Episode #2056 Best Budget for Home Upkeep | Buying a Home With a Partner | Secrets to Tool Organization | Your Q & A
If you’ve been thinking about investing in a dwelling but don’t have the funds to go it alone, buying a home with a partner can be an option. Tom and Leslie walk you through the steps you should consider before realizing that large-hearted purchase.
If you are tightening your belt, you may be thinking about slashing your home maintenance fund. That could be a BIG mistake, we’ll explain why.Do you ever feel like you’re always having trouble finding the tool you’re looking for? If your workshop or craft room is cluttered, disorganized, maybe even overflowing, a standard toolbox might not be cutting it for you. We’ll have supportive tips for tool organization coming up.
Plus, answers to your residence progress a matter of, options for insulating your attic, installing a marble countertop, how to add speckles to garage epoxy floor, repairing a flat roof, eliminating roaches
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 here.
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: Hey, what are you guys working on? What are you doing? Are you getting ready for the big holiday celebration? Well, I think we’re all going to have a ramped-down holiday celebration this year. But if you’re fixing up your room, if you’re thinking about what you want to do maybe when we can throw open the windows and doors again when we’re out of the winter, the pandemic now passed, or if you’ve got a project you want to do right now because you’re going to be sticking around and spending a lot more time inside like the rest of us for the next few months, hey, establish us a ask because we can help.
You can reach out to us online at MoneyPit.com, through Facebook.com/ TheMoneyPit or you can always pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because we love to help. Think of us as your coach, your helper, your home progress therapist. Whatever it takes to get those projects done, we would love to give you a hand.
Hey, coming up on today’s show, if you’ve been thinking about investing in a residence but you don’t have the funds to go it alone, buying a house with a partner can be a great option. We’re going to have some stairs you should consider, though, before forming that large-scale purchase.
LESLIE: And if you’re tightening your belt, you might be thinking about slashing your residence upkeep fund. Now, that can be a huge mistake. We’re going to explain why.
TOM: And do you ever feel like you’re ever having trouble finding the tool you’re looking for? Well, if your workshop or your spacecraft infinite is cluttered, disorganized, maybe even overflowing, a standard tool box may simply not be chipping it. We’re going to have some gratuities and feelings for how you can reorganize that implement collection to make it accessible when you need it.
LESLIE: But first, what’s on your to-do list? Are you thinking about a project that you’d like to get done before the real cold weather of wintertime changes in? Maybe you’d like to let us know what that project is so we can give you a hand. And heck, if you’re looking for some last-minute holiday home increases, we are happy to help you get those done before your very limited number of clients comes knocking. But I predict we can help you get your house in tip-top contour for this holiday season.
TOM: The list here is 1-888-MONEY-PIT or you can post your questions at MoneyPit.com.
Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s firstly?
LESLIE: Heading over to Ohio. We’ve get Amy on the line who wants to talk about some insularity. How can we help you?
AMY: My house is 202 years old.( inaudible)
TOM: Wow. And we thought we had aged mansions, Leslie.
LESLIE: It’s an old-fashioned house.
AMY: Yeah. Let me tell you, your establish, Money Pit, basically describes our house.
We have a third-floor attic, which is not your traditional attic. I entail it’s immense; it covers the whole second floor. It’s about 30 x40. All you can see are the original, hand-hewn trees/ beams.
TOM: Yep.
AMY: There is floor up there but I want to segregate. I don’t want to cover up the rafters but I do want to threw some insularity in between them and then some sort of something that goes with it but not the entire degree of the ray, if that procreates sense.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, is- let me ask you this: are we talking about further improvements here, exclusively for energy efficiency, or is this third-floor attic a finished seat or a room that you want to finish?
AMY: Both. Yes, I miss it more energy-efficient. Our electric greenbacks, at the moment, are about $ 1,000 to $1,200 a month.
TOM: Wow.
AMY: Yeah, yeah.
TOM: Yeah. Energy efficiency wasn’t so important 200 years ago.
AMY: No. There’s no insularity. It’s alone brick. It’s 18 -inches-thick of brick all the way around, so there’s no insulation anywhere.
TOM: Mm-hmm. OK. Alright. So, examine, I would first tell you that insulating a space like this is challenging. And the reason it’s challenging is because the depth of those rafters, which is where you’re talking about set the isolation, is limited. And that means you have a limited amount of space that you can use for insulation. It also presents challenges for ventilation.
Because let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that you have a beam that is- I’m going to be rosy here. It’s probably less than this but let’s say it’s a 10 -inch-deep beam, right? Well, you are unable employed 8 inches of insulation in there. It “wouldve been” flush with the inside boundary of the light. And then you have to leave the 2 inches behind it- that spread- for breathing. And then you have to add ventilates to make sure you have airflow back there. It’s a challenge. Plus, in an attic , usually you would want to have- if we’re talking about fiberglass, you would want to have 15 or 20 inches to genuinely keep the heat in. So, that’s what forms it really difficult.
Now, I will tell you other options, which I – you may or may not like, because I’m going to tell you you’re going to cover these rays. But if you just wanted to segregate this cavity, there’s one thing that will work brilliantly and that is spray-foam insulation. The rationale you can use spray-foam insulation is because it’s improbably efficient per inch. It gives you more R- more fight to heat loss- for every insulation than fiberglass does.
In my house, for example, which is a youngster at 130 years old, I did spray-foam insulation in my attic. And albeit, it’s not a living space but we insulated between the rafters and somewhat over the rafters as we wanted even another inch or two of insularity. And the temperature in that attic, Amy, does not change year-round. It is perfectly- and there’s no heating or cooling up there. It just stays at ambient temperature and it’s very, very comfortable. It’s time an incredibly strong product because it is not merely insulates but it shuts. So it seals all the gaps that are just common to older homes. So if “youre trying to”, you are well aware, cut back on that heating bill, that’s various kinds of what you’re looking at.
I guess the other thing that you could think about doing is adding insulation to that floor. And this would help construct the lower …
AMY: That’s what I’m currently doing, yes.
TOM: Yeah, the lower parts of your house would become more efficient as a result of that.
The attic- how is the attic hot now? You said you have a high electrical legislation. Is it electrical hot or is it some other heating system?
AMY: No, there isn’t any heat or air cooling or air conditioning up there now.
TOM: OK. Well, then what are you going to put up there if you want to make it a living space? How are you going to make it comfy?
AMY: I will have to add something. I was hoping perhaps it would be tolerable year-round. I don’t know.
TOM: Yeah. Well, you were able to set a split-ductless group in, that’s like a mini-heat pump, that would equip heating and cooling. Do you have hot-water heat throughout the rest of the house? What’s the rest of the heating system?
AMY: It’s gas. Central gas.
TOM: But what is it? Radiators or made hot air?
AMY: Oh, thrust hot air.
TOM: OK. Well, you probably would not be able to extend that. It’s probably jolly tapped out now. So you really would have to have a separate zone up there. And considering the fact that, probably abusing a split-ductless heat pump, which is still going to be expensive- but seem, if you- these older homes, we enjoy them. They’re beautiful. But they are challenging, in some respects, when you want to finish localities like this. And if you adoration the search of those rays and you want to keep them, then insulation does not toy well with that decor.
AMY: Would it be …?
TOM: Leslie, I don’t think we’ve ever seen an attractive insulation product from a decor perspective.
LESLIE: No. I want it’s genuinely not something that you’re meant to look at. It does a very good job and you feel pleasant but I wouldn’t want to look at it all the time.
AMY: Would it be beneficial, in any way, to put even a marry inches of the spray foam on the one of the purposes of the roof that you can see- the plywood- but still assure the radiations? Not start that far up?
TOM: Yeah, you may be able to pick up some on that. I might just have a conversation with some spray-foam providers and find those that are very experienced and have a good track record , not the person that does other types of insulation and subs out to a spray-foam company. You require somebody who is a real pro, because there’s certainly times for proficiency and neatness when “youre using” this product.
When we did our live, we is not merely did the attic infinite but we did the crawlspaces and the box rays. And I had a section of my cellar that had a computer network in it and these chaps were neat as a pin. And person, what a difference it made by using that.
So, you would pick up some isolation and you would definitely pick up a reduction in the drafts that are up there. So, that’s an option.
AMY: Wonderful.
TOM: It’s simply various kinds of a pity to have somebody there. The expense is the mobilization of having a spray-foam contractor come out and then just say, “But exclusively positioned a duo inches in , not replenishing it up.” It’s because you’re so close to having a really, really well-insulated home and you’re only pulling back because of the decor concerns. But that’s your right to do. It’s a balancing accomplishment against the expense of the- of those electric bills, as you’ve learned.
AMY: Right. Oh, yeah, yeah.
TOM: OK?
AMY: Alright. Wonderful. Thank you for your suggestions.
LESLIE: Alright. Looking to cozy up, we’ve went Paul in Massachusetts on the line who wants to add some sort of fireplace or wood-burning stove. What’s going on?
PAUL: The chimney goes up in the center of the house. Now, he was able to either be the wood- or a gas-burning stove.
TOM: OK.
PAUL: It has nothing to do with heating the house. It’s more of the- an added feature, various kinds of a visual feature.
TOM: The feeling part. Got it. Yeah.
Alright. So the chimney that you have going up through the center of the house now, that is serving only the heating system? Is there anything else?
PAUL: Yep.
TOM: So there’s one duct inside of it?
PAUL: No. Just one flue, yes. It’s simply a chimney. There’s no( inaudible ).
TOM: OK. So you can’t mix the- if it’s wood-burning, you can’t use that chimney regardles, OK?
PAUL: No.
TOM: That’s not possible. What you would have to do- and probably in both cases- is you would lay in a metal- a triple-walled metal- expres piping. Whether it was wood-burning or natural gas, you are able to put a ventilate tube in. You may choose to run that parallel with the chimney, exclusively because you already have kind of the room knocked out for it or a pursue there, even if you have to extend the box, and probably run it up parallel to that arrangement, the whole way up and out the roof.
The other option is if you wanted to mount it on an exterior wall, it’s possible to direct-vent in some circumstances, as well.
PAUL: I’d imagine the second option is less invasive. It’s probably just punching up and then punching a hole in the wall, putting up a hot piping and then running it a certain height. That would be a lot less …
TOM: That’s correct, yeah. That’s correct. And it “re going to have to” clear the ceiling. There’s a rule for how far above a roof a show has to be. And we call it the “2- 10 govern, ” which mostly makes if “theres going” from the priorities in the duct pipe down 2 hoofs, it has to be more than 10 feet from any part of the roof. So if you were to sort of tie a fibre around it there and curve it around, you couldn’t touch your roof.
PAUL: OK.
TOM: Those are your alternatives. I hesitate to tell you this but there is a type of gas fireplace that’s not expressed but I don’t recommends the following. Here i am – you know, there are gas hearths that are high efficiency and vent into the house but I truly don’t like it, because I definitely sounds like it leans in a lot of moisture into the house. And I feel like it’s a potential carbon-monoxide risk unless it’s operating perfectly. So, I has not been able to do that.
But if you had the room, I envisage the nicest thing, just for the appeal of it in my thought, is a wood-burning, zero-clearance fireplace. It’s announced “zero-clearance” because it can go against a incendiary surface with no opening. So it takes the least amount of seat. You still need to have a hearth in front of it and so on but you were able to mostly slip it into the exterior wall. So, a wood-burning fireplace but the expression is zero-clearance. Zero-clearance.
PAUL: OK.
TOM: So, if you go to a supplier or you Google that- “zero-clearance wood-burning fireplace” – you will see a wide, wide, wide various types of sits and installation methods, from some that are sort of circular, designed to go as an skill piece right in the middle of your house, all the way to the ones that are organized in other many openings throughout. Even corner-mount versions.
PAUL: Perfect. I really appreciate it.
TOM: Alright, Paul. Good luck with that programme. Thanks so much better for announcing The Money Pit.
PAUL: And I look forward to Sunday morning and listen[ to you again]( ph ).
TOM: Alright. Thank you so much, sir.
Well, if you’ve been thinking about investing in a home but you don’t have the funds to go it alone, buying a home with a partner might be a good intuition. Whether it be a common-law partnership, a friend or a business associate, it is another way to get the project done. But if you do it that way, it obviously is even less simple. So you need to plan well ahead of time and make sure you’re dotting your I’s and T’s on a contract between you and the tribes that you’re buying it from and between you and your possible partners.
So, here are some things you ought to think about it.
LESLIE: Yeah. First of all, you have to have a discussion about who’s paying for what. That’s first and foremost.
So, for example, if you’ve got a rental property, you need to agree on how much each person is going to contribute to the down payment and how much equity percentage each person is going to have in the owned. Too, what will be each of your contribution to the mortgage, the taxes, the utilities, maintenance? Anything like that. Even restores that might come up.
TOM: Now, it’s also a good theory to set up a seam bank account as an easier action to pay all those required expenditures. With the capabilities of online banking and automated withdrawal, you can easily set up pays to come immediately out of that account to the vendor that needs to get it.
LESLIE: Yeah. And you should also get familiar with the types of ownership entitlements that are out there and get legal advice to help you decide what is the best option for your particular situation, because it’s all complicated.
Now, there are three different types of title. First of all, it’s sole ownership. This is where one person’s name and simply one person’s name is on the name or deed. And that means that that person is the only legal owner.
Now, there’s also joint holders. And this is an option that’s available for where owners have an equal share in the property.
And then the last one is tenants in common. Now, this is an option that allows multiple owneds of a dwelling belonging and for those owners to possess unequal shares. And the interesting thing about this type of title is that it’s possible for any one of the owners to sell his or her share of the owned at any time, so that’s an interesting factor to keep in mind.
TOM: That’s right. And that, of course, can disrupt the relationship and a whole bunch of things.
LESLIE: A whole assortment of things.
TOM: So, yeah, you really need to think through this, because it does get complicated. If you buy a residence with development partners, it can be a smart way to invest in property and maybe compile some money and get something that you perhaps couldn’t afford on your own. But it’s clearly more complicated for both parties, so get good legal advice before you even begin to shop. “Thats one” of circumstances where best of friends is able to best of not-so-friendly pretty quickly.
LESLIE: Joan in South Carolina is on the line with a countertop question. How can we help you today?
JOAN: I’ve ever get granite countertops because of the stability ingredient. And this time, I was thinking of coming marble. I like the gapes of a white marble with a grey-headed vein going through it.
LESLIE: Oh, the Carrara marble that any person ardours right now, right?
JOAN: Yeah. I was told that it scratches certainly easily, though. So I was wondering if that’s true-life and if it is true, can it be closed like granite can be?
LESLIE: Well, Joan, you’re right. Carrara marble- I represent generally, when you think of kitchen, even a lavatory, granite seem to be the number-one choice. It’s much more hard-bitten, I “re saying”. It’s harder than marble and it’s sealed. Marble are also welcome to shut. But let’s talk about the differences here.
Carrara marble, first of all, has interpreted a huge resurgence. It’s very popular in a lot of gaps. It’s splendid. You’re right: it’s white with the gray-headed veining. And you can pick your slabs to have more veining or less veining, it is therefore really can be a particularly, very beautiful piece.
Now, in kitchens, because the marble is softer than granite even if they are, yes, it’s a hard skin-deep, it has just a more innate softness to it so that it can scratch more easily. But I judge more importantly is it can stain more easily. And in a kitchen, you’re prone to a lot more things that could potentially stain the marble surface.
Olive oil. A slew of parties don’t think that oils would discolour something but because the marble is softer and therefore more porous, even with the sealer it can suck in that oil and then leave a stain or a blemish within the marble itself. Tomato sauce, lemon. Lemon will too discolour the surface.
So I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying you have to be very careful with it. Because I very cherish Carrara marble in a kitchen and I’m actually considering doing it myself. Well , not putting it in myself but putting it in my kitchen issues. But you can seal it. Anytime you go with anything that’s a lighter dye, like the Carrara, it ought to have shut more often. Some locates are going to recommend once a year. You would want to have it professionally closed and at the same time, if you did meeting any stain or scratching, they can sort of resurface it a little bit to create a fresher look and then seal it again. So it’s going to take a lot more maintenance.
And I’m going to tell you, Carrara marble is expensive. I simply did a Carrara slab for my fireplace and it’s funny. I felt I bought a Carrara tile and a Carrara slab for the fireplace environ and the hearth for the hearth. And I believe that they charged me for both and I dissolved up compensating 400 bucks for all the tile. And I thought it also included the slab and I was like, “Wow! I get such a great deal.” And then I got a phone call that said, “And here is your bill for the slab. We had to wait until they trimmed your fragment. It’s $1,200. ” And I was like, “Ugh.”
So, Joan, I know that you’re reviewing, “Don’t go with the Carrara.” But if it’s because of the premium and it’s because of the upkeep, look at some of the quartz products. There’s Zodiac, Cosentino. There’s a entire bunch of different labels out there and I forget which one but one of them- and if you go to Home Depot, they actually have it- has a quartz product that looks just like Carrara and it’s half the maintenance. It’s actually zero maintenance.
JOAN: Oh, wow. That’s good to know. Well, maybe I’ll look into that again. I think you’ve talked me back into it again.
TOM: Alright, Joan. Good luck with that projection. Thanks so much better for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
So, Leslie, one of the projects that we’re thinking about taking on now at the Kraeutler Money Pit household is we’re going to replace our current heating system and our sea heater.
LESLIE: That’s a big project.
TOM: And we’re going to install, yeah, a combi boiler, you know? So, my partner said, “How big is that? ” I said, “About the size of a kitchen cabinet.” They’re super big and genuinely efficient. And I think it’s a smart thing for us to do because we have an original lubricant boiler that once the petroleum container was abandoned or we really filled it in, we proselytized that with a gas jet. So same old-fashioned boiler but new sort of heat source, right? Gas burner. And that’s not really efficient.
And then on top of that, we have what’s called an “inverted water heater, ” which uses the boiler to heat water and then sort of maintains that temperature. So , not really efficient. It’s an old room; we just never got around to it. We did all these other things.
So I’m like, “OK, I’m going to go ahead and do this now.” I start looking for costs and I got three different estimations. The first two were 7,000 and 7,500. And this is remove and changing all the old-time gear, putting in the brand-new boiler. The next one was $14,000 for the exact same equipment.
And I studied, “This is just usual, right? ” Some of these chaps exactly try to get whatever they think they can. And they think that you’re a dummy and you’re not going to price this thing out. But how many people time get one estimate at 14 grand and become, “Oh, OK. I thought it was going to be expensive but alright, here’s a check.” But one for 7,000- same precise paraphernalium- and the other one for 14,000. Really crazy.
So it happens to us, very, tribes. That’s why you’ve got to do the browsing and you’ve got to make the time to get those quantities, get those estimates so you make a smart-alecky choice.
But I meditate once this thing is installed, we’re going to see a huge difference in our heating bills.
LESLIE: This is going to be awesome. I can’t wait to actually check the big difference, so keep track of everything for us.
TOM: Already planning what we’re going to do with the extra space.
LESLIE: That’s awesome.
Alan in Georgia is on the line with a cockroach question. You’ve already rendered me the creepy-crawlies. What’s going on at your fund quarry?
ALAN: I’m having to have a thrust move as of eight days ago.
TOM: OK.
ALAN: And so now I’m going to this other house and it is just crawling with both American and German cockroaches.
LESLIE: And you can understand them because of their accent?
ALAN: The defect being came in to scatter but I was not here, so I don’t know where he sprayed.
TOM: Well, I ponder, at this point, you have to trust that he knows what he’s doing and then see if you can get this under control. From the- from an eradication attitude, whatever he’s going to apply is going to kill both of them. The American cockroaches are bigger than the German ones but they’re still reasonably annoying. And generally, the advice on dealing with these things is to keep a clean house- I make a really clean house- and then to use enticements and gelatins and powder insecticides.
And you’re better off having the professional do that because frankly, they can get their hands on the stronger stuff that you can’t. And they know where to make it, they know how much to apply and hopefully it’ll do the job of going these things under control and wholly eliminate them. And then perhaps when you move into this house, that plus improved cleanlines- because it sounds like the last occupant was pretty sloppy and may have left food around or had divulges in their plumbing, things that can sustain these insect people- that that’s not happens now ago. So I think you did the right thing and it’s just going to take a while for them to go away.
ALAN: OK. Would it do any good to bomb behind it or will that …?
TOM: No , no. No , no. I wouldn’t get involved in that and I can’t tell you how many times we predict fibs about those imperfection missiles blowing up mansions. Because there’s a lot of parties out there that think if one of those bug rockets is good, abusing eight is better. And it generally ceases up with blow out the figurehead wall of the house or worse. So, yeah, I wouldn’t do that.
No, I would just rely health professionals. They’re going to- let’s just assume that the person gave the title material in and then, listen, if you’ve came questions, call the company up. Ask them what they did, what they used. They should be at least leaving you informed of what concoctions they put in. And find out if there’s a guarantee. If you understand any more cockroaches, should you call them and how long should you wait to utter that call? Because it might take a couple of days for these things to settle down.
ALAN: Alrighty. Well, I realize you all.
TOM: Alright. Good luck. Thanks so much better for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Well, if you’re tightening your belt, you might be thinking about slashing your residence upkeep plan. We’re here to tell you that that could be a big mistake, because it is never a good sentiment to slack off in taking care of your biggest investment. But the question is: how much should you spend?
LESLIE: Yeah. So let’s talk about what a realistic budget should look like.
Now, for most homes it’s one percent of that home’s value. So if you have a home that’s worth $250,000, you should budget for $2,500 worth of upkeep. Now, the first step is to break it up into the smallest segments. One intuition is to do three rolls: a must-do, should-do and the would-like-to-do. That’s going to sort of help you prioritize what and how things need to get done.
TOM: Now, some of the jobs you clearly need a pro to tackle while others you can do yourself. You’re going to need a pro for heating-and-cooling system maintenance. Say, if you have a leak, you might need a plumber or if something moves nonsensical with your electrical organization, you’ll need an electrician to take care of things that don’t work.
LESLIE: Yeah. And it’s also important to focus on the exterior , is not merely for the curbing plea but to too protect the structural elements of the house and the energy efficiency, as well. So, you immediately want to address any water-related home maintenance controversies, like a leaky window or a opening, a choked channel or even grading that maintenances that spray right near the structure and maybe gets the vault moisture again.
Now, you can do some of these things yourselves but all in, a one-percent budget should cover it.
TOM: Now, for bigger restores, like replacing your heating system or your air conditioner, you exactly keep track of the unit’s age. And the older they get, it’s the more likely you’re going to need to replace it. But if you keep up that one-percent rule for maintenance and you carry over what’s left in that balance to the next year, you will find that you are amassing a money, if “youve had” tolerable luck. Your system could go the first time when you don’t have enough money in it. But you will find that you will have a good pile of- it’s a rainy-day pile there of money for when some of those bigger campaigns need to get done, like ceilings or heating systems, that you can also tap into.
So, one percent is the rule. Set that aside, you should be good to go.
LESLIE: Cindy in Florida, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
CINDY: We bought our live two years ago and one of the options ought to have the epoxy floor. And what we got was a plain, gray epoxy.
TOM: OK.
CINDY: And now we noticed that the other houses that are all being built around us, they have a gray epoxy floor but they have those little speckle confetti on top.
TOM: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
CINDY: So we want to know- we want to redo our epoxy to have that little confetti sprinkled on.
TOM: OK.
CINDY: Do we have to piece the old-fashioned epoxy off perfectly or can we just gave a brand-new epoxy over it?
TOM: No, I think you could throw a second layer on it as long as that old-time epoxy is adhered well. If it looks like it’s a tough finish and it’s sticking well, then I think you could add another coat of epoxy on top of it. Some folks threw various coatings of that base epoxy and some folks put the clear – you can situated a clear coat on, on top of what they have.
So , no, you are eligible to gave another bed on it. I would try to find out what concoction it was so that you’re using the same product. That would give you a better occasion of not having any adhesion issues.
CINDY: Oh, that makes a difference, the same product. OK.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah. OK?
CINDY: I didn’t even think of that. Thank you very much.
TOM: Alright. OK, Cindy. Good luck with that campaign and thanks for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, when your tools are disorganized, it obligates it really hard to get those projects done. Fortunately, you’re not alone and there are many ways to store your implements these days as there are tools themselves.
TOM: Now, one of the more popular ways to store implements these days are to use the interlocking tool chests. Generally, such is containers the hell is stackable and they work together to compile storage as easy and efficient as possible. There’s even a version that DeWALT becomes that attaches importance to a sort of- I suspect I would call it a “hand truck, ” so you can easily move tools around the house or on the job site.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. And you know what? I certainly adoration consuming pegboard in drudgery spaces. It’s certainly one of the most versatile organization tools out there. So, my inventory of tool-storage impressions wouldn’t be complete without including it.
Now, I used a multi-purpose package of those pegboard supplementaries. Because when you go to the section in the home center, there’s a lot of different supplements that you can buy for the pegboard. And once you start seeing how your tools sort of get stored on it, you can figure out like, “Ooh, this one might work best. Or maybe I should try that one.” So countless fun things to put together.
Then you can put it up behind your workbench and use all your hand implements on there. Everything. Super easy, truly convenient.
TOM: And the delightful thing about that kind of visual flaunt is if a implement is missing, you see it. And it’s not sort of forgotten for months and then you’re trying to wonder where you left it.
Now, as for workbenches, Husky has one that I like that solves a problem I often have when shopping for a workbench, which is the reason I frequently end up building my own. And that is that they are too short for towering chaps. Husky solved this by creating one that not only contains dozens of tools- it’s got a whole drawer cabinet in it- but the top readily adjusts up or down. It’s got a crank that changes the altitude based on the user, so no more sore backs.
I think you’ll find that if you devote some time updating your storage paraphernalium, you’ll get a lot more organized when it comes to those projects.
LESLIE: Steve in North Carolina, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
STEVE: I’ve got a cabin way out in the timbers here in North Carolina. And I constructed a shower onto it. And simply years ago that I’ve done this. We leant a flat roof over the lavatory and the seam seeped during the last storm awfully, very badly. When I remove the tiles- and I abused the pink separation in the roof- what do I do?
TOM: So all that has to be torn out.
Now, you mentioned it was because of a rain. Is this cabin protected? Do you have a homeowners program on this?
STEVE: I do, yes.
TOM: That cyclone injure should have been covered by your program. Yeah, if you haven’t registered specific claims, I is undoubtedly do that because it’s probably covered.
Now, since you had such a bad hole, plainly, all that has to be taken out. So, you’ve removed the ceiling. You have to pull out all that insulation. You need to wear appropriate breathing care when you’re doing this and try to control that area. Because with all of that molding, you don’t want to get it into the house, right? So, that’s why it’s kind of a job for a pro.
STEVE: Yeah.
TOM: But if I was doing it, I would depressurize the room I’m working in so that there was good ventilation and everything was blowing out, right? So, I would make sure that I administered that. Pull out all the insulation. You’re going to need to spraying down all of the inside faces with a mold inhibitor. There’s many good commercial products on world markets that do that. And you’re going to have to replace that roof.
Now, you said it was a flat ceiling. That’s the least favorite type of roof, I would say, because if there’s going to be a leak, it’s going to happen a lot quicker on a flat roof than any other kind of sloped roof. But you’re going to have to replace it.
What kind of material did you use? Did you use roll roof on it?
STEVE: We did. And witness, that was my mistake.
TOM: Yeah. Roll roof is not designed for flat ceilings. Roll roof, you’ve got to have at least about a 2/12 pitch for it to work right. And so, you really need to use a rubberized bitumen or something like that.
But choose a material that’s designed for flat ceilings when you oust this. But I think you know what’s ahead of you, Steve. You just needed me to say it. You’ve got to tear it all out. And listen, if you can get coverage because of the hurricane, maybe it won’t cost you as much as it might have, OK?
STEVE: OK. Listen and before I let you go, I wishes to receive all would tell the trailer music frisk a bit longer. I love your trailer music.
TOM: Alright. Well, thank you for asking. We was informed that. I’ve got to kept that on the website. A lot of tribes adoration that tune.
STEVE: Really.
LESLIE: Everybody affection it.
TOM: You don’t even know we have additional verses to it.
STEVE: Oh. I want to hear the whole thing.
TOM: Alright. Thank you for asking. Have a great day.
STEVE: OK.
TOM: Leslie, you have all of your decoration supposed to do now? Are you up? You good to go for the vacation?
LESLIE: For Christmas holiday? Are you kidding? When everybody goes to sleep after Thanksgiving dinner, I put up the decorations. And I’m happy because this year, the Turkey Day- Thanksgiving- was late in the month, so buying the tree the next day isn’t too soon. We’ve had it where the Thanksgiving is the week before and the tree hasn’t built it quite to the holiday.
TOM: Right. Yeah.
LESLIE: But I’ve got a tradition.
TOM: You want to make sure, too, that you don’t leave those trees sitting too long after the festivity, because they get dehydrated out quick.
LESLIE: I know. They never last-place until my birthday. You know that’s my dream. But I don’t- I can’t watch a Christmas tree in February.
But give us a request. Maybe you want to keep your tree up, extremely, and you and I can figure out a route to do only that.
Corinne in Pennsylvania sent us an email and she says, “The black flexible spacers between the three, big concrete slabs that even up my driveway are brittle and coming out. How do I replace them? With what? And can I do this myself? ”
Yeah, what is that?
TOM: So, those spacers are swelling spacers that are put in when the concrete is spouted. And because of that, they tend to dry out and deteriorate over the years. Now, there are a wide variety of sealants. There are some nice sealants that QUIKRETE acquires that are flowable.
I love those because what you want to do is scrape all that age-old spacer fabric out. It usually will sort of crumble. Sometimes, you might want to run a dry/ baked shop vac over it to gather all the junk out of it. And then what you do is you get a foam spacer, which is like a really small foam tube. They’re long but they’re tiny diameter. You adhere it in that crack sort of right below the surface and you just wanted to basically put it there so you don’t waste a lot of the sealant. And then you flow the sealant on top of the sud. It sticks to the side of the concrete and then it expands and contracts. And it can last for years.
So, certainly a recreation job. I did this, actually, with my garage workshop not too long ago because the apron was getting a little wear. We had a couple of those spacers in there, so I employed some QUIKRETE sealant in there and now it regards good.
LESLIE: Now, do you actually have to have something in there or is it precisely because that area hasn’t been exposed to the elements and it needs some sort of a treatment?
TOM: I think it’s a good mind to place something in there, because here’s why: if you don’t, you’re going to get a lot of water that will enter that spacing. And then, as you are well aware, it will get under that patch of the slab and it will freeze and expand and it’ll crack. So it’ll either promote one of the purposes of the driveway or part of the apron, which is that piece right up against the garage fringe, and crack it. Or it could erode some of the grime underneath and then that persona could crack and sort of fall downward or push downward. So I do think it’s a good notion to keep it watertight.
LESLIE: Alright. Next up, we’ve got something from Julie in Chicago who writes: “The sliding-glass doors on my tub paddock were looking disgusting, so I removed them, includes the made rows. Can I supersede the doors myself or should I time hire soul? Is there anything that’s super tricky about this project? ”
TOM: You know, a friend of mine called about replacing her shower entrances and “shes had” gotten prices of $3,000. And you know what? Not necessary. You can buy beautiful shower-door assemblies at big-box supermarkets and even online. Amazon sells them. It’s entirely a do-it-yourself project. There’s not much to customize there and I think you’ll be very pleased with the result. So go for it, Julie.
LESLIE: Alright, Julie. Good luck with that. That’s a really sort of empowering project. It’s a big door space. It’s something that seems astonishing and challenging and you can totally do it yourself, so give it a go.
TOM: You “re listening to” The Money Pit Home Improvement Show and we are so glad that you are. We hope that we’ve given you some tips-off and ideas and inspiration to avoid the perspiration when it comes to projections around your mansion. If there’s a question that comes to mind, any time of the working day or darknes, please do reach out to us by posting your question at MoneyPit.com or announcing us, 24/7, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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 Productions, Inc. No segment of this transcript or audio enter may be reproduced in any format without the express written authorization of Squeaky Door Yield, Inc .)
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