Episode #2061: Best Filters for Clean Air | Smart Home Products That Protect | New Flood-Proof Water Heaters | Your Q&A
Thanks to the pandemic, getting fresh clean breeze inside your home is more important than ever. But you don’t have to throw open spaces in frigid climate. We’ll share ways to compiles sure the air INSIDE your dwelling is as clean as possible in today’s Smart Spending Tip.With so many folks spending a lot of time at home these days, it’s a great time to think about how smart-alecky dwelling makes can fix our homes more accessible and safer. We’ll share some new ways to do time that.A leaking water heater can lead to quite major overflow shattering. But now there’s a new water heater on the market that spots leaks and automatically shuts off the water supply stopping serious flooding before it even starts. We’ll share the update.
Plus, answers to your dwelling betterment a matter of, venting a garage, radiator amends, heating unused offices.
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: And welcome to the holiday weekend. Not a whole lot of home increase going on around my house right now, because we are just enjoying the time together at this very special time of the year. It’s been a rough one. We’ve all got a lot to be appreciative for.
And if one of the things that you’re indebted for is the roof over your brain and you’re trying to meet that region a little bit better so you can spend even more time in it in 2021, we are here to help. We’re here to answer your questions about betterments. We’re here to help you save some fund on your heating monies. We’re now to help you choose some pigments for those interior makeovers. Whatever project is on your to-do list, give us give you a hand by answering those questions. Help yourself first by name us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT, 888 -6 66 -3 974 or you can also post your questions to MoneyPit.com. Just click on the Ask a Question button.
Coming up on today’s show, thanks to our pandemic, get fresh, clean air is more important than ever. But you don’t have to throw open the windows in mid-winter to get that. We’re going to share some ways to make sure the breath inside your dwelling is as clean as possible, in today’s Smart Spending Tip, simply ahead.
LESLIE: Plus, with so many folks spending a lot of time at home these days, it’s a great time to think about how smart-home makes can constitute our residences more handy and safer. We’re going to share some new ways to do just that.
TOM: And a leaking sea heater can lead to some pretty serious flood damage. But now, there’s a brand-new sea heater on the market. And I love it because it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a ocean heater that sees seeps and automatically shuts off the water supply. That’s why water-heater torrents are so bad, because the water heater is filling but the replenish valve bides open. This new unit automatically shuts off that valve, so that stops the serious flooding before it even starts. So we’re going to see share that update.
LESLIE: Plus, residence volleys peak in the winter so we’ve got a great giveaway, to help keep you safe, going out to one luck win. It’s a make of 3 First Alert Connected Safety 2-in-1 Smoke and Carbon-Monoxide Alarms. It’s worth 149 bucks.
TOM: But first, we want to know what you want to know. So cause us a see, right now, with your dwelling increase, your home decoration question at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Rick in Delaware is dealing with some plumbing issues. Tell us what’s happening at your fund pit.
RICK: OK. I have a bathroom in the vault and the toilet won’t even all the way.
TOM: OK.
RICK: I’ve dealt with it before with a lavatory snake and it took care of it. But it seems like it’s probably something different now. It time invents around and then it gurgles.
TOM: So, it sounds like a blockage then. “Thats really not” a problem with the flush valve or the pack valve in the toilet. That part works. It precisely doesn’t drain. Is that correct?
RICK: Right. Because I’ve crowded a 5-gallon barrel, actually, and moved it down and it still wouldn’t go down.
TOM: Yeah. Well, I want obviously, you’ve got to get to the bottom of it with this blockage. You said you tried to snake but how far did that serpent was down?
RICK: It didn’t go down too far. I guess it’s the standard snake, you are familiar with, and I don’t want to employed a regular- another snake in there.
TOM: Yeah. Yeah. I hear you. Yeah. You’re going to have to have that, actually, professionally cleaned out by a sewer-drain cleaning company, like a rooter-type company, because whatever barrier you’re experiencing there is obviously beyond the reach of that snake.
RICK: OK.
TOM: Don’t feel bad. I’ll tell you a funny story about what happened to me. It was on the morning of- when one of my adolescents was being named and of course, when you have that, you have family coming over. You don’t want to have a bathroom disaster. Well, the bathroom exactly would not flush; it has not been able to was down. And I was very forestalled but I was absolutely positive that I knew- because I am a residence increase expert, so I know this stuff. I knew it was the willow tree and the springs outside the window.
So I said, “Oh, damned it. I’ve got to go get a shovel, got to expose the piping, break it open, come those seeds out.” And of course, I head out there, virtually in my Sunday best although I belief I modified, to get that piping disclosed. And I could not find the problem. And I was scratching my principal and I figure, OK, it’s between this defect and the toilet. So I attracted the toilet off, I flip-flop it upside-down and it turns out that one of my adorable children had reddened a toy down there. It was a toy telephone that was lodged in this place. And I’m looking in the container and thinking- I’m looking at the bottom saying, “There’s something blue there. There’s nothing supposed to be blue in that toilet.” It was a toy phone and that’s what had blocked it.
So, some home increase expert I was. There I was with a big hole of- a big hole, a big pile of clay and a busted-open sewer line that had nothing to do with it. I gathered that phone out there, threw it back together and the day went on as planned.
RICK: Well, Tom, let me ask you a question, though.
TOM: Yep.
RICK: Could it actually- could it be anything with the volcano tube?
TOM: Yes, it could. The rippling implies it’s struggling for air and so it could be a blockage of the ventilate tube or the drainpipe. And in either incident, you have to have the right tools.
Now, the drain-cleaning companionships will probably just feed a serpent down there both access and call it a era. If they’re certainly perplexed, they can run a camera down there. There’s line cameras that they can snake in and actually determine what the blockage is.
Alright? So I think that’s what you’re going to have to do here. And regrettably, we detest to call a pro if we can fix it ourselves but this is just a specialized reparation, a specialized piece of maintenance you’ve got to get done.
Good luck with that project.
LESLIE: Give us a scold, tell us know what you are working on. And you’ve got a great chance to win an excellent accolade to help keep you and your family safe this barrage season. We’ve came, up for grabs, a determined of 3 First Alert Connected Safety 2-in-1 Smoke and Carbon-Monoxide Alarms usefulnes $149.
Now, the detector is very smart. It’s compatible with Ring and Z-Wave organizations. The First Alert Connected Safety 2-in-1 Smoke and Carbon-Monoxide Alarm, it’s battery-operated. It’s designed to provide early warning in the event of a flame or even a CO emergency.
TOM: And they’re wirelessly interconnected, which is cool. So if one goes off, they all come off. You can learn more at FirstAlert.com but we’ve got three of these brand-new First Alert Connected Safety Carbon-Monoxide Alarms going out to one listener reaped at random. Make that you. Call us with your dwelling progress question at 888 -6 66 -3 974 or post it to MoneyPit.com. We’re going to choose one name out of that Money Pit hard hat full of folks and mail that change of smoke detectors right out to you.
LESLIE: Now we’ve got Christine on the line. What’s going on at your fund excavation? How can we help?
CHRISTINE: OK. So, we have a garage that is uninsulated. So we segregated it. We’ve got the walls almost completed and the ceiling’s almost done. But we have a vent on the roof- one of those swirling ones- and I wasn’t sure if the ceiling of the garage also needed a show that either extends up to that or precisely to the attic space.
TOM: Yep. That’s a great question.
So, aims of the expres on the ceiling is to provide attic ventilation. And the ventilation is really necessary to keep the insulation dry, because in the wintertime it can get damp and it stirs it less efficient in the summertime. It tells the hot building and strengthening in the attic. So that’s the purpose of that vent.
That being said, I will tell you that those sort of whirlybird-style vents that spin, like a basket that rotates, are the least effective kind of vent you could have. What I always recommend are ceaseless ridge volcanoes, which was down the peak of the ceiling, matched with soffit ducts which is at that overhang. Because that creates an airflow where the air goes in at the soffit, for the purposes of the roof sheathing and out at that crest and hinders that attic as close to ambient temperature as possible and as cool as possible.
But in terms of your job, that – you can sort of regulate that aside because I is expected to continue to shield that garage so you have a warmer place for you to work in during the cold weather. And then, you are familiar with, in the spring or summer or whenever you get around to doing the ceiling again, you could evaluate the ridge- the volcano place. But you do not “re going to have to” situated a hole in that ceiling, because that’s not aims of that vent.
CHRISTINE: OK. We do have soffit vents.
TOM: That’s good. That’s the hard part. The bank ventilate is the easy part.
CHRISTINE: Yeah. The other question I had was about my soffits on the members of this house. I’m not sure there’s anything we can do at this quality but I would just like your opinion. The builder was supposed to wrap the metal around plywood and then use that for the soffit but he simply worked that thin piece of metal.
TOM: Yeah, that’s actually the right way to do it. Is the metal freshened? Does it have little, insignificant defects in it?
CHRISTINE: No. We had him include soffit ventilates in- along the back of the house in three different places and on the side.
TOM: OK. Mm-hmm. OK. Yeah. No, you don’t want to have a submerge soffit. Soffits should be as open as is practicable because, as I said previously, that’s where air comes in and starts doing its work in the attic, in terms of venting that gap. So, I don’t know what the conversation was around having metal wrapped over plywood.
I’ll tell you sometimes we see this: sometimes we attend rooms “thats been”- are older lives, that might have been built in the 60 s or 70 s, and they have plywood soffits. And then I’ve seen those homeowners do vinyl siding and aluminum adornment and then they wholly included that soffit with the aluminum soffit material. And that’s often a mistake because they’ve shielded the ventilation in doing so. So I ever tell people to make that plywood down. So I think you’re OK with that.
CHRISTINE: Oh, good. Well, that’s immense. Thank you so much better, because it was- I was sure it was wrong and it was going to be bad for the members of this house. But you’re saying it’s just perfect.
TOM: It is just perfect, Christine. Good luck with that project.
CHRISTINE: OK. Thanks a lot.
LESLIE: Well, the EPA has appointed indoor-air pollution as one of the top five environmental risks to public health. And they tell us that indoor breeze can be up to 100 times more polluted than the air outside. But if you’re thinking, “They can’t be talking about my house, ” well, we are really can extremely if you don’t have the right kind of air filter. We’re going to sort out the options, in today’s Smart Spending Tip brought forward by Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card.
TOM: So, to start, you need to understand that there are four types of air filters you were able to choose from. The authorities have flat filters, which are basically made from fiberglass. They frequently need to be changed at least on a monthly basis. And while they capture dust, they don’t do really anything for the kind of contaminants that can attain you pathetic, like allergens.
Next up, we have a type of filter called an “extended-media filter, ” which exploits a particle filter and a very small electrostatic charge to clean the air. And they’re much more efficient than those flat filters.
And then you step up into the electronic filters. Now, these use a high electrical charge to capture molecules, kind of like a magnet. They’re extremely effective on big particles and they play about 30 times better than those flat filters.
But if you really want to get serious, we should look at the ultraviolet filters. They are extremely effective at capturing particles, bacteria and viruses. These are the kinds of filters that you’ll find in medical centers and infirmaries, where disease is present.
LESLIE: Yeah. You’re likewise going to find them in eateries all over the place now. It’s amazing as I work in Times Square. And while the restaurants sector in the city are struggling and not all of them are open, I participate a lot of them have signals up saying, “UV filters. Come inside. We’re open.” So, people are really doing the right thing to try to realize everybody feel safe. And that’s a great way to do it with the ultraviolet filters.
Now, when it comes time for installing, this really is a job that’s best left to a pro because they’re going to need to be built into your existing HVAC system on the return surface of that organisation. This road, the breath is continually scavenged as it elapses through the filter.
And that’s today’s Smart Spending Tip put forward by the Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card. We’re all patronizing for requisites online these days. Get reinforced for it with the Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card. You can choose to earn three-percent cash back on your online shopping.
TOM: Visit BankOfAmerica.com/ MoreRewarding to apply.
LESLIE: Heading to Massachusetts where Lou is on the line. What’s going on at your fund cavity?
LOU: Yeah, I’m having trouble with the heating in the house. It’s not coming up to the second floor.
TOM: OK. What various kinds of heat plan do you have, Lou? Is it hot air or hot water?
LOU: It’s hot water, oil burner.
TOM: OK.
LOU: It’s about 70 years old.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Have you tried to bleed the radiators on the second floor?
LOU: Yes, I have but two of them are still dead. They’re merely cold- frost cold. Good-for-nothing comes out. No breath , no drips , nothing.
TOM: And this is a hot-water or a steam method?
LOU: I believe it’s hot water.
TOM: But I means they both use the same piece of rig. They both call a boiler. When you look at your boiler, do you picture a clearly defined, glass tube that has water in it, that’s halfway replenished?
LOU: No, I don’t.
TOM: OK. So then, yeah, it sounds like it’s a hot-water system. Al, is it one zone or two?
LOU: I don’t know zones.
TOM: How numerous thermostats do you have for heat?
LOU: Just one.
TOM: So you have a single-zone system, hot-water system. And you’ve got some cold radiators, which means that for some reason the spray is not pushing in through that part of it. There could be air that’s blocking it and I conceive, at this pitch, you’re going to probably have to have a heating contractor come over and do some further diagnostics. Because if the circulator is performing properly, that’s the little machine that moves the water through information systems. It’s really pretty simple. You have a supply and a return. And that irrigate time follows one loop. If it’s not getting to a radiator, then there’s an impediment there, which intends it’s a problem with a valve or there’s an breath barrier that you just can’t get to. And that’s probably what’s discontinue it.
Is this a new problem?
LOU: No, it’s been ongoing, except for those two radiators that used to work. And the circulator was replaced.
TOM: Alright. Listen, I think it’s time to call for some expert assistance. I think this is beyond the scope of a do-it-yourselfer. And try to figure out why those two radiators are blocked. Don’t gave them out of the house until they get defined, because it should not be that complicated of a number of problems, OK?
LOU: OK. Well, how much coin do you think …?
TOM: It depends. If it’s time a matter of trying to identify one, say, miscarried valve or something of that nature, it could be a basic $200 or $300 sort of call for a person “re coming out” and do some piece. If it’s a bigger problem than that, if it is necessary to a brand-new circulator, it could be more. But certainly, you could ask for an estimate, you know? Maybe you’re announce for an estimate – you’re not maybe even hiring them for the mend- to find out what it’s going to take to get the system working again. Now is the time to do it.
LOU: OK. Any gratuities on who I could call?
TOM: One thing that you were able to do is you could go to HomeAdvisor.com.
LOU: OK. I’ve heard of them, yeah.
TOM: Right. That’s a site that is a directory for all sorts of contractors and other professionals. And the neat thing about HomeAdvisor is that they all have references that were done by other HomeAdvisor patrons. And they’re attested invokes, so you can read the reviews and find somebody that’s in your place and that people ought to have happy with.
LOU: Wow. OK. Great. Din good, Tom.
TOM: Alright, Lou. Good luck with that assignment. Thanks so much for announcing us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Tammy in Tennessee is on the line with a bathroom question. That’s a lot of Ts and a tongue twister.
How can we help you, Tammy?
TAMMY: Best way to supplant the seal on our lavatory. We’re redoing our flooring and got the toilet up and we’re exactly is intended to supersede the seal.
TOM: So, you pretty much have to replace the wax seal now that you’ve got the toilet up. And it’s a pretty easy DIY project. One little tip-off I would give you is that when you buy the wax seal, they have different breadths. I don’t think you can really hurt yourself by consuming one of the thicker ones. It basically comes arranged right above the opening, right above the drain.
And then when you remove the lavatory back on it, the bars that are used to hold the toilet in place- one common mistake that parties conclude is they over-tighten those. Toilets don’t get sort of wrenched to the floor; they are only do sort of snug to the floor. Don’t go too tight on those thunderbolts because you will crack that base of that bathroom. Time originate them nice and tighten. They pretty much will sit there and not move much once you press it in place with the wax in between. And that’s truly all you have to do. It’s a pretty easy plumbing project.
Well, with so many folks spending a lot of time at home these days, it’s a good time to think about how smart-home produces can reach our residences more handy and safer.
LESLIE: Well, Travis Miller with ADT is attaching us with answers for families to make their homes smarter and safer during these unprecedented times.
TRAVIS: Hey, thank you for having having me.
TOM: So, Travis, I can imagine that you guys are probably going a lot of bellows from your purchasers that have methods where the pattern of kinfolks in the home is probably changed, right? So there’s more people coming and moving or different beings coming and departing. You probably get some false alarms because of that. It continues everybody on their toes. But this is a time when we really need to step up our residence protection, right?
TRAVIS: Yeah, you’re right, Tom. With a lot of parties depleting more season at home, right, it’s beginning to have them reevaluate what it means to them to be at the house and what it wants from both a insurance perspective and to your point, that smart-alecky home or as we like to refer to it, as a supportive dwelling, right? How can that smart residence even turn into a supportive dwelling?
TOM: Yeah, because some smart residences are a lot smarter than I am.
TRAVIS: Yeah. And I’m with you on that front.
TOM: So talk to me how the smart-home technology has changed kind of going into the new year, Travis. I necessitate I’ve been an ADT customer for many years and when my method was installed, everything was hardwired. And I suppose wireless was just starting to get going at that time. But I had received information that the batteries didn’t last-place that long and I wasn’t all that interested in being sort of the first guy to try it out, so I insisted on everything being hardwired.
But that’s not the case anymore. And in fact, most of these systems are not hardwired; they are wireless. And they’re really smart in terms of what they can detect and how they report that information.
TRAVIS: Yeah, you’re exactly right.
So, as we move on with engineering, things merely get smarter and smarter. And with that, the wireless solution is really what purchasers opt for these days, especially in these retrofit-type situations where we’re going into homes that are completely finished. There’s very little wire races, if at all any some of these- sometimes these days with the rig that they’re going inside their house. And so, genuinely, what patrons need to ask themselves- or parties that are looking to invest in that- is, hey, what do they prefer? Do they prefer that DIY play where they can- apt to do it themselves or a professional installation? And then somewhere in between there, it’s- “Hey, you know what? I may need someone to talk to about providing these types of mixtures and how they can benefit myself and my family.”
As I look at what we’re dealing here with right now- I’ll give you a really cool story. With the smart-home technologies and video analytics and video romps nowadays, we’ve got all these people and kids learning from the house. And we have the amazing cameras, right, where girls are learning and doing their e-learning in one room and the ability to talk back and forth with them with the wider- doing their discover through the camera to make sure they’re on enterprise. I did it precisely the other day to two daughters and it various kinds of, in one regard, freaked her out but it also was like, “Hey, Kylie, are you staying on task in there? ” Because I identified her playing with her phone. It’s precisely the world that we’re living in these days.
LESLIE: So , now, what I think is so interesting, Travis, is that ADT really is sort of launching way more products that are more geared toward the DIY person. So, what are you guys doing to help that person achieve the same success in their home?
TRAVIS: Yeah, it’s a great question, Leslie, and you’re right. I think what you’re referring to is our Blue by ADT. And what we’ve come to learn throughout the industry is more customers are becoming more and more apt to do it themselves.
And so, as we look at the solutions that are provided both in the security front, as well as that smart-home front, truly it’s important to make sure that we’re furnish equal produces, whether the customer chooses to do it themselves, such as that camera I just mentioned, and/ or choose to have it professionally positioned. So things such as the doorbells these days are a very hot commodity, particularly with the porch pirates and us being in the vacation season, and performing it easy and useful for those individuals that maybe their ultimate mixture is just that article of materials and not a full-blown smart-home structure at that time.
TOM: What about the monitoring options? Are those available with the wireless systems, as well?
TRAVIS: Yes, Tom, then there, actually. So, whether it’s wireless or hardwired, purchasers can choose. If they go down a course of the Blue by ADT, they can choose month-to-month, they can do contract terms. As we move into the professional consultation and the professional installation for those that need that, those also come with that professional monitoring and they’re still wireless. And those would have a term length associated with them, to make sure that we’re confront that customer’s security needs, as well, and drawing information and communication technologies of what ADT has come to be known as, which is just this above and beyond, multi-connected monitoring facility all interconnected, imparting “the consumers ” the peace of mind that they look to ADT for.
TOM: So what’s the newest, coolest, smart-home-related component that you guys have put in place?
TRAVIS: So I’ll go back to it. It’s a little bit of that audio camera. And it’s not just the camera itself. So it’s the camera as it ties into other capabilities of what a dwelling may be able to do.
Let me give you a quick example. So with analytics built into these cameras these days, I can have my front porch light-coloreds turn on if person or persons- if a human- comes marching up my paces. Whereas if it’s the dog walking by in the middle of the night or the dog walking- going for a walking at whatever season, those illuminations wouldn’t turn on because I don’t have a concern for them to turn on. So the cameras themselves have really gotten smart to be able to define between people, automobiles, animals.
And so that’s what I would say is some of the coolest substance is not just a matter the one fragment of constituent which, if “youre asking me”, I would tell you it’s the brand-new cameras that are out: the 1080 Pro Audio Cameras. But it’s truly integrating in how it can fully change a lifestyle solution for a customer.
LESLIE: You know, I think it’s so interesting. ADT certainly offers only a variety of smart technology that perhaps some homeowners don’t even really understand what they can use and what the technology is capable of. So how are you helping the regular homeowner really figure out what it is that ADT can do for them?
TRAVIS: Leslie, what comes to sentiment there is we recently is cooperating with the Moffitt family and the family of eight. This is through a program called ADT Pass the Protection in which we be associated with the Scott Brothers. And truly, what we did is- this family, they referred the chance to win a makeover design for their house to include a full smart-home system.
So for this individual family, they have a couple teenagers “whos been” healers that come in and out only due to disabilities and otherwise. And so they have the ability to kept this opening lock on the door, give specific systems that people can come in at specified time limit. Additionally, they can set up illuminations inside the house, which they’ve done in this home, so that someone gets up in the middle of the evening, they amble down a hallway that may initially be dark. But as soon as that gesture detector picks them up, the lightings is everything all right, right?
And so as you get to these devices, including fume communicators and other lifestyle answers, the Moffitts have really taken advantage to reclining in through this Pass the Protection Program to really elevate their home that is beyond really the standard makeover, if you are able to, of a home.
TOM: That’s so cool. It’s just nice it can be customized to- down to that degree to help a family that needs it more than most.
TRAVIS: Yeah. You’re exactly right, Tom.
TOM: Travis Miller, the vice president of orbit marketings for ADT. Thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit, Travis, and crowding us in on the latest technology in alarm systems.
If you’d like to check out some of the products that Travis talked about, you can go to ADT.com or BlueByADT.com for the DIY options.
Thanks, Travis.
TRAVIS: Alright. Thanks, Tom and Leslie.
LESLIE: Alright. It’s ever cool understand better the newest technologies for your residence and your home certificate. Thanks so much for attaching us.
We hope you’re all enjoying your celebration weekend. Maybe you’re cozying up by the fire. Well, the winter months have a big increase in attacks at home, so we want to help you out with ardor safe. We’ve get, up for grabs, a start of 3 First Alert Connected Safety 2-in-1 Smoke and Carbon-Monoxide Alarms worth 149 bucks.
Now, the detector is also smart. It’s compatible with Ring and Z-Wave systems.
TOM: Yeah. And not only does it spot both carbon monoxide gas and smoke alarm, these are actually wirelessly interconnected. So if one “re going away”, they all go over. That’s especially helpful if you’ve got an older home, because it used to be that we had to run wires between all those detectors to originate that happen. And now it happens because of the smart-detector technology. It’s a great-designed product that gives people fee protection, prevents you safe.
We’ve got three to give away to one lucky caller. Make that you. Call us, right now, with your dwelling progress question at 888 -MONEY-PIT, 888 -6 66 -3 974 or berth your question to MoneyPit.com.
Well, a leaking irrigate heater can lead to some pretty serious and major torrent detriment. But now there’s a new water heater on the market that- check this- it sees divulges and automatically shuts off the water supply, which stops the floods before they even start. Love it.
LESLIE: Yeah, it’s the Rheem Gladiator Electric Water Heater and it’s the newest innovation out there in water heating. It peculiarity three improvements to provide long-term peace of mind. Now, it features a built-in 360 leak-detection system and that’s designed to find reveals both inside and outside of the barrel. It’s too got a built-in, auto-shutoff valve that’s going to shut the incoming liquid when a divulge is detected and then helps keep water in the container to protect your home and your belongings. Because when a water-heating tank interrupts, it is a huge mess, you guys.
Plus, it’s got a built-in Wi-Fi, which will send alerts, remembers, all the things you need in its app to allow you to adjust temperature, racetrack vigor, all the different things that you need to schedule to keep costs down, to keep your family safe. Super smart-alecky right here.
TOM: Love this force. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen detriment from busted spray heaters over the years and this really does solve it.
It’s available in 40 -, 50 – and 55 -gallon forms. You can learn more at Rheem.com/ Gladiator. Gladiator, the power to know, the power to control and the power to protect.
LESLIE: Evan in Florida is on the line and has a question about ventilating. How can we help you today?
EVAN: Well, my partner and I have a long-standing disagreement on what’s best during the winter months for shows in unused rooms.
TOM: OK.
EVAN: I say closed down but she says left open open.
TOM: You both might be right.
LESLIE: Everybody wins.
TOM: Yeah, if you close …
EVAN: Oh , no. That’s not going to help us out.
TOM: That’s not going to help you out? If you close the express in some apartments, peculiarly if it’s anywhere near plumbing, you were able to the temperatures lower to the point where freezing is an issue.
EVAN: OK.
TOM: But generally speaking, I think you can close those volcanoes in unused apartments if you’re certainly not going to use them. But it might be better to close them, actually, closer to the air handler itself or the furnace itself because a passage damp is much more efficient than the wall damper. The wall- the duct itself, once you close it, it tend to whistle and a lot of air holes through it.
EVAN: Oh, yeah.
TOM: But in line with the passages themselves, they should have dampers, extremely, which are more like sort of a valve for a pipe this kind of thoroughly closes off the air to that space.
EVAN: OK. Yeah. Seeing as- in line this was and they’re a little different.
TOM: Yeah, they’re a little tricky. There’s usually a perch that goes through the canal. And if you look at it, it’s got a flat on the end of it. It’s exclusively- it’s very narrow; it’s like the size of a screwdriver tip. But if it’s parallel to the duct, then it’s fully open. And if it’s perpendicular, then it’s fully closed.
EVAN: Alright. OK. That solves our publish but I don’t know if I should tell her I’m right or wrong. I don’t know.
TOM: It didn’t settle the wager. It solved the problem but didn’t settle the pot. But like Leslie said, “Everybody’s a champion today.”
LESLIE: Everybody’s a winner.
EVAN: There you go.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
EVAN: Thank you.
TOM: Nothing comes between spouses like home improvement.
LESLIE: That is true.
Email us or affix your question, just like Alan did. Now, Alan writes: “My wife and I would like to add a two-car garage with a small apartment. What are the key questions we need to be asking a prospective builder/ contractor? ”
TOM: I wouldn’t begins with a developer/ contractor. If you’re going to put one over an addition plus an suite, I would hire an designer. You need a blueprint professional, Alan, because the architect will spec that out and create a designated of plans. And then you can use that change of plans to talk to several builder/ contractors and get them to proposal on the same project. This nature, you’ll have an apples-to-apples opportunity to compare those attempts and conclude the best preference based on that.
Beyond that, I would be talking with the contractors about their schedules, their patterns for cleanup and most importantly, how they’re going to keep you and the family safe through this darn quarantine. But if you think through all of that and start with the architect, you will be in good hands going forward.
LESLIE: Alright. Good luck with that projection. It sounds like a good one, Alan.
TOM: Well, would you like to find something for you to do with your children that doesn’t involve a Zoom call? Well, Leslie has gone gratuities for teach home betterment to youngsters, in this week’s edition of Leslie’s Last Word.
Leslie?
LESLIE: That’s right. If you’re looking for something to do with your adolescents that doesn’t involve engineering- because I feel like everything we are doing is an iPad, a computer. It’s a Zoom call, it’s a whatever. Put it away for a minute. Let’s try something different. Let’s think about some small-scale dwelling improvement projects that we can get those girls involved in.
Now, going young do-it-yourselfers involved in home improvement in the planning process obviously offsets it easy for the kids to learn something new, get a lifelong skill. It constructs their trust. Likewise, when they finish a project, it truly passes them a different smell of attainment and revived dignity in the home that “youre ever” sharing.
So, maybe the next time you draw a room, your child will not walk by with a crayon on the wall or something along those lines, merely because it’s new and clean-living. Not that that’s ever happened in my house but I feel like the girls merely don’t understand that the house and its belongings cost money and period. So let’s get them to see that this is something we can all invest in together.
Now, first of all, select a project together, whether it’s going to be an easy fix-it job or an improvement job or maybe a redecorating project. Every DIY project out there is a great chance for these kids to learn.
Also, get them involved in the planning and the shop. Talk about the project. What do it is necessary to? What plies do you have in the house? What do you have to get? Get this young assistant at home involved in the process of shopping and all the plies and everything and they will feel even more invested.
Then, tell them facilitate. Don’t only is just like, “I’ll do it myself.” Let the teenagers actually get involved. Now, the child’s age and the complexity of the project is really going to determine which tools that they are unable direct safely. But there’s ever a space to get them involved, even if they just keep busy with a few simple pieces or kid-sized tools while you do the work with the more complicated stuff.
Whatever it is, precisely remember anything that you can do to instill confidence and a can-do attitude is super valuable to your children down the line. So just get them involved now and it actually makes a great, outside-of-the-box thinker and somebody who feels super confident. And you get to deplete a lot of time with a great person in your room that maybe hasn’t thought about doing this substance before.
TOM: And when you do this and they grow up, you can assign them campaigns and you don’t have to do it anymore. “Go clean the channels, babies. You know how to use the ladder. I taught you well. Go do it.”
This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Thank you so much better for expend this part of your holiday era, your celebration weekend with us. We hope that we’ve entertained you with some tips-off and advice on home increases and ways to save money and procreate your place more beautiful.
We will be here for you into the new time. If you’ve got questions, you can always reach us with those questions at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or pole them at MoneyPit.com.
I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …
LESLIE: But you don’t have to get it on alone.
( Copyright 2020 Squeaky Door Make, Inc. No section of this transcript or audio register may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Production, Inc .)
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