Episode #2023: Fun Ways to Use Leftover Paint | 3 Ways to Stop Break-ins | Save Money on Stone Countertops | Laundry Hazards that can Hurt Kids
In this bout …
If you’re sitting on a stockpile of leftover latex paint, you have a gold mine when it comes to home decorating. With a little imagination and innovative flair, you can use paint leftovers to give your home extra appeal and have lots of fun in the process. Get the tips.
Would you believe that almost a quarter of all residential break-ins happen through a first-floor window? Learn how to keep your home safe from crimes.Stone countertops are both favourite AND expensive. But we’ve got a trick of the transaction to share on how to get a granite counter makeover WITHOUT spending a lot.One laundry hazard is responsible for 32,000 calls to poison control. We’ll share how to keep adolescents safe.
Plus, provide answers to your dwelling better questions about Plus, answers to your dwelling better questions, about hiring a public guarantee adjuster, installing spray foam insulation, choosing a kitchen sink, repairing a stove that doesn’t heat quickly.
Do you have a home improvement or decor 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 with your DIY assignments or projects that maybe you’d like to get done and are going to hire a pro to get done with. The first thing to do is to call us and we will help you get started on the right foot. Whatever you need to do to acquire your house the best it can possibly be, to become your home the best house ever, we are here to help you, to guide you, to instruct you, to provoke you and help you save some hassles along the way. The count here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888 -6 66 -3 974.
Now, if you’re a DIYer, here is a common trouble: you find yourself sitting on a stash of leftover latex colour, right? I represent from all the projects that you tackled? Well, if that’s you, you may have a gold mine when it comes to home decorating. We’ve got some tips on how you can framed all that leftover paint to good use, to give your house some additional petition and have a bit of merriment in the process.
LESLIE: And also onward, would you believe that nearly a quarter of all suburban break-ins happen through a first-floor window? We’re going to tell you how you can keep your home safe from burglaries.
TOM: And stone countertops are very popular and very expensive but we’re going to share a trick of the trade about how you can have a granite-counter makeover without spending a lot of money.
LESLIE: But first, we want to hear what you are working on. What are your reno plans for the rest of the summer? Or maybe you’ve got some big ideas for the fall or you’re looking to time update some things so that you’re ready to stay home in the winter season. Whatever it is, give us a see. We can help. Call us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888 -6 66 -3 974.
LESLIE: Laura in South Carolina is just not enjoying the feeling of a popcorn ceiling. Tell us what’s going on over there.
LAURA: Well, a tree came on the ceiling of our live, which generated the ceiling to crack in the bedroom.
TOM: Yep. Mm-hmm.
LAURA: And we’ve gotten the ceiling determined and all those things fastened and everything. And so we redid the drywall and the plaster up in the ceiling. But we can’t match the popcorn so that you can tell or not tell that there’s been injure. And we don’t know what to do.
TOM: How have you tried to patch it?
LAURA: Well, we made- we patched it first. We removed the section that had actually come through the ceiling and applied brand-new- the new ceiling up.
TOM: Yep. Yeah.
LAURA: And then we plastered over the fissure, because there were two rifts where the edge of the- the width of the tree was, all the way to the middle of the ceiling
TOM: Right.
LAURA: And we are therefore plastered that and then we tried to use that popcorn composition that you get at Lowe’s or Home Depot.
LESLIE: In the spray can?
LAURA: And you- yeah, in the little- no, we tried the scatter but that was so, so messy. And then we got the can of it- the little container of it- where you use the putty knife or the paintbrush?
TOM: Right.
LAURA: And tried to set that up but it does not- it inspects horrible; it looks like water is dripping or large-hearted dribble marks.
TOM: Right.
LAURA: And it really does not match at all and we don’t know what to do.
TOM: So, did you enter an assurance claim for this act of God?
LAURA: Oh, yeah.
TOM: You did?
LAURA: It wasn’t actually an number of God; it was a dead tree from the neighbor’s house that fell.
TOM: Oh, OK. But it’s covered by insurance, right?
LAURA: Yeah, insurance policies took care of it.
TOM: So why didn’t they go all the way and time rebuild the ceiling? If this was something that is covered by insurance and you had a popcorn ceiling and you deserve to have that ceiling reinstated, why didn’t they just pay for a painter to come in with the popcorn-ceiling machine and only respray the whole thing?
LAURA: Well, it was kind of a mistake on our proportion, because there was a gentleman that lives in the neighborhood who’s a contractor that we got. And then he finished the outside and most of the inside but didn’t finish that part.
TOM: Alright. Well, live and learn. You probably can go back to them but inspect, are you really in love with the popcorn ceiling? Because most people are not; the majority of members of the orders we get about popcorn ceiling is how to get rid of it.
LAURA: No.
LESLIE: How to get rid of it.
TOM: So, the other option here is just to get rid of what’s there and competitor it all.
LAURA: Exactly.
TOM: And you can do that. It’s not really that difficult to do. You dampen the ceiling with – you can use a pump-up sprayer to apply a little bit of a spray spraying on it. Not cruel , not a great deal but just enough to dampen it. Then you can scrape apart the popcorn with a putty pierce or with a drywall pierce, like a spackling blade?
LAURA: Right.
TOM: And you get that off the whole ceiling that highway. And then you primary the whole thing and then you paint it with a flat decorate, because it won’t reflect light when it impresses in all the regions of the flat make-up. And that usually blends in quite nicely.
So, if you’re not satisfied with the patching- because it sounds like you’re squandering the privilege commodities. And if it’s not inspecting right to you and you can’t have the entire ceiling recovered, then why not be disposed of the popcorn that remains and just go with a popcorn-free ceiling?
LAURA: Yeah, that might be the best- but I didn’t know how hard it would be to remove that ceiling, so we didn’t want to start something we didn’t know if we could finish, like …
TOM: Yeah, it’s not easy but it’s not frightful, either. So, that’s- I think that’s your best approach.
LAURA: Yeah, it sounds like it’s going to be our simply option at this top. Alright. Well, thank you for coming in. I appreciate it.
TOM: Well, you’re very welcome. Good luck with that assignment. Thanks so much better for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT, 888 -6 66 -3 974.
You know, I don’t know if Laura did this but if you do have something that you can file with your insurance company for defence on- for coverage on, I “re saying” – you are interested in get a public adjuster in at the get-go. Because public adjusters work for you , not the insurance company. They work on a percentage of the claim. They’re always going to find more than the insurance-company adjuster does.
And this is a perfect example of the kind of thing they would not miss. They wouldn’t put in for the popcorn ceiling to be patched; they would include a big budget number for the entire thing to be restored, completely changed. And if you do that at the get-go of a project like this, it’s going to come out better.
And the other lesson, I suspect, Laura learned is never hire the delightful soldier that lives around the corner to do your job when- get enough money for it and have a professional do it. It’s not a part-time job.
LESLIE: No. And we are to be able to never death well when implementing a neighbor’s help.
TOM: Exactly.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’re title out to Kansas where David has got a question. How can we help you today?
DAVID: I had a remodel done and we lay a duct love over the range.
TOM: OK.
DAVID: And when we get a high north wind in the wintertime, it seems like we get a lot of backfeeding cold breath coming in that vent. I didn’t know- is there any mode to stop that?
TOM: So, the expres supporter has an exhaust port on the outside wall, correct?
DAVID: Correct.
TOM: Alright.
DAVID: And the door seems to be working fine, so …
TOM: Mm-hmm. And is there a gasket around that entrance?
DAVID: Yes, I think there is.
TOM: When you look at that entrance, do you happen to note whether or not it’s evenly striking the whole way around? In other words, if it’s a little twisted because it’s metal- expanse metal. And sometimes, when they’re trying to get that all in there, sometimes if it gets cocked a little bit and it’s changed, it may not be closing absolutely all the way around. Have you made a look at that degree of detail?
DAVID: It looks pretty good that way. It’s just when you get the high hurricane, it seems to sit there and clatter back and forth a little bit. That seems to be what( audible ).
TOM: OK. Yeah, so it’s depressurizing, basically. Interesting.
The other thing is, around the outside of that where it comes through the wall, do you know if they’ve sealed that when it was put in? It frequently “re coming” the wall and there’s often some sort of frame around it and flashing. And you may be able to take off that outside room and then seal it better than it was originally. And that could help a little bit.
But if the door is chattering, then it seems like the spring may not be tight enough. And I’m not sure that anything that we could suggest is changing that. I can’t imagine a way to kind of correct that if that’s what’s going on.
DAVID: Yeah. Well, we’ve had the same trouble on the dryer expres and the bathroom deplete. And we set a dampener in but this doesn’t have a long enough room to make a dampener in the liner, so …
TOM: Ah, yeah. And of course, if you settled a damp in, you’re restricting its efficiency, as well.
DAVID: Right.
TOM: So that’s another issue.
Another thing that you could do is if you made another- I want to call it a “cage” but it’s kind of like a metal carton that’s made out of perforated sword. And it’s terribly perforated; it’s not enclosed at all, right? But if you were to surround that exhaust port with a second sort of make around it and had that sort of fenced-in area, then that might be enough to interrupt the flow of the aura that’s depressurizing that discern and stop it from sort of chattering and coming up as much. And you certainly could fix it temporarily and see if it works.
DAVID: Hmm. OK. Just something to break the wind.[ Clasp on]( ph ).
TOM: Yeah, some acces to break the wind up, exactly. Yep. Exactly.
Thanks for announcing us, David. I hope that helps you out. And make us are well aware you make out.
DAVID: Alright then. Thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome, sir. Bye-bye.
LESLIE: Well, if you happen to be sitting on a stockpile of leftover latex depict from projections been going on, you may have a gold mine when it comes to home decorating.
Now, with a little imagination, you are eligible to kept all that leftover paint to good use. So we’ve got five ideas here enabling you to get going.
First of all, look at your kitchen. I mean you probably “ve got a lot” of canisters, things that hold spices or maybe huge things for cereal or things to applied utensils in. And maybe they’re kind of plain. Why not draw those with some of that leftover draw? Of if you’ve got an aged cup or go that’s kind of like a charming mold or has some interesting attribute to it that you’re not consuming anymore, you can paint that, too, and use it for wall decoration. And this kind of gives you a great way to return the colors from the rest of the house into that kitchen space.
Now, you can also do the same with planters and flowerpots. They genuinely do seek so much more cheerful with a veneer of dye. And you can paint them one solid color or you are eligible to shape blueprints on them. You can even go ahead and set a glossy topcoat on them if the make-up is an eggshell or something that’s not so shiny. And that’ll genuinely look great on a planter.
TOM: Now, the next thing that you might want to think about is if you are looking at some old dressers or age-old furniture that are a bit tired-looking, you can spice those up with draw. If you want, you have been able even use different emblazons for different parts and add some visual interest. An old stool or a table or a cabinet could also use a makeover, more. If you’ve got some of that old-time substance and you want to do some green redecorating, you want to reuse, you want to update, you want to restore some of those old-fashioned pieces that you’re not expending anymore, see if you can combine them with the old-fashioned colour you’re not exploiting anymore and you will have a whole new piece of furniture.
And speaking of adding some decor, you can add some pizzazz to covered walls with a patterned mete. This is a pretty straightforward thing to do. You knows where to find a nice-looking, reasonably stomp or an old-time leech, cut it into the shape of your choosing and then do a delightful habit, hand-crafted design by stamping that coat around the border of your home.
And then, lastly, accentuate the positive. You can express your home’s individuality by adding an accent colouring. You can do this to a door, to a doorway or to an part wall. Don’t have enough paint for the whole room? Just colour one wall. It could be a real standout patch. The unexpected hue will perform your interior something particularly, very special.
LESLIE: Charlene in Louisiana is on the line with a roofing question. What are you working on?
CHARLENE: I have a shallow roof on my home. They call it a 2:3 tar. It’s not flat but it’s unusually shallow, OK? Almost no attic, about maybe 2 hoofs in there. I was interested in an aluminum roof, like a lifetime roof? And I wanted to know which would be better: that or a regular shingle roof, like an architectural roof.
TOM: You don’t have the pitch for an asphalt-shingle ceiling. You need to have at least a 3:12 or a 4:12 roof to put in shingles.
CHARLENE: Well, I have shingles on it now and they’ve been there for 20 years.
TOM: I’m telling you, you may but it’s not right. You can only put shingles on a ceiling that’s got a minimum pitch of 3:12 or 4:12. And if you’ve got them on there right now, tally your backings but it shouldn’t have been put on there. And any roofing creator will tell you that.
If you – your options, hence, are either to do, say, a rolled roofing or a rubber roofing or a metal ceiling, as long as it’s rated for that low pitch. And I conceive a metal ceiling is a great investment if you’re going to be there for the long haul. But that’s what I would invest in because with that low-pitched of a pitch, you probably don’t see it very much and you want to make sure that it’s really going to be watertight. And with a low pitch, you precisely can’t use an architectural shingle; it really won’t work.
Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Linda in Ohio, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
LINDA: I have a cement guy and he’s going to do the stamped cement, OK? My question was- I was wondering what the conditions have to be outside, because this has been since May that he snap my old-fashioned deck out that was made of wood, OK?
TOM: Right.
LINDA: And he emptied that all up but he hasn’t been back since.
TOM: OK.
LINDA: So, that, I know is COVID and maybe his workers. I speculate a good deal of them went on unemployment, so he’s having a hard time going them off of unemployment to come back to work.
TOM: Yeah. Yep, yep.
LINDA: I really didn’t know recourses for beings that have put fund down, are waiting.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
LINDA: And then, too, what are the conditions- is he feeding me a line that he can’t get there because if it’s too hot, if it’s more wet- I don’t be informed about …
TOM: No , no. No , no , no. I considered that- I don’t think there’s any rationalization you can’t do any kind of concrete job or finishing project in the spring or summertime. There’s ways to do it. Do it early in the morning if he’s worried about that.
In expressions of, you are well aware, the COVID risk, it’s outside so they’re not even going to be in your house. So I don’t think that’s an issue.
LINDA: That’s true.
TOM: I think this is a labor issue. And he’s got a responsibility to kind of put up or said shut up. He’s either got to do the job or he’s got to give you your fund back and you’d have to take it from there.
LINDA: OK. So, my next step, should that be calling the Better Business Bureau? They might( inaudible )?
TOM: They have no ability to make him to do anything.
LINDA: OK.
TOM: If he took money for you- from you- how much of the job did you pay for?
LINDA: Half.
TOM: How much …?
LINDA: I leant half down: 4,300.
TOM: Oh, boy. And all he did was tear it out?
LINDA: All he did was tear out the timber deck.
TOM: Yeah.
LINDA: It was some work with that but still …
TOM: OK. I’ll give you a little trick of the transaction. And I’m not giving you legal advice and you probably should talk to a solicitor before doing this. But I know it wreaks and I’ve done it myself. You can enter a steal grumble with the local police department. And if- they’ll notify him of the steal grumble. He’ll have to go to court to defend himself as a burglar. And you’ll find that once this leads from civil to criminal, that these people become a lot more cooperative about giving you your coin back.
LINDA: OK. And is that what I demand or will that scare him to get there to actually do the job? What do you think that would happen afterward?
TOM: I think you’ve got to give him the ultimatum that he either has to do this or he has to give you your coin back. And if he doesn’t respond, then I think you’re within your rights, I would think, to go to the next step.
LINDA: OK.
TOM: OK?
LINDA: Perfect. OK. Appreciate it.
TOM: Yeah. I’m sorry that happened to you but I hope that gives you some direction.
LINDA: OK. Appreciate your callback. Thanks.
LESLIE: Glenn in Michigan, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
GLENN: I’ve got a Jenn-Air natural-gas range and when it- when you turn the temperature to 350 to preheat it, it makes between 25 and 30 hours to come up to temperature. The manual with the stave was indicated that, yeah, it should only take about 10 instants, so I was wondering if you had any ideas.
LESLIE: Yeah. I wonder if there’s an blockage in the line.
TOM: Yeah. Well, I was thinking about the valve. It sounds like it’s a problem with the control system.
LESLIE: Yeah.
TOM: So that could be electronics or it could be the valve or it could be a maintenance issue. I think it’s definitely something you need to get addressed because it could potentially be unsafe. There’s no way it should be taking 30 times for that to happen.
Is this a self-cleaning range?
GLENN: Yes. It’s not the type that’s got the lock, though. You really- and we don’t use that peculiarity; we just clean it by hand. But it does have that piece but we don’t usage it.
TOM: I’m hesitating on this. I signify one road to look at this is you could run the self-cleaning cycle and see if it cleared it. But then again, if there’s something wrong with the valve, I wouldn’t demand you to run the self-cleaning cycle. So I repute the best thing to do is to have it serviced by a professional that is familiar with that symbol and can access those sides. Because it’s clearly not right.
GLENN: Yeah, I agree.
TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much better for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Now we’ve came Anna in South Dakota on the line with a few questions about ants. What gone on?
ANNA: Took down a huge, massive tree. And the contractor that make it down said, “Good thing you took it down because in two years, it probably ought to have been fell.”
TOM: OK.
ANNA: Because it’s all cavern and he said it had a huge carpenter-ant nest in it.
TOM: Yep.
ANNA: So, my house is 10 feet away. Do I need to worry about that?
TOM: No. Carpenter ants are Mother Nature’s way of getting rid of dead wood. Sure, they could infest your home but they’re not definitely going to be motivated to go there over anything else that’s lying about. You’ll find ant burrows like that once in a while. And they’ll generally just go down on the floor, amble to a different location. But they’re not like, “Hey, let’s go over to Anna’s house, because I recall I heard it’s tasty.” No, they’re not generally going to go in your home. That said, you ought to keep your eye out for different kinds of pests- carpenter ants and termites, in particular- but you’re not at any increased risk of result ants.
I’ll tell you, I had a catch myself with ants a couple of weeks back. I have a bay window. It’s filled with floras. And I was doing some emptying and I didn’t notice we were getting some lingering ants in such areas. And I figured they were coming in from the outside, being the versed residence progress professional that I am.
Well, imagine my catch when I face-lift up a big, clay pot that had a growing seed in it and found that the ant infestation was, in fact, in the weed. So, we were helping this ant infestation survive by dutifully irrigating our bush. And once I got the plant outside, those ants had to find a new neighbourhood to live and we haven’t assure a single one since.
So, they’re not inevitably looking to go to your live. I think that you’re going to be fine.
ANNA: OK. That was my merely concern. The room is from- was built in 1908 and it’s like it’s, you know …
TOM: Yep. And it’s going to be fine for another hundred years. You don’t worry about that, OK?
ANNA: OK. Thank you.
TOM: Good luck.
Well, about two million suburban burglaries are reported every year. So we thought we’d share three easy tips-off to help keep your home safe and secure.
First off, thieves get into houses, about a quarter of the time, by means of the first-floor window. You considered that, well, people would retain to fasten them.
LESLIE: That seems so obvious.
TOM: Apparently, they don’t, in gargantuan numerals. And you can help prevent break-ins by keeping the windows locked and by holding undergrowths and shrubs near those openings trimmed back so you avoid secreting recognizes. Because, remember, robbers are stealthy thieves. If they can’t be stealthy, they’re going to leave your house alone, pretty much.
LESLIE: That’s true.
Now, you too need to make sure that you’re closing and fastening the windows, even when you’re out for really a period. I know this one sounds like a no-brainer but you would really be surprised at how readily a robber knows where to find an open opening. And a lot of the times, those spaces are open or unlocked on the first floor.
TOM: And lastly , now is a really good time to have a home security system, because there are many smart-home plans on the market that are very inexpensive, take very little time to install. And some even have possible options for professional monitoring if you want to go that road, at as little as about 15 horses a month.
So, recollect, hinder those bushes pruned back, preserve those spaces locked and get a simple security system. And don’t be part of that 25 percent of people that come busted into every year because they don’t do one of those three things.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’re going to tackle a question about roofing shingles.
Brian, how can we help you?
BRIAN: Well, we’re building a brand-new house and we have the spray-foam insulation, where the house is encapsulated.
TOM: Yep.
BRIAN: And I had a friend that was just telling me in their room, on the north side in the wintertime, that the shingles will buckle. So, I didn’t know anything about that and didn’t know how to find out whether or not that was true.
TOM: So, are you – why are you asking? Are you- if you have an existing house with a ceiling, are you thinking about changing the roof?
BRIAN: Well, we’re not to be considered modifying it but we’re in the middle of construct. We’re not in the house yet.
TOM: Oh, you’re in the middle of build. Oh, OK. Good.
BRIAN: And if there’s a problem with it, then we’d want the builder to correct it, yeah.
TOM: I meet, yeah. Yeah. No, I don’t think there’s any problem with it whatsoever. I believed to be met the right choice. I personally have a spray-foam underside of my ceiling sheathing and I’ve got to tell you, it’s obviously the most efficient way to go. We’ve seen drastic the decline of our power penalty since we travelled that style. So I think you’re making a really good choice. I’ve never heard of it having any kind of negative effect on the roofing shingles whatsoever.
BRIAN: Well, I appreciate it. Because my friends tell me the shingles had to be rated for that but I couldn’t find any information on that.
TOM: Yeah, I don’t think so. No, I actually- I don’t think that’s right.
BRIAN: OK. Alright. Thank you.
LESLIE: Now, we’ve came Darryl on the line who’s got a question about a leak in a crawlspace. Tell us what’s going on.
DARRYL: Yeah. I’ve got a house that has a crawlspace. It’s got a cement floor in it and it gets sea in the crawlspace. And been trying to figure out how it’s getting in there. I’ve noticed that the shows around the foundation are not very high off of the field and I’m wondering if maybe that’s how they’re- it’s getting in there and if I could give some space wells around those openings. I mean they’re only about- these ventilates are only like 12 inches by, probably, 8 inches. And the window shafts I’ve seen are much larger.
TOM: That’s not the issue, Darryl. Let me ask you this: when does the leaking seem to be worse? Is it consistent with heavy rains and snow melt and that sort of thing?
DARRYL: Well, yeah, probably. But I really- it’s hard to say because it’s not that easy to access. And I just know that when I have a long cool incantation, it does seem to dry up.
TOM: So, when you have discloses in a crawlspace or even a vault that’s consistent with precipitation, it’s ever caused by drainage issues at the foundation perimeter. So, by sewage issues, we’re talking about the channels. If the channels are clotted, if there’s not enough troughs, if there’s not enough downspouts, if the downspouts aren’t discharging well enough away from the foundation – you need to go out about 4 to 6 feet if you’re dealing with a water-infiltration issue.
And aside from the channels, the grading- the soil around the outside- has to slope apart. And so what I would do in your dispute is I would take a really careful look at the gutters. Because I’ve got to tell you, most of the time, that’s going to solve it. If you get- if you make sure the gutters are compiling water and exhausting them far away from the foundation, that’s going to solve it.
The way the liquid goes in is because when the grime at the foundation perimeter gets saturated, the foundation, has become a concrete masonry arrangement, is very hydroscopic. So, literally, it soaks up sweat like a sponge. And that irrigate can show up coming right through the flooring. I’ve seen it should be drawn up like a little geyser in the middle of the floor. But it will come through that concrete embrace on the floor of your crawlspace. So you need to deal with the sewage topics firstly. And I think that will solve it for you, Darryl.
And by the way, on our website there is a great article, right on the home page, about how to solve wet-basement and crawlspace-flooding problems. It’s one of the most popular commodities on the site. And it will saunter you through the step-by-step, tell you exactly what you need to do.
DARRYL: Alright. Well, thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much better for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Well, if you enjoy beautiful stone countertops, the granite transcends are especially favourite. But there is a way, though, to get them in your kitchen for a lot less than just going with a full top. And that tip is this: you can use smaller divisions of stone. The same granite that’s used for the crowns are sold in square pieces. And if you make them and you stack them up side by side and then fill the braces with grout, you’re going to have a beautiful and very unique countertop that is going to be a lot less expensive and easier to install. And it’s going to provide an equally alluring look at a very small fraction of the cost of solid-stone surfaces.
LESLIE: Yeah. Now, you know, there are also a couple of other options for a granite ogle. You knows where to find enormous designs in a laminate countertop that do examine a lot like granite. And today’s laminates come in a ton of hues, like thousands. And many of those options can examine precisely like a granite or a marble or any of the other solid-surface options for a countertop. So take a look, because the patterns are much more plausible, I promise.
TOM: And for an even less expensive solution, there’s a product now that’s made of stone that you can only roll onto an existing countertop. It’s called SpreadStone and it comes as a countertop kit. And all you do is that: you wheel it on. It’s fast and it’s easy. You can get it done in about a weekend and it can be applied to an existing countertop or one that’s made of plywood or particle committee or concrete or even tile. You can turn them all into durable, stain-resistant faces for a lot less than the cost of a new stone top.
It’s a produce that’s made by Daich Coatings. And that is their website: D-a-i-c-h-Coatings.com.
LESLIE: Now we’ve came Kathy from West Virginia on the line who’s tackling a kitchen campaign and has some questions about a subside. What can we do for you?
KATHY: Well, I’m having a hard time deciding on the type of sink. I’ve ever had a- I keep on wanting to say double-barrel. I cleanse on one side and I gargle in the other.
TOM: Right.
KATHY: So, it’s really hard for me to relate to a single-bowl sink. But they seem to be the rage and I wanted to see, truly, what is the attraction?
TOM: Size and space. You can get a lot more in a single-bowl sink that you can in one that is divided into two. And I understand the wont of putting soap in one and rinsing in the other. And listen, if you’re used to that, why not? But I review the above reasons people get them is because they can get the bigger utensils and washes in there and they’re merely a whole lot easier to use.
The other option, of course, is if you’re going to have a single-bowl sink, then you only get used to having a small plastic bowl in there- a plastic bathtub, I should say in there- which is something we ever did. So that is where all the soapy water extends and then you have plenty of apartment on the other side to cleanse. And then you can just take it out and put it away when you’re all done. So it’s really personal preference but I recall the reason they’re so popular is space.
What do you think, Leslie?
LESLIE: I, personally- I have an extra-deep, single-bowl stainless sink. And I like it because jackpots and pans fit in there no problem. I can definitely applied a good deal of stuff in there as I’m trying to get things clarify matters promptly. And I don’t have to have it on the countertops. But I did grow up with a double drop and I, very, liked that. I didn’t have to fill up so much water in one sink if I is ready to merely rinse a couple of things or – “youve had” more alternatives with that.
Now, when you’re remodeling, are you really supplanting the existing sink or are you changing out the cabinet?
KATHY: I’m changing everything.
LESLIE: I desire the idea of a ceramic-coated, apron-front sink that appears various kinds of- it can be modern and country, sort of, at the same time and have an interesting feel. And you can do a double-sink. I think they’re even called “country sinks.” The apron front, they’re so beautiful. And it might be just something that’s a little different but still familiar. And they resell are you all right for the house.
KATHY: Well, I am so attracted to those ceramic, apron-front sinks. And before I stir existing commitments, I was just wanting to see, am I missing something about this attraction with the single bowl?
TOM: No. I don’t think you are. I think they’re very attractive and I think it’s part of that sort of farmhouse-sink design that’s so popular- the farmhouse decor that’s so popular today.
So, good luck with that project, Kathy.
KATHY: OK. Thank you very much.
LESLIE: Remember, you can always post your question at the MoneyPit.com or on The Money Pit’s Facebook page.
Now, Laura writes: “We bought a propane grill last year before selling our home and only utilized it formerly. When we moved into our new home, we acquired a natural-gas line available for the grill. Is there a style to get this propane grill to work with natural gas? ”
TOM: Interesting. You can’t use natural gas in a propane grill. The size of the burner is different and the flow of the gas is different. But considering its age and the cost and hassle of altering it, I think you’re probably best to chalk this one up or sell my shares and is moving forward and buy a brand-new natural-gas grill. Because by the time you get done succession brand-new burners and new valves and nonsense, you’ve probably paid for the new one. And it would be a bit of a loss, I conceive, when you’re all done now. So I would just sell the old one or the old one that’s not that aged. A year old, right? Sell that and is moving forward and threw that money towards a new natural-gas grill.
And the great thing about that is you don’t have to replace those propane containers, which is getting harder and harder to do.
LESLIE: Now, Tom, I don’t visualize I’ve ever seen a natural-gas grill at the dwelling midst. Are they special line-up? Maybe just because I’ve never looked for one.
TOM: You probably won’t find them in the alley of a residence hub but I know that the gas fellowships always sell them. And you probably have to special-order one because they’re not as common as propane grills.
LESLIE: Alright. Good to know.
Enjoy your brand-new grill, Laura.
TOM: Well, I’m sure you know better than to leave medicine in reach of boys but what about basic household cleans? Some can be just as toxic. So, one of the ones that is a big concern right now are these laundry containers. Leslie is going to explain why, in this week’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.
LESLIE: Yeah. You know what? Those liquid laundry containers, they genuinely do reach life a good deal easier. And I actually merely started have them at home myself. But they can complicate things, as well, because they’re small-scale and they’re colorful and they look like these squeezy, fun, little packets of goodness. And maybe you think they’re candy. I means that they actually do conclude them inspect kind of fun and maybe you want to eat them. And in fact, they’ve stimulated more than 32,000 calls to Poison Control centers. And that quantity is so high-pitched since they are do glance entertaining and they do appear edible, which they are not.
Now, it’s not just a matter of retaining these laundry containers out of your kids’ speaks. They shouldn’t even be handled by the little ones, because what they’re made out of- once they get wet or even slightly damp, they start to break down. So they’ll start releasing poisonou compounds. And those, if they get on your kids’ mitts, they can linger and then make their way into your child’s mouth or their sees. And this can happen even hours later.
Now, laundry containers really aren’t the only danger to babies. You should never collect toxins in receptacles for juice or milk unless you have clearly labeled them that it is not juice or milk and it is actually a toxic cleanser of some sort. Because the bottle appears fun and inviting and some of these disinfectants actually look like fruit juices. So you have to be careful. You need to keep these cleansers in places no different than you would introduced medicine. Make sure the teenagers can’t get to them. Put fastenings on the cabinets.
And speaking of prescriptions, if you’ve came older kids in the members of this house, you want to make sure that any of your prescriptions that “youve had”, you lock them up in a medicine dresser. And make sure you dispose of those medicines that you no longer need or use or are expired. Do so quickly and don’t only dispose of them in your debris or down the lavatory, because they get into the water-supply system. Make sure you contact your local pharmacy. They’ll tell you where you can deposit these drugs that are no longer needed so they can be disposed of safely.
But you’ve got to keep your babies safe, because so many things are just so easy for these little, strange handwritings and thinkers to get out. And you want to start that opening not so available.
TOM: Good point.
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time on the programme, whether it’s around your subside or between a bathtub or tile or surround or handling the joints of your shower wall, that terrible, tattered caulk has got to go. We’ve got some DIY tip-off on how to get this enterprise done the easy space, 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 is therefore necessary to do it alone.
( Copyright 2020 Squeaky Door Product, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio record may be reproduced in any format without the express written authorization of Squeaky Door Yield, Inc .)
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