Hosts: Tom Kraeutler & Leslie Segrete
(NOTE: Timestamps below correspond to the running time of the downloadable audio file of this show. Text represents a professional transcriptionist’s understanding of what was said. No guarantee of accuracy is expressed or implied. ‘Ph’ in parentheses indicates the phonetic or best guess of the actual spoken word.)
BEGIN HOUR 1 TEXT:
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TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT; call us right now at 888-666-3974 with your home improvement question, your do-it-yourself dilemma. Call us right now if you’d like to get some projects done in your house and you don’t know where to start. We will help you out at 888-666-3974.
We have a busy hour planned for you. Coming up, we’re going to talk about debunking, first, some real estate myths like is it a really bad time to sell a house. Well, maybe not if you know some tricks of the trade. We’re going to cover those in just a bit.
LESLIE: And we are terribly aware that there are just a few days of shopping left to get all of those gifts and everything that you need to get done before the big man in the red suit arrives. And even though you are rushed in all of your shopping chores, you want to make sure that you hold onto your receipts. It makes for easier exchanges and returns after the holidays, which you know are inevitable. So we’ve got some tips coming up for you for many happy returns from our friends over at Consumer Reports, coming up.
TOM: And also ahead, making sure your slippery sidewalks are safe for you and your pets. You know, the wrong type of deicing product can actually make those pets pretty sick; so we’re going to give you some tips on how to keep you and your pets safe as you deice those sidewalks.
LESLIE: And since the weather outside is frightful, we’ve got a great prize for you this hour. We’re giving away a Snow Joe Plus electric snow thrower. It’s worth 90 bucks but it could be yours for free.
TOM: It’s a pretty cool product. It actually throws 300 pounds of snow in 60 seconds. So it’ll definitely keep those walkways clear. Pick up the phone right now and give us a call. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Beverly in Delaware needs some help with a heating question. What’s going on?
BEVERLY: I need to know – we have an upstairs second floor that was added on later, before we bought the house, and there are two rooms with radiators but there’s a large hall upstairs that doesn’t have any heat.
TOM: OK.
BEVERLY: Is it better to leave the doors open or to keep the doors closed to the other rooms? Does it help for the heating for this first floor?
TOM: Well, are you using those rooms? Are you using both of those bedrooms?
BEVERLY: Not all the time.
TOM: OK. So I mean is this like for guests or that sort of thing?
BEVERLY: One is for guests; one is for an office but we don’t use it …
TOM: Well, for the one that’s for the guests I’d keep the heat turned down there. You say it’s radiators? Can you control the individual radiators by partially turning them off?
BEVERLY: We haven’t done that. How do we do that with the radiators?
TOM: Well, you can partially turn off the valve to the radiator. That will reduce the amount of heat that comes out of it. I mean the bottom line is if you’re not using the room and there’s no bathroom in there; there are no pipes to freeze, I would try to cut as much of the heat as I possibly can and I would keep the door closed.
BEVERLY: OK.
TOM: And the hall – you know, many hallways don’t have heat because it gets it from downstairs; it wafts up. But I mean if you want to save some money in winter and you’re not using a room, I would definitely try to do what I can to turn the heat off.
BEVERLY: OK, great. Thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome, Beverly. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Bobby in Texas has a question about a water heater. What can we do for you?
BOBBY: Hi there. I live in a home in Texas and I’ve been here for several years. I’ve had, recently, a problem with my water heater; the temperature not being real consistent. And I’ve called my home warranty people and had them check it out, thinking they would look at it and determine what the problem might be. They told me that the water heater was about 17 years old and they blamed the inconsistency on the temperature to be the bottom of the tank not being flushed out properly.
TOM: (chuckling) OK.
BOBBY: And since then, I’ve also noticed a very definite rust color whenever I turn the hot water on. Is that an indicator of the thing going out finally or …?
TOM: Not necessarily. Is this a gas water heater or electric?
BOBBY: It’s gas.
TOM: It’s gas?
BOBBY: Yeah.
TOM: Probably the reason that you have inconsistent hot water is because you have a bad thermostat and the fact that the water heater may or may not have been flushed out is not going to affect the temperature. If you have a lot of hard water; you get a lot of mineral salt deposits on the bottom of the tank, that could act as an insulator and make the water heater slightly less efficient but that’s not what’s causing this problem. You, my friend, have a bad thermostat and that valve has got to be replaced and your warranty company is trying to weasel out of doing just that.
BOBBY: That’s what I figured.
TOM: So you get those folks back in there and tell them to stop the double-talk and fix your water heater or replace it …
BOBBY: Right.
TOM: … or you will report them to the consumer affairs folks in your state.
BOBBY: Right.
TOM: Because this is a very bad habit that these home warranty companies have; is trying to give you a lot of double-talk about what may or may not be wrong. If the water heater is not working properly and it’s under warranty, they have to replace it. Don’t take no for an answer, Bobby.
BOBBY: Great, thanks for you help.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Days are left, folks; so we hope you’re getting all of your holiday home improvements done. If you don’t know where to start, give us a call; we’ll give you a hand. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We’re already done with our holiday shopping. (chuckles) Give us a …
TOM: You were done in like October. (laughs)
LESLIE: (chuckles) Hey, I get excited this time of year. You know the number where to find us; it’s 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Up next, we’re going to spread some holiday cheer onto the housing market because with so many houses for sale and fewer buyers and it also, now, seems that getting a home loan can be tougher than ever. So is it a terrible time to put your house on the market? Well, not says the folks at FrontDoor.com. We’re going to have some tips on how to get the best price for your house, next.
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ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit is brought to you by Ryobi, manufacturer of professional-feature power tools and accessories with an affordable price for the do-it-yourselfer. Ryobi Power Tools. Pro features. Affordable price. Available exclusively at The Home Depot. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. Pick up the phone and give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. We’d love to hear what you’re working on and give you a hand. Plus, we want to give away a great prize this hour to one lucky caller who gets their question answered on the air. We have got the Snow Joe Plus snow thrower. It is an electric snow thrower that makes clearing your walkways, porches, patios quick and easy. The whole snow thrower only weighs 12 pounds; so it’s super-lightweight. Plus, you don’t have to shovel the snow anymore. Just crank Joe up and brrrr; 300 pounds of snow per minute. But you’ve got to be in it to win it, so call us with your home improvement question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Well, you might have been considering selling your home this past year and then backed off of the idea because it seems like a really bad time to put your house on the market. Well, according to the experts at FrontDoor.com, that is a myth. In fact, in markets where home sales are picking up strongly, a seller can easily get an offer if the property is priced correctly; so that is the first thing to do and, if you’re looking to trade up, selling low on an existing home is more than offset by buying your new home at a lower price. Remember, it’s just monopoly money, folks. (Leslie chuckles) As long as you don’t sell your house and sit on it without spending that money on a new house, you can move up in this market; you can get great value. So if you’ve got to reduce the purchase price; if you’ve got to reduce the sale price on your current home, you can expect a reduced purchase price on your new home.
LESLIE: Yeah and then, on the bright side, when the market does recover, home price appreciation on the traded-up home is going to bring bigger bang for your buck. The key is as a buyer you want to make sure that there’s a bargain in this market. If you price your home much lower than your competition, you might even end up with a bidding war – which is so exciting. (Tom chuckles) So go ahead with your planned move. Just remember, price your home competitively. Don’t just pick a number out of the sky. Do your research and come up with a good number.
TOM: To find out the top ten real estate myths debunked, we’re going to cover that topic in the next edition of The Money Pit’s free e-newsletter. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up now at MoneyPit.com. We never sell or rent your e-mail address. We just send you great home improvement and home care tips every, single Friday morning. Details are at MoneyPit.com.
Let’s get back to those phones. Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: John in Connecticut needs some help in the bathroom. What can we do for you?
ANN: I’m sorry. My husband had to leave and it’s me, now, on the phone. (laughs)
LESLIE: (chuckling) OK.
TOM: OK, what’s your name?
ANN: He has no patience. (Tom and Leslie chuckle) That’s always what’s wrong with the toilet. (all laugh) The toilet runs unless you jiggle it; jiggle the little handle. And we can’t seem to get it fixed anywhere. Maybe it’s old and the parts aren’t available but is there something that we can do besides getting a new one?
TOM: Yes. Now you say the parts are not available anywhere? Have you tried the Fluidmaster website?
ANN: Fluidmaster? No.
TOM: Yeah, Fluidmaster is a good brand. They make toilet guts, essentially, for almost any fixture in the country. What’s happening is you need a new fill-and-flush valve, which are easily replaceable and …
LESLIE: And inexpensive, too.
TOM: And inexpensive and not a difficult project either. I mean if your husband is a bit handy, he could probably do it himself.
ANN: Yeah, he is. He can do it, probably. So it’s a fill-and-flush valve?
TOM: It’s a …
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Impatient but handy. (Female laughs)
TOM: (chuckling) Yes.
ANN: Oh, you know him, huh? (chuckles)
TOM: (overlapping voices) Fill-and-flush valve.
ANN: OK, so it’s a fill-and-flush valve and I can get it online at Fluidmaster.
TOM: Fluidmaster.com or it’s – they’re also sold at hardware stores and home centers all over the place.
ANN: Great. OK. Well, thank you very much. This is something we’ve been working – you know, talking about and never getting fixed.
TOM: Alright, well tell John he should have stayed on the phone because now he’s got a project to do. (Leslie chuckles)
ANN: I know. See?
TOM: Alright, Ann. Have a good day. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Andy in Michigan is looking to beat a chilly winter. How can we help you with your heating question?
ANDY : Well, I just bought a pellet stove and it’s running great; except for my ranch is – the basement is super hot and the upstairs is super cold. So I was – my idea was what about reversing the furnace? Because you know, the cold air returns are always on the floor and the heat vents are always toward the ceiling.
TOM: (chuckles) OK. So you would like to …
ANDY: (overlapping voices) Is that possible?
TOM: (groans) Now, tell me how the house – the entire house is normally heated by the furnace?
ANDY: Yes.
TOM: And where did you add this pellet stove?
ANDY: In the basement kind of opposite the furnace.
TOM: Alright. So obviously that’s why the basement is so warm.
ANDY: Right.
TOM: I would not recommend doing anything different to the furnace because it’s potentially dangerous.
ANDY: OK.
TOM: Furnaces are designed to run – is this a gas furnace?
ANDY: Yeah.
TOM: Yeah, you start messing with that you could do something dumb and cause a reversal of the draft …
LESLIE: Ooh, that could be very bad.
TOM: … and that would suck carbon monoxide into the house and that would be a really bad thing.
ANDY: OK.
TOM: So I wouldn’t do that. But in order to get some of that heat upstairs, what you might want to do is think about putting in some floor registers in the upstairs that maybe you can close off. If you put some registers in the floor that basically connect the ceiling of the basement to the floor above, then heat will come up that way; in fact, in the old days, that’s how they heated upstairs. They used to have big floor registers so that the heat from the fireplace or from the wood stove would waft up into the bedrooms.
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TOM: No, with no duct work; just basically …
LESLIE: Well, they’re essentially a duct themselves; the floor vent.
TOM: Yeah, exactly. It’s a hole right through the floor that has a grate on top.
ANYD: OK.
TOM: Alright, Andy. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. And it sounds like Andy’s pellet stove maybe is a little bit too big for that space.
LESLIE: Exactly. I’m like and my basement’s always super warm, so I’m like why would you want to put it there.
TOM: But people always do come up with really creative solutions like reversing the flow of the furnace. Not such a good idea. (chuckles)
LESLIE: Ed in New Jersey, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
ED: I just want to know the termite product I heard mentioned on your show at different times.
TOM: You have a termite problem in your house; you want to get rid of them? There’s a product that’s professionally applied called Termidor. It’s not something you can buy at a store. You have to have a pro apply the product but, basically, it’s an undetectable termidicide. So what that means is once it’s applied to the foundation perimeter and your foundation of the house, the termites pass through this; they get it on their bodies and because they’re social insects they pass it to each other and this is the way that they can kind of wipe out the entire termite problem around your house. Been around for a long time; works real well. Made by the BASF company but, again, you’ve got to have a pro apply it. It’s called Termidor.
ED: OK. Thanks very much.
TOM: Alright, Ed. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Hey, if you need help with a plumbing project then you are in luck because our next caller, Colleen in Missouri, has that exact question. What can we do for you?
COLLEEN: Well, we just purchased a home. It’s about 20 years old and we knew there were going to be some things that we were going to want to update or improve. One of those would be the commodes in the bathrooms. Three bathrooms, three at least 20-year-old units. And when a plumber came and looked at it he was saying, ‘You really don’t have …’ – you know, ‘There’s no water efficiency here. You’ve got some major usage issues that you could probably save a lot on.’ But if I’m going to replace it I’m not sure exactly what my options are. I mean how critical is that to me? How much am I going to save? What’s that going to equate to me? And if I do, what do I want to look for?
TOM: Well, there’s a new program out right now from the EPA. It’s called WaterSense. And this WaterSense certification is very similar to sort of the Energy Star program where you have manufacturers that are building plumbing fixtures to meet certain water efficiency and performance standards. And …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, like green guidelines.
TOM: Exactly. And right now there are plenty of WaterSense-labeled toilets and WaterSense-labeled faucets and shower fixtures available. So if I was choosing to replace plumbing fixtures today, I would look for WaterSense-certified products. This is going to not be an expensive upgrade because these fixtures are not any more or less expensive than any other new faucet or new toilet.
LESLIE: And I think it’s important to say that the showerheads and the faucets; you’re not going to notice a change in pressure. Yes, you’re saving water as far as the usage amount, but what they’ve done is they’ve put in a different type of aerator so you’re going to have more air forcing the water out so it feels like it has fantastic pressure while you’re still saving water. So you’re not going to sacrifice that great shower.
TOM: Now are you going to save so much water that you can pay for all of this stuff? My answer would be yes, eventually; but who knows how long you’re going to be in the house long enough for that. So I would say that if you want to replace the fixtures anyway, the best thing to do is go with WaterSense-certified products. If you’re happy with the existing fixtures, you can just continue to use them. There’s really no reason to replace them.
COLLEEN: OK.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Lester in New York needs some help with a patching project. What can we do for you?
LESTER: Yes, hi. I enjoy your program.
LESLIE: Thanks, Lester.
LESTER: I have some stress cracks in my kitchen ceiling.
TOM: OK.
LESTER: When I clean it off, the paint chips come off and the thickness of the defect is only the thickness of a couple of layers of paint.
TOM: OK.
LESTER: And I remember last time you said that such defects could be fixed with fiberglass tape and joint compound. And I’m wondering if the tape would even be too thick; that I would have to use either joint compound or spackle alone.
TOM: Well, if you’ve got a crack, the best way to stop it from cracking is to cover it with fiberglass; perforated fiberglass tape. Now it is thick and it’s not an easy project. It takes a number of layers. But what you want to do is first sand down that area so you get rid of any glaze on the paint; you get rid of any looseness of the paint. You put the fiberglass spackle – the fiberglass drywall tape down and then you put probably three coats of spackle; letting each one dry. So start with something that’s around a four-inch spackle blade. You sort of just cover the tape; then you put a little more and a little more and you sort of feather it out so it goes …
LESLIE: So it thins out as it gets wider.
TOM: Yeah, exactly. Now, after you’re done with that, you paint that ceiling again and if you use flat paint – we would recommend not anything with a gloss; flat paint because it hides those imperfections of the ceiling – then you won’t see it anymore. But that’s definitely the way to fix it if you don’t want to see that crack any further.
Lester, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Happy holidays from The Money Pit. We want to make sure that you all are enjoying your holiday season and we even want to make sure that once the gifts are all opened and that big return pile sort of builds up by the front door, that your returns go as smoothly as your Christmas dinner. So stick around.
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ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit is brought to you by Aprilaire, makers of professionally-installed, high-efficiency air cleaners. For more information go to Aprilaire.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And if you like what you hear on our show each week, visit MoneyPit.com for more detailed information, project tips and ideas to keep your money pit in tiptop shape. You could even download our podcast and listen to us on the run or maybe on the roof (Leslie chuckles); wherever you’re working on your money pit. You can also search past shows for anything you might have missed. All of that info is available for free at MoneyPit.com.
LESLIE: Alright, well everybody here at The Money Pit is wishing you all a very happy holiday season. And you know, as we get closer to the big day, you’re wondering, ‘Did I get the right gift for that person? Are they going to like it? What if so-and-so gives me something that I just don’t like and I have to head to the store?’ Well, post-holiday returns; they are inevitable and they can be a big headache-giving chore that you’d prefer not to do but you know it happens. So where do you start? What are the ground rules? Do you really need to have that sales slip? Do you need your receipt? And how long can you wait? Do I have to go the day after the big holiday or can I wait a month when the stores quiet down?
Well, according to Consumer Reports Holiday Giving Guide, yes, it’s very important to hang on to that receipt; but if you can’t find that sales receipt you can actually return the stuff even if you don’t play strictly by the rest of the rules. You want to stay polite and don’t assume that the first no you hear is the final word. Be persuasive.
TOM: Now, for the best chance of a successful return, don’t cut off any tags or get rid of any packaging as long as there’s any chance an item will have to go back to the store. Many companies have a return policy ranging from seven to ninety days, while others have no deadline. Electronics and appliance chains have the shortage return periods. They really don’t want your stuff back. And they also have really tough rules on open packages and restocking fees. So make sure you’re aware of those policies perhaps before you even buy the product to begin with if you’re giving it as a gift.
The bottom line, though, is if you’re persistent and if you’re polite, with all of these different products you generally can exchange it. So if you get that sweater you don’t like; if you get that third DVR (Leslie chuckles) – you just don’t need another one; or perhaps, guys, if you even got yet another tie from the family, you can get it back and pick up something that you like.
Something we hope you like is 888-MONEY-PIT; your toll-free solution for your home improvement dilemma. Call us right now. Let’s get back to those phones.
LESLIE: Alright, on to a cleaning question with Jill. How can we help you?
JILL: Well, I’ve installed marble countertops in my new kitchen; in my remodeled kitchen. And I’m finding very quickly – it’s only been about a month – that I’m getting spots on the counter that I can’t get off; not dirt spots but they seem to be almost like a sponge kind of spot. Like I’ve wiped it and it looks like the sponge mark is still there.
LESLIE: Marble is very, very, very porous and that’s why it’s generally not recommended as a countertop surface. If the natural stone look is something that you were leaning towards, that’s why granite is way more appropriate for that application; because marble does tend to suck up everything in sight.
Now, you’re saying it’s not really – it’s not like a wine stain or some sort of liquid.
JILL: No, it’s …
LESLIE: It’s just from like a wet sponge sitting there?
JILL: Right, right. I’ve wiped – when I wipe the counter – and all I use is just plain soap and water – what I’m finding is that there are marks. And it’s been sealed. I was told by the fabricator that it’s been sealed but it doesn’t seem like it’s holding the seal.
TOM: Well, marble needs a lot of maintenance and that’s one of the issues of using that natural material. There’s a good website out there called Stone Care International. They’re website is StoneCare.com. And they have a marble cleaner and sealer called Marbamist.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. It’s a hard one to say.
TOM: And then they have another product called Spray-N-Seal. And those are both good products to use on an ongoing basis to try to keep this in good shape, but when you buy marble you need a lot of maintenance.
LESLIE: And you know what else works good with marble is borax. If you just carefully and gently take some borax and rub it into the surface with a moistened cloth and then rinse it well with warm water and then buff it with a clean, soft cloth; that could give you a head start in getting that stain out and then keep you towards the maintenance.
TOM: Jill, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: John in Texas has a question about grout. What can we help you with?
JOHN: Yes, I have a kitchen that has white tile and it has a lighter grout as well. And we’re not wanting to replace the tile but wanting to give it a more updated look and was thinking of going with – wondering if you can actually – can you regrout the tile or maybe use a dye with a darker – to give it a darker grout line?
LESLIE: Ooh, you want to go like contrast-y; like dark gray and white or black and white?
JOHN: Exactly.
LESLIE: That would be really pretty. What condition is the grout in at the moment and has it been sealed?
JOHN: I don’t believe it’s been sealed because it is kind of – you know, it’s a little dirty; it’s not as clean as it could be. And that’s one of the reasons we want a darker grout, too; not only for the contrast but also to maybe hide some of the dirt, too. But as far as condition, it’s in pretty good condition but it could use a cleanup.
LESLIE: There’s actually a product called Aqua Mix which is a grout colorant and you can use it to either restore the existing color or you can recolor it or change the color completely.
JOHN: OK.
LESLIE: It even works the opposite way; from dark to light. It’s eco-friendly, it lasts a long time and it’s easy to apply and you can buy it online at AquaMix.com.
JOHN: OK.
LESLIE: But if it’s in good shape, I would say just go ahead and cover over it and then make sure you do seal it so that you don’t have to worry about any sort of stains ever getting on it; even though it’s dark and you won’t be able to see it.
JOHN: OK, awesome. Well, that seems a lot easier than trying to, I guess, grind out the grout and floating over some new stuff.
TOM: Yeah, we’re all for trying the easy stuff first, John. You can always go that route later.
JOHN: I like that idea. (chuckles) Alright, thank you.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show and one winter chore that is inevitable is deicing your sidewalks, walkways, driveways. You name it; if it’s slippery that is a problem you want to solve lickety-split. But if you’ve got pets at home, which is the right product; which one is safe for them to walk upon? Because you know pets step on it; they lick their feet; everything goes into a dog’s mouth, much like a child. So you really need to be cautious.
When we come back we are going to have pet-friendly snow-and-ice-melting products, so stick around.
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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is being brought to you by Guardian Home Standby Generators, America’s choice in power outage protection. Learn more at GuardianGenerators.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And if you decided to get your home ready for the holidays by holding a painting party and inviting all of your friends and then serving eggnog (Leslie chuckles) and now you’ve found that you need to change the name of the dog to Blue, we can probably help you. Call us right now at 888-MONEY-PIT because not only will we give you the solution for restoring your pet’s natural coat; we will also throw your name in the Money Pit hardhat for a chance at winning the Snow Joe Plus snow thrower. It’s going out to one caller this hour. All you’ve got to do is ask your home improvement question on the air to be qualified to win. The Snow Joe Plus is an electric snow thrower that actually clears 300 pounds of snow per minute. That number, 1-888-MONEY-PIT. We will toss your name into the Money Pit hardhat and perhaps be sending that snow thrower out to you. We will ship it, though. We will not throw it.
LESLIE: (chuckling) Alright. Well, now that you’ve got the snow off all of your walkways, you really need to be concerned about those surfaces sort of freezing over and becoming slippery. And if you’ve got pets, you know the average chemicals that you can pick up at the home center might not be the greatest option that you could pick up when you’re thinking about deicing. You want to make sure that when you go to purchase something that you look at the label. Read it before you put it into the car and make sure that it’s a product that’s safe for use around pets. Because remember, your pets, they’re outside walking; they don’t have their shoes on. They could get a chemical burn or, worse, they could start licking their paws and something in it could really disagree with them in a very hazardous way. So make sure you read the labels. Look to see that it’s a pet-safe product.
And if you’re looking for an option that’s a lot more user-friendly for everybody, you can pick up some sand or some gravel that’ll give some nice traction. Kitty litter also works well. But you want to make sure that once the storms have subsided that you sweep up any excess just so that the area outside doesn’t get messy and your neighbors don’t get mad at you.
TOM: 888-666-3974. Let’s get back to those phones. Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: We’re going to talk to Drafty Dan in Rhode Island. What’s going on?
DAN: I have an older home that I purchased back in March; so I’m finding out new things all the time. Of all places, I’m getting drafts through wall outlets.
TOM: That’s not unusual at all and there’s a simple solution for that, Dan.
DAN: Great.
TOM: What you need to do is get some wall outlet gaskets. There’s actually a foam gasket that’s specifically designed to fit around an outlet; like a two-plugged outlet. They also have them to fit around light switches; either a single light switch or a double light switch; a small, narrow one; or the big decorous switches. And the way you install those is you remove the switch plate on the outside of the outlet or the light switch and then you put this rubber gasket or foam gasket behind that and then you reinstall the switch plate and it does a great job of sealing those gaps out.
DAN: OK. I mean I noticed on a couple of the switches that the hole that was cut out wasn’t exactly like true square. Would that make up for any gaps for like an uneven cut in the drywall?
TOM: If you have a big gap around there there’s another thing that you could use and that’s a product called Great Stuff which is …
LESLIE: One of those expandable foams.
TOM: Expandable foam sealant.
DAN: (overlapping voices) Oh, that’s what I was thinking of trying. Yep.
TOM: Yep, that works well. Now the trick of the trade there is to spray it around that hole and then walk away. Don’t try to clean it up. Just let it dry. Then after it dries …
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Yeah, and underspray.
TOM: Yeah, don’t put too much because it does expand a lot. And then after it dries, you can go back with a knife and cut the excess off. But just walk away after you spray it; let it harden and it’s really easy to manage from there.
DAN: Yeah, I know that product well. I’ve used it down on a basement door that I put in.
TOM: It works very, very well. And by the way, if you’re going to use it for doors, there’s a special formulation for doors that doesn’t expand and force the door to sort of swell shut. So make sure you choose the right one for the product that you’re using.
Well, Dan, good luck with that home improvement project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Cindy in Iowa has a question about radiant heat. What can we do for you?
CINDY: Hi. I was wondering if you can put it under the subfloor rather than on top; like under carpet, under installed flooring.
TOM: Is this a room that’s going to have carpet in it?
CINDY: If I can afford the whole thing, yes. (Tom chuckles) Two rooms are carpeted. The rest of the house has vinyl on the floor.
TOM: The answer is yes and yes. If you’re talking about electric radiant heat, there are lots of great products out there that can actually go between the padding and the subfloors; generally the place that it goes. One of the leading manufacturers is a company called Warmly Yours. That’s there website, WarmlyYours.com. Very, very helpful website. Lots of options for the types of products that you can have.
LESLIE: It’s organized by the type of floor, so it sort of gets rid of any questioning. But Tom, if you were to put the radiant heat itself underneath the subfloor and then you’re dealing with padding and carpet or some sort of foam barrier and then like a laminate, does that sort of …?
TOM: Yeah, I don’t think that radiant heat – electric radiant heat – is going to work well by going under the subfloor. What will work under the subfloor is hydronic heat. If you have a hot water heating system and use a product like PEX – cross-linked polyethylene piping – that can be sort of wound underneath the subfloor and sort of warm the whole structure. But generally, with electric radiant heat, it goes on top of the subfloor and under the padding.
CINDY: OK.
TOM: And you can also put it, by the way, on top of the subfloor and under laminate. It’s really durable stuff. Check out that website; WarmlyYours.com.
CINDY: I sure will. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show.
Up next, you know sometimes you need a little quiet time to get work done around the house and that’s especially true if you have a home office. But we’ve got some silent solutions to solve that, next.
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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Owens Corning. It’s easy to insulate your home and save money. What’s stopping you? Learn more at InsulateandSave.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. The website is MoneyPit.com, where you can also check out my AOL columns and my blog posts at WalletPop.com; all available right there at MoneyPit.com. Lots of tips, lots of info, lots of advice on how to take care of your house; on how to save some money doing it.
And while you’re there, you can also click on Ask Tom and Leslie and send us an e-mail question just like Denise did from Harrisonburg, Virginia.
LESLIE: Alright, Denise writes: ‘I listen to your show every week and I learn something new each time I listen.’ Well, thank you, Denise. ‘I’m working from home and need a very quiet environment, since I spend a lot of time on the phone. My two dogs bark when strangers pass the house and I feel this is unprofessional.’ (Tom chuckles) I know how that is. (chuckling) ‘So I’ve been taking my calls in the garage. With winter coming, it’s soon going to be too cold to do this. I have a room that I could – that I would like to soundproof but I need to do it economically and would prefer not a lot of structural changes, if this is possible.’
TOM: Dog training is pretty inexpensive, isn’t it? (Leslie chuckles) I mean I’m sure there’s a community group you could join that would teach you how to quiet those dogs. But in terms of making your room soundproof, there are actually a couple of very inexpensive things that you could do. First of all, you could add another layer of drywall. You have multiple layers of drywall; you want to separate them with a product called Green Glue, which sort of isolates …
LESLIE: And that’s like a sound-deadening glue, isn’t it?
TOM: Yeah, it kind of isolates the two sides of the drywall and that helps to absorb a lot of sound. Remember, you’re also going to want to use a solid door and one that is well-installed and perhaps even one that has sort of a weatherstripping around it because that will stop some of the sound transmission.
Now, Denise could probably also do some things with fabric to deaden sound, couldn’t she?
LESLIE: Well, also, I think, if you’ve got a hardwood floor, Denise, think about putting wall-to-wall carpeting; and if you’re not a wall-to-wall fan, definitely go with a sizable area rug because you want to deaden the sound, which really bounces off a wood floor greatly. If you’ve got tile, definitely put a throw rug down because tiles are just so echo-y and noisy. Think about if you’ve got one wall that seems to sort of get the sound through it more than others, put a decorative fabric drape on that wall out of like a heavy, almost velvety, chenille-y, weighty fabric so that that can sort of deaden that. If you’ve got leather furniture in the room, take that out because that just bounces noise. The more fabric, the more items you have on the wall, the more upholstered furniture that can sort of absorb the noises will keep it from being so loud in that room.
The other thing is just close the curtains on the windows (Tom chuckles) in the other room so the dogs aren’t barking all the time (chuckles); so they won’t see who’s walking by. But I know how that is.
TOM: Alright, we’ve got one here from Tom in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Tom says, ‘I built a shed in a fairly wet area of my yard a few years ago.’ Why did you do that, Tom? Did you look for the dampest, sloppiest place and then put the shed there? (Leslie chuckles) Because right now I bet you’re having a problem with moisture. Oh, look at this! He would like to try and get rid of the moisture that the slab now has in it (chuckles) because it’s on a concrete slab. Wants to know how to do that.
Well alright, Tom. We’re giving you a hard time but the truth is that if you have a concrete slab it’s very hydroscopic, which means it sucks up a lot of water. If you want to eliminate it you have to try to drain some of the water. So anything that you can do to reduce the saturation around that slab will have a big effect. For example, if you can regrade the soil so it slopes away from the walls of the shed; if you can add a gutter so that the water will be collected and diverted away, that will reduce the volume of water around the shed and therefore you’ll have less water sucking itself up into the slab, keeping your stuff nice and dry.
LESLIE: Alright, Tom. I hope that helps.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Thank you so much for spending this hour with us. The show continues online at MoneyPit.com where you can look up the answers to your home improvement questions all week long or pick up the phone and call us anytime day or night at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Leslie will answer.
I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: (chuckling) And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …
LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. Now I’m going to go answer the phones.
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(Copyright 2008 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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