Stop Smelly Stink Bugs | Consumer Report on Generators | New Tech in Storm Windows | Ep #2151

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: On a beautiful fall day, we’re ready to take on some projects around our house. What are you ready to take on? Are you working inside or out? Are you working in the attic, adding some insulation to avoid high heating bills this winter? Maybe you’re thinking about a new roof or some new siding or some new landscaping? Have you done the last cutting of your lawn yet for the season? It’s a good idea to get that done, maybe hit the lawn up with some fertilizer so it’s healthy through the winter and comes back fast.

Whatever project you are working on, if you’d like some tips and advice on how to get it done, you can reach out to us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because that’s what we do. We’re your coach, your counselor, your advisor. Whatever it takes to help you get this project completed on your house, we’re here to lend a hand.

Help yourself first, though, by picking up the phone and calling us with those questions. You can reach us a couple of ways. You can post your question to MoneyPit.com or you can call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974.

Hey, coming up on today’s show, fall weather might be a refreshing change but those cooler temperatures can also usher in pests, like stink bugs, into the warmer spaces of your house. We’ll share tips to keep these smelly invaders out, just ahead.

LESLIE: And as weather-related power outages are becoming more frequent, generators have definitely grown in popularity. But choosing the right type of generator to fit your individual needs can be difficult. Consumer Reports, though, can help. Paul Hope, the home and appliances reporter, is joining us with tips and the results of their latest testing.

TOM: And are you faced with beautiful but old, drafty windows? Well, new storm windows can help and now, they’ve gone high-tech with coatings that can actually keep the heat in. We’ll explain more.

LESLIE: But first, we want to help you create your best home ever. From bathrooms to basements and demolition to décor, we are your coach, your counselor, your cheerleader for all of your projects, whether they’re big or small.

TOM: So, give us a call right now. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888-666-3974. Or post your questions to MoneyPit.com.

Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?

LESLIE: Scott in Missouri is on the line needing some advice on a rental property. How can we help you with that?

SCOTT: I’ve inherited some rental properties from my late father. They’re in pretty bad shape, needing roofs. And when you look at them, you can see the roofs starting to bow in. And I was wondering who I can get with to find out the building codes for rental properties.

TOM: So, probably the best thing for you to do is to hire an independent, professional home inspector. And you may have to do some interviewing of the home inspectors to find one that’s particularly savvy and experienced with commercial inspections, because that’s what you’re talking about. And there are specialists that are out there. And they can review this property with an eye towards identifying a punch list for you, of elements that will probably have to be repaired or replaced to make those apartments safe and viable for tenants.

If you go the route of having contractors do these inspections, you’re basically letting – you’re kind of letting the mouse into the cheese house, so to speak, because they’re just going to find stuff they want to sell you to fix. You understand what I mean?

SCOTT: Yes.

TOM: This way, you’re better off with somebody who’s an independent inspection professional who just wants to give you the right advice. And that, in the end, is going to save you money and give you the ability to make good decisions on what has to be done.

SCOTT: Yes. Who can I talk to to find the building codes and the standards for rental properties?

TOM: That would be the building department of your local municipality. And they’re going to have a set of codes that they apply to just rental properties in their jurisdiction. And it’s not necessarily going to be up-to-date building code: the same code that you would have if it was, say, a new construction. They’re going to have some safety codes that they’re going to want you to apply to your house. So we’re talking about things like, in an apartment, making sure that the windows operate so you can get out in the event of a fire and making sure you have smoke detectors in – covering every bedroom and making sure you have a carbon-monoxide detector and things of that nature.

So, they’re going to have a set of standards for their area. You need to get that list from the building department. But to the major, many bigger areas that could need repair or replacement, that’s what a home inspector would help you with. And you can find one by going to the website for the American Society of Home Inspectors at ASHI.org – A-S-H-I.org.

SCOTT: OK. Great. Well, I appreciate the information.

LESLIE: Heading out west to Arizona. Karina is on the line with some electrical issues. What’s going on?

KARINA: Have a refrigerator that went out, burned out, just stopped working, a microwave above the stove that went out, stopped working. And the GFIs went out later. And the oven coils I watched spark and burn all the way through. They sparked the whole way and burned. We had to replace everything. Everything happened at different times, with the oven being the last.

And we had an electrician to come in and they – both of them said that there was nothing wrong. I’d replaced a GFI switch and they – like I said, on all the units. They are separate breakers, I understand, but I know that there’s got to be something going on with the electric, obviously, because it’s happening in unison. And all these appliances are next to each other. And I’m just wondering what you think I should do. The breakers, they seem to be alright.

TOM: Well, Karina, that’s a really odd set of circumstances. But the fact that you had a ground fault pop and then you had different appliances – the microwave, the refrigerator and the oven – all fail, I am wondering if you either have a problem with your electrical service into your house, caused by perhaps a bad transformer, or a problem with the wire. Sometimes, the service-entry cables get eaten by squirrels and they get nests built around them. And sometimes the boxes that contain them open up, they get moisture in there. Causes all kinds of hassles.

Or this could’ve, in part, been caused or at least sort of started by a lightning strike. Because when you have a bunch of electrical things like that that fail at the same time, that very often points to a lightning-strike issue.

So I would start with your utility company, have them come out, have them survey the service into the house, review that all the way back to the point where it connects to the pole and down from there. Make sure that that connection into your house is perfect. And then, of course, if you’ve not done it yet, your electricians need to check your electrical panel, because I’m concerned that you had all these things go wrong and I wonder I something is breaking down inside of that panel, as well. I’m concerned about your safety. So make sure that you take care of that as soon as possible. Start with the utility company.

And by the way, if it turns out that there’s evidence of a lightning strike, all of that expense that you paid, that can be charged to your insurance company. Because lightning-strike damage is covered by homeowners insurance. So, get in touch with your insurance company or get in touch with a public adjustor and file a claim. You may be able to get some of that back.

Hey, here’s something that can really help with dozens of projects around the house. We’re going to give away a set of products from The Original Super Glue Corporation today, including this new product called SUPERUNIX. This is an instant extreme adhesive that uses a new technology that outperforms regular super glues. And I like it because it’s able to bond all materials, including foam and paper.

How many times, Leslie, have you tried to glue foam together and the glue you use turns out that it doesn’t glue it, it melts it, right? It turns it to mush.

LESLIE: I mean it happens a lot. If you don’t have the right glue for the right product, it definitely causes a lot of trouble.

TOM: Well, this covers that. It’s an odorless formula. It dries crystal clear and it’s great for filling gaps.

Now, the SUPERUNIX itself retails for just 4.99. You can find it on Amazon or your local hardware store or at SuperGlueCorp.com/SUPERUNIX. But we’ve got a package of 9 different products from Super Glue, including the SUPERUNIX, worth $57. We’re going to send that out to one listener drawn at random. If you’d like to win it, give us a call with your questions or post them at MoneyPit.com.

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Eddie in Delaware on the line who is dealing with a moisture situation going on. Tell us about it.

EDDIE: I’m having a moisture problem with two out of the three bathrooms. It’s a three-bathroom home. And each bathroom has an in-line exhaust fan. And this occurred last season – last winter season – and we got a really severe winter and we’re getting a lot of condensation.

I have dampers in two of the bathrooms, at the ceiling. And last season – the last winter season – I installed an additional damper after the exhaust fan – after the in-line fan in the ceiling – and I was still getting a lot of moisture, actually, at the ceiling where the sheetrock was actually falling apart. That’s how much moisture we got.

TOM: OK. First of all, right above this space, is there an attic? What’s above it?

EDDIE: Yeah. It’s an attic, yeah.

TOM: Alright. And how much insulation do you have in that attic?

EDDIE: The home is only 8 years old.

TOM: So, first of all, bathrooms are sources of warm, moist air. If the temperature of the drywall is chilly, it’s going to condense and cause condensation. So you want to make sure that the attic above it, that you’ve got at least 15 to 20 inches of insulation in there. That’s really important.

EDDIE: Oh, there is. There definitely is. And what I also did was – when I started having this problem, I replaced the flexible ductwork, which was originally R6, to the maximum of R8. And I’m still getting the problem. And these two bathrooms that I’m having the problem, they are not used for showers or bathing of any sort.

TOM: The second thing I want to suggest to you is – you mentioned that you have exhaust fans in two of the three?

EDDIE: No, no. All three have their own individual, in-line exhaust fans, yes.

TOM: OK. So in-line – in other words, it’s ducted out somewhere? They’re all connected together and ducted out at once, at one point?

EDDIE: No, no. They’re not connected together; they’re all different.

TOM: They all vent on their own out the building?

EDDIE: Yes.

TOM: And you can confirm that the vents are working? So if you turn the fan on and you go outside, you’ll see the flapper?

EDDIE: Yes.

TOM: So, hooking them up to a humidistat/timer might not be a bad idea. Because this way, when the humidity gets high in the room it’ll automatically come on. Leviton makes such a switch, designed specifically for bath fans. And I think that might be the next step. I think we need to move air – more air – through these rooms.

The second thing is, what’s underneath these bathrooms? Are these on the second floor or first floor? Are they over a slab?

EDDIE: It’s a ranch home.

TOM: And what’s underneath?

EDDIE: A crawlspace.

TOM: Crawlspace? OK. Does the crawlspace have a high humidity problem?

EDDIE: No.

TOM: I would recommend that you replace that existing fan switch with a humidistatically-controlled fan switch.

EDDIE: Yeah, OK. I’ll try.

TOM: Eddie, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling at 888-MONEY-PIT.

Well, in fall, lots of insects like to seek the shelter and warmth of your house to wait out the season and that includes stink bugs. These little guys will hide in your walls, your cracks and your crevices in your house and they’re not dangerous. But they are definitely a very smelly nuisance.

LESLIE: Yeah. So when stink bugs are disturbed, that’s when they get angry and kind of emit that distinct odor that scientists believe is being used for protection against predators. And I mean it’s a really stinky smell that’s super difficult to get rid of.

So, if you want to prevent a stink-bug infestation in the first place, you’ve got to seal all the cracks and crevices in and around the home, including the windows and doors, and then install some weather-stripping under your interior doors to deter entry. You also want to protect vents in the attics and crawlspaces with screening. And you want to make sure that all screens on your windows are in good repair. You don’t want ones with big holes because they will find their way in. And they look prehistoric. They’re really weird.

TOM: They really do look prehistoric.

Now, if you do find yourself in the company of stink bugs, you can use a vacuum to catch them. But – this is an important but – if you want to avoid smelling up the machine for weeks, here’s a little trick. Grab a piece of some sort of filter cloth – it could be cheesecloth, it could be an old stocking – and stick it partially into the end of the vacuum hose. And then fold it over the outside, attach it with a rubber band. Essentially, what you’ve done is create sort of like a filter trap, like a pouch. And then when you go and vacuum up the stink bugs, they’ll stick in that pouch. And when you turn the vacuum off, you just pull that pouch off, toss it outside and you got rid of the stink bugs all at once without messing up your machine.

LESLIE: Yeah. And whatever you do, when you see a stink bug, don’t be tempted to just squash it because that is when the funk is released. So definitely do your best to kind of scoop it up in a tissue and set it free outside. Otherwise, you’re going to be smelling that smell for a while.

Now we’ve got Deborah in Pennsylvania on the line who is dealing with a painting issue but also has some water going on in the basement. What’s happening?

DEBORAH: I have a question about whether I should paint with the primer for my basement. I have an 1,100-square-foot basement which got flooded for the first time, since I’ve owned the house, in 15 years. And I have reservations about sealing it in. I just wonder where the water goes.

TOM: So, Deborah, the fact that this is the first time that this basement has ever flooded tells me a lot. It tells me that something is wrong with your drainage. I bet your gutters are clogged, your downspouts are disconnected or your soil is shaped in such a way that it’s holding the water against the house and that’s why it flooded. So, find those issue and fix them first.

In terms of painting, you want to know whether you should use a primer. You know, I recently did a – well, I wouldn’t call it a “remodel” but kind of a cleanup in my basement of my house. It’s a very, very old 130-year-old basement. I was painting raw brick and another area that has concrete block. And I decided – even though I didn’t have any moisture issues down there, any flooding or that sort of thing – that I would use DRYLOK because it’s a good masonry paint. And I wanted to seal that surface and give me something cleaner and neater to look at. And if I ever did get any high humidity or dampness in the soil, I know it would give me some minor level of protection.

But that’s not what keeps the water out. What keeps the water out is getting the water away from your house. That’s what you’ve got to do first and you’ll be good to go.

LESLIE: James in Oregon, you’ve got The Money Pit. You want to talk about pocket doors. What’s going on at your place?

JAMES: My wife and I had a home built, oh, about 20 years ago and it has two pocket doors in it. And we’re trying to find out – one of the pocket doors still functions fine but the other one is kind of iffy and grabby and doesn’t really want to move that well. And we’re trying to figure out if there is a way to lubricate pocket doors. We’re kind of – we had the home – she actually designed it. And we had the home built and we’re kind of sorry about the pocket doors now. But anyway, that’s what we need to know is how to lubricate them or how to repair them.

TOM: So I love pocket doors. I mean they’re absolutely beautiful and they’re really fun because you don’t really see them, they disappear into the wall. Now, folks don’t do pocket doors so much; they do sort of that barn or sliding door over openings, which gives you kind of the same effect. But of course, you see the door.

LESLIE: I don’t like them.

TOM: You don’t like them?

LESLIE: I don’t love them.

TOM: Yeah. A lot of people are into them now, yeah. They’re large and I guess you’ve got to have the right space for it but …

LESLIE: And they cover up so much of your wall.

TOM: They do cover up a lot.

But in terms of this pocket door, what I would do is usually if you take the trim out or trim off around the opening, you can actually get to some of the mechanism. Because, typically, that’s how you have to hang the thing. Basically, you hang it in the raw wall and then you trim it out. So, if you’ve got some problems with that, you usually have to take off the trim and sometimes the jambs around it to get to it.

But what I would do is see if there’s any way I can get into that. There’s going to be two wheels, right? One towards one end and one towards the other. And see if you can get in there. And I would start by spraying it with some WD-40 or 3-IN-ONE oil to see if I could get the mechanism moving again. Because it might just be there’s a lot of dirt and dust and crud stuck up in there and by working on it a little bit, you might be able to free it out. But if you have to repair or replace that hardware, I would start taking the trim apart because that’s usually the way you get to that door.

LESLIE: Well, weather-related power outages are becoming more frequent occurrences across our nation. And perhaps not surprisingly, power generators have grown in popularity. But choosing the right type of generator that fits your needs can be difficult and there really are a lot of factors that you need to consider.

TOM: Well, Consumer Reports has been testing and evaluating generators for years and can offer some useful tips. Paul Hope is their home and appliances reporter and joins us now.

Welcome, Paul.

PAUL: Thank you.

TOM: So I guess the first question is, if you’re thinking about getting a generator: should you go with a portable versus a whole-house generator? What’s right for your home?

PAUL: Absolutely. So, the first thing I’ll say is there really is no comparison. A whole-house or home standby generator is really the gold standard in backup power. It’s what you picture when you think about the emergency power sources for hospitals and schools and other (inaudible) places.

These are permanently-installed devices that can run on either natural gas or propane. They can hook up to big propane tanks. They kick on automatically in the event of an outage. And on top of that, they’re able to really run indefinitely on natural gas and in some cases, 10 to 20 days on a single, large propane tank.

Portable generators, on the other hand, are much less expensive, which is the biggest part of their appeal. They mostly run on gasoline. They do require you to store a large amount of gasoline in your garage. And they also require you, typically, to install what’s called the “transfer switch” or “interlock device.” It’s something an electrician can put in. And that’s what you really need if you want the generator to power whole circuits in your home, like the circuit breaker. Otherwise, you’re relying upon outdoor-rated extension cords running outdoors from the generator into your house to power individual lamps and phone chargers and whatnot.

LESLIE: It really is complicated. You always see, during a storm or after, these extension cords running from one house to the next house, everybody sort of using whoever has got the generator.

So, if you’re thinking, “Alright. I’ve got to get one of these,” where do you start? Is it by size? Is it by the circuits you want to power? Or is it truly by “I want standby” or “I want portable”?

PAUL: That’s definitely the first question to answer but the vast majority of folks end up going with a portable generator, just because it’s so much cheaper.

So, the next thing to consider is you really want to make sure to try to buy one of these things when there is not a storm in the news, when there is not a storm approaching. Home centers tend to be overrun with people who are trying to buy them in the run up to a big storm or in the immediate aftermath, because nobody wants to be without power when there’s a big hurricane or snowstorm in the forecast. So you’re really in the sweet spot if you can buy it when there isn’t an imminent natural disaster. You’ll have your best pick, pay the best price.

And it’ll also let you do a few things like get familiar with it. If you are going to use it with extension cords, it’ll allow you to buy some of those extra extension cords that are rated for outdoor use that you might need. It can be quite dangerous to run regular, little rinky-dink extension cords from a generator into your house, especially if you’re powering large things.

If you do decide on a portable, the next thing you really want to do is consider how much wattage you need your generator to produce. The easiest way to do that is probably to go to a manufacturer’s website. A lot of them have calculators right on there that’ll let you add individual appliances and you can see how much output you need. You can also do the same thing yourself by looking at the plugs and some of the things that you would want to power.

And keep in mind, too, that you don’t necessarily have to power everything in your house all at once. You want to keep the fridge plugged in and maybe a few lights all the time. But otherwise, it’s totally fine to have a generator that can maybe power just your washing machine or just your electric stove at once but not necessarily both if you don’t need them at the same time.

TOM: The biggest hassle with portable generators is that you need gasoline to run them. And if there’s power out in your area, it’s probably going to impact at least the local gas stations, as well.

And secondly, if you have gasoline in the generator, it only lasts 2 to 3 weeks before it starts to go bad. And even with a fuel stabilizer, you can get a little bit more out of it. So there definitely is an inconvenience factor to it.

You know, I want to ask you about this. I took a trip this summer and we were in a boat and we got gas when we were in the boat. And I thought, “Marine fuel doesn’t have ethanol in it or has very little. So marine fuel, you could fill your boat up and leave it in there 6 months and it’ll be just as good as the day you put it in there.” I wonder if you could do that with a portable generator – because it usually is the same octane – and not have to worry about it, gas turning bad. Because that’s the hassle. When the gas turns bad, now the thing just doesn’t start when you need it most.

PAUL: That is one of the biggest problems or challenges with powering a generator. We have found that the generators we’ve tested can burn anywhere from 12 to 20 gallons of gasoline a day if they’re running at full capacity, which is really a lot to have to store. And as you’ve mentioned, it’s tough to find gas in times of an outage.

You could certainly do marine fuel or any other ethanol-free or low-ethanol fuel. That would definitely help improve the longevity of the gas. But we typically find that when we’ve tested fuels, we can extend the useful life of regular gasoline to all the way to 18 or even 24 months just by mixing in certain fuel stabilizers. And that is what we typically recommend people do. You can buy basically as much gasoline as you can safely store in a garage. Mix in the fuel stabilizer, use ANSI-approved containers. Those are those little, red tanks you see people filling at the gas station.

And just like with the generator, make sure to buy it way ahead of time. Get as much as you can when there’s not a big run on gas stations. And if in a few months or a year or even two, you find that you haven’t needed it or you’re not using it, you can always just pour it right into the tank of your car and burn it and just replace it with fresh gas to have in storage.

TOM: And if all that sounds like way too much hassle, you can always go with a whole-house or a standby generator. The recommendations are right there at ConsumerReports.org.

Paul Hope, the home and appliances reporter, thank you so much for stopping by The Money Pit. Great advice and let’s hope that the power keeps firing for the storm season ahead.

PAUL: Thanks, guys.

LESLIE: Well, have we got a great set of products to give away today. I’m talking about a product prize that can help you with dozens of repairs around your house and it’s from The Original Super Glue Corporation.

Now, it’s going to include SUPERUNIX and this is a new, universal, instant extreme adhesive. And the technology is great because it’s designed to outperform any other super glue out there. It’s really great. It’s odorless. It’s going to dry crystal clear, so it’s great for filling in gaps. And it has a super-fast, 10-second setting time. Ten seconds. And it’s going to give you a maximum strength of 2,800 pounds per square inch. That is one super-strong glue.

It’s a great prize pack, guys. I guarantee you’ll be sticking a whole bunch of things together around your house.

TOM: That package of nine different Super Glue products is going out to one caller, one listener drawn at random. So post your questions to MoneyPit.com or call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.

LESLIE: Heading out to Alaska. Chris is on the line and wants to put a hot tub outside which, quite frankly, is fantastic.

What’s going on, Chris?

CHRIS: I’m looking to install a hot tub but I don’t know what the best process is. I don’t know if it’s able to be set just on the ground. Do I need a concrete pad? What all should I do to prepare for having a hot tub?

LESLIE: Now, if you want to put a hot tub directly on the ground, in Alaska outside, I feel like you kind of need a base of some sort, whether that’s a concrete pad or pavers or something. I wouldn’t put this directly on the cold ground.

Would you, Tom?

TOM: No. I think that’s right. I don’t think you want to put it right on the ground and you need to be able to maintain it. So you want to have a nice, clean start to it. It’s also going to be really, really heavy. Remember, water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon, so you’re going to have thousands of pounds of water there.

So I would put it on some sort of a base. And concrete is fine, paver patio is fine. You could build a deck but you’d have to really make it beefy. And the other thing is, because you are in Alaska, I don’t know what height of snow you’re going to get in your part of the country.

LESLIE: Very true.

TOM: But if it’s a lot, you don’t want to bury the hot tub, do you? So you need to think about that. But I think you need to invest in a good, solid base. Also make it nicer for you to get in and out of it, as well. I don’t think you want to just jump into the snowfall when you step out of the hot tub. But I guess, if I lived in Alaska, I’d probably want to put a hot tub in before I’d want to put a deck on, right?

LESLIE: Oh my goodness. For sure. Northern lights, snow, hot tub. That sounds pretty good.

Well, if you have beautiful, old but really super-drafty windows, installing a storm window is one of the most cost-effective solutions for plugging those energy leaks. They’re easy to install. They cost a fraction of a replacement window. And in fact, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, storm windows with low emissivity – or you might see it as a low-E coating – can actually lower your utility bill just as much as replacing the entire window.

TOM: Yeah. This type of storm window has an ultra-thin, virtually invisible layer of metal, low-E coating. And the low-E coating will reflect the infrared heat back into your home. It basically improves the window’s ability to insulate and that lowers your heating costs in the winter, as well as your cooling costs in the summer. In fact, on average, these low-E storm windows can save you 10 to 30 percent in heating-and-cooling costs over the space of a year.

So, really interesting innovation and something that you should definitely consider if you’ve got some of those beautiful, old windows and you don’t want to kind of totally cover them up. This is a way to put storm windows on that really add some beauty and some insulating ability to that piece of millwork.

LESLIE: Marie in Florida is on the line who’s looking for an easier way to clean some windows around the house. What’s going on?

MARIE: Right. Yes, I’m lazy and I’ve been reading the ads and – Spray & Forget. Is there a window cleaner that I can use on the outside, that I could just spray and then forget?

TOM: OK. Yeah. So, Spray & Forget is a fine product and that’s designed to clean mold and mildew and algae and moss off of siding and roofs and surfaces like that and sidewalks. In terms of windows – so, you’re looking for a product you spray on and just does the cleaning for you. And I’m not aware of anything that does exactly that. I think that is a job that is always, once and forever, going to need our own personal touch.

LESLIE: Well, I mean I feel like anything that you’re going to spray on and leave on is going to leave a streak. Because you know it’s – you’ve got to completely remove whatever cleaning formula you put on there. Otherwise, it will streak or cloud or do something unusual. So that’s the issue with cleaning glass. It’s not like a product you can spray on a siding and let it sort of do the work.

TOM: Yeah. There’s a line of products that we like that are cleaning products, including window cleaners, made by a company called JAWS – J-A-W-S. It’s JAWSCleans.com. These are products that – where they sell you the concentrate and a mix in a bottle. And for a fraction of the cost of buying one that’s already mixed up at the store, you can get a dozen or more bottles full of this stuff by mixing it yourself with the concentrate.

And I like it because it doesn’t leave any streaks. And I told the guy that owns the company, who I’ve become friendly with, that I keep a bottle on my desk in my office, because I clean computer screens and glasses with it.

So you might want to take a look at that: JAWSCleans.com. I think there’s a promo code there for The Money Pit that’ll get you 20-percent off if you just enter MONEYPIT in the promo box. And that might be a product that’s so easy to use that it wouldn’t be so bad for you to have to clean those windows yourself.

MARIE: OK. That sounds pretty good. I just – I have 20 windows and I don’t want to clean them.

TOM: You can always hire a pro. There’s folks out there that that’s all they do.

Thomas wrote us and wants to know the best way to manage woodpeckers. They’re using his house instead of a tree to peck at.

I had this exact problem, Thomas. And what I did was I took a Hefty bag and I cut sort of black, plastic streamers out of it and tacked them right around the area where the hole was in the siding. And it has the effect of kind of scaring them away. I did this 6 months ago. They’ve not come back. Very successful trick.

LESLIE: I like that you’re answering your own question that you wrote in, Tom. Good call with Thomas. I’m winking.

TOM: Like that?

LESLIE: You can’t see but I’m winking.

TOM: Well, if you enjoy a roaring fire in the fireplace when it starts to get really, really chilly out, it’s nice if you can see it. That only happens if your fireplace screen is super clean. Leslie has got the solutions to take care of that little project, in today’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.

Leslie?

LESLIE: Yeah. I do love a good fire but those fireplace screens, they can get filled up with dust. If it’s glass, it can be really yucky. There’s a lot of different ways that your fire can look not so fantastic.

So let’s first talk about cleaning. Now, you want to plan to clean that fireplace screen at least once a season, twice maybe. And to get that job done right, you’re going to want to use a cleaning solution of 1/8-cup liquid dishwashing detergent per quart of water. And that’s going to do wonders for the caked-on dirt.

Now, you gently want to scrub the screen with a soft bristle brush. And you want to follow it up by wiping everything away with a lint-free cloth. That’s not only going to avoid rusting but I feel like if you use something like a paper towel, those fibers kind of get stuck in all of those little openings of the fireplace screen. And then that’s a whole other problem. So definitely clean it, definitely use the lint-free cloth.

Now, go ahead and polish any brass sections, if you’ve got them, with a brass cleaner and again, another lint-free cloth. And I’m telling you, just shining up and cleaning up that screen is going to make your fire look a gajillion times better. And you’re really going to have some instant ambiance.

Now, if you’ve got a fireplace, maybe it doesn’t work, maybe it never functioned, maybe it’s strictly decorative. Don’t worry. There’s a lot of different things that you could do. I like to – during the holiday seasons – suggest that people do a variety of heights of little artificial trees that are just dressed up with white lights and some snow blanket in there for a wintery-tree look. I also love the idea of stacking up birch logs and then putting a – even a dining-table candelabra. I’m not talking about a fancy Phantom of the Opera one but I’m talking like a more modern, zigzaggy-looking one that you can kind of rest on or into those birch logs.

And don’t use real candles. Go ahead. There are so many amazing LED battery-operated candles that kind of flicker and do a warm light.

I also like to stack up books, fill it up with books. I’ve seen, also – which I think is great. This does require a little bit of carpentry. Take a piece of wood, like a board cut to the exact opening of the fireplace. Then take a beautiful birch long and slice it, you know, so you see little rings. And then you can glue them onto that board. And you can fill them in with smaller, little circles, bigger circles. You can do thicker or thinner slices. Something about seeing all that lumber on edge in the fireplace opening is gorgeous.

I mean there’s so many things you could do. Don’t be afraid to look online. Lots of inspiration there. But definitely make it your own. Doesn’t need a fire to look great.

TOM: And you will enjoy it for the long, chilly winter ahead, so now’s a great time to do that.

Hey, coming up next time on the program, the most humid place in your home is probably your bathroom. And while there’s nothing like a good, steamy shower, you need to know how to control that moisture that’s in your bath. Because too much moisture can cause your paint to peel and mold to grow. There are ways to prevent it, though, and we’ll walk you through it on the very 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.

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