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Penny-Wise Powder Room: Bathroom Updates Under $500 | Pipe Percussion: How to Silence Water Hammer | Rock the Look of Granite with DIY Terrazzo Product | Ep #2336

Bathroom Upgrades: Upgrade your bathroom on a budget with easy projects that cost less than $500. Silencing Water Hammer: Get tips for fixing water hammer to stop noisy plumbing pipes and the risk of damage and leaks. Stone-Based…

Leslie Segrete & Tom Kraeutler, Hosts of The Money Pit by Leave a Comment
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Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:

Do you have a home improvement or decor question? Call the show 24/7 at 888-MONEY-PIT (888-666-3974) or post your question here.

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0:00:31 TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
0:00:37 LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:00:38 TOM: And we are so glad to be with you today. If you’ve got a project that you’d like to get done, we would like to help you do just that. So as you look around your house, your condo, your co-op, wherever you call home, if there’s something on your to do list, the aim of this show is for you to slide those projects over to us, put them on our to do list. By reaching out to us with your questions, you can easily do that by going to moneypit.com/ask. That’s moneypit.com/ask. Coming up on today’s program, improving your bathroom. Well, that’s one of the best ways to add value and appeal to your home. But if you think those home improvements have to be costly, well, we’ve got a different approach. There are plenty of ways to give your bathroom a lift without breaking the bank. So we’re going to share bath updates. You can get done for under 500 bucks coming up.
0:01:24 LESLIE: And shake, rattle and bang are three sounds that you do not want coming out of your plumbing pipes. Those alarm noises are caused by a condition called water hammer and can cause serious leaks. So we’re going to share some simple tips to silence the water hammer for good.
0:01:38 TOM: Plus, it’s National Curb Appeal Month and a good time to focus on those outside projects, including dingy steps and porches and patios. So we’re going to share a new stone based terrazzo coating that you can do in a weekend that’s both durable and beautiful.
0:01:52 LESLIE: But first, we’d really like to hear from you guys. What are you working on? What are your renovation plans for the rest of the summer? Or maybe you’re already thinking about fall. Whatever is going on, let us help you get those projects done right and get them done efficiently so you don’t have to do them again.
0:02:06 TOM: Plus, if you’ve got a big painting project on your to do list, we’ve got a big powerful paint sprayer to keep away. Today it’s the Wagner Titan Control Max, 1700 for 379 bucks. We’re going to give it to one very fortunate listener drawn at random. If you want to make that, you reach out to us with your questions. You have to have a home improvement question to qualify. And our number here is 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974 or just go to MoneyPit.com/ask so that’s what we’ve got coming up so let’s get to it. Leslie who’s first?
0:02:39 LESLIE: Caitlin in Iowa is on the line. I need some help restoring an old bath. Tell us what’s going on.
0:02:45 CALLER: Hi. My husband and I moved into our 1917 farmhouse about a year ago.
0:02:50 LESLIE: And our main bathroom only.
0:02:52 CALLER: Has a clawfoot tub, and we would like a shower in it. So I was wondering if you had any tips on restoring the Clawfoot tub and installing a shower kit.
0:03:02 TOM: So you want to keep the tub, right? You don’t want to put a separate shower. You just want to basically plumb up a shower, head into that, correct?
0:03:10 CALLER: Correct.
0:03:10 TOM: Since it’s a clawfoot tub, if you disconnect the plumbing, then get that out of the house, because the best way to refinish that to resurface, that is to send it out to a company that does that. Because if you do it in the house itself, they can come in with acids and they can attach the old finish and they can add a new finish and then they can bring in heat, lights and bacon on. But I’ve found that it doesn’t work nearly as well as basically sending it out to a place that’s set up to re enamel a tub, and then you can have one that really lasts for the long haul. And after that, you know, installing a shower kit to that is pretty much a plumbing project. Lots of places like Restoration Hardware have kits or you can find them online where you could basically plumb up the pipe that comes up and then arcs over for the showerhead. And you need a circular shower curtain, a shower bar above it for a curtain. And you know, all that’s easy, but the hard part is getting the tub re enameled.
0:04:12 CALLER: Okay. And how costly is re an annoying tub?
0:04:15 TOM: It’s probably not as expensive as buying a new tub, and it’s going to last indefinitely.
0:04:19 CALLER: Okay, well, thank you for your advice.
0:04:21 TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us. At 88 Money Pit.
0:04:26 LESLIE: John in Pennsylvania is on the line. Has a question about flooring. What can we do for you today?
0:04:30 CALLER: We’re about to become homeowners and we need to rip up some carpet and we want to install hardwood flooring. We were curious how far you have to leave it away from your new floor, away from the wall.
0:04:41 TOM: Is it pre finished hardwood, John?
0:04:43 CALLER: Yeah, it’s all finished up.
0:04:44 TOM: Okay, well, that’s great. Now, I would recommend probably around half of an inch. You want to make it so that a piece of baseboard molding, plus shoe molding will cover it. So between baseboard and shoe molding, you’ve probably got about an inch to an inch and a quarter of overlap, so to speak. So generally, about a half inch will work. Most of the flooring manufacturers will give you specific advice on what the gap should be. But I think generally about a half inch is fine. And remember, that’s half inch away from the drywall because even you have space under the drywall as well as another half inch, that should give you plenty of room for expansion and contraction.
0:05:25 CALLER: Okay. And then the other question was, when we get the new floors delivered, they said you have to leave it a certain amount of time before we install it to get, I guess, acclimated to or whether.
0:05:36 TOM: You want to acclimated to the space that it’s going to be in. Because if it comes like really cold, for example, it’s going to kind of shrink. And then if it expands, it could buckle up. So you want to just put it in the room that you’re going to install it in and leave it there for a good couple of days to acclimate.
0:05:50 CALLER: Okay, great.
0:05:51 TOM: Good luck with that project. It’s very exciting. This is your first house?
0:05:54 CALLER: Yeah. First house? Yep.
0:05:55 TOM: All right, well, good luck.
0:05:57 CALLER: I appreciate it. Thank you.
0:05:59 LESLIE: Hey, Money Pit podcast fans, you want to help us out? Well, go ahead and leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, and we’re going to give you a virtual high five. Plus, you’ll be helping us spread the word about our show. Just go to Money Pit icon slash review.
0:06:14 TOM: Hey, guys, do you have a big painting project still on your to do list for the summer or fall? Well, if so, we’ve got a serious paint sprayer to give away that will help with those projects. It’s the Titan Control Mac 1700 Paint sprayer by Wagner and I like that. It pulls paint directly from a one or five gallon paint container and has a 30 foot hose. So if you’re painting your house, you’re paint your fence, you’re good to go. It’s available for 379 bucks, but we’re giving one away to one very lucky listener who calls in with their home improvement question. You can also post your question to Money Pit, .COM, slash ask or call us now with that question at 1-888-Money-Pit.
0:06:50 LESLIE: Charlene in Louisiana is on the line with a roofing question. What are you working on?
0:06:54 CALLER: I have a shallow roof on my house. They call it like a23 pitch. It’s not flat. I mean, it’s but it’s very shallow. Okay. Almost no attic, you know, about maybe two feet there. I was interested in an aluminum roof, you know, like a lifetime roof. And I want to know which would be better. That or a regular shingle roof. Like an architectural roof.
0:07:20 TOM: You don’t have the pitch for an asphalt shingle roof. You need to have at least a three, 12 or 412 roof to put in shingles.
0:07:28 CALLER: Well, I have shingles on it now, and I’ve been there for like 20 years.
0:07:31 TOM: I’m telling you, you may, but it’s not right. You can only put shingles on a roof. It’s got a minimum pitch of three, 12 or four, 12. And if you’ve got them on there right now, count your blessings. But it shouldn’t have been put on there. And any roofing manufacturer will tell you that if you know, if you your options therefore are either to do, say, a rolled roofing or a rubber roofing or a metal roof, as long as it’s rated for that low pitch. And I think a metal roof is a great investment if you’re going to be there for the long haul. But that’s what I would invest in because, you know, would that low of a pitch probably don’t see it very much. And you want to make sure that’s really going to be watertight. And with a low pitch, you just can’t use an architectural shingle. It just won’t work. Thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit.
0:08:20 LESLIE: All right. Next up, we’ve got Ryan, Minnesota, who’s working on a decking project. How can we help you?
0:08:25 CALLER: Yeah, I just bought a house and it was built in 2008. And I have a big wraparound porch, and it looks like it’s never been really maintained since they built it. And so, yeah, especially with the Minnesota winters up here and the weather looking to seal it, but not really sure what to use. And also, you know, not really wanting to have to do it every single year, you know, So just wanted to get some advice about what I could do.
0:08:53 TOM: So is the porch flooring a finished floor or is it like a deck, like pressure treated.
0:08:59 CALLER: Pressure treated wood? It’s a deck.
0:09:00 LESLIE: And is there anything on it currently?
0:09:02 CALLER: No.
0:09:02 TOM: So what you can do is you could apply a solid colored deck, Steve, to that.
0:09:08 CALLER: Okay.
0:09:09 TOM: And the solid color stain is going to last longer than a semi-transparent or certainly a transparent stain. But you use a deck stain because deck stains also have some durability to them.
0:09:20 LESLIE: Yeah. The benefit of the solid color stain is that because of the stain, it’s actually going to penetrate the surface of the wood. So the color will actually get into the lumber itself. And then a solid stain obviously has more pigment to it. So given the fact that your deck has had nothing on it for however many years, it probably looks a little worn in places and maybe worse for the wear. So a solid soon is going to sort of cover all of that up while giving you some color and still act as a stain. Since that’s what it is. And you’re generally if you apply it correctly, you’re going to get about five years on horizontal surfaces and you know, about seven years on vertical. It really depends on the weather conditions, the application, how you prep it is the wood totally dried out when you’re putting it on, but a solid stone is probably the best bet.
0:10:05 CALLER: Okay. Okay. I had one question about I’ve seen some commercials for some new products that are more kind of like concrete based, almost like a more of a paint type thing. What about those? Are those good or would you recommend using something like that or.
0:10:22 TOM: Don’t do it. I think you’re talking about the products that are like liquid siding and things of that nature. If you were going to consider a product like that, I would Google the name of that product and the word complaints, because we’ve seen a lot of complaints about those products that claim to, you know, encapsulate the surfaces that they’re applied to just not working very well. I would stick with the basics, a good quality, solid color stain from a good manufacturer is going to last a long time and you certainly won’t be doing.
0:10:50 CALLER: It every year. Okay, great. Well, I really appreciate the information and the help. Thank you again for taking my call.
0:10:56 TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
0:10:59 LESLIE: Well, improving your bathroom is one of the best ways to add value and appeal to your home. But if you think those improvements have to be costly, think again. We’ve got plenty of ways for you to give your bathroom a lift without breaking the bank. And today’s Home Solutions tip presented by Angie.
0:11:15 TOM: Now you can start with one home improvement that can actually save you money on medical bills. We’re talking about safety, grab bars around tubs and toilets to keep people of any age from taking a spill. And I do mean any age you want to go with safety bars that are one and one quarter to one and a half inches in diameter. And if you’re thinking they might link your whole bathroom, look like it’s a handicapped bath, it won’t because the new grab bars today, well, they look like towel holders, for example, and other decorative elements. And they also hold like £300. So you can get these grab bars that look like they belong in your bathroom, but still give you lots and lots of safety as a result.
0:11:51 LESLIE: Yeah. And you can also think about changing out your bathrooms, lighting now lighting is key, especially in powder rooms. And if they’ve got no windows, you need good lighting. So amp up existing wattage if your fixtures allow for it and replace older light fixtures with new ones for an all-around better look.
0:12:07 TOM: And finally, help your monthly budget and Mother Nature with faucets and accessories marked with the water sense labeled. And that’s a program put together by the EPA. And they could save you more than 500 gallons of water each year. And when you think about the fact that your shower accounts for almost 20% of your household water use, you can start to see how a high efficiency showerhead can definitely pay off big.
0:12:28 LESLIE: And that’s today’s Home Solutions Tip presented by Angie. There’s always a new problem to solve as a homeowner, but Angie’s network of 220,000 plus skilled pros makes it easy to find the help you need. Download the app today. Now we’re going to talk to Blaire in Virginia, who’s taking on a painting project. Tell us about the ceiling you’re working on.
0:12:48 CALLER: I pulled out my power washer and decided to clean off the deck and the walls and the ceiling. Now the ceiling needs to be repainted and it was originally painted with an oil based paint. I would like to not use oil base. I would like to go over it with a water base. But I don’t know, first off, if I can do that and what would be the best brands to look into.
0:13:11 TOM: So the first question is, is adhesion and what’s the ceiling made out of? Is this a drywall ceiling or wood ceiling? What is it.
0:13:17 CALLER: A wood ceiling?
0:13:18 TOM: What kind of wood.
0:13:19 CALLER: It’s like to supply wood?
0:13:21 TOM: The first thing I would do and you’ve got this all cleaned off is I would prime it and I would use either an L kind primer, which is water based, or I would use an oil primer. Just the primer. The primer. It’s important that sticks really, really well. And it’s also important that it adheres to whatever was there initially. And, you know, through the life of that ceiling, it may have had different paints, different finishes on it. We want to make sure we get primer on there. That’s going to have a real adhesive effect, because once you get Primer that sticks really well, then you could put latex ceiling paint or any type of like solid stain or something like that on top of it. But you got to use a good quality primer that’s really critical. So do the primer first on top of that. So it’s wood. You could use solid stain or you could use exterior paint. I would stick with a flat though, if you’re gonna use the paint.
0:14:12 CALLER: Right, Right. Okay. So some of our private well, you.
0:14:16 TOM: Would probably be more tempted to use that than oil based. But honestly, oil based works better than anything else. I just repainted my entire house and I have a cedar house, and we use solid stain, which I’m always promoting on the radio show because it has the most pigment in it. But what I don’t mention is that we had prime this prime the entire house. And the last time, you know, in the last time was I painted my house.
0:14:40 CALLER: When.
0:14:40 TOM: 14 years ago, 14 years because I used oil based primer back then and Solid stain and I did the same thing all over again because I want to get another 14 years out of it. But that’s what you’ll get if you do it right.
0:14:52 CALLER: Okay, I can do that again. Thank you very much and.
0:14:54 TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at eight At eight Money Pit.
0:14:58 LESLIE: Jeff in Wisconsin, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
0:15:01 CALLER: And once add insulation aspect of my old, old house that I just bought last year and I don’t know which way I should go with the loose fill or the that I want to do it myself to save money. But the loose fill I’m kind of uncomfortable with the all the weird conduits and wet boxes and stuff that are up there in the attic. It’s a walk up attic and we have a little bit of storage area there. I don’t know if I mean, if stapling the rolls up against the roof is I don’t know what’s going to give me the best value and time. Value and money value, obviously.
0:15:49 TOM: All right. So first of all, let’s talk about where the insulation goes. This attic is unfinished, correct? It’s not a sleeping space. Yeah, correct. So the attic does not the insulation in this case does not go up against the rafters. The attic, the insulation goes on the floor, what you would call the floor of the article. You’re standing in it now, is there is there a wood floor across the entire attic surface now?
0:16:12 CALLER: No, it’s not your attic.
0:16:14 TOM: No, it’s there’s not. So it’s open beams there. Right. You can look down to see the ceiling below.
0:16:19 CALLER: No, it’s got the rolls in between there. But like I said, we have a storage area which is the center of it that has plywood down on top.
0:16:31 TOM: Okay, That’s actually perfect. So here’s what I think you should do. I would buy unphased fiberglass batts. And just like the word says, unfazed means no paper face, no, you know, a vapor barrier face. It’s just plain old fiberglass bats. They lay these down perpendicular to the floor joists. So not parallel to but perpendicular. And you would lay these across the entire attic floor except for the area that you want to reserve for storage. So this is an easy way to kind of say double or more than double the amount of insulation that’s there. But still saving that storage space because once you put this down, it’s actually going to be higher than the thickness of the floor joist. And you can’t crush insulation; if you crush it, it doesn’t work. So that’s why it has to sit on top. So if you were to put like ten or 12 inch batts down like that, you would have a dramatic increase in energy efficiency.
0:17:30 CALLER: Oh, that’s not a bad idea. I like that. Okay, great. Thanks so much for your help.
0:17:35 TOM: You’re very welcome, Jeff. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
0:17:39 LESLIE: Wendy in Arkansas, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
0:17:42 CALLER: Recently, I had a leak in my roof, in my bedroom, and it started out just a water stain on the ceiling. It’s approximately 12 inches wide, 24 inches long. But here recently, in the past few weeks, it looks like it’s growing mold. It’s a spot about the size of a dinner plate, that it’s real dark black mold, Some I’m concerned that it may be black mold. And I don’t know, is there something that I can do to fix this, like with primer or paint and, you know, maybe bleach or something to kill the mold or is it something am I going to have to replace the sheetrock in the ceiling?
0:18:26 TOM: Well, first of all, do you think that you’ve dealt with the leak, that there’s no more there’s no longer a leak there?
0:18:30 CALLER: Well, I have a metal roof. And I think what has happened is the rain came a really, really bad storm and it was blowing all different directions. And I think the water actually blew under it blew up under the metal on the roof. I don’t think it’s actually a leak because I haven’t ever had any.
0:18:49 TOM: Here’s what you need to know. If your ceiling gets stained like that from a leak, you can’t just paint over it because the stain will come through. So what you have to do first is you have to prime it. So get an alcohol based primer or an oil based primer, Water or oil based. It doesn’t matter. And paint over that spot. Then once you paint it over with the primer, then you can paint. But the finish coat on top of that. But the primer has to be done first. If you’re concerned that it’s mold, you want to make sure it’s not, then I would take about it about a 15 to 20% bleach solution. So maybe like one part bleach, three parts, water, something like that can make it a bit stronger. Spray it down in that moldy area, let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes and then clean it off and then proceed with the with the primer and the paint.
0:19:37 CALLER: Okay. Like I said, I’m sorry. I can’t, you know, see the other side of the sheetrock because there is no adequate face.
0:19:46 TOM: Well, right now it’s a fairly small spot. So let’s just deal with that and move on. I wouldn’t make a bigger problem out of it just yet. If we think the leak was a one-time situation. So now we just have to deal with this. You know, it’s most likely a leak stain that you’re looking at in that mold.
0:20:04 CALLER: I’m pretty sure it’s mold in one spot. Spot. It does look, you know, fuzzy like, you know, it’s a white.
0:20:12 LESLIE: There is a product called a five-minute mold test. And it’s actually a swab within almost like a little tube thing. And you just swab the area that you think is mold and pop it in there and you’ll actually get a reading within 5 minutes telling you if it’s mold. And I think. Does it also tell you the type of mold, Tom?
0:20:27 TOM: I think it might. And they have a consulting service to that will follow up with you on the result and tell you what they recommend you do about it.
0:20:33 CALLER: Okay. Well, great that certainly helps. I’ll give it a try.
0:20:36 TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
0:20:41 LESLIE: Well, everybody is used to their homes making some noises, but when they’re coming from the plumbing, that is never good. When you hear shaking and rattling and banging, it’s not always the best. So those loud sounds are actually caused by a condition that’s called water hammer. And eventually it can cause damage to the pipes and even catastrophic leaks. This is never good.
0:21:03 TOM: Yeah. So let’s talk about what this actually is. Water hammer is cause when a valve closes quickly. So if you think about it, for example, your clothes washer, your dishwasher, your toilet, you have the momentum of all that water moving through the pipes and all of a sudden the valve closes. But the pipes carrying all of that water, all of that water that’s very heavy by the way, because water is £8 per gallon. The water keeps moving. And if the pipes are loose, it kind of shakes them. And that’s the water hammer that we hear. Because when you bang a pipe, you know, they’re copper for the most part, and you hear it throughout the entire house. So the solution is to first secure all the accessible pipes that you can get to. So if you can get to your crawl space of your basement and you see pipes going across the beams, you want to put some additional fasteners on there to hold them tight against that wood framing. If it’s held tight, it’s not going to shake and rattle and roll right now. The other thing that you can do is install what’s called a water hammer arrest or a shock suppressor. And that will help to quiet as well.
0:22:02 LESLIE: I mean, this all really sounds like a shock absorber for your car. I mean, how does it work?
0:22:06 TOM: It’s very similar. You know, it’s really pretty simple. It’s basically an air filled chamber with a rubber sort of diaphragm that absorbs the shock. So as the water screeches to a halt, it sort of can keep moving forward a little bit because that diaphragm is giving it a little bit of flex, a little bit of a bumper to sort of bounce off and then go back into the pipes without shaking them and making that racket. So that stops the pipes from banging, from vibrating and potentially even leaking. So if it’s something that you’re hearing, you really should take some steps to secure those pipes. And if it’s really bad, install the water hammer restaurant so that you will avoid the potential of a future significant leak in your house.
0:22:45 LESLIE: Yeah, no one wants that.
0:22:47 TOM: Well, I love summer because it’s a time when I can get a lot of projects done outside. And if you guys have a painting project that’s ongoing, we have got a serious paint sprayer to give away that will help you get those projects done. It is from Wagner. It’s the Titan Controlmax 1700 paint sprayer and it’s a high efficiency, airless sprayer with technology that produces 55% less overspray and the paint goes on three times faster than a roller. It’s available for 379 bucks. But one very lucky listener is going to win the Titan Controlmax 1700 by calling us at 1-888-Money-Pit or going through MoneyPit.com/ask. We’re going to draw one name out of the Money Pit hardhat and send that paint sprayer to you. So let’s get to it. The number again, 1-888-Money-Pit or go to MoneyPit.com/ask. Brian in Washington.
0:23:33 LESLIE: You’ve got the Money Pit how can we help you today?
0:23:35 CALLER: Last summer I repainted the exterior of my house and I used quite a few nails to kind of shore up some different things. I also fixed a window and after I repainted, I use galvanized nails. But this year I already have a lot of bleeding of rust from the nails coming through. So as I also did some caulking between the pieces of wood. And that seems to be peeling out already. So I was just wondering if there was something that I could, you know, go over the heads of the nails with something quick, something that I didn’t have to redo the whole side of the house.
0:24:09 TOM: When you did decide the house last summer, did you primate or did you just put the paint over the old paint?
0:24:14 CALLER: Lots of primer.
0:24:15 TOM: Lots of primer. Yeah. What kind of primer? Like was it a latex primer or oil primer? What was it?
0:24:21 CALLER: Gosh, I don’t know that I didn’t buy the paint, but we could.
0:24:24 TOM: But you did, Prime. You primed over those nail heads.
0:24:27 CALLER: Yes, we did this.
0:24:28 TOM: And it’s coming through because generally. Well, you say use galvanized. So that’s good with a cedar siding.
0:24:36 CALLER: No, it’s just conventional.
0:24:40 TOM: Yeah, well, unfortunately, it seems like the nails, the galvanized coating on nails didn’t really stand up very well. But generally the advice is this. When you finish nailing off that, you need to spot prime those nail heads. But if you’re telling me you already spot prime them and the stains coming right through, then I’m not really sure that we have any other suggestions for you. There are differences in the quality of primers. I would always recommend an oil based primer over a latex primer when a stain issue to deal with because it tends to seal it in better so that the only additional thing you might want to try is a sandwich down of the heads and then touch them up with an oil based primer and paint them again.
0:25:18 CALLER: All right. I guess an answer to my question.
0:25:21 LESLIE: Well, it’s national curb appeal, months. Yes, there’s a month for everything. And Tom, your card is in the mail, so keep an eye out for it.
0:25:28 TOM: I hope so.
0:25:29 LESLIE: It is really, though, a great time to focus on all of your outside projects. So if you’ve got dingy steps, porches, patios, there’s a lot you can do. Now, terrazzo has long been a floor that’s both durable and beautiful. But while traditional terrazzo was costly and expensive to install dish coatings, new terrazzo flooring system is not. Now. This is a stone based liquid flooring system that works indoors and out and provides a very realistic and attractive appearance.
0:25:55 TOM: Yeah, and the application is very easy. You simply mix the product and you pour it on the floor. Then you roll it out to spread the product evenly across the surface. Now one gown covers 60 square feet, so it’s perfect for a porch or steps or a small patio, or you could order more to cover pool decks and basements or garage floors. Now, once the terrazzo dries, you just apply a sealer on top of it and you’re good to go it complete clear resurfaces the existing floor or concrete surface with a flexible, watertight and very easy to clean finish.
0:26:25 LESLIE: Yeah, you know, you essentially get the beauty of real granite, but you just roll it on. And I mean, it’s tough stuff, too. It’s been tested for water, salt, chemical impact and abrasion resistance. And it also resists a hot tire pickup, meaning, you know, when you’ve been driving a while and your car’s super-hot tires, it’s not going to mess up as you drive on it. Plus, mold and mildew resistant, see, and these products even cover and hide hairline cracks and minor flaws in your existing surface so you can’t lose.
0:26:52 TOM: Plus, this is a project that you can easily do in a weekend. Now trouser comes in seven premixed colors. It dries quickly and it cleans up easily. With water you’ll find terrazzo along with other dyes, coatings, primers and decorative concrete products online at Lowe’s or at Daichcoatings.com. That’s Daichcoatings.com.
0:27:11 LESLIE: We’ve got Rebecca from Kansas on the line. What can we do for you today?
0:27:14 CALLER: We have a room that has the old wood paneling in it with the grooves and such, but we’d really like to not remove it. But is there some way we can get the drywall? Look without putting up drywall with putting on by hand or spattering and kind of doing a knock down or would it stick or what do we need to do?
0:27:39 LESLIE: Well, I feel like whatever you put on top of it, whether you fill it with mud or you use something to make the grooves go away and then try to smooth out the surface, you’re going to get so much movement from the walls just in general. Not that your house is moving, but you know it does and it gets a lot of movement just from people walking by that none of that’s going to stick in there and it’s going to end up falling off and looking weird and I’m going to have to do it again. So my suggestion is either embrace the paneling, look as far as the grooves and paint it to give it a different effect or put like a half inch drywall over it.
0:28:17 CALLER: If you painted it, would you have to put some kind of a primer so it’ll stick? Or would you need to do a light sand on it or.
0:28:24 LESLIE: Yes and yes, you want to make sure that the surface is clean, right? Obviously. So if there’s anything, you know, stickier. GROSS on it, you want to give it a good cleaning. You can use something like TSP, which is tri sodium phosphate, and that’s like a good wall prep product. Or you can give it a light sanding. But if you give it a nice if there’s a sheen to it, you may want to give it a light sanding, but not necessarily. And then I would use a really good heavy duty primer or something, perhaps like a Ben or a zines or something that’s, you know, hard core that’s going to stick to anything and then let that dry. And once that’s done, you can go ahead and put a latex topcoat on it. Okay?
0:29:01 CALLER: If we elected to do the half inch drywall, we’d just treat it like a normal old drywall, keep it, put the mud on and sand it and then paint it.
0:29:11 LESLIE: Absolutely. The only thing to consider is that any electrical outlets, your boxes, things like that are going to have to be pulled out a little bit.
0:29:17 CALLER: We’re going to have to bring them out.
0:29:19 LESLIE: To trim as well.
0:29:20 CALLER: Okay, Very good. Thank you.
0:29:22 TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
0:29:27 LESLIE: Debbie in Great Falls, Montana, reached at the Money Pit and she says, I want to know what kind of preparation we should be doing to paint over our metal siding and what type of paint you would recommend.
0:29:38 TOM: You know, great question. Metal can be a little bit tricky, but let’s go through the basics. First of all, it is really important that the surface is clean, especially when you’re talking about siding that’s been exposed to the elements and to the dust in the air and the pollution that gets in the air. It all sticks to the siding and it can stop the paint from sticking to the siding. You want to basically clean that surface. You can use, for example, simple green in a pressure washer, and you’re going to do a good job of cleaning that dry thoroughly, wait a day or two to make sure it’s absolutely hundred percent dry. So you want to be clean, dry. And then secondly, the most important thing is the adhesion. Obviously, that’s key. So what you’re going to want to do is use what’s called a bonding primer. Now, bonding primers are primers that have high adhesion capability. So they’re a little bit different than a regular primer. And the way you use these, I would do a test first and we call it a scratch test. So you take your bonding prior and you do a coat somewhere where it’s not terribly obvious. You wait the required dry time and then you go there and scratch it and you scratch it with your nail. You know, I wouldn’t scratch it with the metal tool because that’s kind of unusual. But, you know, anything you have that you think would be a good thing to scratch it with and test it and see if you’ve got good adhesion if you’re using the right product is really going to stick well to that siding. So if it passes that scratch test, then you can go on to painting. Now, I like to stay in the same family of primers and paint. I personally prefer to use oil based paint because I feel like it has better grab than latex when you’re painting on metal. I understand it’s a hassle to clean up, but let’s face it folks, it’s not that hard and it really bothers you that much. Then just throw away the roller and, you know, start with a new one every single time. But I think that you’ll find that the oil based paint, the solvent based paints are just give you better adhesion. I mean, Leslie, I was painting, for example, a metal shelf that was an old metal shelf, and it needed a lot of cleanup. And I did that as I was painting and putting on a new color. I was using rust only for this. You can just feel the grab of that paint as you’re like trying to brush it on. The first isn’t like slide over it. It kind of drags over it because it’s like friction that holds it down. And you know, you’re using a paint that has got really good adhesion that happens.
0:31:53 LESLIE: I mean, I hear what you’re saying about solvent based versus water based. But truly outside of a primer, I can’t remember the last time I’ve used a solvent based paint for anything.
0:32:04 TOM: Yeah. Yeah. It’s unfortunate we’ve been getting away from it, but. But anybody who’s been painting for as many years as I have knows the difference. And when you put a solvent based paint on it really does it here. I mean, even when we did, for example, last time we painted our cedar, we stain, I should say our cedar siding. We use a solvent based primer underneath that. And we used a latex based topcoat and together they worked very, very well. But that adhesion is key. If you don’t get it right, you’re gonna be very sad when their paint starts peeling off in a very big way, because when that happens, there’s nothing you can do except strip it off, which is an enormous project and start again.
0:32:41 LESLIE: Yeah, seriously. But I agree with you. Definitely. If anything, use that solvent based primer. It will make sure things stick for sure.
0:32:48 TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey, guys. Thank you so much for spending a part of your day listening to us. We hope that we’ve given you a valuable tip or two to help you with a project or task you’re trying to get done around your house. If you’ve got a question, you can reach out to us any time at 1-888-Money-Pit. But for the fastest possible response, just go to Money Pit icon slash ask and click the blue microphone. But until next time I’m Tom Kraeutler.
0:33:14 LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:33:15 TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
0:33:17 LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.
(Note: The above referenced transcript is AI-Generated, Unedited and Unproofed and as such may not accurately reflect the recorded audio. Copyright 2023 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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