Small Kitchen Solutions & More #0306172

Small Kitchen Solutions & More #0306172

TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: And I’m really excited because it’s only a couple of weeks now until spring is officially here. And that is the home improvement season, our best time of the year, Leslie. We get to get outside and clean up those decks and those patios, put out the furniture, paint, organize, dust, clean, get it good to go.

LESLIE: All of those chores.

TOM: All of those things happen in just a couple of weeks. So, if you’ve got a project for your to-do list, give us a call right now. We’d love to help. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

Hey, coming up on today’s program, we’re going to have some tips for small kitchens. They can be tough places to work in but a few modest updates can make those kitchens feel bigger and actually work better. So we’ll have that advice, just ahead.

LESLIE: And it’s almost time to drag out your lawn mower. You know, you fill it up with gas, you check the oil, you get everything up and running and then you throw your back out trying to get it started. Come on, happens to all of us. You know it does. But you know what? There’s a much better way and we’re going to have an update on a cool, new battery-powered mower that can handle a half an acre on a single charge.

TOM: Wow. Spring is also a great time to update your floors. If that’s a project on your to-do list, laminate floors or engineered hardwood are both great choices. But what’s the difference and how do you choose the right one for your house? We’ll have that advice ahead, as well.

LESLIE: And if you call us with your home improvement question at 888-MONEY-PIT, we’re going to help you breathe easier in your home because we’ve got a 1-year subscription to FilterEasy.com going out to one lucky caller who’s drawn at random this hour.

TOM: And now is a great time to think about changing those filters because allergy season will soon follow, as well. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it.

Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: We’ve got Brad from Illinois on the line who’s got a question about plaster walls. How can we help you?

[radio_anchor listorder=”2″]BRAD: Well, I had purchased an older home and I want to do some renovations to it. And I’m kind of getting different stories about what I should do with the walls. It has plaster walls now. I’d like your opinion on whether I should keep the plaster walls or tear out the plaster walls and replace them with drywall.

TOM: My recommendation to you, Brad, would be a third option and that is to keep the plaster walls but cover them with drywall. And here’s why. If you tear out the plaster walls – well, you don’t want to keep the original plaster wall because over the years they deteriorate from behind, they get loose and you are always going to be dealing with cracks and that sort of thing. So then your option is do I tear it out or not? I don’t think it’s a good idea to tear it out. A lot of the old framing is not real straight and if you tore it out, went down the frame, you put drywall up, you might find that it’s kind of warp-y.

So what I would suggest you do – plus it’s a huge mess. I mean big mess. So I would put 3/8-inch-thick drywall, which is a thinner drywall, on top of that plaster. And that gives you a smooth, clean surface. Very easy to do. You, of course, have to put new molding on, you have to extend the electrical and switch boxes out a little bit to make it work. There are special extension plates that can do that. But it’s a very clean, easy way to get pristine walls and ceilings without the hassle of doing a major demolition on those old plaster walls.

I’ve tried every possible configuration of this project. I’ve torn out the plaster, tore out the plaster lath, which is those wood sticks that look like the tomato sticks against the studs behind it.

BRAD: Right.

TOM: Spent hours cleaning it up and shoveling that stuff – which is really heavy, by the way – into dumpsters, getting rid of all that and then putting drywall up. It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of mess. And I don’t think I bought myself anything because the next time I did this project, I skinned it with drywall. And I was like, “Dummy, you should’ve been doing it this way all along. This is so much easier.”

And what are you talking about? Losing another inch or two in the width of the room? It really makes no sense at all in doing it any other way but that.

BRAD: Right. OK, OK. Well, I appreciate your opinion on that.

TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project, Brad. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

[radio_anchor listorder=”1″]LESLIE: Tammy in Tennessee is on the line. How can we help you today?

TAMMY: Hi there. I was having a question about gutters. Me and my husband are wanting to put some gutters up on the outside. And what would be the best adhesive to use?

TOM: Well, typically, you don’t use adhesive when you’re putting gutters up; you use fasteners. So you would use gutters nails – gutters spikes, I should say – or gutters screws or bolts. I like, personally, the gutter screws because they go through the entire gutter and they attach to the fascia on the outside of the house. And they don’t pull out. Sometimes, when you use the spikes, they’ll work loose over time.

TAMMY: Oh, OK. Well, that’s good advice. So use the roofing nails.

TOM: No, no, no. No, no, no. Not roofing nails. Gutter screws, OK? They’re special screws. They’re about 7 inches long. They usually have a hex head or an Allen head that you have to drive them with. And they basically go into the gutters about every 3 to 4 feet. And they’ll do a good job of holding it in place, OK?

TAMMY: OK. Thank you so much for the information. I really appreciate your time.

TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Alright. We’ve got Sal in Georgia on the line with a water heater that doesn’t want to deliver hot and cold when he needs it.

What’s going on, Sal?

SAL: Hey, my situation here is I installed a Whirlpool hot-water heater.

TOM: OK.

SAL: I’ve got plenty of hot water but it doesn’t maintain the temperature all the way through. I have turned it up from 120 to – which was factory set – to 140 so I could get a little more hot water. But it still doesn’t maintain the temperature. I have to continuously, every four minutes or so, turn it over – turn the hot water up just a little bit.

TOM: Is this electric water heater?

SAL: Yes, sir.

TOM: OK. Are you running out of hot water quickly, Sal?

SAL: No, I’ve got plenty of hot water. I can take a 15-, 20-minute shower without running out of hot water. It just won’t maintain the temperature.

TOM: So, when you say it won’t maintain the temperature, will it not maintain the temperature while you’re taking the shower? Is that when you get sort of the hot and the cold?

SAL: Correct. Correct. Yeah, yeah. It just – it keeps going cold on me where I’ve got to keep turning the hot up just a little bit.

TOM: It may not necessarily be the water heater. Because what happens is if there’s water being consumed anywhere else in the house while this is happening, you may end up with an imbalance in the mix between hot and cold. And there’s a simple solution to that and it’s called a “pressure-balance valve.”

And basically, you replace your shower valve with a pressure-balance valve and what that does is actually maintains the mix between hot and cold, regardless of what the pressure is in either line. Does that make sense?

SAL: Yeah, it does. But it’s just me and the wife at the house. So when I’m showering, she’s not using the hot water, so that’s the only thing – it doesn’t make sense to me, either, because it just – it seems like it would maintain it. I replaced the original water heater that was in the house – which was an old, beat-up water heater – but it maintained the temperature. It did run out of hot water a lot quicker.

TOM: Do you notice this in any – at any other fixture but the shower?

SAL: I have not noticed, no. The shower is the only one that would really be noticeable. But no, I haven’t noticed.

TOM: Something like – for example, if you had a very slow leak in your toilet and it was filling up, like ghost-flushing and you may not even notice that this is happening, that can spill some water. If you’re running a dishwasher, if you’re running a washing machine, anything could be going on in the house that could be pulling water. Or even at the street, there could be an imbalance in pressure at the street that could be causing this.

But the condition that you’re describing is very common. Commonly associated with an imbalance of pressure. So I would start there, Sal. I would start there. And if that doesn’t solve it, then we can talk further, OK?

SAL: Alright. Sounds great. I thank you for your time.

TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: You are tuned to The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Give us a call with your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We’re standing by. We can’t wait to help you out at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

TOM: 888-666-3974.

Up next, if you’ve got a small kitchen, we’ve got tips to make it feel bigger and work better, after this.

(theme song)

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because we’d love to talk with you about your home improvement question. You can pick up that phone and call us any time of the day or night, whenever you are listening to this program. If we’re not in the studio, we’ll pick up the call the next time we are. And if you call us, right now, at 888-MONEY-PIT, this hour we’re giving away a great prize. It’s a one-year subscription to FilterEasy.com.

This is a great service. Basically it’s a subscription service for filters for your heating-and-cooling system. You know that thing you stuck in once and forgot about? Well, you’re supposed to change it every couple of months. And these guys make it easy because they’ll send you one when it’s time to replace it.

The FilterEasy subscription service is brilliant. The value of the 1-year subscription, for their best-quality filters, is $240 and that’s going to go out to one caller drawn at random. Make that you. The number, again, is 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Melanie in California on the line with a decorating question. What can we do for you today?

MELANIE: I have untreated (inaudible at 0:10:54) knotty pine throughout the house. I would like to continue into an 8×12 bathroom with the same. Is this the best application for the bathroom or will untreated wood hold up to condensation?

LESLIE: Now, where are you seeing this? On the walls? On the ceiling?

MELANIE: Oh, well, I’d like to do the whole bathroom. Yes, walls and ceiling.

TOM: I would say, Leslie, that knotty – untreated, knotty pine is a really bad idea for a bathroom.

LESLIE: Yeah.

TOM: I actually do have a bathroom that’s got pine wainscoting but it’s completely sealed. And it goes up about halfway up the wall. I would definitely not put unfinished wood in a bathroom because it’s going to soak up the moisture. It’s going to grow mold or mildew and just is not going to look right. You can’t clean it, either. So, a bad idea for the ceiling.

That said, if you like the look of wood, there are many ceiling-tile products that do look quite a lot like wood.

MELANIE: OK. We’re limited. We’re in a small area, so we’re limited as far as hardwares go and paneling. We’ve checked out our local hardware stores. And where’s the best place to find, oh, say, ceiling paneling and …?

LESLIE: Well, now, a clever, creative idea – which, you know, you might be able to source online and perhaps you haven’t looked at some of this in the local places to you – would be a laminate flooring that’s a plank that looks like a knotty pine so that we could utilize that in the same application that you’re talking about. But it’s made to withstand high-moisture situations because it’s a manufactured product and not a natural product.

MELANIE: Sure, sure.

LESLIE: And that, because it’s sold in planks, if you do have to order it online or if somebody has to order it from the vendor directly through your local stores, it ships really easily because of its packaging. And being plank size, you’re not going to have a hard time getting it in, rather than a sheet product.

MELANIE: Oh, OK. Very good. And I think that would look far better than a sheet product. We just – I think that’s why I don’t care – the wainscoting or coating, how do you pronounce that?

LESLIE: Oh, absolutely.

MELANIE: Is that …?

LESLIE: I say “wainscoting,” but I think everybody says it every way they feel like. Tomato, tomato.

MELANIE: OK. It’s just very attractive. But we need to do this complete, up the walls.

TOM: You don’t have to. You could go partially up the walls and then trim off the top edge of it.

MELANIE: Hmm. And then would – OK.

TOM: It depends on what look you’re going for. For example, Leslie, you’ve often given the suggestion that you can take an old door, turn it on its side and that could be a wainscoting.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. That works out beautifully, especially because it gives you the paneling sort of built right into the door. The only issue there is that anywhere you’ve got an electrical outlet or something that might protrude from the wall, you’re going to have to bump that out to accommodate the extra thickness of the door. Not a big deal but it’s an extra step.

MELANIE: Boy, it sure is. Oh, boy. OK. Well, thank you so much. That’s a lot to think about and I really like that plank-flooring idea. That was a thought that never even crossed my mind, so – nor my husband’s.

TOM: Alright. Well, good luck with that project.

MELANIE: Thank you so much. And thank you for taking my call.

TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Well, small kitchens might be cozy but opening them up might not involve a whole lot of expense. Now, one way to do that is to add a skylight. And that might sound like a big project and sometimes, it can be. But if you do it, you’re going to open that ceiling up, you’ll let more light in and you’re going to kind of visually expand that space.

Now, if that is too tall of an order, there’s another way to do this that is super easy and it’s called a “sun tunnel.” It’s kind of like a skylight but it’s sort of a round one. You set this tunnel into the roof. You cut a hole and they’re kind of different diameters but let’s just say, for argument’s sake, it’s around 12 inches in diameter or maybe 15 or 18 inches. You cut the hole, you drop in the diffuser at the top, which basically is the lens that lets the light in, and then there’s a mirrored tube. The tube is lined with mirrors that goes from that diffuser right down to the ceiling. And it sort of carries that light right down to the kitchen.

So, basically, what it does – it fills that space with all this natural light without having to actually build and construct that light shaft that you would have to do if you had a skylight. So, skylights and sun tunnels, great way to open up space in a small kitchen.

LESLIE: Yeah. I think another great idea is removing any soffits that you might have above the cabinets, because that’s really going to create the illusion of space. It allows your eye to kind of follow what appears to be a wider ceiling, because the cabinets aren’t blocking off that extra space.

Now, you can also consider lighter-colored cabinets and lighter paint colors, as well. Perhaps even some open shelving or just simply glass front doors, because that will all give you depth to the room and really help you create a whole new look.

TOM: That’s a great point. So, you don’t have to be satisfied with your small, dark kitchen and don’t let it get to you. There’s lots of things that you can do with your cabinetry and your space to really open up and make it more efficient.

Hey, if you’ve got questions on kitchen projects or just about anything else, we’d love to talk with you at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

[radio_anchor listorder=”4″]LESLIE: Becky in Missouri, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?

BECKY: Hi. I’m having trouble with leaking on my back porch. I have a 20×12 porch and it’s not completely flat. It is part of the house but it’s got rolled roofing instead of the shingles like on the house. And there’s a little bit of a pitch but I had a new roof put on in 2006 and have had the people come out several times because of leaking in the middle, under the ceiling part of it. And also, the chimney is right there on the edge and it’s leaked around there, too.

But they fixed that but we’ve had ice before, which I’ve never had trouble until last week. And I had them come out because it was leaking and there was ice on the – because of all the bad weather. And they said it was an ice – caused by an ice dam. And some roofs do it and some don’t. There’s nothing they can really do to fix it. But it was leaking in the same place that I had just regular rain leaks before.

And my concern is I can’t – I think they should fix it but they said that it’s an ice dam and there’s nothing that can be done. And I’m just wondering if there is something that can be done for that.

TOM: OK. You want the good news or the bad news?

BECKY: Start with the bad.

TOM: So the bad news is that you do need to take your roof off and rebuild it. Now, you want the good news?

BECKY: Yes.

TOM: It’s probably covered by homeowners insurance.

BECKY: Really?

TOM: Ice-dam damage and ice dams are typically covered by homeowners insurance. And the way they’re fixed is basically you have to take the roof apart and you have to apply something called “ice-and-water shield,” which kind of looks like rolled roofing but it’s designed to sort of seal right up against the roof sheathing. And it’s kind of like putting a rubber membrane, almost, across the underside of your entire roof. And then, over that, you put the roll roofing or whatever other type of low-slope roofing product you want to install.

And when you’re doing the ice-dam repair with the ice-and-water shield, you will, of course, replace all the flashing around the chimney. Because we are going to be working around it, so you pretty much have to do it. And that will deal with that issue.

So what I would do is I would contact a public adjuster, not your insurance company, first. Although you could report it to them but a public adjuster – because these guys are independent. They work for the homeowners. They work on a commission based on what they collect from your insurance company. And have them write up a claim and file a claim for you. If it’s done well, you could get the roof, you could get the ceiling painted, the whole nine yards.

BECKY: Oh, well, yeah. That’s wonderful. So, how are they listed as far as a contact – I mean a public adjuster?

TOM: That’s how they’re listed. They’re public insurance adjusters. I would check with friends, check with attorneys. You could check with your insurance agent. Might have a lead. There’s obviously – like anything, some are good and some are bad, so you want to find a good public insurance adjuster. But I think you may have a potential claim there and perhaps you’ll get a new roof out of it.

BECKY: Alright. I will do that. And thank you so much. Appreciate your show.

LESLIE: Alright. Thanks so much for calling The Money Pit.

Hey, there are a few things that many of us associate with springtime: allergies, sneezing. Sure, that’s a given. But do you tend to visit the chiropractor or maybe get some more massages more often in the springtime? And let me tell you, you can blame it right on the lawn mower. We all keep throwing out our backs. You know, you still have it carried over from the winter trying to start your snow blowers. Now you’re going to throw your back out again with the lawn mower.

Guys, there’s a much better way and it doesn’t include hurting yourself. We’re going to tell you about a new battery-powered mower that can handle half-an-acre lawn without those hassles, next.

(theme song)

TOM: Where home solutions live, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: Hey, look around your house right now. We know there’s at least one project that you’ve got to get done but maybe you don’t know where to start? Give us a call. We’re here to help at 888-MONEY-PIT.

[radio_anchor listorder=”5″]LESLIE: John from Texas is on the line and has a question about an attic.

But John, you’re on the road right now?

JOHN: I’m shut down. I just got to my stop.

TOM: OK, good. Well, how can we help you, John?

JOHN: I’ve got a crawlspace in my house for the attic …?

TOM: OK.

JOHN: But it doesn’t have a ladder or nothing on it. It’s just a hole in the ceiling where you get into the attic. But I just moved into this house in July. But the people who did the heating and A/C, they stuck the return air duct through that crawlspace. And it’s just kind of sitting and hanging over my hallway wall or hallway walkway. And there’s nothing around it. It’s a big rectangular opening in the crawlspace and then the – like an 8- to 10-inch, 12-inch round duct.

TOM: So, John, are you telling me they blocked off the only access you had to this attic by laying a duct on top of it?

JOHN: Yes, sir. It’s actually the end of the return air where it pulls in the air for the heating-and-cooling system.

TOM: Oh, you mean they used your only attic opening as the return duct? Is that what they did?

JOHN: Yes, sir.

TOM: That was really dumb. Oh, really dumb.

JOHN: I know. And it’s just sitting there. There’s nothing. The four corners of the rectangle box is just right open to the attic. And my heating bill went from $200 to $350 in December.

TOM: They were idiots and you can quote me on that, OK? And I don’t know if you want to get them back there because they did such a lousy job. But we actually have parts of HVAC systems that are designed for this very use. There’s a grill that basically gets installed in the ceiling and on the other side of it, it’s ready to receive the duct. And there’s no leakage around it or anything.

So, you need to have a proper return put in. You don’t have that right now and you absolutely should not have that big, open hole because you’re right: all that heat’s going to go up in the attic. And then once it is gone, then you can decide if you want to put the attic hatch back, if you want to add an attic stair. And you can insulate and weather-strip that opening and keep the heat on the side of the house it should be on.

JOHN: Right.

TOM: Alright, John? So, they’re in the wrong here; you’re in the right. So, I would go after them and have them get back and finish this job. It’s completely unfinished and it needs to be addressed. Good luck, John. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Well, with spring upon us, now is the time when many of us are pulling out the lawn mowers and filling them up with gas and oil and pulling the start cord and pulling the start cord and pulling it again and again and again, right? Doesn’t this always happen? It worked last spring. Why doesn’t it work this spring?

LESLIE: You know what? It’s always something.

TOM: Yeah, exactly. You could put that all behind you because there’s a better solution out now from Greenworks. And it’s at Lowes and it’s called the Greenworks Pro 60-Volt Mower. And it’s battery-powered. Think about that: battery-powered. Who would have imagined that we can run lawn mowers on batteries today? But we can. I have seen this thing, I have used it. There’s no gas or oil to deal with. In fact, you can mow up to a half-acre – a half-acre – on a single battery charge. Pretty impressive.

LESLIE: That’s amazing. I could probably do my yard three times on a single charge.

TOM: You could, you could.

LESLIE: I think what’s interesting is that the magic really happens when you’re combining a powerful 60-volt lithium battery with a brushless-motor technology. And that basically gives you a great combination of power, performance, even durability.

Yep, it’s pretty much a hassle-free design. And instead of a pull cord, it really just has a push-button start. No gas or maintenance to deal with. It’s super quiet and super environmentally friendly. I mean it has zero emissions. And you can store it vertically, so it’s going to take up about 70 percent less storage space, which we all know is super valuable in your garage.

TOM: Yeah, it leaves more room in the man-cave. That’s good for me. And it’s also got a 21-inch steel deck with a 3-in-1 design. So you’re going to get versatility and a faster mow time.

The Greenworks Pro 60-Volt Mower is available at Lowes and at Lowes.com. You can learn more at GreenworksTools.com. Greenworks, life gets easier.

[radio_anchor listorder=”6″]LESLIE: We’re going to talk with Dot in Wisconsin who’s got a decking question. How can we help you with your project?

DOT: Yes. My deck is located on the south side of my house and every year, we’ve been putting a paint on it. And it’s where we get a lot of sun. And I’m wondering if there’s a special kind of paint I should use, because it peels a lot.

TOM: So, there are special paints for decks. And if you’re continuing to put more coats of paint on the old deck, my concern is that you’re never going to get good adhesion. You may have too many coats of paint on that now.

Are you using paint or stain, Dot?

DOT: I believe it’s a paint.

TOM: I’m afraid, at this point, what you really need to do is to remove that paint so you can get down to the original wood. Because you can’t put good paint over bad paint; it’s going to continue to peel. And once you get down to that wood, then you should prime it and then paint it.

But if you’re able to get most of the paint off – and perhaps you can because, apparently, it’s not sticking well, where you really don’t have too much left – then I would recommend not using paint on it. I would use solid-color stain. It’s still going to give you a continuous color but it’s going to absorb better into the wood and it’ll kind of fade rather than peel. And I think that’s what you’re shooting for.

DOT: OK. Is there a certain type of product to remove the stuff that’s on there now?

TOM: Yeah, there’s a wide variety of paint strippers out there. I would look for one of the citrus-based products and try that. You’re going to – you may have to try a couple of them until you find the one that works best with your particular deck.

DOT: OK. Thank you.

TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Spring is a great time to update your floors. And if that’s a project on your to-do list, laminate floors or engineered hardwood are both great choices. But what’s the difference? Well, we’re going to share the answer, in just a bit.

(theme song)

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

Hey, give us a call at 888-MONEY-PIT. We want to help you with whatever it is you are working on this almost spring season at your money pit. Plus, we’ve got a great prize, which is perfectly timely, especially if you’re an allergy sufferer. We’re giving away a one-year subscription to FilterEasy.com.

Now, FilterEasy.com really takes the hassle out of buying air filters. Because if you’re like me, I constantly forget which filter I have and I have to open up all the ducts and figure out which one is the right filter that I want to replace from all of my ducting. And which direction does it go in and which size? And then go to the store and hopefully not forget everything that I looked at.

But the best part of FilterEasy.com is it automatically sends you the right filter for your house and reminds you to actually change them, which is fantastic because you’re going to improve your air quality, you’re going to extend the life of heating-and-cooling systems in your home, you can reduce your energy bills by up to 15 percent. And who doesn’t love all of those things?

You’ve got to call us for your chance to win. If you want to check it out, it’s FilterEasy.com. And the winner is going to get about a $240 prize package of filters. I think it’s every two months you get them for a year?

TOM: Yeah, every couple of months, just when you need them. The number is 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Well, spring is a great time to update your floors. And if that’s a project on your to-do list, laminate floors or engineered hardwood are both great choices. But what’s the difference and which one is going to make the most sense for your home? Well, we’ve got the answer in today’s Flooring Tip, presented by Lumber Liquidators.

TOM: Well, first off, laminate and engineered hardwood are both really great flooring choices. They’re durable, they’re affordable, they look great. The differences are subtle.

First, laminate floor. The flooring is basically a photographed image of finished hardwood and it can’t be refinished. But as it’s put together, it’s incredibly durable and it’s very scratch-resistant. So laminate floor is great for high-traffic areas. I’ve had laminate floor in my kitchen, for example, for about 10 years and through 3 children without any issues.

Plus, it’s really easy to install because it can be floated over a pad without the need for any acclimation to that space. It basically is a floating floor. All you do is you trim it around the outside edges and you’re good to go.

LESLIE: Now, with engineered flooring, it really depends on the style because the engineered flooring, it can be floated over a pad or it can be nailed to a subfloor or glued to the cement. Now, it’s made by actually adhering real hardwood to layers of plywood or medium-density fiberboard or even a lumber core. And engineered hardwood can be sanded and refinished if the veneer is thick enough. And that’s really going to vary depending on the manufacturer that you purchase your engineered flooring through.

Now, engineered floors are also excellent for radiant heat and below-grade installations. So you get a lot of choices there and a lot more options as to where you can place it.

TOM: Yeah. And if you’ve got a basement, that’s one of the only ways you can have real hardwood floors in your basement, because engineered floors are dimensionally stable.
And today’s Flooring Tip was presented by Lumber Liquidators, where you’ll find the new Dream Home Ultra X20 Laminate. It’s two times more water-resistant than standard laminate flooring, providing greater protection from common household spills. You’ll find the Dream Home Ultra X20 Laminate at Lumber Liquidator stores nationwide and online at LumberLiquidators.com.

[radio_anchor listorder=”3″]LESLIE: Al in New York is on the line with a question about insulating a cathedral ceiling. How can we help you?

AL: Yeah, I’d like to know if it is possible to insulate a cathedral ceiling. I had an addition – a bedroom put on the back of the house. And ever since the year it’s been built, it’s been rather cold in there. We’ve been compensating for heat with an electric heater. And I was just wondering if the problem is that my ceiling is not insulated.

TOM: Well, it’s entirely possible. Cathedral ceilings are very challenging to insulate because typically, if you’re using a batt product like fiberglass, for example, you need to allow for ventilation space. So if your rafter is a 2×8, you can only fit 6 inches of insulation in that space, because you have to leave the extra space for ventilation to basically move air in and out of there and keep it nice and dry. And 6 inches of insulation or generally 5-1/2 by the time you get all done – because there’s a little bit of compression of settlement – is only about R-19 when you really ought to have about R-40, about twice that much. So it’s a very difficult space to insulate.

Now, if you took the drywall down and took the fiberglass out and you used spray foam in that space, then you could achieve the R-value that you need within that same space. But of course, that’s more expensive and more trouble. It clearly sounds like you don’t have enough BTUs, in terms of your heat volume getting into that room. So, when you say you’re using electric heaters, are you using space heaters, Al, for this?

AL: Space heaters, yes. We’re in …

TOM: Yeah. So what I would do is this – and how often do you have to use them?

AL: Oh, say, when the temperatures get down below 10 degrees and gets too cold.

TOM: Alright. So here’s what I would do. I would install – because this is going to be the least expensive – it’s expensive to heat but the least expensive way to get a heating system. I would put in the room, I would put electric strip heaters – electric baseboard heaters. They look like the same way that hot-water radiators look when they go along the baseboard. They look just like that but they’re electric. And I would hook it up to a thermostat.

So you can set the thermostat that whenever it goes below X, then those heaters come on and supplement the heat. This way, you don’t have to be so personally involved in turning on and off the heaters and moving them around. It’s going to be a safer heater overall. And it can be thermostat-actuated. In fact, the thermostat could be a setback so that, for example, perhaps if it gets that cold in the middle of the night, you don’t care so much. But if it happens during the waking hours, so to speak, then you do.

So I would make that level of investment. You’ll get those electric heaters installed by an electrician, run off the thermostat and compensate that way. If it’s just one small space like that, that’s probably the best way to handle it.
AL: I have one other question pertaining to that room. Also, when the heating system was put in that room, it was naturally just attached to the existing system. And I’ve noticed that there is no cold-air return duct. Is that a problem?

TOM: Yeah, it definitely is a problem because the way rooms get conditioned is by an exchange of supply and return air. So if you just tried to extend some ducts to there and you’re not pulling any of that air back to be reheated, you can’t just pump warm air into the room and expect it to happen. You’ve got to pull the cold air back. So, yeah.

I mean you might want to have a good-quality HVAC contractor look at it and see if there’s any type of adjustments or changes that you can make to the ducting system to do a better job. But if nothing else, I would get some electric-resistance baseboard heaters in there permanently and professionally installed, run off a thermostat. You should be much more comfortable.

AL: Which would be a cheaper route to go: the ceiling or the heating?

TOM: The heating because the ceiling’s a big job. You’ve got to tear it all apart and you’ve got to have a spray-foam insulation company come in. And to do a small job like that, they still have to bring the manpower and the big trucks, you know what I mean? So, it’s a big sort of cost to get started with that. So I think the baseboard heat, in your situation, would be the way to go.

AL: OK. Very good. I appreciate the help.

LESLIE: Hey, if you’re considering selling your home in the next few months, you might want to begin now with some landscaping ideas. We’re going to share some, coming up.

(theme song)

TOM: Making good homes better, this is The Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.

TOM: The number is 888-MONEY-PIT. Hey, you can call us, 24/7, at 888-666-3974. No matter where you are or when you hear this program, our call center always picks up those calls. If we’re not in the studio, we will call you back the next time we are. Because we know that sometimes you’re just driving along – it could be during the day or the middle of the night – and you run into a home improvement problem. Or you think about it and can’t get to sleep, call us at 888-MONEY-PIT. Make that problem our problem. We’ll solve it together at 888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: And you can also post your questions online. And we always get a bunch, so let’s dive right in. I’ve got one here from Denise in Texas who writes: “I’m going to paint my son’s room. My husband wants to use non-toxic paint. Is it worth the price difference and what’s the problem with traditional paint anyway?”

TOM: Well, most traditional paints have VOCs – volatile organic compounds – like benzene and formaldehyde. These can be released into the air, even after they dry. And they’ve been linked to many health problems.

Now, Leslie, when you were painting the babies’ rooms, right, for both your babies, I know that you were very careful about the paints you selected, for those very reasons.

LESLIE: It is true. It’s worth it for the extra expense, especially if you’ve got the child in the room right away or within a relatively short period of time of painting or if you’re pregnant. It’s like you just don’t want all of those unnecessary VOCs in your house. So, in my opinion, especially with those little munchkins, you want to make sure that you get them the best possible air quality in their room.

That also applies to new furniture and new carpeting. You want to let those off-gas somewhere else. If you’re buying wall-to-wall carpeting, let it off-gas at the store, in your garage, before it’s installed someplace like that. Because you just don’t need it in your house. It’s just not worth it.

TOM: Well, if you’re thinking of selling your home this spring, adding landscaping is a great way to step up your curb appeal and attract more buyers. Leslie has tips on how to do just that, in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

Leslie?

LESLIE: Yeah. First of all, guys, a messy lawn, it really doesn’t create the best first impression. Overgrown, even patchy lawns or just oversized bushes are going to cause your home to stand out but in a bad way.

Now, the good news is that taming the jungle of your yard is an easy fix. For about a few hundred bucks, you can hire a lawn-service company. They’ll trim your lawn and landscape your hedges and your curb appeal will go from messy to maintained without blowing your budget.

Next, think about adding some low-maintenance landscaping. And that’s going to save you money now and really will add value when you sell. I mean no question that shrubs and colorful plants are going to add curb appeal to any home. But when shopping at your local garden center, you want to make sure that you think green. Because shopping locally will make you, you know, more likely to purchase plants that are native to your region or plants that are drought-tolerant. Now, those are going to require less water and maintenance, which then means to you more savings and more green in your wallet, not to mention all the beautiful greenery in your yard.

Now, if you’re not thinking about selling so soon, then go ahead and plan for the future by planting a shade tree. Mature trees will make your home more desirable. And a fully grown, properly placed tree can cut your cooling costs.

Now, mature landscaping is also good for the environment. It’s going to add curb appeal to your home and really just help everything look more beautiful from the outside, which then draws people in. So think about it: outside first, especially if you want to sell.

TOM: And when you think about the outside, it’s not just the drive-bys you want to attract, it’s all the people that are searching online based on a photograph of your house, right? So when the landscape project is done, get out there, take a few pictures. Because who knows? If you put your house on the market, that might be the picture that draws in the buyer.

Coming up next time on the program, as we head into outdoor-living season, it’s a good time to get your deck in shape. We’re going to have tips to help spruce up that space, on the next edition of The Money Pit.

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.

 

(Copyright 2017 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.)