Episode #2024: Pet Proof Décor | How to Add Pendant Lights | Stop Bathtub Caulk from Getting Gross!
In this bout …
When you decide to bring home a family pet, there can be lots of changes. Your dwelling decoration, however, shouldn’t be one of them! If you’re pondering any embellishing or improvement projects, we’ll have tips-off to help represent them pet-friendly. Plus,
Whether it’s around your subside, between your tub, shower and tile walls- bad, threadbare caulk has to go. We’ve got DIY tips-off on how to get this occupation done the easy way.
Changing up igniting can give a new look to any apartment! We’ve came tips-off on installing power efficient pendant light-footeds for an easy DIY update.
When it comes to outside scavenging, a adversity washer is one implement that gets the job done. We’ll share how to pick the excellent pressure washer for all of your cleanup activities. Plus, answers to your home increase questions about, soundproofing a vault, staining a floor, getting rid of carpenter bees, prepping a opening before repainting
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: We are here to help you impel your home the best it can possibly be. If you’ve came a matter of assignments you’d like to take on, if you’d like to improve your home or maybe cut down on your chill payments or find some ways to decorate the room- because you know that even though it’s still the dog days of summer, there is a long, cold winter onward. So we want to make sure those four walls, those floorings, those ceilings ogle as good as they can possibly be. Hey, what I’m saying is whatever is on your to-do list, slip it over to ours and pay us a bawl. We’d love to talk about your assignment. The amount here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888 -6 66 -3 974.
So, thinking of- or speaking, I should say- of decoration, if you decide to bring home a family pet, there is indeed countless, numerous varies but your home decor doesn’t have to be one of them. So, if you’re pondering any embellishing or improvement projects, we’re going to have some gratuities on how you can procreate them pet-friendly, come through here.
LESLIE: And whether it’s around your settle or between your bathtub, shower and tile walls, nasty, worn-out, precisely gross-looking caulk has got to go. So we’ve got some DIY tips-off on how you can get this position done the easy way.
TOM: Plus, one space to give your home a new look is to change out the lighting propose. We’re going to have gratuities on one particular type of lighting that’s really popular: pendant ignites. We’re going to talk to you about how you can save some vigor with those and how you can get them installed in your kitchen or any other space you’d like.
LESLIE: But first, we want to know what you are working on. Perhaps you’re getting things ready for a small, socially-distanced backyard glean for Labor Day or you’re looking to finish up an outdoor projection before the summer season’s over. Whatever it is, we are here to lend a hand, so grant us a summon, 888 -MONEY-PIT. We’re standing by.
TOM: 888 -6 66 -3 974.
And Leslie, look at that. You invited tribes to call and they did just that. Let’s get to some of those people.
LESLIE: Woo-hoo!
TOM: The count here, again: 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Who’s first?
LESLIE: Well, if you’re looking to gain some additional space at home, perhaps look no further than your cellar. Kelly is thinking about doing some projects in the cellar. How can we help?
KELLY: Hi. So, we are moving downstairs because we’ve got another little kiddo on the way and we’ve got two bedrooms. And so our- we’re turning our basement into, you are well aware, two bedrooms and a bedroom for us. But the problem is is when we amble on the storey upstairs or do anything upstairs, it is just like drums downstairs.
TOM: OK.
KELLY: And we here every, every little noise.
TOM: Every everything, yeah.
KELLY: And I know you can’t- yes. I know you can’t soundproof but is there a practice to buffer?
TOM: There are actually a number of different producers that make a special type of sound-resistant drywall. It’s designed with a impediment in it that helps to absorb some of the sound waves. One is called QuietRock and that is probably the oldest one that we’re familiar with. But there’s also one out from CertainTeed that’s called SilentFX. And then National Gypsum has one called SoundBreak. They all exertion pretty much the same way.
The one thing I would caution you about though, Kelly, is it’s not just the drywall face, right? If you’re going to try to soundproof, you have to remember that anything that perforates that drywall has to be made sound-resistant, as well.
So, for example, “if youre having” electrical wires that come through or “youve had” passages that come through, you have to get soundproofing fabric behind those gaps. And there are special types of soundproofing. It’s sort of like a- I’m going to say it’s like a putty. It comes in a expanse and I’ve seen it lay. And it various kinds of wraps behind the electrical container, for example, and tries to really create a ceaseless skin-deep that’s sound-resistant. So that plus segregating that flooring before you made the drywall up will likewise help to buffer it a little bit. It’s never going to be as placid as a studio that we work in but it will make a difference.
And then upstairs, if you’ve get hardwood floors or a solid-surface storey like that …
KELLY: Yeah, we do. We have hardwood floors.
TOM: Yeah. And orbit carpetings is all we can tell you.
KELLY: Yeah, exactly.
TOM: Alright, Kelly?
KELLY: OK. Thank you so much. That certainly helps.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with the project. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Kelly wants to keep the noise from upstairs going down. Usually, it’s the – you gave the girls in the vault, they make a racket and you want to try to keep that racket from coming up. But either way, same rules apply.
LESLIE: Now we’ve get Bill in Pennsylvania on the line. What’s going on at your fund pit?
BILL: Yeah. I have got a second-story deck that merely had refinished. And I had some problems before with exhaust and it doesn’t seem like the refinishing solved the above issues. And I was wondering, was something that I can do or do I have to replace boards?
TOM: So what type of finish was applied to the deck?
BILL: Well, it was pressure-treated- or I’m sorry. It was power-steamed off and then it was sealed.
TOM: Power-washed.
BILL: And then it was- after it was sealed, then it was a finish applied to it.
TOM: So what kind of finish was it? Was it an acrylic finish, like a …?
BILL: Yeah, yeah.
TOM: OK.
BILL: Mm-hmm. Exactly, yeah.
TOM: So, what we have found is that water-based finishes certainly don’t have the strength to seal in sap that’s coming out of knots and other places available in the timber. It’s kind of an exercise in futility, because you’re ever going to be seeing that happen. What would have been more effective- although I’m not going to tell you it’s 100 percent- would be necessary to if those skin-deeps were primed first. Probably would have want to tinted it to match the color of the finished discoloration. And then you could have abused a solid-color stain on top of that. The stain itself doesn’t have to be oil-based but the primer does. And that would have done as good a chore as possible of shutting in those sappy areas.
I planned if it’s any succor to you, that will get less over the years but I know that it’s besetting until it ends down.
BILL: Yeah. Yeah, it does.
Now, would I be able to, after a period of time, beach it and then refinish it with the same finish? Would that mitigated it for a while or …?
TOM: Yeah, you have been able do that. Only remember that when you sand it down, to spot-prime it in that case. Just reprime that area and then leant the solid-color stain over it. And don’t use semi-transparent. It’s not going to look as good. And the solid colouring is not paint. It still shows the grain but it’s not going to have any variation and that’s what you demand in this case.
BILL: Right. OK. Oh, immense. Well, expressed appreciation for. I’ll try that. Thanks.
TOM: Good luck with that activity. Thanks for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve went Lorena in Maryland on the line who’s got a question about carpenter bees. I know they seem shocking because they’re prodigious but what’s going on?
LORENA: They do try to scare you but I don’t think they sting, because they buzz around your heading and all and try to scare you away from their nest.
TOM: Yep.
LORENA: I would really like to understand their life cycle. Now, I have some carpenter bees and some mason bees and they were fighting with one another at the figurehead of my house. They’re eating up the front of my house.
TOM: Yeah.
LORENA: I had six shutters there and they were attracted to the shutters.
TOM: Yeah. Yep.
LORENA: They croaked behind the screens and they taught- behind each shutter, there’s about two dozen faults where the carpenter bees burrow the holes.
TOM: Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
LORENA: But on the back of the screens, there were the mason – you know, the masonite( ph) tubings, too.
TOM: Right. The silt wasps. You implied the mud wasps. Yeah, so two totally competitive genus there.
And yes, what the carpenter bees are doing is they’re drilling pits and then in the bottom of those openings is where they embed their eggs. So that’s their reproduction repetition. Basically, they instruct those excavations and they seed their eggs in the bottom of them. And that’s mostly a den that they’re structure right there.
LORENA: What do they snack? Do they employed dead insects in the holes for their larva to eat or what?
TOM: Nah, I’m not- I don’t think so. But they – you can always tell when they’re operating because you’ll actually investigate a creek of sawdust coming out of those punctures. You do if it’s horizontal, like on a piece of fascia or wood trim or something like that.
But the channel that we ever recommend that you eschewed that, it depends on what they’re eating. If they’re eating wood trim, you can replace that with an AZEK product, which looks a lot like wood but it’s made out of PVC. I went rid of them on my garage by doing that: merely reforming the fascia out in the front and the back. Or you could have them scattered by a pesticide applicator by an exterminator. And that will stop them from coming back, as well.
But I think it was funny, in my occurrence. When we ousted the wood trim with the PVC trim, the carpenter bees, for a while, came back and sort of swirled around and crowded around and were trying to find something to eat. They were very confused, because I imagine they’re supposing, “Looks like timber. Doesn’t taste like wood.” So, that’s what you’re dealing with there.
The carpenter bees, you’re right: they don’t sting. They will sort of fly at you and try to freak you out a bit but they can’t gnaw you.
LORENA: But you don’t recommend against replenishing the holes in? Because on one …
TOM: My suggestion is that you wait until the fail and not crowd the holes in right now. Because if you do, they’re still going to try to come back and get in there. And they may get more aggressive and start flying into your face. But I would wait until the fall to sort of after the season. Then I would replenish everything in, coat it and then you can wait until next season and picture what happens.
Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, if you’re a baby buff and you’re considering a new decorating or even a remodeling programme, you probably once is a well-known fact that not all of these home betterments work are you all right with pets.
Now, what am I talking about? I want say you’re getting a brand-new carpet. You might not want to spend a tremendous amount of money on a really high-end rug if you’ve got puppies and cats and they’re more prone to scratch it or have an accident and mess it up. You’ve got to think about that. Where you want to figure in durability, durability and domesticateds, you’ve got to look at that.
TOM: Absolutely. Now, if you’ve went pets, easy cleanup storeys are certainly key. So we’re talking about floorings like laminate, engineered hardwood, engineered vinyl plank, indulgence vinyl board. And then the tile versions of these same sort of wood-style storeys are cool. So you can get porcelain tile or ceramic flooring that looks like wood planking. These are all really hard faces. They’re easier to keep clean and keep them stain-free than a rug or a carpet. So, out with the carpets or rugs and in with the hard-surface flooring.
Now, if you do want to have some softness to the floor, time use field rugs. They’re much easier to clean.
LESLIE: That’s very true. Or even those carpet tiles where you can replace, you are well aware, a piece of it is desirable to something come damaged.
Now, when it comes to getting the title sofa or any other furniture for your pet-friendly home, there are all sorts of options to choose from. Now, depending on the type of dog you have, you might be dealing with one that molts a good deal of “hairs-breadth”. And that can be hard for you to clean up, peculiarly if that baby affection to hang out on the sofa or sit in all your accommodate. So that’s going to be trouble. So when you’re going to redecorate and change things up in the furniture front, be careful with what types of cloths you do bring into your space.
Now, fabric alternatives that are easier to cleaning process than other types include denim, canvas, durable synthetics. Likewise, make sure you’re looking at the weave pattern on the textiles. You want to make sure- I kind of often rub my hammer across the fabric, time to see if I can catch it on anything or pull a strand. Because if I can do it with my claws, then a dog or a cat sure as shooting can do it and they can do it tenfold. So don’t get something that’s going to easily pull or get marked up from your pet’s claws, though they don’t make it.
Now, you can also find alternatives that are resistant to odors, discolorations, moisture. All of “whos going to” spawn that portion of fabric and furniture ideal with a bird-dog or a cat in your life.
TOM: Hey, if you’d like some more tips-off on how you can have a pet-friendly household when it comes to decor and designing, check out “Pet-Friendly Design and Decorating Tips for Your Home” on MoneyPit.com.
LESLIE: Alright. Kay is on the line now and she needs some help coating a door.
Kay, tell us about your project.
KAY: Yeah. And I listen to you every week you’re on.
TOM: Well, thank you so much.
LESLIE: Oh, thanks, Kay.
KAY: I is ready to cover my grove door. It’s a very old wood door. And we lived here since’ 69 and I’m trying to keep it original. It’s red now.
TOM: OK.
KAY: My husband painted it only one coat and I think it was blue.
TOM: OK.
KAY: It needs another coat to make it real scarlet but I just wanted to depict it white.
TOM: Well, I convey the emblazon is a personal preference. So, to draw this entrance, the best thing to do is to take it off of the hinges and lay it flat on got a couple of sawhorses. And then you want to sand the old-time surface. You want to make sure you be disposed of any flaking paint, any cracked coat, because you can’t articulated good draw over bad colour. You’ve got to get all that material off.
KAY: It’s not cracking or anything. It’s smooth as can be.
TOM: Alright. So then he must have done a great job when he covered it last-place time.
KAY: He did. He sanded it down to the wood. It was all original timber, so it’s actually smooth. That’s why I wasn’t sure and I don’t know if I can get the paint off like if you- and I didn’t want to grind it.
TOM: Well, I don’t think you have to take all the old-fashioned paint off. If it’s adhering well, then you’re good to go on it. So sand it down and then I is suggested that you gave a coat of primer on. Because this will make sure that the brand-new depict clings as well as the old cover did.
Primer is kind of the cement that starts the depict deposit. So, employed the primer on.
KAY: Will KILZ work? Because I’ve got a gallon of KILZ.
TOM: It’ll work fine, yep. You framed the KILZ on, cause it baked and then you could put your topcoat on that.
KAY: To sand it, what do I have to do? Knock the brightnes off?
TOM: Yeah, knock the brightnes off. Exactly right. You don’t have to sand it down to the raw wood but you have to get that sheen off. So a medium tenacity, like 100 -grit sandpaper, would work really well, OK?
KAY: OK.
LESLIE: Michelle in Minnesota is on the line with a bathroom-floor “thing” is all I can call it. What gone on? You’re getting moisture coming up through the flooring?
MICHELLE: Yes. It’s a laminate flooring. This is my third summer in this house and it’s the first time that I’ve had the above-mentioned issues. And it was- it started around the warm and humid dates. At first, I envisaged maybe that it was my toilet leaking, because I had a brand-new bathroom lay in last time. But the plumber did come out and pull the bathroom and it didn’t look like it was leaking or that the seal was broken on it. So we’re thinking that it’s condensation from the concrete slab come through here between the slats of the laminate flooring.
TOM: So the laminate flooring is on top of a concrete slab?
MICHELLE: Correct, yep.
TOM: What’s this looking- what’s this doing to the floor? Is it justification it to deform in any way? Or is it only showing up as a discoloration?
MICHELLE: It is not fastening or anything along the edges. He thinks that maybe it’s a rubber flooring- more of a rubber-based flooring- rather than a lumber. And so it has not bent the edges or anything like that. It just seeps up as humidity and it comes- like dots up right along the edges of the laminate.
TOM: Do you have air conditioning in this bathroom?
MICHELLE: I do not. Uh-uh. Nope.
TOM: Yeah, I was thinking cooler, moist breeze against a warmer floor could justification added condensation.
So look, if you want to reduce the moisture that’s coming up through the shower, there’s a couple of things I can suggest. First of all, you want to take a look at the grading and the sewage plights outside that bathroom. Because the slab, if it’s getting particularly soggy, is extremely hydroscopic. So all the moisture in the earth will be drawn into the slab and that’s going to wick up and is an indication in your bathroom, apparently.
So, take a look at your troughs and downspouts. Make sure they’re clean and free-flowing and the spouts are diversifying 4 to 6 hoofs from the house. Get all that roof liquid apart and then take a look at the inclination of the grime and make sure that that’s sloping away.
Now, do you have a fan in this bathroom?
MICHELLE: Yes.
TOM: That is helpful. You might want to think about changing the love with one that has a built-in humidistat, because that’s convenient in got a couple of figureheads. First of all, when you take a shower and you leave the bathroom and turn the switch off, it’ll actually stays on until all the moisture’s properly showed out of there. And if it does get humid on its own, then the humidistat will kick the supporter on and too dry it out. They’re not exceedingly expensive; I know Broan makes a good one. There are a lot of producers you can find this from.
And keep an eye on the storey. Some laminate floors stand up very well to moisture. I’ve seen laminate storeys that are able submerged and they don’t seem to be affected by it. But others will buckle just like hardwood would. So precisely keep an eye on it. And if it discontinues up that it does have to be replaced, I would draw that cement slab underneath with got a couple of coats of epoxy dye to kind of seal in and stop the moisture from vaporizing through and into the room.
MICHELLE: Mm-hmm. OK.
TOM: But only if you get that far. I wouldn’t tell you to tear up the floor now. But if you have to replace it, precisely make sure you seal the slab at the same time.
MICHELLE: Mm-hmm. Yeah, OK. Thank you. That’s good, thanks.
TOM: Alright. Good luck. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Brian in Washington, you’ve came The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
BRIAN: Last summer, I repainted the exterior of my house and I expended quite a few fingernails to kind of shore up some different things. I likewise sterilized a opening. And after I repainted, I squandered galvanized nails. But this year, I previously “ve got a lot” of bleeding of rust from the hammers coming through. So I likewise did some caulking between the sections of wood and that seems to be peeling out previously. So I was just wondering if there was something that I could go over the heads of state or the tacks with: something quick-witted, something that I didn’t have to redo the whole side of the house.
TOM: When you did the side of the house last-place summer, did you primary it or did you merely made the make-up over the aged draw?
BRIAN: I articulated lots of primer.
TOM: Heaps of primer?
BRIAN: Yeah.
TOM: What kind of primer? Like a- was it a latex primer? Oil primer? What was it?
BRIAN: Gosh, I don’t know that. I didn’t buy the paint but we made a …
TOM: But you did prime. You primary over those fingernail headings?
BRIAN: Yes, we did. Yes.
TOM: And it’s coming through. Because, generally- well, you say you used galvanized, so that’s good. Was this cedar siding?
BRIAN: No. It’s time conventional horizontals, yeah.
TOM: So standard? Well, unfortunately, it seems like the claws- the galvanized veneer on the nails- didn’t certainly stand up very well. But generally, the advice is this: when you finish nailing off that, you need to spot-prime those nail tops. But if you’re telling me you’ve once spot-primed them and the stain’s coming right through, then I’m not really sure that we have any other suggestions for you.
There are differences in the quality of primers. I would always recommend an oil-based primer over a latex primer when I have a stain issue to deal with, because it tends to seal it in better. So, that’s the only added thing you might want to try is to sand those down to the heads and then touch them up with an oil-based primer and cover them again.
BRIAN: Alright. Well, I guess that answered my question.
TOM: Well, you’ve seen signals of aging, old-time, horrible caulk we’re sure, like that dark-brown streak and the cracks in the openings that make way for all of the dogged settlements of mildew to take hold or for sea to seep in and do the walls kind of mushy. Well, whether that caulk is around your submerge or between the bathtub and its tile surround or covering the joints of your shower stalling, that tattered caulk has got to go.
So the first question is: what various kinds of caulk is best to replace it with?
LESLIE: Well, for this project, there really are two types of caulk. Now, the best caulk for bathtubs, capsizes, even shower stops comes in a tube and it’s labeled “tub and tile” or “kitchen and bath.” Now, these are either acrylic latex or silicone compounds that have been chemically nipped to defy mildew and then likewise to stick to smooth , non-porous surfaces. But the government has distinctly different personalities.
Now, if you’re going to work with a silicone caulk, you’re going to find that it harbours well, it’s waterproof, it’s very flexible. And this type of caulk is also finicky about skin-deep cases. It’s difficult to get that smooth impression for finishing and it requires mineral forces to clean up any messes you offset, like on your hands or on anywhere else in the bathroom.
Now, an acrylic-latex caulk is much more forgiving about the type and cleanliness of a surface area that you’re applying it to. It’s super easy to smooth and it empties up with ocean. And it doesn’t actually have much of a aroma. While it does shrivel a little bit more and dry harder than the silicone option and you might need to actually replace it a little bit sooner than a silicone alternative, the replacing occupation should go much faster. Thus, when you have to do it again, you’ll already be a pro.
TOM: I wholly concur. Even though silicone is technically more durable than acrylic latex, I go with acrylic latex every time. It’s just so much easier to control. And if that represents I’ve got to replace that caulk in maybe three years instead of five years, I’m OK with that.
Now, formerly you’ve selected your caulk, it’s time to get to work. And the first step, of course, is to completely remove all of the old-time caulk. If you’ve got some caulk that’s really hard to get out, there’s a type of product called a “caulk softener, ” kind of like a make-up remover. It will soften the old-time caulk and allow you to get all of it out there, because you’ve got to start fresh with a clean-living, smooth and baked surface.
Now, if you have not employed a caulking firearm before and perhaps you’re a little faltering with it, it does make sense to use masking tape to kind of mask off the place below and above the seam you’re going to caulk, because it helps you have nice, clean, straight lines. And before you apply that caulk, we ever recommend replenishing the tub with spray, because it moves the tub settle down. And leave that ocean in the tub while you apply the caulk.
Now, if you’ve expended the acrylic-latex caulk, you’ll be able to smooth that out with a rinse, with a caulk trowel. Which is a cool, little tool to have, by the way, that is perfectly shaped. Or you could use my favorite caulking implement, which is my index finger. Well , not my paw but you get the idea. It’s perfectly shaped for that caulk bead.
Now, once the caulk is cool, then you cause the liquid out of the tub and the tub will come back up and help compress that caulk. It won’t pull out nearly as quickly. And you want to wait about 24 hours before “youre using” that shower or bath, if you can help it, because we want that caulk to dry good and solid, specially if it’s a terribly dense lotion. Sometimes, if you have a gap between the tile and bathtub, you’re certainly putting quite a bit in there.
And after you’re done and before you draw that disguising videotape off, take a good gaze. Get down sort of at an see level with the caulk, because sometimes it terminates downwards and it’ll form a little gap right above it. If that’s the occurrence, you can easily patch it at that point and avoided ocean conclusion its way behind it, which is one of the reasons that it gets moldy.
LESLIE: Now we’ve went Eleanor in Virginia on the line with a decorate question. How can we help you today?
ELEANOR: The question I have is we have Trex Decking on our- for our floor, which is- and likewise the porch- screened-in porch. But on the floor- which is not covered by any ceiling or anything like that; it’s all open to the environment- “were having” smudges on that, who the hell is- it’s a gray-colored decking. And we have these dark spots all over it. Virtually kind of looks like a molding. And we do not know what it’s caused by.
My husband has tried to use a strength washer with the soap that is recommended for that ability washer. Also bleach with a brush cover. He has- he can get it brightened but not wholly disappeared. And we’re wondering if there’s- if you’ve ever heard of that with Trex Decking and have any suggestions.
TOM: Yeah. I make some of the composite information out there do have some wood-fiber component and they will grow algae, which is most likely what you’re seeing.
Now, one of the treatments that we would recommend is a product announced JOMAX- J-O-M–AX. And JOMAX actually has a deck wash. And JOMAX is a detergent that too get desegregated with bleach, gets applied to the deck. You make it are participating in 15 to 20 minutes and then you scrub it off. I would be very careful with the influence washer except for really rinsing intents. Because too much adversity going to be able to ruin that deck.
Now, another possibility is that those black places are what’s announced “artillery fungus.” They kind of look like a shotgun kind of a pellet width. Artillery fungus is particularly difficult to get off. And one of the sources of it is mulch. Do you have mulch around your live or around your yard?
ELEANOR: Yes.
TOM: Well, sometimes the mulch that’s sort of the foot much- the shredded-bark mulch- will contain artillery fungus. And once that gets out and attaches great importance to surfaces, like floors or sometimes even cars, it’s actually, really difficult to get rid of it. So, if that is what’s going on, we would recommend that you don’t do that again. Don’t made the shredded mulch back on. Only use the bark mulch that’s in pieces. That seems to not have the question. It’s the chopped mulch that captivates and contains artillery fungus.
I would try the JOMAX Deck Wash and Cleaner. I think you’ll have better success with that than you did with straight bleach, OK?
ELEANOR: Yes.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that projection. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
You know when the worst time is for your air conditioning to kick out if you’re The Money Pit? When you’re ready to record your mid-August show and have no air conditioning in the studio. It’s genuinely, genuinely a bad thing to happen.
LESLIE: That’s terrible.
TOM: That’s what happened to us. You know, we have a studio that we work with and have for numerous, many years. And the A/ C went out when we were about to record this program. And so, we did what we preach: we announced HomeAdvisor.com. We get out specialists from an HVAC company and he spent a couple of hours at the quality. And he found out that some mice had gone into some electrical wiring and gobble their room through some cables.
Got it set. Got the A/ C back on. Took all of about two hours. The cost was under 150 horses. So you can’t beat that kind of expert service. And that’s why we recommend the pros at HomeAdvisor and only want to give them a shout-out for one more job well done.
LESLIE: Craig in Pennsylvania is on the line with a flooring question. How can we help you today?
CRAIG: I had an exterior concrete porch and I enclosed it. And I’m trying to make it part of the house now. But the floor itself, I said, is concrete. It’s all cracked and it’s breaking up. Is there some easy way or some way I can smooth it out or do something with it to make it look like an interior room now to this part of the house?
TOM: Absolutely. First of all, if the surface is deteriorated, you’re going to have to use a patching compound on it. And I would recommend the premixed QUIKRETE Concrete Patch Compound. It comes in a tub and you simply apply it to the surface. You can fill in all of those areas that are deteriorated; you can fill over the cracks.
And the reason you’re apply a patching deepen is because it’s designed specifically to stick to the concrete. If “youre using” regular concrete, you’re going to have a problem with that because it won’t stick; it’ll only split off again. Alright? But “if youre using” a concrete patching compound, it will adhere.
CRAIG: Thank you very much. I appreciate your help.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that activity. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, if you’d like an easy weekend update, computing new pendant illuminating can definitely be development projects that does only that.
Now, pendant ignites, they’re sleek and they can add style and drama to your illuminate specs in a room. And if you’re swapping out an age-old fixture, this can be an electrical project that you can do by yourself. But if your existing wires are brittle or maybe you need to run electricity to a brand-new blot, it really is best to call an electrician for a errand like that.
TOM: Now, the cool thing about pendant illuminate and what concludes it so peculiar is that it’s suspended from the ceiling and it delivers the glowing down to where you need it. There’s a wide variety of molds and sizings and wordings wandering from a 4-inch diameter, little mini-cylinder to massive 30 -inch dronings. But they’re genuinely a beautiful design.
LESLIE: Yeah. And I think it’s important to understand that a chandelier is really precisely a light-colored fixture hanging from a single stage. And so it can be something that regards cute, like a mini-chandelier. It’s a wide variety of types of fixtures, so there’s surely something out there. And they can be very affordable to buy and to run. You’ll learn there are dozens of individual and igniting paraphernaliums available on Amazon, starting around 25 horses. And these all give Resulted bulbs, so they’re not going to drive up your electrical cost.
Now, you can use them to light up a workspace, maybe your kitchen-island prep area or a table in a home office. And then they likewise give a really nice, heated brightnes. So if you want to use them in a breakfast nook or an entryway or in a lavatory, you get that more tightened illuminating, as well.
TOM: Now, when it comes to the switch itself, dimmers are really popular for pendants. They allow you to adjust the light-colored in the evening and they can also create some very attractive motifs. So, just some reasons why we desire pendant light-coloreds. And you might want to consider them for your home.
LESLIE: We’ve got a post here from Jacqueline in Chicago who’s asking, “I’d like to buy a pressure washer for my floor but I’m uneasy that I might injury the grove. I observed washers with different types of nozzles but should I be looking for an adjustable PSI? And what do I need to know about adjusting the pressure for different faces? ”
Is that a thing? I don’t feel like I can adjust the PSI on my distres washer.
TOM: No , no. That’s one thing you don’t have to adjust. And the reason you don’t have to adjust it …
LESLIE: It comes as the PSI. That’s the size you pick, correct?
TOM: Yes. And the nozzle does such adjustments for you. So you alter out the nozzle.
So, for example, I’ve got a Greenworks pressure washer that I cherish. I’ve got about four different nozzles for it. One is designed for moistening the car, so that’s the gentlest. And there’s another one that’s a little bit more aggressive for outside woodwork, like a fencing. And then it goes up to the most aggressive, which you might use to- I don’t know- row make-up off of concrete or something or strip- I’ve used it to strip paint off of old radiators, it’s been so strong for me. So “youve had” the restraint of the nozzle and that’s really what you want to look for.
So, I would recommend a adversity washer for this time of year, because there’s going to be a lot of cleaning jobs you’re going to do come through here in the fall. They’re fast, they’re effective cleanse implements. They is to be able to remove clay and grime from a home’s exterior. They’re great for cleansing gondolas and barges and terrace furniture and floors and wharves and even sidewalks.
I did my mom’s sidewalk for her a few months ago, because it had gotten fairly sort of dark. And man, what a difference.
LESLIE: It’s “the worlds largest” quench job.
TOM: You can see it’s like- it was sort of a charcoal-gray next to a shining grey when I was done.
LESLIE: It’s amazing. I convey I did the concrete in the backyard, in the driveway- I don’t know- at some moment over the summer. But it’s just the most satisfying project. It takes a while but it’s satisfying.
TOM: It is. I had a little fun with Mom, extremely. I wrote with the pressure washer in the black muck that Tom was here and told her I raced out of time and to come back in a couple of months.
Alright. So, yeah, I think that’s a great tool but you don’t have to worry so much about pressures. Really look at the nozzles. Take a look at the line from Greenworks. They truly make a great product.
LESLIE: Alright. Next up, we’ve got a post now from Erin in New York City who writes: “The wallpaper in my kitchen bathroom is 26 years old. I would like to get rid of it but I’m dreading go everything there is down. Can I depict over the aged wallpaper? It’s in relatively good shape and it’s simply curling in one small-minded discern near a baseboard.”
TOM: I don’t know. I feel like you’re putting off the inevitable and it actually examines inelegant to cover over wallpaper.
LESLIE: I just feel like you can always see it.
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: Even if there’s not a lower of quality to the working paper, you’ll notice a stratum, you’ll notice a something. And then I only- I don’t like the examine of it. I just think it’s such a bad shortcut. And then when you want to go take the paper down, you’re dealing with this layer of latex over the paper that now you have to permeate to get behind the paper to steam the cement to get it all. It really performs it worse.
TOM: It is so much harder when there’s paint on the working paper to get that wallpaper down. If you are concerned about the difficulty of the project – you just mentioned it, Leslie- hire a steamer. Gosh, they’re not that expensive and the wallpaper steamers attain immediate cultivate of that.
You know, gape, it’s more labor-intensive than other home improvement projects but it’s not impossible. And once you get all of that wallpaper off the wall, make sure there’s no- nothing of the aged sizing left. Get all that substance rubbed off.
Then I demand you to prime that wall and I would use a solvent-based primer. I wouldn’t use an acrylic primer. I’d use a good solvent-based primer. Why? Because it has the best adhesion. And then formerly it’s primed, you can use latex paint on top of that and I think you’ll get a considerably better job.
And I would always make sure that I’m utilizing flat coat, because you are going to have some quality on that wall. Even if you did a really good job attract off the old-time article, you really never get it all off. But if you use flat make-up, you won’t see it as much because it won’t reflect in the light.
LESLIE: Alright. Good luck with that programme, Erin.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Thanks so much for spending a little time with us. Hey, if you’ve came questions, if you didn’t get through today, you can reach us, 24/7, at 888 -MONEY-PIT or affix your question to The Money Pit’s website at MoneyPit.com. Whatever is on your to-do list, you can always slide it over to ours by doing just that.
Until then, I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …
LESLIE: But you don’t have to get it on alone.
( Copyright 2020 Squeaky Door Make, Inc. No segment of this record or audio document may be reproduced in any format without the express written authorization of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc .)
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