Episode #2013: Kitchen Renos Under $1,000 | Apartment Décor | Hands Free Ways to Save Water | Plus Your Questions
In this occurrence …
Remodeling your kitchen is a project that computes appraise to your dwelling, but it can also get pretty expensive. We’ve got 3 kitchen renos you can get done for under hundreds of thousands of horses to add style and availability without draining your bank account! Plus…
Moving into an suite doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your decoration longings. We’ll have simple apartment decorating plans that will become your accommodation feel like home AND still make sure you get that security deposit back at the end of your lease.Saving spray becomes more and more important this time of year. But rather than rely on your girls and family to use less irrigate, WaterSense fixtures can actually do the irrigate saving for you! We’ll tell you how to find faucets, lavatories, showers and sprinklers that can do the job, without squander water.Dishwashers do life easier, but could your dishwasher be shortening the life of the bowls it’s cleaning? We share 4 things never to locate in that stupendous cleanse machine.
Plus, answers to your home increase a matter of, eliminating smoke odors, installing proper drainage behind a retaining wall, eliminating grass, installing an indoor pool, mend or replace a leaky roof
Do you have a home improvement or decoration question? Call the show 24/7 at 888 -MONEY-PIT ( 888 -6 66 -3 974) or post your question now.
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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 we are so glad you are here. What are you working on? Are you planning a project for this weekend? Do you got a project that you’d like to get done but you don’t know where to start? You need assistant solving a problem, solving a decorating dilemma, solving a how-to? You don’t know how to get it done? These are all immense topics for us to help you with so give us a announce, right now, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
This is Money Pit Episode 2013 on a beautiful time epoch in our areas of the country. We hope it’s nice where you are, as well. And coming up on today’s show, if you’re thinking about remodeling your kitchen, that is a project that ever adds to the value of your home but it’s also one that can get pretty pricey. So we’ve got three kitchen renos to tell you about, that you can get done for under 1,000 horses, that they are able to contributed some wording and amenity without emptying the bank account in the process.
LESLIE: And also ahead, moving into an suite doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your decor inclinations. We’re going to have some simple decorating feelings that they are able to make your apartment feel like home and still make sure you get that security deposit back at the end of the lease.
TOM: And if you’d like to save a little water this summer, it is more and more important, of course, this time of year. But rather than rely on your babies and their own families to merely use less spray, there are new water fixtures out there that can do the water-saving for you. We’ll tell you how to find faucets and toilets and showers and sprinklers that can do the job without consuming water.
LESLIE: But first, let’s talk about how we can help you see your home your happy lieu with a fix-up or a decoration activity, a yard activity, an inside project. Whatever it is, make us help you get that job done right. Give us a call.
TOM: 1-888-MONEY-PIT is the number. That’s 888 -6 66 -3 974.
LESLIE: Heading over to Delaware where Eve is trying to get rid of a fume smelling. What’s going on?
EVE: Right. We recently purchased a row home in Philadelphia and it has a third-floor studio apartment where the previous tenant was a ponderous smoker. And we’re trying to get rid of the smell from the cigarettes. We’ve tried removing the floor tiles, changing the drop-grid ceiling tiles and painting. But the odor is still pretty strong. So I’m wondering if you have any suggestions.
TOM: Hmm. So above the lower ceiling, did you cover that surface, as well?
EVE: No. We didn’t.
TOM: What did you draw with? Did you use any kind of a primer?
EVE: Running over paint, so we didn’t. We simply utilized a regular latex paint.
TOM: Right. So the best thing to do in a situation like this is to use a very good-quality primer- either an alkyd primer or a solvent-based primer- because it tends to seal in all of those wall and ceiling surfaces, in particular the odors that are underneath.
The other issue, of course, is the floorings. Now, you mentioned that there’s a tile flooring there. So it was a hard-surface floor?
EVE: Yeah. Right now, we pulled up everything. We’re down to the plywood. And we were just going to put in a brand-new flooring. So is there anything we should do before we do that?
TOM: Yeah. I would also prime the plywood.
EVE: OK.
TOM: I’d seal everything and I would use a good-quality oil-based primer, like a KILZ, for example. And I would primary the heck out of everything because that does a good job of shutting out those odors. That and some only regular ventilation ought to do it. But I think if you don’t prime those surfaces, you won’t be able to completely get rid of that odor.
Then, of course, it goes without saying that you’ve disposed of furniture and curtains and things like that?
EVE: Yes. The only other question is: what about kitchen cabinets?
TOM: You can’t do much with them. But what you can do is you can clean them with TSP- trisodium phosphate. It’s like a powdery soap mingle that you buy in the colour alley and you can mix up a solution and clean those.
Are these wooden closets or laminate lockers?
EVE: Wooden.
TOM: If it’s wooden, you may not want to use the TSP on it. You could use Murphy’s Oil Soap instead.
EVE: OK.
TOM: But you’re going to have to clean them.
EVE: Right.
TOM: Yep.
EVE: OK. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Eve. Good fortune with that project. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Thankfully, less and less parties are smoking today, so we’re getting fewer and fewer of those bellows. But I tell you what, when you get a house that’s like that, what a mess. What a big mess. Hard to be disposed of that smell.
LESLIE: Alex in West Virginia is on the line with issues and questions about evaluating. Tell us what’s going on at your coin pit.
ALEX: I bought my house last year. It’s a 1926 American Foursquare home. The fortune that the residence was is built around is 140 hoofs deep by 30 feet wide. But the problem is the drop from the most back of the parcel to the terribly front of the pile is pretty significant. It’s about 10 hoofs. So the house is on a mound and I’m wondering what I can do to grade out the figurehead ground so it’s easier to mow and so it looks nicer, if I could improve some sort of retaining wall.
And then I want to do something in the backyard the same way because playing on it, for our puppy and kids, is kind of hard. I was wondering what you thought about maybe trying to level that out somehow.
TOM: Well, right now it sounds like the house is kind of cut into the hillside. Does it- so it slopes down towards a street in the figurehead or it ascent away from the house?
ALEX: That’s correct. It slopes down. If you stand on the most front of the ground, you can’t – you’re not even above the lawn in the back.
TOM: So, I symbolize a retaining wall is the best way to achieve that. But of course, building a retaining wall, peculiarly if you’re talking about several paws like that, is no tiny task. It’s a pretty big project and it’s got to be done well because if it’s not engineered properly, it’s going to fail. Fortunately, today there are a lot of good masonry makes- precast masonry commodities- that work extremely well for retaining walls.
It used to be that your best option was something that was like railroad ties “thats been” stacked up and you had these railroad ties that would go back into the hillside. They were announced “deadmen” because they would just lay there and harbour the wall in.
LESLIE: That’s a horrible name.
TOM: But eventually, it- that’s what it was announced. It was called the “deadman” and it was the article that was perpendicular to the wall and was basically covered with soil, because that would be sort of the bind that would brace it in place.
But today, you could use precast retaining-wall blocks. They’re made by a number of immense creators. And you can stack those up, once you prepare the base properly, and then just sort of backfill as you go.
And remember to provide for proper drainage because that really is the key. Whatever you do, you want to make sure that you’re handling the water that’s running down that hillside properly. And if you are building into a gradient like that, it’s actually most important than ever to have what’s called a “swale, ” where the liquid sort of parts before it gets to the back of your house, then it runs around the left and the right sides and then extends down to the street.
But certainly, that’s an option but it’s a big project. And it’s one that I would recommend you get professional help with because of the width and the scope of it. Well worth having a landscape architect or a decorator kind of spec that out for you because if you’re going to do it yourself, you’ll know exactly what you have to do.
And if you’re not going to do it yourself, you can use that spec to get attempts from qualified contractors and you’ll know that they’re all going to be sort of bidding apples to apples. The question is if you exactly call a contractor and say, “Build me a retaining wall, ” everyone’s going to build it slightly differently. And it’s going to be hard for you to figure out what’s the best choice, because the guy that’s the cheapest may not be doing the best job or working the most wonderful materials.
You follow me?
ALEX: Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah, yeah.
TOM: That’s the highway I’d approaching it.
ALEX: I relish your answer. I listen to your podcast every week.
TOM: Well, thank you for coming in for doing that and we’re so glad you called.
ALEX: Alright. Thank you.
LESLIE: Alicia in North Carolina is on the line with The Money Pit. Has a question about a porch and floor. What’s going on?
ALICIA: We have a patio cement slab in the back of our live. It operates the length of our residence. On half of that slab sits our deck.
TOM: OK.
ALICIA: We live in a split-level, so the deck goes up rather high and has uprights that be participating in this cement-slab patio. And there’s a fissure going down the middle of it. We bought the house about 3 years ago. We didn’t notice the fracture. It was there but we really didn’t notice it. And then I’d say about, last year, we were sitting down and noticed that the fissure is now splitting open.
You know, our backyard downgrades down. It’s North Carolina with a lot of that red clay. It’s most of what our field is made up of. And it’s like the ground is pulling away from that plaster slab because of rain and filling in our backyard which, unfortunately, overflows as well. So it’s fixing it worse. I don’t know whether the footings are what they actually should be.
We’ve had a couple people come out and estimate the situation. I really don’t know what to do.
TOM: First of all, are you reassured, Alicia, that this crack is active, that it’s opening up? Or is it merely that you’re paying attention to it now every time you walk out in the backyard? So perhaps you’re gues it’s getting bigger.
ALICIA: No, it’s different appearing than it was when we first purchase it.
TOM: How large-hearted is the crack?
ALICIA: It’s not gargantuan. It’s not like it’s- yeah. No, it’s not like it’s 3 inches large-hearted now. It’s tiny. Still, it’s opening up. The caulking isn’t covering the hit anymore.
TOM: OK.
ALICIA: So I’d say about 1/4 -inch.
TOM: Alright. It’s not bad.
So, there’s a couple of things you can do here. First of all, you do need to clean out that age-old caulk and reseal this one highway or the other. QUIKRETE has a product that’s became specifically for concrete slabs that you can use, that will give you a textured finish. And it dries in about an hour, so you wishes to be reseal it.
Now, in terms of not having to look at it, maybe doing something that would be a little more attractive, perhaps slowing it down, I think you’re right. The reason it’s moving- if it is, in fact, moving- is it’s exacerbated by water. Cement slabs don’t have positions, so there’s nothing comprising it back from doing this. And I just wonder if this deck was properly improved, because it’s sitting on top of half of it. It truly really shouldn’t be sitting on the 4-inch concrete slab; it should be sitting on the foothold below it.
Be that what it may, another idea that you might want to consider is Pavestone makes a paver brick that is about half the thickness of a full paver brick. And it’s designed for taking a cement slab that maybe doesn’t look so sizzling and creating a beautiful paver patio with it. The highway it succeeds is you lay down the boundary and then you sort of put your whole pattern in. And then you take up the perimeter and you mostly glue in the outside perimeter row. And then that holds all the bricks inside of it and then you supplemented this typical paver stone and it looks magnificent. So, that’s can be found at Pavestone.
ALICIA: My big concern is five years down the line, if we want to applied the house on the market kind of thing- and I didn’t want to- I wanted to do something- if it was- if I was already attending increased levels of the fissure now, what the hell is it look like five years?
TOM: A plaster slab is not a structural part of your backyard or your patio, OK? It’s really- it’s basically there as a surface that you can work with.
ALICIA: OK.
TOM: And if you articulated the pavers over it and it goes from 1/4 -inch to 3/8 -inch , no one’s ever going to see that. And pavers are just going to shift.
The product is made by Pavestone. It’s actually called Pavestone Milano. That’s the brand. That’s the particular product that is the thinner version of the full Pavestone paver.
ALICIA: OK.
TOM: And again, it can go down right on top of that slab. Travels down really quick and it’ll look fantastic.
ALICIA: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I love your show.
TOM: Good fortune with that projection. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, remodeling your kitchen can easily add to the value of a dwelling, but a total redevelopment can also cost you a parcel of cash. But you don’t ever need to do a major renovation to really spruce up the infinite. We’ve got three projects that you can get done, for well under a grandiose, to get some of that same wording, security, and convenience.
First of all, as countless a clotheshorse will tell you, a great look is all about the supplements. And that same notion travels for an on-display room, like your kitchen. Change the grips and pullings on the cabinetry. It’s super easy. It’s a great and cost-effective way to change things and liven things up.
And you can go with a completely different finish than you had before. Go from a brushed bronze to a brass or a chrome to kind of an antiqued silver, something, anything. Change it up and you’ve altogether converted the look.
Next up, another focal point in your kitchen is the faucet. And with a broad range of faucet vogues in the neighborhood of $200, you can easily amp up the vogue standard while also saving water. So look for faucets with the EPA WaterSense Seal. It’s going to tell you that “theyre using” less liquid without giving up the features that you love, like a built-in spray head.
TOM: Now, let’s talk about those cabinets. Supplanting closets is always one of the most expensive parts of a kitchen reno but covering is truly a great alternative. And today, painted solid-cabinet finish, it’s even more popular than ever in brand-new lockers. So why pay for brand-new closets that are going to be covered regardles? Paint the cabinets that you have. It’s jolly same to make-up just about everything else in your home, with a couple of really important exceptions.
First one is this: you need to use a special type of primer. It’s called a high-bond primer, basically, because it fastens to smooth skin-deeps better than the kind of primer that you might use on a wall. And most manufacturers have a version of this.
Now, after the primer, I likewise recommend that you use a solvent or oil-based, semi-gloss paint. Even though cleanup is harder, it is worth it because those oil-based make-ups accommodate a much tougher finish. And if those doorways are going to be opening and closing and those drawers are going to be thumping, it’s really important for durability to use a paint that gives you a really hard surface.
So there you go. Three improvements that you can take on, for under a splendid, that will definitely lent some appraise to your home.
LESLIE: Bob in Wisconsin is on the line with a question about contributing a terrace. How can we help?
BOB: Yes. I have a 16 x20-foot patio. Runs the 20 -foot length of the house. And what we’re thinking about is putting an enclosure on it. But the roofline ranges along the porch so that it’s ascent down towards the patio. And so, the floor, I “re saying”, is on the outside, of course. And we’re to be considered enclosing the deck.
Is there some road we are also able enclose that without trimming into the existing roof of the members of this house?
TOM: Why are you hesitant to want to not cut into the roof of the members of this house? Because if you think about it, roofs are always naturally meeting. And if it’s done right, it can be done in a highly permanent mode so it will not become a spill problem.
BOB: OK. The roofline, where it comes down to the deck, would be about 8 paws. So I would imagine throughout the 16 -foot length, we’d have to probably grow that up about how far?
TOM: Well, let’s just say you wanted to get a 3/12 lurch. So, yeah, it’s going to have to come up quite a bit. But the other option is to go with a very low-slope roof and use a roofing fabric that’s designed for that.
So, if you were to use a rubber ceiling- and that’s a heat-sealed roof that goes down and can be perfect, approximately flat. It’s not going to be flat; it’s going to be low slope. And if that is intersected correctly with the already existing roof, you may be able to maintain that ceiling height.
BOB: OK. I understand. Yeah, that’s what I supposed. I don’t think there’s any easy acces to do it.
One other issues, if I might. We have a patio area that has concrete on it now and it’s 4 paws by 20 hoofs. And we’d like to settled tile on it. It’s outside, though. It is carried out by a ceiling neighborhood but it is an outside region. Is there a mode to do that without running into troubles?
TOM: Well, the adhesive that you use has to be rated for – you know, to have the temperature climate that you’re in. My concern would be, living in Wisconsin, that that tile, even though it’s submerge, is going to get wet and it’s going to freeze and it’s going to pop off. So, rather than use tile, you might be better off with a paver brick that is more durable in a better environment like that. The tile, I’m really concerned, is not going to last.
BOB: Yep, that was my concern, very, with the freezing and swelling and contraction. So, yeah. OK. Well, that was my two questions and thank you so much. We experience listening to your show.
TOM: Well , thank you very much. We recognize the call and good luck with that project.
LESLIE: Well, for many of us, moving into an accommodation is the first stepping stone to buying a home. Not only are you now on your own but you also have the chance to use your innovative surface and decorate. But since you’re a renter, you need to do it in a way that’s not going to damage the suite and then blow your security deposit. We’ve got four ideas to help you do that.
First of all, I am a huge fan of this: check out peelable and removable wallpaper. Same thing. They sell it everywhere, from Home Depot and Target to fancy online informants. All you have to do is search and the specific characteristics are endless.
But you do need to make your time. You need to make sure the walls are nice. Get a neat, little- I use a plastic squeegee that I gave a little bit of sticky sense on the end, so it’s nice and smooth and I’m sort of putting out the paper. Peel it as you go along. Don’t unpeel too much, because you can make a mess. But it will change a room so quickly and for not that much money.
TOM: Now, the next quirk of the trade is to add a large mirror to your front room. Now, reflects can be really supernatural when it comes to making openings look bigger than the issue is. And they serve as a good focal point for decoration. But if you’re worried about position holes in your wall, well, don’t do that. Precisely go with an oversized wall mirror. They can be actually leaned up against a wall and this direction, you’ve get zero fortune of damage. And it will totally open up that cavity without risking having to fork over part of your security deposit to repair all those loopholes you put in the wall.
LESLIE: Yeah. Here’s another thing, guys: throw rugs. You’re not changing anything; you’re precisely adding something. And they can be your apartment’s best friend. It’s going to give you warmth and solace in your space. And it actually trims down on the soil and the dust bunnies that love to skate along wood storeys. Likewise, it retains things a little bit quieter. Your downstairs neighbors will be happier.
And throw rugs, you can get washable ones online. You can get an outdoor rug for an indoor space that kind of inspects cozy but it’ll clean up easy. You know, lots of different things. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a rug in a gap but you can find ones that are affordable and will really give you that decorated look.
TOM: Let’s talk, ultimately, about the shower. You can give it a elevate by perhap modernizing your shower pall and adding one that’s got some color. Then you have been able pair that with a little bath rug and matching capsize decoration. You can even contribute some simple enclose etches to deliver that whole room together. Just use Command Hooks whenever you want to hang something on the wall. Command Hooks are really handy because they don’t permanently adhere. They have a system where when you’re done with them, you pull the tab and they totally exhaust form the wall without damaging the surface.
So, lots of things you can do like that to spruce up the suite and make it feel like home without risking any damage caused to it that’s going to blow your security deposit.
LESLIE: Kim in North Carolina, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
KIM: Well, we have trouble with weed. And it was never a fus before. But it- we have had trouble discover what we used to have and want to know if it is outdated or no longer safe to use for the environment.
TOM: Oh, you mean your weed-killer?
KIM: Well , no. It’s not a weed-killer, because we try not to settled anything down in the field other than to kill the flame ants.
TOM: But your goal here is to eliminate weeds?
KIM: We used to use a black plastic. The black plastic would keep the grass proceed- precisely literally vanished. And the flowers would actually flourish from the root plan being gently cooked, we use the term. But now, all you can find is that Zen fiber material almost.
TOM: Well, listen, if it’s worked for you in the past, I don’t receive why it won’t work for you in the future. It certainly is available and it’s safe. And you’re talking about weed block. That’s a different cloth perfectly. And weed block is basically designed to cover the whole surface or to be only below the surface. It will work, as well. But generally, with gras block, you kept spaces in it and that’s how the seeds grow through it. They don’t originate under it.
Now, if you’re talking about a lawn, there are other ways to deal with a mass influx of weeds. If your lawn is in really bad condition and totally booked with grass, then I would recommend a kind of revolutionary step called a “Round-Up restoration, ” where you basically spray the part lawn with a Round-Up product in the descend, by the way. In the sink. You spray the entire lawn. And then as that lawn starts to die out, you settled seed on it. And the seed is just coming up through the original dead lawn. And then by the following spring, you’ll have a beautiful, new, light-green lawn without a poke of grass in the whole place.
So there’s a couple of ways to approach it but either way, I consider, is fine. If you can identify the plastic and use it again, I got nothing wrong with doing that. If you want to use the weed block, that’s fine. But you have to have gashes in it for the seeds to come on. Or if you only want to restore the part lawn, then go with the Round-Up restoration.
Kim, thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Leslie in Tennessee- I feel like I’m talking to myself- welcome to The Money Pit. How can we help you?
LESLIE IN TENNESSEE: Yes. I’m an avid listener of your evidence. We certainly adoration it.
We have a question. After several years of having an outdoor pool and enjoying it but not being able to use it because of the full four seasons here in East Tennessee, we were wanting to add an addition on the house. And we’d love to gave a small indoor pool, just like a little lap pool, merely about probably half the size of our outdoor pond. And we were wondering what would be the best type of construction.
Our house is a frame house with brick but you have moisture questions, I know, with an indoor fund. So, for an addition, I want to see if you all had any recommendations for certain substances or a certain type of system to reduce the moisture in the home or how- what would you do?
TOM: Well, there are dehumidifiers that are designed for pool rooms. I mean they’re same to whole-house dehumidifiers, where they take out a lot of spray from the breeze. I is undoubtedly segregate the region where the kitty is, from the rest of the house, so that the moisture is contained into one seat. And that fixes it easier for you to manage that tier of moisture. You know, it could maybe exactly be a sliding glass door or something like that that separates it.
But in terms of the material, you have to be very careful with the expressing. For example, in the roof above, you have to choose fabrics that are mold-resistant in terms of the surface. For example, instead of using paper-faced drywall, you might use fiberglass-faced drywall. That doesn’t grow mold because it’s not organic. So with a few cases things like that and the liberty mechanical plan- and the fund makes that you’re talking to, the installers, they’ll be very familiar with this because these consortia are being put into inside infinites. You’ve got to deal with the evaporation.
LESLIE IN TENNESSEE: Alright. Well, that’s supportive there. And so, simply- so more or less probably a pond producer or a pond sit around here would have that recommendation then.
TOM: Well, they are able to. And generally going to probably talk about mechanical dehumidification. And then in terms of the construction of the cavity, simply be mindful to choose information that are not easily going to grow mold and certainly one that’s- fabrics that are cleanable, OK?
LESLIE IN TENNESSEE: That’s huge. Well , thank you very much and I regard you all being on our radio here in Northeast Tennessee.
LESLIE: Well, this time of year, saving liquid ever becomes more and more important. But rather than relying on your teenagers and your family to use less irrigate- because I’m sure they’re not going to. You’ll be luck if they turn the liquid off before they leave the bathroom. I’m talking to you, Henry and Charlie. Those are my teenagers, by the way , not just random Henrys and Charlies out there.
But guys, you can actually update your plumbing fixtures to do the liquid saving for you. And it’s a pretty simple pro plumbing project.
TOM: We’ve got a few tips on how to find faucets and toilets and showers and sprinklers that can do that job without consuming sea, in today’s Pro Project brought forward by HomeAdvisor.com.
First, let’s talk about those toilets. They can last for decades and that pretty much establishes them the most durable plumbing fixture in the members of this house. But while they don’t wear thin, aged bathrooms can squander abundance of ocean with every single flush. So, instead, you want to switching out to WaterSense-certified toilets.
LESLIE: Yeah , now WaterSense, it’s a program that’s run by the EPA. And it’s just like the ENERGYSTAR program which promotions purchasers find commodities that save power. WaterSense is designed to help purchasers mark products that will save water.
Now, to qualify, a concoction is necessary to attested to use at least 20 percent little irrigate, save vigour and perform as well or better than the regular models.
TOM: Definitely. Now, besides toilets, if “youre supposed to” too supersede your shower faucet and showerhead, the EPA tells us you can save 26,000 gallons of water a year and develop 380 fewer pounds of greenhouse-gas radiations , not to mention knocking about 250 bucks off your practicality statement. So it’s clearly a well worth project to do.
LESLIE: Yeah. And speaking of those practicality bills, if you use less liquid, you likewise use less natural gas or energy- nonetheless you heat your irrigate- so it’s all going to add up. Plus, besides bathrooms and kitchens, WaterSense fixtures are also available for outdoor use, like your lawn sprinkler, rain controllers, all those other irrigation concoctions you can update to help you bypassed consuming sea while still enjoying a beautiful landscape.
TOM: And that’s today’s Pro Project presented by HomeAdvisor.com. You can find surpass local pros, book and even pay for over 100 daily assignments with clear, up-front pricing on the HomeAdvisor app. To is starting, download the HomeAdvisor app today.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got Gail on the line who has a question about her oven. What’s going on?
GAIL: Yes. I have a stave that- it’s an electric stove. And it’s about five to six year. But it’s a self-cleaning oven. And right after I received it, it seems as though there’s- in between the glass on the door, it doesn’t clean that when I use the automatic cleaner. And I just wondered how I scavenge in between the glass on the oven door.
TOM: That’s a tough infinite 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 comfy you feel about making that assignment on. It’s not sealed glass, in the feeling of a double-pane window. It’s really two sections of glass. And sometimes, because of heat and humidity and steam, it gets in there and it discolors. But you were supposed to disassemble that door if you really want to get it clean. So it’s certainly not the kind of thing you was necessary to do every time you emptied your oven.
GAIL: No. And I noticed that it looks like there’s Phillips-head shafts at the bottom part of the door. But the top constituent, it doesn’t look like- it’s not a regular fucking. It’s exactly- it’s something that- it doesn’t fit a screwdriver. So I don’t know if that bottom part- and I’m afraid that once I get that reverse, I’m not will be allowed to get onto back.
TOM: Yeah. Get it back together again. No, I hear you, I hear you. I know that there are some great videos online of people doing this. I’ve seen them. And so you could take a look at YouTube. But the process is going to be to disassemble that door.
Now, it’s going to come apart one way or the other. The types of fasteners you’re describing may be the type of fastener that needs a specialized- not a screwdriver but a nut-driver or something of that sort or an Allen wrench or something like that. But it will eventually come apart. You’re just going to have to figure out how to do that. But if you’re not comfy 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, unfortunately.
GAIL: Now, is this true of all brands? Does it matter which brand it is? Do they all have to be- does it happen to them all? Or have you heard …?
TOM: Some may be better than others. But if it’s happened to you, then it doesn’t actually matter if it’s happened to anybody else, because you don’t want to have to replace that oven. You really simply want to make sure you can get it clean. So, that’s what you need to do.
GAIL: Yes. OK. Alright. Well , thank you very much. I acknowledge your help.
TOM: You’re welcome, Gail. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
888-666-3974 is our number. Hey, you can also post your question, like Robin from New Jersey. She says, “I live in an eight-year-old house that came with an upscale ceiling fan and glowing combo in the bedroom that operates by a remote. It acted fine until a few days ago but now the light-headed will come on, all by itself, at strange goes. That self-operating light scares me and irks me both at the same time.”
I can have known that. I’m thinking short-circuit here, Leslie. Because if you’ve got a illuminated that’s coming on of its own doing like that, it may be that something is loose. You could have a cable that where it fastens, it tightened up or it could be internal to it. But it’s definitely worth checking out.
And the only thing that I might do is change the bulb. But if it still happens after changing the bulb, I would definitely call an electrician and have him look at it. Because if it is short-circuiting, it could also be dangerous. It could overheat, it could even perhaps- but only to rule out simple nonsense, I would definitely alter out the bulb firstly and then picture what happens. Otherwise, you’ve definitely got a potential hazardou situation on your hands and you’ve got to have the right pro to fix it.
LESLIE: Yeah, Robin. Better to be safe than sorry. I represent so much better can happen with electricity in places you don’t ascertain, so it’s better to get it looked at and know that everything is operating correctly.
TOM: Well, if you own a dishwasher, it’s tempting to hurl everything but the kitchen sink into it. But there’s a chance your dishwasher may be doing more harm than good. To catch out which kitchen items always deserve that white-glove treatment or at least the rubber-glove treatment, we’re going to turn to this week’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.
LESLIE: Well, it goes without saying that anything that’s labelled “hand wash” should be hand dried. But those aren’t the only parts that should never make their way into your dishwasher.
Now, a seasoned cast-iron skillet, this is definitely a pitch of pride for any cook. But you can totally untie all of that seasoning and working to get that pan part so fantastically well if you leant it in the dishwasher. So hand-wash cast-iron but not with soap. You want to scrub it with cooking petroleum and salt instead and then wipe it baked with a newspaper or a cloth towel, just to keep it from rusting.
Now, if you have an insulated advance beaker for your chocolate every day, you need to wash it every night and you need to wash it by hand. The make of sea in the dishwasher can actually get between the mug’s outer and inner layers. And that just causes all kinds of gross stuff and it spoils that hurtle cup, so hand-wash that.
And the same leads for some non-stick pans. Some of them are dishwasher-safe but others lose their non-stick quality in that extreme heat. Now, you can either check your pan’s manufacturer or just simply play it safe. The time or two that you deplete hand-washing a non-stick pan genuinely overpowers a spoilt go and then, of course, your numerous broken banquets to follow after that.
And finally, guys, anything that’s made of wood does not belong in the dishwasher at all , is not simply because it’s porous but can actually absorb soap and other germs. And because all of that hot is in there, it’ll eventually motive whatever that timber thing is- whether it’s a cutting board or a spatula or a spoon, whatever- it will start that grove to dry out and then crack. So continue those wood utensils and run faces out of the dishwasher perfectly, even a delightful salad bowl that’s wood. Just clean them, chaps. It’s not that much trouble. And then, this lane, you can play your competition of Tetris in the dishwasher with all the other stuff that you’re will be possible to stick them in.
TOM: It obviously is a Tetris game, isn’t it, trying to get everything to fit?
LESLIE: And there’s merely one correct way, Tom.
TOM: Of course.
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Thank you so much better for spending these sections of your era with us. Coming up next time on the program, generate a beautiful living space outside doesn’t require walls or a ceiling, exactly a beautiful storey. We’re going to have gratuities on how you can create that excellent porch face, 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 “re going to have to” do it alone.
( Copyright 2020 Squeaky Door Creation, Inc. No segment of this record or audio document may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc .)
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