Home Improvement Show 05-16-26

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Good morning and welcome in now the Home Improven Show
of the Midlands on one of three point five FM,
five sixty am WVOC and anywhere you want to take
us on the free iHeartRadio app. And hey, by the way,
I should mention that if you miss any one of
these shows or a segment of the show, you can
always catch the podcast on the iHeartRadio app. It posts
every week once we're done and you can catch up

(00:36):
with it there. Okay, I'm Gary David, good morning, Good
to have you along. Coming up, we'll be talking a
summer over at beaver Rufgan Gutters with Marcus Greenwell from
Lifetime Cabinus and Countertops, and James Carwell is going to
join us. He's the owner of Freedom Plumber. We'll be
talking about well spring season, growing season and roots grow
too and sometimes they impact sewer lines and that can
cause problems like something we're going to talk about right

(00:59):
now with Geene Harvey from dripp Ninjas. Gene, good morning,
Good to have you with us.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Buddy, Hey, good morning again. Hey.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
So yeah, well, we're talking later on to James about
what can cause problems with sewer lines and one of
the things that that could create is a backup in
a toilet and you guys at Dripped Ninja's you deal
with this all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh, We've got like four or five jobs just like
that going on right now.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
So Gene, we think about Okay, a toilet backs up.
Well again, like you always say, and like we always know,
these always happen at the most inopportune times, like times
when you're not paying attention, maybe you're out of town,
maybe you're at work, maybe you're asleep, And boy, how

(01:47):
quickly this can create some major problems.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Gene, Oh absolutely, And I do you have a I
guess what people think of like a traditional drain line
or toilet back up when you actually have to be
polite debris or matter you can visually see coming up.

(02:11):
But the real hard thing for people to get their
hands around is when there's clear water coming up through
a toilet, or it may come through the drain line
and the shower and overflow the sower pan and then
get into a bathroom or a hallway that all they

(02:32):
see is clear water, so they don't think about the viruses,
the pathogens, the bacteria, all the really nasty stuff that
is in the drain line and the toilet now is
on the floor of their house.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Okay, easy mistake to make, right, I mean, same thing, geenef.
I see a toilet overflow a bit and it's clear water.
I'm thinking, no big deal, but it could be a
very big deal.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, they and the water refreshment. There's three three categories
of water. The category one is clean water. I could
disconnect the water line to a sink or a toilet
and I poured a cup out, I drink it. It's
clean water. Two is water out of like a dishwasher
or a washing machine. I'm not going to drink it,

(03:22):
but it doesn't scare me. It's soapy, it's got dirt
in it, et cetera. The category three is the black
water that's not always black. That's the water that not
only am I not going to drink it, it also
scares me a little bit. So when we come do
a CAT three cleanup, we're doing full monkey suit, kaiak, respirators, boots, gloves,

(03:49):
taping the wrists and bottoms of our kaiveak, just because
of the nature of what could be in the water.
And then it can also put stuff in the air
that can cause respiratory issues and get into other the
unaffected areas of your home.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Wow, and you guys come in it dripped ninjas. I
mean when you first come in, you you have no
way of knowing at first, right.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
We don't. We have to. We we assume the worst
and then work backwards. We actually could do some testing,
protein tests to see what, if any matter is actually
on the floor. And this is the issue we have
with a survice company. Sometimes if one thing, if somebody

(04:40):
was using the bathroom it clogs, or there was something
in the line like James was saying, and stuff actually
comes out of the toilet onto the floor or comes
through your shower or your tub, and you can see stuff. Well,
you can see it and you can't dispute that. But
when it's clear, orders like well, your eye is as

(05:03):
good as a microscope, and I don't nobody cares on
a microscope. Actually take a little sample and see what's
going in there. So it can't rely on testing and
the way we work for the safety of our employees
and the homeowners, we're going to assume the worst then
work forward from that.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
So in the interim gene, I mean, so you've got
to get a sample, you've got to get it tested.
I mean, what's the timeframe there between the time you
collect the sample of the time you know what you're
dealing with.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, we just started a process a week or so ago,
so we can do that kind of testing in house,
and we can have it. It's about hour and a
half two hours. We can have a yay or in
a on the on the testing the left. Homeowners or
insurance companies know okay, But in the meantime, you have

(05:57):
to assume we have a job. I guess it's been
about two months ago where it was a large commercial
facility and it was clear water probably I don't know,
several hundred gallons of clear water came through a drain,
a floor drain in a bathroom that affected close to

(06:17):
fifteen hundred, two thousand square feet of a commercial building.
We walk in, people would just walking in like wherever
they're going into unaffected areas, just walking through the water
track it everywhere. It was like you got okay, we
need to just have a little time out here to

(06:37):
explain to you as what you're walking through. And all
these unaffected areas are now indirectly affected, meaning we'll have
to clean them and treat them in a similar manner
because you basically walked through poopy water and spread it
all over the rest of the building.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
But you just didn't know it right. So I'm gonna
guess it probably ninety nine percent of us out there
it would have no idea if if we didn't see
anything in that water, we'd think it was a okay.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well, people sometimes have a hard time trusting their eyes
and what they can see, so it does come I
understand when you can't actually see something to like, well,
it just looks like water. Well, it looks like water,
but you have to remember where it came through. Nobody's
going to stick a cup a cup into the toilet

(07:31):
and I'm first just go have a drink, right, But
yet when that water comes on the floor, you're like, oh,
it's good. I'm just gonna walk through it and I'll
just get them off and clean it up. And it's like,
now it's a little more, a little more severe than that.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
So aside from whether it's you know, a category one,
two or three, you know it's it's no problem and all,
or it's a biohazard here, the other problem is is
it doesn't take a whole lot of water on a
surface to impact other areas around it that could you
need more mitigation?

Speaker 2 (08:01):
Right, you're right, and a little subset of that, you know,
like say like tile or linoleum or vinyl floors and
bounces of the kitchens. There are great floor of matils
from air, so you can drop a cup of water
or a coke or whatever and you can clean it
up and you know you're all good. However, like on

(08:22):
a tile floor, especially, we've had standing water and that
wild water goes around the edges of the tile and
gets into the mortar bed. Well, now the structural stability
of that floor has been affected, and it usually comes
down to a question of not if, but when those
tiles will will were to pop or loosen up. And additionally,

(08:45):
we can dry under a tile floor, but if that
water is taken contaminants under the tile, we can drop it,
but we can't clean it.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, that's a problem. So now you're talking about a
tear out.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yes, oh wow. In construction you usually never have just
an aid. There's always a B, C and D. And
just like vinyl floors are great, but once water gets
under there, it's extremely hard to dry, so it's almost
always an immediate pear out. And you know, just like

(09:23):
you know water. We've already talked about water being kind
of sneaky. This is usually going to happen in the
second story bathroom of a home. Yeah, then it'll start
going through, It'll come through the ceiling, and then it'll
start affecting rooms on the first floor. So what could
have been a very small issue and can compound very quickly.

(09:43):
And it's like you have that on a building that's
built on slab or once water starts get on that floor,
you know, cross space, some of that water actually start
going down to the tall space. Once on slab, it
just starts going sideways and will affect it exponentially larger
amount of area because there's nowhere for the water to go.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
Wow. Okay, so let me ask you this, Gene. We're
talking to Gen Harvey from Dripped Ninjas. Time is a
big factor here. The quicker you can dry it out,
I'm guessing, the better your chances are that you won't
have extensive damage to anything else you don't know about.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Right, You're absolutely right. And the old saying what time
is money the longer something since it's going to cost more,
meaning labor, materials, consumables to get it fixed. So, yeah, Alwood,
you have something like this, you got to get on
it as quickly as possible. And for the insurance jobs,

(10:43):
whether you're with State farm all state farmers, whoever, every
policy has some kind of verbiage that states that the
homer must take some type of reasonable measures to keep
additional damage from occurring. Well, additional measures can be cutting
off that saint or maybe doing something themselves, but also

(11:04):
getting a reputable mitigation coming in there to start drying, cleaning,
to get stuff done so secondary damage doesn't occur.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
Well, here's the good news that it doesn't matter when
it occurs, as soon as you become aware that it
has happened. It could be the middle of the night,
it can be Christmas Day, it could be whenever. You
guys never sleep right.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Well, we do sleep a little bit. And you know
you mentioned Christmas Day. We had a church job two
years ago on Christmas Eves while everybody else was, you know,
enjoying turkey and ham Shan and I were in church
Christmas Eve night, sucking up water and starting mitigation. Ever,

(11:48):
it's one of the big fellows to Paul Wow.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
The point is is whenever you need them, they are
they're dripped into just gene. Great information, man, and scary
stuff about you don't know that it may look clear,
but you may not know that it's not a biohazard
of some sort. That's folks, something a lot of us
folks don't realize. I never really thought of gene. Somebody Lewis, Yeah,
somebody that does have an issue fire damage, water damage.

(12:14):
How do they get a hold of your drip ninjas,
my friend.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well, two ways to get in touch with us. You
can call us at eight three nine two five seven
nine one five eight, or you can go to drip
ninjas dot com and fill out a customer intake form
and once we receive it, while our technicians will reach

(12:37):
out quickly to get some information and schedule a time
that we can come out and assess and start helping you.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
All right, terrific gene. Pleasure to have you with this
is always, my friend. Have yourself a terrific weekend, buddy,
all right as well?

Speaker 2 (12:49):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
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(13:11):
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Speaker 4 (13:20):
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(13:41):
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Speaker 1 (14:03):
Back on the Home Improvement Show in the Midlands with
Summer from Beaver Roof again Gutters Summer, Good morning. Let's
talk a little bit about gutters this morning, shall we?

Speaker 5 (14:12):
We'll do it.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
I'm down, okay, cool, And we talked to I guess
a couple of weeks ago. Heath was on with me
and he's he's the guy in charge all your gutter stuff,
that is right, And we had heath out to the
house this past summer and installed those six in seamless gutters.
As I was telling he, it's not like we didn't
have gutting our house. We had gutters. They were there

(14:35):
when we bought the house, and they're probably all the
house was built back in the eighties or whenever it
was the nineties, I guess it was. But the gutters
that y'all put up are a bit different from the
gutters that if your home is, you know, fifteen twenty
years old, or maybe even if you had gutters recently,
your gutters are a little different from the ones that
may be on your house right now.

Speaker 6 (14:55):
How is that so?

Speaker 5 (14:57):
Like you said, six inch seamless gutters are so before
they were a little bit smaller. They were a five
inch gutter. Some may be metal. However, some actually came
in six excuse me, ten inch sticks of guttering, so
they would seem those together. So with that being said,

(15:19):
when there are themes, there are more opportunities for leaking,
more opportunities for damaging, collapse and that sort of thing
that's just a week a week spot in the in
the guttering system, and more opportunities for failure. So yes,
Our gutters are six inch seamless, seamless gutters, and they

(15:40):
are metal like like you were saying, some could have
been made of like a thick plastic. They don't do
that often anymore, but like you said, if your home
is older, they could be made of plastic. So our
gutters are literally custom fit for your home. And our

(16:00):
guys come out. They have a big gutter machine in
the back of the truck. It's pretty cool to wipe.
So your gutters start as a flat piece of metal.
Then they process it and they run it through the
machine and it you know, they'll measure, They take all
of their measurements, and we actually doll it in and
they know exactly just how long it is. When that

(16:22):
flat metal comes out, it's a K style shaped gutter
and that's what we install, and you know it fit
perfectly for you. They stop the machine, they chop it
right there and bam, it's perfectly made for your home,
custom fit.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
And yeah, you've been telling us for years how much
more water these gutters can move as opposed to a
five inch I get it because you think now, I said,
so the inch bigger, what's the big deal here?

Speaker 5 (16:48):
But bigger is better. No, But like you said, the inch,
it's it is. It's crazy to think. However, from that
five inch to the six inch gutter. The six inch
gutters hold forty percent more volume of water, so it
is able to accept that much more water from your roof,

(17:11):
take it and divert it away from your home. You know,
a lot of times when they are not adequate enough,
they'll fill up, they'll spill over. You know, if they're
five inches, they could spill over the front. If your
gutters are not in great condition, you have not really
maintained those gutters, it could actually spill back into your

(17:34):
home and it will appear to be leak, but it's not.
So there is a number of things that could happen
when one your gutters are not large enough, or two
when they're not maintained properly. So you know, that's another
thing that you should really be making making a note
of and doing when you're doing your checklist of monthly

(17:58):
or yearly things to do for your home.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, and you know that was and I knew this
because we talked about it for so long, but you
know it was earlier that I was past. This past spring,
we had just a heavy downpour one day and I
looked out there and sure enough there's watering over the
front of gutters. And I gotta tell you then my
next thought was, okay, boy, I sure hope it's not
running over the back of the gutter too. Uh right,

(18:21):
So yeah, I was, you know, I was a little warreous. Okay,
will you guys come out? Boy, I hope I got
to pull those old gutters down and find this damage
of the face behind it, because that can happen.

Speaker 5 (18:30):
It happens a lot. It happens often because you know,
it's just you know, gutters. They they are kind of
like the unsung hero I can if you will of
your home. You know they're there. They're great, they're doing
their job. However, if you forget about them, don't maintain them,
or you know, you don't have them, there is so
much damage that could be done. Obviously, we talk a

(18:52):
whole bunch about foundation problems. Yes, that is one thing
that you know, over time, it can happen. Your foundation
can come you know, it can settle, crack, you know,
and water intrusion. That is a large, large problem. However,
like you said, facia soft it. If you have wood,
facia or soft it, and you're not caring correctly. For one,

(19:15):
the gutter system right that you do have, or to
the lack of gutters, that wood can become damaged soft
and that's just more ways for water to get in
through there, or to critters, spiders, other insects or even

(19:35):
like squirrels and things of that nature. So it's just
more ways for things that should stay outside to come inside.
So you got to you gotta take you know, take
cautions that take time for these little things.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
Since you brought this up plain to us. When you
talk about properly maintaining your gutters, what does that involve?
How do you properly maintain a go system that's already
on your home?

Speaker 5 (20:00):
So cleaning them, they need to be cleaned. You know,
we do have a bi annual and then we have
an annual cleaning service. It really depends on your area
that you live in and how much foliage is around
and that sort of thing. You know, you want to
make sure that they're cleaned. If they're clean, the water
has a clearer channel, clear a clear way to get

(20:23):
to those downspouts and away from your home. If they're
not clean, there's a lot of build up that can happen,
and that's when things start going a rise over the
top behind the back. So whenever we come out when
we clean these we're actually looking to make sure that
we get all of the goops, all of the gunk,
all of the granules that come off of your roof.
And you know, it's not just things that that are

(20:45):
falling from the sky like I just mentioned things from
your roof. You know, leaves get piled up on your roof.
They go into those gutters, so leaves and granules and
that kind of causes slimmy stuff to acclimate and everything else.
So we're coming out, we're cleaning your gutters. We're making
sure that they're pitched appropriately to make sure that that

(21:06):
water that falls in goes to those down spouts. We're
making sure that at our corners, because yes, at the
corners we do have seen but we're making sure that
they are caughked correctly. Everything is water tight when we
come out there to clean and maintain these gutters, So
you want to make sure they're fastened nicely into that

(21:27):
the face. Everything is sound and water is going happily
away from the home as it should be.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Right and you talk about it if anybody's ever cleaned
out gutters, you know, as you talk, that's slime, that
gunky stuff builds up in there, and yeah, it's it's
it's a nasty, nasty process. But that stuff not only
is it nasty, it gets heavy, yes, and I guess
there's a danger there that even if even in a
drought situation, that stuff gets in there, it gets wet,

(21:55):
it gets nasty, and that weight, I guess could could
potentially start to pull the gutter away from.

Speaker 5 (22:01):
The hole, away from the home. You're exactly right, So
you know, even in like you said, the cold, you know,
yes we do get some rains and whatnot, but if
that stuff gets nasty cold and then freezes, that's even heavier.
So you know, that's why we like to really urge
homeowners to make sure that they are doing this, you know,
right before the fall or right after you know, you

(22:23):
have all the leaves and stuff falling, cahorns, whatnot. That's
your calling this out there, making sure that your gutters
are cleaned, We clean those out, we get you ready
for the winter, because we want to make sure that
everything is nice clean, all of that debris is out
and ready for any You know, water or freezing and whatnot.

(22:44):
They're ready. They're ready to do what they need to
do and protect your home.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
So if you have got a protection which we opted
to do because we had a lot of trees around
the house, absolutely as heath of your guys know. So
if you if you've got gutter protection on there, I
mean you out of the woods here or there's still
things you need to be do. You still kind of
need to get them checked out every now and to
make sure things are honky dory all right. So summer

(23:08):
is Beaver Roofing and Gutter.

Speaker 5 (23:09):
Call us at eight zero three nine nine one roof
can't forget it. And then we also have our new
website at Beaverroofing dot com.

Speaker 1 (23:19):
Terrific all right. Summer always a pleasure to have yourself.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
A good weekend, you too, take care.

Speaker 7 (23:26):
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(23:50):
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(24:12):
man caves, you name it. Lifetime Cabinets and Countertops Fernandina
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Speaker 1 (24:24):
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(24:45):
Perfection with unwavering commitment to superior craftsmanship and customer service
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and nurses. Find out more at finishingtouchteam dot com. Welcome
back to the Home Improvement Show with the Midlands on

(25:05):
one O three point five FM and five sixty AM.
WVOC Marcus Greenwell, this is the dude that owns live
in the House.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Lifetime cabinets ken Top.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, it's important to point that out. Seven years in
a row, best of in the State Reader's Bowl. I
know why that is, though. I mean, well, you guys
deserve it, you do great work. Matter of fact, you
know I should have had by now measurements to you,
mister Greenwell, because our youngest son is doing some renovations
at his condo and we're shopping you guys for some

(25:39):
remnant specials out there at the chapel it. Yeah, actually
believe or not. This is the this is so me man.
Weekend before last I went over there, took some measurements,
had them written down, got back home. Somewhere between there
and here, I lost him. I have no idea what
happened to him. So it was back over there a

(26:00):
couple of days ago and took him again. So I'll
be getting out there to see you guys real soon.
But it's that simple, right, If you want to do
an upgrade with you guys, just just take some moudamenary measurements, right, yeah.

Speaker 8 (26:09):
Yeah, And you could have taken your picture of the
of the drawing and just texted it to me and
I'd have had.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
It right then.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
What was I thinking I could have?

Speaker 8 (26:18):
Yeah, I could have priced it out already. Of course,
it would depend on what you picked out for the
final price, for the final product he picked he picks out,
or whoever's in charge of the selection over there.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Well, i'll give you one. I'll give you one. Guess
that is in charge of the selection.

Speaker 8 (26:39):
Yeah, you know, and yeah, yeah, yeah he doesn't be married.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
No, he doesn't care, though he doesn't care given that
it ain't me as an Yeah, who will make that?
And I know she'll make a great one.

Speaker 7 (26:53):
And yeah, I know I knew that.

Speaker 8 (26:55):
I knew that. I said and first, I said, you
first something.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
Yeah, I don't know why, But that just shows how
easy it is, I mean, because yeah, you can. You
can sketch out what your layout is if you have
an idea of what kind of you know, stone pattern
look you want? You know, you you can just you
can just still text it on over to this guy
right here.

Speaker 8 (27:16):
Yeah, call me up, Call me up at eight O
three seven seven twenty two twenty and I'll give you
a price based of a Level one or five or
whatever you want, you know, super exotic or the best
price however you want to price it, and we can
kind of you'll know before you even get started how
much you're talking about. You know, yeah, I day the

(27:38):
average average kitchen with a Level one right now is
probably running around two thousand dollars twenty two, you know,
twenty five in that range, depending on the square footage,
and we base it off of the square foot that
you use only that square foot.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
So if it's.

Speaker 8 (27:55):
Thirty square feet and the slab is fifty, you only
pay for thirty.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
Okay, which makes perfect sense. But you're telling me that
not everybody does it that way.

Speaker 8 (28:06):
Not everybody does it that way. No, they make you
buy the slab and then, you know, if you want
to use the leftovers, which nobody can, then they end
up getting it and keeping it for you to keeping
it for themselves and.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
Then probably reselling it and double dipving on you, right.

Speaker 8 (28:24):
Yeah, and then resell it and double tipping. Yeah, and
that's why I have so many remnants, is because I
buy the slab, have twenty square foot left over, and
then I'll sell that remnant at dealer costs. And then
you know, you don't have to buy the twenty five
square foot minimalments. It's a five square foot vanity. You
can just pay for what you use in that case.

Speaker 1 (28:45):
Too beautiful. Now you could do what we just said,
or you could take advantage of something else you guys
have been offered now for a couple of months, and
that is free, the experience of an incredible interior designer.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
Yes, Megan.

Speaker 8 (29:04):
Megan is a superstar and she makes things so easy.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Source of selection. She's got a little color.

Speaker 8 (29:12):
Wheel over there. She can come in there and help coordinate.
We've we've helped contractors with their clients, you know, when
they don't have time to do that. They we don't
do in home consultations. But you come up to the
store at forty twenty Fernandina Road, you'll get to see
Meghan up there. She'll help make the selections. She's put

(29:34):
stuff together.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
Wive watch her.

Speaker 8 (29:36):
I'm just like, holy cow, I'm to do that.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
You know.

Speaker 8 (29:40):
The ladies are talking about blue, and next thing you know,
she's like, that's perfect. And it was green, you know
it was. It was a gray door green and some paint.
I TELLR I don't Lord only knows what color it was.
But the only teller I know on that is agreeable gray.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
And that's the only reason yes, or agreeable white. Well yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah.

Speaker 8 (30:04):
Now so kind aside, she is from Minois. She's just
such a great help and and just good person.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
So in order to take advantage of that free service
you guys offer, that's at the Fernandina Road location, right, Okay,
that's right.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
Road.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
All right, what's what's the best So maybe I don't know, Marcus,
take a few pictures of whatever environment you're gonna put
this counter top end, you know, usual kitchen or bathroom typically,
but take a few pictures so she can see what
the color scheme is and everything like that. That's the
best way to do it.

Speaker 8 (30:33):
Bring tile samples, yeah, yeah, all kind of stuff that's
happened like that, Bring tile samples up there. A couple
of pictures, even some words would would help, you know,
some descriptions of what's going on.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
She's just so good at it.

Speaker 8 (30:47):
I mean, she's she's been doing it, you know, for
a long time, so it's just real easy to her
something that's not easy to me or to some people.
I'm pretty good at it myself, but but you know,
once you start getting into coordinate, you know all the
different tiles, and you know she's on the up and
up on all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
Well, this is uh, this is the busy time of
year for you guys, certainly, and you've been yeah, pretty
much you're you're guys in a fabrication shop and riquet.
The folks have been running I'm gonna guess pretty much
non stop here Marcus.

Speaker 8 (31:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, it's almost uh hard to do help
help people out with the repairs and stuff like that.
Usually we have enough time to go and add a
repair in and somebody has has a problem with some
of the somebody else that installed it or something like that,
Yeah we can go help them out. But right now
we're just not even doing that.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
So, uh, you're the process and and explained to us, Marcus,
because some folks, you know, well, I think anybody has
had any experience with a remodeling job of some sort
of upgrade of some sort, whether it's flooring or countertops
or whatever. Knows that there's a lot that goes into it.
You don't expect to show up one day and say

(32:05):
this is the countertop I want and have it installed
the next day or even really the next week, because
there's there's a lot that has to happen. So walk
us through that process of what folks could expect.

Speaker 8 (32:17):
Yeah, yeah, that's a good that's a good idea, our
good point.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
One.

Speaker 8 (32:21):
One important thing to know is if you're doing a
cabinet job and you're going to do countertops after the
cabinet job, don't come in after you put the cabinets in.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
Come in before.

Speaker 8 (32:35):
Right when you order the cabinet, you pick the stone
because you want to build your whole project and color
scheme off of the stone you pick. Any interier designer.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
Will tell you.

Speaker 8 (32:49):
Start with the countertops in the kitchen or bathroom because
it's easier to find tiles that go with the countertop.
So if you at your order in with us, then
by the time you get your cabinets built, we'll already
have you on the calendar with the guaranteed date. I'd
say that with a quote unquote, uh that that we're

(33:12):
going to say this is your day. And a lot
of cabinet companies now are even doing their cabinet builds
off of what we say are install date is really
even though some of them, some of them are actually
you know, busier than we are, more more booked out.
We're six eight weeks booked out. So you don't want

(33:32):
to put your cabinets in and then call me and say, hey, Marcus,
come do some cabinets because then in six eight weeks
and you know, if I could work in faster, I
certainly would, but my crisis, that would it would kill me.
The sits in my house for six eight weeks.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
Who talks at all? So so what what happens in
a situation where you know, the somebody comes in, they
make their they make their their selections, and you got
your guaranteed install date, and then the cabin makers okay,
this is when where the countertops are coming in. But
you know, I mean it happens. Let's say that the
cabinets get delayed. Now you're past your guaranteed data. I'm

(34:09):
guessing you guys get a priority to that customer to
get back in there as quickly as those cabins are done.

Speaker 8 (34:14):
Yeah, it's it's easy for me to push the date
down because people below that date want to go in faster,
so it's easy, so I can easily pum somebody up.
It's hard to take somebody off of their date, so
I don't even try it unless they want to.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
But now when it comes to to cutting them to fit,
so you'll do that even before the cabins are installed.
Is that right? Or what if the ca comes in
it does measure, you're going to measure? Yeah, but are
you waiting until those cabits are installed? And yeah? Okay,
so you wait till they're there and then measuring one
final time before you cut, right.

Speaker 8 (34:50):
That's why we give you that that projected out date. Normally,
i'll do it within five to ten business days after
the cabinet guy puts the cabinets in. So if you
pre plan and set up business with us, we'll go
ahead and set that date, and then whenever your cabinets
get built, I'll come in there within five to ten
business days after the cabinets are built. I'll code measure

(35:14):
the next day or two after they're installed, excuse me,
and then I'll come measure a day or two after
they're installed, and then we'll installed.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
Within five to ten business days.

Speaker 8 (35:28):
And usually that's pretty that's pretty easy, you know, if
you pre plan.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
So I'm glad we're talking about this this morning because
consider for a moment, if you better have an experience.
I mean, I love big box stores. Man, I could
produce to a big box store all day long. But
if you've ever had the experience with a big box store,
just because this is not They may sell these countertops
and these are the flooring and everything else, but they're

(35:54):
not the people who are doing the fabrication work and
the installation work, who are measuring things out. That all
relies on a third party contractor. And the more people
you get in the mix, the harder it is to
get answers up front and answers on the backside when
something doesn't go right. So this is this is why
when folks work with you, guys, you got all the

(36:15):
answers going in.

Speaker 8 (36:17):
Yeah, and we're a brick and mortar business. You can
come and look me a eyeballs. I'm the owner. So
it's it's real convenient, you know, for somebody to come in.
I mean, you know, we don't because I go measure everything,
and I'm you know, intimately involved with the ordering process
and the slabs and selections. And I have great people

(36:40):
that work for me. We don't run into that many issues,
but if you do, you can come see me. I'm
at Chapin store Monday and Wednesday, end of six I
run that store at me and Schalice Croslin. I don't
know if you know this, Gary, but we uh spotsor
a lot local. He's a local professional bass fisherman. He

(37:03):
started yeah, he started that. Yeah, mm hmmm over I'm
not sure. Anyway, he's with bass Masters right now. He's
been in the College World Fishing League and in uh
college what's it called c W Yeah or something. I
can't I can't remember what it's called. But it's like

(37:25):
he's like grown, Like he started out just doing local tournaments. Yeah,
this was his dream and now he's uh he's traveling
all through Alabama and on TV and all kinds of
different stuff.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
If you ever have you ever heard of the bass Masters?

Speaker 1 (37:39):
Well, sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I've ever called a
bass in my life, but I'm familiar the bass Masters. Yeah, absolutely, Well,
I mean, you guys are involved in all sorts of
community things. I mean, and I know a lot of
folks appreciate you for that as well.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
Well.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
All right, so point box, Yeah, point is it's we're
into May now, so where you're talking, you know, maybe
as long as it's once out on an install just
because you guys do great work in a lot of
people usually, so kim uh, if you've been considering it
for this summer, don't put it off. Where can folks
find you guys to now? Yeah, give us your locations again.

Speaker 8 (38:14):
Yeah, forty Fernandina Road, right next to Costco and across
from Northern Tool right there on front Fernandina Road, and
then one fifty three Chapin Road out there with Steve
the Hot dog Man, which is listening right now.

Speaker 6 (38:28):
He's a good buddy of mine, or Steve Steve.

Speaker 5 (38:32):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (38:33):
In between high we're Boho. Golf Links is across the
street from us. If you want to go hit a
bucket of balls, you can go over there and then
come over and shop for some Granted that's happened a
couple of times this past couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
Making a day. All right, Marcus Green Well, lifetime cab
us again, our tops have a great weekend.

Speaker 8 (38:49):
My friend that you do appreciate y'all.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Hi, this is Gary David. You've heard me talk for
years about Anthony John Construction and the wonderful jobs they
do for folks all across the Midlands. When it comes
to roofing and guttery. The same people doing the job,
but the name has changed. That's right now it's Beaver
Roofing and Beaver Gutters. Leave it to Beaver for all
your roofing and gutter needs. The same great service and
the same great folks behind Anthony John Construction, just with

(39:14):
a new name. Eight oh three nine nine to one
roof and Beaverroofing dot com the gutter roofing work. Leave
it to Beaver Beaver Roofing and Beaver Gutters. We are
back on the Home Improvement Show of the Midlands and
thank you as always for joining us every Saturday morning
here on one O three point five FM and five

(39:34):
sixty AMWVOC Again. I'm Gary David, now joined by James Carwell,
he owns Freedom Plumbing here in the Midlands. James, good morning, my.

Speaker 6 (39:41):
Friend, Good morning Gary.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
How are you I am well, buddy, I'm well man.
It's uh eating back up again. This weekend, woo doggies.
All everything's greened up nice and well. It's growing season, right,
and of the things that growth that we don't see
can cause us some big problems. And we're talking about, oh,
I don't know, things like the roots and sewer lines
and everything else. So let's talk about that this morning,

(40:07):
my friend.

Speaker 6 (40:08):
Absolutely, Yeah, roots and sewer lines can cause a big issue.
And once they're there, they're there. There's no you know,
they have chemicals you can put down to try to
kill the roots, but there's still going to be a
compromise in the pipe. So the only way to really
fix it is to cut the bad section out that
the roots infiltrated and put in a new section there.

Speaker 1 (40:31):
So whatever every down there. You see one of these
yards where these trees, I guess it's certain trees or whatever,
where the roots kind of are sticking out of the ground,
And you're amazed at how extensive these root systems can be,
aren't you.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (40:44):
Absolutely, I'm not a horticulturist by any means, but I've
heard that the root system can go just as far
out as the limbs system, even further in some cases,
depending on the species of tree.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
H there was one of the the crp the crpe myrtle,
the crape or some called it.

Speaker 6 (41:03):
The crpe myrtles are pretty bad with their roots and
sewer lines. You know. You see these trees, you know,
pretty much everywhere, and if you put one of those
near a sewer line, especially if it's a thin wall
or an older sewer line like a cast iron or
a especially that orangeburg which is just rolled up tar paper,

(41:27):
you know you're you're going to be in some trouble
when it comes to that sewer line.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
So okay, uh, Now, as a homeowner, how do you
know you've got if this problem is is developed for you,
what are going to be the symptoms? What are you
going to see? What's what's happening here?

Speaker 6 (41:43):
So typically it's going to start with like a gurgling
of a toilet. When you flush it or when you
run a sink, your toilet starts gurgling it. Take a shower,
your toilet starts gurgling. And what's happening is is the
vent pipes getting blocked off and it's trying to pull
water from somewhere, So it's trying to pull that water
through the toilet and the toilet starts. Yeah, so that's

(42:06):
typically the first signs, and unfortunately, the first signs could
be you know, especially if you have a downstairs toilet
and your master's upstairs. You're taking a shower upstairs and
you come down and you got water all over the place.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
Okay, that I nowhere to go. That was my next question.
So yeah, if you say I can live with the
gurgle and taught it no big deal, at some point
it's going to become a big deal, I guess.

Speaker 6 (42:30):
So yeah, and most of the time it's going to
be in the middle of the night or on a
weekend or something like that.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
Of course. Of course, yeah, it never fails, does that.

Speaker 6 (42:41):
Yeah, when when people typically use their showers and stuff
or run their washing machine, it's not normally during the
middle of the day because most people are at work. Sure,
so yeah, it's going to happen, and the most inconvenient
time possible.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
No doubt. We were just talking early in the show
to gen over Dripped Ninjas about it's just this same
time topic, a total overflowing, and you know, the sort
of mitigation and stuff you got it you got to
come up with after that. It can be extensive, certainly,
all right.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
Oh yeah, especially if it's a toilet.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
Yeah, you know, you got you know, all kind of
you know, hazardous stuff and.

Speaker 6 (43:14):
The yeah, yeah, I believe it's a Class three contaminant
if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
Okay, yeah, So, uh you've got a problem. I mean,
how do you how do you attack this, mister Carwell?

Speaker 6 (43:29):
So, first thing we do is we come out and
we address where the blockage is. Sometimes it's not roots,
sometimes it's underneath the soft blockage. Maybe people flushing things
that shouldn't be flushed, paper towels clean and wipes, things
of that nature. So we want to go to the
furthest point where we see standing water in the sewer line,
so that may be outside of the clean out. If

(43:50):
you have one, it's a little white pipe sticks up
out of the ground that you can unscrew a cap
on and gain access to the sewer line. And and
ideal circums dances, there is going to be one next
to the foundation of the home, usually within three to
four feet, and then there's going to be one where
your lying ties into the municipality, typically near the road.

(44:14):
Usually they go out the front of the house towards
the street. So you have one about four feet from
the house, and then one about ten to fifteen feet
from the edge of the road. Right, So we check
the one at home first. If that one's holding water,
we go to the city one or the municipality we
open that one. If that one's backed up, our first

(44:34):
thing is going to be called the municipality. They have
to come out and address this. We can't touch it.
A good thing for the customer at that point, because
you know, they pay for services to the municipality, so
it doesn't cost them anything for them to come out
and address the problem.

Speaker 1 (44:50):
That was my next question. Yeah, so you're hoping it's
on their end. If it happens, it's the whole order.

Speaker 6 (44:55):
Yeah, absolutely, let's get Yeah. If it's not, then it's
on your end unfortunately. And the first thing we do
is we go in. We want to get that blockage
out of the way so we can get the water down,
relieve that pressure, and then be able to see what's
going on with our camera. You know, you want to
get in there and really know what's happening. We can

(45:17):
guess all day long, but the camera takes the guesswork out, So.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
So you get in there, you find what the blockage
is now now you're having to dig up and get
to that spot, right and get rid of it and
replace lines. I guess right.

Speaker 6 (45:33):
Yeah, And typically depends on the condition of the entire pipe,
whether or not, you know, the best route is going
to be replaced that one spot or replace the entire line.
If it's Orangeburg pipe, which we talked about earlier, that
rolled up tar paper, there's no fix on that stuff.
It's got to come out. So which depends on the

(45:54):
type of line that you have. We ask how it
was installed.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
And we actually have rolled up tar paper lines buried
in the ground. I mean, whoever thought that was a
good idea.

Speaker 6 (46:04):
Has no idea. I think it's when cast iron got
really expensive, they started using this Orangeburg pipe and yeah,
it's just rolled up to tar paper. I mean worked
great for a long time, you know, probably been in
the ground for forty fifty years. Yeah, I mean it

(46:24):
worked for its time. You know, we typically say the
average life span of a sewer line is going to
be thirty years, and that's with the older stuff to
cast iron, your terra cotta. You know about once you
reached the thirty year mark, it is time to look
at getting rid of it rather than putting money into
fixing it.

Speaker 1 (46:42):
Okay, Now, I like everything else in life and in
business and such, I mean, there have been advancements over
the years. Are are the lines that are being used
now for newer construction homes or are they how superior
are they to what you may have at an older home?
And is there anything that's anything that's like just where

(47:03):
boots can penetrate it and cause this problem or is
it always going to be an issue.

Speaker 6 (47:08):
Well, it can always be an issue, but it's less
likely to be an issue if you have schedule forty PVC,
which is the thick PVC. Now you have other stuff
like pham core and things of that nature. Me personally,
I like using the pressure pipe when we're doing now
sewer line installs, and that's going to be the thick
PVC that's rated for pressure, so we're not necessarily rated

(47:33):
for pressure, but rated for underground use. Not the POAE core.
So phone core is a different type of pipe, and
it's it's a little lighter because they you know, fill
the middle with basically like a cellular cellular core filling
and it's got like solid PVC on the inside and outside.

(47:54):
So I like using.

Speaker 2 (47:55):
The full.

Speaker 6 (47:58):
You know, solid core PVC. It seems to keep up
and hold up a lot better, especially with roots. Now,
I've only come across two or three situations where that
solid core PBC was used and had roots, and one
of them was right on top and it didn't seem
like they glued the fitting properly. So, you know, unfortunately,

(48:22):
on these new construction homes, they're not using that thick
solid core PBC. They're using thin wall green pipe, which
is typical on new construction, so tree roots.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
You mentioned flushing things down the toilet that shouldn't be
flushed down a toilet, and I think we all know
who those what those things are. Are there any other
things that can cause an issue when it comes to
a block sewer line that we should be aware of.

Speaker 6 (48:52):
Yeah, improper installation if you don't if you don't put
the right grade on it in the in the lines flat,
you know, Yeah, you can get what's called bellies if
they don't properly support the pipe with the ground, If
they don't tamp it down properly before they lay the
pipe in and make sure the pipe is secured, over time,

(49:12):
that pipe will settle create a belly something. It's like
a swimming pool or a water park. If you go
down the slide out of water park, you go down
nice and fast until you hit that pool. You come
to a pretty quick stop once you hit that pool.

Speaker 1 (49:25):
Yeah, I know that. And these are the typically you know,
I mean you talk about it installing these things originally
in a new build. These aren't plumbers doing it. I
mean maybe they know a little bit about it, but
these aren't plumbers that are laying these sewer lines, right.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
You hope, so.

Speaker 6 (49:47):
Plumbing contractors at least. But yeah, they go in.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
It's a quick.

Speaker 6 (49:52):
Install most of the time on new construction. They come in,
they dig it as quick as possible, they lay it
as quick as possible, they covered it up so it's
again quick. And they're using thin wall PBC, which can
cause problems. I've seen roots grow straight to the side
of a thin wall pipe or collapse it. You know,

(50:15):
if you've got a big root pushing up against that thing,
it can make it egg out or collapse it completely,
just because it's doesn't have the structural integrity as that
solid core PBC drain pipe makes sense.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
So we talked about so many different things on the
show that quite honestly, hot weather can have an impact
on you know, roofs and obviously electricity bills and all
that sort of thing. But I mean, does hotter weather
cause any inherent issues with plumbing? I can't think of something,
I mean, but maybe there is.

Speaker 6 (50:51):
No I mean, it could call some strange things inside,
like if you have high humidity in your home and
you know it cause your toilet tank to sweat because
you you of course got cold water inside the tank.
Things like that. But as far as you know, it's
it's the growing season, like you said earlier, so you're
going to have more route activity, but you'll you'll get

(51:13):
stoppages from roots during the winter, and we've had quite
a few come up this past winter, so you know,
it's just more likely in the in the spring and
summer when things start to kind of pick up with
growth is typically when you see it. But yeah, it can,
it can happen. But the heat itself with plumbing not

(51:34):
not too many issues with that, not like in the
winter when you have freezing pipes and things of that nature.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
Right, Yeah, yeah, And I guess with the advent, you
guys have been using cameras for a long time. Now
to go snake down these these pipes. Fine with the
problemt I guess before that it was did you have
to pick up the whole thing? How'd you go back?
Before that the advent of that technology.

Speaker 6 (51:54):
Well, I guess the best way to do it before
that would be to run a machine down and figure
out where exactly or how far down that the cable was,
and you know, put a piece of tape around the
cable and then lay it on the ground and kind
of figure out where that stoppage would be, where that

(52:14):
penetration of roots or whatever the case may be. At
that point, you really wouldn't even know what it was
unless you pulled something back on the cable.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
So yeah, to.

Speaker 6 (52:23):
Mark where how far it is down the line? The
problem in there lives is it going straight? Is it turning?
It could be rather difficult to to, you know, figure
out exactly where that point of failure would be unless
you had a point A and point B, and then
it's a little bit easier. But in some cases you
don't even have a city clean out or a municipality

(52:44):
clean out, so it's kind of a a guessing game.
At that point you get the probe out and you
hope that it's less than four feet deep so you
can hit it with the probe and then dig up
wherever that that issue might have been.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
Long as the guess a game goes on, the more
expensive a gets to fix. Doesn't it okay? So to
what it's gurgling things? Back it up? It could be
just what we've been talking about. Need some help. Call
these guys, the guys. It's Freedom Plumbing, James. How to
folks get a hold of my friend and give.

Speaker 6 (53:11):
Us a call at eight oh three four four seven
zero four seven to one or physical website at Freedom
dash plumbing dot com. I'm James Carwell, local owner and
operator of Freedom Plumbing right here in the Midlands. After
working as a plumber for nearly a decade, I decided
to open my own business, and Freedom Plumbing was born.
Because of my love for this country and the great

(53:32):
respect I have for the men and women of our
armed forces and our first responders. I named my company
Freedom Plumbing. What sets us apart from other companies is
our customer service. We have a five star rating on Google,
a five star rating on Facebook and a plus rating
on Angie's List, and an A plus rating with a
better Business Bureau. I'm James Carwell, local owner of Freedom Plumbing,

(53:55):
and we look forward to servicing you for all of
your plumbing needs. Get fifty percent off your new service
call when you mentioned you heard us on WVOC. Learn
more at Freedom dash Plumbing dot com. That's Freedom dash
Plumbing dot com.