Show Notes
- Saving Water: Conserving water and lowering costs is made simple with water-saving fixtures and faucets.
- Gravel Garden Path: Great gardens deserve perfect pathways around them. Get tips on creating a DIY gravel garden path.
- Exterior House Painting: It’s a big job, but you can paint your home’s exterior a lot faster and easier with an airless paint sprayer.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Plus, answers to your home improvement questions about:
- Banishing Bats: Pests in Keith’s attic are driving him batty! We’ve got tips on creating bat doors with screen flaps to let the bats out and keep them out.
- Cracked Foundation: The concrete slab foundation has cracks and the kitchen floor is starting to dip. Rochelle should hire a structural engineer or home inspector to determine whether it’s serious and how to fix it.
- Refinishing Hardwood Floor: Is a French polish a good option for a hardwood floor? Theresa gets advice on a better, more durable way to refinish her floor.
- Buckling Vinyl Siding: Earl’s vinyl siding is buckling and bending because it was installed too tightly to allow it to expand and contract, but he can redo it.
- Flagstone Patio: Stones in a flagstone patio are sticking up. Darlene should tamp down the base under them and add crushed gravel between the pavers.
- Chimney Stucco: Anthony’s chimney is losing stucco and bricks are coming loose. We suggest a product that adheres well to old concrete and brick.
- Laminate Countertops: Frankie wants to refinish her old laminate countertop and learns about a coating product that easily provides a whole new look.
- Bad Contractors: After a brick mason contractor does a bad job and takes her money, Oralee gets info about pressing charges for theft and fraud.
- Carpenter Bees: When carpenter bees keep coming back, Kevin needs to hire a pest control professional and replace areas of wood with composite materials.
- Washing Machine Noise: What’s that banging noise in the new washing machine? Holly should either level the machine and use anti-vibration blocks or install a water hammer arrestor.
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 0:00:32 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:00:38 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 0:00:38 | TOM: And we are here to help you with projects that you want to get done around your house. You got a question about a home improvement. You’ve got a decor dilemma. Are you ready to get outside and maybe structure some shade for yourself because it’s been so darn hot? Hey, whatever is on your to do list, we would love to help you with some guidance, some tips, some advice, some therapy to make sure you can get it done right the first time out. But you have to help yourself first by reaching out to us. And there are a couple of ways to do just that. You can go to moneypit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button, record your question and send it to us. That’s the quickest way to get a response. Or you can go to 1-888-Money-Pit and leave us your question there. Coming up on today’s show, in the summer, saving water becomes more and more important. But rather than pestering your kids and your family to use less water. We’re going to share some solid tips on new fixtures and faucets that can actually do the water saving for you. |
| 0:01:35 | LESLIE: All right. And if you’ve worked hard to create that perfect garden, you don’t want trampling feet, damaging your handiwork. We’re going to share tips on how to create a gravel path to steer all of that foot traffic away and keep your garden growing. |
| 0:01:47 | TOM: And you guys ready to take on a big painting project, like maybe painting the entire outside of your house? Well, as challenging as that may sound, it’s actually doable. We’re going to share tips on tools that make the job a lot easier. |
| 0:01:59 | LESLIE: But first, what’s your home rental plan for the year ahead? Maybe have a project in mind? Maybe have to. Maybe it’s a big one. Maybe it’s a small one. Or perhaps you’ve got a couple of things that you just need to take care of, but you don’t know where to start. Well, let us help you create your best home ever. |
| 0:02:14 | TOM: Give us a call right now at one 888-MONEY-PIT. And again, the fastest way to get a response is to go to money. BET.com slash ask and click the blue microphone button. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 0:02:26 | LESLIE: All right. Heading down to Georgia, where we’ve got Keith on the line and he’s got some bats. What’s happening? |
| 0:02:31 | CALLER: Got some bats in the attic, some bat droppings all across the insulation and stuff. And I was just curious what your recommends. I’m handling that issue. |
| 0:02:40 | TOM: Do you have any idea where they’re getting in, Keith? |
| 0:02:42 | CALLER: The only thing I can think of is maybe there’s like, a small gap somewhere in the, like, maybe all the ventilation areas and that the roof. |
| 0:02:50 | TOM: Yeah. So one of the ways to have them exit safely is typically they’re going to head for light and then they’re trying to find their way out. What you can do is go to your gable vent. That’s the big vent that’s at the end of the roof of the attic space and check the screening there. Now, what you’re going to want to do is create a bat door. And the way you do that is if you have screening over the outside. But then you have like sort of a flap of screening that once they get to it will sort of allow them to crawl out, but then lays back down so they can’t get back in. So if you could create like a flap like that on the screen where the flap overlaps, this place, that’s open for them to get out. That will make a big difference. So you could put a small hole in the main screen and then put a flap over it. So they go through the hole, they crawl out through that screen, but now they can’t get back in. So that’s one way to do it, because I’ll tell you, it’s really important to evict them because all those bat droppings that can contain a lot of bacteria that could make you sick. So you really don’t want to let that build up. You want to show them the doors quickly as possible. And the other thing to do is step back away from that house and take a good look with maybe a set of binoculars or a camera with a zoom lens and look for any other areas that could be an opening to the attic. And you can also do this by going up in the attic in the daylight and looking for that sun comes through. But any space that’s open needs to be seal up except the place where you want them to leave. |
| 0:04:08 | CALLER: Okay, great. Thank you. So I’m basically gonna make a back doggie door one way. |
| 0:04:13 | TOM: Yeah, that’s right. Exactly. Yep. A little tiny bat doggie door showing the door that way. All right. |
| 0:04:19 | CALLER: Okay. |
| 0:04:20 | TOM: If you’re lucky. |
| 0:04:21 | LESLIE: We’ve got Rochelle in Delaware on the line. Who’s dealing with a foundation issue? What’s going on? How can we help? |
| 0:04:26 | CALLER: I have a two bedroom ranch which is on a concrete slab. The foundation has a crack in it, and my kitchen floor. |
| 0:04:35 | LESLIE: Is starting to dip. |
| 0:04:37 | CALLER: What can I do to resolve this issue? |
| 0:04:40 | TOM: Well, that sounds like a potentially serious problem, Rochelle. My first question is whether or not this is an act of crack. I mean, all foundations have cracks. But is there is a clear evidence this is active and ongoing. And that might take somebody with some professional skills to determine. You may if you suspect that’s the case, you may want to hire either a structural engineer or a professional home inspector to take a look at that. Do not hire a contractor to take a look at that because they’re going to have a big conflict of interest and determine whether it’s ongoing and active. And if that’s the case, then you absolutely wouldn’t need a structural engineer to determine what the extent of the problem is and how to repair it. I don’t know how old your house is, but in Delaware, builders are required to place a ten year structural warranty on home. So if that’s the case, then you definitely need to put give notice to the warranty company as well as the builder, not just the builder, but both warranty company and the builder. So that there’s a record of you making this claim inside that ten year window. So I hope that that gives you some direction. But determine if it’s active first, get some professional help and if it’s covered by a builders warranty, make sure that you give them notice. |
| 0:05:50 | LESLIE: Hey, Money Pit podcast fans, you want to help us out, we’ll 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 dot com slash review. All right. Now we’re going to chat with Teresa, who’s got an idea for a different kind of floor coding. How can I help you? |
| 0:06:10 | CALLER: I’m interested in the hardwood wax foil finishing. I was going to get my hardwood floors redone. Just wanting to know what your thoughts are. I have a man and three dogs and I was wondering, is this stuff durable? Because I can’t find anybody in this area to do it, but they say I can do it myself. |
| 0:06:27 | TOM: Well, I’ll tell you, Theresa. Yeah, I know what kind of floor furnishing you’re talking about. It is not going to stand up to a man and three dogs or just about any other kind of normal wear and tear. You’re referring to a type of finishing that we call French polish. And what it consists of is, is paste wax and boiled linseed oil. Basically use boiled linseed oil, not regular, because the regular will not drive is boiled linseed oil and it’s applied with a paste wax finish and it’s buffed in place. And it’s a beautiful, soft, warm finish, but it is not a durable finish is not going to be like a varnish or like a polyurethane. It is really for home. It’s going to get very, very light duty. And, you know, yeah, I mean, you could do it yourself, but you’re going to need, you know, some pretty big equipment like a floor buff or at least because trying to buff this in my hand, it would completely worry you out. At least it would me. So it’s a beautiful finish, but I just don’t think it’s a good choice for the situation When you have pets, when you have people in the house that are going to be, you know, giving it a lot of wear and tear, you know, dragging in the sand from the outside, the dirt, the mud, whatever, It’s just not a good choice. So what I would do is I would lightly sand the floor, assuming it’s not in bad condition, I would lightly sand it. There is a machine, a couple of different machines that are like pad Sanders that don’t tick off a lot of wood, but they take off the finish and get it ready for a new coat. And then I would use probably at least two coats of a satin polyurethane and oil based polyurethane. And those are really pretty easy to apply. You use a lamb’s wheel applicator for that, which is kind of like a mop, and you basically spread it out and let it dry. And whenever the can says double it for drying time, and I think you’ll find it’s going to be a much more durable finish. And if you choose satin, it’s still going to be a soft glow, but at this time will really stand up. |
| 0:08:08 | LESLIE: Girls on the line with some issues with vinyl siding. What’s going on over there? |
| 0:08:12 | CALLER: My question is regarding vinyl fighting. Sorry, colored and just issues with that. With this playing or the bending or whatever you want to call it and causes and what to do about it. |
| 0:08:25 | TOM: Well, Earl, I’m sorry to hear that you’re seeing that you’re citing. And unfortunately, it means that the siding was installed too tight when you put vinyl siding on the back of the vinyl panels. They don’t have holes for nails. They have slots for nails. And you’re supposed to put the nail in the middle of the slot and you’re supposed to not drive it tight to the building, supposed to let that siding breathe or move a little bit because vinyl has a very high expansion ratio. So when the sun hits it, especially the sides of your house that are on the south side and the west side, when the sun hits that the sides aren’t too tight, it’s going to buckle and get real wavy and ugly looking. There is no easy fix for this short of taking the siding off and then reinstalling it with proper looseness each piece. |
| 0:09:08 | LESLIE: Can you reuse that same piece or is it already warped? And that’s garbage. |
| 0:09:11 | TOM: No, no, no. You can. It will straighten out again. In fact, it probably wants to straighten out, but it can’t because it’s sort of stuck in place. Right. |
| 0:09:20 | LESLIE: Too tight. |
| 0:09:20 | TOM: Yeah, I think you can use it again if all the pieces are the same length, you don’t have to number them. But if they weren’t, I would just put tape on a number of each piece. But when you put it back on, it’s got to be loose. What I used to do, Leslie, when I was home inspecting this, I would grab a piece of the siding with my hand and try to slide it back and forth. And if it’s put on right, I could move it about a half inch. In fact, it almost would feel loose. We could switch, switch it back and forth. But if it’s too tight like that, man, I’ll tell you what that really looks like. Heck, when the heat hits it and it gets really warped and you can spot it a mile away, but that’s the only solution. Take it off and reinstall it properly. |
| 0:09:56 | LESLIE: Well, in the summer, saving water is more and more important. But rather than rely on your kids and family to just use less water, updating your plumbing fixtures can actually do that. Water saving for you. And it’s a pretty simple pro plumbing project. |
| 0:10:10 | TOM: That’s right. We’ve got a few tips on how you can find faucets and toilets and showers and sprinklers that can do the job without wasting water in today’s home Solution tip presented by Angie. So first, let’s talk about toilets. You know, they can last for decades, making them actually one of the most durable plumbing fixtures in the house. But while they don’t really wear out, old toilets can waste plenty of water with every flush. Instead switch to water since certified toilets. |
| 0:10:34 | LESLIE: Now water since this is a program that’s run by the EPA. So just like the Energy Star program helps consumers find products that save energy, Water Sense is designed to help consumers identify products that will save water. So to qualify, a product’s got to be certified to use at least 20% less water, save energy and perform as well as or better than the regular models. |
| 0:10:58 | TOM: Now, besides toilets, if you were to also replace your bathroom faucet and showerhead, the EPA says you could save 26,000 gallons of water a year, create 380 fewer pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce your utility bills by 250 bucks. |
| 0:11:14 | LESLIE: That’s pretty great. And speaking of your utility bills, if you use less water, you also use less natural gas or electricity to heat that water. So it’s all going to add up. Plus, besides bathrooms or kitchens, water sense fixtures are also available for outdoors. Wear your lawn sprinklers, your rain controllers and all those other irrigation products can be updated to help you avoid wasting water. But getting to still enjoy that beautiful landscaping. |
| 0:11:38 | TOM: And that’s today’s Home Solution. Tip presented by Angie. Angie makes it easy to compare quotes from multiple local pros so you can find the best price. Your project Download the Angie App. |
| 0:11:48 | LESLIE: Today we’re going to help Darleen and Texas out with a patio situation. What’s going on? |
| 0:11:53 | CALLER: We just bought a house and in our backyard they laid down quite a lot of flagstone to I guess be a patio. The problem that we have now that we bought it is that there’s nothing in between the Stones. So obviously they’re pretty much flat, I guess, or even, but there’s a couple of them that just kind of stick up and I know there’s some kind of sand that you can brush on it or put in the cracks that I just want to make sure it’s done right this time because there’s like nothing in between the cracks. It’s just I mean, there’s sunken gravel that it’s quite a ways down like an inch. |
| 0:12:30 | LESLIE: I mean, it seems to me time like the surface underneath those pavers was not properly tamped or leveled. And so you’re getting some movement there because she does mention that there’s some unevenness. And I think that should be corrected first, right? |
| 0:12:44 | TOM: Yeah, absolutely. You know, no matter what you do on top of this, the fact that they’re wavy and sticking up and just not settled in there well means that the base has moved. So I think you’re going to have to say whether or not you just want to want to repair the areas or reset those that are kind of at a level and deal with this, or you want to take it all up and do a proper properly camped base here and then relay it down. In terms of the space between the patio, between the between the pavers, I imagine these are fairly wide gaps. Usually with flagstone, they’re like a half inch or three quarters, an inch or an inch or even more. And the problem is that if you put mortar in between that it’s just going to crack it to a bunch of little pieces. I think what I would use is crushed gravel because crushed gravel, you can sprinkle it in between those pieces. It’ll kind of pack down and do a pretty good job of filling in that surface. And if it starts to wear away, it just put more in place. It starts to get weeds that come up through it. You’re going to have to treat it with a product like Roundup, which will kill the weed at the root. But that’s another sign that the base wasn’t solid enough. So wouldn’t panic over it just going to be more of a maintenance headache than most patios would be. But that’s how I think we should address it. |
| 0:13:47 | LESLIE: Heading to upstate New York, where we’ve got Anthony on the line, who’s dealing with a chimney that’s losing its stucco. What’s going. |
| 0:13:52 | CALLER: On? House is 80 years old, about 20 years old. I had stucco put on it because some of the bricks were loose and few were broken. And after now it’s starting to deteriorate. Some of that, some of the stucco has taken off and some moisture is going under, got under a lot of the other stucco. And I would say about 70% of it is loose. And I just winning would be the best way to repair it. |
| 0:14:22 | TOM: Well, sounds like it gave you quite a few years of service there, Anthony. So, yeah, what you’re going to have to do now is to remove as much of this loose stucco as possible. The good news is that in that 20 year term, the products have gotten a lot better at adhering to masonry surfaces. For example, you’ll find if you look at the products made by Quecreek Cubic or ITI, they have a wide variety of products that are designed to adhere to old, concrete or brick surfaces. And the secret is really in that adhesion. Now I just use, for example, product they have that’s called recap and it’s designed for slabs. I’m not sure it’s designed for chimneys, but they have other. |
| 0:15:01 | CALLER: What’s the name of that. |
| 0:15:02 | TOM: Again, Recap, recap I’m not so sure of. It’s designed to work on walls, but I know it works on sidewalks. But they have another patching compound. This design specifically for like cracked steps and stoops, and that’s certainly would work on a chimney. And they adhere very, very well. And that’s the key. They bind with the masonry surface underneath. And that’s what gives you the longevity, because of course, what happens is any masonry products going to get wet in the in the winter and in the rain and it’s going to freeze. And as it does so, it starts to push itself off. And that’s why it gets loose. After all those years, just the expansion, the contraction of the freeze thaw cycle. So I think if you pick up the right product, you should be able to repair that again and get a good number of years at it. |
| 0:15:45 | CALLER: Should I take all the stucco off? |
| 0:15:48 | TOM: Well, not all of it, but anything that’s loose, if it’s you know, if it’s still a tightly bound, you don’t take that off. But if it’s loose, you absolutely have to take it off because you can’t put you know, you can’t put good patch and compound over bad stucco. |
| 0:16:02 | CALLER: Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you very much. |
| 0:16:04 | TOM: Hey, you’re welcome. Good luck with that project. |
| 0:16:07 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Frankie on the line with a countertop question. What’s going on, Frankie? |
| 0:16:11 | CALLER: I have, And my kitchen is a countertop and I think is know I. And I’m not sure what it is, but it’s gray in color. And I would love to either change it out or do something different to my told me I can plant another round of paint and that way it would look better than it does. |
| 0:16:32 | TOM: Hey, Frankie, You know, actually, there are a number of ways for you to do this project. First of all, you mentioned that the countertop might be linoleum. I doubt that it would be a certainly an odd choice. And the only aim is an old flooring product. It’s more likely to be some sort of laminate. And if that’s the case, a company called Daich Coatings, their website is Daichcoatings.com. They have two different products that are designed as countertop finishing kits, and they’re awesome ones called Spread Stone, and one’s called Lux Rock. And I’m actually doing a project myself right now with the Lux ROC products. Now these are coatings that have a lot of stone in them. The spread stone looks kind of like a more of a solid, even stone feel to it. The Lux rock looks just like solid granite, except that they’re super easy to clean. So it’s a project you can do yourself. It takes about three days or so, depending on the product. Essentially, you clean the top and you get to work. Everything you need is in the kit. So check out the spread stone countertop fishing kit and the luxe rock solid surface granite countertop kit, both available at Daichcoatings.com. I think that’s a great way to restore your countertop without spending a whole lot of money. |
| 0:17:46 | LESLIE: All right. Well, not all projects go exactly as you have planned. We’re going to chat with Oralee here from Wisconsin who’s dealing with a masonry project that’s just gone awry. What’s going. |
| 0:17:56 | CALLER: On? I was doing a Google dive here about contractor stuff and came across your page or site. And I’m dealing with a situation right now with a brick mason who has been pretty straight up and competent and doing a really crummy job and has absconded with $6,000 of mine and kind of left me hanging on me or some unfinished project that hasn’t been done right. |
| 0:18:24 | TOM: Oralee, that is awful. I hate hearing these stories, Leslie, where folks get taken advantage of by contractors who start the project and then just disappear. You know, I’m thinking that this is not just a matter of a contract issue. This could be theft, right? I mean, you pay a contractor, do a job, and the contractor doesn’t show up. And I don’t know the details about how far this got. But if he didn’t show up or if he did a little bit left, I mean, that’s theft. That’s fraud. And my first stop might be my local police department, because I found over the years that when contractors pull this garbage, they are very happy to kind of jerk you around in small claims court and all that kind of stuff. But when they think that there’s a risk of a criminal prosecution, that changes their tune really, really quickly. So I would look into potentially pressing charges against the contractor, you’re going to have to talk with the local police department about this and see if they will do this. And if not, why not? But other than that, your only option here is really just to take the guy to court. And that’s very difficult to do because sometimes these guys, you know, normally own anything and there’s no motivation for them to show up or not show up. I would also wonder whether or not there were contract or license laws in your area that perhaps will give you some level of protection. I don’t have a magic solution for you to get your 6000 bucks back. And, you know, even if this guy said, Oh yeah, I’ll come back tomorrow, I’m not sure that he would want them to come back. So I think this is going to be chalked up to a life experience and just in the future for those that are ever dealing with situations like this or think about hiring contractors, you it’s really critical that you only pay them for the amount of work that they do. You have to keep a balance between the money in phases. Well, definitely in phases, but only for a reasonable percentage of the job based on certain things that are completed. |
| 0:20:14 | LESLIE: What’s been completed or materials purchased for the next phase or something like that? |
| 0:20:19 | TOM: Yeah, exactly. Or you buy the materials yourself because once these guys get the money, you know, they’re just trying to juggle a bunch of jobs and maybe they just don’t want to go back and they figure they can get away with it and people do let them get away with it. And I don’t want you to do that. So I want you to look into potential any pressing criminal charges against this guy. And good luck with the situation. Really sorry this has happened to you. I appreciate that you found us online with some of the posts that we have about this topic. But, you know, once you get deeper into it, if you learn anything new, please reach out and we’d be happy to help you some more. |
| 0:20:49 | LESLIE: Well, if you’ve worked hard to create that perfect garden, you don’t want trampling feet, damaging your handiwork. A gravel path can steer foot traffic away and keep your garden growing. |
| 0:20:59 | TOM: Yeah, and I definitely think this is a DIY project. I mean, since they don’t really need to be set to deep gravel, paths are relatively easy to construct. So here’s why. You know, the tiny gravel stones can move around very easily, so you don’t really have to worry about digging in a lot of soil to kind of get below the frost line. Look, you would, if you were building a patio or stone wall or something like that, Ian says You don’t have to worry about cutting and fitting large stones. A gravel path can really be as curvy and natural and organic as your imagination allows. |
| 0:21:27 | LESLIE: Yeah, you want to start off by marking out the shape of your path with rope, or you can even use spray paint. Now, gravel paths are generally 3 to 4 feet wide, but you can set the edges of the path kind of however you want. So next you start digging out the path shape, remove about four inches of soil from the area within those lines, and then you want to make the bottom of that trench as smooth as possible and tamp down all of that remaining soil with a hand tamper. |
| 0:21:51 | TOM: It’s a lot of handwork. It’s just one project. Now, once that ground is tamped solid, you want to add about two and a half inches of crushed stone and then rake it out to level it and then tamp it again. And next. And this is a really important step. You want to lay down some landscaping fabric over that crushed stone that’s going to stop weeds from growing up into the path. And you’re going to want to add edging to keep that gravel contained. Now, when you install the edging, you have some options. You can use galvanized, edging pressure, treated wood, cedar bricks, cobblestones and more. Really whatever you like for your look is going to work fine and then you’re ready for that next step, which is always what people think the first step is when they do this. That’s adding the gravel. But as you can see, there’s a lot to be done beforehand to add the gravel and fill the path up until it’s about a half inch below the top of the edging and then rake it out evenly and you are done. Now, you might want to wait a couple of weeks, maybe a month, and see if you get some settlement in that gravel. You will, and then you can just top it off. And then after that, it really shouldn’t move very much. |
| 0:22:49 | LESLIE: All right. We’re heading to Georgia, where carpenter bees are destroying the day to day life of Kevin. Boy, are they annoying. What’s going on? |
| 0:22:56 | CALLER: Well, about ten years ago, we built we had a screened in porch built about two years prior to that. We had a privacy fence put up around the backyard. And we have more would be carpenter bees than I’ve ever seen in my life. I have 25 traps set up every time I turn around. Finding more would be so huge. The would be spray. I felt filling the holes was worth putting. And the next year or later on in the year, they’ve just come out in another area. If you have a trick I haven’t thought of. I sure appreciate it. |
| 0:23:35 | TOM: Well, it sounds like those carpenter bees are sort of wearing a wrecking belt here for this trip around your house. Kevin. Sorry to hear that. So a couple of things come to mind. First of all, if you have that severe a problem trying to chase this yourself, especially with over the counter, so to speak, pesticides is going to be an exercise in frustration when it sounds like you’re kind of already there. I would definitely hire a pest control professional to treat these carpenter bees. They have access to different pesticides that you don’t have access to. They know where to put it, how much to put there. And they also can use pesticides that can stay around, stay around a little while longer than the stuff you can buy and therefore give you some long term protection. You are doing the right thing by filling the holes. What I also do on properties that I have, where I’ve got pest, I’ve got carpenter bees that attack like the fascia or the soft material that’s soft wood is I replace it with Aztec. Aztec, which basically looks like wood. It’s made of PVC. So they can. |
| 0:24:37 | LESLIE: Eat it, They can eat it. They’re going to try, but then they’re going to try to go somewhere else. |
| 0:24:42 | TOM: They’ll be like saying, Hey, looks like wood doesn’t taste like wood. They do try to eat it. |
| 0:24:48 | LESLIE: I mean, we had the last remaining lumber in the yard was the playset and the carpenter bees. I don’t know how many tunnels and pathways they’ve made in there. And the kids were terrified to, like, run past it. And I got rid of that. And for about a week, the bees were like, Whoa, what happened? And now? And now they are gone. |
| 0:25:08 | LESLIE: It’s amazing because everything else is exactly. |
| 0:25:10 | TOM: They found something nasty at somebody else’s house. So they. |
| 0:25:13 | LESLIE: Thank. |
| 0:25:14 | CALLER: Goodness. Yeah. |
| 0:25:14 | TOM: So it’s a matter of both the right kind of pesticides to treat it. And then also trying to eliminate as much of that wood as possible. So good luck with that project. |
| 0:25:23 | LESLIE: Well, are you ready to take on a big painting project, like maybe painting the entire exterior of your house? Well, as challenging as that may sound, it’s actually totally doable. With the new Wagner Titan Control Max 1700 high efficiency, airless paint sprayer. Yeah. |
| 0:25:39 | TOM: You know the Titan Control Max 1700 paint sprayers have a high efficiency, airless technology that produces up to 55% less overspray compared with traditional airless sprayers. And the output is actually sort of a softer spray with improved controls. So you’re going to get a high quality finish. In my favorite part that goes on three times faster than a roller and helps you get those big jobs done quickly. |
| 0:26:02 | LESLIE: Yeah, I love that part. You know, and speaking of the big projects, if you want to take on a big project like painting your house this summer, Wagner’s got step by step detailed posts and videos on their website, and they’re going to walk you through from prep to painting. Now, whether your project is to paint a deck of fence or the entire house, Wagner’s airless paint sprayers make big jobs so much easier. The Titan Control Max 1700 can pull paint directly from the five gallon bucket you guys, which means you won’t need to change out paint cans frequently. And that’s going to save you even more time on the job. |
| 0:26:35 | TOM: Wagner Titan Control. Max 1700 paint sprayers. Make it easy to paint like a pro. The Wagner is available in both in-store and online. At Lowe’s Home Improvement, you can see the complete line of Wagner products at WagnerSpray.com. |
| 0:26:49 | LESLIE: All right. We’re going to help Holly in Kansas. Out. It seems like there’s a very noisy washing machine involved. What’s going on? |
| 0:26:55 | CALLER: So I replaced my old washing machine with a fancy new whirlpool. And now whenever I do a load of wash, there’s this banging noise that I did not have before, and I don’t know what’s going on. We thought maybe some pipes were banging, so we put up some padding and it was still banging. So it kind of sounds like a big thud then type like something shutting off with great force when I’m doing laundry. So I have no idea what to do about that and why it’s doing it. It never did that before until I got my fancy nice washing machine. |
| 0:27:35 | TOM: I’m going to be willing to guess here that this is a high speed washing machine, a high efficiency washing machine which basically spins at much higher speeds. So I’m going to give you a couple of things to try here. First of all, if the machine is not perfectly level, it’s going to be noisy and it’s not uncommon for folks to complain about vibration sounds associated with this. Now, that is not what you’re describing, but I’m going to cover it anyway just in case, because there’s a simple solution here, and that is number one level of machine. And number two, you can pick up these anti vibration blocks. They’re specifically designed for washing machines and they’re usually about an inch thick and they’re like a stiff rubber. And you can think of them as shock absorbers for the washing machine. They go under the four corners and they really do a good job stabilizing this. Now, I think most likely by your description, the what we’re talking about here is something we call water hammer. And that’s because the machine is different than what you had before. It’s opening and closing these valves very quickly. And as the water is filling towards the machine, heading towards the machine, the valve closes the force, the inertia of the water in the pipe keeps pushing the pipe forward and then results in a very loud banging sound. And if you have copper pipes, well, it tends to echo making it sound even worse. Generally speaking, it doesn’t damage anything. But there is a plumbing device called a water hammer or rester, which is like a shock absorber for your plumbing system that will dampen that and stop that from happening. So based on your description, it’s probably one of those two things that see the machines may be at a level and or needs vibration damper blocks underneath the feet, or you simply have a water hammer issue, which is not difficult to fix. But we will have to hire a plumber to take care of it. Mary Ellen reached out with a question about a driveway. She says her driveway is full of ruts and holes and she wants to know if resurfacing is an option. So, Leslie, I think when you have a driveway, you have to evaluate sort of its structural condition, so to speak. And if the driveway is sagging or, you know, if you have ruts and holes, as Marietta says, that means that maybe some water got in there and washed out some of the soil below. I mean, at that point, it sounds to me like the driveway base was just not that sturdy. And so if you were to put more asphalt on top of what’s already a weak base, it’s not going to work because the asphalt not what really gives the driveway its strength. If you’ve ever watched a road being constructed, you know, they dumped in a lot of stone first and then they roll those heavy machines over the stone and make it really, really strong. The last thing that gets added is the asphalt, and that’s designed to be the surface. It’s like the skin, but it’s not the structure. So in this case, I’m thinking that she has to really tear of that out. |
| 0:30:25 | LESLIE: I mean, it’s probably at that point and, you know, it’s funny, it’s like the process between all of these masons or whoever you want to call it for the driveway work is so different. You remember when we did our driveway, they dug it all out, tamp it all down, and then we had to drive on it with nothing on it for four weeks before they’d put the asphalt down. So it’s like there’s such different processes to the whole project. But you do want to make sure that the base is set up correctly so that you don’t end up in a situation like this again, you know, closer down the road than you want it to be. |
| 0:30:56 | TOM: Yeah, I’m presuming she’s talking about an asphalt driveway here. But if it’s a concrete driveway, well, again, we’ve got to evaluate what’s the condition of the remaining driveway. I mean, if it happens to be a three inch thick reinforced driveway and there’s just some areas that drop, well, that may be packable, but for asphalt, definitely it’s a remove and replace. |
| 0:31:14 | LESLIE: All right. Hope that helps you out. Marietta, good luck with the new driveway. Now, Nicole writes in saying, What’s the rule of thumb for painting over water stains? The leak was fixed, but now I’m staring up at a big stain on my ceiling. |
| 0:31:26 | TOM: So the rule of thumb is, yes, fix leaks first, of course, which you’ve done. But really what you have to do is when you have a leak stain, if you just paint over it with just typical or traditional wall paint, those leak stains will come right through. That paints. What you have to do is sort of seal it first. And you do that with a primer. Now, you would need to it’s called spot priming. You’re just going to do that. That area itself, where the leak is, you just prime that and then you repaint over it. Now, that said, remember that the whiteness of that ceiling paint or the light color or whatever color is, is going to be slightly different over the newly prime spot. So you might want to spot prime that and then just repaint that whole section of the ceiling to make sure it all looks nice and even. If you were to just paint over it all those water stains, all the minerals in that water that comes out of the system, that can just come right through the paint. You can paint it over and over again, |
| 0:32:21 | LESLIE: And it’s still going to come through. |
| 0:32:21 | TOM: Come back. It does. So definitely have to prime it first. But once you do, you’ll be done and it will be good to go. |
| 0:32:28 | LESLIE: Yeah. Nicole If you do it right, you’re only going to do it once as opposed to over and over again, which definitely will happen. |
| 0:32:35 | TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey guys, we are just about out of time, but we hope that have given you a tip or two on today’s edition to help you take on the projects you want to get done around your house. Now, if you’re thinking, Hey, I got a question, well, that’s great. If you didn’t get through today, you can always go to MoneyPit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button and then record your question and we will get back to you as soon as possible and certainly quicker than it takes for us to actually go through all the calls to edit it. But even we do our best, but we’re trying to improve that and that’s what we do with money. Become slash ask. Remember, just click that blue microphone button until next time. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 0:33:13 | 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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