Today’s Homeowner Radio Podcast | August 6, 2022

Hour 1
In Hour 1, listen to our tips for matching wooden posts to vinyl, cleansing old wallpaper, and much more.
Matching Wooden Posts to Vinyl

Doug May possibly has a wonderful watch of the Blue Ridge Mountains on his covered again porch. But, the watch of his porch is not as pleasing.
“The higher part has vinyl sleeves more than the leading of the posts. Everything’s protected and it’s wonderful and smooth and white. But down below, it’s just force-treated wood, with all the cracks and gaps,” Doug states.
He wants the wooden guidance posts on the ground to match the white vinyl posts on the porch previously mentioned. What is stopping him from masking the wooden posts with vinyl is the diagonal wood braces. He’s nervous about the trouble of connecting the a lot of vinyl pieces on the diagonals and sealing them.
“What I want is the sleek glance and come to feel of the vinyl on the posts underneath. Is there a way to do that?” Doug asks.
Vinyl sleeves are high-priced! If you want the posts to match, try out this finances-helpful choice:
To start with, clear the wood posts and apply a coat of primer.
Then, use car system filler (like Bondo) to sleek out the cracks. When that dries, flippantly sand the posts.
Then, caulk the parts where by the diagonal braces satisfy the vertical posts.
Eventually, utilize two coats of acrylic latex paint.
After you do this, no just one will know 1 set of posts is vinyl and the other set is not! The acrylic paint will give it a glossy glimpse and seal the joints.
If you determine you want to deal with the posts with vinyl, take away just one write-up at a time, which include the diagonal supports, and connect the vinyl sleeves to just about every piece.
Miter lower the ends of the sleeves to match the diagonal brace posts, and carefully caulk every single seam so h2o doesn’t get in.
Don’t caulk the bottom of the diagonal brace pieces exactly where the wood satisfies the submit. If h2o were being to get within the vinyl, you want it to be equipped to drain out and dry.
How to Clear Outdated Wallpaper

Sandi Knollenburg bought a 100-year-old farmhouse in Bloomington, Sick., 5 decades in the past, and she’s been renovating it little by minor.
Suitable now, she’s doing the job on the stairwell place. The partitions that increase from the to start with floor to the 2nd are lined in wallpaper from the 1960s.
Sandi enjoys the pattern, and the wallpaper is nonetheless in quite good shape! All it desires is a superior cleaning.
So, she wonders, “What’s the best way to clear and maintain the wallpaper?”
Most modern wallpapers have an acrylic or latex coating that will make them washable and, in some circumstances, scrubbable.
Older wallpaper is just plain paper, so you do not want to get it soaked. If you do, it will peel off the wall.
Try these possibilities to get rid of the grime and dust:
- Wipe the wallpaper with a big, dry sponge.
- Use a vacuum cleaner.
- Attach a microfiber cloth to a Swiffer-sort mop for tough-to-get to places.
To clear away skids and scuffs, use a gum eraser. You can get these at an art offer retailer.
Another choice is a dry Magic Eraser. If that does not get the job done, evenly dampen it.
Hour 2
In Hour 2, understand how to prevent wooden rot in a shower window, take out sediment from drinking water, and more.
Guarding a Wooden Window Frame in a Shower

A caller requirements suggestions on tiling all-around a window in his shower. The wood body sticks out somewhat, so he simply cannot tile above it.
“What do you do to address that to make it so that the drinking water is not harmful that wood and leading to wood rot?” he asks. “And a lot more importantly, (guarantee) that water is not getting at the rear of that and leading to damage to the shower?”
A good deal of older houses have this trouble. Ordinarily, at a person position in time, the toilet had just a tub with a window higher than it. Then someplace alongside the way, a shower was installed.
I’ve seen a large amount of home owners place a shower curtain around the window, but hardly ever does that previous lengthy.
To secure the wood frame from drinking water destruction, encapsulate the window frame with the tile.
Before you lay the tile, be sure to caulk and paint the body. Bring the tile up to the wooden and then overlap extra tile above the window frame. This will shield the frame from the drinking water and give it a great, pronounced look.
If water can nevertheless strike it specifically, set up a water resistant window.
To wholly eliminate any probability of wood rot, remove the window and swap it with a vinyl a person.
Sediment in H2o

Pablo Sandoval in Willow Creek, Calif., is unwell of sediment in his h2o. His property draws water from a deep nicely and all wastewater flows into a septic tank.
“For most of the calendar year, the h2o provide is superior, but each individual summer months we have a problem with sediment that clogs aerators at sinks and showerheads. In addition, the washing device will take forever to fill with water. What can we do to reduce these problems?” he asks.
Sediment challenges are additional repeated in the summer season simply because h2o degrees are ordinarily decrease. There is considerably less water but the exact same total of sediment in the system, so it finds its way to the pump and into your dwelling.
You’ll have to have to have a nicely drinking water contractor consider a search at your pump. You could have to have a new screening.
Also, below are two choices to consider:
- Have a h2o very well contractor set up a sand separator on your pump. This device employs centrifugal force to push dust, sand and particles outward to the separator wall and downward in a spiral motion. The cleaned water then rises and returns back to your plumbing technique.
- Install a sediment filter in your property. There are many unique choices obtainable, but we propose the Braukmann Reverse rinsing fantastic filter.
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Simple Methods

Enhanced Soap Dispenser — Kitchen area-sink soap dispensers keep these types of a little amount of liquid cleaning soap that it requires you to constantly refill the reservoir bottle. Here’s a better alternative:
- Elevate off the hand pump from the dispenser, pull off the plastic fill tube, and change it with a prolonged adaptable quarter-inch-diameter tubing.
- Feed the reverse finish of the tubing down through the hole in the sink deck and position it in a significant jug of liquid cleaning soap.
Now you will under no circumstances have to refill the dispenser basically exchange the soap jug after it is empty.
Watch: Cleaning soap Dispenser Filling Tip

Smooth Slash in Vinyl Siding — When using a gap noticed to drill via vinyl siding, run the drill in reverse. That way, the hole observed will generate a nice thoroughly clean hole with no rough edges.
The moment you reduce by means of the siding, swap the drill to forward and bore by the wall sheathing.
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