keeps on coming back. Tell us what’s going on.

BRIAN: Well, yeah, I built this home about six years ago and noticed it within the first year, really, that in just one of my bedrooms, I have a crack that comes up from my bedroom going into my bathroom door. And it kind of almost goes up probably close to 2½ feet, 3 feet. And it comes and goes, depending on the year. I’ve finished over it a couple of times on both sides of the wall, into the bathroom and here, and have tried to refinish over it and it keeps coming back. And my builder looked at it. Can’t quite figure it out and …

TOM: This is what we call a Groundhog Day home improvement project, Brian, because it just keeps happening over and over again, right?

BRIAN: Yeah, yeah. It just – yeah, just originally I just tried to cover it up and make it look better and …

TOM: Alright. Well, here’s the thing. You’ve got a very normal crack in a wall there. Cracks often form over doors, like exactly what you’re describing there, because that’s a weaker part of the wall. And for whatever reason, you had some settlement in your house and it caused this crack to open up. The fact that you’re spackling it is not going to solve it. It solves it for a season but it won’t solve it permanently.

What you need to do is you need to sand the area of the crack pretty well, because I want you to get out – get rid of all that extra spackle you’ve been putting on there. Then I want you to add a layer of fiberglass drywall tape, which is sort of like a netting. It’s a bit sticky-backed. And then I want you to spackle over the fiberglass netting – over the fiberglass tape – on both sides. Start with a narrow bead of spackle and then open it up wider and wider and wider. And that, on both sides of the wall, will make that wall strong enough to stand up to the movement that will happen the next time the wall expands or contracts.

You can’t just spackle it, because you’re not really doing anything to bridge that gap. You bridge that gap with the tape, spackle over the tape, now you’ve got a permanent repair. Does that make sense?

BRIAN: Yeah, that makes sense.

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

LESLIE: Still ahead, more homeowners than ever are going to take on a pretty decent-sized project this year. Find out what areas of your home are top on the list for improvements and learn where you can get money to help finance those fix-ups, when The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show continues.

ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by the Chamberlain MyQ Garage. If you forget to close your garage door, it alerts your smartphone so you can control it from anywhere. Works with most garage-door openers. Discover smarter possibilities at Chamberlain.com.

TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show on air and online at MoneyPit.com. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Well, home improvements are on the rise for spring, as more and more homeowners plan to spend money on making significant changes to their home.

LESLIE: Yeah, it’s really exciting news for the home improvement industry and homeowners alike. So here to talk about the type of projects that we’re going to see and how to pay for those improvements is Gary Miller, the business head of LightStream, which is a division of SunTrust Bank.

Welcome, Gary.

GARY: I’m glad to be here, Leslie.

TOM: So, Gary, let’s talk about the numbers when it comes to the percentage of homeowners that are actually tackling a home improvement project this year. You guys – obviously, in your business, you’re lending money to folks that are doing these improvements. You’re tracking the trends. What’s it look like for this spring and summer and fall beyond that? Are folks finally really diving in on the bigger projects?

GARY: Well, we definitely see a significant increase in lending for these types of projects. So we think, yeah, people are diving in a little bit and maybe taking care of some repairs that they’ve put off for a while or they’re just interested in doing some remodeling or some other projects to their home to – typical kinds of home improvement.

LESLIE: Gary, are you keeping track of the type of projects that people are applying for the funding for? Do you see a trend here?

GARY: The one trend, in terms of projects, the survey that we – we did a survey with Harris Poll and they did a nationwide survey of homeowners. And what we also see in our business is that outdoor projects seem to be very popular this year. I think a lot of people are planning on having some fun at their homes this summer. We see things like pools and decks and solar and spa and landscaping going on, so it does seem like the outdoor space is getting some extra attention this year in terms of home improvement projects.

TOM: Now, other areas that folks are remodeling – traditionally, kitchens and bathrooms deliver the best return on investment. Are you also seeing upticks in those projects, as well?

GARY: Definitely. Kitchen and bath are very popular, as well. And then the other thing we see is a little bit of repairs. It seems like there’s some more repairs going on this year. Maybe there’s been some deferred maintenance that’s been put off for a couple of years and people seem to be tackling those projects, as well.

LESLIE: And how much money do you think these homeowners are going to be investing in the projects that they’re undertaking?

GARY: Well, in the Harris Poll survey, we asked that very question. And most people are spending $5,000 or less on these projects. But still, there is upwards of 38 percent that are spending $5,000 or more on projects, so they’re taking on a little bit larger-type situations like, perhaps, a kitchen remodel or bath remodel or maybe a pool or some landscaping. Those projects can certainly run into a lot more money than some of the smaller repairs that we might – that we also see.

TOM: We’re talking to Gary Miller – he’s the business head of LightStream, a national online lending division of SunTrust Bank – about the home improvement projects that Americans are doing. They recently completed a survey that was done by Harris Poll. They found out that 56 percent of homeowners plan to spend money on home improvement projects this year.

The big question, Gary, is: how are they paying for those projects? If you think about all the ways there are to pay for projects, I mean you’ve got store credit cards, you have store finance programs, you have home equity line of credits, you have home equity loans, you have personal loans. How do you sort out all the options that you have as a consumer and make the best decision for yourself and your family?

GARY: Well, I think with smaller projects, you hit on a couple things. The smaller projects that people tackle are – usually come from savings or some type of a credit card: maybe a store card or maybe their own credit card. They put it on their credit card, they pay that off or it’s over time or maybe pretty quickly.

The larger projects, though, customers can consider some other options. They can consider a typical installment loan – either a home equity loan or an unsecured home improvement loan – to allow them to finance larger projects that might be $10,000, $20,000, $30,000. But still, they have to make a decision as can they afford the project? Do they want to part with cash? If they are going to finance it, what’s the best way to finance it? And there are some different options there that they should consider.

For example, if a customer does have enough equity in their home to take out a home equity line of credit, that can be an attractive loan-financing option for the customer. The rates are usually pretty competitive and the interest on those loans can be tax-deductible.

A lot of customers don’t have enough equity in their home to finance these projects and so they may want to consider another alternative besides their savings. And that’s where a home improvement loan – an unsecured home improvement loan, such as what LightStream offers – that may be an option for them if they don’t have an equity option. And those can be done, also, at attractive rates, although they don’t have – the interest does not have the tax-deductibility of a home equity loan or home equity line of credit.

TOM: So a home improvement loan is, essentially, a loan that’s dedicated specifically to home improvements? They can’t use that money for anything else?

GARY: That’s correct, yes. If it’s – the way our loans work here – LightStream, for example, they select a loan purpose and then they choose a home improvement. Then they need to use it for a home improvement project. But that can be any project; it’s not restricted.

TOM: A terrific idea. And so that information is on your website, which is LightStream.com, correct?

GARY: That’s correct, yes.

TOM: Alright. Lightstream.com. Gary Miller, head of business for LightStream, a national online lending division of SunTrust Bank. Interesting specialty: unsecured home improvement loans.

There’s always a way to find money if you want to improve your home, folks, and yeah, we’re here to help you spend it in the smartest possible way with the support of guys like Gary.

Thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit, Gary.

GARY: Hey, you’re welcome, Tom.

Thanks, Leslie.

LESLIE: Alright. Coming up, accidental poisonings, they send hundreds of thousands of children to hospital ERs every single year. We want to help you learn how to keep poison safe and out of reach from the little guys, after this.

TOM: Making good homes better, 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, with your home improvement question. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. If you do, you’ll get the answer to your home improvement question and you could win the Podium Ladder from Werner.

It’s a cool product. It’s got an extra-large platform, which allows you to stand on the ladder for long periods of time. It also has a guardrail, which you can hold onto and give you a bit of extra safety and a place to hold tools or anything else that you need while you’re working. In fact, the guardrail is designed to help hold lots of stuff.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. And the brand-new ladder style actually allows you to reach around in any direction, which is probably my favorite feature. Because you’re constantly repositioning a traditional ladder to get the right angle and the right pressure, depending on what project you’re working on. So this is hugely helpful.

Now, the Werner Podium Ladder is worth $129. And it’s going to one lucky caller this hour. And it’s actually also going to be part of our top products that we’ll be talking about from the floor of the National Hardware Show this month. So give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT for help with your project and a chance to win.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

LESLIE: Teddy in Oregon is dealing with a wet foundation. Tell us what’s going on.

TEDDY: Well, I am blessed with rain and clay soil here in Western Oregon. And I have a crawlspace that is wet. I lift up the plastic and there is mold and salamanders and slugs under there.

And so I did discover a crack in the foundation, which explains a lot of this moisture.

TOM: Well, yes and no. You know, concrete foundations and brick foundations are very porous. The fact that you have a crack doesn’t mean that that’s the only way water is getting through. What this does mean is that you have way too much water collecting on the outside of your house.

So what you need to do is to very carefully improve the drainage conditions at the foundation perimeter so that soil slopes away from the house. And even more important than that is to clean your gutter system and extend those downspouts away from the house. That’s really critical. If you do that, you will find that it makes a big difference on the amount of water that’s getting into that space and it will dry up quite nicely and frankly, quite quickly.

TEDDY: Oh, OK. I believe that the gutter system is all – has pipes out to the street.

TOM: Yep. You need to be sure about that and you need to be sure that they’re not disconnected or clogged.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. Especially if you’ve got something underground that you can’t monitor or see if it’s, in fact, free-flowing. You’ve got to make sure that it’s actually going somewhere, it’s connected. Because the smallest amount of a clog can produce a huge amount of water, in comparison to the amount of a clog, inside your house.

TEDDY: Oh, OK. OK. So, I’ll work on that and grade the soil away from the house.

Now, right now, I have – I was all set to buy a dehumidifier and then someone told me, “No, that won’t do you any good.” So, I put a fan on either end – one blowing in and one blowing out – so it could go out the vents.

TOM: But look, the solution here is not to try to get rid of the moisture that’s there; it’s to stop it from going there in the first place. So you need to follow our advice on this, which is specifically to improve the drainage conditions at the foundation perimeter. There’s advice on how to do this, online, at MoneyPit.com. It’s one of the most common questions we get asked and the solution is really quite simple, OK?

TEDDY: OK. Yeah.

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

Well, here’s an eye-opening statistic: the Consumer Products Safety Commission says more than 800,000 kids in this country will be rushed to an emergency room because of accidental poisonings this year. And 30 of those kids will die. Almost all of these poisonings will happen in the home. And to help, we’ve put together a few tips on how you can reduce the risk of poisoning in your home.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. Medicines are actually a growing cause of poisonings and those are relatively easy to control. You can ask your pharmacy to fill all of your prescriptions with childproof caps and then keep all medications on the highest shelves you can.

Now, dangerous household toxins aren’t as easy to control. They come in bigger bottles and they’re often in these bright and really inviting colors.

TOM: Now, cleaners and bleaches and paint solvents and pesticides often attract children. Simply keeping them in the garage isn’t enough. It’s a good idea to keep poisons safely locked up outside of your house, so consider keeping those in a shed, for example. These types of storage solutions can be locked so that the curious, little hands can’t get in when you’re looking the other way.

LESLIE: Also, it’s a really smart idea to keep your kids’ toys and your sports gear really stored far away from any chemicals. So when you are in a situation like your garage or your basement, try to keep those two areas of storage completely separate.

TOM: Yeah, good idea. Because if you think about it, the garage is the only place in the house where toys and toxins mix. And it can be really scary if you’re not paying attention.

We’ve got more tips on MoneyPit.com. Just search “toys and toxins don’t mix.”

LESLIE: Tim in Iowa has a wood-finishing question. How can we help you?

TIM: I’ve got an old house. It’s got fir floors. I have acquired some reclaimed fir flooring to put in an addition, to try and match up the rest of the house. The question I have is this is going to be the first floor that I redo in the house, so I kind of wanted to – whatever I do, I want to do it in the rest of the house.

But the question I have is on the clear finish. I know a lot of different companies are making a water-based clear. And my second question is whether – or as far as durability, whether if something of that product would be durable.

And then also, I have a couple of dogs that I’m worried about nail scratches, as far as sheen goes. I know the shinier it is, the easier – the more scratches you can see. So, I’m curious if there’s anything out there that shines good and will resist scratches.

TOM: Yeah. I mean I have always felt that oil-based floor finishes are key. Any time I’ve tried to use a water-based floor finish, it doesn’t seem to have the durability. So I would definitely recommend an oil-based floor finish, like a polyurethane.

And in terms of sheen, I think that semi-gloss is what you want, not high gloss because that does show. Not only does it show scratches, it shows a lot of dirt easier. But semi-gloss or satin is a nice color to have.

So I think the answer is oil-based, satin polyurethane is the solution.

TIM: Is there any kind of a two-part epoxy one that’s even more durable than the polyurethane or …?

TOM: There are. There are two-part finishes like that. Professional floor installers do use those, like when they do sort of gym floors and that kind of stuff. But it’s not sort of an over-the-counter purchase. You’d have to go to a flooring-finish supply company.

LESLIE: Oh, yeah. And that’s going to have to be applied in a manner where you’re really thinking about ventilation and protection of yourself, because that’s a fairly caustic material.

TIM: Alright. Thank you very much, guys.

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

LESLIE: Still ahead, we’re going to share some energy-saving secrets to help you get through summer with keeping some of that green in your wallet and not just on your lawn. The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show continues, after this.

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

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Now is the time when we jump into our Community section of the MoneyPit.com where Tommy from Nebraska posted: “I have central air conditioning and it works great. I’ve got a couple of rooms I really don’t use and I was wondering if I could just close up the vents and shut the doors to the rooms this summer to save some money on cooling. Would that work?”

TOM: Yes, it certainly would work. But a more efficient way to do that, Tommy, is to find the ducts that feed those rooms and look for the dampers on those ducts.

Now, dampers are kind of like doors that allow you to shut off certain ducts in the house. And if you could find that damper, it’s going to be sort of a metal handle. And if the metal handle is going parallel to the duct, then it’s fully open. If it’s going perpendicular to the duct, then it’s closed. So it’d be a good idea to find those dampers and close them off there, because that’s just a lot more efficient than simply closing louvers on a supply register. Because, frankly, they don’t really seal that well and some of the air will still get through.

LESLIE: Alright, Tommy. Hope that helps with what you’re trying to do over at your money pit, which is save some moolah.

Next up, Georgie in Tennessee posted: “My stainless-steel sink is noisy. Whenever the water hits the basin, it’s really loud. Is there anything I can do to quiet it?”

TOM: Yeah, actually, you could spray the bottom of the sink with urethane foam. You know the spray-foam insulation that you use to fill up gaps around your house? You can spray that across the bottom of the sink. Of course, you want to get all the stuff out of the way, mask the area off and so on. And that, actually, will stick to the sink and it will insulate that sink. And it will take that sort of tinnyness (ph) out of it as you drop things into it. It does work quite well.

LESLIE: Do you have to do anything to sort of help it adhere to the bottom of the sink? Scuff it up a little?

TOM: I don’t think so. I would just be careful not to interfere with the attachment mechanism so that when it comes, ultimately, time to remove that sink, you can easily get it out.

LESLIE: Alright. Hope that quiets things down at your money pit, Georgie.

TOM: Well, it’s the outdoor-living season and if you’d like to have a patio floor that’s unlike anyone else’s, Leslie has tips on how to do just that, in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

LESLIE: Yeah, this is one of the easiest ways that you can have the coolest outdoor area ever. You can actually paint a rug or any other sort of decorative detail onto your concrete patio. I would say, though, first on your list of supplies is going to be courage. You really have to have the courage to try this project and possibly fail. It’s OK. You can always redo it. You can always fix things. But this could be an awesome project. So really, gather the guts, do your research, find a design style you like and then try it.

So, first up, you’ve got to get your patio super-duper-duper-clean. You can mop it with 1 cup of vinegar per 1 quart of water and then spray it away with a hose. Now, you want to mark off the area for your faux rug with painter’s tape. And you want to make sure that you get all of your lines straight.

Now, important here: you’ve got to use concrete paint. You can get it at most home improvement stores and they can actually tint it to any color you want. So make sure you’re using the right paint for the right surface.

Now, you can first paint your background color and then let it dry overnight. Then once that’s really nice and dry, you can add your detail. And you can use stencils to create your design. Or if you’ve done some great research and you’ve got a lot of ideas, you can let your inner artist out and just freehand it. Just go for it. Have a lot of fun.

Now, when you’re done, you want to finish it with three coats of water-based polyurethane and then let that dry completely. Now, that drab slab of concrete that you had before is going to now be a completely unique and beautiful focal point. So get your courage and get out there and be creative.

TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Coming up next time on the program, is watering your lawn your least favorite chore? It might be the time to invest in an underground sprinkler system. They’ve never been more affordable or smarter about using less water. We’ll have all the tips you need to know, on the next edition of The Money Pit.

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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