LESLIE: Oprah in West Virginia, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
OPRAH: Oh, thank you for talking with me. I had put carpet on my porch about three years ago and now the edges of the steps are unraveling and I wondered if there was anything I could do or put on them.
TOM: Why did you put carpet on your porch, Oprah?
OPRAH: (chuckling) Because it was – I had a painted porch and the mailmen were always slipping on it.
TOM: OK.
LESLIE: Oh.
TOM: So is this like an indoor/outdoor carpeting kind of thing?
OPRAH: Yes.
TOM: Yeah. Well, the steps are going to take the most wear and tear so you may have to replace the carpeting on the steps more frequently than you do in other areas of the house.
LESLIE: What about some sort of metal edger that just sort of affixes, you know, on the tread and over – you know, down onto the rise?
TOM: Well, you could but you want to make sure that it’s weather-resistant.
OPRAH: Yes, the only – I was afraid that maybe they would catch somebody’s toe with the metal.
TOM: Well, there are different types of thresholds and strips and edging strips for carpet.
LESLIE: Even like durable plastic.
TOM: Yeah, I would head out to the home center, look at what’s available and see if you can find something that actually looks like it’ll fit.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. Because if your carpet hasn’t unraveled that much, you might be able to cover it; depending on the depth of these strips that you might find in the store that are weather-resistant. If it’s unraveled enough, you might have to replace whatever is on that step and then go ahead and protect it. But go and see what’s available at the store.
OPRAH: OK.
TOM: And thanks for keeping those mailmen safe.
OPRAH: (chuckling) And thank you for taking my call.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
Leave a Reply