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:
(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 now with your home improvement project. Call us now with your do-it-yourself dilemma. This is where work and fun meet because we try to make home improvement more enjoyable, more entertaining, more inspiring. We’re going to help you get …
LESLIE: More injury-free, I think you should say. (chuckling)
TOM: And injury-free. That’s right. So call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. That’s right. Even though the pirate look is in right now (Leslie chuckles), the eye patch is no excuse for a good pair of safety glasses. So, let’s work safely.
Hey, we’ve got a great show planned for you today. It is summer storm season and that means power failures are a frequent problem. But what if you have an electric garage door opener? That could get actually stuck in the down position. It can actually pretty unsafe. It’s happened to me. I’m sure it may have happened to you. We’re going to give you some safety tips to help you get through the next power failure with those sorts of appliances around your house.
LESLIE: And also, if you’re looking for a quick way to create some major home improvement nightmares, well why not just let the water into your house. We’re going to tell you about the weak points in your home and what you can do to keep them watertight.
TOM: And we’re giving away a 10-inch laser compound mitre saw from Ryobi. So, basically, not only do you get the home improvement question answered. You get the tools to get the job done.
LESLIE: Whoo-hoo!
TOM: If you want to win it it’s worth 145 bucks. We’re going to choose one name out of today’s Money Pit hardhat of callers. So let’s get right to the phones. 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Maryellen in Connecticut finds The Money Pit on WABC and wants to talk about paint and floors. How can we help you.
MARYELLEN: We have moved into a new home. Well, not new. It’s an older home and (INAUDIBLE) …
LESLIE: New for you. That’s OK.
MARYELLEN: (chuckling) Yeah. There’s a lot to fix up.
TOM: OK.
MARYELLEN: And we want to be able to save some money. We want to be able to put a nice wood floor down in our – on our ground level floor. But – or ground level portion of our house. But we just – right now we can’t really afford to and I’m hoping that there’s some way we could spruce up the vinyl floor that’s down there already. I would like to paint it but my concern is that it might be too slippery.
TOM: You know, if you paint the vinyl floor, it’s not likely to be able to stick and last. vinyl flooring is just not designed to be painted. If you want a cheap alternative, you know, go out and pick up some (INAUDIBLE) sheet vinyl and put that down as an option. But painting the floor when it’s vinyl is probably not a good idea.
MARYELLEN: Really?
TOM: Yeah, I don’t think it’s going to stick.
MARYELLEN: OK. Now, I just – another question is I’m not sure whether it’s vinyl or linoleum or whether it’s – would linoleum make a difference?
TOM: It doesn’t matter. No, I just wouldn’t recommend it. It’s just not designed for it. If it was a wood floor we could talk about some oil-based finishes that would be fairly durable but for a vinyl floor there’s no guarantee that it’s going to stick.
MARYELLEN: OK.
TOM: Alright, Maryellen?
MARYELLEN: That’s what I had heard but I was hoping (INAUDIBLE) …
TOM: Yeah. No, that’s accurate advice.
MARYELLEN: OK.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Brian in Michigan, welcome to The Money Pit. What can we do for you?
BRIAN: Well, me and my wife, we’re looking to buy our first home and …
LESLIE: Yeah, congratulations.
BRIAN: Thank you. And we’ve been – you know, we’ve looked at a few houses. And I’ve kind of noticed a trend in houses that have crawlspaces versus, you know, like a traditional basement, that there seems to be – at least where we live – a lot more settling going on with homes that are built over a crawlspace.
TOM: What leads you to believe, Brian, that there’s more settling in a home with a crawlspace? Because the foundation structure should be virtually identical. Both homes are going to have footings and probably block walls built on top of the reinforced footing. But why do you say that you see more settling? What is it that’s giving you that visual clue?
BRIAN: Well, it just seems like the houses that we’ve looked at, I mean you can feel it when you’re walking through like the living room. You know …
LESLIE: As far as floors angling one direction or are you noticing cracks?
BRIAN: Kind of like a sinking, you know? Yeah, I’ve noticed cracks in the walls. You know, me and my wife will be standing – both standing in the living room and for some reason she’s three inches taller than me now. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: Three inches. That’s a lot. (chuckling)
BRIAN: And I know I’m three inches taller than her. (chuckling)
TOM: Brian, I don’t think it has anything to do with crawlspace versus full basement because the construction methods are virtually identical.
BRIAN: OK.
TOM: Homes are built on crawlspaces where the water table dictates that you really can’t put a basement in because you’d be, basically, under water. And so, that’s really the critical difference. There’s also an economic savings. It’s a little less expensive to build a home on a crawlspace than a basement. Are these older homes that you’re looking at or what’s the average age range?
BRIAN: Yeah, they are mostly older homes.
TOM: Well see, if you have an older house you’re going to have a lot more movement and that’s fairly typical. Older homes, while they were not – they were not structurally unstable, they do tend to sag a lot more because they had longer spans than we typically have on newer homes today. So you’re going to get sag. And typically that will towards the inside of the house. In other words, the outside will be higher than when you get towards the middle because that’s sort of a typical sag pattern. But I wouldn’t attribute it to crawlspace versus basement.
What I would say to you is if you get to the point where you find a house that you really like and it has everything else that you’re looking for in it, make sure you get a professional home inspection done before you get too far into the contract. Typically, the way it works is you may sign a contract that’s contingent upon certain things like your ability to get a mortgage, et cetera or the ability for the house to have a certificate of occupancy. Make sure that you have a home inspection contingency in that contract and that it gives you a period of time to get the inspection done. Usually a couple to maybe three weeks from the time you sign it.
And then I would also recommend that you hold back on any of the big money deposits until you get the home inspection report. Because I can tell you from all the years I was in that end of the business that if anything’s going to go wrong with the transaction it’s going to happen early on when the home inspector first gets in there and can see what’s really going on. And that inspector should be able to tell you whether there’s any significant structural concern associated with the slopes that you’re seeing or if it’s just sort of the home’s personality showing itself. (Leslie chuckles)
BRIAN: Yes. (ph) (Chuckling)
LESLIE: And older homes do have a lot of personality.
BRIAN: Yeah. I’m noticing that. (chuckling)
TOM: Brian, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are tuned in to The Money Pit.
Hey, is your list of home maintenance chores overwhelming you? Well, we can help you sort it all out so call in your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: Step-by-step instructions on the proper completion of the honey-do list. Call us right now at (Leslie chuckles) 888-MONEY-PIT.
Hey, up next, safety tips for your automatic garage door opener including a tip on how to open it even when the power is out.
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ANNOUNCER: This segment of The Money Pit is sponsored by Angie’s List. Need work done around your house and don’t know who to call? You don’t have to guess who’s good and who’s not. Angie’s List has thousands of unbiased reports on local service companies with details from real member experience. Call 888-944-5478. Or visit AngiesList.com.
TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
And you know what, Tom?
TOM: What?
LESLIE: I think we should be nicknaming July amazing prize month.
TOM: OK. Because we’ve got good stuff?
LESLIE: We really have. We’ve had amazing prizes this month and the trend continues. That’s right, folks. If you call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, one caller to the show is going to win a great prize. It’s the Ryobi 10-inch laser compound mitre saw. It’s worth 145 bucks. And this saw features the exact line laser alignment system, which really takes the guesswork out of cutting expensive hardwood and moulding and baseboard because the laser is going to show you exactly where that cut is going to occur. So no more guessing, ‘Am I lined up with that pencil yet?’
TOM: You’ll have a perfect cut every single time and don’t be too disappointed if you don’t win today because there’s a great deal going on right now at your local Home Depot. If you buy any Ryobi mitre saw and a mitre saw QuickSTAND you get 50 bucks off your purchase. So …
LESLIE: Whoo-hoo!
TOM: … great deal. Call us right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Yeah, and you can put that great prize in your garage workshop. You know, are you like most Americans, Tom? Do you have an automatic garage door opener?
TOM: So, basically, if the power goes out I could be stuck in the garage …
LESLIE: Yeah.
TOM: … but I’d still have my Ryobi mitre saw to work with?
LESLIE: Well, it would be there. It would be waiting for you when that power …
TOM: But I have no power. So …
LESLIE: Exactly.
TOM: … how could I use it? (chuckling)
LESLIE: But you know what?
TOM: I’d need the 18-volt version. (chuckling)
LESLIE: (chuckling) Yeah, exactly. That’s very true. And you know what? A lot of people in this country do have automatic garage door openers. They’re great time and back savers; not to mention. But garage door openers, like you said, Tom, they run on electricity so they don’t work if you lose power. And you really want to avoid getting locked in or out of your garage. So you want to make sure that you can open your garage door by hand. And most of these modern, you know, electric garage door openers have a quick-release cord which is hanging down. All you need to do is pull that cord and that door is going to disconnect from the opener and then you can operate it manually.
TOM: Also, you know, all garage door openers must have two safety features to keep people or pets from being crushed by the garage door when it closes. So check your opener – especially if it’s an older one – to make sure it has these features.
First, you need a contact safety reverse. Now, this is the reverse that opens the door if something gets stuck under it. An easy way to test that is simply to slide a 2×4 under the door; close it. If it strikes the 2×4 it should bounce right back up. And also a non-contact safety reverse; for example, the electric eyes that pass along the base of the door. You have two types of safety reverse devices. Then this is going to make sure that your garage door is safe. If you have an older garage door opener, think about replacing it because the safety standards have continued to get better and better and better over the years and there are still a lot of injuries associated with automatic garage door openers. So make sure yours is safe so nobody gets hurt.
If you want more good safety tips for garage door openers and other safety design elements, you can log onto the website for AARP and that is at AARP.org/HomeDesign. That’s AARP.org/HomeDesign. Or call us right now with your home safety question at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Who’s next?
LESLIE: Now we’re going to talk plumbing with Jeff in Missouri. What’s going on at your money pit?
JEFF: Hi. I’ve got a mystery for you. I’ve got sulfur smell coming out of my cold water side in my master bath faucet. And it’s – you know, it’s not all the time. It’s just every once in a while. And I don’t know what’s causing that.
LESLIE: Does it happen after, say, you’ve been on vacation and not used the bath for a couple of days or just, you know, intermittently even as you’re using it a lot?
JEFF: Well, I’m (INAUDIBLE) driver so I’m only home like a couple days a week. But it’s not – it’s not every time I’m home. Just every now and then.
TOM: Do you have well water or city water?
JEFF: I’ve got well water.
TOM: Yeah, well that’s probably it. If you don’t run it a lot then you’re going to get that sulfur smell that comes out of it. You say it’s not happening all the time. Perhaps you may not notice it all the time. But if you have well water and you’re not running it, you know, frequently that’s very, very common. You could add a charcoal filtration system to the water and that would eliminate that, but so would just running the water a bit when you turn it on.
JEFF: But this only happens in that one – like in the master bath. It doesn’t happen in the kitchen, the other bathroom or anything else. That’s what the mystery part is.
TOM: Well, is that the farthest fixture away from the main?
JEFF: No, actually the closest.
TOM: Well, I wonder if it’s not the faucet at all. Have you checked the drain?
JEFF: Yeah, I’ve plugged the drains off and thinking it was in the drain, you know, and if I plugged them off and ran the water it’s still coming out of the cold side. I know if it’s the hot side you take the magnesium rod out.
TOM: Right.
JEFF: That helps.
TOM: Right.
JEFF: But the cold side is what throws me for a loop.
LESLIE: There’s a product from Roto-Rooter and it is a sort of liquid enzyme that you mix with warm water and you run it down your drains. And it’s made to sort of degunk and degrease and get rid of any buildup from soap and hair and what-not. But it’s also sort of an odor neutralizer. It might be worth a shot. You put it down the drains once a month and it sort of keeps things running efficiently.
JEFF: Well, alright, we’ll give that a shot. Because our house is only five years old so I didn’t think it would really be that. But we can give that a try and see what happens.
TOM: I’ve also heard that when you assemble the drains if you use an excessive amount of plumber’s putty, that tends to react with a lot of the stuff that goes down a drain. It can get very – a very ranky kind of a smell to it. So it could be something like that as well. It still could be in the drain that’s causing this issue because the water supply is reasonably pure. If you leave it sit for a long time and you run it, it might smell. But it shouldn’t be happening on an inconsistent basis. It’s generally going to happen when you first turn it on and then – everywhere – and then it’s going to slow down after you run it for a minute or two.
JEFF: That’s what the mystery part was. It was just in that master bath.
TOM: Well, let’s start looking more at the drains, Jeff. I think that you’re more likely to find the problem there.
Jeff, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Elizabeth in Utah has a condo situation. Hopefully we can help. What’s going on?
ELIZABETH: Hi. This is the situation. I’ve been in a condominium six years; that I purchased new. And the condominium – I bought 27 feet of bookcases and was going to – and a pool table, et cetera to finish the basement. And when you go down in the basement and you stand and look at where the cement meets the wood on the ceilings around the outer perimeter of the condo, when it rains really hard it’ll leak down about three inches all the way around. And if – when you go in the garage during that time there’s about a foot-and-a-half of cement up from the floor then I had a paneled part of it and you will see – every three or four feet you’ll see water leakage down to the floor. I don’t think that the thing really meets code as far as the distance from the land to the bricks. It’s stucco and then a flange of metal and then brick. And I think it’s about four inches, in some places, from the ground.
TOM: Yeah, that sounds very low. That’s a tricky grading situation. Elizabeth, the likely cause of this is a drainage problem. If there’s water ponding in the outside somewhere in this area, that’s going to absorb into the concrete and, through the force of capillarity, it will get drawn up and it can evidence itself in odd ways, which is kind of what you’re describing here. So you need to do a couple of things.
The first thing to do is to look at the drainage system on the roof. Do you have any downspouts that are any – that are discharging anywhere near the foundation?
ELIZABETH: You know what? There was a downspout that was underground and it was connected from the downspout to the condo adjacent, which is about 14 feet away. And it was kind of in the middle – it’s kind of – it’s an upside-down L shape. You know? The corner of my – because my house is a duplex so it’s like the back half of my house then a long, long side where it’s leaking.
TOM: OK, and what happened to this downspout?
ELIZABETH: And the downspout – they didn’t tell us, when we bought the condo but they connected and there was an underground drain that brought the water up to the surface of the grass and it was about halfway between the full length of the outside of it. But we had them move that down by the driveways and it’s still doing this.
TOM: Now, can you trace the water coming off of the roof down the downspouts and know where it’s ending up?
ELIZABETH: Not for sure. Because – well, it used to be that you would step out there and there’d be kind of a puddling. And nobody knew where it was coming from and we started digging and found this. Went down by the driveways. I haven’t – I’ve not noticed any water puddling and I haven’t gone down there and checked.
TOM: Alright. You know, the condominium association typically – and I don’t know what your ownership structure is, but the condominium association typically is going to have some responsibility here. And the board is going to have a fiduciary duty to make sure that your property, your structures don’t deteriorate from water leaks. So you may have to get together with those other property owners …
LESLIE: With the other people who are having the same situation.
TOM: … and perhaps even with an attorney and see if we can get this addressed. Because this is not an Elizabeth problem. This is a condominium problem. This is an association problem. And one of the benefits of living in an association is that you get to, you know, deal with these maintenance issues in a collective, communal way and, therefore, the cost doesn’t have to be borne by any one unit owner. Just because the leak is showing up in your unit doesn’t mean you’re responsible for fixing it. The line of demarcation, in terms of what’s real property and what’s not, is going to be set out in your condominium documents. But generally the structure is part of the association’s responsibility and if the structure is leaking the association has to fix it. So you’re just going to have to get some legal help and get to the bottom of this.
LESLIE: Ron in Richmond, Virginia, what can we do for you today?
RON: Oh, I just have a couple of questions about doing an addition.
TOM: OK.
LESLIE: OK.
RON: What should I expect to pay for about 800-square-foot foundation for a two-story addition?
TOM: Just the foundation? Or you mean just what’s the average per square foot price? Is that what you’re saying?
RON: Right. Yeah, the average.
TOM: Well, somewhere in between $100 and $200 a square foot in most parts of the country. It’s going to really depend on what you’re putting into that. If you’re doing an addition we would recommend that you hire an architect to design that first for a lot of reasons. Not only are you going to make sure that it comes out as you expect it to come out but, just as important, you’ll have a set of plans and a set of specifications. Once you have those specifications then you’ll be in a position to get competitive bidding.
LESLIE: You know, to shop around for a contractor who will then understand exactly what the scope of the project is. And so instead of individually chatting to each contractor and getting, you know, a rough idea based on what your individual conversation was, you’ve got a piece of paper that says ‘This is what I want’ and each contractor can bid on the same thing.
RON: Excellent. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Ron. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
Call us now with your home improvement question. Call us now with your mold question. You know, it’s damp and it’s humid now more than ever and we are getting tons of e-mails and calls to The Money Pit about mold. How do you know if you have it? How do you get rid of it? Questions like that are very, very frequent. And so, to answer many of them we created a special section of our website. It’s called the mold resource guide. It’s free. It’s in front of the password. It’s available for your use. If you have a mold question you can go to our website at MoneyPit.com; click on Ideas and Tips and check out the mold resource guide.
Back with more, after this.
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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: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show, making good homes better. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
And hey, we know that when you’re figuring out your next project budget matters. So if you’re wondering how many cans of paint you need to buy or how many square feet of carpet to order, you should visit MoneyPit.com for the best calculators and estimators for everything from paint to parquet floors. This way you’ll have everything you need without spending a dime more.
TOM: Budget always matters. You know the three most expensive words in home improvement.
LESLIE: Oh God, I can only imagine. What is it?
TOM: Might as well. (Leslie chuckles) Followed by the four most expensive words in home improvement.
LESLIE: While you’re at it. (laughing)
TOM: (laughing) While you’re at it. Call us now if you find yourself in that situation. 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: Alright, backsplash backtalk with Lisa in New York listening in on WENU. What can we do for you?
LISA: Hi. I have a backsplash behind my kitchen faucet and it’s underneath a windowsill; which the windowsill sits on top. And the laminate part has pulled away from the backsplash. And without destroying the windowsill and without destroying that whole backsplash, how can I get that repaired?
TOM: How long is that part of the backsplash? Is it, you know, the full length of the countertop? Is it …
LISA: It’s the full length of the counter and I have probably about 10 feet of countertop.
TOM: Hmm. Well, what happens is obviously you get a lot of water in there, right where the sink is. And so, you’ve have a delamination where the laminate has pulled off of the base of the countertop.
LISA: Right.
TOM: Is it – very typically when this happens, Lisa, it swells up.
LISA: Mm-hmm.
TOM: Did you notice that the sub-surface was swollen at all?
LISA: No, I haven’t. But I did notice that the laminate part that did pull away does kind of swell up away from it. So in the wintertime it does get kind of drafty there but not in the summertime.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Well, the only thing you can really try to do here is to try to re-glue it using some contact cement. To do that you’re going to have to get enough space between the laminate and the base. It’s probably some sort of oriented strand board or particleboard …
LISA: OK.
TOM: … or other type of substrate. And you’re going to have to get contact cement in there. You let it dry …
LESLIE: And you need to get the contact cement on both sides.
TOM: Yes.
LISA: Right.
LESLIE: On the laminate and on the OSB or the particleboard; whatever you’ve got there.
LISA: OK. Yeah, there’s a large enough gap there where I can get two hands in there.
TOM: Good. Well, you don’t need two hands. You just – you do need the brush on both sides.
LISA: OK.
TOM: And once you get it in there on both sides – and by the way, use the solvent-based contact cement. Don’t use the latex because it’s a lot more durable.
LISA: Solvent. OK.
TOM: Then you’re going to want to try to clamp it, if you possibly can.
LISA: Mm-hmm.
TOM: You may have to kind of figure out a way to get some pressure on that …
LISA: OK.
TOM: … and clamp that loose laminate back to the backsplash and then let it sit overnight.
LISA: Awesome.
TOM: And if you have any other – any contact cement that comes out you can use a contact cement solvent to kind of clean up what’s left over.
LISA: Great. Fantastic. Thank you guys so much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Lisa. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Robert in Tennessee’s got some window situation going on at his house. What can we help you with?
ROBERT: Well, what I’ve got is a bathroom with what I call a steel casement window.
TOM: OK.
ROBERT: It’s mounted right, you know, in the wall by the bathroom. I mean by the bath – over the bathtub. And it’s – when I say steel casement, you know, the frame and everything; the steel window.
TOM: Right.
ROBERT: You know, got the little crank-out handle. And it doesn’t work. (Leslie chuckles) But it’s all – I don’t know what – I don’t know why anybody would want to put a steel window in a bathroom.
TOM: (chuckling) In a bathroom. Right.
LESLIE: In a bathroom.
ROBERT: But it – and it’s really rusted bad. And I just wasn’t sure if it’d be worth my while to try to do something about the rust or replace the whole window.
TOM: Well, if it’s like most bathroom windows it’s probably just about the hardest window in the house to replace. Is it all tiled in?
ROBERT: Yeah, yeah.
TOM: Yeah, yeah.
ROBERT: Well about three-quarters up (ph).
TOM: Yeah, so it’s a tough window to replace. I think it’s probably worth, you know, giving some effort towards reducing some of that rust. You know, you might want to start with some naval jelly and some sandpaper and see if you can get that rust off and free it up enough to get it to work. It probably never was and never will be a very efficient window. But it might be worth an hour or two of your time to see if you can free it up, Robert, and just get it working until you get ready to do the right thing, which would be to replace it. Because the window technology, thankfully, today is very, very different than it was before.
ROBERT: OK. Well, I appreciate your help.
LESLIE: You are listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show.
Well, summer weather has been very, very wet in many parts of this country. And your home’s flashing, if it’s done correctly around your windows, doors and your roof, it’s one of the best ways to make sure your home is waterproofed. It’s also one of your home’s longest-lasting building components. So up next, we’ve got some flashing options and tips on installation.
(promo/theme song)
ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit was 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: It’s a great hour. It’s a great idea. This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
And you know what to do. You’ve got to dial that magic number – 1-888-MONEY-PIT – and ask your home improvement question on the air. If you do, one lucky caller we talk to today is going to win the Ryobi 10-inch laser compound mitre saw. This is a great prize. It’s worth $145 and the saw has an electric brake to stop the blade in seconds. It’s great for crown moulding, baseboards and just about every mitering job you’ve got around that house. The number, again – come on, you know it – it’s 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Now don’t be sad if you don’t happen to win. You can still get in on a great deal right now at your nearest Home Depot. If you buy any Ryobi mitre saw and a mitre saw QuickSTAND you are going to get 50 bucks off your purchase. Whoo-hoo! Everybody’s a winner.
TOM: Here’s one way that you would not be considered a winner and that is if water is leaking through to your house.
LESLIE: Uh-uh.
TOM: You know, water intrusion is one of the quickest ways to create mega problems in your home. It can not only cause structural damage but it can also encourage mold growth behind the walls, which is pretty scary because it’s a potential health hazard and you really can’t see it.
Something as simple as the right flashing, though, can make a big difference. Now, when you think of it, flashing, the old metal kind probably comes to mind. That is still around but now it’s not the first type of flashing that you really want to think about using because it’s antiquated and it’s hard to make it leak-free. What you want to think about using are some of these high-tech premium flashing materials that are made. They’re more flexible. They can get around tough spaces. One of the ones that we like is made by Grace and it’s called Vycor Plus.
LESLIE: Yeah, and this is one of those more modern materials of flashing that are self-adhering and flexible; like Tom said. And this really makes for easier installation because the flashing is going to curve around windowsills and door frames and even customize-shaped windows and doors. Because we know a lot of you out there are designing some interesting and uniquely shaped windows. And since they’re self-adhering they don’t require any special tools for the install itself. It’s just a matter of peeling off the sticker-like backing and then pressing the material into place to form a water and an air-resistant seal.
And the flashing isn’t just for your windows and your doors either. Your roof’s detail areas – such as chimneys, skylights, dormers, anything that protrudes through your roof or joining a …
TOM: Can leak.
LESLIE: Yeah, those are really some dangerous areas for leaks and they should be flashed very well as well. Grace makes a very specific kind of flashing for this called Grace Roof Detail Membrane. And it’s just like a membrane. It’s a second skin to seal up all those nooks and crannies. It really does the job.
TOM: Stuff works. For more information you could check out Grace’s entire family of weather barriers for roofs, windows, doors and decks at GraceAtHome.com. That’s GraceAtHome.com. And if you’ve suffered a leak in perhaps one of these summer storms that we’ve been having, call us. Let us help you get to the bottom of it. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: Tuning in on KNRS we’ve got Lori. Welcome. What can we help you with?
LORI: Yes, I purchased an older home approximately four years ago. When I bought the home, it’s got a crawlspace that runs underneath the length of the living room and dining room. And the ceiling of that crawlspace had no insulation. So I had insulation put in. When the people came to put the insulation in, they put plastic over the dirt in the crawlspace over the entire crawlspace.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: OK.
LORI: And I’ve got moisture buildup in that now. And I’m worried about mold and mildew under that and I don’t whether to take that up or what I should do.
TOM: Congratulations, Lori. That vapor barrier is doing exactly what it should be doing. (chuckling) So, that is why they put it down. That moisture, if it wasn’t getting trapped under the sheeting would be getting up into the insulation and that could be causing all sorts of problems. So it’s actually doing exactly what it’s supposed to do by keeping it under the plastic sheet itself.
LORI: So I should just leave that down and I don’t need to worry about it?
TOM: Leave it alone. Leave it alone. If you want to reduce crawlspace moisture that’s the right thing to do. The other things that you could do is take a look at the outside of your house, right Leslie?
LESLIE: Yeah, you could look at the gutter system on your home and make sure that you have enough downspouts and that they’re clean and free-flowing and the gutters themselves are clean.
LORI: OK.
LESLIE: You can look at the grading around your property and make sure that it slopes away from the house. This way you’re keeping all the water and the moisture away from the foundation wall.
LORI: OK.
LESLIE: But really, that’s what it’s supposed to be doing.
LORI: Yeah, I was just concerned that I’d get some mold built up that might go into the foundation.
TOM: No, that’s not going to be an issue because there’s no organic material. That moisture is staying at the soil level which is where it should be.
LORI: Great. OK, thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome, Lori. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Michael in New Jersey finds The Money Pit on WABC. What’s going on at your money pit?
MICHAEL: The problem that I’m having is we have an oil burner that is used for water and baseboard heating. And what’s happening is I get soot. It’s in the basement. But in the living room and upstairs in one of the bedrooms is a lot of black. There’s a lot of soot. And I just – we don’t know what’s wrong; you know, why that’s happening. We had to paint it like maybe four months ago and they’re still a lot of blackness in certain areas of the house; you know, in the ceilings and on the walls.
TOM: You have a hot – you have a hot water heating system?
MICHAEL: Yes.
TOM: OK. And when you say there’s blackness on the upstairs, are you seeing this on the walls where you see sort of a striping effect?
MICHAEL: On the walls; on the television we can see it; and on the walls. It’s – and you know, the thing is we had our boiler checked out. We have an annual maintenance and everything checked out right.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Right.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) OK.
MICHAEL: But I just can’t figure out – my wife can’t figure out why all this black soot …
LESLIE: Is it a new boiler or have you had this for a while?
MICHAEL: No, it actually – it’s an old boiler. It’s an oil burner. It must be about 12 years old but they told me it’s in excellent condition.
TOM: Alright, well a couple of things. First of all, on the walls and the ceiling do you see sort of striping where these deposits are?
MICHAEL: I asked my wife that. No, no. No striping at all.
TOM: When you say you see deposits, I mean, can you put your hand over it and it comes off on your hand?
MICHAEL: Oh, yeah. My wife, she’ll just take a towel and …
TOM: Alright, well listen. You have a problem, obviously. And it sounds to me like there could be some backdrafting of this. You could be getting some sooting that’s getting back into there. You may have some air pressure changes in the house. If you’re upstairs [it’s depressurized] (ph). It could be pulling combustion gas up into the house. It could, frankly, be unsafe. So I think you’re going to have to have this boiler checked out again. And you want to make sure that they do a draft test on it. There’s a device that gets inserted. It’s called a draft gauge and it’s inserted into the side of the flue pipe on an oil flue and it makes sure that the draft is actually moving where you think it’s moving and you can actually measure the efficiency of the system by checking the draft on it. That’s most likely what’s happening here and it could be unsafe. All of these combustion deposits should not be wafting back into your house.
By the way, the reason I asked you if it was striping is because very often you’ll get these lines on walls and ceilings where it’s darker in the area directly under the ceiling joists or directly across from the wall stud because those areas are colder than the adjoining walls and you get this condensation effect where it sort of sticks in uneven areas. But if you’re getting this sort of general, around the house – and I’m assuming that you don’t like burn lots of candles, do any other type of activity that would cause carbon …
MICHAEL: I had it checked out not too long ago by a reputable chimney service. It has a clay lining.
TOM: No, no. Not a chimney service. Not a chimney service. I want you to have an HVAC technician check this out. Not a chimney contractor.
MICHAEL: I believe he is licensed.
TOM: Well, don’t believe, OK? You’ve got to make sure.
MICHAEL: OK.
TOM: Because a chimney contractor is not going to have any clue when it comes to the proper function of your oil-fired boiler. You need a heating, ventilation and air conditioning expert for that. Trust me. Those guys are not technicians in the functionality of your heating equipment.
MICHAEL: Ah.
TOM: They can check the chimney and make sure it’s clean but they’re not going to have any clue as to whether or not it’s burning efficiently; whether it’s backdrafting or not and so on. So you need to have a heating technician check the boiler; not a chimney guy check the chimney.
MICHAEL: Oh boy, am I glad I called. Whoa, yes. I took it for granted that they would know this.
LESLIE: No.
TOM: Absolutely not, Michael. You’ve got to get the right technician there. And again, check that draft and do me a favor. Get a carbon monoxide detector, too. You ought to have one to protect yourself.
MICHAEL: OK. I certainly will. Oh, wow. Wow, am I glad I called.
TOM: Well, we’re glad you did, too. Michael, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And one of the many side jobs that I have is as the home improvement editor for AOL. We’re going to answer an e-mail that I got through my site at AOL – my blog – which I thought was a pretty interesting question, Leslie. And the question is what adds more value to a house? A deck or a patio?
LESLIE: Ooh.
TOM: We’ll figure it out, next.
ANNOUNCER: This segment of The Money Pit is sponsored by Angie’s List. Need work done around your house and don’t know who to call? You don’t have to guess who’s good and who’s not. Angie’s List has thousands of unbiased reports on local service companies with details from real member experience. Call 888-944-5478. Or visit AngiesList.com.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show, where we help you make good homes better. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
And hey, we can make your garden better right now. You know, roses – they really make a flower garden look lush and gorgeous; that is if you keep them blooming all season long. In our next e-newsletter we’re going to have a few simple tips that are going to help your roses stay in bloom for the entire summer and it’s not that hard. If you’re not already a subscriber to the Money Pit e-newsletter you can sign up now at MoneyPit.com. We’ve got lots of great information on our fun website. And you can also, if you’re feeling a little phone shy and don’t feel like getting on the radio with us, you can e-mail us a question any time you like by going to our website and clicking on Ask Tom and Leslie.
TOM: And Anna did just that and she has a question about what adds more value to a house. Anna says: ‘What adds more value to a home? A wooden deck or a patio of pavers? We’re making some home improvements to our home over the next year and want to sell it once the market gets better.’ Hope that happens soon.
LESLIE: I know, right.
TOM: ‘Can you compare and contrast the two options as far as cost, labor, DIY ability or contracted out, et cetera’?
OK, we know what you want to know. And Anna, you actually sent this to me via our AOL blog on the AOL real estate site. And so, let’s sort of talk about that. Leslie, you are certainly an expert in outdoor rooms and I don’t know that there’s one type of outdoor room that is more cost effective. I know both of them are pretty cost effective. I mean if you build – if you, first of all, build anything that’s outside, it’s a very inexpensive way of extending your living space.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: But considering decks or patios, I don’t know that I can say that one is more cost effective or going to give you a better return on investment than the other. I was not able to find any stats on patios.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) That compared the two?
TOM: Yeah. But I did find the 2006 cost versus value report which is produced by Remodeling Online. And they say that installing a deck’s going to give you a 76.8 return on investment when it comes time to sell your house.
LESLIE: That’s pretty good.
TOM: Which is pretty darn good. So, I would imagine that a patio return on investment is pretty similar to that. But Leslie, do you see more and more folks building outdoor rooms?
LESLIE: Absolutely. I mean they’re really very, very popular; especially since we’re sort of maxed out in our interior spaces and we’re looking for that little escape sort of. And the backyard really does provide that beautiful respite and that wonderful place to escape to. I think the difference in going with a paver patio or a wooden deck is your maintenance factor. You know with a wood deck …
TOM: Yeah, good point.
LESLIE: … there’s going to be a lot more things that you sort of have to pay attention to annually and then every few years you’re going to deal with refinishing. Whereas with pavers, you know, the most you’re going to have to do is wash them.
TOM: And Anna, I think the degree of difficulty is about the same. Anyone with basic construction knowledge could install either. The exception might be building a concrete patio, which does involve some specialized skills to handle the big old concrete truck. But building a brick patio isn’t nearly as difficult and certainly could be a DIY project.
I will say, though, before you build either a deck or a patio, make sure you get a building permit. You don’t want to have any problem with the code enforcement folks; especially when it comes time to sell your house.
LESLIE: Oh, yeah. And they’ll show up, believe me. If you don’t have the right paperwork they’ll know exactly where you live. Both are great ideas and good investments, though, Anna. Good luck with selling that house. Hopefully it’s sooner than later.
TOM: Thank you so much for spending this hour with us. We are just about out of time. Want to remind you that if you missed something on the show you can actually have an instant replay so you can catch anything that you missed at MoneyPit.com. We have all of our shows there ready to be replayed any time of the day or night. And we also have our show transcripts. Many times we will give a telephone number, website, product name or some other piece of critical information. And please don’t drive off the road. (Leslie chuckles) You can simply go to our website and check out the transcript for this weekend’s show.
LESLIE: Yeah, and the best part about the download is you can just pause it and write it down if you don’t feel like getting the transcript either.
TOM: I wish I could do that with you sometimes.
LESLIE: Hey. (Tom laughs) I was going to use that joke about you but I thought twice about it.
TOM: 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.
(theme song)
END HOUR 1 TEXT
(Copyright 2007 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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