The Property Brothers Live Q&A Event

Laila Ali: Hi everyone. I’m Laila Ali. And on behalf of AARP The Magazine, I want to welcome you to this special live event. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan member organization that has been working to promote health and well-being of older Americans for more than 60 years. One of the most important contributors to our health and well-being is the home that we live in. And a home that was great when you were in our 30s or 40s may need some updates to meet our current or future needs.

We could all use a little guidance to figure out what updates are needed and how to do them. That’s why we’re here tonight. If you’ve watched HGTV’s hit shows Property Brothers: Forever Home and Celebrity IOU, or read the latest issue of AARP The Magazine, you know Drew and Jonathan Scott have so much energy and knowledge to share with us on the home front. And I’m excited that today we, meaning you and I, have the opportunity to ask them for guidance and advice.

If you’ve participated in one of AARP’s live events, you know that you can ask questions live on the phone, or you could add them to the comment section where you’re watching. So if you’re joining us on the phone and would like to ask Drew or Jonathan a question, please press *3 on your telephone to be connected with an AARP staff member who will note your name and question and place you in a queue to ask that question live. And if you’re watching on Facebook, YouTube or aarp.org, you can post your question in the comments.

And now I am very excited to introduce our special guests. Drew and Jonathan are the stars of the Emmy-nominated HGTV series Property Brothers, the New York Times best-selling authors of Builder Brothers Children’s Series, cofounders of Scott Brothers Entertainment, and the coeditorial directors of the lifestyle quarterly magazine Reveal. Through all of their work they love to help families unlock their full potential of their homes. Drew, Jonathan, welcome. You guys are busier than I am.

Jonathan Scott: Thank you so much for having us.

Drew Scott: We should combine forces. You can be our property sister.

Laila Ali: I love it. I would love to do that because I’m a big fan myself, and I cannot wait to hear what you have to share. Thank you so much for being with us today. You have years of experience helping people realize their dreams at home. You always share useful and creative ideas on your shows and in the pages of your lifestyle magazine Reveal. Can you share about three or four easy affordable fixes or upgrades anyone can do to make their home safer, efficient and comfy for the years ahead?

Drew Scott: I think the one thing that always comes to mind …  so a lot of people, when they’re trying to improve their space, they think hard renovation, and that’s not necessarily  the case. But one thing we do try to say is, look at what you have. Most people have way more stuff than they need. So first off, look at maybe minimizing a little bit of what you have for actual furniture, decor. But then lighting and paint can make a huge difference. Look at a new light fixture that can lighten up your space; a brighter space feels bigger, a lighter coat of paint on the walls can make the space feel fresh and it doesn’t cost a lot of money.

Jonathan Scott:  I think some of the stuff like that, they’re easy sort of weekend projects you can tackle. I used to always bribe people to come over and have a painting party, where I’d have some pizza and maybe some wine.

Drew Scott: He would bribe people by saying, come on over — pizza and drinks. I’ll supply all that. You come help. So we paint the whole room. At the end of the day, it was a jug of water and a personal pan pizza this big.

Jonathan Scott: But I got the painting done. So things like that. But also you can do a faux mantle, which is kind of nice to break up your fireplace feature, and something like that is really, really easy to install. And it’s nice, too, to have somewhere that you can put some decor pieces or pictures of family, too.

Drew Scott: A focal point in the room. And depending on how much space you have, you can also look at nesting furniture, something that might be able to collapse a little bit. It’d just be the size of a table, but if you have guests over you can pull pieces out for seating.

Jonathan Scott:  Tons of ideas.

Laila Ali: Those are some really great suggestions. I, for one, know that I have way too much stuff. That’s one thing that always makes a difference when you clean up, and it just makes you feel so good to get rid of items. So I’m going to start with that for myself before I start thinking about big renovations. I love that.

This is a super important topic for AARP, and they have several resources to help people make their home a place they can live in as they age. In fact, a new AARP resource — the Home Fit Guide — suggests the kinds of modifications that can be implemented so a home can become safer, more comfortable and better fit for people to live in at all ages. And best yet, it’s free. This new guide will be released on Sept. 9. If you’re listening or watching today, you have the opportunity to preorder your copy by visiting aarp.org/HomeFit.  

Drew, Jonathan, I have a few more questions for you related to purchasing a home. That’s the first one that I want to focus on. Are you ever too old to buy a condo or forever home? And if you’re downsizing or otherwise on the market, what are the things you should look for in a home for a lifetime? What questions should an older homebuyer be asking?

Jonathan Scott: I think one of the most important things is look at where you are in life, look at what your priorities are. Sometimes people — and you’ll see this on our show Forever Home — will downsize into their forever home because … maybe if you’re empty nesters or your lifestyle has changed. You don’t need to spend all of the extra money on maintaining an oversized house, but you want to make sure that you have a house that fits perfectly  for your needs. Our philosophy is that your home should make your life easier. And so only you can decide. And that’s the first step on our show; we make a list with our homeowners. You can decide how your home could make your life easier.

Drew Scott: Downsizing, if you’re empty nesters, it should never feel like you’re sacrificing your lifestyle, you’re sacrificing what you love for your design aesthetic, your function in your home. One thing, what we do say to people, if they are looking at a condo, if they’re looking to buy …  like anyone buying a condo, the first thing you want to make sure is the strata itself;  you want to make sure it’s healthy. So do they have a healthy contingency fund? Is all the work that’s been done — is it done properly, has it been permitted properly?

Jonathan Scott: Yes, the work … is it permitted? That’s always an important thing.

Drew Scott: It’s an important thing. You can also, if you’re getting your unit, get an inspection done. Even if it’s a brand new condo or home, still get an inspection done. And to be honest that’s what I love about AARP, that they’re so great for information. There’s so much information for you guys out there, but new homes, old homes can all have those problems. So that’s your start as you’re looking, as you’re getting into buying a place.

Laila Ali: That’s really great advice. I hope you’re all listening because I know I am. Now I have one more question for you before we get some of our callers’ questions. And I know many of you are anxious to ask questions.

Now Drew, Jonathan. Home improvements aren’t just about drywall or tile, right? They often require balancing emotional wants with practical needs. What are the most overlooked practical needs and what emotional wants add the least value and most value to a home?

Jonathan Scott: First of all, this is a great segue to our new potential series, because we feel that sometimes we are like marriage counselors. And so that would be our new show, DIY Divorce. Uh, no. We always think it’s funny, ‘cause when you take two people who have their own interests and their own design styles, how you get that to meet? There is always a solution. In fact, that’s why you see a lot of transitional designs on our shows, because it’s blending two different styles of design into one. We try and think of it this way, to think of the priority rooms for each individual. So if one of the people in the household is really the chef, they’re the person that’s always in the kitchen and they’re preparing the meals; maybe that person gets a little more say in the kitchen space or the final say, and vice versa if it’s for the bedrooms and for the living rooms and things like that. But always make sure that everyone has a vote.

Drew Scott: And also keep in mind, too, if you’re thinking of those overlooked areas, storage is one of the biggest things that people overlook all the time when they’ll buy a place. They fall in love with the kitchen, or maybe there’s the main bedroom suite [that’s] just spalike — the bathroom in there. But then they don’t think of storage — your closets, having actual organization systems in your closets, some sort of an organization solution that can give you so much peace of mind. So make sure to look at how many closets a house has, where you could add storage, or maybe even on the side of one of your rooms — you can add a breakfast, a bar, an extra side pantry or something for storage.

Jonathan Scott: The one thing we are finding during this pandemic, a lot of people are spending time at home. And now that they’re on top of each other, they’re really seeing how the house either does or does not function. And so we get so many comments online from people saying, “I need a solution. I need it fast.”

Drew Scott: My spouse is driving me crazy.

Jonathan Scott: Yeah.

Drew Scott: Or my kids are.

Jonathan Scott: I used to want all-open concept, but now I need an office at home or something like that. That’s why we put in Reveal, our magazine … we always have different ideas as well for people to get a little bit more out of home. … One of our articles in the “Chill” issue of Reveal is “20 Ways to Relax.” It’s about getting … whether you have kids, getting them to put down the smart phones; whether it’s about with your spouse, finding ways to break the norm, make your housework for you or find simple solutions.

The other thing, too, that we were thinking of doing with you guys, and you can write this down and you can do it later. Text me your thoughts. I actually have put my cellphone number out. If anyone wants to text me their thoughts about what a solution is they need for home, I’ve been answering probably about 50 to a 100 messages a day, trying to get as many people as I can. But if you text #AARP to me, my number is (702) 707-6046. Use #AARP. And then let me know what’s not functioning in your home. We’re going to try and answer as many people as we can. And we’ve got something special for you, too.

Drew Scott: So between us, between AARP, I know you’re commenting and everyone’s ... we’re going to get to you guys. We have so many ways to answer your questions.

Laila Ali: That’s amazing. That’s a wonderful resource that you’re offering to people, really that is.

Jonathan Scott: No prank calls.

Laila Ali: Oh, OK. I might do some of that myself. That’d be fun, just to mess with you, but I’m just joking. I promise I won’t use your number in that way. So now it’s time to take some of your questions. I would like to welcome a Jean Setzfand to our discussion to help facilitate your calls. Welcome, Jean.

Jean Setzfand: Thanks Laila. Delighted to be here.

Laila Ali: Jean, let’s see who our first question is coming from for Drew and Jonathan.

Jean Setzfand: I’m a little biased by this name, but we’re going to take a call from Jean from New York.

Drew Scott: There’s another Jean.

Jean: I have a high ranch and it’s … we’re 65 and 66, and I keep telling my husband, this is not going to be good for the long term. But the thing is, I love my ranch, I love my high ranch, I love my house. I love that my grandkids can be here and play in the yard and the pool, but it’s not accessible when we have knee surgery or whatever. So I don’t know if you have an idea how to make a high ranch more accessible in times where we have either temporary or permanent disability.

Jonathan Scott: Every house has a unique problem or circumstance that needs to be overcome. And so one of the things we found is — depending on how many stairs there are, how many levels — you want to remove as many trip hazards as possible first of all, but you also want to make sure you have very well-lit areas, because what looks like maybe just one or two steps can become treacherous if all of a sudden the lighting is not very good. I remember we actually … shot something with AARP last year, and it was all about those same sorts of things.

When it comes to staircases … it’s nice, if it’s a ranch it’s a good thing because most of your living spaces are on one level. Try and find the path you use the most. And so for some people it’s coming up the driveway and then coming in the back of the house. You can do a long slow ramp, and you can do something that is aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes people don’t want to have that on the front of the house. Otherwise, if you live in a house, for somebody else who does have multiple levels, really the only option is to install some sort of a mobility device to get up and down the stairs safely.

Drew Scott: And also keep in mind, think about what materials you’re using in a space if you’re doing improvements. We actually just renovated a house — if you watched on Celebrity IOU. Melissa McCarthy’s uncle had mobility issues, and he had stairs that he had to go up and down every day and it was slippery tile. So part of what we did is, we replaced the flooring material with something that had a bit more grip to it. Stairs, you can always consider a runner, because that can also help.

Jonathan Scott: And we also installed railings on both sides, even though technically by code, you only have to have railings on both sides if your stairs are over 48 inches wide. But anytime there’s a concern about mobility, it’s safer to have rails on both sides.

Drew Scott: Thanks for the question, Jean.

Laila Ali: That was great. So Jean, who is our next question coming from?

Jean Setzfand: Our next question is actually a video question that was sent in by Michaelene from California.

Michaelene: Hi, Jonathan, hi Drew. My name is Michaelene, and I’m calling from California. My question for you both has to do with space. Since the pandemic has hit, I’ve had to start working from home, and my son is also doing remote learning. My issue is that I do share responsibility of my 93-year-old grandma. So what I’m standing in right now is turned into an office/remote classroom, but it used to be the bedroom where my grandma would sleep when she would stay with me. The problem is the bed that I had in here was a queen-size bed, and with the office desk and the remote learning area for my son, it doesn’t fit anymore. So I need a space that’s functional for myself, for my grandma, and also my son. So any suggestions you guys have on how to create a functional space that meets the needs of all three of us? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

Drew Scott: Well ...

Jonathan Scott: Bunk beds.

Drew Scott: I can tell you right now. Grandma probably isn’t going to like sleeping in the bed as you guys are typing over top of her. But I have a great solution. I actually did this in my spare bedroom — the exact same situation because our family will come and stay with us. I put in a Murphy bed. But I put in a bed that was … a very innovative solution where when it’s up, it actually looks like a bookshelf. …The bed from the bookshelf, it rotates, and then the bed comes down and so everything stays. All the decor stays on the shelf. Jonathan just installed one where it’s actually a sofa, and there’s some side table area, and then the Murphy bed comes down over the sofa. It’s all one piece so you don’t have to move a sofa to bring in the Murphy bed. So look at a solution like that, that can really maximize the use of space.

Jonathan Scott: That was on the Brad Pitt episode of Celebrity IOU. And I always say, if it’s good enough for Brad Pitt, it’s good enough for you.

Laila Ali: I love that. Jean, let’s take some more questions. Who’s our next caller?

Jean Setzfand: Our next caller is Linda from South Carolina.

Drew Scott: Linda is my wife’s name. Great name.

Jonathan Scott: I thought you were going to say it was your wife calling in.

Linda: Hi, this is Linda and I live in a small trailer, and I wondered how I could make my living room look bigger. I need more space in here for people to sit.

Jonathan Scott: And to see you as well, Linda. We want to make sure they can see your smiling face. The most important thing when it comes to a smaller space is light. You want to ensure that you have lots of both natural light and you can do something like recessed lights, or a light fixture. But also having surfaces that are going to help bounce that light around. So sometimes you’ll notice [that] if you have dark floors, dark furniture, dark cabinets, dark walls … it sucks all the light out of the room. Lighter surfaces always bounce that light around. So that’s the most important thing. And then decluttering, I would say is the next thing. Making sure that you don’t have really thick, bulky furniture that’s going to make everything feel like it’s closing in on you.

Drew Scott: And as Jonathan has mentioned, too, reflective surfaces. Consider if you have a nice decorative mirror that you can place somewhere, too, that can help you elongate the space as well. So thank you for the question.

Laila Ali: That was a great question. Can you tell the callers your text number again, just in case anyone missed it?

Jonathan Scott: If anyone wants to text me, just text #AARP to (702) 707-6046.

Drew Scott: I’m going to steal his phone and I’m going to answer all the questions.

Jonathan Scott: I will get a lot of questions, so bear with me because I can’t respond to all of them, and it’ll take a little bit of time, but I will try. And then I’ve got something special that I’ll send to you on Saturday as well.

Laila Ali: Thank you for that. Jean, let’s take some more questions. Who’s our next caller?

Jean Setzfand: We actually have a ton of questions coming in from both YouTube and Facebook. So I have two questions that are kind of similar. One coming in from Linda, who’s asking … and both of them are about resale value. Linda’s asking, “Painting my house for sale. I have white ceilings. What’s the best wall color?” And there’s another question similar to that: Andrea is asking, “Would it be better for resale value of a home to carpet a bedroom or use bamboo hardwood floors?”

Drew Scott: That’s a great question. So when you’re thinking of value in your home, the one about the light ceiling, lighter walls are still a great thing. When you’re looking at such a large surface area like your walls, you don’t want to go too dark, even in a really big space. It’s more preferred to keep it light. More buyers would prefer a lighter feel. And then if you want some dark pop, you just add some decor pieces or other elements that can help bring that contrast.

Jonathan Scott: Here’s also a little builder tip. If you are painting out your walls, if you use a flat paint, it hides imperfections. So the more glossy you go — if you do like it a semigloss or something like that, or an eggshell — it can actually reflect some of those imperfections.

Drew Scott: And one other thing would be the carpet versus a solid surface that you’re talking about. Definitely, I would personally suggest moving away from carpet, because what most people want nowadays is a solid surface flooring, a hardwood, or you can even have, if it’s a high traffic area, you can have a … there’s a vinyl product, you can get a luxury vinyl that looks exactly like hardwood, way more durable. You can get plank style porcelain as well. But then you can put an area rug in the room to define different spaces.

Jonathan Scott: A couple of tips I may as well give you if you are putting down hardwood flooring. I actually have a minimum standard document that I give to all our subtrades, and some of the things are — the best way to lay the floors, if you can, is to glue and nail. That means you don’t get that hollow knocking sound underneath it. But also make sure you never have any of your ends lining up. There should never be an end within six inches of another one or two rows over. It makes for a very natural look.

Drew Scott: And if you run the length of the house, whatever direction that might be, it will actually make the whole space feel bigger.

Laila Ali: I love those answers. Jean, can we take some more questions? Who’s our next caller?

Jean Setzfand: Absolutely. This is a Dean calling in from Oregon.

Laila Ali: Hi, Dean.

Dean: Hello.

Drew Scott: Don’t be shy, Dean. How are you?

Dean: I’m going to be doing a major upgrade to my house, and I want to keep in mind a universal access so that it’ll work for me as I go through all of the later years. So, with the doorways, how high to make steps, shower, all those kinds of things.

Jonathan Scott: So one of the things you can do … sometimes people are looking to be completely ADA compliant, but often you don’t need to be fully ADA compliant. But there are things you can do that just make accessibility a heck of a lot easier. One is making sure that you have wider doorways. So that’s an important one. Look at the height of your counters and the style of counters that you’re doing in your bathrooms, because depending on whether or not there’s going to need to be wheelchair accessibility, you want to ensure that they’re near the sink, that there’s an area for knees to go below. All of that, if you go online, you can Google what those minimum standards are so that it’s right in front of you. It’s very simple. And then the important one is the shower. You don’t need a curb on your shower. So if you are doing a full renovation, you can actually drop the pan of the shower down and have an angle on the floor so that everything drains away from the threshold. And that way you can literally walk straight in and out. You don’t have to worry about water coming out of the shower, but at the same time, you don’t know the worry about a trip hazard.

Drew Scott: And by the way, one of the things I did for the shower for our parents — I was going to say my parents, but I guess our parents …

Jonathan Scott: Same parents.

Drew Scott: …was I made sure that I put the access panel to turn on the shower — or the nozzles for the jets … I put it all over on the side wall so as you come up to the shower, you can turn everything on there. You don’t have to go in past the shower head trying to reach across and turn it on where you can get hit with the water. So that’s easy; that makes it easy for him.

One other thing I want to mention, Dean, is technology. Technology’s a huge thing that’s helping everybody. And I especially did this, too, in my guest house for my parents — my dad’s 86. I did full automation, so from his phone — or even just from a panel in the living room in the house — he can operate all the lights, he can operate the heating, he can operate pretty much everything in the house, and that way he doesn’t have to constantly be running all around and try to make sure he shut off lights and everything.

Laila Ali: Great advice guys. So, Jean, do we have more questions?

Jean Setzfand: Oh, we absolutely do. So here’s one coming from Facebook. Celestia is asking, they have a bedroom upstairs as well as well as a bathroom. They’re in their 60s, mid-60s, and want to add space and a bathroom downstairs. The question is, “What’s better to use? Use the dining room, add onto it or leave it?”

Jonathan Scott: That’s a tricky one, ‘cause that’s one of those questions where you kind of need to see the footprint of the space, or even walk the space. But for your own self, when you’re deciding what rooms are most important, sit down and really walk through … what kind of entertaining do you do? What rooms do you use the most? I always found it interesting when we’d have families who, for example, had a formal living room that had the plastic on the sofa and all that kind of stuff.

Drew Scott: Don’t sit.

Jonathan Scott: Never used this room at all, but then they were struggling because in the main bedroom, they maybe didn’t have a bathroom or enough, like a walk-in closet or anything like that. Well, use the house for what you would use it the most on a daily basis for. So that’s the most important thing for you. If you don’t use a formal dining room, you don’t need a formal dining room; a lot of the families we work with today, they don’t have a formal dining room. They only have their eating kitchen and a breakfast bar.

Drew Scott: Yeah, and that’s plenty for them. I totally agree with Jonathan, too. That idea of that special room that’s just for once or twice a year, on special occasions … that’s an old- school way of thinking. Most people do not need that nowadays.

Laila Ali: I love that because I used to always want a formal dining room and my husband kind of X’d that idea out. He was like, we don’t need a formal dining room. So I lost that one, but I won in other areas. But he was right. I’m listening to you, and now I have to tell him he was actually right. Jean, do we have any more questions?

Jean Setzfand: We do. This is Helen from Texas.

Laila Ali: Hello, are you ready with your question?

Helen: Hi, how are you?

Laila Ali: Good. We’re ready for your question.

Helen: OK. We have a very large home that does not have any room for bedding and towels. We do not have one closet that you can put towels there or sheets and stuff in. What can we do to make some type of storage with the space that we have?

Drew Scott: I think one of the areas that’s a … and this is a common concern that so many people have that we talk to … do a walk-around of your house and see where in the different rooms you might have some wasted space. So, for example, a lot of times in closets, people will have one rod in their closet and that takes up the whole area. So there’s a whole bunch of wasted space above the rod, and then there’s wasted space down below. If you were actually to drop the rod down, you could actually do two sets of rods or you could do some shelves. In a bathroom as well, a lot of times there’s wasted space, possibly above the toilet or off the one end above a tub. So maybe there’s some other space where you could do some open shelves. Open shelves in the bathroom might look really great, and then you can fold some towels and leave them there.

Jonathan Scott: There’s also lots of creative solutions, too, that we always look for, depending on the layout of the home — sometimes under stairs, there’s always these voids of useless space. We just put another one in for this family that has all this hockey equipment. They play a lot of hockey, and we were able to get all the kids’ hockey equipment tucked away under the stairs. A nice and clean, framed-out door, or even in the toe kick area of kitchen cabinets quite often we can put a drawer down in the cabinet area and you can pull that out and that’s where either the dog’s dishes are, or …

Drew Scott: I hide my candy. That’s my secret candy spot.

Jonathan Scott: Yeah. Yeah.

Drew Scott: Well, good luck with your home there finding a solution for extra storage. You’re speaking to my heart, though. I love extra storage in a house anywhere you can put it.

Jonathan Scott: I will actually say I’m getting an incredible amount of texts. I’ve got tons and tons of texts coming from AARP members, which is amazing. If I can answer one, I got one from Patricia from Pennsylvania, and she was saying that there’s a bow in the wall in their basement and they want to sell the home, but they don’t want to put that trouble onto a buyer, and they’re not sure if they would have trouble getting financing if they had to repair it. That’s one of the tricky things. So there’s something called a latent defect, that if there’s a hidden problem in a home that a buyer does not know about and you don’t tell them in writing, then that could come back on you. So a prime example: Sometimes people will finish their own basements and they’ll sell the house, but they did all the electrical themselves and it’s not to code, no permits. The problem is, 20 years down the road, if that house burned down because of faulty electrical, that’s when they discover that there was a hidden problem, and if they can prove that you knew about it, you’re still liable. So it’s always best to disclose. We did have one episode on Property Brothers, where there was a bow in the back wall. They bought the house. It turned out there was a structural issue. It did end up costing a lot of money. It was almost half of our reno budget to fix. But there’ve been other projects where it turned out it was not a major deal. But regardless, disclosure is always the best option.

Drew Scott: Yeah.

Laila Ali: Absolutely. Honesty is always the best policy as far as I’m concerned. Jean, can we take some more questions?

Jean Setzfand: Sure. This is Judith from Nebraska.

Laila Ali: Hi, Judith.

Judith: I really enjoy your program. I get a lot, a lot of ideas from you. But I have a question. I have carpeting; it’s the low level carpeting in my big living room. And I would like to pull it up and put a light-colored bamboo wood flooring in there and in my kitchen. And I’m 78. And I am just wondering, is this stuff slick or is it safe for senior citizens to walk around on? I’ve never been on a wood floor like that.

Jonathan Scott: I mean, that’s a great question. A lot of people love the idea of bamboo flooring.

Drew Scott: You know, it is a little more sturdy than a lot of other types of different species of hardwood. And you can also get some that are a little slipperier than others. It just depends on what the finish is for them.

Jonathan Scott: One of the things I usually recommend is to get something that has a subtle hand scrape to it. If it has a hand-scraped look, it means that the surface of the floor has a little bit of a contour to it. You don’t have to get anything that looks too fake or whatnot. But if you do have that contour, it makes it so you can get a little bit more grip. So I always recommend that for somebody. In fact, it’s not even really in style to have perfectly high-sheen, flat floors anymore. It’s nice to have something that has a little bit more of a matte finish and a grip to it.

Drew Scott: Also if you’re looking to style-wise a slightly wider board, it looks amazing. So if you get boards that are too thin, it might feel a little bit more dated depending on the style you’re looking for. But there are a ton of great options. And I did mention this earlier, a lot of people think that hardwood is the be-all and end-all; they have to do hardwood. But depending on your lifestyle … say, for example, the grandkids are coming over, they’re slopping water into the house from coming in from the pool; or you have pets; or you have a husband or somebody who’s a contractor.

Jonathan Scott: We’re messy.

Drew Scott: Yeah, they get messy, and they can do damage to the floors. A luxury vinyl, it literally can look exactly like an engineered hardwood. You can’t tell the difference looking at it, but it’s far more durable. So that’s always a good option, too, for some cases. Thanks for the question.

Laila Ali: That was a great question. Jean, would you like to give us some more questions?

Jean Setzfand: Sure. This is Pamela calling from Connecticut.

Pamela: Hello. Thank you for taking questions. OK, we had … we found an installer to put in hardwood flooring. We ordered custom wood from a mill. They called us like a week and a half ago and said the wood is ready. We’re all excited. But we found out today that our installer has encountered a severe injury and we are left now with wood that we’ve have paid for and no installer. So I’m wondering if you could tell us about hiring installers/contractors. We had that one. I really don’t know where to go to get another one. Another installer.

Jonathan Scott: So I recommend, roll up your sleeves and get ready. You’re doing this. I’m going to talk you through it. No, just kidding. You don’t have to install it yourself. There are the installers that … the most important thing is whenever you’re looking for a subtrade, we always say find somebody because the cheapest bid is never the best work, guaranteed. It never is. You want somebody who’s going to stand by their work and offer some kind of a warranty or make sure that it was done right. So we always say, look for someone who has professional affiliations; maybe it’s through a building organization, maybe it’s through Better Business Bureau, something like that. But look for somebody who has set themselves up like a professional business where you will have no problem following up if there’s a warranty issue. Never, ever somebody who changes their number every two weeks and it’s hard to get ahold of.

Drew Scott: And if there’s anybody else that you know in your community that has had work done, possibly get a recommendation as well. You know, it can be hard. There are — especially while everyone’s in isolation — some people are not doing work, others are. Home improvement is considered essential, and so there are still a lot of people working. And good luck.

Jonathan Scott: One thing to keep in mind, get the boards that you’ve already paid for … get them into your house, because you want to make sure that the wood, especially if it’s fresh sawn from a mill, you need to have it acclimate in your home for seven to 10 days before installing. Because if your home, for whatever reason, is a little more dry or a little more humid, if you just bring them over and install them right away, within a matter of weeks, you’ll start to see buckling and cracking.

Laila Ali: That seems like something for the person that she hires. If they don’t tell her that, then maybe that’s not the right person, if they don’t know that basic information, right?

Jonathan Scott: Exactly.

Laila Ali: So that would be a good start. Make sure, make sure they ask you that question. Has it been acclimated. Jean, would you like to give us another question?

Jean Setzfand: Absolutely. This is Maddie calling from Georgia.

Laila Ali: Hi. What’s your question?

Maddie: I have a home, it was built in ‘66 with a basement, and there’s moisture in the basement, and then there’s dirt at a certain section. That’s where my washer and dryer is, and the den is. And it’s all there together, but there’s moisture there. What can I do, ‘cause we all have breathing problems.

Jonathan Scott: Basements are probably the number one biggest-issue areas that we always find for moisture penetration. Depending on the age of the home, I’m guessing the home’s a little bit older, they didn’t do the same waterproofing on the exterior as they do now. So quite often, if you see on the wall, if you see like a crusty white substance that’s efflorescence, that’s basically water seeping through, then when it dries the salts and the minerals in it turn into that white efflorescence. You need to try and keep any moisture away, away from the wall. So there are two ways. The expensive way is if there’s a specific problem area, excavating on the exterior of the foundation, waterproofing properly, making sure that you’ve got the weeping tile and the drain that takes the water away. You can also do that on the inside. So you can actually trench around the foundation wall, put in weeping tile there if it was not done on the outside, and then take it into a drain, and that’s another way that it could work. Sometimes you have to underpin, which is more expensive. Unfortunately when it comes to drainage on the inside of your basement, there’s no cheap solution that will last. You’ll end up continually having problems. But the internal drain system is a lot less expensive than excavating.

Drew Scott: And the one thing that we would say, because you said you’re having some health problems with this, some breathing problems; your health is more important than the cost of what this is. And so it really is important to have a professional come and do the work. So get a few different trades to come in and give you bids. And as Jonathan said before, the cheapest is not always the best, but have them lay out how they would solve the problem, whether it’s exterior, whether it’s interior and then go from there.

Jonathan Scott: Another thing, too, if you’re finishing your basement, usually you want to have some insulation so that the flooring is not always cold on the ground. So you’d do like a dense border or something, but always seal the slab, especially in an older home, because most people don’t realize concrete is porous. So if you do have that musty smell that you smell, that’s coming up; sometimes it’s coming from plumbing somewhere, but also a lot of times it’s coming up through the slab. So you essentially paint on like a … it’s basically like a paint, but it’s a concrete seal to make sure that that moisture barrier is there, and you don’t have that musty smell.

Drew Scott: Good luck with your basement.

Laila Ali: That’s some really good advice. I want to remind you all because we’re telling you a lot here, this is being recorded and you will have access to it. And I’ll remind you again at the end so you can go back and watch if you want to hear these answers again. So Jean, let’s take another question.

Jean Setzfand: This next, last question is coming from Facebook. Steve is asking; he wants a little advice around home window replacements. Is this something that they, that you guys recommend contracting out, especially for, to complete, and what are the critical criteria Steve should consider when replacing windows?

Jonathan Scott: Now the one thing I will say is a lot of people think about replacing their own windows. If you have an older home single pane, in the neighborhood, I’m in; it’s a historic home, it’s old single pane windows. You’re not getting the heat retention, or even like the air-conditioning in the summer months, it’s not staying in. And so it seems easy, just pop out a window and put another one in. But there are so many other things you need to take into consideration to make sure that you’re weatherproofing properly, and that’s what people forget about.

Jonathan Scott: Yeah, and another thing, too, especially if you’re looking to sell the home, you have to get permits when permits are required. If you are moving the location of any window, or if you’re widening a window or even putting a window in that wasn’t there, all of that requires a development permit. We actually just had a client who had a problem because when they went to sell their home, all of a sudden it came out in the inspection that some of these windows were leaking. Turns out the installer hadn’t done the waterproofing correctly. Anytime there’s a change in material, so if you’re going from brick to stucco or siding to something else, there needs to be a drip edge there as well, otherwise you can have leaking. So make sure it’s done right. And if you are changing the location or size, it requires a permit.

Drew Scott: That’s what our shows are all about. You know, our shows aren’t about DIY. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s so important to bring in the right professionals to help you out.

Laila Ali: Thanks for that. That’s great advice. Please stick around, because we’ll be taking several more of your questions in a bit. Before that I have a few more questions myself for Drew and Jonathan. As we look at older homes, are there any common but fixable trouble spots you see, particularly in thinking about older adults in these older homes? So, for example, places you should focus on to prevent trips and falls.

Jonathan Scott: Thinking about, you know, where you’re spending the most time. One of the areas that we see as a big problem is always the bathroom. Bathrooms can be slippery. You’re in and out of the shower. You want to make sure that you have not only a flooring type that’s going to stand up and prevent slipping, but also just look at the functionality of your bathroom. Make sure that there’s nothing that you’re going to catch a hip on, or you’re going to trip on. We had one house we were renovating … there was this strange sort of a makeup vanity that was sticking out right in the middle of the flow between the entry of the door, over to where the toilet was. And the homeowner said they literally have an ongoing bruise and have had that for years and years because they constantly hit that. Take a minute. Step back. And with fresh eyes, walk through your whole home and think about anything that gets in the way of what you’re trying to do. And I guarantee you, there’s always a better solution if there’s something that was sort of put in there, haphazardly.

Drew Scott: And also, for example, today we were actually looking at a house with a client and they had this sunken living room. And sometimes sunken living rooms … it’s just one step, it doesn’t feel like that much, but as you get a little bit older or if you have any mobility issues, or even if you’re just like me, because I trip every time there’s a change in level.

Jonathan Scott: He’s very clumsy.

Drew Scott: I’m very clumsy. You have to make sure that you’re doing what’s best for you, so you don’t have to think about it. You want to enjoy your home. You don’t want to have to think about, Well, I don’t want to fall here. So we’re leveling this out. It’s still going to be a beautiful spacious area, but now you have more access to that space.

Jonathan Scott: That one, the most treacherous part of it was that the sunken part; other than the stairs, there was just like a 4-inch lip around the rest of it. And it’s a good 3-foot fall into the sunken area. So … just so people know, if there is an incline or a decline of 2 feet or more, it’s required by code to have a rail. You’re required it. So whether it’s your stairs, whether it’s a balcony or a deck, something like that, you always want to make sure that there’s a rail and that there are handrails going down so that it’s safe going down.

Laila Ali: That’s fantastic advice. Now I want to shift gears a bit. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, and with so many families stuck at home together — including families with multiple generations living under one roof — what are your thoughts on the secret to balance and family harmony?

Drew Scott: I mean, we touched a little on that earlier. The big thing that we find, you know ...

Jonathan Scott: HGTV.

Drew Scott: Yeah. Watch lots of HGTV. You’ll be fine. There’s always a heart of a home where the family comes together, but as everyone’s been staying at home more and more together, you need some of your own space, maybe some different areas to cluster or just to have some isolation. So the one thing we talked about, too, if you have in your bedroom, if you have your own bathroom, your main bathroom, you want to make sure that you are making that into the spalike bathroom you’ve always wanted. Little things, and it doesn’t have to be a big renovation. It could also be simple things: If you like the ambiance of candles, or in your office space, if that used to be an office, maybe it can be a multifunctioning space where it could be a second TV room for the kids or for yourself, so that there’s a separate area for the kids, too.

Jonathan Scott: It’s always nice to think of creative ways to get more out of a space than just what it currently is; even when it comes to furniture, too, like having an ottoman or a chaise lounge that has storage that opens up, there’s storage in it. Or having nesting tables. One of the biggest complaints we’ve got from people during the pandemic is they’re tripping over each other. There’s stuff everywhere. So storage really helps keep that clutter away, and then it helps, you know, maybe with people’s patience a little bit.

Drew Scott: Or when your husband goes outside for a bit. Change the locks and then you have the whole house to yourself.

Laila Ali: That’s what’s worked for me, guys. That’s exactly what’s worked for me. Thank you for that. So on the topic of multigenerational homes, I know that AARP’s free resource I mentioned earlier — the Home Fit Guide — has some tips and information for these types of living arrangements. So head over to aarp.org/homefit to preorder your free copy.

Now let’s take some more questions. Jean, what’s our next question?

Jean Setzfand: Our next question is from Barbara from Connecticut.

Barbara: Hi. My question relates to the fact that a number of years ago, I found … what I thought was going to be a perfect retirement home with some remodeling, so I bought it, and in the last five years I’ve remodeled it and it really will suit me in retirement. It has no steps to get in, it’s got a beautiful view, now of Long Island Sound. It’s got a walk-in shower or a roll-in, if it comes to that, shower. But in the meantime, because the market values were so low up here, I kept the house that I had been living in, which coincidentally is in the same town. I, at 71, now no longer want to be a landlord. I’ve been a landlord for 15 years. And in the recent months I’ve been getting these postcards from people saying that they will pay cash for my house that I’m now renting, irrespective of … what condition it’s in. Is this, are they legit or is this a scam?

Jonathan Scott: I always have a red flag.

Barbara: It seems that a number of houses in the area have sold recently to LLCs or things like that that make me think that other people have taken advantage of selling their house. But I don’t want to just give it away. The house is nice; it’s on a lake.

Drew Scott: Exactly, and that’s the thing to keep in mind, Barbara. I think … whenever somebody is saying that they’ll take cash, buy your house for cash, no matter what the condition or not, those are … they’ll be investors that are looking for a deal. … And they’re not going to give you the best, most of the time, they’re not going to give you the best price for your home. The best thing for you to do is, if you don’t know a real estate agent that you trust, is to have a couple of real estate agents maybe give you an idea. They’ll do an assessment of what the house, the value is, and you can talk to them. And some real estate agents, you have to be cautious … your house could, say it was worth around $500,000. Some real estate agents, they’ll come in to try and win your business. They’ll say, “Oh, I want to get you $600,000 for this house” — even though it’s not worth that. They give you a high price to make you think, oh, wow, they’re going to get you this price. And then within a couple of weeks, they say, let’s bring the price down to what’s more realistic.

Jonathan Scott: They’re just trying to lock you in.

Drew Scott: They’re just trying to lock you in, so I would say before you would jump on anything like those cards that are thrown at you… keep in mind, they’re putting thousands of those cards out. They’re going to put them all over your neighborhood. They’ll say that they have buyers that are interested in your home. That’s not really the case. In reality, there are people that are interested, but I think it’s better to have a reputable real estate agent or brokerage to work with that can help you sell.

Jonathan Scott: So any time you get something that gives you that little bit of a red-flag kind of a feeling, listen to that, listen to your gut and do your due diligence. These companies, sometimes they’re scams. So you want to be careful. Sometimes they’re very legit, but [sometimes] they’re just investors who don’t care about anything other than making money. And that might not be a good thing. Keep in mind as well with the looming recession right now, we don’t know what’s going to happen post-pandemic. Most analysts are saying that they think housing prices, because of unemployment, will probably come down a little bit. So you want to just be careful. Some of our clients have actually been getting multiple offers and selling really quick, depending on the price point right now; others with the higher priced homes, they’ve been sitting.

Drew Scott: Good luck.

Laila Ali: Yes, good luck. Jean, what’s our next question?

Jean Setzfand: Laila, we have Teresa from Illinois, who left us a voicemail message and also sent in some images. So, let’s queue up her question.

Teresa: Hi, my name is Teresa and I live in Illinois. I was just wondering, I need to redo the whole interior of the home, bringing the laundry from the basement upstairs, and also a redo of two bathrooms completely. And then, complete interior painting and carpet and restaining of hardwood floors, or maybe new hardwood floors, painting the kitchen cabinets. And I’m just wondering, is there a certain order we should follow when doing all these different projects? What is best to do first? And also during the COVID is it safe to do any of these or all of these projects interiorly right now? Thank you so much.

Laila Ali: So guys, I just want to let you know that Teresa left that message, but she is actually on the line as well, if you have any questions for her.

Drew Scott: Oh great. Thanks, Theresa. Thanks for the question, too, and also the visuals really help us understand the space. So the first thing I would say is when you have your professional who’s helping you, your contractor that’s helping you, or if you’re working with a designer as well for laying out the space, it is really important to make sure that they know all this information so that they can create a plan of attack with you. Because you definitely want to make sure that you’re tackling everything in the proper order — otherwise it could take a lot longer, and you might not get the permits when you were expecting to.

Jonathan Scott: And also, particularly during the pandemic, don’t be living in the house while the work’s being done. You want to try to let somebody get in there, get all the work done, especially if you’re going to be ripping out bathrooms and kitchens and you can’t live in the house anyway. So moving plumbing, things like that, that’s always probably some of the trickier stuff, any structural that you might have to do. So make sure you get all the rough-in for plumbing, electrical done first. One of the things I’m noticing with your bathrooms and your counters, you have a lot of multilevel countertops. That is an old-school way to do design, unless you have an absolutely humongous space with tons of room for extra height bars and stuff like that. Most people get more function out of having all of their counters the same height, particularly in the bathroom. Also, I would avoid vessel sinks if you can. They’re kind of the bane of my existence depending on the style of them, because they’re not functional when you’re trying to pick things up off the counter. Undermounts [are] the easiest for cleaning; it’s also the easiest for day-to-day use.

Drew Scott: And also flooring. I saw you have some carpet, some hardwood. I like your idea that you want to redo the hardwood, maybe flow it through the entire space, and you can use area rugs to help define your living room or the bedroom.

Jonathan Scott: That’s it, we’ll be right there. We’re going to come do this for you.

Drew Scott: It’s a lot of work, but I do like your question about having people in the house during isolation during COVID restrictions. And I mean, like I said before, it is considered essential work for renovations and construction, most parts of it. And so it’s not a bad thing to have them come, but definitely have somewhere else that you can stay so that they can get the work done. It will take a little bit longer, and some things might get a bit more expensive right now because of COVID restrictions and limited materials available.

Teresa: OK.

Laila Ali: That was a lot of great information you just got.

Drew Scott: Thanks, Teresa.

Teresa: Oh, OK. Thank you.

Drew Scott: Yep, bye.

Laila Ali: Thanks. Jean, do we have any more questions?

Jean Setzfand: Absolutely. So we have another one coming in from YouTube, and this one’s coming from Gruene Texas Lover, and Gruene Texas Lover’s asking: “My mom is a need of a walk-in shower on the main floor. If we take out the bathtub, do we need to put one in on the downstairs bathroom in order to maintain value?”

Jonathan Scott: So we always recommend having at least one tub in the home, mainly because if at some point you go to resell the home and a family wants to buy the home who has young kids, they always want to have at least one tub. So that’s one thing that we’ve seen over the years. It’s always best to have at least one tub. Usually it’s attached to one of the bathrooms or like in the hallway, upstairs where the bedrooms are if it’s a two-story, but always important to try and keep one somewhere located in the house.

Laila Ali: That was a great question. My son has a bathroom he wants to remodel, and I was worried about taking his tub out, but pretty much all of my bathrooms have tubs in my house. So that lets me know that I can do it, ‘cause I have more than one tub. That was a great question.

Drew Scott: As long as he’s not asking for you to put one of those simulated surfer things. Have you ever seen those? It’s like a … self-made like, like wave. I’ve ridden them before. It’s pretty cool, but you don’t want to have that in your house.

Laila Ali: No, I absolutely do not want that in the house. Jean, do we have any more questions?

Jean Setzfand: We have one last question, and it’s another video question coming from Mary in Virginia.

Mary: Hi guys. I’m Mary from Virginia. And my question for you is this. If I have only a small amount of money to dedicate to a renovation budget, what would be the best part of my house to invest that money in for updates? My bathroom from the 1950s, or my kitchen that got left in the 1960s, or my basement with wood paneling and drop ceilings, popular in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s?

Drew Scott: I love, I love the performance of the video. That’s great. I mean, the one thing I would say, whatever is most important to you, this is your home; you want to get the most out of it. Some people say the kitchen is the heart of the home and that’s where they want to spend their money. Other people would say having a bonus area that’s a nice, comfortable basement area … that could be most important for them. But it really does come down to what your tastes are. And at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you’re creating the memories you want to create in a home that you love.

Jonathan Scott: Everyone’s dynamic is different at home. And sometimes, one of the questions we got a lot was from families who have a bunch of kids… you know, what can I do to make life easier? Well, maybe it’s worth investing in the laundry facility, ‘cause there are washers and dryers today that will do a wash in … you know, 15-minute wash, 15-minute dry. That would free up so much time. So think about what you could do in your home that will free up time and allow you to do what’s important to spend time with the ones you love. You know, do a hobby; those are the things that are the most important for you to think of when you’re organizing which you have, which rooms are going to be most important.

Drew Scott: Yeah, for my wife, she really wanted … her zen space is to have a little crafting room, something that she could craft in, she can do her artwork. And for me, I like to have a little zen space of my own, which includes a lounging area and then also somewhere that I can work out.

Jonathan Scott: I’ve literally had thousands of texts with questions from you guys, but I have one more, if you guys don’t mind. It’s from Randy in Montgomery, Texas. It says: “We’re getting ready to build our forever retirement home. Can you give me a couple of ideas? I saw on your show Celebrity IOU where, what was the counter you used for Jeremy Renner’s mom’s home. We like your choices and we want something durable.”

 The most important thing for us … I love the look of natural stone, especially marble, but it is the most delicate material you can possibly get. You can even stain it with a ring of water from a glass.

Drew Scott: It’s super porous.

Jonathan Scott: Yeah, and it’s the same. Granite is all the same. You spill red wine. If it’s not sealed, most people don’t realize you have to reseal your marble every one to three months. You have to reseal granite every three to six months.

Drew Scott: Nobody does that.

Jonathan Scott: So we always use either quartz or, on Jeremy Renner’s episode, I believe that was Neolith that we used. It’s like a porcelain tile basically, and you can do a nice edging.

Drew Scott: These are zero maintenance products, so you don’t have to reseal, so you’ll never get that ring of water stain or if you spill on it. I think when you’re looking into [making] your house safe and especially … as you’re getting older or if you’re having any mobility issues, you want to keep it safe, but you also have to think of durability. That’s another way just to give you peace of mind in your home.

Jonathan Scott: One last design advice, ‘cause I think you said we’re out of questions. Remember when you’re renovating, don’t go crazy bold on the big-ticket items, because the more bold you go, the faster it will go out of style. So try, and when it comes to floors and countertops and expensive stuff like that, something a little bit more neutral, something a little bit more classic, because it will stand the test of time.

Drew Scott: Yeah, so don’t do like a leopard-print countertop.

Jonathan Scott: Just because it matches your underwear.

Drew Scott: Yeah. Yeah.

Laila Ali: I love it. There has been so much valuable information given here. Drew, Jonathan, before we close, I have one final and super important question. You’ve helped so many families start a new life at home. So maybe you can help us solve an age-old conundrum. What is the best housewarming gift?

Drew Scott: Oh, man. So it’s funny. We get asked that all the time. Again, just like your home should speak to who you are, and in some words, you know, to really enjoy your home it needs to be personalized for you, it’s the same thing with a housewarming gift, in my opinion. So we always, my wife and I always look at whom we’re giving the gift to and we try and do something personal. So we’ve done, you know, a friend of ours is huge into jigsaw puzzles. So we did a personalized ... oops, I just dropped my earpiece.

Jonathan Scott: He gets so excited about jigsaw puzzles.

Drew Scott: Anyway, so we did a personalized jigsaw puzzle that was all memorable moments from her life. And we created that, so that was a really unique thing.

Jonathan Scott: I mean, that’s way less shallow than I was going to say … a copy of our magazine with a bottle of wine. But you know, Drew’s is probably a lot sweeter.

Drew Scott: Yeah.

Laila Ali: You guys are so funny. I’m like a candle person or somebody, you know, something simple and easy, but I love how thoughtful that was, Drew. So this really has been informative, like I said before. Thanks to each of you for answering our questions. I had some in there myself. And thank you to AARP members, volunteers and listeners for participating in this discussion.

Now all of the resources that I referenced, including a recording of today’s Q&A event, can be found at aarp.org/atmpresents on Aug. 20. Again, that web address is aarp.org/atmpresents.

Now we hope that you enjoyed today’s event and learned something that could help you improve your homes for a lifetime. Thank you, Drew and Jonathan Scott, and to see more of the brothers, please tune in to HGTV on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET to catch an all-new episode of Property Brothers: Forever Home, and starting on Sept. 9, Season 7 of Brother vs. Brother. Please be sure to also tune in tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 20, at 1 p.m. ET for another AARP live event where experts will answer your questions related to staying safe and protected during the pandemic. You can watch at aarp.org/coronavirus.

Thank you and have a great evening. This concludes our live event. Bye, guys.

Laila Ali:  Hi everyone. I’m Laila Ali. And on behalf of AARP The Magazine, I want to welcome you to this special live event. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan member organization that has been working to promote health and well-being of older Americans for more than 60 years. One of the most important contributors to our health and well-being is the home that we live in. And a home that was great when you were in our 30s or 40s may need some updates to meet our current or future needs.

[00:00:31] We could all use a little guidance to figure out what updates are needed and how to do them. That’s why we’re here tonight. If you’ve watched HGTV’s hit shows Property Brothers: Forever Home and Celebrity IOU, or read the latest issue of AARP The Magazine, you know Drew and Jonathan Scott have so much energy and knowledge to share with us on the home front. And I’m excited that today we, meaning you and I, have the opportunity to ask them for guidance and advice.

[00:01:00] If you’ve participated in one of AARP’s live events, you know that you can ask questions live on the phone, or you could add them to the comment section where you’re watching. So if you’re joining us on the phone and would like to ask Drew or Jonathan a question, please press *3 on your telephone to be connected with an AARP staff member who will note your name and question and place you in a queue to ask that question live. And if you’re watching on Facebook, YouTube or aarp.org, you can post your question in the comments.

[00:02:15] And now I am very excited to introduce our special guests. Drew and Jonathan are the stars of the Emmy-nominated HGTV series Property Brothers, the New York Times best-selling authors of Builder Brothers Children’s Series, cofounders of Scott Brothers Entertainment, and the coeditorial directors of the lifestyle quarterly magazine Reveal. Through all of their work they love to help families unlock their full potential of their homes. Drew, Jonathan, welcome. You guys are busier than I am.

[00:02:47]Jonathan Scott:  Thank you so much for having us.

[00:02:48]Drew Scott:  We should combine forces. You can be our property sister.

[00:02:52]Laila Ali:  I love it. I would love to do that because I’m a big fan myself, and I cannot wait to hear what you have to share. Thank you so much for being with us today. You have years of experience helping people realize their dreams at home. You always share useful and creative ideas on your shows and in the pages of your lifestyle magazine Reveal. Can you share about three or four easy affordable fixes or upgrades anyone can do to make their home safer, efficient and comfy for the years ahead?

[00:03:21]Drew Scott:  I think the one thing that always comes to mind … so a lot of people, when they’re trying to improve their space, they think hard renovation, and that’s not necessarily the case. But one thing we do try to say is, look at what you have. Most people have way more stuff than they need. So first off, look at maybe minimizing a little bit of what you have for actual furniture, decor. But then lighting and paint can make a huge difference. Look at a new light fixture that can lighten up your space; a brighter space feels bigger, a lighter coat of paint on the walls can make the space feel fresh and it doesn’t cost a lot of money.

[00:03:50]Jonathan Scott:  I think some of the stuff like that, they’re easy sort of weekend projects you can tackle. I used to always bribe people to come over and have a painting party, where I’d have some pizza and maybe some wine.

[00:04:03]Drew Scott:  He would bribe people by saying, come on over — pizza and drinks. I’ll supply all that. You come help. So we paint the whole room. At the end of the day, it was a jug of water and a personal pan pizza this big.

[00:04:12]Jonathan Scott:  But I got the painting done. So things like that. But also you can do a faux mantle, which is kind of nice to break up your fireplace feature, and something like that is really, really easy to install. And it’s nice, too, to have somewhere that you can put some decor pieces or pictures of family, too.

[00:04:28]Drew Scott:  A focal point in the room. And depending on how much space you have, you can also look at nesting furniture, something that might be able to collapse a little bit. It’d just be the size of a table, but if you have guests over you can pull pieces out for seating.

[00:04:41]Jonathan Scott:  Tons of ideas.

[00:04:43]Laila Ali:  Those are some really great suggestions. I, for one, know that I have way too much stuff. That’s one thing that always makes a difference when you clean up, and it just makes you feel so good to get rid of items. So I’m going to start with that for myself before I start thinking about big renovations. I love that.

[00:04:59] This is a super important topic for AARP, and they have several resources to help people make their home a place they can live in as they age. In fact, a new AARP resource — the Home Fit Guide — suggests the kinds of modifications that can be implemented so a home can become safer, more comfortable and better fit for people to live in at all ages. And best yet, it’s free. This new guide will be released on Sept. 9. If you’re listening or watching today, you have the opportunity to preorder your copy by visiting aarp.org/HomeFit.

[00:05:40] Drew, Jonathan, I have a few more questions for you related to purchasing a home. That’s the first one that I want to focus on. Are you ever too old to buy a condo or forever home? And if you’re downsizing or otherwise on the market, what are the things you should look for in a home for a lifetime? What questions should an older homebuyer be asking?

[00:06:02]Jonathan Scott:  I think one of the most important things is look at where you are in life, look at what your priorities are. Sometimes people — and you’ll see this on our show Forever Home — will downsize into their forever home because … maybe if you’re empty nesters or your lifestyle has changed. You don’t need to spend all of the extra money on maintaining an oversized house, but you want to make sure that you have a house that fits perfectly for your needs. Our philosophy is that your home should make your life easier. And so only you can decide. And that’s the first step on our show; we make a list with our homeowners. You can decide how your home could make your life easier.

[00:06:37]Drew Scott:  Downsizing, if you’re empty nesters, it should never feel like you’re sacrificing your lifestyle, you’re sacrificing what you love for your design aesthetic, your function in your home. One thing, what we do say to people, if they are looking at a condo, if they’re looking to buy … like anyone buying a condo, the first thing you want to make sure is the strata itself; you want to make sure it’s healthy. So do they have a healthy contingency fund? Is all the work that’s been done — is it done properly, has it been permitted properly?

[00:07:05]Jonathan Scott:  Yes, the work … is it permitted? That’s always an important thing.

[00:07:08]Drew Scott:  It’s an important thing. You can also, if you’re getting your unit, get an inspection done. Even if it’s a brand new condo or home, still get an inspection done. And to be honest that’s what I love about AARP, that they’re so great for information. There’s so much information for you guys out there, but new homes, old homes can all have those problems. So that’s your start as you’re looking, as you’re getting into buying a place.

[00:07:30]Laila Ali:  That’s really great advice. I hope you’re all listening because I know I am. Now I have one more question for you before we get some of our callers’ questions. And I know many of you are anxious to ask questions.

[00:07:51] Now Drew, Jonathan. Home improvements aren’t just about drywall or tile, right? They often require balancing emotional wants with practical needs. What are the most overlooked practical needs and what emotional wants add the least value and most value to a home?

[00:08:09]Jonathan Scott:  First of all, this is a great segue to our new potential series, because we feel that sometimes we are like marriage counselors. And so that would be our new show, DIY Divorce. Uh, no. We always think it’s funny, ‘cause when you take two people who have their own interests and their own design styles, how you get that to meet? There is always a solution. In fact, that’s why you see a lot of transitional designs on our shows, because it’s blending two different styles of design into one. We try and think of it this way, to think of the priority rooms for each individual. So if one of the people in the household is really the chef, they’re the person that’s always in the kitchen and they’re preparing the meals; maybe that person gets a little more say in the kitchen space or the final say, and vice versa if it’s for the bedrooms and for the living rooms and things like that. But always make sure that everyone has a vote.

[00:08:58]Drew Scott:  And also keep in mind, too, if you’re thinking of those overlooked areas, storage is one of the biggest things that people overlook all the time when they’ll buy a place. They fall in love with the kitchen, or maybe there’s the main bedroom suite [that’s] just spalike — the bathroom in there. But then they don’t think of storage — your closets, having actual organization systems in your closets, some sort of an organization solution that can give you so much peace of mind. So make sure to look at how many closets a house has, where you could add storage, or maybe even on the side of one of your rooms — you can add a breakfast, a bar, an extra side pantry or something for storage.

[00:09:33]Jonathan Scott:  The one thing we are finding during this pandemic, a lot of people are spending time at home. And now that they’re on top of each other, they’re really seeing how the house either does or does not function. And so we get so many comments online from people saying, “I need a solution. I need it fast.”

[00:09:49]Drew Scott:  My spouse is driving me crazy.

[00:09:51]Jonathan Scott:  Yeah.

[00:09:51]Drew Scott:  Or my kids are.

[00:09:52]Jonathan Scott:  I used to want all-open concept, but now I need an office at home or something like that. That’s why we put in Reveal, our magazine … we always have different ideas as well for people to get a little bit more out of home. … One of our articles in the “Chill” issue of Reveal is “20 Ways to Relax.” It’s about getting … whether you have kids, getting them to put down the smart phones; whether it’s about with your spouse, finding ways to break the norm, make your housework for you or find simple solutions.

[00:10:22] The other thing, too, that we were thinking of doing with you guys, and you can write this down and you can do it later. Text me your thoughts. I actually have put my cellphone number out. If anyone wants to text me their thoughts about what a solution is they need for home, I’ve been answering probably about 50 to a 100 messages a day, trying to get as many people as I can. But if you text #AARP to me, my number is [702] 707-6046. Use #AARP. And then let me know what’s not functioning in your home. We’re going to try and answer as many people as we can. And we’ve got something special for you, too.

[00:11:04]Drew Scott:  So between us, between AARP, I know you’re commenting and everyone’s ... we’re going to get to you guys. We have so many ways to answer your questions.

[00:11:12]Laila Ali:  That’s amazing. That’s a wonderful resource that you’re offering to people, really that is.

[00:11:17]Jonathan Scott:  No prank calls.

[00:11:19]Laila Ali:  Oh, OK. I might do some of that myself. That’d be fun, just to mess with you, but I’m just joking. I promise I won’t use your number in that way. So now it’s time to take some of your questions. I would like to welcome a Jean Setzfand to our discussion to help facilitate your calls. Welcome, Jean.

[00:11:36]Jean Setzfand:  Thanks Laila. Delighted to be here.

[00:11:40]Laila Ali:  Jean, let’s see who our first question is coming from for Drew and Jonathan.

[00:11:46]Jean Setzfand:  I’m a little biased by this name, but we’re going to take a call from Jean from New York.

[00:11:52]Drew Scott:  There’s another Jean.

[00:11:56]Jean:  I have a high ranch and it’s … we’re 65 and 66, and I keep telling my husband, this is not going to be good for the long term. But the thing is, I love my ranch, I love my high ranch, I love my house. I love that my grandkids can be here and play in the yard and the pool, but it’s not accessible when we have knee surgery or whatever. So I don’t know if you have an idea how to make a high ranch more accessible in times where we have either temporary or permanent disability.

[00:12:34]Jonathan Scott:  Every house has a unique problem or circumstance that needs to be overcome. And so one of the things we found is — depending on how many stairs there are, how many levels — you want to remove as many trip hazards as possible first of all, but you also want to make sure you have very well-lit areas, because what looks like maybe just one or two steps can become treacherous if all of a sudden the lighting is not very good. I remember we actually … shot something with AARP last year, and it was all about those same sorts of things.

[00:13:06] When it comes to staircases … it’s nice, if it’s a ranch it’s a good thing because most of your living spaces are on one level. Try and find the path you use the most. And so for some people it’s coming up the driveway and then coming in the back of the house. You can do a long slow ramp, and you can do something that is aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes people don’t want to have that on the front of the house. Otherwise, if you live in a house, for somebody else who does have multiple levels, really the only option is to install some sort of a mobility device to get up and down the stairs safely.

[00:13:41]Drew Scott:  And also keep in mind, think about what materials you’re using in a space if you’re doing improvements. We actually just renovated a house — if you watched on Celebrity IOU. Melissa McCarthy’s uncle had mobility issues, and he had stairs that he had to go up and down every day and it was slippery tile. So part of what we did is, we replaced the flooring material with something that had a bit more grip to it. Stairs, you can always consider a runner, because that can also help.

[00:14:03]Jonathan Scott:  And we also installed railings on both sides, even though technically by code, you only have to have railings on both sides if your stairs are over 48 inches wide. But anytime there’s a concern about mobility, it’s safer to have rails on both sides.

[00:14:18]Drew Scott:  Thanks for the question, Jean.

[00:14:20]Laila Ali:  That was great. So Jean, who is our next question coming from?

[00:14:27]Jean Setzfand:  Our next question is actually a video question that was sent in by Michaelene from California.

[00:14:34]Michaelene:  Hi, Jonathan, hi Drew. My name is Michaelene, and I’m calling from California. My question for you both has to do with space. Since the pandemic has hit, I’ve had to start working from home, and my son is also doing remote learning. My issue is that I do share responsibility of my 93-year-old grandma. So what I’m standing in right now is turned into an office/remote classroom, but it used to be the bedroom where my grandma would sleep when she would stay with me. The problem is the bed that I had in here was a queen-size bed, and with the office desk and the remote learning area for my son, it doesn’t fit anymore. So I need a space that’s functional for myself, for my grandma, and also my son. So any suggestions you guys have on how to create a functional space that meets the needs of all three of us? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

[00:15:30]Drew Scott:  Well ...

[00:15:30]Jonathan Scott:  Bunk beds.

[00:15:31]Drew Scott:  I can tell you right now. Grandma probably isn’t going to like sleeping in the bed as you guys are typing over top of her. But I have a great solution. I actually did this in my spare bedroom — the exact same situation because our family will come and stay with us. I put in a Murphy bed. But I put in a bed that was … a very innovative solution where when it’s up, it actually looks like a bookshelf. …The bed from the bookshelf, it rotates, and then the bed comes down and so everything stays. All the decor stays on the shelf. Jonathan just installed one where it’s actually a sofa, and there’s some side table area, and then the Murphy bed comes down over the sofa. It’s all one piece so you don’t have to move a sofa to bring in the Murphy bed. So look at a solution like that, that can really maximize the use of space.

[00:16:16]Jonathan Scott:  That was on the Brad Pitt episode of Celebrity IOU. And I always say, if it’s good enough for Brad Pitt, it’s good enough for you.

[00:16:25]Laila Ali:  I love that. Jean, let’s take some more questions. Who’s our next caller?

[00:16:30]Jean Setzfand:  Our next caller is Linda from South Carolina.

[00:16:35]Drew Scott:  Linda is my wife’s name. Great name.

[00:16:36]Jonathan Scott:  I thought you were going to say it was your wife calling in.

[00:16:41]Linda:  Hi, this is Linda and I live in a small trailer, and I wondered how I could make my living room look bigger. I need more space in here for people to sit.

[00:16:54]Jonathan Scott:  And to see you as well, Linda. We want to make sure they can see your smiling face. The most important thing when it comes to a smaller space is light. You want to ensure that you have lots of both natural light and you can do something like recessed lights, or a light fixture. But also having surfaces that are going to help bounce that light around. So sometimes you’ll notice [that] if you have dark floors, dark furniture, dark cabinets, dark walls … it sucks all the light out of the room. Lighter surfaces always bounce that light around. So that’s the most important thing. And then decluttering, I would say is the next thing. Making sure that you don’t have really thick, bulky furniture that’s going to make everything feel like it’s closing in on you.

[00:17:34]Drew Scott:  And as Jonathan has mentioned, too, reflective surfaces. Consider if you have a nice decorative mirror that you can place somewhere, too, that can help you elongate the space as well. So thank you for the question.

[00:17:45]Laila Ali:  That was a great question. Can you tell the callers your text number again, just in case anyone missed it?

[00:17:52]Jonathan Scott:  If anyone wants to text me, just text #AARP to [702] 707-6046.

[00:18:02]Drew Scott:  I’m going to steal his phone and I’m going to answer all the questions.

[00:18:05]Jonathan Scott:  I will get a lot of questions, so bear with me because I can’t respond to all of them, and it’ll take a little bit of time, but I will try. And then I’ve got something special that I’ll send to you on Saturday as well.

[00:18:17]Laila Ali:  Thank you for that. Jean, let’s take some more questions. Who’s our next caller?

[00:18:22]Jean Setzfand:  We actually have a ton of questions coming in from both YouTube and Facebook. So I have two questions that are kind of similar. One coming in from Linda, who’s asking … and both of them are about resale value. Linda’s asking, “Painting my house for sale. I have white ceilings. What’s the best wall color?” And there’s another question similar to that: Andrea is asking, “Would it be better for resale value of a home to carpet a bedroom or use bamboo hardwood floors?”

[00:18:52]Drew Scott:  That’s a great question. So when you’re thinking of value in your home, the one about the light ceiling, lighter walls are still a great thing. When you’re looking at such a large surface area like your walls, you don’t want to go too dark, even in a really big space. It’s more preferred to keep it light. More buyers would prefer a lighter feel. And then if you want some dark pop, you just add some decor pieces or other elements that can help bring that contrast.

[00:19:17]Jonathan Scott:  Here’s also a little builder tip. If you are painting out your walls, if you use a flat paint, it hides imperfections. So the more glossy you go — if you do like it a semigloss or something like that, or an eggshell — it can actually reflect some of those imperfections.

[00:19:35]Drew Scott:  And one other thing would be the carpet versus a solid surface that you’re talking about. Definitely, I would personally suggest moving away from carpet, because what most people want nowadays is a solid surface flooring, a hardwood, or you can even have, if it’s a high traffic area, you can have a … there’s a vinyl product, you can get a luxury vinyl that looks exactly like hardwood, way more durable. You can get plank style porcelain as well. But then you can put an area rug in the room to define different spaces.

[00:20:02]Jonathan Scott:  A couple of tips I may as well give you if you are putting down hardwood flooring. I actually have a minimum standard document that I give to all our subtrades, and some of the things are — the best way to lay the floors, if you can, is to glue and nail. That means you don’t get that hollow knocking sound underneath it. But also make sure you never have any of your ends lining up. There should never be an end within six inches of another one or two rows over. It makes for a very natural look.

[00:20:28]Drew Scott:  And if you run the length of the house, whatever direction that might be, it will actually make the whole space feel bigger.

[00:20:35]Laila Ali:  I love those answers. Jean, can we take some more questions? Who’s our next caller?

[00:20:39]Jean Setzfand:  Absolutely. This is a Dean calling in from Oregon.

[00:20:46]Laila Ali:  Hi, Dean.

[00:20:49]Dean:  Hello.

[00:20:50]Drew Scott:  Don’t be shy, Dean. How are you?

[00:20:54]Dean:  I’m going to be doing a major upgrade to my house, and I want to keep in mind a universal access so that it’ll work for me as I go through all of the later years. So, with the doorways, how high to make steps, shower, all those kinds of things.

[00:21:20]Jonathan Scott:  So one of the things you can do … sometimes people are looking to be completely ADA compliant, but often you don’t need to be fully ADA compliant. But there are things you can do that just make accessibility a heck of a lot easier. One is making sure that you have wider doorways. So that’s an important one. Look at the height of your counters and the style of counters that you’re doing in your bathrooms, because depending on whether or not there’s going to need to be wheelchair accessibility, you want to ensure that they’re near the sink, that there’s an area for knees to go below. All of that, if you go online, you can Google what those minimum standards are so that it’s right in front of you. It’s very simple. And then the important one is the shower. You don’t need a curb on your shower. So if you are doing a full renovation, you can actually drop the pan of the shower down and have an angle on the floor so that everything drains away from the threshold. And that way you can literally walk straight in and out. You don’t have to worry about water coming out of the shower, but at the same time, you don’t know the worry about a trip hazard.

[00:22:18]Drew Scott:  And by the way, one of the things I did for the shower for our parents — I was going to say my parents, but I guess our parents …

[00:22:23]Jonathan Scott:  Same parents.

[00:22:24]Drew Scott:  …was I made sure that I put the access panel to turn on the shower — or the nozzles for the jets … I put it all over on the side wall so as you come up to the shower, you can turn everything on there. You don’t have to go in past the shower head trying to reach across and turn it on where you can get hit with the water. So that’s easy; that makes it easy for him.

[00:22:43] One other thing I want to mention, Dean, is technology. Technology’s a huge thing that’s helping everybody. And I especially did this, too, in my guest house for my parents — my dad’s 86. I did full automation, so from his phone — or even just from a panel in the living room in the house — he can operate all the lights, he can operate the heating, he can operate pretty much everything in the house, and that way he doesn’t have to constantly be running all around and try to make sure he shut off lights and everything.

[00:23:12]Laila Ali:  Great advice guys. So, Jean, do we have more questions?

[00:23:16]Jean Setzfand:  Oh, we absolutely do. So here’s one coming from Facebook. Celestia is asking, they have a bedroom upstairs as well as well as a bathroom. They’re in their 60s, mid-60s, and want to add space and a bathroom downstairs. The question is, “What’s better to use? Use the dining room, add onto it or leave it?”

[00:23:39]Jonathan Scott:  That’s a tricky one, ‘cause that’s one of those questions where you kind of need to see the footprint of the space, or even walk the space. But for your own self, when you’re deciding what rooms are most important, sit down and really walk through … what kind of entertaining do you do? What rooms do you use the most? I always found it interesting when we’d have families who, for example, had a formal living room that had the plastic on the sofa and all that kind of stuff.

[00:24:05]Drew Scott:  Don’t sit.

[00:24:06]Jonathan Scott:  Never used this room at all, but then they were struggling because in the main bedroom, they maybe didn’t have a bathroom or enough, like a walk-in closet or anything like that. Well, use the house for what you would use it the most on a daily basis for. So that’s the most important thing for you. If you don’t use a formal dining room, you don’t need a formal dining room; a lot of the families we work with today, they don’t have a formal dining room. They only have their eating kitchen and a breakfast bar.

[00:24:30]Drew Scott:  Yeah, and that’s plenty for them. I totally agree with Jonathan, too. That idea of that special room that’s just for once or twice a year, on special occasions … that’s an old- school way of thinking. Most people do not need that nowadays.

[00:24:42]Laila Ali:  I love that because I used to always want a formal dining room and my husband kind of X’d that idea out. He was like, we don’t need a formal dining room. So I lost that one, but I won in other areas. But he was right. I’m listening to you, and now I have to tell him he was actually right. Jean, do we have any more questions?

[00:24:59]Jean Setzfand:  We do. This is Helen from Texas.

[00:25:10]Laila Ali:  Hello, are you ready with your question?

[00:25:18]Helen:  Hi, how are you?

[00:25:21]Laila Ali:  Good. We’re ready for your question.

[00:25:24]Helen:  OK. We have a very large home that does not have any room for bedding and towels. We do not have one closet that you can put towels there or sheets and stuff in. What can we do to make some type of storage with the space that we have?

[00:25:44]Drew Scott:  I think one of the areas that’s a … and this is a common concern that so many people have that we talk to … do a walk-around of your house and see where in the different rooms you might have some wasted space. So, for example, a lot of times in closets, people will have one rod in their closet and that takes up the whole area. So there’s a whole bunch of wasted space above the rod, and then there’s wasted space down below. If you were actually to drop the rod down, you could actually do two sets of rods or you could do some shelves. In a bathroom as well, a lot of times there’s wasted space, possibly above the toilet or off the one end above a tub. So maybe there’s some other space where you could do some open shelves. Open shelves in the bathroom might look really great, and then you can fold some towels and leave them there.

[00:26:28]Jonathan Scott:  There’s also lots of creative solutions, too, that we always look for, depending on the layout of the home — sometimes under stairs, there’s always these voids of useless space. We just put another one in for this family that has all this hockey equipment. They play a lot of hockey, and we were able to get all the kids’ hockey equipment tucked away under the stairs. A nice and clean, framed-out door, or even in the toe kick area of kitchen cabinets quite often we can put a drawer down in the cabinet area and you can pull that out and that’s where either the dog’s dishes are, or …

[00:26:58]Drew Scott:  I hide my candy. That’s my secret candy spot.

[00:27:01]Jonathan Scott:  Yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:03]Drew Scott:  Well, good luck with your home there finding a solution for extra storage. You’re speaking to my heart, though. I love extra storage in a house anywhere you can put it.

[00:27:12]Jonathan Scott:  I will actually say I’m getting an incredible amount of texts. I’ve got tons and tons of texts coming from AARP members, which is amazing. If I can answer one, I got one from Patricia from Pennsylvania, and she was saying that there’s a bow in the wall in their basement and they want to sell the home, but they don’t want to put that trouble onto a buyer, and they’re not sure if they would have trouble getting financing if they had to repair it. That’s one of the tricky things. So there’s something called a latent defect, that if there’s a hidden problem in a home that a buyer does not know about and you don’t tell them in writing, then that could come back on you. So a prime example: Sometimes people will finish their own basements and they’ll sell the house, but they did all the electrical themselves and it’s not to code, no permits. The problem is, 20 years down the road, if that house burned down because of faulty electrical, that’s when they discover that there was a hidden problem, and if they can prove that you knew about it, you’re still liable. So it’s always best to disclose. We did have one episode on Property Brothers, where there was a bow in the back wall. They bought the house. It turned out there was a structural issue. It did end up costing a lot of money. It was almost half of our reno budget to fix. But there’ve been other projects where it turned out it was not a major deal. But regardless, disclosure is always the best option.

[00:28:31]Drew Scott:  Yeah.

[00:28:34]Laila Ali:  Absolutely. Honesty is always the best policy as far as I’m concerned. Jean, can we take some more questions?

[00:28:40]Jean Setzfand:  Sure. This is Judith from Nebraska.

[00:28:44]Laila Ali:  Hi, Judith.

[00:28:44]Judith:  I really enjoy your program. I get a lot, a lot of ideas from you. But I have a question. I have carpeting; it’s the low level carpeting in my big living room. And I would like to pull it up and put a light-colored bamboo wood flooring in there and in my kitchen. And I’m 78. And I am just wondering, is this stuff slick or is it safe for senior citizens to walk around on? I’ve never been on a wood floor like that.

[00:29:16]Jonathan Scott:  I mean, that’s a great question. A lot of people love the idea of bamboo flooring.

[00:29:19]Drew Scott:  You know, it is a little more sturdy than a lot of other types of different species of hardwood. And you can also get some that are a little slipperier than others. It just depends on what the finish is for them.

[00:29:29]Jonathan Scott:  One of the things I usually recommend is to get something that has a subtle hand scrape to it. If it has a hand-scraped look, it means that the surface of the floor has a little bit of a contour to it. You don’t have to get anything that looks too fake or whatnot. But if you do have that contour, it makes it so you can get a little bit more grip. So I always recommend that for somebody. In fact, it’s not even really in style to have perfectly high-sheen, flat floors anymore. It’s nice to have something that has a little bit more of a matte finish and a grip to it.

[00:29:58]Drew Scott:  Also if you’re looking to style-wise a slightly wider board, it looks amazing. So if you get boards that are too thin, it might feel a little bit more dated depending on the style you’re looking for. But there are a ton of great options. And I did mention this earlier, a lot of people think that hardwood is the be-all and end-all; they have to do hardwood. But depending on your lifestyle … say, for example, the grandkids are coming over, they’re slopping water into the house from coming in from the pool; or you have pets; or you have a husband or somebody who’s a contractor.

[00:30:26]Jonathan Scott:  We’re messy.

[00:30:26]Drew Scott:  Yeah, they get messy, and they can do damage to the floors. A luxury vinyl, it literally can look exactly like an engineered hardwood. You can’t tell the difference looking at it, but it’s far more durable. So that’s always a good option, too, for some cases. Thanks for the question.

[00:30:42]Laila Ali:  That was a great question. Jean, would you like to give us some more questions?

[00:30:48]Jean Setzfand:  Sure. This is Pamela calling from Connecticut.

[00:30:52]Pamela:  Hello. Thank you for taking questions. OK, we had … we found an installer to put in hardwood flooring. We ordered custom wood from a mill. They called us like a week and a half ago and said the wood is ready. We’re all excited. But we found out today that our installer has encountered a severe injury and we are left now with wood that we’ve have paid for and no installer. So I’m wondering if you could tell us about hiring installers/contractors. We had that one. I really don’t know where to go to get another one. Another installer.

[00:31:38]Jonathan Scott:  So I recommend, roll up your sleeves and get ready. You’re doing this. I’m going to talk you through it. No, just kidding. You don’t have to install it yourself. There are the installers that … the most important thing is whenever you’re looking for a subtrade, we always say find somebody because the cheapest bid is never the best work, guaranteed. It never is. You want somebody who’s going to stand by their work and offer some kind of a warranty or make sure that it was done right. So we always say, look for someone who has professional affiliations; maybe it’s through a building organization, maybe it’s through Better Business Bureau, something like that. But look for somebody who has set themselves up like a professional business where you will have no problem following up if there’s a warranty issue. Never, ever somebody who changes their number every two weeks and it’s hard to get ahold of.

[00:32:28]Drew Scott:  And if there’s anybody else that you know in your community that has had work done, possibly get a recommendation as well. You know, it can be hard. There are — especially while everyone’s in isolation — some people are not doing work, others are. Home improvement is considered essential, and so there are still a lot of people working. And good luck.

[00:32:46]Jonathan Scott:  One thing to keep in mind, get the boards that you’ve already paid for … get them into your house, because you want to make sure that the wood, especially if it’s fresh sawn from a mill, you need to have it acclimate in your home for seven to 10 days before installing. Because if your home, for whatever reason, is a little more dry or a little more humid, if you just bring them over and install them right away, within a matter of weeks, you’ll start to see buckling and cracking.

[00:33:01]Laila Ali:  That seems like something for the person that she hires. If they don’t tell her that, then maybe that’s not the right person, if they don’t know that basic information, right?

[00:33:22]Jonathan Scott:  Exactly.

[00:33:22]Laila Ali:  So that would be a good start. Make sure, make sure they ask you that question. Has it been acclimated. Jean, would you like to give us another question?

[00:33:34]Jean Setzfand:  Absolutely. This is Maddie calling from Georgia.

[00:33:39]Laila Ali:  Hi. What’s your question?

[00:33:41]Maddie:  I have a home, it was built in ‘66 with a basement, and there’s moisture in the basement, and then there’s dirt at a certain section. That’s where my washer and dryer is, and the den is. And it’s all there together, but there’s moisture there. What can I do, ‘cause we all have breathing problems.

[00:34:00]Jonathan Scott:  Basements are probably the number one biggest-issue areas that we always find for moisture penetration. Depending on the age of the home, I’m guessing the home’s a little bit older, they didn’t do the same waterproofing on the exterior as they do now. So quite often, if you see on the wall, if you see like a crusty white substance that’s efflorescence, that’s basically water seeping through, then when it dries the salts and the minerals in it turn into that white efflorescence. You need to try and keep any moisture away, away from the wall. So there are two ways. The expensive way is if there’s a specific problem area, excavating on the exterior of the foundation, waterproofing properly, making sure that you’ve got the weeping tile and the drain that takes the water away. You can also do that on the inside. So you can actually trench around the foundation wall, put in weeping tile there if it was not done on the outside, and then take it into a drain, and that’s another way that it could work. Sometimes you have to underpin, which is more expensive. Unfortunately when it comes to drainage on the inside of your basement, there’s no cheap solution that will last. You’ll end up continually having problems. But the internal drain system is a lot less expensive than excavating.

[00:35:13]Drew Scott:  And the one thing that we would say, because you said you’re having some health problems with this, some breathing problems; your health is more important than the cost of what this is. And so it really is important to have a professional come and do the work. So get a few different trades to come in and give you bids. And as Jonathan said before, the cheapest is not always the best, but have them lay out how they would solve the problem, whether it’s exterior, whether it’s interior and then go from there.

[00:35:38]Jonathan Scott:  Another thing, too, if you’re finishing your basement, usually you want to have some insulation so that the flooring is not always cold on the ground. So you’d do like a dense border or something, but always seal the slab, especially in an older home, because most people don’t realize concrete is porous. So if you do have that musty smell that you smell, that’s coming up; sometimes it’s coming from plumbing somewhere, but also a lot of times it’s coming up through the slab. So you essentially paint on like a … it’s basically like a paint, but it’s a concrete seal to make sure that that moisture barrier is there, and you don’t have that musty smell.

[00:36:12]Drew Scott:  Good luck with your basement.

[00:36:15]Laila Ali:  That’s some really good advice. I want to remind you all because we’re telling you a lot here, this is being recorded and you will have access to it. And I’ll remind you again at the end so you can go back and watch if you want to hear these answers again. So Jean, let’s take another question.

[00:36:30]Jean Setzfand:  This next, last question is coming from Facebook. Steve is asking; he wants a little advice around home window replacements. Is this something that they, that you guys recommend contracting out, especially for, to complete, and what are the critical criteria Steve should consider when replacing windows?

[00:36:54]Jonathan Scott:  Now the one thing I will say is a lot of people think about replacing their own windows. If you have an older home single pane, in the neighborhood, I’m in; it’s a historic home, it’s old single pane windows. You’re not getting the heat retention, or even like the air-conditioning in the summer months, it’s not staying in. And so it seems easy, just pop out a window and put another one in. But there are so many other things you need to take into consideration to make sure that you’re weatherproofing properly, and that’s what people forget about.

[00:37:20] Yeah, and another thing, too, especially if you’re looking to sell the home, you have to get permits when permits are required. If you are moving the location of any window, or if you’re widening a window or even putting a window in that wasn’t there, all of that requires a development permit. We actually just had a client who had a problem because when they went to sell their home, all of a sudden it came out in the inspection that some of these windows were leaking. Turns out the installer hadn’t done the waterproofing correctly. Anytime there’s a change in material, so if you’re going from brick to stucco or siding to something else, there needs to be a drip edge there as well, otherwise you can have leaking. So make sure it’s done right. And if you are changing the location or size, it requires a permit.

[00:38:05]Drew Scott:  That’s what our shows are all about. You know, our shows aren’t about DIY. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s so important to bring in the right professionals to help you out.

[00:38:14]Laila Ali:  Thanks for that. That’s great advice. Please stick around, because we’ll be taking several more of your questions in a bit. Before that I have a few more questions myself for Drew and Jonathan. As we look at older homes, are there any common but fixable trouble spots you see, particularly in thinking about older adults in these older homes? So, for example, places you should focus on to prevent trips and falls.

[00:38:40]Jonathan Scott:  Thinking about, you know, where you’re spending the most time. One of the areas that we see as a big problem is always the bathroom. Bathrooms can be slippery. You’re in and out of the shower. You want to make sure that you have not only a flooring type that’s going to stand up and prevent slipping, but also just look at the functionality of your bathroom. Make sure that there’s nothing that you’re going to catch a hip on, or you’re going to trip on. We had one house we were renovating … there was this strange sort of a makeup vanity that was sticking out right in the middle of the flow between the entry of the door, over to where the toilet was. And the homeowner said they literally have an ongoing bruise and have had that for years and years because they constantly hit that. Take a minute. Step back. And with fresh eyes, walk through your whole home and think about anything that gets in the way of what you’re trying to do. And I guarantee you, there’s always a better solution if there’s something that was sort of put in there, haphazardly.

[00:39:35]Drew Scott:  And also, for example, today we were actually looking at a house with a client and they had this sunken living room. And sometimes sunken living rooms … it’s just one step, it doesn’t feel like that much, but as you get a little bit older or if you have any mobility issues, or even if you’re just like me, because I trip every time there’s a change in level.

[00:39:51]Jonathan Scott:  He’s very clumsy.

[00:39:51]Drew Scott:  I’m very clumsy. You have to make sure that you’re doing what’s best for you, so you don’t have to think about it. You want to enjoy your home. You don’t want to have to think about, Well, I don’t want to fall here. So we’re leveling this out. It’s still going to be a beautiful spacious area, but now you have more access to that space.

[00:40:05]Jonathan Scott:  That one, the most treacherous part of it was that the sunken part; other than the stairs, there was just like a 4-inch lip around the rest of it. And it’s a good 3-foot fall into the sunken area. So … just so people know, if there is an incline or a decline of 2 feet or more, it’s required by code to have a rail. You’re required it. So whether it’s your stairs, whether it’s a balcony or a deck, something like that, you always want to make sure that there’s a rail and that there are handrails going down so that it’s safe going down.

[00:40:36]Laila Ali:  That’s fantastic advice. Now I want to shift gears a bit. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, and with so many families stuck at home together — including families with multiple generations living under one roof — what are your thoughts on the secret to balance and family harmony?

[00:40:51]Drew Scott:  I mean, we touched a little on that earlier. The big thing that we find, you know ...

[00:40:58]Jonathan Scott:  HGTV.

[00:40:58]Drew Scott:  Yeah. Watch lots of HGTV. You’ll be fine. There’s always a heart of a home where the family comes together, but as everyone’s been staying at home more and more together, you need some of your own space, maybe some different areas to cluster or just to have some isolation. So the one thing we talked about, too, if you have in your bedroom, if you have your own bathroom, your main bathroom, you want to make sure that you are making that into the spalike bathroom you’ve always wanted. Little things, and it doesn’t have to be a big renovation. It could also be simple things: If you like the ambiance of candles, or in your office space, if that used to be an office, maybe it can be a multifunctioning space where it could be a second TV room for the kids or for yourself, so that there’s a separate area for the kids, too.

[00:41:39]Jonathan Scott:  It’s always nice to think of creative ways to get more out of a space than just what it currently is; even when it comes to furniture, too, like having an ottoman or a chaise lounge that has storage that opens up, there’s storage in it. Or having nesting tables. One of the biggest complaints we’ve got from people during the pandemic is they’re tripping over each other. There’s stuff everywhere. So storage really helps keep that clutter away, and then it helps, you know, maybe with people’s patience a little bit.

[00:42:07]Drew Scott:  Or when your husband goes outside for a bit. Change the locks and then you have the whole house to yourself.

[00:42:13]Laila Ali:  That’s what’s worked for me, guys. That’s exactly what’s worked for me. Thank you for that. So on the topic of multigenerational homes, I know that AARP’s free resource I mentioned earlier — the Home Fit Guide — has some tips and information for these types of living arrangements. So head over to aarp.org/homefit to preorder your free copy.

[00:42:39] Now let’s take some more questions. Jean, what’s our next question?

[00:42:55]Jean Setzfand:  Our next question is from Barbara from Connecticut.

[00:43:02]Barbara:  Hi. My question relates to the fact that a number of years ago, I found … what I thought was going to be a perfect retirement home with some remodeling, so I bought it, and in the last five years I’ve remodeled it and it really will suit me in retirement. It has no steps to get in, it’s got a beautiful view, now of Long Island Sound. It’s got a walk-in shower or a roll-in, if it comes to that, shower. But in the meantime, because the market values were so low up here, I kept the house that I had been living in, which coincidentally is in the same town. I, at 71, now no longer want to be a landlord. I’ve been a landlord for 15 years. And in the recent months I’ve been getting these postcards from people saying that they will pay cash for my house that I’m now renting, irrespective of … what condition it’s in. Is this, are they legit or is this a scam?

[00:44:20]Jonathan Scott:  I always have a red flag.

[00:44:22]Barbara:  It seems that a number of houses in the area have sold recently to LLCs or things like that that make me think that other people have taken advantage of selling their house. But I don’t want to just give it away. The house is nice; it’s on a lake.

[00:44:42]Drew Scott:  Exactly, and that’s the thing to keep in mind, Barbara. I think … whenever somebody is saying that they’ll take cash, buy your house for cash, no matter what the condition or not, those are … they’ll be investors that are looking for a deal. … And they’re not going to give you the best, most of the time, they’re not going to give you the best price for your home. The best thing for you to do is, if you don’t know a real estate agent that you trust, is to have a couple of real estate agents maybe give you an idea. They’ll do an assessment of what the house, the value is, and you can talk to them. And some real estate agents, you have to be cautious … your house could, say it was worth around $500,000. Some real estate agents, they’ll come in to try and win your business. They’ll say, “Oh, I want to get you $600,000 for this house” — even though it’s not worth that. They give you a high price to make you think, oh, wow, they’re going to get you this price. And then within a couple of weeks, they say, let’s bring the price down to what’s more realistic.

[00:45:32]Jonathan Scott:  They’re just trying to lock you in.

[00:45:33]Drew Scott:  They’re just trying to lock you in, so I would say before you would jump on anything like those cards that are thrown at you… keep in mind, they’re putting thousands of those cards out. They’re going to put them all over your neighborhood. They’ll say that they have buyers that are interested in your home. That’s not really the case. In reality, there are people that are interested, but I think it’s better to have a reputable real estate agent or brokerage to work with that can help you sell.

[00:45:55]Jonathan Scott:  So any time you get something that gives you that little bit of a red-flag kind of a feeling, listen to that, listen to your gut and do your due diligence. These companies, sometimes they’re scams. So you want to be careful. Sometimes they’re very legit, but [sometimes] they’re just investors who don’t care about anything other than making money. And that might not be a good thing. Keep in mind as well with the looming recession right now, we don’t know what’s going to happen post-pandemic. Most analysts are saying that they think housing prices, because of unemployment, will probably come down a little bit. So you want to just be careful. Some of our clients have actually been getting multiple offers and selling really quick, depending on the price point right now; others with the higher priced homes, they’ve been sitting.

[00:46:38]Drew Scott:  Good luck.

[00:46:40]Laila Ali:  Yes, good luck. Jean, what’s our next question?

[00:46:44]Jean Setzfand:  Laila, we have Teresa from Illinois, who left us a voicemail message and also sent in some images. So, let’s queue up her question.

[00:46:52]Teresa:  Hi, my name is Teresa and I live in Illinois. I was just wondering, I need to redo the whole interior of the home, bringing the laundry from the basement upstairs, and also a redo of two bathrooms completely. And then, complete interior painting and carpet and restaining of hardwood floors, or maybe new hardwood floors, painting the kitchen cabinets. And I’m just wondering, is there a certain order we should follow when doing all these different projects? What is best to do first? And also during the COVID is it safe to do any of these or all of these projects interiorly right now? Thank you so much.

[00:47:37]Laila Ali:  So guys, I just want to let you know that Teresa left that message, but she is actually on the line as well, if you have any questions for her.

[00:47:46]Drew Scott:  Oh great. Thanks, Theresa. Thanks for the question, too, and also the visuals really help us understand the space. So the first thing I would say is when you have your professional who’s helping you, your contractor that’s helping you, or if you’re working with a designer as well for laying out the space, it is really important to make sure that they know all this information so that they can create a plan of attack with you. Because you definitely want to make sure that you’re tackling everything in the proper order — otherwise it could take a lot longer, and you might not get the permits when you were expecting to.

[00:48:15]Jonathan Scott:  And also, particularly during the pandemic, don’t be living in the house while the work’s being done. You want to try to let somebody get in there, get all the work done, especially if you’re going to be ripping out bathrooms and kitchens and you can’t live in the house anyway. So moving plumbing, things like that, that’s always probably some of the trickier stuff, any structural that you might have to do. So make sure you get all the rough-in for plumbing, electrical done first. One of the things I’m noticing with your bathrooms and your counters, you have a lot of multilevel countertops. That is an old-school way to do design, unless you have an absolutely humongous space with tons of room for extra height bars and stuff like that. Most people get more function out of having all of their counters the same height, particularly in the bathroom. Also, I would avoid vessel sinks if you can. They’re kind of the bane of my existence depending on the style of them, because they’re not functional when you’re trying to pick things up off the counter. Undermounts [are] the easiest for cleaning; it’s also the easiest for day-to-day use.

[00:49:13]Drew Scott:  And also flooring. I saw you have some carpet, some hardwood. I like your idea that you want to redo the hardwood, maybe flow it through the entire space, and you can use area rugs to help define your living room or the bedroom.

[00:49:22]Jonathan Scott:  That’s it, we’ll be right there. We’re going to come do this for you.

[00:49:26]Drew Scott:  It’s a lot of work, but I do like your question about having people in the house during isolation during COVID restrictions. And I mean, like I said before, it is considered essential work for renovations and construction, most parts of it. And so it’s not a bad thing to have them come, but definitely have somewhere else that you can stay so that they can get the work done. It will take a little bit longer, and some things might get a bit more expensive right now because of COVID restrictions and limited materials available.

[00:49:57]Teresa:  OK.

[00:49:58]Laila Ali:  That was a lot of great information you just got.

[00:50:01]Drew Scott:  Thanks, Teresa.

[00:50:03]Teresa:  Oh, OK. Thank you.

[00:50:08]Drew Scott:  Yep, bye.

[00:50:08]Laila Ali:  Thanks. Jean, do we have any more questions?

[00:50:11]Jean Setzfand:  Absolutely. So we have another one coming in from YouTube, and this one’s coming from Gruene Texas Lover, and Gruene Texas Lover’s asking: “My mom is a need of a walk-in shower on the main floor. If we take out the bathtub, do we need to put one in on the downstairs bathroom in order to maintain value?”

[00:50:34]Jonathan Scott:  So we always recommend having at least one tub in the home, mainly because if at some point you go to resell the home and a family wants to buy the home who has young kids, they always want to have at least one tub. So that’s one thing that we’ve seen over the years. It’s always best to have at least one tub. Usually it’s attached to one of the bathrooms or like in the hallway, upstairs where the bedrooms are if it’s a two-story, but always important to try and keep one somewhere located in the house.

[00:51:01]Laila Ali:  That was a great question. My son has a bathroom he wants to remodel, and I was worried about taking his tub out, but pretty much all of my bathrooms have tubs in my house. So that lets me know that I can do it, ‘cause I have more than one tub. That was a great question.

[00:51:14]Drew Scott:  As long as he’s not asking for you to put one of those simulated surfer things. Have you ever seen those? It’s like a … self-made like, like wave. I’ve ridden them before. It’s pretty cool, but you don’t want to have that in your house.

[00:51:27]Laila Ali:  No, I absolutely do not want that in the house. Jean, do we have any more questions?

[00:51:34]Jean Setzfand:  We have one last question, and it’s another video question coming from Mary in Virginia.

[00:51:40]Mary:  Hi guys. I’m Mary from Virginia. And my question for you is this. If I have only a small amount of money to dedicate to a renovation budget, what would be the best part of my house to invest that money in for updates? My bathroom from the 1950s, or my kitchen that got left in the 1960s, or my basement with wood paneling and drop ceilings, popular in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s?

[00:52:10]Drew Scott:  I love, I love the performance of the video. That’s great. I mean, the one thing I would say, whatever is most important to you, this is your home; you want to get the most out of it. Some people say the kitchen is the heart of the home and that’s where they want to spend their money. Other people would say having a bonus area that’s a nice, comfortable basement area … that could be most important for them. But it really does come down to what your tastes are. And at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you’re creating the memories you want to create in a home that you love.

[00:52:36]Jonathan Scott:  Everyone’s dynamic is different at home. And sometimes, one of the questions we got a lot was from families who have a bunch of kids… you know, what can I do to make life easier? Well, maybe it’s worth investing in the laundry facility, ‘cause there are washers and dryers today that will do a wash in … you know, 15-minute wash, 15-minute dry. That would free up so much time. So think about what you could do in your home that will free up time and allow you to do what’s important to spend time with the ones you love. You know, do a hobby; those are the things that are the most important for you to think of when you’re organizing which you have, which rooms are going to be most important.

[00:53:09]Drew Scott:  Yeah, for my wife, she really wanted … her zen space is to have a little crafting room, something that she could craft in, she can do her artwork. And for me, I like to have a little zen space of my own, which includes a lounging area and then also somewhere that I can work out.

[00:53:26]Jonathan Scott:  I’ve literally had thousands of texts with questions from you guys, but I have one more, if you guys don’t mind. It’s from Randy in Montgomery, Texas. It says: “We’re getting ready to build our forever retirement home. Can you give me a couple of ideas? I saw on your show Celebrity IOU where, what was the counter you used for Jeremy Renner’s mom’s home. We like your choices and we want something durable.”

[00:53:48] The most important thing for us … I love the look of natural stone, especially marble, but it is the most delicate material you can possibly get. You can even stain it with a ring of water from a glass.

[00:54:01]Drew Scott:  It’s super porous.

[00:54:01]Jonathan Scott:  Yeah, and it’s the same. Granite is all the same. You spill red wine. If it’s not sealed, most people don’t realize you have to reseal your marble every one to three months. You have to reseal granite every three to six months.

[00:54:13]Drew Scott:  Nobody does that.

[00:54:14]Jonathan Scott:  So we always use either quartz or, on Jeremy Renner’s episode, I believe that was Neolith that we used. It’s like a porcelain tile basically, and you can do a nice edging.

[00:54:24]Drew Scott:  These are zero maintenance products, so you don’t have to reseal, so you’ll never get that ring of water stain or if you spill on it. I think when you’re looking into [making] your house safe and especially … as you’re getting older or if you’re having any mobility issues, you want to keep it safe, but you also have to think of durability. That’s another way just to give you peace of mind in your home.

[00:54:42]Jonathan Scott:  One last design advice, ‘cause I think you said we’re out of questions. Remember when you’re renovating, don’t go crazy bold on the big-ticket items, because the more bold you go, the faster it will go out of style. So try, and when it comes to floors and countertops and expensive stuff like that, something a little bit more neutral, something a little bit more classic, because it will stand the test of time.

[00:55:04]Drew Scott:  Yeah, so don’t do like a leopard-print countertop.

[00:55:07]Jonathan Scott:  Just because it matches your underwear.

[00:55:10]Drew Scott:  Yeah. Yeah.

[00:55:11]Laila Ali:  I love it. There has been so much valuable information given here. Drew, Jonathan, before we close, I have one final and super important question. You’ve helped so many families start a new life at home. So maybe you can help us solve an age-old conundrum. What is the best housewarming gift?

[00:55:31]Drew Scott:  Oh, man. So it’s funny. We get asked that all the time. Again, just like your home should speak to who you are, and in some words, you know, to really enjoy your home it needs to be personalized for you, it’s the same thing with a housewarming gift, in my opinion. So we always, my wife and I always look at whom we’re giving the gift to and we try and do something personal. So we’ve done, you know, a friend of ours is huge into jigsaw puzzles. So we did a personalized ... oops, I just dropped my earpiece.

[00:55:56]Jonathan Scott:  He gets so excited about jigsaw puzzles.

[00:55:58]Drew Scott:  Anyway, so we did a personalized jigsaw puzzle that was all memorable moments from her life. And we created that, so that was a really unique thing.

[00:56:06]Jonathan Scott:  I mean, that’s way less shallow than I was going to say … a copy of our magazine with a bottle of wine. But you know, Drew’s is probably a lot sweeter.

[00:56:14]Drew Scott:  Yeah.

[00:56:16]Laila Ali:  You guys are so funny. I’m like a candle person or somebody, you know, something simple and easy, but I love how thoughtful that was, Drew. So this really has been informative, like I said before. Thanks to each of you for answering our questions. I had some in there myself. And thank you to AARP members, volunteers and listeners for participating in this discussion.

[00:56:36] Now all of the resources that I referenced, including a recording of today’s Q&A event, can be found at aarp.org/atmpresents on Aug. 20. Again, that web address is aarp.org/atmpresents.

[00:56:50] Now we hope that you enjoyed today’s event and learned something that could help you improve your homes for a lifetime. Thank you, Drew and Jonathan Scott, and to see more of the brothers, please tune in to HGTV on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET to catch an all-new episode of Property Brothers: Forever Home, and starting on Sept. 9, Season 7 of Brother vs. Brother. Please be sure to also tune in tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 20, at 1 p.m. ET for another AARP live event where experts will answer your questions related to staying safe and protected during the pandemic. You can watch at aarp.org/coronavirus.

[00:57:36] Thank you and have a great evening. This concludes our live event. Bye, guys.

[00:57:47]