Episode #2040: Deer-Proof Landscapes | Draft-Stopping Window Shades | Hacks to Stop Wall Cracks
In This Episode …
Fall may not be the season for plant a brand-new plot but it is definitely the season for plant new trees and thickets- and that’s a project we’re taking on now at The Money Pit to keep the deer away from the apparently exceedingly delectable undergrowths we have now. We share gratuities on why this is the best option for a deer-resistant landscape and how to make sure the job is a success. Plus…
Do hits in the walls on your dwelling mean you’re headed toward an expensive mend? We’ll share how to know plus a hacker to fix plaster hits so they won’t open again.As the chilly enlists start to find their way to your residence, did you know that one type of window coverings can actually help to “warm up” your openings? We’ll walk you through that toasty option.We’re really excited today to propel a brand-new sweepstakes with the folks at RiverbendHome.com. It’s called the Riverbend Home Beautiful Bath Sweepstakes and we are giving away $ 3,500 in bath makes from symbols like American Standard and Grohe, all available Riverbend Home.
All this, and provide answers to your home progress a matter of removing candlewax from a deck, installing trim/ baseboard, French drain installation, repair split siding.
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. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And welcome to the program. Do you have a project that you’d like to get done? Well, we’re here enabling you to do time that. Time pick up the phone and call us at 888 -MONEY-PIT with your how-to questions or post them, any time of the day or darknes, at MoneyPit.com.
If you’ve got something you want to get done before the holidays arrive, give us a chance to help. The numeral, again: 888 -6 66 -3 974. We’re sort of your how-to instructs. We’re your DIY navigates. If we don’t think you should do it yourself, we’ll tell you to get somebody to help. But we’ll tell you how to do it so it gets done formerly, comes done right and you don’t have to do it again. Because let’s face it: we’ve all got some level of fund crater to us. It is a term of endearment. It’s something that we affection, it’s something that “were living in”, it’s something that we enjoy every day and we’re going to help you take care of it.
Coming up on today’s show, come may not be the season for set a brand-new garden but hey, it’s definitely the season for planting new trees and bushes. And that’s a project designed I am actually getting ready to take on, because I’m giving up trying to keep the deer away from the apparently unusually delicious thickets that we have now.
LESLIE: Oh, they cherish it. And the best is that they’ll exclusively eat up to a certain part, which they can’t reach?
TOM: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
LESLIE: So then your trees all end up looking like these odd lollipops.
TOM: I have a lollipop holly tree. I’m thinking that maybe I could embellish it for the holidays.
No, actually, we have a hedge line that was a Manhattan Euonymus. That’s that lettuce Euonymus bush? And it looked good, you know, for the first couple of years but boy, the deer actually have attacked it. So I’m switching out to the extremely deer-resistant Green Giant arborvitae. I just got a shipment of beautiful, health and more importantly, deer-proof Green Giant arborvitaes from FastGrowingTrees.com. And I genuinely can’t just waiting get them planted.
I’m going to share the details of the project and a promo system that you guys can use for a big discount and some other fall-landscaping projects perfect for the jug weather.
LESLIE: And also onward, do crackings in the walls on your dwelling mean that you’re headed toward an expensive mend? Well , not often. Now, sounds in walls or around the doors and windows rarely mean an expensive fixture is ahead. But going those fractures determined so they don’t happen again does take a few tricks of the trade. We’re going to share those, in exactly a bit.
TOM: Plus, as the chilly sketches start to find their way into your residence, did you know that one type of window covering can actually help you warm up your openings? We’ll talk you through that toasty option.
LESLIE: And we’re really excited today to propel a brand-new sweepstakes with the tribes at RiverbendHome.com. It’s called the RiverbendHome.com Beautiful Bath Giveaway. And we’re giving away $ 3,500 in bathtub concoctions from labels like American Standard and Grohe. It’s all available at RiverbendHome.com. Check out the giveaway at MoneyPit.com/ Giveaway.
TOM: But first, we’d really like to hear from you. What are your fall-project strategy? Call the show, right now, at 888 -MONEY-PIT or affix your questions to MoneyPit.com. You’ll get the answer, plus we’ve got a establish of 6-inch, 12 -inch and 24 -inch Steel Bar Clamps from Pony Jorgensen to give away to one listener drawn at random. They’re perfect for DIYers, crafters and pros alike. So commit us a call right now. Let’s get started, 888 -6 66 -3 974.
LESLIE: Sherry in Georgia is on the line and dealing with here a vault hit in the wall. Tell us what’s going on. Is it in cinder block? Is it in your footing wall? Where do you see this?
SHERRY: It’s in the wall of the foundation. It’s ran cement. And just recently, I noticed that there is a- not a straight but various kinds of a curved cracking. And it looks like maybe a little bit of dust or spray has come through it.
TOM: OK. Sherry, is it a vertical cranny or is it a horizontal fracture?
SHERRY: Kind of horizontal but it kind of curves.
TOM: OK. And it’s a spewed concrete groundwork, so has the cranny always been here or is it something that’s very recent?
SHERRY: It’s not actually in the storey; it’s in the wall. It’s actually a vault wall and yes, it’s poured.
TOM: Right. Has it always been there or is it something that most recently popped up?
SHERRY: I think it’s fairly recent. I don’t remember identifying it before.
TOM: Well, cracks in foundation walls are really pretty normal and that includes swarmed concrete walls- poured foot walls. So what I would do is not panic. If it’s a child fissure like that, I would simply seal it with a masonry caulk or a silicone caulk. And all you’re doing is really keeping the sea from the outside ground from kind of leaking back through the wall. But a adolescent crack like that is generally caused by a little bit of alter in the foundation, perhaps some settlement or some shrinkage in the wall itself.
So are we talking about a hairline crack now, I infer?
SHERRY: Yeah, it’s a awfully- yes, it’s very, very thin but it looks like something has permeated through that I guess that’s what annoyed me the most.
TOM: Right. It might be water. And what happens- when you get ground water that gets through and then it vaporizes, it leaves its mineral salts behind and that might be the dust that you’re seeing. It’s sort of like a whitish/ grayish dust and that’s the minerals in the liquid when it discloses through and then evaporates.
SHERRY: Oh, OK.
TOM: So time sweep that out before you threw the caulk in and I think that’s all you need to do right now.
SHERRY: Well, thank you for the advice. I genuinely appreciate it.
TOM: OK, Sherry. Good luck. Thanks so much better for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Now we’ve get Rick in Pennsylvania who needs some help get candle wax out of a lumber floor. So was it an breathtaking defendant?
RICK: No, it was just a silly mistake. I was actually carrying a citronella candle and I stopped it and it sprinkled back on myself and the deck.
LESLIE: Well, are you OK?
RICK: Oh, yeah. Yeah, this was a couple weeks ago. I wasn’t. Wax all over me, in my attentions and it was not pleasant.
LESLIE: Oh, what a mess.
TOM: Oh, humanity. That was a mess.
RICK: Yeah.
TOM: Alright. So, it sprinkled all over the grove deck. It’s soaking into the wood, I infer?
RICK: Yeah, I scraped off what I could but a good deal of it did go into the deck. It’s a brand-new deck and I did not seal it or stain it or anything. I was making the timber dry.
TOM: Well, there is a trick of the sell for attracting wax out of wood that you could give a shot to.
LESLIE: Pulling wax out of anything.
TOM: Really anything, yeah.
LESLIE: If you get wax on fabric, a tablecloth, on your clothing, this is the way to be disposed of it.
RICK: OK.
TOM: So what you’re going to want to do is get a clothes iron and a paper bag. And you threw the paper bag over the floor and then you employed the hot iron on top of the paper bag.
LESLIE: No steam. Only a hot iron.
TOM: Just a hot iron. And what it does is it defrosts the wax and it drenches up into the paper bag.
LESLIE: Yeah, somehow it magically sticks to the paper bag but not to anything else.
TOM: It kind of blots up, yeah. But just make sure it’s a paper bag and not a plastic pocket or you’ll get the opposite result.
RICK: Right, right.
TOM: You’ll be calling for a bigger problem.
RICK: Yeah.
LESLIE: Yeah. And it can be a grocery-store bag or a lunch bag or a shopping bag. Like any kind of dark-brown bag.
RICK: OK. And simply melt it? I imply it’ll suck liberty up into the bag. Alright.
TOM: Now, I suspect that once you do that and you wait another season or so before you’re ready to stain or analyse the deck, I would just wire-brush that area right over the- where the wax soaked in, before you stain. And I think it’ll just go right in there; I don’t think it’s going to block the stain. Those two jokes will help. OK?
RICK: I was kind of worried about him that but yeah, well, enormous. I recognize you guys helping me out.
TOM: You’re welcome, Rick. Good luck with that projection. Thanks so much better for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, you know, fall is a great time to refresh your shower or kitchen. With the holidays coming and beings spend even more time at home, investing in those hardworking apartments in the members of this house really clears sense.
TOM: Yep. And that’s one rationalization we are excited to announce a new sweepstakes today with RiverbendHome.com. It’s called the Beautiful Bath Sweepstakes. And RiverbendHome.com has partnered with some great symbols- American Standard and Grohe- to provide $ 3,500 importance of soak concoctions, including some really beautiful fixtures, faucets and parcels more.
LESLIE: Now, when you’re making a beautiful lavatory in your residence, it’s certainly got to do a knot of things. It’s got to match your needs and any sort of safety and efficiency and sustainability goals you might want to have in this space. But it also has to be beautiful and join your intend form. And Riverbend Home can help. Whether it’s a immediate bathroom DIY update or investing in a luxury soap makeover, American Standard and Grohe have quality products for every style and premium range.
TOM: So, penetrate the Riverbend Home Beautiful Bath Sweepstakes today at MoneyPit.com/ Sweepstakes. MoneyPit.com/ Sweepstakes. And even share your entry with your best friend on social to earn even more bonus entryways. Again, that’s MoneyPit.com/ Sweepstakes to enter.
LESLIE: Now we’ve came Elizabeth in Idaho who’s dealing with some surfacing that’s coming apart. Tell us about it.
ELIZABETH: So I have a 1970 -built house and with composite siding on the entire house. But on the west side- where it gets most of the climate, the hot and the sprinkle and hurricane and so on- the horizontal siding has split where the siding assembles themselves and has spread open as much as a 1/4 – to 1/2 -inch.
TOM: Was it exactly in one area or is it all over the place?
ELIZABETH: It’s mainly on the western side of the members of this house that gets the brunt of the weather.
TOM: OK. So countless homes it’s coming apart or merely a couple of places?
ELIZABETH: Quite a few, quite a few. I’d say 10 lieu on the back of the house.
TOM: I would caulk the seams. If it’s 1/4 – to 1/2 -inch, I would caulk it. I would get caulk that’s colored to match the siding and I would be applicable a bead of caulk. Because the other thing to do, of course, is to framed new siding in. You would have to cut out the old siding and overlap that gap and then paint it and it’s a really big project. So, I would caulk it and call it a day.
ELIZABETH: OK. We have tried that and we’ve employed a product- is it OK if I say the name of the product?
TOM: Sure.
ELIZABETH: It’s DAP- D–AP.
TOM: Right.
ELIZABETH: And we exploited DAP DYNAFLEX 230. And we’ve too tried DAP ALEX PLUS. And when we are leant that in, we went out to look at it after about two or three days and then the- that area has just gone concave. So it’s exactly droop into the siding, so it leaves a big, concave neighborhood where it was once only a crack.
Now, can we kept something over that? Should we just stop putting beds on?
TOM: I think there’s a dissension with what you’re trying to accomplish here, OK? What we want to do is keep the moisture from get in there. And when you caulk, yes, it is going to dry and it’s going to shrink and actually sort of fill in very tightly any breach that you have there. You’re not exerting a lumber filler, OK? You’re exerting a caulk.
And so I would not worry about tiny, concave gaps like that in between the caulk; that’s what I would expect it to do. Doing that, if you want to paint it over so it’s all the same color, you can probably blend it in more. But that is exactly what it should be doing.
ELIZABETH: Alright. Well, it’s merely various kinds of unsightly where it comes together; it’s just a big, concave region. But it looks better than the fracture, so …
TOM: Let’s hope that’s the biggest problem you ever have with your live, OK?
ELIZABETH: I hope so.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT, 888 -6 66 -3 974.
So, Leslie, as you know, I have a very old house. It’s about 130 years old. And when Sue and I bought the house way back- I don’t know, 25 years ago or so- a few years into that we planted a line of thickets. We seeded Manhattan Euonymus bushes. We wanted them to kind of grow thick and open us a little of separation from the road. And apparently, ever since then I’ve been feeding deer more than getting beautiful bushes.
My deer around our garden only cherish the leaves on these shrubs. And I’ve put on deer-resistant sprayings and I’ve tried age-old tricks of the trade like Irish Spring soap hanging from the sprigs. And search, some of it works for a little while, some of it doesn’t work at all but the deer precisely keep working. So we decided that this was the year- this transgression, right now- we’re going to basically cry uncle and chipped everything out and replace everything there is with deer-resistant shrubs.
So I went to see FastGrowingTrees.com, which is a site I recently was informed about. They’re actually the world’s largest online nursery and they are amazing. They have every imaginable variety of tree or shrub you can imagine. They’ve got canopy trees, they’ve get beautiful undergrowths, they’ve went outcome trees. An amazing sum. And they send them right to your entrance in time a couple of days.
So, we said Green Giant arborvitaes because they’re deer-proof. And I concluded not one variety but three of them. They have different sizes of these arborvitaes. And the whole order came within time 2, 3 periods, something like that. It wasn’t long at all. And we are now in the process of getting those planted.
So, so pleased with the site. I asked them if I could tell you guys about it and they agreed and offered us a promo system if you’d like to use it for some trees or shrubs around your live. So to get the promo, you just go to FastGrowingTrees.com/ MoneyPit and they’ll give you 10 percentage off. Their costs are already low-toned, so this is a really great deal. That promo code is simply FastGrowingTrees.com/ MoneyPit. It’ll automatically take an additional 10 percent off. Check it out and cause us know what you think.
LESLIE: Laura is up next with a good deal of deterioration going on at her fund excavation. Tell us what’s going on.
LAURA: Our yard slopes downward from the front to the back, probably close to- well, it’s a pretty good angle. I don’t actually know it’s 45 grades. But when we have a hard-handed downpour, the rain comes off of the roadway and just a flow spurts down the back to the back corner of the house.
TOM: OK.
LAURA: And we’re seeing trees- like the roots. Real bad corrosion. And I was wondering, what’s the best type of, I guess- I don’t know- like a retaining-type wall? Or is a flower bed- like a large flower bunked- something to stop the flow? Or time a natural- like if we settled bushes down- what’s the best would you advocate to( inaudible) that erosion to stop.
TOM: Well, the best thing to do is to interrupt that spurt by catching the runoff and moving it around the house. And a simple way to do that is with something called a “curtain drain.”
Now, a drapery ditch is dug into that sloped locality at some point and I can’t tell you where; it depends on how the soil is sloped and mold that realises the most sense. But mostly, think of it this route: it’s a trench that you would dig in front of the members of this house where all the water is collecting.
And that cut, in it you would lay a perforated pipe. And the idea is that the gutter has about 4 inches of stone, then it’s got a pipe. Stone continues to move up around the pipe and then a little more stone on top. And you settled a piece of filter cloth and then you landscape over it or settle dirt and grass over it, so you don’t see it when it’s done. But conceptually, the water shoots down the hill, falls into that invisible trench now, fills up the hose and then runs out the other end of the piping- the low-spirited discontinue of the tube- somewhere to daylight.
So, to do this, you need to be able to get the pipe in place and then have the end of it run out somewhere where you want to dump that water. Does that sound like it’s possible with your yard, the room it’s configured?
LAURA: Yeah. No, that’s exceedingly doable. I didn’t know they stir nonsense like that. So , no, that’s extremely doable.
TOM: Well, it’s kind of like – you are well aware, it’s not like you can go to the curtain-drain aisle at the regional dwelling midst. You have to kind of constructed it yourself but it’s a very common technique called a “curtain drain” or a “footer drain.” So take a look at that and you can find instructions on MoneyPit.com.
LAURA: Oh, wonderful. Thank you so much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Laura. Thanks again for entitle us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Now we’ve got Joseph on the line with an electrical question. What’s going on at your coin pit?
JOSEPH: I’ve got an older house. It established in the 1940 s and my daughter’s nursery, the overhead devotee and dawns work but nothing of the sockets in the room serve. And I have no breakers that have tripped.
TOM: So, somewhere, those sockets are unplugged. Now, are you sure the sockets are not connected to a light switching?
JOSEPH: I am 99 -percent positive, sir.
TOM: There’s a seed of a disbelieve there that perhaps they were able to. Sometimes the illuminate- the channels are carried out by a illuminate button. But I would say that it’s not ordinary for that to happen in a 1940 s house.
But what you need to do is this- and when I say you need to do, more accurately an electrician needs to do. You’ve got to get into the wiring that’s supplying those channels and try to figure out why it’s detached. I can’t imagine a reason it would be necessary to physically disconnected, which conveys it’s most likely some collapse in the cable of the stores themselves. But if you open up the channels, you can see if you have hot wires there and try to figure out at what site they became de-energized. Because they are probably wired in series, so the wiring starts from one to the next to the next. And it is required to do a little bit more investigation to figure out why that is.
But it’s certainly not a do-it-yourself project. I don’t crave “youre going to” make a mistake and I don’t wishing you to come electrocuted.
JOSEPH: Yes, sir. Then I will definitely look at name an electrician.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve came Deb in Missouri on the line who needs help with a flooring question. How can we help you?
DEB: Yes. Well, we replaced our flooring but we destroyed most of the molding trying to get it off the- along the mopboard.
TOM: OK.
DEB: And we were wondering, what’s the best way to leant brand-new on? What would be the best to use? The walls are all plaster. It was like the fingernails had been set before the plaster was cool, because we had to cut them off.
TOM: And so how high up the walls did the molding croak? Because generally with plaster walls, the molding is a lot taller than a standard 31/2 -inch locate molding.
DEB: It’s 31/2 inches.
TOM: It is 31/ 2 inches?
DEB: Yes. But we could go a wee bit highest and it still look nice.
TOM: Right. OK. Do you crave the molding to be drew or natural?
DEB: Well, I don’t think we’ll ever match the doors. It’s all timber and I don’t think we’d ever match that.
TOM: OK. So do you want the molding to be covered, then?
DEB: Yes. We’ll probably lead drawn, yes. But adhering it to the walls is going to be a real pain because of that plaster.
TOM: Hmm. Yeah. Well, you’re going to do it with a combination of trim fuckings and LIQUID NAILS. So you’re not going to nail it, OK?
What you’re going to do is- probably the least expensive thing to buy is something announced “finger-joint Colonial baseboard molding.” It’s a very straightforward molding with a little of a fluted fringe on top. It looks nice; it gapes finished.
Is it- does the thickness thing? Does it have to be a certain thickness to cover a spread between the wall and the floor?
DEB: At least a 1/4 -inch, yes.
TOM: Quarter-inch? OK. So all you’re going to need is the molding then. Because you have been able gave the molding and then shoe molding over that, which would widen it out to almost an inch. But no, you’re going to buy finger-joint baseboard molding. Finger-joint represents it’s prepared for paint.
Now, before you apply it to the walls, I would primary it so it’s a lot easier to draw this molding. In fact, I would primary it and I’d put one finish coat of coat on it, because it’s a lot easier to paint it when it’s up on some sawhorses than when it’s attached to your house.
And then when it comes to installation, you’re going to- and you know what? You might want to get a carpenter that knows how to do this because, frankly, it’s merely a lot easier if you know how to make a corner joint, which is called a “coped joint.” And you do it with a coping saw.
But the nature you fasten “its with”- after it’s all cut to fit, you apply some LIQUID NAILS to the back of the molding and then you put in only as numerous trimming screwings- and trim fastens are various kinds of like drywall screws except they have a really tiny head, like a finish claw. But you merely positioned fairly of those in to hold it while it’s drying. So you’re not going to have nearly as many trim pins as you are able to hammers. And it’ll is just simply solid.
And the last thing you do is fill those depressions. And you put one finish coat of paint on when- and then you’re completely done. So by putting the cover on ahead of time, you’re halfway there. All you do is touch it up, load the holes, one more coat of paint, you’re good to go. OK?
DEB: Awesome. Thank you so very much.
TOM: Deb, good luck with that project. Thanks so much better for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, long before we had walls made of drywall, plaster was information materials of hand-picked for wall and ceiling construction. But often, older residences end and that’s going to allow rifts to way in that plaster.
Now, if you just go ahead and cover over those cracks, you’re not going to solve anything. And then if you think about tearing off all of that plaster to redo it, that’s going to be time-consuming and expensive. But there is really exclusively one correct way to originate fixings to plaster walls that’s going to last-place and regard good.
TOM: Yeah. So, let’s simply start by describing how plaster walls are constructed. They’re mostly- they basically start with- think of it as studs, like you would have in a traditional modern wall except these are very old and beefy ornaments. And on top of that, they articulated little pieces of lumber announce “lath” or more commonly known as “tomato stakes.” That’s what you would hear them as today, right? They’re like slats of timber the hell is hammered all over this ornamented wall.
And then formerly that’s in place, they are able to mostly trowel on soggy plaster. And the plaster would sort of get drenched into that lath. It would kind of is behind it. It would hold onto it and that’s how you got this beautiful solid wall, which was great. But let’s face it: 100 years later, you get plenty of crackings in there.
So how do you choose those without having to tear the whole thing out? Well, there’s a bit of a subterfuge of the swap to this and it starts with something called a “plaster adhesive kit.” So, this is a kit you can order online. And what you want to do is take a masonry bit and you drill holes on either side of the rift, really into the plaster. And the reason you’re using a masonry bit is not because you’re drilling through plaster but because it won’t pierce the wood behind it, because you don’t want that to happen. You really want this to go in the depth of the plaster, which is probably around an inch.
Now, once you do that, you vacuum out those gaps. And here’s where the kit comes in. They’re going to include in that something called a “conditioning spray, ” which is a spray bottle with a nozzle. And you squirt some of this stuff into the hole. You wipe off the excess. And once you do all that, then you’re going to apply adhesive that comes in a tubing, that’s kind of similar to a caulking tubing. One squeeze in each defect goes that glue between the plaster and the wood lath that it’s separated from.
And the last step is to pull the plaster tighten against that lumber lath applying fuckings and plaster washers, which are like- kind of like a fender washer but it’s designed for plaster. So it’s a really wide washer with a small hole in it. You put the fucking right through the hole, you drill and then it gathers the plaster- the liberate plaster- against the lath. And you leave it there for a couple of days so that the cement can bone-dry. Then you take off those washers and then you go ahead and spackle the holes like you would any other hole, prime it, depict it. You’re wholly good to go and it will not ever draw out again.
So that’s the process for permanently setting a fracture in plaster. Too numerous beings will just sort of tolerate it. Not exclusively can it be ugly, if you have cracked plaster on the ceiling and it separates perfectly from the lath and drops, it’s heavy stuff. It’s like a clod of concrete come on out. So if you’ve get that loose, cracked plaster, take the time to fix it. It is truly not hard-boiled. It are largely a do-it-yourself project. And you’ll be a lot safer and your residence will be more attractive as a result.
And what is on your fall list this weekend, my friend?
LESLIE: There’s so many things I want to do. I certainly still have got to make that kitty down and then fix the grass, because that garden is an absolute disaster. And I succession some new bedroom furniture for my older son. Because with the homeschooling, the composite format- and he kind of needs a preteen area to do his middle-school work in.
TOM: Yeah. His own gap, right? Yeah. Yeah.
LESLIE: So, we’ve been going through all of his things. I represent he has a tremendous amount of stupidity in that apartment, as every 12 -year-old boy probably does. So it’s been a lot of cleansing, a lot of coordinating. Now I’m prepping the walls. We’re going to paint. And I’m even doing- he kind of wants to make a super-cool skateboarder’s room and he wants to do some graffiti. So I received a great image of graffiti art that kind of felt very skateboard-y, sort of SoCal. And I had it etched on sticky-back vinyl, so I’m going to do one wall in this sort of graffiti print.
TOM: Oh, cool.
LESLIE: So I’ve got a few weeks before the furniture arrives. Because apparently, every person was buying a desk across the country. And so, we’ve wait here two months.
TOM: Now, will you be able to remove that sticky-back, very cool skateboard art when he decides that he’s outgrown a skateboard?
LESLIE: I do. So when I lineup it, I get the – you are well aware, it’s not the permanent adhesive. It’s sort of- it’s not a light-colored way, either. You’re going to kept it up and it’s going to stay; it’s not going to kind of roll back.
TOM: Right.
LESLIE: But when you want to take it off, it’s not going to damage the wall.
TOM: Hey, guys, if you’re DIYer or a pro, we’ve got a marvelous specify of makes we’re giving away today to one listener. It’s a position of 6-inch, 12 -inch and 24 -inch Jorgensen Bar Clamps worth 90 bucks.
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Again, that list is 1-888-MONEY-PIT or post your question to MoneyPit.com. That $90 placed of Pony Jorgensen Clamps is going out to one listener extorted at random.
LESLIE: Rob in Washington is on the line and been faced with some flooding. Tell us what’s going on.
ROB: Well, I own a 1-acre plenty and I’m surrounded by 58 acres of green belt. And my home sits up in the breast of the spate and I have a cement driveway that runs down into a 1,200 -square-foot store. And every time it sprinkles here in Seattle, which is every other day …
TOM: Yeah, frequently.
ROB: And at daylight savings, we get an extra hour of downpour. But I get- my patronize inundates and I need to know what kind of drain system I can put in in front of my browse. The cement is maybe 14, 16 hoofs wide.
TOM: So basically, Rob, what is happening is the water is running down the plaster driveway and into the shop. Is that the primary source of the liquid? What you need to do is to gave a culvert across the driveway.
So the method that works is you, virtually, chipped the driveway in half; you slice out a crack in the driveway. And it might be 8 or 12 inches wide.
ROB: How close to the shop, though?
TOM: I “il be going” probably a few feet in front of it. I wouldn’t go too far away.
ROB: OK.
TOM: Because that just gives people more sea- more sidewalk to collect sort of in front of it. So I would go somewhat close to it. And then you basically chipped the driveway in half and you quit this culvert in, which is sort of like a U-shaped channel. And then on the opposite end of it, it’s attached to a drain line, which would go to a drapery drain.
So the water would go down the garage, it would fall into this culvert. And you can buy these or tell these at building-material supply centers that service masons. And people that do more commercial-type work can be able to find these premade. And the drainage tile- the drainpipe- will connect to the culvert so the sea would go out to this drain line and then you go into a pall drain.
So the screen depletion you’d determine yourself. And again, on the downside of the owned, you’d carve out an field about 12 to 18 inches wide and deep, fill it with stone, put the drainpipe in there, cover it with more stone, gave some filter cloth and then some topsoil or whatever you’re going to cover it with.
So, essentially, the sewage for this is invisible formerly it’s done but you’re intercepting that runoff down the driveway and running it around the building and into the drain tile. And that pipe that you install there must be perforated. And I would recommend working solid-PVC perforated hose , not the adaptable, black, landscaping perforated pipe.
ROB: OK. Thank you, guys.
LESLIE: Well, with dusk comes the start of the season of chilly sketches, right? Well, having good energy-efficient windows can apparently facilitate cut down on those drawings. But for those working that sneak through anyhow, your window coverings can also play a role in forming “youre feeling” more comfortable.
TOM: Yeah, that’s right and here’s why. Not exclusively do you feel cold because outside breath sidles in, sometimes what you call a “draft” is really just caused by convection. As that warm air inside your residence collisions the coldnes glass of the window, it’s chilled and then it falls downward, beginning what many folks think are drafts.
LESLIE: Now, one of the best solutions is also one of the simplest and it’s cellular shadows. As it gets colder, these distinct, pocketed subtleties are going to actually help to insulate the home by trapping that nippy breeze at the window.
Now, you can choose between a single, doubled or even triple cadre to pick the title stage of insulation that you need for your space. In the summer, these same tints can actually cut back on the heat that comes into your residence by almost half. And that’s going to save you money on your cooling penalties, as well.
TOM: And you can also combine the cellular colors with wraps or curtains that’ll give you an even stronger barrier against the freezing. And retain, heated sunshine shines in from the south and the west. So when it comes to adding blankets, windows facing north and east should be your priority. Those are going to be the coldest and will likely be the source of most of your discomfort.
LESLIE: Well, alright. Dave from Michigan posted a few questions on MoneyPit.com. Now, he writes: “Would you recommend the commodity DRYLOK to stop water leaking through cinder-block basement walls during heavy rainstorms? ”
TOM: Hmm. How do I answer this? I would say no and maybe.
LESLIE: OK.
TOM: So here’s why. If your vault walls are disclosing, Dave, after a heavy rain, DRYLOK is only a small part of the mixture. Vaults that opening after big-hearted rainstorms or even melting snowfall are doing so because there’s something wrong with their outside drainage. Their gutters are blocked, they’re discharging too close to the house, the grime around the house has be set out in , now tilting sort of towards the foundation. And formerly that happens, any rainfall or snowmelt is going to soak into that area and end up coming through the walls or up through the basement floor. And DRYLOK is not going to stop that leak.
What really should be used is sort of- I recollect the very last step, Leslie- it’s going to stop the normal soil humidity from get through.
LESLIE: Right. The moisture and stuff.
TOM: Yeah. And the concrete wall- I want the cinder-block walls are very absorbative. They’re hydroscopic, so you do get moisture in that wall precisely naturally wick its path in. But if you is a lot of sea, it’s not going to stop a huge flood. Your house is never going to float , no matter how much of that stuff you put on.
You’ve got to fix the sewage questions firstly, maybe even computed a dehumidifier to that space. And then the last thing you might want to do is paint the walls with DRYLOK. That will stop, as we said, some of that humidity from constituting. But it’s not the one-step solution to solving a soak basement.
LESLIE: Alright. Hope that helps you.
Now, we’ve got another announce now from Brandy who writes: “Are all lumber closets worth the extra cost compared to wood breasts and MDF for the box? ”
TOM: Well, I remember the answer is: it depends. You can get a very good-quality cabinet with an MDF, which stands for medium-density fiberboard, for chests that can last-place, actually, a long time.
Your best bet, I fantasize, Brandy, is to shop the cabinet quality over the materials. I wouldn’t discount boards really because the box is MDF. There are lots of different types, all with their own price moments. You know, habit cabinets are going to be really expensive but semi-custom are good for more discriminating smells and deeper pockets. You can get any style configuration or finish as long as it’s in the manufacturer’s catalog.
And listen, there’s nothing wrong with inventory closets today. They are awesome for tighten funds. There are more vogues and pigments accessible than ever before. You can get them swiftly. The chest collects using them. IKEA has enormous boards. I’ve got some IKEA cabinets in my agency. They’ve been in there for over a decade and they’re beautiful. And they’re solid; they’re not going to wear out.
So, I think that you shouldn’t be inspecting- concern so much about whether or not it’s MDF, in terms of construction. Just meet cabinet ministers you crave and vanish from there.
LESLIE: Alright. Brandy, good luck with that project. It sounds like your kitchen is going to get a well-needed makeover for the vacation season.
TOM: You’ve been listening to The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. We’re so glad that you have. We’re now, 24/7, enabling you to with your dwelling improvement projects, your DIY dilemmas. If you need some thoughts or insight, you can get those by summon us at 888 -MONEY-PIT or please visit our website at MoneyPit.com.
For today, that’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …
LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone.
( Copyright 2020 Squeaky Door Make, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio folder may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Creation, Inc .)
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