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Tick Talk: Guarding Against Dangerous Ticks | Big Solutions for Small Bathroom Space | Adding Life to an Aging Roof | Ep #2328

Tick Prevention: Get important tips for staying safe from tick-borne diseases. Small Bathroom Space: If you have a small bathroom, find out how to maximize every inch of space. Roof Rejuvenation: Summer heat and sunshine dry out roof…

Leslie Segrete & Tom Kraeutler, Hosts of The Money Pit by Leave a Comment
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Do you have a home improvement or decor question? Call the show 24/7 at 888-MONEY-PIT (888-666-3974) or post your question here.

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0:00:31 TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
0:00:37 LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:00:38 TOM: And you have a project that you’d like to get done? Well, if you do and maybe you’re not quite sure how to get started, you’re stuck in the middle. You don’t know if you can do it yourself or you got to hire a pro. Well, you’re in the right place because we would love to help. Reach out to us with your questions at 1-888-Money-Pit, 888-666-3974 and we will do our best to solve your DIY dilemmas. Coming up on today’s show, as we head into the heart of the summer season, we keep spending more and more time outside. Well, guess what? Ticks are doing the same. We’re going to have some steps that you can follow to stay clear of those little buggers.
0:01:16 LESLIE: And while new home bats of nearly doubled in size over the past 30 years, the bathrooms in most older homes still average about five by eight feet. This I can attest to. So short of ripping out those walls to increase your space, we’ve got some ways to use the space to its fullest potential and we’ll explain those options.
0:01:34 TOM: And the summer season with its very intense heat can be pretty rough on your roof. So we’re going to share a way to protect, restore flexibility and extend your roof life by at least five years.
0:01:44 LESLIE: But first, we want to help you create your best home ever. So whether you’re doing the project yourself or you’re hiring a pro, we are ready to help you get the job done right the first time because no one wants to repeat all those projects. So let us help you get it done right so you can finally have your dream money pit.
0:02:01 TOM: So reach out to us right now. A couple of ways to do that. The easiest way is to go to moneypit.com/ask that’s moneypit.com/ask and just click the blue microphone button. You can record your question right there whether you’re on a phone, whether you’re your laptop, whether you’re on a desktop, you can record your question right into your computer, click a button, send to us and we will answer it the next time we produce the show. That’s the quickest way to get an answer. All you could call 1-888-MONEY-PIT. So let’s get started. Leslie, who’s first.
0:02:31 LESLIE: Heading to Arizona with Yvonne on the line, who’s got a stinky bathroom sink? Yvonne, what’s going on?
0:02:37 CALLER: Yeah, so it doesn’t happen all the time, but every once in a while, I’ll be running the water in the bathroom sink and this foul odor comes out of the drain. So I’m wondering what could be causing that.
0:02:48 TOM: Usually it’s bacteria. You get the bacteria that will decay in those drains and it will cause what’s called a bio gas. And the best way to clean this is to really take the drain completely apart. That’s the trap that’s underneath that and to really do a good job of scrubbing you clean. I would use some oxidized bleach for that as well. If you can get that super clean, that will kill the bacteria. And if you can even plug the pipe and sort of fill it up with some of that bleach solution that will also kill the bacteria that’s in there. And I think you’ll find that if you can deal with that bio gas, that will start smelling a lot better.
0:03:27 CALLER: So I have to actually scrub it. I can’t just pour some bleach down there.
0:03:30 TOM: No, no, you definitely need to scrub it. And that’s why you probably want to take it apart from underneath the sink cabinets, probably going to have a trap, the U-shaped pipe. If it doesn’t, by the way, that’s the source of your problem. But I’m sure it does take that trap apart and then really scrub the inside of that with some oxygenated bleach. And I think that that will kill that bacteria and then the bio gas will go away.
0:03:50 CALLER: Okay, Sounds like a lot of work, but I’ll certainly give it a try.
0:03:55 TOM: Hey, we never said it was going to be easy, but we will.
0:03:58 CALLER: Say the world, it seems like.
0:04:00 TOM: All right, Yvonne, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit.
0:04:04 LESLIE: All right. Now we’re heading out to Las Vegas, where Bruce is on the line with a question about Windows. What can we do for you today?
0:04:10 CALLER: I want to know about your opinion on the effectiveness of your windows. Are approximately 3000 square foot home. It’s two stories that are actually don’t put the air conditioning. I’m told it’s about 110 outside. And then it took when I put it on to about 85 and I have some shutters in the house. So I wonder what you thought on your windows.
0:04:31 TOM: When you say windows, Bruce, are you talking about low E?
0:04:35 CALLER: Yes, I don’t know. I think that’s what they’re called, right? Yeah.
0:04:39 TOM: So yeah. So Louis in the East stands free mittens. And basically what it is, is a reflective coating that is on the glass and most high efficiency windows or I would dare to say almost all of them have a low e coating. And what it does is it takes the UV from the sun and reflects it back outside. So very, very important. Have low e window glass in Las Vegas, especially with the heat that you experience. That’s going to make a dramatic difference on how much heat actually gets into the house itself because the lower glass will reflected back out. So it is definitely a measure of efficiency and something you want to look for when you’re shopping for those windows.
0:05:15 CALLER: It well, with the caveat that, like I said, I don’t put the air on until it gets to be about 110 outside.
0:05:20 TOM: I understand. But no matter what comfort level you like to use, that air conditioning, you’re going to be using less of it if you have low e glass.
0:05:27 CALLER: And any idea of approximate cost of BR and the difference of.
0:05:31 TOM: You know, I, I wouldn’t consider air for a second not using low glass in a house matter where it was in the country that I was building or putting windows in, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what the cost difference is. But if it’s a thermal pane, average quality thermal pane window, it’s going to have low e glass.
0:05:48 CALLER: Thank you so much.
0:05:49 TOM: All right, Bruce. Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit.
0:05:54 LESLIE: Sandy in Nebraska, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today?
0:05:57 CALLER: Well, we have ceramic floors and there’s ceramic tile and they’re probably 20 years old and they just don’t come clean anymore. And they’re real porous. And we’ve had government scrub brush and they will come sort of clean. But that’s a whole lot of work. We’ve tried different cleaners, vinegar and water and soft and scrub and Clorox and water and soda and water, and they just don’t come clean and short of tearing them up. What could we possibly do for you?
0:06:21 TOM: It sounds like the glaze is worn off the ceramic tile. And as a result, well.
0:06:26 CALLER: You know, I don’t even know if they if it ever had a glaze.
0:06:28 TOM: So most tile have a glaze unless it’s like a natural Mexican tile or something like that. It would be very surprised to find any tile out there that didn’t have a glaze finish to it. The surface will wear down after a really long, long time and it depends on the quality of the tile. So I don’t have a really good solution for you. It’s a fairly unusual problem. You know, you can clean the grout, you can replace the grout, you can steal the grout, but the tile surface itself, it’s not really possible to add an additional sort of glaze coat to that. So you might want to think about some other floor options, a really inexpensive one, by the way, would be laminate floor. It works really well in the bathroom because it’s very moisture resistant. It kind of snaps together and it floats on top of the original floor. So really all you have to do is install it, put in a new saddle where the door comes across, maybe some shoe molding between that and the baseboard. Cut it around the toilet and your and you’re good to go. So there are other floor choices. Or if you want to just maintain that ceramic tile, you could also put a second layer of tile over the top one over the first one without removing that original layer. As long as that original layer is solid, there’s no decay or softness or structural deficiency there. You could put a second layer of tile on top of the first tile for top of the first layer of tile and still be good to go.
0:07:43 CALLER: All right, Eddie. Yes. Thank you very much.
0:07:45 TOM: You’re very welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 88 Money Pit.
0:07:50 LESLIE: Hey, you want to support our podcast and help us grow? Well, go ahead and leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts and we’ll be forever grateful. Plus, you’ll be helping other homeowners discover our show just go to Money Pit dot com slash review.
0:08:03 TOM: Well, if you’re looking at your outdoor concrete surfaces, could be porches and steps or patios or garages and you’re thinking, man, they really don’t look so hot. Or maybe you’ve got a slab inside the house that’s looking pretty lousy. Well, if that’s you, we’ve got a great product we’re given away today from Dish Coatings. It’s called Terrazzo Decorative Granite Resurfacer. Now it’s a liquid flooring system and it’s made from real stone. It works for surfaces inside and out, and it really can turn those ugly walks and steps and patios into very attractive, durable surfaces. And it comes in seven colors. It resists impact, abrasion, water, mildew, mold, UV rays, and even hot tire pick up. You just roll on two coats and you seal it with trucks. Safe anti-slip sealer for lasting non-slip surface results. Now this product goes for 5995 gallon. We’re going to throw in some painting supplies for a total value of 75 bucks. If you want to win it, all you need to do is post your questions to us. At money. BET.com slash ask will draw one listener from today’s show and send that product to you. So let’s get started. The number again 1-888-MONEY-PIT gutter moneypit.com/ask.
0:09:07 LESLIE: All right now to Kansas where Mike is on the line. What can we do for you today?
0:09:10 CALLER: Hi, my girlfriend and I have purchased a house about three years ago and when we did, we had it inspected naturally. And the inspectors told us that our roof was in great attention. It only had one layer and the previous homeowner said that it was about seven years old. This year we had meeting issues and our we had our insurance inspector come out and inspect it. And he said that really there was not a whole lot we could do that. It was just a minor league. And he put it in concrete and that it would be okay. That was about three, maybe four months ago. And then a couple of weeks ago we get all this rain and there’s a week is happening yet. So I went up there and kind of looked around and I found what I believe is the source of the leak. And I noticed a kind of odd where the water is pulling up. There’s a bunch of little green granules. I’m imagining that’s from the previous kind of shingles, because the shingles we have on there now are gray. So I’m not sure if our inspector was wrong. And we’ve actually got more than one layer up there or more. The reason for those granules being there would be an if something that we could actually bring to our insurance adjusters and say, hey, you know, there is something seriously wrong here.
0:10:34 TOM: Well, the insurance adjuster is not going to help you with it with a with a defect in the construction of the house. If you have a leak that’s caused by a storm, that’s something the insurance adjuster can help you with. So it’s covered by your homeowner’s insurance. You have a pitched roof with asphalt shingles. And in the area where leaks, are you near any inner sections of anything with that roof? My intersection, I mean, there’s a chimney come through there. Does a pipe come through there due to roofs sort of intersect together at opposing angles? Is it a space where the roof match like meets up with the exterior wall of the house, Anything like that?
0:11:11 CALLER: Yeah, it’s at the back of the house toward in the kitchen and I’m not sure if the correct term is valley where that the roof kind of comes together and they’re all drained down there.
0:11:22 TOM: Is that and is that valley where the where the contractor applied the caulk that you’re calling it?
0:11:28 CALLER: I’m not sure exactly where he applied it. He just said that they did.
0:11:31 TOM: Well, look, if and how old is the roof?
0:11:34 CALLER: The previous homeowner said it was about seven years and that was two years ago. So now it’s about 19 years old.
0:11:40 TOM: And he said there was one layer.
0:11:43 CALLER: According to the inspectors and the previous homeowner, there’s one layer.
0:11:47 TOM: So that means that the old layer was removed and the new layer was put on was a fiberglass shingle and fiberglass shingles that are about ten years old. Some of them have this issue with cracking or checking, and essentially they develop fractures in them where leaks can occur. The only way to really see it is literally be on the roof looking straight down on it. And if you see it, you’ll it’ll be obvious to you kind of looks like a fissure and kind of pattern. But I mean, clearly you’ve got a roof leak. Caulking is not the solution ever. If it’s in the valley, the valley would need to be taken apart and re roofed. And one way to kind of narrow down where it is and you may not be the person to do this, but a good contractor, a roofer could do this is to take a garden hose and start wetting the wetting the roof down. But starting down low and working your way up. So, for example, if I thought the valley was leaking, I might let a hose run there for an hour or two and see if I could spot a leak underneath it. But be careful not to put the water up higher than the valley so that if it did leak, I knew exactly where it was happening. So that makes sense.
0:12:50 CALLER: Okay, awesome. Thank you.
0:12:52 TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money Pit.
0:12:56 LESLIE: Well, according to the CDC, there are as many as nine different ticks that you can be exposed to when outside the summer. And they can carry a dozen or more diseases. And some of them are pretty serious. So to keep tick free, there’s a few simple precautions that you should be taking. First of all, you want to use a repellent that contains 20% or more DEET, picaridin or I.R., three, five, three, five. Any of these are going to give you protection. That’s going to last several hours.
0:13:24 TOM: You know, as someone who has spent many, many hours in the deep woods, I’m going to say there’s nothing better than deal, though. I tend to use the concentrate comes like 100%. You don’t need very much of it. But man, does it work.
0:13:35 LESLIE: It really does work.
0:13:36 TOM: And you don’t have to repeat it nearly as often. So I’m sure there’s other ones work as well. But. But manage. I’m a fan of DEET for mosquitoes and for ticks. It just seems to really do the job. Now you can use products that have been treated with Permethrin as well. You can buy products that are pretreated or you can treat the clothing and gear like boots and pants and socks and tents with repellents that contain a half percent permethrin. That’s one half of 1% sorry, permethrin. It actually remains active through several washings, so you don’t have to repeat it for every outdoor adventure, but you will have sort of a shield protecting you from ticks.
0:14:09 LESLIE: Yeah. And you know what? Wear light colored clothing. Make sure you have long sleeves. You know, it’s silly, but pull your socks over your pants, You know, do all of that. So you’re really kind of enclosing access to your skin. And the light colors will really help you be able to better spot those ticks. You know, we have a white dog. He constantly gets ticks on him and we spot them, like almost immediately because of the color difference. So do the same for yourself. And if you hike in bushes or grassy areas, just be sure to shower. Really do check yourself because they start off small and that’s when they start to really get aggressive. So just keep an eye out. All right. Now we’re going to talk to Bill from Illinois, who’s got some questions about what’s going on with the bathtub. How can we help you?
0:14:47 CALLER: Yeah, I have a, it’s a 28 year old shower tub, and I’m not sure if it’s ceramic or fiberglass. And I have a couple of cracks in it.
0:15:01 TOM: Yeah. I mean, I don’t think there’s an easy fix for a crack in a tub that’s physically cracked. I mean, we’ve repaired shower pans, for example, by using fiberglass repair. We’re a fiberglass repair kit where basically you’re applying a rosin and then you’re pressing fiberglass sort of into the mix and then putting multiple layers of additional rosin on top of that. But it’s not a very attractive finish. And I’ve done this an emergency basis where, you know, I had a cracked shower pan, I had a rental apartment, for example, and I want to just make it stop leaking. So we were bothering the lady below and we did it and it worked. But eventually had to take it out and replace it anyway. So for a tub that’s physically cracked like that, I don’t have a good solution for you.
0:15:46 CALLER: Figured it would be a tough one. Yeah, I’ve heard of these overlap coverings.
0:15:52 TOM: Oh, the inserts. Yeah. Yeah. Uh huh, yeah. I think one of the companies is bath there. That does it. I mean, it’s not a bad idea except that what we found is that economically the cost of a complete bathroom renovation and the cost of doing, you know, like an insert are not so far too far apart. I mean, it is less expensive than a complete rental, but you are restricted to the tub you have now, obviously, and the size of that tub, which gets smaller when you put it insert into it. And if you do the renovation, you know, you might have some opportunities to improve the place of that space a little bit more than you could by just doing an insert. So it definitely is an option. And with the tub that you have now, though, I would suspect if it did physically cracked, it’s probably a fiberglass tub that was not properly supported because what you’re supposed to do when you put them in is to put like a loose mortar mix underneath the tub and then press the tub down to that, which gives it complete and total support across the whole floor. Sometimes if contractors skip that step, it ends up being a little flexible and over the years just getting it out of the tub, it eventually wears and cracks.
0:16:56 CALLER: Well, actually, I took a fall.
0:16:58 TOM: Oh, you did? And that’s how it happened.
0:16:59 CALLER: Yeah, that’s how. That’s how it happened. And I’m okay. But the crack was there and it’s on the upper slope of the tub, so it’s not at the bottom. And I have I have not had any leakage problem.
0:17:16 TOM: Well I mean the proof is in the pudding. I’d say your options are, you know, your options are terra and replace or to do an insert. But in terms of patching it, I couldn’t really tell you anything that’s going to be very attractive other than the fiberglass. Correct.
0:17:29 CALLER: Okay. All right. Well, all right. I appreciate that.
0:17:31 TOM: All right. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money Pit.
0:17:36 LESLIE: All right. Now we’ve got Gail on the line with a question about her oven. What’s going on?
0:17:40 CALLER: Yes, I have a stove, that electric stove. And it’s about 5 to 6 years old, but makes a self-cleaning oven. And right after right after I received it, it seems as though it is in between the glass on the floor. It doesn’t clean that when I use the automatic cleaner. And I just wondered how I clean in between the glass on the oven door.
0:18:11 TOM: That’s a tough space to clean. And I agree. I don’t think you can. I think what you have to do is take it apart and that can be done. The door has to be disassembled. And so it depends on how comfortable you feel about taking that project on. It’s not sealed glass in the sense of like a double pane window. It’s really two pieces of glass. And sometimes because of heat and humidity and steam, it gets in there discolored, but you have to disassemble that door if you really want to get it cleaned. So it’s obviously not it’s not the kind of thing you want to do every time you clean your oven.
0:18:42 CALLER: No. And I notice that it looks like there’s like Phillips head screws at the bottom part of the door. But the top part, it doesn’t look, it’s not a regular screw. It’s just something that, you know, it doesn’t fit a screwdriver. So I don’t know if that bottom part you know, I’m afraid that once I get that undone, I’m not going to be able to get it back.
0:19:02 TOM: Yeah. Get it back together again. And now I hear. I hear you. I hear you. You know, I know that there are some great videos online of people doing this. I’ve seen them. And so you could you could take a look at YouTube, but the process is going to be disassemble that door. Now it’s going to come apart one way or the other. The types of fasteners you’re describing, you know, maybe the type of fashion that needs the specialized, not a screwdriver, but like a nut driver or something of that nature or like an Allen wrench or something like that. But it will eventually come apart. You’re just gonna have to figure out how to do that. But if you’re not comfortable with that process, if you’re not really mechanical and are afraid to get into that because you might not be able to fix it, then I think you should just kind of learn to live with it.
0:19:41 CALLER: Unfortunately now, with this true of all brands, does it matter which brand it is? Do they all have to be, you know, does it happen to them all or have you heard.
0:19:50 TOM: Some maybe better than others? But, you know, if it’s happened to you, it doesn’t really matter if it’s happening to anybody else because you don’t want to have to replace that up and you really just want to make sure you can get it clean. So that’s what you need to do.
0:20:02 CALLER: Yes. Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate your help.
0:20:05 TOM: You’re welcome. Gail, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
0:20:09 LESLIE: Well, there’s a few things that all old house lovers like me are familiar with. You know, drafty windows, less than perfect plumbing, squeaky floors, and, of course, ridiculously tiny bathrooms. Now, we’re. We’re used to them. Tom, I know you’ve got an old home. I’ve got an old home, and I’ve got a very small bath.
0:20:28 TOM: Yeah. And while new home base of nearly doubled in size over the last 30 years, most older home bathrooms average about five by eight feet. So short of ripping out the walls to increase space, you might think you don’t have too many options, but a few small improvements can help use that space to its fullest potential.
0:20:44 LESLIE: Yeah, I think you’ve got to really look at the size that you do have. Perhaps installing a corner sink or shower can help you free up some space. Pedestal style wall mounted. I mean, you’ve got some options when it does come to a corner sink. They look great and best of all, they do free up a lot of floor space in that bathroom. Likewise, if you’re planning a bigger remodel, curved quadrant shower units, they can conserve that precious real estate as well. You mount them into a corner and a curved entry saves at least 25% of the space that you would need if you were doing a square shower.
0:21:14 TOM: Now, a flat top toilet tank is also a good idea because it actually gives you another storage spot, whether you place organizers directly on top of it, or one of my favorite things to do is take advantage of the wall space above, like a hanging cabinet or shelf. It really doesn’t impact the room at all and it gives you a lot of space. Now, if your tub space is limited, you can also look for smaller, deeper tubs. These offer a really great soak solution and they have deep set ceilings. A small clawfoot tubs are one option or really any deep tub like that. You can sacrifice the length for the depth and be able to get a good bath out of it.
0:21:49 LESLIE: Yeah, that would be like my dream. Like if I could be in the tub. Water like up to my neck were currently my best tips.
0:21:54 TOM: Greatly immersive.
0:21:55 LESLIE: Yes, completely. My bathtub situation currently is either my upper half can be submerged or my lower half, but never at the same time.
0:22:04 TOM: Alternate every week.
0:22:06 LESLIE: Seriously, I’m like Oh, now I will soak my lower half. Okay get great. Hold on the other side. So there’s options out.
0:22:12 TOM: There first and third Fridays. I do this for him.
0:22:16 LESLIE: Come on, Tom. You know what? I’m bathe just once a week. It’s every other week. (laughter) Okay. All right, guys, let’s talk about sinks. So another great option that’s a great space saver is a vessel sink that gets mounted on top of a surface. So you could do that if you have a really great cabinet or like a vintage piece of furniture that you want to repurpose into some storage. And that sink would sit on top of that vanity. It gives you a lot more space for storage in the cabinet rather than all that plumbing and stuff that goes underneath usually. So think about clever ways that you can just gain some storage space.
0:22:48 TOM: Now another option to look into is towel storage. What can we do with that? Well, you can mount a hotel style multi-tiered rack on the back of an entry door or maybe even high up on the wall near the ceiling. Not only does it add a much needed storage space, but it does it with style. You know, in our very odd small bathroom, in our very old house, I could not find the towel storage rack I was looking for. I wanted one of those racks that I could put up on the wall, like a shelf that was maybe like, you know, 18 inches down from the ceilings. We could roll up some towels. So having not been able to find it, I decided I would build it. And I made it out of actually made of the PVC pipe. And it went together really well. I ended up having to insert some wooden dowels inside the PVC pipe because it was a little too flexible. But then I sprayed it with one of the silver paints that are designed for plastic like Crayola on has one that works pretty well and actually blends in pretty nice with all the other fixtures and faucets of high. And really notice is that it’s not metal, but it does a good job because there’s plenty of storage for towels.
0:23:50 LESLIE: Oh, that’s awesome. So clever. All right, here’s a great reason to reach out to the team Money Pit. We’ve got up for grabs this hour. A terrazzo decorative granite resurfacer from date Coatings. I mean, this really is a fantastic liquid flooring system that’s going to turn your ugly patio walkways, steps anything into attractive, durable decorative surfaces, and they offer seven colors That really looks like a real stone. It’s going to resist impact, abrasion, water, mildew, UV rays, even a hot tire pick up, and it goes on in two coats with a great sealer. It retails for about 60 bucks a gallon Plus, we’re going to throw in all the painting supplies for a total of 75 bucks.
0:24:29 TOM: Going out to one listener, drawing at random. Make that you reach us now with your questions. At 888 Money Pit or go to moneypit.com/ask and click the blue microphone button for the fastest possible response.
0:24:42 LESLIE: Well, the summer season with its intense heat can be really rough on your roof. Now the intense UV radiation can dry out a roof to the point where it will lose its flexibility. And when that happens, those shingles can dry out. They can crack and they can lose their water resistance.
0:24:57 TOM: Now, however, there’s another way to extend the life of your roof. It’s called roof, Maks, and it’s a roof rejuvenation treatment that restores the flexibility and waterproofing protection of aging asphalt shingle roofs. This can actually save you 80% over the cost of additional roof replacement roof boxes.
0:25:14 LESLIE: New technology uses natural plant based bio oil for a full asphalt shingle restoration, and this gives shingles flexibility and it can instantly add five years of life to your roof.
0:25:25 TOM: Yeah, it’s kind of like when the sun dries out your skin or you use a lotion, help bring it back. Or when you treat like an older, darker driveway to add life to that surface roof mix does something very similar for asphalt shingle roofs. It uses a revolutionary new technology that soaks these old brittle shingles with millions of microbeads of all natural bio oil to restore their flexibility and repair them to better protect your roof. We used it on a family house in Florida, and those it doesn’t get much worse on roofs than Florida with all the heat because it lived down there. Know what I’m talking about? And that was really transformative. I was so impressed with the way it brought life back to the shingles.
0:26:01 LESLIE: It really is amazing. I mean, it did such a great job at your mom’s place. Now, each roof, max treatment comes with a five year flexibility guarantee, and you can have three treatments possible once every five years. So with that Roofmaxx adds up to 15 years of added life to your asphalt roof.
0:26:17 TOM: To learn more, set up an appointment with your local Roofmaxx dealer at Roofmaxx.com. They can do a free assessment and decide if it’s a good candidate for a roof rejuvenation. That’s roofmaxx.com.
0:26:30 LESLIE: Marion, Texas on the line has an issue with the tub. Tell us what’s going on.
0:26:34 CALLER: We have a bathtub that we’ve had plumbers out and they can’t even seem to get it and stop. They think that it and it was it was it was wood. Slowly, you know, she took a shower and there was slowly go out that day. But Dennis stopped up and it was going so slowly. We called a big company, your plumbing company, and the guy came out and checked in and he couldn’t get it. And somebody they sit in the trap. Benny checks a line into the tub, is on the back of the house about two, two feet from that is the clean-up. And he took a picture in the clean out all the way in the alley and told us to get the city to come and they needed to clean it out in the alley. They did that.
0:27:21 TOM: The. Wait a minute. You telling me the plumber was able to clear the drain from the house to the street? But he thinks that the restriction is beyond that.
0:27:29 CALLER: Yeah, he thinks it’s just about two feet from the drain. The tub that’s on the back wall of the house. This about two feet to the cleaner where he worked. And all the other lines are back. Father, the I mean, the utility line. His father is on that same line, the father, the sink in the vanity area and the and the commode works just fine. It’s right by the tub. It’s just it’s passed.
0:27:56 TOM: So I can tell you right now that he missed something in the tub because all those plumbing lines come together in that same general area. And if you’ve got flow from the toilet and the sinks and everything else, but not the tub, it’s going to be the tub itself. You know, when it comes to clearing drains, my experience has been the plumbers are not the best ones to do that. Generally, you’re better off to go with a specialty plumber that does drain cleaning. They have the tools, the equipment and the knowledge to get that done. And sometimes the, you know, the day to day plumbers, if it’s a simple clog, they can clear it, but they don’t necessarily have the tools. I mean, for example, drain cleaners have cameras that can go down those pipes and see exactly what the obstruction is. So my recommendation would be to call a different kind of professional, not a plumber, but someone that specializes in drain cleaning and has a good reputation for being able to make that particular type of repair. I think that’s going to be the easiest way for you to get to the bottom of it. I would not recommend any type of additive to that drain to try to clear it in these liquid products at clear drains because they can be very, very corrosive. Mary, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us. At 888-Money Pit.
0:29:02 LESLIE: Buck wrote into team Money Pit and says, I’m thinking about adding vinyl siding to my summer home in New England. Some contractors say that the wood shingles have to come off, but others are saying that the shingles must stay on who’s right.
0:29:15 TOM: You know, that’s an excellent question, but there actually are two ways to install vinyl siding. You could do it over the old siding or you could remove the old siding and go right to the sheathing. Now, in my view, the best way to do this would be to take off old siding, to put a new weather barrier like tie back across the old sheathing and then add vinyl on top of that. The reason I say that is because if you put vinyl siding on top of the original siding, when it comes to the windows and the doors, they’re going to be set in from the surface of the vinyl. So it doesn’t quite look right. It will still look good overall. But, you know, there are some details that just don’t look exactly right. So I’ve seen it done both ways. But the real important thing about vinyl, though, is that it’s put on correctly and by somebody who understands how to work with the product. When you see vinyl siding and you flip it over, you’ll notice that it has pre punched holes, but they’re not round holes, they’re slots. And the reason for that is because vinyl siding has the tendency to expand and contract much more than any other type of siding. So if you put the siding on too tight. So typically we’re used to like nailing do we call it nail at home. Right. Buying the nail. So it’s all the way in. If you do that with vinyl siding, when it comes summertime, you’re going to notice that all that sun is very, very wavy and buckled and looks terrible because it’s expanding. It has nowhere to go. So as a home inspector, what I used to do is I would go up to a vinyl sided house and I would grab a piece of it and I would try to slide it back and forth with my hand. If I couldn’t slide it, I would definitely give my clients the heads up that the siding seems like it’s put on pretty tight and it might buckle in the summer. So at least I’m not surprised when that happens. So again, I think the best way to proceed here is to take the original signing off. It is going to cost you some more money to do that. That’s a little bit more works. That has to be factored in to the bidding process because if you’ve got one guy that’s taking siding off and one guy that’s leaving it on, well, the guy that’s taking it off is going to be more expensive. Naturally, he does not. And I think you really probably talked to the wrong guy.
0:31:12 LESLIE: Now, Frank in Kentucky wrote in saying, I have hardwood floors with an area rug and my living room a friend’s cat visited a few months back and I’m just realizing it went on the rug. There’s a blackish stain on the wood. Can I remove that without stripping the floor?
0:31:25 TOM: Yeah. Well, you know, when people see these black stains, they call them stains, but they’re really a discoloration of the wood below because there’s a chemical reaction–.
0:31:35 LESLIE: It’s like a reaction.
0:31:36 TOM: Yeah. Between the acid in the you know what and the for itself. So it changes the color of the wood. So it’s not like a stain that you can scrub off. It’s embedded in the wood. So the only thing you can do here is to refinish that area of the floor. Now, if you do that, you may find that you can do that successfully. Just a small area or, you know, you might notice it for a while. It’s going to be going to be fresher than the rest of it, but eventually a fade in or get a bigger area rug, right?
0:32:05 LESLIE: Yeah. I mean, I was going to say the good news, Frank, is that at least you’ve already had a rug there. So, you know, keep the rug there, enjoy the rug, you know, change that style up as you want to. And then when you’re ready to do like a big flooring refresh, you can refinish that entire floor and do it right. The good thing is it’s under the rug. So it’s not like, you know, staring you in the face all the time.
0:32:25 TOM: Yeah, but you always know it’s there.
0:32:27 LESLIE: You do know it’s there.
0:32:29 TOM: This is the Money Pit Home Improvement show on a beautiful summer weekend. We hope you guys are enjoying your spaces. And if you have some improvements in those spaces you’d like to make, remember, we are available literally 24/7 at 888-Money Pit. But for the quickest response to your questions, you should go to Money Pit.com/ask. Let’s ask and click the blue Microphone button today. That’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
0:32:53 LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
0:32:55 TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself.
0:32:57 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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