Episode #2050: Easy Leaf Composting | Roof Repair or Replace | Dirty Dish Do-overs | Your Q & A
In this incident …
Do you love the colorful trees of fall but dread dragging batches of needles to the curb- maybe not so much? We’ve got a better idea – why not compost those buds so they can benefit next year’s garden . Tom and Leslie share tips.
Now that we are moving into the roughest weather season of the year, it’s a good time to plan for roof restores or a replacing that might be needed to be done to keep your home nice and baked. But what’s the smartest highway to go: restore or supplant? We’re going to tell you what you need to know to induce that determination.With all the holiday meals happening now, have you noticed that when you run your dishwasher, are recipes coming out dirtier than when they departed in? Get tips for hindering your dishwasher functioning properly.
Plus, answers to your dwelling improvement a matter of, choosing a countertop for an undermount sink, toilet blockages, vinyl siding repair process, installing a tankless hot water heater.
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 welcome to your home improvement happy place. If you’ve got some projects that you’d like to get done and you don’t know where to start, what to do firstly, you’ve got yourself in a amend jam-pack, you’ve got something that divulge and you don’t know how to get it ameliorated, “youre in” precisely the right place because it is our job to help you move your house its best ever self. We just wanted to form your mansion your joyou place.
You can help yourself first by reaching out and contacting us with those questions. You can do so by post your question at MoneyPit.com or on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/ TheMoneyPit. Or you can always call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Coming up on today’s show, do you adore the colorful trees of descent? I do. This is my favorite time of year. But one thing I don’t like is all the work to drag those collections of needles to the curb. To facilitate, we’ve got a better idea. We’re going to have some tips-off on how to compost those foliages so they can benefit next year’s lawn and garden.
LESLIE: And now that we’re moving into the roughest weather season of the year, it’s a good time to plan for roof restores or a replacement that might be needed to be done to keep your home nice and dry. But what’s the smartest route to go about it? Is it a amend or is it a replacing? We’re going to tell you what you need to know to move that tenacity, in today’s Smart Spending Tip presented by Bank of America.
TOM: And with all the holiday banquets happening right now, have you noticed that when “youre running” your dishwasher, the foods sometimes come out dirtier than when they ran in? We’re going to share some tip-off for keeping that dishwasher working properly. And once and for all, the often debated clas question: do you need to prerinse your foods before you articulated them in that dishwasher?
LESLIE: Hmm. I belief the debate is still out there and I also think it depends on your dishwasher. I don’t know. I know that’s terribly sort of in the middle there but it can be either way.
Alright, guys. Also, we’ve got a new highway to get some implements in yours paws for holiday decor and workmanships. I convey this is the busy season, so we want to help you out. We’ve launched the Holiday Home Decor Giveaway. It’s presented by our friends over at Arrow Fastener. And they’ve fastened us up with a dozen positions of implements, worth over $125 each, to give away to a luck dozen Fund Pit listeners. So check it out at MoneyPit.com/ Sweepstakes.
TOM: But first, we want to know what you want to know. What “are you doin “? What are you working on? How can we help? Give us a call at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or announce your question to MoneyPit.com.
Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s firstly?
LESLIE: Ann is doing some work in the kitchen and looking to add an undermount capsize but the counter is wood. Tell us about this project.
ANN: Well, I was more looking for your opinion, whether I should use a grove countertop for an undermount sink. I know they’ve got some pretty good hardwood countertops that may or may not be. But I’m looking for the long haul where- we’re at an age where we’re going to be retiring within the next few years and I don’t want to have to supersede something.
TOM: Well, first of all, you’re talking about a wood kitchen countertop now or a bathroom?
ANN: Yeah.
TOM: Yeah. It’s …
ANN: For both, actually, but …
TOM: Yeah. Well, if you’re looking for a low-maintenance countertop, you should not be looking at wood. It’s going to be a huge amount of work to take care of. Undermounted sink or not, it’s a lot of work. You know, you can – you’re going to close it and you’re going to varnish it. And I don’t know if you want to have an area for chopping but that’s a entire’ nother gave of circumstances, in terms of how you plowed that, because the finish has to be non-toxic. But it is a lot of work, so if you’re looking for maintenance-free, I would definitely not suggest that.
Leslie, what do you think are probably the easiest-to-care-for countertops these days?
LESLIE: I desire a natural-stone countertop but are they the easiest to take care of? Not so much better. The composite stones out there- there’s a couple of different brands that you can see. There’s quartz, there’s quartzite. They’re beautiful, they’re durable, they’re easy to maintain and they come in a variety of price extents, as well. I recollect when you go with a solid skin-deep like that, it’s considerably better for an undermount sink, as far as maintenance and soundnes. And then if you go with a quartzite make, there’s so many different pigments, manners, kind of qualities make their own choices that you’ll be able to find something in your cost moment, in a gaze that you like.
ANN: I’m just looking to push the morsels into the sink.
TOM: I hear you. Well, you can have an under-counter top and that’s fine. It’s only that I think you called us because you wanted to know if that was a good installation. But then when you mentioned you’re trying to look for something that’s maintenance-free, I’m telling you wood is not. Wood is a ton of work to take care of.
ANN: It’s so pretty, though.
TOM: It is pretty.
ANN: Especially with creamy, grey cabinets.
TOM: Yeah. Well, listen, you could have some beautiful wood lockers but the countertop, I would definitely not entered into with wood.
ANN: OK.
TOM: Good luck, Ann. Thanks for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
ANN: Thank you very much.
LESLIE: Heading over to Arkansas. John is on the line. How can we help you today?
JOHN: I have got a toilet that is bubbling up air through the lavatory bowl.
TOM: OK.
JOHN: And I can’t figure out why. It’s been in place over a year and now I’ve got a bubble( inaudible ).
TOM: OK. So, what’s happening is you have a blocked ventilate. Now, when you lay in- when you have a plumbing system, the government has those vents that come up through your roof. And they give air in so that when the irrigate flows out of the lavatory, it’s replaced by air. At some object, there is some obstruction somewhere in your plumbing system that’s stimulate- that’s interrupting that and forcing the volcano to be blocked.
It’s probably something that’s going to have to be snaked out by either a service provider- a ditch “providers “- or you, if you can figure out where this barrier is. But that’s why you’re getting this passing. And it may not just be in the toilet; it could be anywhere in the plumbing system.
Is the sag and the tub in the same room? Do they drain OK?
JOHN: Yeah. There’s time a sink in there. It’s merely a powder room.
TOM: Often, the method they clear those is they go up on the ceiling and feed the drainage serpent down through the vent-hole pipings until they figure out what’s going on. Something could have propagandized up into that volcano hose or you could have had a bird or a rodent that shielded the top of one of those vent-hole pipes. But the vent-hole is blocked somewhere and that’s why it’s struggling for air and that’s why it’s sort of gulping or bubbling, as you describe it.
Alright? So, hopefully, that shrunk it down and you can try to figure it out from there.
JOHN: Appreciate your help.
LESLIE: Pam in Vermont is on the line with a flooring question. How can we help you today?
PAM: I have an oak staircase. You walk in my breast door and the slate- there’s a slate move with an entryway and then there’s an oak staircase going upstairs. It’s really pretty but I’m scared to death children are going to really slither right down the whole staircase and end up on the boulder. I find some spraying stuff. And it looks a lot like they articulated sand in clear decorate. And I’m wondering, if I situated that on, am I going to ruin the staircase?
TOM: There’s a line of products called SlipDoctor and they obligate makes for wood, for vinyl, for stone. And with any of those products, what I would suggest you do- because you want to make sure that it’s going to clean well after it’s on, it’s not going to attract dirt. So, try it in an unassuming orbit, like maybe your neighbor’s house?
PAM: I could do that.
TOM: And be seen to what extent it wreaks. No, try it like, I don’t know, in a wardrobe or even make- get a board, finish it with urethane and spraying it on the board of trustees of the, experience what it looks like. And truly evaluation it out before you dedicate your staircase to it.
LESLIE: Yeah, my concern is that- how very difficult would it be to clean? It’s like you’re make, oh, a burnished, timber surface and now obliging it textured. Is dust and grease going to stick in there? But it’s a staircase, so how much do you got to get? You’ve certainly got to give it a test run.
TOM: Yeah, I wouldn’t want it to be tacky all the time, you know? You wouldn’t be able to dust.
PAM: No, I wouldn’t want it to be tacky but I also want to make sure that they- my girls are barefoot half the time, extremely, so I want to make sure they can still step on it.
TOM: Yeah. And the other thing that you can consider doing, though, is you could add a carpet smuggler right down the middle of the stairs. Have it professionally positioned so that the center of the step has a carpet runner on it and the sides are still uncovered. That’s kind of the room we did our staircase in an 1800 s house and it takes the above issues away. It’s not slippery. You accompany up the carpet in the middle of the stairs and you can still determine the finished fence on the edge of the step- the leading edge of the treads.
PAM: Yeah. So I recollect maybe that would be a good answer if the other doesn’t work.
TOM: Good luck with that project.
PAM: Thank you so much.
LESLIE: Now we’ve get Nelson from Delaware on the line who needs some assistance sealing a driveway. Tell us about the project.
NELSON: Yes, I was wondering whether I should get a sealer of the oil- or water-based.
TOM: Well, I think that the latex sealers today are actually fairly good and I is suggested that you do that, specially if it’s a do-it-yourself project. Not a difficult job. We have, actually, step-by-step instructions on how to take that on, on MoneyPit.com. So you can look that up on our website.
Now, it’s getting chillier out, so you have to pay attention to the temperature. Normally, you can do this when the temperature is still above around 50 measures or 55 degrees, although I am aware that at least one producer at Home Depot has a low-temperature product that I think you can apply down to about 40 stages. So, right now, you can get that done on a sunny Saturday or Sunday. It doesn’t take long to baked. So, I think it’s entirely possible to do it right now.
And what you’re going to want to do is buy the driveway sealer. You’re going to want to clean the driveway according to the instructions that they furnish you. Let that dry really well. Apply the sealer. You’re going to buy a squeegee- a driveway-sealer squeegee- which is about as wide as a move broom and it’s got a squeegee end on it. Make it really easy to kind of trowel that out across the driveway surface. And then put up some yellowed tape or a couple of traffic cones and stop people off the driveway for a couple of days and you should be good to go for the winter.
NELSON: Thank you very much.
LESLIE: Tracy in Ohio is on the line with a question about cyclone windows. How can we help you today?
TRACY: My condo is fairly brand-new. But the method that my- the front of my condo faces, where the climate blows in- I don’t know if it’s east or west but last year, I tried the airstrip thing and the plastic. And it- and the wind blew so hard that it came loose. So then I tried duct-taping it and yeah, it didn’t work at all.
So I’m wondering- we can’t situated commotion windows on the outside because of the condo-association rules. But I’m wondering, is there a company that starts something that goes on the inside of the windows: something magnetized or something that could help?
TOM: Well, you certainly can get interior storm windows. It is a product that’s available from- numerous space manufacturers will – you can order it, probably. I would go to a regular opening company and lineup these. But there’s different types of interior storm windows that are available.
The other thing that you could do that’s actually cheap, specially if these are windows that you’re not going to have to open- we don’t like to recommend this for a bedroom window but for other openings because, of course, in a bedroom, you may have to open it for emergency egress, ardour hazard, that sort of thing- is you can get a weather-stripping caulk. It’s a weather-stripping product that’s in a tubing, like a caulk tube.
And you, essentially, caulk the seams of the window shut. And the thing about the weather-stripping product is in the spring, you peel it off and it doesn’t damage the windows. It looks like that sort of white, gooey material that they attach credit card to gives in the mail when you get the credit card and it’s on the back of the card? It’s like that rubbery material? It exactly rind right off and it doesn’t damage anything.
So, that’s something that maybe you haven’t tried yet; you were able to contribute it a shot. And then, of course, if you want to go with maybe a more permanent mixture, you could order interior storm windows and have them made.
TRACY: Well, I could squirt that nonsense on there and then in the spring, I could rind it back down?
TOM: That’s correct. Yep. Unlike regular caulk, this is a temporary caulk.
TRACY: Wonderful. That sounds wonderful. I will give that a try.
TOM: Yeah, DAP makes a product announced Seal’ N Peel- the letter N, Peel. So, inspect it up. You might have to order it in a home middle or a equipment supermarket but it cultivates great.
TRACY: Alright. I will try that. Thank you.
TOM: Tracy, thanks so much better for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Well, if you enjoy the colorful trees of fall but are not so much dragging all those stilts of needles to the curb, well, here’s a better idea. You can compost those buds so that they’ll benefit next year’s garden.
LESLIE: Yeah. You know, needles make really great compost because trees gather nutrients from penetrating beneath the grunge. And by adding those leaves to your compost pile, that compost is going to contain nutrients that garden seeds can’t typically contact on their own.
Now, chopped-up leaves tend to stay put better than the whole leaf, since there’s less surface area for that puff to catch. It’s likewise a good doctrine to place bags of dry leaves in a shed or maybe even another considered country until springtime. And as long as they’re dry and crackly before you bag them and then stay dry in storage, they’re going to be ready for mulching for your heyday plots and your plot come next spring.
TOM: Now, leaves are also good for insulating seeds, to protect them from the large-scale temperature swingings in the winter. And those needles are also going to attract earthworms that will help break down the leaves into beneficial leaf mold and then compost to create the perfect garden-variety grime: nutrient-rich, loose, friable and very well-drained.
You’ll have even more reason to enjoy those superb autumn leaves knowing they’re going to have a second life as compost for next year’s garden.
LESLIE: We’ve went Dana in Massachusetts on the line who’s dealing with some rind paint. Tell us what’s happening.
DANA: Yes. On our north side, where it gets very little sunlight, we were painting it. It was coated before but we were repainting it and- where it was chipping. And we did put down some primer firstly and then we covered it and then it starts- it obstructs frothing and chipping after we’re done painting it.
TOM: Wow. So even though you’re- even though you put down primer, it still seems to keep separating. Is it separating from a coating deeper than the primer coat? Because sometimes, with numerous coats of depict, it’ll break down deeper in the surface, like one of the earlier coats of paint.
DANA: I don’t think it is. Someone said that what they fantasized might have happened is the first time it was painted, that the painters might have drawn it- I don’t even know if they introduced primer down. They might have put one coat and they might have painted it right after a rainstorm, when the grove was still wet.
TOM: Well, maybe, maybe not. But the thing is, if they didn’t prime it, then that’s the reason it’s separating. Primer is always really important because it really performs the coloring coat remain, so to speak.
DANA: Right.
TOM: So if you’ve came peeling dye, there’s no way that you can go over that with brand-new paint, because you can’t kept good colour over bad paint. It’s just going to continue to peel.
DANA: Right.
TOM: So you’ve got to get down to a surface that’s below all that release stuff.
Now, if it’s a big area, you can prime the whole thing. If it’s small areas that are sort of separated, then you can do what’s announced “spot priming.” And just to be absolutely certain, I wouldn’t- when you go to the home center or the cover accumulation, I would get a bonding primer, which is very adhesive and it truly puts to those age-old skin-deeps no matter what’s there. And then, formerly that’s all set up, then you can go ahead and placed another finish hair on top and you should be good to go.
DANA: So we’d have to completely strip the depict, is what you’re saying, and then putting in place …?
TOM: I am. Yep, I am. Unfortunately, if it’s not adhering, it’s not fastening. You precisely can’t go over it. It’s just going to be worse.
DANA: Bonding primer you said? And then coat it again?
TOM: Yes, exactly.
DANA: OK. Alright.
TOM: And that’ll solve it. Yeah, you’ve got it, Dana. Good luck with that project.
DANA: Thank you.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’re going to Tennessee where Jean has a stucco question. What’s going on? How can we help you?
JEAN: Well, the house was built in 1914. And the outside exterior walls are covered with stucco that has the various kinds of swirly bumps where they shed the trowels on it. And it looks like it’s in good condition, so I was thinking we could probably just spray it a neat color. It’s still kind of golden like it used to be. But wherever the divisions of the shrubs travelled against it, it’s kind of yucky and gray-looking.
But I is a well-known fact that when we depicted our terrace slab, “weve had to” do some management to it before we could paint it. Does stucco need some preconditioning besides simply hosing it off with soap and water?
TOM: Well, the first thing you need to do is to make sure that there’s no algae is connected to it. And so I would probably do a very light pressure-washing and cleansing of the outside of the house and let it dry for a good got a couple of daytimes in heated forecast. And then I would prime it with an oil-based primer and then I would use a good-quality, exterior topcoat depict over that.
You can’t trimmed any areas here; you can’t take any shortcuts. But if you do it once and you make love right, it’s going to last you a very long time, because that siding is not organic. You may find very well that draw can last you 10 to 12 years, as opposed to maybe 5 to 8 if it was wood.
JEAN: Alright. Well, thank you.
LESLIE: Hey, you guys. With the holidays right around the corner, what are you working on? Are you fixing some spacecrafts? Are you doing some homemade projects this year or are you getting your live ready to entertain for your bubble of family and friends? Well, we have got a great thing to help you guys out.
We’ve got the Arrow Fastener Holiday Home Decor Giveaway. Twelve lucky winners are going to receive a determine of implements from Arrow Fastener, that’s worth over 125 horses, to help you with your residence improvement, your vacation decor and your crafts.
And it’s a great prize pack, you guys. One of the best implements in this pack is the GT3 00. It’s the Professional High-Temperature Glue Gun. It is perfect for holiday planes but also perfect for light upholstery jobs, putting all sorts of different projects together, repairing things. You can do so much with the cement firearm and I desire that you can control the temperature and you can control the flow. It is the best glue gun on the market.
So enter today at MoneyPit.com/ Sweepstakes for your chance to win.
TOM: That’s MoneyPit.com/ Sweepstakes.
LESLIE: Joyce in Missouri is on the line with a grout question. What can we do for you?
JOYCE: Hi. I have ceramic tile that I have had down for a few years. And I have- the grout is a charcoal color with a black-and-green tile. And the charcoal has monotonous over the years and looking nearly chalky. What can I do? Do I “re going to have to” pluck all that grout out and regrout it? Do I need to draw it or what can I do to give it new look of life?
TOM: Well, the grout is pretty easy to oust. There are special tools announced “grout saws” that you can use to carve out the grout and then applied new grout over kind of where the aged grout was. You don’t have to get it all out but you’ve got to go down at least an 1/8 -inch or so. And so, if your real concern is the grout and the condition of the grout, I think that’s the most efficient way to deal with that.
JOYCE: OK. So that’d be- the best way to make it look fresh and brand-new again is just take the top seam off at least an 1/8 -inch and merely regrout it?
TOM: Yeah. Make it look fresh and new by lay in fresh and brand-new grout.
LESLIE: Yeah. And then make sure you close it.
TOM: Right. Yeah, that’s key. You just wanted to close it first.
LESLIE: Otherwise, it’s not going to look fresh and brand-new for so long.
JOYCE: Seal it after I threw brand-new grout in and make it dry? Then seal it and then we’re good to go?
TOM: Right, exactly.
JOYCE: OK. Thank you.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that job. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Well, guys , now that we’re in the roughest weather season of its first year, moving into winter, it’s a good time to plan for roof restores or any replacings that might be needed, so we can keep your home nice and baked for the season. But what is the smart way to go? Is it a fixing or a total substitution? We have that answer, in today’s Smart Spending Tip presented by Bank of America.
LESLIE: Yeah. First of all, you’ve got to evaluate the wear and tear. Now, roof shingles are generally cotton or glass fiber and then that’s covered with an asphalt coating. Now, as the sunlight hots the roof, that asphalt is going to dry out. So you’ve got to check your roof for indicates of wear and tear. You want to be looking for anything that ogles cracked or curled at the leading edge or if you notice any broken shingles. Those are all signs that it is necessary to constitute some work to the roof.
Now, if you’ve got a worn section and maybe it’s exactly limited to a small area, you can think about repairing it. But if the entire ceiling is looking this space, you really have to start thinking about a replacement.
TOM: That’s right.
Now, next, it’s important to understand blankets. If you do need to replace your ceiling, you can usually add one added blanket of shingles for a total of two beds. Now, if you’re doing a tear-off, though, it’s not such a bad intuition, even if you simply have one layer down, because those second ceiling layers do not cool well in the summer and they’re going to wear out much quicker than only having a single layer of shingles on top of that roof.
LESLIE: Yeah, that’s right.
Now, if you do have a leak in your roof, you’ve got to check the blink, as that could really be the only cause of the disclose. Now, if the twinkle is loose or even deteriorated, it’s probably responsible for most of those roof divulges. So you really have to check that out, because that’s not a horrific prepare either.
TOM: That’s right.
Now, lastly, if you do need a brand-new ceiling, you want to make sure you improve your roof breathing at the same time, because cooler lofts are going to help keep the roof cooler. And the cool ceilings “il go to” last a lot longer.
Now, the most appropriate way to do that is with passive volcanoes. These are shows that don’t use any vigour and they’re certainly better than active volcanoes, like attic followers, for example. One of very good combinations is to do a incessant ridge-and-soffit-vent structure. These vent-holes are inexpensive and they can usually be added to a residence of any age.
LESLIE: And that’s today’s Smart Spending Tip presented by Bank of America.
Now I’ve got Jay on the line who’s got a question about a three-season room. What’s going on over there?
JAY: Building a three-season room and I want to use passive solar – you are familiar with, the sunshine- coming in. And I want to- it’s concrete organization. And I was thinking of putting a 2-inch strict sud so it’s above floor. And then the 2-inch- above the 2-inch strict foam is about a 2-inch blanket of concrete. Then I want to use red terracotta on top of that so when the sunshine hits it, it assimilates the heat and sucks the concrete. And I’m thinking of the isolation- it wouldn’t- it would keep there.
TOM: You’re talking about only exploiting 2 inches of concrete in the flooring on top of the sud?
JAY: Well, it’d be on grime floor.
TOM: Yeah. But you need more than 2 inches of concrete. It’s not going to be self-supporting if it’s time 2 inches. If you get any movement, that’s going to crack. So I think you have to set the sud separation down first and then woven-wire mesh and then at least 4 inches of concrete so that it doesn’t crack and so it’s dimensionally stable.
Now, what various kinds of windows do you have in this? How are you going to get the solar gain into this?
JAY: Oh, well, that’s my second issue. What do you have for sentiments?
TOM: Well, a common mistake that beings will use is they’ll use low-E windows, which we always recommend. The question is that if you use low-E, you’re not going to get any heat gain at all, because low-emissivity inside the gas of- that spawns up the thermal-pane windows is going to reflect the heat back out.
So, rather than relying on the part segment being heated merely by the sun, you might just want to consider making this as insulated as is practicable and then adding a negligible sum of hot supplemented by the sun. Because you’re going to need something, because it’s not going to be heated by the sun all the time.
JAY: Right.
TOM: So I would just make a really well-insulated structure now. If you can orient it to the south to take over the hot of the sunbathe, that’s enormous. But retain, what hots that chamber in the wintertime is going to heat it in the summertime, as well.
JAY: That was great help, guys. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
TOM: Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Carolyn from Ohio is on the line and has a noisy neighbor. I intend her placing is being noisy. What’s going on?
CAROLYN: The siding is just noisy. The second flooring. You can hear it when you walk through the bedrooms. You can sounds the siding.
TOM: It’s vinyl siding?
CAROLYN: It is.
TOM: So, vinyl siding is not supposed to be hammered securely to a home; it’s supposed to be nailed loosely. That’s why, if you look at a piece of vinyl backing, it doesn’t have excavations in it; it has slits. And it has to be nailed loosely because the siding is designed to expand and contract when it’s exposed to the sunshine. It has a fairly high-pitched expansion-and-contraction proportion, as a matter of fact.
I haven’t certainly sounded anyone complaining about noise from it but I do think it would make sense that if “youre in” a stormy neighbourhood, perhaps you might hear some of that. Regrettably, I don’t have a good answer for you because you cannot tighten it up. If you do, you’re going to start getting buckled neighbourhoods. And if “youre starting” driving around places that have vinyl siding during the summer, have you ever seen a residence that’s just got all this sort of wavy siding on it? That’s what happened: it went on too tight and it buckled.
So, if it’s moving, it’s put on properly. One lane to check is to take a piece and just put your hand on it and only try to slide it backward and forward. The boards actually should slide if they’re installed properly.
CAROLYN: OK. I’ve had beings out to look at it, to fix it. And they say that that- it’s OK. Because I ever worry that it’s flying- it’s going to fly off the house or something.
TOM: Yeah. No, don’t worry about that because, like I said, it’s supposed to be loose.
CAROLYN: OK, OK. Thank you.
TOM: Alright. Good luck, Carolyn. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: So, when “youre running” your dishwasher, are some dishes coming out dirtier than when you framed them in? Well, the culprit could be a choked deplete valve and that’s an easy fix.
Now, your dishwasher depletion valve should only open during that draining cycle. But if it’s impediment, it’s too going to let water out during the wash cycle. So you’ve got to listen carefully when that dishwasher is in the wash cycle. And if you sounds ocean flowing into the sink, that drain valve is definitely clogged.
TOM: Now, likewise, you want to check the bottom of your dishwasher for a buildup of food molecules. Countless dishwashers have kind of a ball-style check valve that can get gummed up or foreclose the dirty spray from draining out of the unit. And a sodden/ cool vac is all you need to clean out those hard-to-reach areas and get that pump operating again. You know, it’s just like if you had a regular vacuum and you’re picking up a heap of dirt. Well, with a moisture/ cool vacuum-clean, you could pick up that humid gunk. It is super, super easy.
So the bottom line is it’s not hard-handed. With a couple of steps, you can determine those blocks be done away with. Your recipes will come out clean once again.
And hey, to the question of do you need to prerinse saucers, does that have an impact on it? Leslie, I think your answer was it depends on the dishwasher and you’re right on that, in the sense that most brand-new dishwashers now have something called a “turmidity( ph) sensor, ” which is a fancy way of saying it knows how dirty the bowls are. If the water is super muddy and soiled, then it runs longer and adjusts the hertz to get rid of that additional gunk. So if you have a newer dishwasher, you probably don’t have to prerinse. But if you have an older dishwasher, then you should.
LESLIE: It’s funny. I ever is my finding that the children like this broccoli dish that I establish, which has nothing cheesy or sticky in it. It’s mostly merely broccoli with garlic and olive oil and a little bit of chicken stock. And whenever I made the Tupperware from that in the dishwasher, it never comes out clean. So I either made that through two or three times or really end up handwashing it. But it’s exactly- it’s some things with our dishwasher. So I truly think it’s a – you’ve got to sort of referee it on a case-by-case scenario. But if they’re all nasty, obviously check this out.
John in Arizona needs some cure ventilating a liquid heater. Tell us what you’re working on.
JOHN: I’m going to install a tankless hot-water heater and I’m strange- a gas tankless hot-water heater. Curious if there’s any simple road to ventilate it on the interior wall of the house.
TOM: Well, you clearly got to get that exhaust out. So, that means you’re going to probably have to go up if we’re on the interior wall of the house. You can’t downdraft something like that. So, you need to be on a opening where you can get that vent pipe up through the interior wall, up to the attic and out through the roof.
Now, depending on the efficiency, that may not have to be a metal vent pipe. It could potentially be a plastic vent-hole tube. But that’s going to depend on the efficiency of the ocean heater and whether or not it’s a condensing form, which basically takes as much heat out of that- out of those gases, so all that’s left is basically water vapor. And then that can vent out of a plastic tube. But you do have to have it vented.
The other thing that you could do is you can direct-vent those. So, you could go out, say, through a place wall. Many times, I’ve seen those prepared on an exterior wall and they mostly turn right through the wall and going to go out. Now, there are rules about how close that vent terminu is therefore necessary to or more precisely, how far away that duct expiration needs to be from a window. But you can direct-vent those, as well.
JOHN: Right. From the top of your brain, do you know the smallest diameter I could “re going away” with on expressing it?
TOM: No. I don’t know the specification precisely but I would guess it’s around 3 inches. I’ve seen these come through roofs many times. It’s usually around a 3-inch duct pipe.
JOHN: Right. OK. Well, that reacts my question. Thank you.
TOM: Alright, John. Well, good luck with that project. I think you’re going to enjoy a lot of efficiencies with a tankless irrigate heater, in addition to the fact that you’ll never run out of hot water.
LESLIE: You can always affix your questions at Facebook.com/ MoneyPit, just like Michael did. Now, Michael writes: “Hello. I listen to your substantiate a lot and I have a question.”
First of all, thanks, Michael, for that.
He lives in New York and- “Recently had an electrical inspection done for our new kitty installation. The inspector approved the electrical cultivate but be pointed out that my central copper water line isn’t footed. Is this something I it is necessary do and what is the point of flooring a water line? ”
TOM: You know, it’s kind of the other way around the way he’s explaining this. Because, commonly, if you have a metal copper water line, you ground your primary electrical busines to that water line because that copper piping then goes to ground, right? It disappears outside continuously and it goes to the soil. And grounding, of course, is important because if there’s any electrical short, you want to divert that current to a anchor source.
And you make a good soil informant, by the way. But if there’s a nice, large-scale, metal stake in the ground, that’s a much better ground source. So it’s much safer to do it that way.
So, I think you need some further clarification now, Michael. But normally, when you have an electrical panel and an installation, even a sub-panel, it’s got to be ground. And one of the places that they’re often floored are to metal service-entry tubes. Today, though, it’s becoming less common because a lot of the service-entry pipes are either plastic or PEX, a type of plastic. And of course, that doesn’t conduct electricity. So in that case, you actually install a teach perch, which is a long, metal piping or a venture, as you say, that’s driven into the soil. And then the cabling is connected to that.
So, it’s a bazaar detail. I’m a little bit astounded that he delivered the electrical inspection even though there was an issue about anchoring, specially when it comes to the pool. So I would definitely, before “youre using” that consortium next summertime, make sure you get this addressed because it’s very important that the electrical system be properly and completely grounded.
LESLIE: Alright. Next up, we’ve got a announce here from John who writes: “Can you furnish any projects on why all of our carpets are fastening in research centers? It started happening about 3 or four years after installing. We’re thinking they didn’t stretch them right in the first place.”
TOM: Possibly. Less expensive, little- a lower-quality carpet, perhaps, as in a new-home construction, they elongate a lot more than better-quality carpets. And if it wasn’t stretched well initiated with, then the committee is also could to be translated into it. If you had a fair amount of wear and tear- perhaps you’ve got a lot of kids running around and they’re kind of stretching the carpet just by can walk it. It depends on the padding.
And I don’t know exactly why it happened but I do know that you can’t let it go this route, because it’s going to get dangerou. So to fix this, what I would do- and I’d probably just do this once, right, because it may stretch more after this. I would have all the furniture taken out of the chamber and I would have a carpet installer come on over. They use a tool called a “knee kicker” that mostly grabs the carpet and pulls it closer to the wall. They may draw an inch or 2 or 3 or 4 inches out of that carpet and then they’ll trimmed the trim, resecure it at the wall and it’ll be straight once again.
But if it happens after that, I wouldn’t do it more than formerly. It’d be time to think about getting some brand-new carpet.
LESLIE: And you know what, John? There’s so many beautiful options in carpeting right now. I mean you really can’t go wrong. So if it doesn’t work out, happy shopping.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey, thanks so much better for spending this part of your die weekend with us. We hope we’ve been able to help you get ready for your next home progress projection, perhaps your next pedigree meeting. Thanksgiving is next week and tribes are going to be having their tiny bubble of family and friends over to celebrate and be appreciative for what we do have.
We are thankful for you and we hope that we are bringing value to you and to your family and your home.
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 Product, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio enter may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Creation, Inc .)
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