Home Improvement Tips & Advice: Show #0126092

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 2 TEXT:

(promo/theme song)

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 with your home improvement question. Call us right now with your do-it-yourself dilemma. Call us right now if you’ve ever had a power failure and been left in the dark, because that’s actually what happened to us just before we went on the air this hour and I’m going to tell you right now that I’m glad to have the Generac standby generator (Leslie chuckles) in our studio, Leslie.

LESLIE: Yeah, you are so lucky to have purchased that because, otherwise, we would have no Money Pit for you.

TOM: But here we are, courtesy of Generac. We want to thank them for being there when we need them and we are here to help you, when you need it, with your home improvement projects.

Coming up this hour, we’re going to give you some tips on space heaters. You know, they are a great way to keep certain areas of your home warm and cut down on energy use; but safety is a must. We’re going to have some very important step-by-step space heater safety instructions to give you in just a bit.

LESLIE: And while we are talking about the subject of all things electrical and safety, have you ever wondered why outlets are all the way down near the floor; you know, where your kids, who are crawling around, can easily get at them? But we, as adults, have to bend and twist and reach just to get to them. Well, you can change all that and we’re going to tell you how.

TOM: And also stopping by this hour, our friend Norm Abram is going to be here to tell us about a few of his favorite things; from the long-running TV show The New Yankee Workshop. You got some tough woodworking questions? Norm’s the guy to ask them to. He’ll be here in just a bit.

LESLIE: And to keep you warm, we’re giving away an eco-friendly blanket that’s going to keep you nice and toasty on a cold and long winter’s night. It’s from Yumi & Laurie.

TOM: Yeah, that blanket is woven from organic cotton and bamboo fiber, so it’s a very, very green product. It’s worth almost 200 bucks; going to go to one caller who reaches us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Let’s get right to those phones.

Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: Pam in Michigan has a question about heating. How can we help you stay warm and toasty?

PAM: I have a manufactured home and it’s about 14 years old and I put it on some private property; you know, with a crawlspace and all. My question is this type of home has heating tubes – I don’t know if that’s the proper terminology for it or not but, to me, it resembles a flexible pipe; like a dryer vent pipe. OK? But it goes the whole length of the house and then it branches off to all the little floor registers.

TOM: Right.

PAM: And my question is would I save any money – would it be more efficient if I converted that over to regular ductwork?

TOM: No, not at all. You’re talking about flex duct and that’s actually very common, especially in a manufactured home. If you want to look for ways to save money, go back to basics here, Pam. Make sure you have at least 19 inches of fiberglass insulation in your attic space. Make sure you have insulation in the crawlspace, take a look at the weatherstripping; things like that. That’s going to be the best way to cut on energy costs. The duct system, as long as it’s properly installed, should be fine.

PAM: Oh, OK. Alright. Very good.

TOM: Alright, Pam. Good luck with that project.

PAM: Thank you. Bye now.

TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Joseph in Florida’s got a leaky fridge. Tell us about the problem.

JOSEPH: Well, what it is is that I’ve got a refrigerator that’s had some leaking in the corner by the freezer part and it’s been draining out. And the last time it happened was a couple of months ago and I sealed it up. I put some potting compound and stuff in the inside, the interior of it, where I was thinking ice was draining out through the – underneath from the freezer. Well, we did that and it lasted fine. Well, it happened about a week ago again; it started to leak again. So now we’re watching this build up more and more leak and it comes – it goes every once in a while; so I’m thinking it’s from the water freezing, expanding up the joints and it starts to get outside the refrigerator/freezer area and it starts to melt and cause the liquid to drain.

TOM: What kind of freezer is this? Is this a top/bottom freezer?

JOSEPH: You know, it’s a stand-up freezer; it’s a General Electric.

TOM: Yeah, with the refrigerator on the bottom, freezer on top?

JOSEPH: No, the refrigerator on the right side and the freezer on the left.

TOM: OK. And only the left side, only the freezer side, is leaking?

JOSEPH: Right, in the bottom corner.

TOM: The bottom corner.

JOSEPH: And I thought – yeah, and I checked for if it was …

TOM: Do you have water in the door?

JOSEPH: Yes, water [feeds it] (ph). Right.

TOM: Hey, Joe, how old is this refrigerator?

JOSEPH: It’s about eight years old.

TOM: Yep. Well, it’s probably self-defrosting and the self-defrosting refrigerators usually get rid of the water that’s accumulated during the defrost cycle via a drain tube that dumps it into a pan that’s at the bottom of the refrigerator. Now if that tube gets clogged or gets obstructed, the water can back up and then it can leak and show up exactly as you’ve described it. So …

JOSEPH: So you think I should check that tube.

TOM: I would check that tube and make sure it’s not obstructed, because that’s why it seems to happen so erratically; because it waits for the cycle, the water builds up, then you find it, you go looking for it, it dries up, goes away and then it happens again because it probably only happens when it runs through the defrost cycle. So I would look for that tube and unclog it and that should solve the problem.

LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Pick up the phone and give us a call. We want to help you get your project done. We are available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Up next, space heaters; they can be pretty dangerous. Can you use them safely? Well, you sure can. We’re going to tell you exactly what you need to know, next.

(theme song)

TOM: Helping you build big dreams, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and you should be part of The Money Pit, so pick up the phone and give us a call. Let us know what you are working on. If you ask us a question on the air, we’re going to put your name in the Money Pit hardhat and you’ve got a chance to win a great prize; especially for this chilly, wintery time of year. We’re giving away a warm, plush and eco-friendly blanket from our friends over at Yumi & Laurie. Now the blanket, it’s made of 100-percent organic and sustainable cotton and bamboo fibers and being that it’s all green, it’s totally antimicrobial and it’s machine washable. The prize is worth 195 bucks, so call us now, if you want to be toasty, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Well, if you have a chilly room in your house, you may have been tempted to turn to a space heater. It’s a good idea and it can be a great way to save some money on your heating bills. But you need to remember that space heaters should only be used to provide supplemental heat; not the heat for the entire house.

A couple of things to keep in mind is that you don’t want to, first, use a space heater to warm bedding, to cook food, to thaw pipes or to dry your clothing because that clothing becomes kindling and that starts a fire real quick. Now it sounds like a no-brainer but, believe us, it happens all the time.

Also, make sure to choose heating equipment that has the UL mark. Now, the UL mark on a product means that the Underwriter Laboratory’s technical staff have tested samples of the product to make sure that it is safe and those guys really know what they’re doing and they really put those heaters through their safety tests.

LESLIE: Yeah, and you also want to keep in mind that there’s a three-foot safety zone rule; remember, three foot. You want to keep things that can burn at least three feet away from space heaters and if you’ve got kids and pets at home you want to make sure that you supervise those little ones, even your four-legged friends, at all times when you’ve got your space heater going because everyone that’s crawling around on the floor could very easily get burned. You know, even with the slightest contact of that heating coil, you would think it wouldn’t cause a severe burn but it can, so just be cautious.

And remember, when you’re buying your space heater you want to look for devices that feature an automatic shutoff because you never know; you could accidentally walk away, forget it’s on and then hours later you’ve got a fire. And you also want to make sure that there are heating element guards on your space heater.

So just buy wisely and use them safely.

TOM: For more space heater tips, including a buying guide to purchasing safe heaters, you can sign up for our Money Pit e-newsletter. It’s free. It comes to your inbox every Friday, available right now at MoneyPit.com. And we are available right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Let’s get back to the phones.

LESLIE: Wendy in Virginia needs some help with a painting project. What can we do for you today?

WENDY: Yes, I have a bathroom that is hideous bright orange.

LESLIE: (chuckling) OK.

TOM: Hideous? Is that what it said on the paint can label; hideous bright orange? (laughs)

WENDY: No, I don’t believe it did. (chuckles) But anyway, it’s this very, very bright orange and it’s a high-gloss paint and it’s a sheetrock wall.

LESLIE: OK.

WENDY: And there are lumps and bumps in the sheetrock, so the high-gloss paint and everything, all the lumps and bumps …

LESLIE: Shows it all.

WENDY: I was wondering what I can do to get rid of this. Do I have to sand it all down and then paint (ph) over it or is there some kind of primer or something I can put on to …?

LESLIE: You’ve got all of the right ideas, Wendy; you just sort of need to put it together. What you need to do is, because you’re dealing with a surface that’s kind of uneven and you’re dealing with a high-gloss paint, you do want to give the entire room a light sanding. And then make sure, with a damp rag, you just go in and wipe away all the dust on the walls. And it’s not a huge undertaking but it is going to help you prep that surface to take the paint and really help it adhere.

Then, because it’s a bathroom, you want to go with an oil-based primer and prime that entire room, the ceiling, and let that dry really, really well. And then once that’s dry, you can take a latex paint and use that latex paint as your topcoat. And because it’s a bath, you generally want to go with something that has some sort of a sheen just because of all the moisture that does accumulate in a bathroom. But because your walls are a little bit uneven, I would go with the least amount of sheen that you can; you know, maybe like a satin or a pearl – whatever the manufacturer is calling that one notch above matte. And choose something that’s scrubbable and that’s really durable for the bath, but stay away from the super-glossy stuff because otherwise you’ll be able to see all of that crazy difference in the wall.

WENDY: OK.

LESLIE: OK? And this time don’t choose safety orange. (Tom chuckles)

WENDY: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. (chuckles) As it is, when people come to visit us we tell them ‘Put your sunglasses on’ when they have to use the bathroom. (Leslie chuckles) I mean it is that bright. (chuckles)

TOM: Alright, Wendy. Well, that’ll help tone it all down. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Howard in New York needs some help with a cinder block situation. Tell us what’s going on.

HOWARD: Yeah, basically my house was built in 1950 and I have a cinder block foundation.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

TOM: OK.

HOWARD: And a couple of the cinder blocks, the face of it just started crumbling. I found it on the dryer down there last week. And it’s not all the way through; it’s just part of it. And the people that had it before me painted the walls, so there’s some kind of paint on there. But it’s not all the cinder blocks. It’s just a scattered few. I have no leaks in the basement or anything. So I was wondering if there’s something I can patch that up with and then maybe paint over it?

TOM: And Howard, what you’re calling the deterioration; does it kind of look like a white, crusty material?

HOWARD: No, it’s like the whole cinder block itself is just crumbled and it just fell off like …

TOM: Alright, so this is physically deteriorated. OK. So if we’ve got to do a repair here, you’re going to have to do this in a couple of steps. First of all, you’ve got to remove the old paint. Now you could just wire-brush that and get it down to the block, because you can’t put any kind of repair material over paint that’s not adhered to the block wall because it just won’t stick.

HOWARD: Right.

TOM: And then secondly, you’re going to use an epoxy patching compound. You can’t use more mortar or concrete. You have to use epoxy patch and that you can trowel on and float out so it’s nice and flat and when you’re all done on all those spots, then you can repaint the wall and you won’t even know it’s there.

HOWARD: OK. Like I said, it’s only in a few spots and we have no water down the basement or anything. It just …

TOM: Yeah, it doesn’t sound too serious. You know, you may be getting some spawling in a little bit of that concrete if it’s only in a few spots but it would be pretty much a cosmetic job just to fix it up.

HOWARD: Great, I appreciate that.

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

LESLIE: Eddie in Texas, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you?

EDDIE: I’m calling from East Texas where we have a lot of different weather extremes.

TOM: OK.

EDDIE: As you may know, it’s pretty humid here in the summertime and we get some temperatures that are up to 100 degrees plus. And in the wintertime we actually get some weather that’s 15, 20 degrees. So I have a (inaudible at 0:13:10.9) house and I want to insulate underneath it and I have some panels that I wondered if I could put under there. And I guess my concern is whether it will cause me any problems with condensation.

TOM: Alright, what kind of panels are we talking about here, Eddie?

EDDIE: Not Styrofoam but like a foam-type insulation.

TOM: OK.

EDDIE: And they’re metal-clad on each side.

TOM: I don’t think that that’s going to give you a very good r value. What I would rather see you do is just use maybe a 12-inch batt of fiberglass insulation.

EDDIE: Right.

TOM: You have traditional floor joists down there?

EDDIE: Yes.

TOM: Then you want to put them up, unfaced fiberglass, in between the floor joists – you can buy those either as 16-inch batts or 24-inch batts, support it with insulation hangers and that’ll make that floor nice and toasty.

EDDIE: OK, that’s great.

TOM: Yeah, that would be a much better way to go.

EDDIE: Right. Alright, well thank you very much.

TOM: You’re welcome, Eddie. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Mary in California is having a problem with an addition in her home. What can we help you with?

MARY: I have a home that we had to rebuild after a fire and it’s all insulated and we’re making the garage into a family room.

TOM: OK.

MARY: And there is no heat going into the family room.

TOM: How is the rest of the house heated?

MARY: The rest of the house is by gas.

TOM: Forced air, hot water? What kind of distribution …?

MARY: Propane. Propane.

TOM: OK, that’s the fuel. What I need to know is whether you have ducts or radiators.

MARY: Ducts.

TOM: So, with a forced-air heating system you have ducts that deliver warm air and cool air to a conditioned space and then return ducts that take it back. The problem with converting a garage is, typically, they have at least one if not two and sometimes three exterior surfaces if it’s a one-story garage. And so you have the roof above and you have the door and maybe another exterior wall because they’re almost always in the corner of a house. You have a lot of exterior surfaces there and even though you insulate them, they need a lot of heat to overcome that space.

So what you’re going to have to determine is, first, ‘Can I extend the duct system into the garage so I deliver enough heat to be comfortable in there?’ That’s the first question. And if you can do that, then you have to figure out how to extend those ducts to do that. If you can’t, then you have to look into zoning that, which means adding a second heating system. If you’re going to zone, you’re going to want to probably divide up different sections of the house so that some are on one furnace and some are on another.

Now, if the family room is going to be a place that you don’t use frequently, you could consider a less-expensive type of heat like electric baseboard or even a through-the wall heat pump; but, again, that depends on how much time you’re going to spend in there. If you want it to be comfortable all the time, the best way to do that is to extend your existing central heating system.

MARY: So just extend it with heat going in and one going back out? Is that what you said?

TOM: Yes, that’s correct, conceptually. But it’s a lot easier said than done because you have to make sure that the existing heating system is big enough to do that and that you’re moving enough air in and out to actually make it comfortable and warm.

My first step would be to get in touch with my HVAC contractor and find out if it’s possible to extend the existing heating system and if he or she thinks that you have enough BTUs in that system to do that, because you want to maintain the value in your house and you want to create a family room. Let’s make sure that it’s just like any other space in your house that’s properly designed to heat all the time.

MARY: So would it be best, then, for the guy that built the house – because it just got rebuilt from being burned –

TOM: Whoever is your HVAC contractor, that would be the person to talk to – not necessarily the builder; whoever is servicing your systems because it’s a heat-loss calculation. There’s a way to actually measure how much heat you need in that space.

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

LESLIE: You are tuned to The Money Pit. When we come back, we’re going to chat with our good friend, Norm Abram, from The New Yankee Workshop, who has been at it for 20 years and he has seen a lot of changes in the home improvement business and he’s going to share with us some of his favorite projects and help you, along the way, get your favorite projects done. So stick around.

(theme song)

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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 are a fan of home improvement, you are no doubt a fan of our next guest. Norm Abram is the host of The New Yankee Workshop and, of course, also a cast member of This Old House.

LESLIE: Yeah, and he has been on TV – can you believe it? – for 20 years, over two decades, and the newest season, returning to PBS in January, is going to be called (Leslie sings) These Are a Few of Norm’s Favorite Things. (Tom and Norm laugh) So we’ve got Norm Abram joining us. How exciting. Welcome.

NORM: Thank you. It’s good to be on with you again.

TOM: So Norm, it’s been two decades.

LESLIE: Congratulations.

TOM: Does it seem that long?

NORM: That’s correct. Twenty years for The New Yankee Workshop and it’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years. I mean when we started the show we thought, ‘Oh, four years, 13 episodes a year. That’ll give us 52 programs.’

TOM: And you just repeat them, right? (chuckles)

NORM: Yeah, if we can do that we’ll feel good about that because, you know, woodworking is kind of evergreen; the projects hold up the test of time.

TOM: Let’s talk about that. How have things changed over those 20 years? I mean how has the economy of late impacted home improvement, in your view?

NORM: Well, on the home improvement side, everybody is feeling the pinch, certainly, with the current state of affairs. I ran into a builder today. I was actually picking up some materials today at sort of a specialty lumber yard that deals in mouldings and cherry and all kinds of hardwoods; not what you would find at your typical lumberyard. And he said, ‘It’s been a strange year.’ He said, ‘People are not doing the big projects. They’re not planning additions. They’re doing smaller jobs. They’re doing upkeep maintenance that they may have been putting off for a while.’ He has plenty of work, at least in this area, but things have slowed down on the larger jobs. But as he said – you know, he said, ‘I’ve been through this cycle three or four times and it will come back and we’ll start to build again.’

I know the tool people, many of which – a couple of which are actually sponsors on The New Yankee Workshop – they were feeling the pinch a while back and they’ll survive the cycle as well. They did feel that people who were attending any of the trade shows for the woodworking industry – and pretty much is the same with the housing industry – that those people who were attending were serious and they were buying; they weren’t just looking. So I think people who normally go to look didn’t show up because they kind of …

TOM: They’re not working.

NORM: They’re not working, so …

TOM: They can’t afford the flights.

NORM: Correct.

LESLIE: Norm, do you think this sort of – this climate has created a more savvy homeowner; somebody who’s more in the know about what goes into these projects or maybe learning or looking to learn more about doing the projects themselves? How do you think this affects the average homeowner?

NORM: I think a little bit of both. I think people are certainly more interested in learning how to do it themselves and we’ve been trying to help them do that for the last 20 – 30 years with This Old House, nearly. And they are more savvy. I think because of our show and other home improvement shows that are giving them information and showing them the new materials that are available and design ideas, people are getting into it themselves.

LESLIE: Norm, do you find that you ever sort of set a difficulty rating or level when you think about projects for The New Yankee Workshop? Is there something that has ever been too difficult or do you just sort of put everything out there and know that you can teach it in a way that folks will really feel the confidence to try?

NORM: Well, because our audience is varied, we really try to put a variety of skill levels necessary for the projects out there. For instance, in the upcoming season, where we’re going to have 21 shows from the past, actually – more like classics, we’re going to have 21 shows for season 21 that go back to seasons nine and ten. And the reason we’re bringing these back is because I found out, being at some of these woodworking shows and so forth, that we have a young audience coming up who has an interest in woodworking and some of these shows they may have never even seen because they’re ten years old.

But when you start looking through the list, you say, ‘OK, there’s one which is a fireplace mantle.’ Now that’s sort of – to me, that’s a medium-range project, medium skill level, and we do assume that people who are interested in woodworking either have some tools or are building an inventory of tools so that they can do these projects.

We have one which is simply a set of serving trays; two different ones in the same show. One is very simple; made out of cherry but it has some brass fittings on it that we actually fabricated in the shop. You could probably buy those in a good hardware store as well.

LESLIE: And you know what? If you go on your website, you have not changed how you look. (Norm and Tom laugh) In all these years you look exactly the same; holding that tray ten years ago.

TOM: Yeah, that’s because it’s the same picture.

NORM: Well, I’m a little grayer. (all laugh) And then we have like a mesquite bookcase, which was one of my favorite projects from season ten. And that one was an adventure because we were in Tucson, Arizona and we found a classic store that sold reproductions as well as original antiques and then we also got a lead on a source for this mesquite which, as you know, most people only refer to mesquite as (inaudible at 0:23:33.9) to barbecue.

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) For barbecue? (chuckles)

TOM: (overlapping voices) Something you grill with, yeah.

NORM: (overlapping voices) Right. I will never use another piece in the barbecue because it’s a beautiful wood and it doesn’t grow very quickly and I found myself out in the middle of the desert scrounging through piles of this mesquite to build these projects.

LESLIE: Now, in revisiting these projects, are you sort of, then, putting a modern spin or changing them or updating them, in any way, to make them a little bit more current?

NORM: Well, we’re not going to change any of the woodworking techniques used in the show because those still hold up very well. We’re doing a new introduction to the show; basically explaining to people, ‘We’re bringing these back because we think you’d be interested in seeing them.’ And when we’ve had the piece still available to us we talk about it a little bit. We’ve thought about the project a little bit more now that it’s been built and we’re actually using it, so it’s a little bit of an introduction that’s different from the original show, but the woodworking process will be the same. And again, because these shows are ten years old and the TV rights have pretty much expired, there’s going to be a huge audience out there who’s never seen these programs.

TOM: The New Yankee Workshop returns to PBS starting Saturday, January 3rd at 1:00 p.m. Of course, check your local listings.

Norm Abram, such a pleasure to have you on the show again. Congratulations on 20 years with The New Yankee Workshop and I think next year we’re going to be congratulating you on 30 years with This Old House.

NORM: I hope so. (chuckles)

LESLIE: Well, we love chatting with Norm.

Stick around, guys. When we come back, we’re going to tell you how to save your aching back and keep your kids safe, too. We’re going to explain how electrical outlets can be moved up higher, which will do a world of good to your whole house. Believe us, stick around.

(theme song)

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: Give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT and we will give you a chance to win our great prize this hour. One caller who gets on the air with us and asks their home improvement question is going to win the Yumi & Laurie blanQuette. It’s an eco-friendly blanket made of 100 percent organic cotton, worth almost 200 bucks. So call us right now with your home improvement question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Yeah, pick up the phone, give us a call, let us know what you are working on; especially if you’re thinking about doing any electrical upgrades around your house. You know, if you’ve got the electrician coming, why not put together a list of all the little doodads you want them to fix up around the house. This way you sort of save that service call fee over time and get everything tackled at once.

And while you’re thinking about improving the electrical systems in your home, think about the accessibility and how difficult it is for us adults who are moving on in the years and our backs are kind of aching. And when you go to use the outlets you bend down, you kind of have to get behind the furniture, they’re all they way on the floor, you’re twisting. It’s really not good for you and you end up with a backache just trying to plug in your new lamp. So if you’re getting the electrical work done around your house, have your electrician move your outlets or put your new outlets somewhere a bit higher off the floor – you know, not right where your kids and your pets can get to them – and it’s going to make your life a whole lot easier and it’s going to stop your aching back every time you plug in that vacuum or whatever it is.

And think about if you’re putting in a new high-tech TV, especially with this digital change that’s going on. Why not have your outlet put a lot higher up the wall so that when you’re putting on your new TV you’ve got a good place to plug it in and you’ll hide that cord without even letting anybody know where it’s plugged into.

TOM: Good tips.

888-666-3974. Who’s next?

LESLIE: Charles in Ohio, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

CHARLES: How cost effective would it be if you turned the TV off when you leave the room and turn the lights off, et cetera; just to name a couple of things that we sometimes leave on all day, half the night and et cetera? (Leslie chuckles)

TOM: Charles, do you have teenagers?

CHARLES: No. (all laugh) These are adults. (all laugh)

TOM: Oh, man.

LESLIE: Oh, no, because generally it’s the kids that are doing that.

TOM: It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, man.

CHARLES: Absolutely.

LESLIE: You know what, Charles? There’s actually a good website and the website is PaystoLiveGreen.com. And if you go to the website for Pays to Live Green, there is a kilowatt-per-hour energy savings calculator that you have there and it’s …

CHARLES: That’s what I want. That’s it.

LESLIE: It is completely – you just plug in the information: how many watts does your TV use; how many if you leave it on. It gives you different watts per hour based on – you could just look up the appliance, it’s all right there, and then just plug all the information in; it will tell you exactly how much it costs per hour.

CHARLES: That’s the resolution to my problem and I can show it to the people that I’ve complained about. (Leslie laughs) Thank you. I appreciate that.

TOM: Alright, Charles. We gave you the ammo, huh?

CHARLES: Absolutely. Thank you.

TOM: Alright. Well, good luck and let us know how you make out.

CHARLES: Bye.

TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Now the people that Charles was going to complain about are going to call us and say, ‘Does it really cost $100 a month to run my TV?

LESLIE: Yeah, it does. (Tom chuckles) And then think about it, if you leave it on – you know, the flat-screens only have a certain amount of hours lifespan.

TOM: Yeah.

LESLIE: So if you’re wasting it with nobody even watching it, suddenly you’re going to have to spend all that money on the electricity and then the money to buy a new one.

TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Up next, we’re going to talk about an old-fashioned way to heat your home. We’re talking about wood. If you’re thinking about heating your house with wood we’re going to have some tips to help you choose and install a wood stove, next.

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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: Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. You’ll get the answer to your home improvement question and an opportunity to win our prize this hour, which is this very cool Yumi & Laurie blanQuette worth almost 200 bucks. If you don’t want to call in, you can head on over to MoneyPit.com, click on Ask Tom and Leslie and send us an e-mail.

LESLIE: Alright, we’ve got one here from Bridget in Florida who writes: ‘What kind of material can you use behind and under a wood stove? Is there an online supplier of such products for wood stoves?’

TOM: That would be a flame-resistant material, Bridget. Actually, when you install a wood stove, it’s very, very critical to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines because in order to get the UL certification, those have to be very, very carefully written. Now typically, you need three feet of space around a wood stove between it and anything that’s flammable. There is, however, a way to shorten that distance and that is by creating what’s called a heat shield. And there are various materials that are available from stove suppliers that you can do this with. But essentially what happens is you create a second sort of shield that stands out about one inch from the wall. It’s held on with some special fasteners and it allows the air to pass behind it and, in effect, causes sort of a cooling of that wall as the warm air rises and the cool air falls. So you can install the heat shield and that is typically made out of metal or it could be made out of a different type of fire-resistant material. But the best thing to do is to get that advice from the wood stove supplier themselves.

LESLIE: Pinky in Houston is looking for the 411 on wood flooring. She wants to know the difference between hardwood, engineered hardwood and wood laminate; price comparisons and durability.

TOM: Well, they’re all pretty durable and laminate is super-durable and the least expensive. Hardwood, also a good-quality product. Engineered hardwood, however, is sort of like a hardwood plywood that’s very, very suitable for wet and damp spaces. So for example, Pinky, if you wanted to put hardwood floor in your basement, engineered hardwood would be the perfect choice for that.

LESLIE: Alright, I hope that clears it up. Enjoy your new floor, Pinky.

TOM: Well, opulence and glamour are two words not normally associated with home improvement. But they should be when it comes time to remodel your bathroom. Leslie’s got some tips to help you do just that on today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

LESLIE: Yeah, absolutely. You know, why not have an opulent and a glamorous space, especially in your bathroom? You want it to be a place where you can relax and sort of have this spa-like Zen retreat. Whatever your style is, you can bump it up a notch to high glamour while you’re relaxing in your bath. You do want it to be a place that you can go to and just adore. So when you’re remodeling your bath – and this is a simple thing that you can do by just changing out a light fixture – why not add the high-glamour of a gorgeous chandelier? You know, you can choose something that’s simple and maybe a wrought-iron-style one or an ornate crystal one. Whatever you pick, make sure when you put in your overhead fixture, make sure you put in a dimmer. A dimmer is fantastic because it can help you set the mood for a relaxing bath or bump up those lights for everything that you need to apply your makeup or get a good close shave. A dimmer is a fantastic addition to a bath and it only costs pennies to add.

TOM: Do you use a dimmer to get a good, close shave in the morning, Leslie?

LESLIE: Well, my husband does; I don’t. (Tom laughs) I’m not shaving my face.

TOM: 888-666-3974. This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Thank you so much for spending this hour with us. That number is available to you 24/7/365, so do call in your home improvement question whenever it happens to come to mind. We will call you back the next time we are in the studio.

Hey, coming up next week on The Money Pit, it’s the big shift – it’s coming up soon – from analog to digital TV. If you’ve still got an analog TV it ain’t gonna work until you go digital. We’re going to have some info that you need to make a smooth transition, including a tip on how you can get a rebate on those digital boxes that are necessary to help you make that switch. That’s all coming up next week on the program. The show now continues online at MoneyPit.com.

I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Helping you build big dreams.

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