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:
Hi, this is Tom Kraeutler and thanks for listening to the show. Hey, I wanted to take a moment to tell you about a cool contest we’re running right now with our friends at Therma-Tru. It’s called the Ugliest Door in America contest and two of our listeners could win a brand new, completely installed entry door worth up to $5,000. Entering is super easy, too, at MyUglyDoor.com. So if your front door, back door or patio door is looking a little worse for wear, log onto MyUglyDoor.com and you can enter to win a beautiful new entry door from Therma-Tru. That’s MyUglyDoor.com.
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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 now with your home improvement question. Call us now with your do-it-yourself dilemma at 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Welcome to summer. It’s just about here and I’m excited. It’s time to get outside and tackle those projects that are going to make our summer so much more enjoyable like perhaps the deck. If you haven’t tackled a deck improvement lately maybe now is the time to get that done or maybe you want to head inside and work on something that’s actually outside which makes it more comfortable; the air conditioning system. That would be a good project to talk about. Give us a call with what’s on your home improvement mind right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
We’ve got a great show planned for you today. Up first, almost a million children under the age of six in this country suffer from lead poisoning and we’ve heard a lot about lead from paint and toys in the news recently but there’s even a bigger danger from the lead paint you might have in your home. So coming up this hour we’re going to tell you what the EPA is doing about it and what you can do to protect your family.
LESLIE: And also ahead this hour, now that the weather is warmer across the country you might be noticing some musty smells in certain parts of your home and it’s not just because your home needs a good airing out or even because it’s an older house. That scent that you smell is actually coming from living organisms that are making themselves at home in your home; so we’re going to tell you how to kick them to the curb.
TOM: And we’ve got some great cooling tips coming up for you this hour. We’re going to teach you about the ideal temperatures you ought to be setting your AC at and how to make sure you’re using that cooling system in an energy-efficient way so you keep those costs down.
LESLIE: And of course we’ve got our weekly prize giveaway. This hour we’re giving away a new Ryobi four-volt power screwdriver. It’s up for grabs. It’s brand, spanking new to the market. It’s worth 30 bucks so give us a call now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT for your chance to win.
TOM: 888-666-3974. Let’s get right to those phones.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Joan in California wants to talk bathroom flooring. How can we help?
JOAN: Well, I want to put hardwood in my bathroom and when I mention that to people they think I’m crazy. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: Well, you might be, Joan, because if you use full-thickness hardwood in the bathroom and it gets wet it’s going to warp and twist and you will not be able to repair it.
LESLIE: Well, it doesn’t even have to get soaking wet.
TOM: Right.
LESLIE: It could just be from moisture.
TOM: Exactly. So we’ll give you two ideas. The first one is a product called laminate floor. Now laminate floor can look just like hardwood up to and including the graining in the wood. Now laminate floor can be completely submerged and it won’t twist. If you are actually convinced that you do not want laminate; you want some real wood product, the only choice is engineered hardwood.
LESLIE: And the reason why engineered will work in a high-moisture environment is it’s built in the same way that plywood is built, so it’s put together in layers of opposing grains which makes it structurally stable and then that topmost layer is the actual veneer of that hardwood that you want in the space.
TOM: But whatever you do, Joan, don’t use solid hardwood in the bathroom because, believe me, one spill; one toilet that overflows; situation like that, you may not have planned it, it just happens …
LESLIE: Poor ventilation.
TOM: That’s right. It could really be a big mess.
JOAN: Ah. OK, thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Joan. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Now we’re going to talk to Michael in New Jersey about installing a bathroom in a basement. What can we do for you today?
MICHAEL: Hi. I bought a four-bedroom house with only one bathroom and it’s a family of four (Tom and Leslie chuckle); so we’re having a little bit of problems with that.
TOM: (chuckling) I bet.
LESLIE: Scheduling.
TOM: (chuckling) Yeah.
MICHAEL: Right, exactly. Mother Nature always calls at the same time. Our basement has an eight-foot ceiling and it’s a huge basement.
TOM: OK.
MICHAEL: But the sewage pipe is three feet off the ground.
TOM: Right.
MICHAEL: Is there anything I can do to install a bathroom down there?
TOM: Yeah, you absolutely can. What you need is a type of pump …
LESLIE: Is it a lift pump? Yeah.
TOM: Yeah, and basically what happens is the waste flows into this pump in the floor that is about the size of a sump pump but it’s different; it’s all sealed and it grinds the waste and then lifts it up high enough so that gravity can make it flow into the typical drain line for the house.
LESLIE: Would you need one lift pump per fixture or can a lift pump in one bath handle like a toilet and a shower?
TOM: No, it would be one pump for the entire bathroom.
MICHAEL: Oh, OK.
TOM: And it’s a fairly big job. I mean don’t get me wrong. Because you have to break out the floor to have it installed and have all the lines installed and it has to be vented and of course it has to be, you know, drained into the house drain waste vent pipe.
MICHAEL: OK, thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are listening to the Money Pit and we can help you get everything ready for the summer season which is knocking on our doors, so give us a call with your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Up next, 38 million American homes have lead paint. Could yours be one of them? Find out what you can do about it, next.
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ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information visit ThermaTru.com.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show where we make good homes better. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. Hey, give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because one caller that we talk to on the air this hour is going to win a four-volt lithium ion power screwdriver from our friends over at Ryobi. It’s a great little tool that holds a charge for up to two years and it includes a set of driver bits. We know our Money Pit listeners though are going to go through those charges far faster than two years. (Tom chuckles) It’s worth 30 bucks so give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT for your chance to win right now.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Now it’s time to talk a bit about lead paint. Are you getting ready to renovate an older home? Well, if your home was built before 1978 chances are that it has lead-based paint somewhere under all of those layers and the EPA has come up with some brand, spanking new rules about how to handle those renovations and the repairs and all the painting jobs in an older home. The rules include lead-safe painting for pros – that’s a good thing – and following procedures that reduce dust. Now if you have an older home you definitely should consider getting a pro involved or, at the very least, do a little research about how to handle lead paint safely.
LESLIE: You know, I know it gets a little scary with lead paint but you do need to be aware because lead, it’s especially harmful for kids because it does affect their brain development and the vast majority of kids with lead poisoning, they’re exposed to lead from old paint that you find in their own homes. So our friends over at the EPA estimate that there are as many as eight million renovations each year that could generate dangerous levels of lead dust which, even in miniscule amounts, can harm kids. So go to their website – it’s EPA.gov – and get all the info you can there to keep your family safe.
TOM: 888-666-3974. If all of that talk about lead paint has reminded you that maybe you need to pick up a paintbrush in your house, pick up the phone and call us first. We can help.
Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: Martha in Texas is looking for some help revamping her kitchen. What can we do for you today?
MARTHA: Well, I’m circumnavigating a money pit right now, I’m afraid.
LESLIE: (chuckling) OK. (Tom chuckles)
MARTHA: We bought a 1981 contemporary home that is basically being fully remodeled and we’re bringing the bathrooms down to the studs. The kitchen, however, had been recently renovated in that it’s had new granite countertops and stone tile backsplashes. We had hoped that the solution for us would be to remove the old cabinet doors with visible hinges and old hardware …
TOM: OK.
MARTHA: … and just sort of reface that way. We’ve found out since that because the base cabinetry is plywood paint grade that new cabinet doors are going to be very heavy and not a great solution for this.
TOM: So wait a minute. You’re concerned that the new cabinet doors will be too heavy for the cabinets themselves?
LESLIE: What about the granite countertop that’s sitting on top of it?
TOM: Yeah. I don’t think that’s an issue.
MARTHA: I imagine there’s some substrate there but the doors we’re looking at are a very contemporary thick door. They’re not a Shaker style. They’re probably a good
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