Episode #2064: Two Ways to Get Warm Floors | DIY Pick-Me-Ups for Winter | Best Firewood | Projects for the New Year | Your Q & A
Tired of chilly floorings? Adding radiant heat to your home’s floor can provide a for a very comfortable and exertion efficient home , not to mention stopping the shock of naming foot on a cold floor first thing in the morning! We foreground two systems that can work for both current and new homes. Are you tired of feeling, well, tired? For countless beings, these shorter and colder daylights can bring on a subject of the blues that can impact your climate, focus and energy. We’ve went easy DIY pick-me-ups to beat the blues and raise your atmosphere! Want to get the most out of the hassle and outlay of getting firewood? All that hard work that can be undone all too easily if you don’t store the firewood properly before convulsing it into your fireplace. We’ll tell you how.Plus, we ask what is on YOUR to do register for the New Year. Whether you’re dealing with a amend or dreaming about a reno, we dig in to serve as your coach-and-four, aide or dwelling improvement therapist for all things remodeling, decoration or fix up!
Plus, we answer your home improvement a matter of, replacing flush valve on toilet, installing gutter sentries, programming a garage door , replacing a kitchen window.
Do you have a home improvement or decoration question? Call the show 24/7 at 888 -MONEY-PIT ( 888 -6 66 -3 974) or post your question now.
Read Transcript
TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And we hope that you guys had a very excellent New Year’s celebration and that we are all looking forward and feeling confident about its first year onward. We are feeling very optimistic about helping you with your dwelling improvement projects, your home decoration, your remodeling, your reno jobs. If you’ve got one that you’re scheming, one that you’re thinking about doing or one that maybe you tried last year and put off for a while and need some assistance going it proceeding again, render us a see because we would love to help. The way to get in touch with us is by calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT or posting your question at MoneyPit.com.
Coming up on today’s show, adding glowing hot to your home’s floor can provide a very comfortable and energy-efficient home , not to mention stopping that shock of preparing foot on a cold floor first thing in the morning. It’s nasty. We’re going to highlight two systems that can work for both new and existing homes.
LESLIE: And if you have a wood-burning fireplace or stave, you know that gathering and chopping firewood is hard work. Well, that hard work can be undone all too easily if you don’t store that timber properly before you toss it into the fireplace. We’re going to tell you how.
TOM: And are you tired of feeling, well, tired? You know, for many beings, the shorter and colder daylights can bring on a subject of the blues that can impact your feeling, your focus and your intensity. So, we’re going to share some of our exertion with easy DIY pick-me-ups that will help your tone, only ahead.
LESLIE: But first, what’s on your New Year to-do list? What’s this project that you’re thinking about going done this new year? Well, perhaps you’re dealing with a amend or you’re dreaming about a restoration. Consider us your manager, your helper, your dwelling improvement therapist. Whatever it is, we are here for all things remodeling, decoration and fix-up.
TOM: Post your questions at MoneyPit.com or scold us, right now, at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
Let’s get started. Leslie, who’s firstly?
LESLIE: Ready to talk about vaults, we’ve went Charles from Maryland on the line. What is going on?
CHARLES: I’ve got a problem with spray coming in over a new French-drain system that was put in. The residence was remodeled and the French-drain system was put in the vault 7 years ago. And about a year-and-a-half ago, all of a sudden we started getting ocean coming in on specific torrents- torrents that either breath- involved puff or in ponderous downpours – that is coming in on the upper part of the floor.
TOM: Mm-hmm. OK.
CHARLES: And I can’t figure that out. I eliminated one thing. There was a drainpipe that came around from the back of the house, that had garage-roof water coming through it.
TOM: Right.
CHARLES: And that seemed to take care of some- a problem during the summer. But recently, in two commotions that were heavy cloudbursts, we had water come in. And I’m talking perhaps 6, maybe 30 gallons of spray total on the flooring that I sucked up.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That’s a lot, yeah.
CHARLES: What it is- I sucked it up with the humid vac, OK? And I have …
TOM: Right. Yeah. Which probably holds 5 gallons and “youre supposed to” do that 6 times.
CHARLES: Yeah. Correct, yes. You’re right.
And I did keep mulch up against the house the last time- this last time happening.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
CHARLES: But the problem is that the irrigate coming onto the floor, I noticed, was- had black stain in it, which is the black dye from the mulch.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think you’re on the right track.
First of all, whenever you have water that comes into a cellar consistent with rainfall, “its never”, ever was triggered by rising water table. And rising water tables are really the only reason that you would need a French-drain system. So, the reason why the water’s getting in has everything to do with the drainage provisions outside. And it seems to me like you’re sort of attacking it a little bit but there’s some constituent of it that’s missing. So let’s kind of step back and cover the basics.
First of all, you need to make sure that your channels exist on every eave of the members of this house. Secondly, they’ve got to be absolutely clean. They have to make sure- and including the downspouts. You have to make sure that you have enough downspouts. You need 1 downspout for every 600 to 800 square hoofs of ocean, so you can try to maybe- of ceiling skin-deep, sorry. So maybe you are eligible to rough that out in your head.
CHARLES: Right.
TOM: And then every single one of those downspouts must, must, must be discharging at least 4, 5, 6 or 7 feet away from the house.
CHARLES: Right. OK.
TOM: You can’t be draining anywhere near the foundation. Those firstly few hoofs of soil have to be kept as dry as possible.
Now, if that’s done and done perfectly, the only thing left is the grading. You contributed mulch to try to address that but mulch doesn’t really address it, because that’s kind of like laying leeches around your residence. What you want to do is use clean-living complete dirt , not topsoil and not mulch. Clean fill dirt. Least expensive soil you can find. You can succession some up from a landscape furnish residence. Have a small truckload of it handed and you want to add it to the foundation perimeter. And you want to slope it so that it puts 6 inches over 4 feet, so you have that insignificant gradient to it.
Now, once you get that in there and it ascent and it’s tamped in there well – you can use a hand-tamping iron to pack it down. After it’s ascent properly and does in there, then you can add some mulch on top of that to prevent erosion or you were able to leant a little topsoil over it and seed grass grain in the spring. But you’ve got to take care of those- the sewers and the grading. And that’s going to see do it.
You can prove this to yourself as you still- if you question it. The next time you have one of those very severe storms, you know, throw on your galoshes and your rain gear and go outside and watch what’s happening with that water.
CHARLES: Right.
TOM: And I bet you you’re going to see something is overwhelmed or overflowing in some target that you didn’t expect and maybe even in a pair areas.
CHARLES: OK.
TOM: And once that water does in around the foundation, it can connect with the concrete slab. And we’ve seen it pop up 10, 20, 30 feet away from the source.
In fact, Leslie, I’ll never forget the time that you- it was early on in our occupation when you came home from a tour and attained …
LESLIE: And stepped into a particularly squishy basement storey?
TOM: And it turned out- was it a pellet or a plaything or something that had blocked one downspout?
LESLIE: No, it had disconnected in a interred downspout.
TOM: Oh, right. OK.
LESLIE: So the downspout went into the ground and completely separated from the join point that then redirected all that water. And it just was ponding in this one area and I guess it entirely, though, came into the cellar in another part.
TOM: Yep. It time obtains its channel over.
So that’s what you need to do : focus on that drainage. And that’s going to solve this for you, Charles, OK?
CHARLES: OK. Alright. Thank you.
TOM: Alright. Well, good luck. You’re very welcome. Good luck with that campaign and tell us know how it works you make out.
CHARLES: Will do. Thank you.
TOM: Alright. Bye-bye.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’re leader over to Patty in Illinois who’s got a toilet that is running forever. Tell us what’s going on.
PATTY: Well, it doesn’t move forever but it runs about 5 seconds, several times an hour. And it’s gone to the point that my irrigate statute has gone up quite a bit and I’m needing to know if I need a new lavatory or if I need new shuts or a brand-new manage run or- what the hell is you think?
LESLIE: It’s actually an easy define and I intend this tends to happen kind of regularly. Regrettably, parties don’t realize that there’s actually some stage of toilet upkeep, because it’s simply an appliance in your room that’s there and “youre using” it and you expect it to work.
But inside the tank itself, there’s a load and a even valve. And those need to be replaced not that often but every couple of years or so. And of course , now that you’re dealing with this water-running matter- Tom, is it Fluidmaster?
TOM: Yeah, Fluidmaster is sort of a linchpin of replacing valve parts.
And they just wear out, Patty, over experience, so this is a pretty easy fix.
LESLIE: And it’s probably 10 horses to get both of them. But if you go to Fluidmaster’s website, the only reason I recommend that is because on their website, they’ve got a really great how-to video. So you can actually realize what the fill valve is, what the even valve, the flapper valves – you know exactly what you’re looking at and how to supersede it. And it’s a really easy do-it-yourself project that you can do confidently and certainly weaken your sea bill.
PATTY: Thank you. That sounds wonderful. I appreciate it and thank you for coming in for making my announce. Love your show.
TOM: You’re very welcome, Patty. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Now we’ve got Dave in Prescott, Arizona on the line who’s got a question for us. What’s going on at your fund pit?
DAVE: I’ve got a 1,300 -square-foot upper deck and I don’t want it to leak to the lower floor but it’s a lot of area, obviously.
TOM: Wow. Yeah.
DAVE: And they articulated Kool Deck on it 18 several years ago or 17 several years ago when they built the house.
TOM: OK. Yeah. OK.
DAVE: You know Kool Deck, like a consortium?
TOM: Yes. Mm-hmm.
DAVE: And it’s- we had 33 inches of snowfall 2 years ago. It smashed all of the seals from each part of plywood.
TOM: Did you enter a homeowners coverage claim for that? Because it was brought on by the storm. It seems like you could have.
DAVE: No, I didn’t. I didn’t even think of that, to be clearly honest.
TOM: Yeah. Yeah. Well …
DAVE: The question is it was shafted down with deck screws but the Kool Deck over top of it, you can’t get the shafts out.
TOM: Yep. Right. Yeah, accurately. Mm-hmm.
DAVE: I tried a Sawzall. I’ve tried just about everything
TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
DAVE: I don’t want to screw the rafters up; they’re not rotted. But the plywood is actually decomposed. And this plywood is not that OSB stuff.
TOM: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Now, “ve been told” about this deck. So, you say it’s 1,300 square feet. That’s a heck of a big deck. What’s underneath it? Is there living space underneath this?
DAVE: No, there’s not. There’s a hall underneath it.
TOM: OK.
DAVE: And we don’t want it to leak down to the porch.
TOM: Of course not. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I imply if I was doing a grove deck, truly, anywhere in the country I would be using fiberglass on top of traditional wood-deck sheeting- because fiberglass is incredibly durable and 100 -percent waterproof- whether you had living space under it or not.
Now, in your suit, you’re over a hall. It’s outdoor space. It certainly is sort of like living space. It’s not your bedroom or your shower or your living room but it still needs the same kind of protection. It needs to be completely waterproof.
And the situation that you find yourself in is because it wasn’t put down right to begin with. It’s kind of hard to figure out how to fix it, because you can’t get to the problem where it’s- the problem that begun it in the first place.
Let’s go back to my note, though, about homeowners guarantee. Because if this was caused by a tornado, it’s a one sort of one point in time where this failing occurred. You can- might still is the possibility of- with your same home insurance company, you are able to still be able to get a claim now and have them rip the whole thing off and oust it, start from the bottom up. Because frankly, that’s what has to be done.
DAVE: Yeah. All the joists underneath are fine and all that.
TOM: Right. When was the storm?
DAVE: It was 2 years ago.
TOM: Well, you know, you might want to have a conversation with a public adjuster and see if they think there’s an opportunity to claim it. You can say that it’s something that disclosed itself over season but it was caused by that tornado happen. Because genuinely, it has to be taken wholly off. And if I did that, in my action, I repute I would go with a fiberglass floor and not the structure that’s there now. Because I would want to do it once, do it right and not “re going to have to” do it again.
I wish I had better news for you. We can’t improve a project that wasn’t done right to begin with, Dave. Does that make sense?
DAVE: Well, I know it went through inspection and all that stuff but that’s, like I said, 16 or 18 years ago.
TOM: Yeah.
DAVE: Maybe it was proper or whatever. But fiberglass will give that much?
TOM: Fiberglass is incredibly sturdy, yeah. We use it all the time here in the Northeast. It can take the snowfall, it can take the heat. It can have a texture put into it so that you’re not slick. So I would definitely look into that.
DAVE: Yeah, that’d be awesome. I never thought about fiberglass.
TOM: Alright. Well, grant it a shot. Dave, thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, for many of you, one of the most unpleasant gradations that you can take in your home is onto a coldnes floor with bare feet. And that’s just one of the reasons adding radiant heat to your storey is a good idea. Not merely does it stop toe offend- that’s right, that’s what we’re going to call it; it’s toe shock- but it can actually originate your part residence more comfy and improve cut down on your power bills.
TOM: Yeah, that’s right. So there are two types of radiant heat: hydronic and electrical. Hydronic, of course, being hot-water radiant heat and electric being electric.
So, deciding what style is best comes down to installation and energy efficiency. So, first, let’s talk about hydronic beaming heat. You can be utilized it throughout the house. It’s very effective. It’s highly efficient. It’s often installed into a tracked floor.
So there’s a subfloor that has grooves in it. There’s a special type of plywood that you can lay PEX in. That’s cross-linked polyethylene. That’s that brand-new kind of plumbing pipe. And then that PEX is covered with a regular subfloor and then your finished flooring goes on top of that. And that meant that the part flooring surface is radiated uphill and keeps you awfully, very warm. Of trend, because it is- involves pretty much replacement of those storeys, it’s generally best for a brand-new mansion or a brand-new addition.
Now, if you just want to do a small area of your home- like, say, your shower floor- electric beaming is the way to go. Perfect for that supplemental heat in the bathroom, maybe under the tile in the kitchen. It’s much more expensive to run. It’s not very efficient but it could be a good alternative for those working contained openings, especially when you marry it with a programmable thermostat so it only rolls when needed, like when you hop-skip in the shower or first thing in the morning. You could set it on a timer.
The installation is pretty straightforward. There is usually a matting that is laid down under a finished storey, like a tile. And the matting is sized for the cavity in the room. It is cabled to a route and a thermostat and it pretty much exactly lopes like any other electric-heating circuit from there on out.
So, hydronic or electrical, both good organizations for warm-floor heating. One principally for new construction and the other for really the updating of an locality, like a kitchen or a bath.
LESLIE: Marcia in Illinois needs some improve getting a opening unstuck. Tell us about it.
MARCIA: I have a window over my sink in my kitchen, so I have to lean over the submerge to raise this space. And it’s always been extremely hard to get up or down and I precisely don’t know what to do with it. I anticipate I’ve tried WD-4 0.
TOM: Is this a wood window, Marcia?
MARCIA: Yes, it’s a wood window.
TOM: So, probably over the years, it’s gotten bigger, swollen in its sit. And it’s gotten tighter in the jambs. And I’ll presume with coat, more, over the years that that didn’t make it any better. So, why don’t you think about a substitution window? Look, we can talk to you about making this whole window apart and sanding down the jambs and sanding down the waistbands and inducing it easier to use and replacing the lines and the balance and all that work. But I think this would be a good time to treat yourself to a replacing window.
You don’t have to do all the windows in the house. You can buy a double-hung replacement window at a home hub today for a pair hundred bucks and it’s a pretty good-quality window. So, you may want to think about replacing only this one window. Or in the alternative, you can pull the decoration off, you can take the sashes apart and you could sand them and sand them well. And that they are able to draw them a little bit smaller the whole way around and attain them easier to operate. And of course, also made to ensure that the remaining balance are working.
Now, if it’s an old-time, lumber opening, you may have cords or bonds that move up and you want to make sure that they’re still attached, because that gives you a little bit of assistance as you open and close the window.
MARCIA: OK. Well, I recognize your admonition. I guess I’ll have to invest in a brand-new window.
TOM: I think it’s going to be easier than all the work it would take to get the old space use. And I’m all for easy and that’s why I have shown that. OK, Marcia? Good luck. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
And look, if you’ve got these aged openings, you can work on them and settled 8, 10 hours into a opening and sure, it’ll be just as good as new. But why? It’s still going to be an old, drafty, lumber opening when you can go buy a double-pane, vinyl-clad window- a replacement space- that slips inside the existing opening and merely have better energy efficiency and a space that really makes, inclines in to clean, the works. Just doesn’t making such a sense.
LESLIE: You’re still going to have to reach over that drop. It’s just going to be easier to work.
TOM: Exactly.
LESLIE: Mark in Wisconsin is having a gutter issue. Tell us what’s going on.
MARK: Oh, yes. We got a lot of trees around our room. And so, in the dusk, they fill up with buds and too, we have pine needles and lots of acorns. So I was wondering what produce you would recommend for diminishing that issue.
TOM: Well, there are a lot, numerous, many different types of gutter patrols, as I’m sure you know. The basic screening that we kind of all grew up with, as the very first gutter guard, is somewhat effective but it’s high-maintenance because all of those- especially those pine needles get right through that. You end up having to pull the screens off to clean-living it.
So, one commodity you might want to think about is this type of gutter guard that, virtually, give the needles wash off the trough but takes the water into the gutter. They lay on top of the channel, they go up under the first roof shingle and they work on the principle of skin-deep friction. As the liquid flows down the roof, it comes across this ditch sentry and it runs over sort of a bending edge into the gutter. But the leaves wash off the type- off the top.
There’s many different producers that make this but I’ve seen them work and use is a good one, in most situations. If you happen to have a roof that has a high pitch with a lot of- thrusting that ocean come on out in a heavy rainstorm, I can see it also rebound right off of that and go over the side of the house, which you don’t want it to do.
The other thing that you might want to think about is if you do be selected by one of the screen systems, make sure it’s a hinged plan. And these screen systems today have hinges so that you can lift up- lift them up every 4 feet or so, get your hand in there and clean out the junk in the gutter.
MARK: Oh, OK. I’ve never seen a hinged structure before.
TOM: On the MoneyPit.com website at MoneyPit.com, we have an article called “Cost of Gutter Guards: Are They Worth It? Tips to Select the Best Way to Prevent Clogged Gutters, ” which describes about a dozen different types of gutter patrols that are on the market right now. So take a look at that and hopefully, that will help you out.
MARK: OK. Audio real good. Thank you so much.
TOM: Well, chopping and moving firewood is hard work: hard work that can be undone very easily if you don’t place the wood properly before threshing it into the fire.
LESLIE: Yeah. Now, the key is to keep it dry. When firewood get soaking, that lumber isn’t going to burn properly. It’s going to put out more steam and smoking than actual heat.
TOM: Now, it’s always best to store firewood up off the field by stacking it on a cornerstone or on a firewood rack. And also, don’t make this key mistake. I used to see it all the time when I was inspecting homes. And that is don’t lean the heap of firewood against the two sides of your house or make it too tight against the side of the members of this house, because it will entice termites and carpenter ants. And they will shoot right into your house to extend their meal from dinner through to dessert.
LESLIE: Yeah. It could be a mess. But you know what? Even though it glances so cute next to the house, precisely don’t put it there.
Alright, guys. Now, when you’re stacking it, you want to pack the firewood snuggly but make sure you leave fairly airflow to minimize the risk of mildew and mildew. And don’t stack it higher than 4 paws unless your rack or nonetheless you’re placing it has back supports.
TOM: Yeah. And by the way, even though they are do have those slope fundings, you want to keep the top of the pile level so it won’t collapse and fail as you’re use it.
And lastly, retain that firewood collected outdoors under a waterproof put-on it is therefore keeps baked. And that will get that flame igniting much more quickly.
888-666-3974. Do you have a home improvement question, a reno question, a remodel question that we can help with? Are to achieve us at 888 -MONEY-PIT or post your question at MoneyPit.com.
LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve get Cheryl in Texas on the line who’s looking to redo a lavatory and make it more modern with really a shower. How can we help you?
CHERYL: Well, I am the mother of four lads and as they get bigger, they no longer like to go into the bathtub.
LESLIE: Right.
TOM: OK.
CHERYL: And we find that they are always in my room, in my shower. We’re wanting to take out the tub that’s in their shower and turn it into a shower. My issue is I don’t have a lot of space. It’s a Hollywood bath and then the tub and toilet are in a separate little area that you can close off. And the door facing- of that little chamber sits right next to the tub itself.
So, my question is- when I pull that bathtub out, the propose was to placed a shower pan down and tile the area and then introduced a glass opening- either a sliding doorway( audio breach) door on there. Will that be a wide-enough space if it’s merely the width of a standard tub?
TOM: Cheryl, I think you definitely got to find a shower go that can fit the thicknes of that tub, sort of elbow to elbow if you’re standing in it. I intend think about it: if you’re in the tub, you’re taking a shower, right? You’ve got apartment on- to the right and to the left of you. So we want a shower pan, essentially, that’s the same size.
Now, when it comes to residential, prefabricated shower washes, “theyre starting” at around 24 x24, so that’s 2-foot-square. That “wouldve been” probably the smaller that you would need but you might be able to go up even bigger.
But a little trick of the swap: if you were to find, for example, that for whatever reason- the course this room is configured- a 24 x24 would not work, then you are able to shop for a smaller shower pan, which you will find, sold for RVs- recreational vehicle. Because they have tiny showers in their own homes, right? And there’s a entire legion of RV shower goes that are smaller than 24 x24. I don’t think you’re going to need it. I think you’ll be fine starting there, maybe even going up.
But the size of the shower pan is what you want to figure out first. Then you can basically build around that, OK? Does that make sense?
CHERYL: Sure, sure. That’s what I want to do. OK.
TOM: Alright, Cheryl. Good luck with that projection. Thanks so much for announcing us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Laurie, you’ve went The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
LAURIE: We have a Chamberlain 1/4 -horsepower garage-door opener and it has no remote.
TOM: OK.
LAURIE: We bought the house as-is, so we have no remote for it. Also, it has a keypad on the outside, which I’m unable to use. So, my question was: if I go to Home Depot or Lowe’s, would a universal remote employment or do I have to call a garage-door company out to sell us a Chamberlain remote and platform it?
TOM: Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you get the model number of the Chamberlain garage-door opener, which is probably etched on the back of the unit, go to the Chamberlain website and get the owner’s manual for the door opener? With that owner’s manual, you should be able to program the keypad. It’ll tell you the liberty string to do that. And likewise, you most probably can find out from Chamberlain precisely which remote is designed to work with that unit.
Now, Chamberlain is a very good company and in fact, they have a new technology that’s called MyQ. And the cool thing about the MyQ technology is you can actually set this MyQ unit in your garage and then you’ll be able to open and close your garage door with your smartphone. So, they’re way ahead of the game on this stuff.
LAURIE: Yeah. That’s what I was going to ask you, too. Is this one too old to do that?
TOM: I think it actually works on every garage-door opener that was built after 1996, so it may not be. It might be fine.
LESLIE: Can’t remember if it’s’ 96 or’ 94.
TOM: Yeah, it goes back over 10 years.
LAURIE: Good. OK. Because this one is about six years old.
TOM: I think that’s how I would advance. I would not just go buy something and hope it acts. I would do the research and you’ll figure it out. OK, Laurie?
LAURIE: OK. I’ll go on their web page. Thank you for the advice.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, for many beings, the shorter and colder dates bring out a event of the blues announced “seasonal affective disorder” and it can impact your attitude, your focus and your force. Now, if that announces familiar, here is one reason to smile. Many kinfolks find that a few cases easy changes in your living space can spruce up your dwelling and your spirits.
TOM: Yep. So, first, improve lighting. Now, one reason that SAD wallops your feeling is your body’s response to the lack of lighting. So, always look for ways to improve the lighting in your residence. Update the light bulbs, remove or shorten space medicines, allow for as much sunshine to get in as possible.
Now, you are able even pick up a UV light that will simulate natural dawn. And that can be helpful in seeing you feel much better.
LESLIE: Now, you might also consider embed an indoor garden. Colorful flowers, even herbs can go a long way toward improving your physical and your mental health. Just make sure to choose a location that comes plenty of sunlight, since most veggies need as much as 6 hours of direct sunlight every day to grow and to thrive.
TOM: And to put a smile on your face from the breast opening, why not add some pick-me-up to that infinite and create your spirits before you step inside? Polish the hardware, swap out a doormat, small changes that lead a long way. New paint on a doorway or brand-new hardware fetching even more freshness to that area.
LESLIE: And eventually, don’t forget to please the most powerful of your senses: your sense of smell. Citrus odors are known to energize and to rejuvenate. And jasmine and grapefruit can ease depression and sadness. Now, use the oils or fragrance or even candles to add that aroma to your living space and you’ll feel so much better.
TOM: For more immense ideas to spruce up your opening for wintertime, visit MoneyPit.com.
LESLIE: Cynthia in New York is on the line and there seems to be a whole host of questions going on with this tile floor. I was going to start itemizing but why don’t you just tell us what’s going on?
CYNTHIA: My house was built in 1948. It’s oak hardwood storeys throughout. I bought 12 -inch-square ceramic tile from Lowe’s in order to put in an area coming in from the front entrance, going through the foyer arena. And last year, I lay- had it installed. And it was during a heavy rainstorm, so the mend parties cut the tiles right inside my house and procreated immense- there was a plaster dust throughout.
And when the installers left, they told me that the grout is advisable to shut, which I did squandering a special spray can. And they said that they would return to finish on the edges to prevent tripping, et cetera, because it was raised slightly higher than the rest of the floors.
After a few weeks, I noticed fluctuation of the tiles and then a pair cracked. And now, all of the tiles move and the grout in the heaviest traveling fields has turned dark-brown when I wet-mop it. The remainder remains white.
TOM: OK. So, Cynthia, let me just summarize this. Essentially, you’ve had this tile down for less than a year and the tiles are getting loose?
CYNTHIA: Yes.
TOM: Alright. So, the installing was not done correctly. The grout- the porosity of the grout- whether it’s getting dark-brown, red, yellowish or blue-blooded I truly don’t care so much about, because that’s all meaningless when the tile is not adhered well.
So the problem here is that the facility sounds like it was done incorrectly. I don’t know how they clung the tiles, I don’t know how they trained the floor but there is no way that tile should be loosening up inside of a year and having all of these problems associated with them. So, this is a situation where it really is the installer’s responsibility. And if you can get that installer back, I think they owe you a brand-new floor.
CYNTHIA: Yeah. I can’t stick one now and stick one there or that sort of thing.
TOM: You’re fighting a losing clash, OK? Because you had – you identified it right away; they started to loosen up right away. Now it’s really getting worse. And the reason the tiles crack is because they’re not subscribed evenly underneath.
So this all comes down to installation. If the storey was put down precisely, those tiles would be rock-solid. Insofar as the grout is concerned, yeah, you do seal the grout. It is a maintenance issue to maintain it. I’m not so concerned about that. It certainly wouldn’t crumble if the tiles were fasten. But that really is the issue. The tiles have to be removed at this point. The adhesive has to be plucked out. You is necessary to have another layer of underlayment. I’m not quite sure, again, how it was attached. And if it’s done correctly, though, it literally can previous indefinitely.
Cynthia , thank you for coming in for calling us at 888 -MONEY-PIT and good luck with that project.
LESLIE: Andrew in Pennsylvania announced a question that I speculate a lot of people can relate to. “I was also necessary quiet down my home office.”
You people, you probably never realise how noisy things were in your live until you invested so much better time in it.
TOM: You all had home offices and nobody else was home.
LESLIE: Right. Truly. Well, Andrew is writing: “Is it possible to insulate an interior wall without removing the drywall? ”
I guess he’s looking to help quiet it down.
TOM: Yeah. And he’s making an assumption that a lot of beings manufacture, Leslie, and that is that insulation silents walls. That insularity by itself is going to sound-deaden and the truth is it doesn’t.
You know, isolation by itself actually doesn’t do very much at all. So, you need to have a better strategy, so I’m going to give you a marry other things that you can think about.
First of all, one style to do this- simple action with existing walls- is to framed a second layer of drywall over the strata of drywall you have right now. And then in between those strata, you’re going to adhere them with a special type of sound-deadening adhesive that is simply known as lettuce glue. And if you Google “green glue for sound, ” you’ll find all the information on this. It mostly appoints that airspace between beds of drywall that helps to absorb all the sound.
Now, the other option is, only if you perhaps doing a new installing, is to add a produce announced QuietRock. And there are other makes that are similar to this but they’re sound-deadening drywall. So, mostly, the drywall itself is designed with a sound-deadening structure sort of were integrated into it.
Now, if you do have the wall framing exposed, to kind of circle back to separation, one type of insulation actually is effective in reducing sound and it’s rock wool. ROCKWOOL has a version that is specifically designed to be a sound-reducing separation. And I’ve actually seen this stuff being revealed at very loud lieu and it get to work jolly darn well. But to do that, of course, you have to tear off the existing wall- the drywall that’s there now- and pretty much start insulating from scratch.
But regular fiberglass merely doesn’t do the trick. You need to use a specialized insulation or to double the drywall that you have right now.
LESLIE: Alright. Next up, we’ve got a post here from Jim in Ohio. Now, Jim writes: “My attic currently has blown-in fiberglass insulation about 5 to 6 inches deep and is ventilated with soffit express and an attic love. I’d like to remove the fiberglass insulation and change it with spray sud. Is it OK to apply spray-in foam to the ceiling joists? And if so, does any of the cable or ductwork or electrical chests have to be protected from the foam? ”
TOM: Well, Jim, I actually did this exact project and the insulation that we had was actually probably close to 6 to 8 inches depth but it was in the storey grade. And it was cooled. And what we decided to do was left that separation in that floor level, because there was no real reason to pull that out. And then, where reference is computed the spray-foam insulation, we did scatter up and around and across the roof rafters, basically. And the reason we can do that is because spray-foam shielded homes mostly turn those attics, who the hell is unconditioned seat, into provisioned cavity. And you don’t need breathing. You don’t have to worry about moisture issues. So, that was clearly the way to go.
But before I did that, I did go through and secured all the loose cables to make sure everything was tidied up. And then we sprayed right on top of everything. So, short answer is yes, you can spray over it but I would make some time to tidy it up first.
LESLIE: Alright, Jim. Good luck with that. Hopefully, your attic will stimulate your mansion nice and cozy.
TOM: This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Hey , thank you so much for spend this part of your daylight with us. We hope that we’ve given you some tips and ideas to take on the DIY projects you’d like to get done. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or whether you’re hiring a pro, you can count on us to help get you started off on the right foot.
For now, that’s all the time we have. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself …
LESLIE: But you don’t have to make love alone.
( Copyright 2021 Squeaky Door Yield, Inc. No portion of this record or audio enter may be reproduced in any format without the express written authorization of Squeaky Door Make, Inc .)
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