Episode #2016: DIY or Go Pro? | Defeating Deer Damage | Easy to Install Motion Activated Lights | Easy Solutions for Hard Water
When it comes to home renos, are you a DIY or Go Pro kind of home improver? A brand-new inspection reveals how many DIYrs are actually doing residence jobs vs hiring prosandan interesting trend among the youngest home improvers. Plus…
Does your garden double as an all-you-can-eat buffet for deer and wildlife? We’ve got some humane sentiments for stopping all the chomping.Motion detector spotlights are a great addition to your home for both appliance and safety. Thanks to LED technology, they are easy to install than ever and some don’t even have to be wired. We’ll share the brightest security alternativesAll the high-end products in the world can’t undo the effects of hard-bitten water on your fuzz, invests and dishes.Find out which ocean softeners can help.
Plus, provide answers to your home better a matter of, replacing a flat ceiling with decking, proper installation of AC window legions, eliminating pet odors, installing a pocket door, septic system inspections.
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.
Read Transcript
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 here to help you get your projects done. What are you working on? Are you rebuilding? Are you rejuvenating? Are you doing some decorating? Whatever project is on your to-do list, slip it over to ours by picking up the phone and joining the conversation. The count here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Or you can post your questions at MoneyPit.com.
Coming up on today’s show, when it comes to home renos are you a DIYer or a go-pro kind of home improver? Well, Houzz has revealed how many DIYers that were actually doing residence jobs, in a brand-new inspection. We’re going to have those results, really ahead, along with an interesting tend among the youngest DIYers out there.
LESLIE: And does your garden double as an all-you-can-eat buffet for deer and wildlife? Well, we’ve got some humane hypothesis for stomping all the chomping.
TOM: Plus, motion-detector spotlights are a great addition to your residence for accessibility and security. And thanks to LED technology, they’re now easier to install than ever and some don’t even have to be wired. We’ll share those options.
LESLIE: But first, we’re here to educate, engender, build confidence and help guide you with all of your dwelling programmes. So present us a call and let us know what we can do to help you finish, start, dream. Whatever it is, we’re now to give a hand.
TOM: The numeral here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888 -6 66 -3 974.
Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s firstly?
LESLIE: Amanda in Connecticut is on the line with an A/ C system that’s not doing the C one of the purposes of the cooling. What’s going on, Amanda?
AMANDA: Hi. I don’t actually know. It’s a brand-new system.
LESLIE: Brand brand-new as in the entire central air-conditioning system is new to the house or only a brand-new condensing gang outside?
AMANDA: The brand-new condensing part. The live once had the venting in it but it didn’t have the unit.
TOM: OK. So they added the compressor outside, correct?
AMANDA: Right.
TOM: And who did this work? Was it a contractor?
AMANDA: Uh-huh, yeah.
TOM: Did they not experiment it to make sure it was working?
AMANDA: They said they would come back when it was hot. And so I called them and- the sizzling daylight. And they came back and it really didn’t cool after four hours. And he told me it’s because the house is an older house and that the returns are on the outside walls and prepares it harder for it to cool down- longer for it to cool down?
TOM: Well, examine. You hired these chaps to complete your cooling system. So, any good contractor is going to look at the house and they’re going to identify any problems with the size of the passages or where the pipes are feed. They’re going to make sure that they’re sized properly.
Do we know that the compressor is actually working outside?
AMANDA: Yeah. They did- they came back again after that and induced sure that it had the Freon in it and checked to make sure that it was working properly.
TOM: Well, plainly, something is not working properly, OK? And it’s either the compressor or there could be something with the acces the ducts are installed. I can’t begin to diagnose it for you except to tell you that it’s not right. The contractor should know better than this. I don’t think you’re get the best advice or service from this contractor, because it shouldn’t be that difficult for an HVAC contractor to figure out why a room is not get cool. This is their business.
So, if you’re not coming anywhere with these guys, you might want to think about bringing in another contractor to get a second opinion, maybe not even share with them that you had this part invested recently. And see if they can figure out why it’s not cooling. See what kind of advice you get.
But it seems to me that this first contractor had a responsibility to do what it takes or at least to complete the job or caution you if there was something that was going to prevent the compressor from cooling the members of this house. Then why were they willing to sell you the compressor in the first place? You examine what I make? They’re the experts here.
AMANDA: He’s saying to me that four hours is not a long time.
TOM: That’s not true at all. That’s ridiculous.
AMANDA: I pretty much said I had to go outside to cool off.
TOM: Listen, I would get another contractor or an expert in there to find out why exactly it’s not working, take a look at all the things that impact cooling. And then at least you’ll know what was done or not done and you can take it from there. But it doesn’t reverberated to me like you’re getting the best suggestion here.
AMANDA: Thank you and I adore listening to your show.
TOM: Oh , thank you very much. And I hope we’ve helped you out. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Alright. Now up, we’ve went Paul calling in from Tennessee who’s got an issue with a water spout. Tell us what’s going on.
PAUL: I’m getting some breeze in this well water. The well is six-and-a-half years old, as is the house. And it goes down 350 hoofs and the casing goes down 105 paws where they grouted it. When they first applied it in, I was inconvenienced by the amount of turbidity I had in it and I was changing the whole-house filter about formerly a week.
And I went back to the drilling companionship and “theyre saying”, “Well, it would take about three months to quit that.” Well, it was 36 months. And then after about four years, I started coming some sea hammer in the cold water, particularly in the vault. Although upstairs, it’ll do it, too.
But then I’m getting air out of the faucets upstairs and it’s collecting air from somewhere and I can’t figure out where. And as far as I know, the well barrel, with the bladder in it- the 40 pounds of air pressure hold the bladder. That seems to be OK, Tom.
TOM: OK. Yeah, that was the first thing I was going to think: that if you had a leak in that bladder tank, that that would cause that. Other possible makes are bad siphons but I’m not quite sure how you could test that without having all the gear that you would need.
Have you had the well corporation come back and take another look at this, exclusively for the air-bubble problem?
PAUL: No. Because it’s been quite a while and they- the guy they used to have there at the company, in the daytime, didn’t seem to know much about it. In point, when he told me three months it was going to clear up and it was 36 months, I thought, “Maybe I’m talking to the wrong guy.” But I haven’t get a include of him.
TOM: Yeah. Well, he told you three months because his warranty was 90 daylights, right?
PAUL: Yeah.
TOM: Paul, plainly, we’re getting air into that structure and if it’s not coming through the bladder cistern, I’m not quite sure where it’s coming in. And I think you’re going to have to get a well professional there- a real expert- that understands these things and try to see if there’s any style they can determine exactly how that breeze is getting in.
Do you have another well fellowship that you might try?
PAUL: Yeah, there’s various of them here because this area is very rural. We’re right at the edge of the Smokies.
TOM: I would try another well fellowship, because you didn’t have good fortune with the first one, and see if you can get to the bottom of it. But I agree with you: if it’s not the barrel, it more than likely is the pump.
PAUL: OK. Well, very good. And thank you. I will try someone here regional, then, and see if they can structure( ph) it out.
TOM: Alright, Paul. Good luck with that job. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got Annette in North Carolina on the line who’s working on a boathouse job. Tell us about it.
ANNETTE: The deck on top of the boathouse- flat ceiling, has a bladder. I have removed the carpet that was originally on there 10 times. Want to know what I can put back on there, on the bladder, that will do better than carpet.
LESLIE: And this is on the ceiling, so it’s exposed to the elements 24/7?
ANNETTE: It is a flat roof.
LESLIE: Now, a carpet- exterior carpet- is probably not the right choice, just because it does tend to wear and tear quite quickly, even though you got 10 times out of it.
TOM: Rapidly, yeah. Mm-hmm.
LESLIE: You know, it’s probably not the best choice.
Now, Tom, would you consider a composite-decking material or can that not really sit immediately on top of that bladder, to get that water apart?
TOM: Well, actually, what I was see was to create a deck-like surface on top of that bladder.
LESLIE: Like a platform.
TOM: Right, a pulpit where the deck – you really wouldn’t have the traditional floor joists or even 2x4s. You might have a, say, 2×6 on the flat that reclines flat on top of that floor. And then the deck cards sort of lay on top of that on- with 16 inches on centre. So, it’s kind of like precisely representing the top face of the floor as the wear-and-tear surface on top of that bladder.
Is there some sort of a railing arrangement here, as well, Annette?
ANNETTE: Yes. It’s all railed. Mm-hmm.
TOM: OK. So then I would just create a composite floor that lays flat on top of that.
Now, you can’t only lay the composite decorate boards on the bladder; you’ll need some direction to keep them together. That’s why I was indicated that what I might do is take a pressure-treated 2×6, lay it on the flat and use that sort of, in essence, as if it was a floor joist that you were attaching these decking timbers to. And then lay the decking down on top of that.
Now, there’s also interlocking wood and I think it’s made out of teak.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. I’ve exploited, actually, teak tiles like that.
TOM: Yeah, there’s teak tiles that interlocking, right? Then I know- I’ve seen them; people are able to set them down on top of terraces. I suppose you could probably also threw that down on top of the ceiling as long as it wasn’t too soft. So any type of wood decorate surface like that would be a good choice.
LESLIE: And those are interesting: the teak tiles that sound together. Do you have a Christmas-tree store near you? You know those storages: it’s not really a holiday store, it’s like …
ANNETTE: No. Lowe’s is the closest to- I’m 18 miles from any town. I’m way out in the woods.
LESLIE: OK. Because there’s several different firms, actually, that sell them online. Locally, for me, I concluded them at one of those dismis dwelling decorating accumulates. But they’re 12 x12 teak tiles that nearly look like a parquet tile, like a floor tile? And they’re set on a plastic locate and they click together. And you can also get an edging tile to kind of complete their own borders and that could sit immediately on top of the bladder, because it’s got the little plastic cornerstone that creates that platform.
TOM: A good website to take a look at is SwiftDeck. SwiftDeck.com is a company that sells patio deck tiles. They have Ipe tiles. It looks like they likewise have a composite copy. So a couple of options there. Great photos. You can see exactly what this looks like, at SwiftDeck.com.
ANNETTE: Beautiful. Thank you for your help.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Alright. Thanks so much for connecting us now at The Money Pit.
Well, when it comes to home renos, are you a DIY or a go-pro kind of home improver? Well, are consistent with a new investigation by Houzz, practically 9 in ten homeowners hired a dwelling professional for restoration programmes in 2019. That’s 88 percentage of projects out there. That’s crazy. They were things like electricians, plumbers. Those are now the most common renovation professionals that were tapped by homeowners- 50 percentage- been accompanied by general contractors, kitchen/ shower remodelers, developers. And design-build pros made up about 36 percent of that. So people are hiring.
TOM: Now, design-related professionals, speaking of them, they were actually brought in by nearly one in five renovating homeowners and amounted to about 19 percentage. That’s pretty good because, I tell you, if you are unsure about how to go with a project, it truly does make sense to hire a decorator to walk you through that. And I think it’s also interesting that of the high-end projects, they were up among the younger generations. About 10 percentage of rebuilding homeowners are spending about 80,000 horses or more on those projects.
LESLIE: Kerwin in Mississippi is on the line with a septic-system question. What’s going on over there?
KERWIN: Hey. Comment allez-vous? We’ve got a situation. We bought a tax-sale property.
TOM: OK.
KERWIN: Paid 3,000 for a trailer that still had all the stuff in it from Katrina, so it was a mess; took a marry months to fix. And it was a 100 x150 lot with a trailer and an addition on it, so it was a great deal.
TOM: OK.
KERWIN: My problem is when we went through the process of trying to get power turned on, which we have no- we’re truly living off the grid. We have no water , no power.
TOM: OK.
KERWIN: And we’ve got a compost lavatory. And the problem, when an inspector came out from the Health Department, was it should have been grandfathered in but they started hemming and hawing about it being- they reformed the standard rules. Instead of it being 10 paws from the property line , now it’s got to be 25 paws. And ours sits at 22.
TOM: Mm-hmm. OK.
KERWIN: So, we’re dealing with the raw sewage, you know, with the compost lavatory. We need to deal with the septic-system gray water. And I’ve been looking- and they too tried to say that, oh, it might be a wetland. Well, it- I actually procured a …
TOM: Still think it’s a good- still think it was a good deal?
KERWIN: Actually, I do.
TOM: OK. Alright. So what’s your question, Kerwin? Is it the septic examiner- the health superintendent is telling you you can’t put in a septic system? Is that right? Is that what it is?
KERWIN: We’ve actually- we can’t get anybody from- we had an engineer come out and he “says hes” doesn’t seem to be a problem.
TOM: OK.
KERWIN: They told me I had to- they referred me to an engineer. I got one to come out and now I can’t get a septic busines to even come out and repair it. He said all it needs is repair.
TOM: OK.
KERWIN: So, I’m in a bind. So I was just looking for gifts. I’ve thought of moving it myself.
TOM: What’s the job that actually has to be done? What’s the reparation?
KERWIN: I think if we can find a way- if there’s a source or information on doing a gray-water system, we can get by.
TOM: First of all, you did the right thing by involving an operator. The operator will – his opinion will basically supersede that from the Health Department. The engineer is recommending a repair. The first thing I would do is ask the engineer if they can give you a referral to somebody that does this kind of work, aside from the two chaps that you’ve been calling over and over and over again. I can’t believe there’s merely two chaps in this area that do this sort of work.
I would not try to change the entire room you’re putting this system together just because you can’t get a contractor out there that does this. I would residence an ad on Craigslist to find a contractor or some other online directory, rather than change my approach to basically redesign information systems. If the state supervisor says you’ve got to get an engineer and the engineer says it’s repairable, let the engineer- I represent put the engineer in charge of the project. Let them find somebody that does this.
Yeah, you want to find somebody that can- has some credibility with the chaps that are doing the drudgery, that wants to be more work for them. You’re just kind of one and done. But if you have your engineer that’s doing this all the time perhaps GC the project for you, maybe that engineer can help you identify a contractor that’s going to be responsible and reliable. Even if it costs you a little more, it’s going to be less than trying to redesign the entire system. And if you get it done right, then you can get the power moved in and kind of move on your way.
So that’s the direction I would approach it. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Cindy is on the line from Nebraska with an air-conditioning question. How can we help you?
CINDY: Yes, I have central air but our upstairs does not cool very well. So we throw in a space breath and I’ve tried to seal it with some of those foam rows and videotape and things like that. But now I’ve got some issues when it rainwaters. For some reason, we’re getting water soaking through the tape and coming inside and dripping. What other thing can I use to seal that that would be more waterproof but still I’d be able to take it out?
TOM: Wow. So, commonly, when you install a opening air conditioner, you have the window- the upper part of the double-hung window sits on top of the box and then it has sort of like offstages that slither out the side of the air conditioner to kind of seal out the infinite between the air conditioner and the opening of the window, correct?
CINDY: Correct.
TOM: Alright. And so you’ve sealed those areas with tape? Is that what you told?
CINDY: We applied some pieces of sud that you set around it completed in the gaps. So we’ve got- the backstages are all stretched out and then we’ve shut, where we have seats, with the foam strips.
TOM: Here’s what I do. There’s a product that is a temporary weatherstripping that looks like caulk; it comes in a caulking tubing. Now, commonly, you use this inside your home- for really, really drafty openings- and you approximately caulk them slammed with this product. But you can use it in a situation like this. I reflect for the summer it is very likely last-place fine. When it bakes, it kind of looks like a silicone caulk; it’s clear. But the cool thing is that when you’re ready to pull out that air conditioner, you can rind this temporary caulk off.
Now, it’s made by a number of producers. I study DAP moves- Seal’ N Peel is the brand name that they came up with. Seal- S-e-a-l-‘ N Peel. And so take a look for that temporary weatherstripping caulk, investigation it out online. You may have to order it at a hardware store or a home center. And that’ll be much more effective than the strip, because you’ll be able to get it into those tight situates and it will really attach there and keep that liquid out, OK?
CINDY: That sounds perfect. Thank you very much.
TOM: There “theres going”. Sometimes you’ve got to come up with a inventive solution to an unique problem.
CINDY: I figured there had to be something. I only didn’t know what it was.
TOM: Alright, Cindy. Glad to help you out. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Susan in Arkansas, you’ve came The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
SUSAN: I have recently bought a residence and there are three areas in the home that seem to emit a cat-urine odor when it gets extremely …
TOM: Eww. Yuck.
SUSAN: Yeah.
TOM: Alright. So, is it on- is it carpet? What various kinds of flooring you got there?
SUSAN: Actually, I’m finding it in the garage, on concrete.
TOM: Oh, OK. OK.
SUSAN: And around the front door- which there’s a brick exterior and it’s a metal doorway. But then the committee is also- have discovered that there’s an domain in the bedroom. It seems to be under a window. So maybe on the drywall? The carpeting has been replaced.
TOM: OK.
SUSAN: The residence- and when I acquired the residence, the carpeting had been- all had been replaced.
TOM: Well, here’s the thing. Let’s take it one domain at a time. If it’s the garage and you have a concrete floor there, that could have absorbed some of that troublesome liquid. What I would suggest you do is take the opportunity to add a new epoxy garage-floor paint to that surface. Very easy to do. Comes in packs. Made by lots of different makes. QUIKRETE stirs it, Rust-Oleum sees it. And mostly, you mix up the dye and the hardener and it takes about 45 minutes to apply it and then a couple of hours in order to be allowed to cool and probably the next day, you’re moving the car back in.
SUSAN: Wonderful. That’s a great idea.
TOM: So I is undoubtedly introduced an epoxy cover down. That will seal in any type of odor that’s there.
Now, as far as that bedroom is concerned, my nervousnes is that they pulled up the horrible carpet, put down brand-new carpet but didn’t fix the problem underneath. But if there was dog or cat task on that flooring underneath, it should have been primed with an oil-based primer.
LESLIE: And it could be that the padding wasn’t supplanted, as egregious as that sounds. But I mean that’s a prospect; you never know that.
But Tom is right. If you have an odor issue associated with the carpet, when you pull out that carpet, that subfloor, whatever it is, does “ve got to be” drew with an oil-based primer simply pretty much to seal in whatever is there.
Now, at this spot, I hate to tell you you’ve got to go back down to that target and make love but that’s truly probably going to be the only way. Because come cooler months, you’re not going to notice it just as much but computed humidity, high-pitched temps, humidity, you’re going to get that odor back again.
So, it’s possible that the same piece of carpeting is likely to be reused but I is undoubtedly taken into consideration determining assured that that padding was replaced. If not, do it- and painting that subfloor.
TOM: I would think that the carpet could emphatically be reused. You basically precisely have to pull it back up, pluck the padding up. If the padding is not new, it should be replaced. And if it is new, merely rind it back, prime that entire range of the floor and then put it back together. So you’ll need a carpet installer to assist you with this, because it has to be tacked in properly. But you can absolutely do it without damaging the existing carpet, OK, Sue?
SUSAN: OK. Can I use merely any oil locate or do I need to use like a …?
TOM: I would use KILZ- K-I-L-Z- or B-I-N.
SUSAN: OK. Oh, OK.
TOM: As long as it’s oil-based, I think it will do a good job of sealing it out.
SUSAN: Wonderful. Thank you so much.
TOM: Sue, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, if you’ve got a motion-detecting sun anywhere outside of your dwelling, you know it’s a great deterrent for both beings and critters that you don’t want skulk around your property.
TOM: Now, if you don’t have them, why not? They’re actually easy to install today and they’re very affordable. And they do definitely include a sense of security and some peace of mind.
LESLIE: Yeah. Now, here’s how they act, chaps. They’re super easy because the motion detectors in those glowings are actually big electronic attentions. And they’re going to detect heat
waves from moving objects. And that are in a position include people, swine, even gondolas. Now, that glowing is going to stay on anywhere from 1 to 20 minutes, depending on how you specify it up. And a photocell keeps the light off during sunrise hours.
Now, most gesture detectors have a semicircular field of view of about 240 units and an adjustable distance range of about 70 paws, sometimes even more. And the field and the array can be adjusted to avoid coming on when autoes drive by. So you’ve got to sort of see what the sensibility is and then make it work for your house.
Now, I don’t review a lot of beings recognise but motion-detecting flames, you can actually operate them manually. Just turn that switch off for a second and then back on. And that’s going to allow you to keep the light on at night when you want it, even if there’s no motion.
TOM: Now, the basics of hooking up this flare are pretty straightforward. If there’s an existing daybreak fixture, it’s really easy. You exactly kill the supremacy, remove the old-fashioned unit and wire up the brand-new one, twinned wire for cable. That same wiring structure should definitely be followed, so make sure the red-hot pitch-black cable is connected to the black, neutral grey to white. And don’t forget to connect the dark-green grind cable to the bare copper wire in different regions of the field screw.
Now, beyond that, there are some really cool, new developments in motion-detection illuminates. There are battery-powered lights, which are awesome. I am astounded. I have got one, two, three of these- two inside the house and one outside the members of this house- all run on D-cell artilleries. I have not changed the artilleries since I made them in well over a year ago. And they work on motion. I’ve got two in closets and one outside a opening and it’s immense. No wiring expected. All I had to do was attach it to the wall and I was done.
There’s too security-camera lighters where it’s basically a really high-intensity spotlight with a camera built in that will feed to a mas so you can record footage. And there’s even LED light bulbs that have built-in cameras.
So there’s a lot of ways to get motion-detection illuminations and some cameras together today. And all in all, they add up to a lot more convenience and safety for your home.
888-666-3974 is the phone number. You know, it doesn’t matter when you’re listening to The Money Pit. If you are a podcast subscriber, you can call, more. Really dial us up any time of the day or light. And if you’re not a reader, well, why not? You can get The Money Pit podcast wherever you get your pods.
LESLIE: Alright. Next up, we’ve went Mike from Tennessee calling in. And what’s great is that Mike tuned into us on Facebook and knew that we were in studio and gave us a call through our Facebook follower network.
Hey, Mike. Welcome.
MIKE: Our house is on a slab and we’re wanting to change to possibly some type of wood flooring but trying to decide what form would be best and how to go about that decision.
TOM: OK. Well, it’s very easy. Because your house is on a slab, there’s simply one type of wood flooring that you can put down and that’s announced “engineered floor.” The reason it’s called “engineered floor, ” Mike, is because it’s put together in beds, kind of like plywood where you have alternating seams of lumber? And that’s necessary for it to be dimensionally stable.
If you were to try to put down solid hardwood flooring on a concrete storey, that concrete is so damp and moist that the solid hardwood would very quickly warp and twist and it just wouldn’t work. So, you want engineered hardwood and that can be installed as a move floor, which implies the floor slice themselves would lock together but they don’t actually attach to the floor. They simply kind of float and they go down over an underlayment which is usually, with engineered, like a thin sud, it is therefore even gives you a little cushion when you walk on it. And you cut it to fit the room and you cover the exposed fringe with some molding when you get out to the baseboard.
So it’s pretty straightforward, pretty easy project to do. I would buy the best-quality engineered that you can afford, because it actually counts on the finish. If you get a commercial-grade, for example, finish, it’s going to be far more durable, because it is almost impossible to refinish. So “youve been” do want to have a good-quality finish first time out of the box.
MIKE: Well, that’s great information. I appreciate it.
TOM: You got it. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Well, whether it’s the best-looking flower bed on the block or it really needs a little work, deer look at your plot and your lawn and they see one thing: it’s time for lunch.
LESLIE: You know, maintaining those deer away from your plants and blooms, it can feel like you’re losing the combat. But there are plenty of humane, chemical-free ways to keep them moving onto that next light-green field.
TOM: Yep. So, commercially-available deer repellants are a start. They’re very effective at establishing your garden less yummy. They’ve got an odor that’s similar to rotten eggs. And the deer are going to find plenty of other greenery to munch, which will be much more appealing. But they are a little costly.
LESLIE: Yeah. Now, if you’re looking for a fresher-smelling approach, soap is another deer deterrent. Just make sure you buy a few fragrant prohibits – you want them to be the stronger prohibits of soap- and hang them from the fields of the plants and trees that you’re trying to protect. There’s too a number of homemade recipes that you can find online. And they are generally include large portions of cayenne pepper, a lot of eggs. So, different ways to get the deer to kind of save wandering.
TOM: Now, one other thing you can do is- especially if you have a smaller area that they’re infesting, so to speak- is to add fine-mesh nylon net. We use this over some undergrowths around our house to keep the birds away from this one blueberry bush that “were having”. I mean we don’t get that many blueberries and we’d like to keep them for ourselves, so we cover the bush with the nylon webbing. And it wields really good because not only do the chicks stay away, if there are deer that are fruit-lovers- I don’t know if they are- but they can’t get to it, as well.
Or you can go a high-tech route. You can lay a motion-detector sprinkler. And the highway that works is when the deer kind of move in on your garden-variety space, it knocks on and spritzes the deer and keeps them away.
LESLIE: Yeah. Wait until they figure this out on a red-hot date and they’re like, “Let’s go over to the Krauetlers’ house. They’ve went that sprinkler thing.”
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: Barbara in Texas, you’ve came The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
BARBARA: We’re restoring my mother-in-law’s 130 -year-old home. Not that she’s 130 but this home is.
LESLIE: OK.
BARBARA: And I’m having a problem with the carpenter. I want to put in pocket doors and for some reason, he keeps “re trying to tell me” not to do that. He doesn’t want to do it. It’s not structural; it’s just he doesn’t want to do it.
TOM: Yeah. And you know what, Barbara? I convey a pocket entrance is a lot of work. And maybe that’s why he’s trying to talk you out of it. It will be far more expensive than a normal door to install because, essentially, it’s not just a door; it’s a wall, too. You have to put in the pocket line-up of it in addition to the door side of it. And that means that you have to kind of re-drywall that whole section so that it indeed is a disappearing door.
That said, I’ve got a pocket door in my department and I affection it because I don’t have room for the fluctuate. And we’ve got a full-size, 30 -inch by 72 or- I’m sorry, 30 -inch by 80 -inch door in this pocket and it swings into the wall. But I recollect the process of going this thing in and it is a lot of work. So that might be why your contractor is a little unwilling to take it on.
BARBARA: Do you have some words of prudence I can share with him to encourage him to do that?
TOM: Yeah. Yeah, tell him to expand his scopes, that the customer is always right and you miss your pocket door and you’re willing to pay for it, pay him to get it on. And he’s probably driving by the hour. “So stop bitching and get to work.”
LESLIE: And phrase it precisely like that. No, don’t.
TOM: Just like that. “Stop whining and get to work.”
BARBARA: I like it. That’d be great.
TOM: Alright, Barbara. Good luck with that assignment. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: And retain, you can always grant us a summon or upright your question on The Money Pit’s Facebook page or email us.
But right now, I’ve got a post now from Ashley who writes: “I need to replace my ocean softener and I’m debating buying one that uses salt against one that doesn’t. What do you recommend? ”
TOM: Yep. It’s a question that we often get. Let’s just talk about what hard water is. First of all, it comes from naturally-occurring minerals in your home’s water. And the hard-water buildup is also commonly called “limescale.” And it does stick with your hoses and also internally into your appliance. And that are in a position shorten “peoples lives”. It can increase energy usage. It can blockage the hoses and mostly reduce the flow rate for showers and faucets.
So, you have salt-based and then non-salt or salt-free water softeners. And I’ve had success with both. One that I especially like is a salt-free version called EasyWater. How it use is – you know how magnets will fight one another when, say, two positives are pressed together? That’s kind of what the technology does. This maneuver is hooked up to your main-water valve and it essentially makes those hard-water particles and charges them so that they repel each other and therefore don’t stick together. And if they don’t stick to each other, they’re likewise not going to stick to your pipes.
And the neat thing is that because it does going to be home at the main, it considers all of your spray in your room without the is necessary that a device at every single faucet or any more expensive plumbing. It only fixes right over the main line there. There is virtually no plumbing that’s required whatsoever.
LESLIE: Yeah. And you’ve got to take care of that hard ocean. It tastes gross. It concludes your hair feel spooky. Good-for-nothing is good when you have hard-boiled water. It’s exactly a disaster.
Alright. Next up, we’ve got a post now from Jessie. Now, Jessie writes: “What is the better way to check a Freon leak: a pigment research or an electronic machine? I have had about five pounds of Freon leak over the past nine months. My home warranty plan refuses to send out another companionship to check for the reveal expending the dye experiment. They say wait 60 eras and see if the spill can be found. What do you hint? ”
TOM: Well, first off, you are not the best person to be searching for a refrigerant spill which, by the way, was not necessarily the Freon, depending on the age of your air-conditioning compressor. So, rather than check for actual leakage, I would check for performance. This is something you can do yourself and here’s how you do it.
You want to measure the temperature of the breeze inside the house at a return canal or maybe even at the thermostat. And then weigh it at a give duct, which is near the air handler, one that’s got a really strong flow. If the system is running commonly, you should be reading somewhere between the 12 – and 20 -degree differential. If it’s less than 12, you are well within your privilege to necessitate repair.
And I would be suspicious of the warranty company’s approach on this because, frequently, the Freon is not included in what they will repair or replace. So, you end up getting hit with expensive bills for Freon that’s apparently being secreted to the atmosphere. So this is a situation where they actually need to get in there and either restore it or get you a new air conditioner and stop giving you the runaround.
LESLIE: And Jessie, I feel like if you can’t get them in to do the repair, you’re just sort of prod off the inevitable and compensating more invoices, you know, to use the electricity to get the air conditioning to cool. I think you’ve got to figure out a lane to get them to come in and physically do the fixing or whatever is needed. Otherwise, you’re going to be in a nature of hurt down the road.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show on breath and online at MoneyPit.com. Hey, thank you so much for taking part of your time epoch to listen to The Money Pit. If you’ve went questions and weren’t able to call and get us today, you are welcome to call us, 24/7, at 888 -MONEY-PIT. You can also upright your questions on The Money Pit’s website at MoneyPit.com.
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” make love alone.
( Copyright 2020 Squeaky Door Creation, Inc. No component of this record or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Product, Inc .)
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The post Episode # 2016: DIY or Go Pro? | Defeating Deer Damage | Easy to Install Motion Activated Lights | Easy Solutions for Hard Water saw first on The Money Pit.