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Ask This Old House - Season 24 - Episode 03: Houseplant Soil; Spot Point Brick
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00:05On Ask This Old House, our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house.
00:17Today, does your furniture have water stains?
00:21Tommy gives a few tips on ways to remove them.
00:24Look at that, huh?
00:25Then, Jen discusses the importance of soil selection when choosing houseplants.
00:32And, Mark helps a homeowner repoint their brick floor.
00:36You can see water got in and eroded it.
00:40All that on Ask This Old House.
00:49Uh-oh, Tommy, I didn't do it. Did you leave a wet glass on the table?
00:53Somebody did it. It was either a hot cup of coffee or a glass that was all sweating with water.
01:00Somebody does it a million times a day. A big problem.
01:03Oh, it's amazing.
01:03Please tell me you've got some, like, Tommy magic that's going to make these disappear before you get in trouble.
01:07Well, there's no magic way to make it totally disappear unless you're going to refinish the top.
01:12Right.
01:12In other words, it could get it completely gone or it'd just make a big difference.
01:16Okay.
01:17And this one here is first solution. This is actually vinegar.
01:21Really?
01:21Yeah, and you'd take the vinegar and you'd actually put it right on the stain.
01:25Oh, it just made me wince. Vinegar?
01:27Yeah.
01:28I think a vinegar is aggressive. Like, I use it outside to kind of get mildew off my bulkhead and
01:33I even kill weeds with it.
01:34You're putting it on grandma's table?
01:35Yeah, I mean, it is very aggressive and you're right, it does work great on weeds and stuff like that.
01:42The idea is to put it on the stain and then just let it sit there a little bit.
01:47And you don't want to sit there too long, I guess. Vinegar is great for removing minerals.
01:52So a water stain, it actually leaves some deposits of minerals behind?
01:56Yeah, it'll go after the water stain that was left.
02:01Right.
02:02I think it's removed.
02:03It looks like it faded a little bit.
02:04Yeah.
02:04So...
02:05I feel like it's better.
02:06Yeah.
02:07And then, to blend the finish back in, take some olive oil, put a little bit of olive oil on
02:13there.
02:14Wait a second. So, vinegar and olive oil is your solution. You're making a salad here, Pops?
02:19It's going to be like a salad, yeah.
02:20What's the deal with the olive oil?
02:22Well, the olive oil is basically to replace the finish. It should blend it in.
02:28Oh, like a, like literally like a, give it a glass. Oh my gosh.
02:33But that's a big difference right there.
02:35That's like 90% better. Grandma's going to be happy.
02:37Yeah.
02:39All right. So there's one. I think it worked pretty good.
02:42Yeah.
02:43All right.
02:44All right. So a little bit more aggressive here. Another circular stain.
02:47Yeah. We're definitely going to be a little more aggressive. This is one part water and
02:51two parts baking soda. We'll put it together and we'll mix it up.
02:58I've seen this trick used on like stone. What is the idea here? Um, you know, when I think
03:04of it on a stone, I think of it as sort of like almost absorbing it. What do you think's
03:09going on here?
03:10Well, I think the baking soda is basically like a fine stone. So it can be a little aggressive.
03:16And the water, I think it's just getting into the stain itself, allowing everything to soak
03:21together.
03:22So a bit of an abrasive, a bit of an absorbent.
03:25Yeah. And so we let that set for a couple of minutes.
03:29Okay. I'll take that cup from you.
03:31All right. And another one that a lot of people use.
03:35That's pretty aggressive right there. Big, wide.
03:38Yeah.
03:38Is we'll take a cotton rag. We'll set it on top of the stain.
03:44Mm-hmm.
03:44We'll take a hot iron.
03:46Whoa.
03:46All right.
03:47Hot iron.
03:47We want to make sure the iron is hot. We don't want it to be too hot. So we want
03:53to heat it up.
03:56Do you know what the original finish was? I mean, obviously someone painted it or, or.
04:01This looks like a lacquer. It feels like a lacquer.
04:03Lacquer on top of stain, lacquer on top.
04:05Yeah, they probably stained it.
04:06And then there's a, there's a lacquer.
04:09Lacquer is a pretty common finish. We got to get it hot, but we don't want to overheat it because
04:13we don't want to melt the lacquer.
04:15These are, these are tricks, I presume, when you've got a film finish on top as opposed to like a
04:21bare wood.
04:22Yeah. Now, I don't think this would work if you used a water-based finish.
04:26Right.
04:27Uh, but your oil bases or your lacquer base would probably work pretty good.
04:34Wow, that's really working.
04:35Slowly working.
04:36So let it sit. And now I'm going to take a, a clean rag and we're going to rub this
04:40around, see how this is working out.
04:42Can I iron while you do that?
04:44Yeah.
04:44Or do you think this has gone far enough?
04:46Yeah, I think you should iron it a little bit. Just don't get it hot, hot.
04:51I'm going to leave this paste there. I can still see that the ring is here on this.
04:55The goal probably is not perfection to make them disappear. That might be too much to ask without completely refinishing
05:01it.
05:01Well, you'd like to remove as much as possible, but can you get it all away?
05:06You're dealing with the finish that has been damaged a little bit from the water or the hot coffee or
05:12tea or whatever it is.
05:14And then you're trying to replace it a little bit.
05:17Right.
05:17Or blend it.
05:20So this.
05:21Look at that.
05:22But that is dramatically diminished actually.
05:24Yeah.
05:26Check that out. Mine's almost gone too.
05:29Yeah. You notice we also dulled the finish a little bit right here.
05:32So what are you going to do about the dulled?
05:34Well, I'm going to put some furniture polish on mine, see how that works.
05:37Can I, can I tap mine with a little bit of olive oil?
05:40Absolutely.
05:42Let's see what happens here.
05:44Oh my gosh.
05:46Oh, that's a big difference over there.
05:48Grandma's never going to know.
05:50Look at this.
05:51We are totally getting away with this.
05:53Look at that, huh?
05:55Oh, look at yours.
05:58Yep.
06:00Almost perfection, not quite, but almost perfection.
06:03A lot better than it was.
06:04A lot better than it was.
06:21Hey, Jen.
06:22Hey, Kevin.
06:23I love it when you bring me inside, especially to places as beautiful as this.
06:26I know.
06:27We're here today because I get so many questions on how to take care of houseplants, right?
06:31Put me on the list.
06:32Well, number one, I think one of the most important things is soil.
06:36The soil medium that each different houseplant is mixed in.
06:40So I shouldn't just take a shovel full of something outside and put it for my houseplants?
06:43No, they require, they really want to mimic their natural environment where they are outside in this world.
06:48So now bringing it to the indoors, we have three different categories.
06:52We have epiphytes, aeroids, cactus, and succulents.
06:56I've heard of those.
06:57I have no idea what these are.
06:58What's an epiphyte?
06:59So an epiphyte is a plant that lives on another plant.
07:03It has a symbiotic relationship.
07:05It's not a parasite.
07:06So this is a common one.
07:07It's an orchid.
07:08See the roots, right?
07:10They're just hanging out there.
07:11Yeah, so if you could picture it growing on a tree, they're going to wrap themselves around any kind of
07:16chunky material.
07:17And so you want to recreate that indoors.
07:19And the soil medium that you would use for that, they really appreciate a chunky mix, right?
07:25Check that out.
07:26That's sphagnum moss.
07:27Oh, yeah.
07:28Bulky, but very light.
07:29Yep.
07:30This is called perlite.
07:31Oh, yeah.
07:31I'm used to seeing it smaller, but same idea.
07:33Right.
07:34So these larger chunks just promote air circulation within the soil and great drainage.
07:38And this is all from coconut husk, right?
07:41Mm-hmm.
07:42So these plants go in here, and then they're going to love that environment.
07:45When you water them, it gets enough water, holds onto it, but it doesn't have standing water.
07:51So you want to make sure that these can drain whatever water you put on them.
07:54Exactly.
07:55All right.
07:55So here, for fertilizer, we have, it's a water-soluble fertilizer, but this one you apply just the drops directly
08:03onto the plant,
08:04and just read the package according to the pot size.
08:06So you're not actually diluting this with regular water.
08:09You're just going to put it right to them.
08:10Correct.
08:11And then you'll be able to get your feeding scheduled by the instructions they give you.
08:14Okay.
08:17Aeroids?
08:18Aeroids.
08:18What's an aeroid?
08:19Aeroids.
08:19Very common houseplant.
08:20This is called Alocasia.
08:22This one is called Anthurium.
08:23They're generally a more leafy plant.
08:26Very common.
08:27You know, there's also pothos.
08:28There's figs.
08:30They're determined by the spadix, right?
08:33So this is the flower that comes out in the plant, but they require a little different mix.
08:39They need more organic material.
08:41So when you say organic, this looks more like dirt.
08:44I know you guys don't call it that, but that's the soil, more traditional looking.
08:48Exactly.
08:49What's the other stuff?
08:50So the black stuff, it's charcoal.
08:52So again, volume, but very light right there.
08:55Creates nice space, nice void, and then perlite.
08:59This is more of the size than I'm used to seeing it in right there.
09:03So this is appropriate for this type of plant.
09:05Another popular thing to add to the soil.
09:07You know, you could create your own mix, or you could add these things called lecca balls.
09:12Oh, wow.
09:13Also very light.
09:14Yep.
09:15They're made of clay.
09:16It's like a malt ball for plants.
09:18But they add air into the soil.
09:20This make bigger voids, so you're not going to have a wet, wet environment.
09:24And then you've got different fertilizers for these.
09:27So water soluble.
09:29This one you add to water, so there's a mixture, like 10 to 1.
09:32You know, just read the package, look at the size of your plant, and then you get your recipe.
09:36And what are these?
09:38This is a slow-release fertilizer.
09:40Check the package amount.
09:41If you put a teaspoon on, you sprinkle it around the plants, and over time, it dissipates and breaks.
09:46Either or?
09:47Exactly.
09:47Either or.
09:48All right.
09:49So succulent cacti, I think of these often as kind of bulletproof, because they don't die when I don't water
09:54them.
09:55Yes.
09:55These are good plants for you.
09:57So this is a prickly pear cactus.
09:59This is called an echeveria.
10:01It's a very popular succulent.
10:04They, think of where they grow, in the desert, right?
10:07They want to have well-drained soil, but they like sandy soil.
10:11See the difference?
10:12Oh, yeah.
10:13Oh, yeah.
10:14Very fine.
10:15It's dark color, but it feels like sand.
10:17It doesn't quite look like it, but it feels like sand.
10:18And so it'll capture the water, but it'll also run right through so it's not in standing water.
10:23And then this is a perlite.
10:25Okay.
10:25And then we also have the coconut.
10:27So it just adds different textures, and the roots grab on and around.
10:31And so succulents, they store their water in their leaves, so you don't have to water them as often as
10:36the others.
10:37And what are they doing here?
10:38Is this a concentrate, or is this direct add?
10:40This, you mix, again, just like the aeroids, you mix this with water, and then follow the content, the recipe
10:46on the package.
10:47Okay.
10:47And then, yeah.
10:48So a lot of beautiful choices, and each one of these categories has probably got, you know, an infinite number
10:52of plants.
10:53It starts with the soil.
10:54Get that right.
10:55If you start with the soil, you're on a good start.
10:57Next step, you determine light.
10:59Okay.
10:59But that's a whole other thing.
11:01Well, bring me back.
11:01Let's talk about that, too.
11:03All right.
11:03Sounds good.
11:09Hey, Joe.
11:10Mark.
11:11Thanks for coming.
11:12All right.
11:12Thanks for having me out.
11:13So you wrote me about a breezeway, correct?
11:15I did.
11:15It's right here.
11:16All right.
11:16Some mortar joints are loose.
11:18Yeah.
11:18It needs a lot of work, I think.
11:19Okay.
11:21All right, Mark.
11:22All right.
11:22Here it is.
11:23Here's the patient.
11:24Okay.
11:25Yeah.
11:26So as you can see, we've lost a lot of mortar.
11:29Right.
11:29You know, it's very soft, and then there's holes.
11:32These, we had screens on at one point, and so you can see water got in and eroded it.
11:39Right.
11:40It's so soft that I swept up a bunch of stuff over time, and you can see that it's just
11:47a
11:47clump of sand.
11:48Yeah.
11:48So in my experience, this happens when you don't properly wet the surrounding brick before
11:53applying the mortar.
11:54If you skip that step, the moisture gets sucked out of the mortar as it dries, and you're left
11:58with what we call dusty mortar.
12:01I do see all the problems, and the good news is, Joe, that we can fix them all.
12:06We're going to use a method that we call spot pointing.
12:09I think the floor is in really good shape in a general sense.
12:13You can see the depth in this course right here is really low.
12:15We're going to fix that.
12:17You can see the discoloration and the patchwork that someone also tried to do.
12:21Right.
12:22We're going to be able to match the joints perfectly, and everything is going to look
12:25seamless.
12:26Oh, I can't wait.
12:27All right.
12:28Why don't we get going?
12:28All right.
12:29All right.
12:29Let's go.
12:34All right, Joe.
12:35So the first thing we're going to want to do is remove the unmatched material.
12:40We're going to want to deepen these joints right here.
12:43You can see this area that we have right here.
12:45This is what we're going to try to mimic.
12:47I always tell people when in Rome, be a Roman, right?
12:51So you can see the finish on this joint.
12:53We're going to mimic that.
12:54But more importantly, we're going to mimic the depth.
12:57So you can see how this mortar comes right up on the edge of these bricks.
13:01That's what we're going to want to do in this area as well.
13:03So we're going to get started with a hammer and a chisel.
13:06If we do need a grinder, we have one in the truck.
13:08We'll use that.
13:09But again, as you pointed out, these joints are soft enough where I think we're going to
13:13be able to use a hammer and a chisel.
13:15Okay.
13:15Let's start chipping out this old mortar.
13:18Joe, as we're doing this, one of the most important things is we want you to stay off
13:22the edge of that brick with your chisel.
13:24Just like this, you sneak it in, hammer.
13:29You can see that the mortar is really soft.
13:58So, Mark, I just have a question.
13:59Sure.
14:00How far should I go?
14:03I don't want to go too far.
14:04So you don't want to go too deep, but you want to go at least three quarters of an inch.
14:08That's standard for repointing.
14:10If you can get down an inch, I like it more because the mortar just becomes stronger that
14:14we put in.
14:18Another thing I want to point out, Joe, is you're in that perfect spot right there.
14:23We could spot point that, but it is a little bit too big for a spot point.
14:26So what I do in that instance is I go at least the width of the brick.
14:30So I go from here to here, and then when we put the patch in, it's going to be less
14:35noticeable.
14:35Perfect.
14:38And I'm going to do that as well.
14:45Okay, let's clean up the dust with that vac, and then we'll use a wet brush.
14:48Okay.
14:56No one can vacuum like me, man.
14:58No one.
14:59No one, Joe.
15:00You're the best I've seen.
15:04You can push it with the broom once I have enough.
15:07Now, what we're doing now, Joe, is we're cleaning the dust off of these masonry joints in brick.
15:15Very important for bonding.
15:19But the other thing, this is a step that they skipped the first time around.
15:22So if we don't dampen the brick, it's going to suck the water out of the mortar, and that's
15:28what made it so brittle to begin with.
15:29It is really sucking it up.
15:31It's really sucking it up, so you can see what I'm talking about.
15:34Yep.
15:40We call this thirsty mortar, Joe.
15:43Indeed.
15:44It is thirsty.
15:46All right, so Joe, before we apply the mortar back into the joints, I want to just show you
15:52what we have, okay?
15:54This is Portland cement.
15:55All Portland cement mixed with sand will make a type S or a type N, which is what we have
16:01in front of us.
16:01The lighter color is type N. The darker color is type S. Type S, think strength, so elevator
16:08shafts, stair shafts, retaining wall, foundation.
16:12Type N is what we strictly use for brick work.
16:15It gives a little bit of movability to the brick because everything's a natural material.
16:20Don't forget.
16:20Sounds good to me.
16:21Yep.
16:22Looks like it's going to be a good match.
16:23Yeah, yeah.
16:24And you'll see once we get it wet, we'll do a little comparison and we'll make sure.
16:28But I think that's the one we should use.
16:30That's great.
16:30Let's get going.
16:32So, Joe, we have our type N mortar mixed and ready to go.
16:37I do want to add one more element.
16:39This is called bonding agent.
16:45And I just spread it out like this in the tub.
16:48This is one bag of type N and we just use eight ounces of bonding agent.
16:54So, if you want to grab your trowel right there, Joe, all we need you to do is just spin
16:59it into the mix.
17:06That's it.
17:07And you know you're done when you don't see it anymore.
17:12Why are we putting the bonding agent in?
17:14I like to use it, especially on repair jobs.
17:17It helps bond to the existing mortar and it also helps bond to the brick.
17:21Hence the name bonding agent.
17:24And it seems to be mixed in, Joe.
17:27Watch what I do in this tub, Joe.
17:28You see how I'm spreading this out?
17:32Because I'm going to make a grab.
17:34This is the first joint that I'm going to go for.
17:36So, I'm going to estimate what I'm going to take out of the tub and put it on my trowel
17:40just like that.
17:42But I want to get deep and shake it.
17:46The most important thing right now, Joe, is to make sure when you fill these joints, we're going as neat
17:53as possible.
17:55Yeah, and if anything is to get on a brick like when I do it, you just want to, what,
18:01get it off with a rag or something?
18:02Nope, we're going to let it sit because we're going to come back with a sponge when we're all done.
18:08And we're going to clean it up.
18:13We're going to want to come back with our flat joiner.
18:16Yeah.
18:16That's what this is.
18:17And they're made to really, really press the new mortar into existing.
18:22And you can see me wiggle it just a little bit, Joe.
18:25I like to do that to make sure I'm making a connection with the old and new mortar.
18:33And you can see that between these brick, it became a little tight.
18:37Yep.
18:37So, that's when I'm going to rotate my flat joiner.
18:40And I'm going to make sure I push the new mortar right down into the existing.
19:09Okay, Joe, so now we're taking the heavy stuff off.
19:16Let's get all this into a pile.
19:23Now, Joe, one of the things that's going to help us mimic existing is me taking a little bit off
19:30the edge of each brick to expose it because that's what we have as existing.
19:37And you're going to see in one minute when we start the sponging, you're going to see what it does.
19:45It's like being a sculptor.
19:46It kind of is, you know.
19:49So, okay, Joe, we're getting to the part where we're going to use the sponge.
19:53And what that does for us is strictly aesthetics.
19:56And it pulls the aggregate out of the mortar and exposes it.
20:00And, again, that's what we have for existing.
20:02We take the cream off the top of the joint.
20:05I see.
20:06And that leaves us the sand.
20:13This is fantastic.
20:15Looks great.
20:16So, I think we did enough here.
20:19Yeah, I thought we were done, but I see you still have some stuff in your hand.
20:23So, I'm going to leave you with a little bit of homework.
20:25With the two open ends, when you have the screens on, weather can come inside.
20:29This sealer is going to help you waterproof these two areas.
20:32But I think most importantly is the fact that some of the sand still comes up.
20:37So, once we apply the sealer, all that goes away.
20:41So, if we get down in this area right here, Joe, which is dry, the reason we can't do the
20:46rest of the floor today is because it's wet.
20:48But I'm going to show you in this little area, but I'm going to show you in this little area.
20:50We're going to use this water-based sealer.
20:53And then, very simply unscrew the cap, pour it into a regular paint dish.
21:04That's plenty.
21:07Regular paintbrush.
21:10I like to saturate that brush, Joe.
21:16And then, I always do my joints first because you'll see that that mortar, which again is dry, really, really
21:26sucks up the product.
21:27But this is how simple it is, Joe.
21:29I can handle simple.
21:30Yeah.
21:31You know, it's got a little blue tint to it, I mean, as it goes on.
21:34Yes, right.
21:36And it's completely transparent, 100% invisible.
21:39Yeah.
21:40So, as it dries, all of that goes away.
21:43And as I said, I'm going to let this sit just a tad.
21:52And because this is a floor, Joe, I'm going to ask you to do two coats right off the bat.
22:01And do you let it dry to a certain extent between, or you just go right at it?
22:05Yeah, I would probably wait 24 hours before the second coat.
22:10I have a lot of confidence in you, Joe.
22:14So, I'm going to hand it right off to you.
22:16Woo!
22:17Let you finish up.
22:18Yeah, yeah, but I think you're ready.
22:20So, remember, have a good time with it.
22:23And it's going to come out great.
22:25I can't thank you.
22:26My pleasure to be here, man.
22:28Such a great job.
22:28Okay, Joe.
22:29And if you have questions about your house, we'd love to hear from you.
22:33So, keep them coming.
22:34Until then, I'm Mark McCullough for Ask This Old House.
22:42Next time on Ask This Old House, we learn about the dangers of decibels and the importance
22:48of hearing protection when working with tools.
22:51We got some peaks up above 120 decibels.
22:55Then, it's a team effort when Richard, Heath, and Nathan help a couple relocate
22:59their laundry from the basement to the first floor.
23:02So, we'll be able to dock right onto that.
23:04And we'll just push to you.
23:06Okay.
23:07There we go.
23:08All that on Ask This Old House.
23:40We'll see you next time on Ask This Old House.
23:40you
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