The Home Improvement Show 12-21-25

Tune in here for this 12-20-25 episode of the Home Depot Home Improvement show on WBT with John Gordon and David Dovell.

On this edition of the program, John and Dave talk about holiday season check-ins, ongoing home improvement projects, and practical building insights as the year winds down.  They share some lighthearted conversation about Christmas plans, getting to know new neighbors, and squeezing in last-minute projects before the holidays. Dave discusses wrapping up current jobs, including a large RV garage build that will extend into next year, while John shares a firsthand look at modern construction details like anchor bolts, coastal code requirements, and portal framing around garage doors.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the Home Deep Abercoming Show
with John and Dave.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm John Gordon, I'm Dave Doval.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Good morning, David Doble. How are you. Everything's lovely, Everything
is lovely, Everything is beautiful. It's a we're home stretch
for Christmas. Next time we are together it will not
be well, it'll be after Christmas, so that one's screaming by.
It's all good. Lots of good stuff going on. I

(00:32):
hope you're enjoying some stuff for holiday celebrating. Holly, time
for coffee, holiday celebrating. Yay, Yeah, it's time. If we
need a chance to get together with some neighbors last night,
that was always that's always good because we're kind of
like the new kids on the block here, so getting

(00:52):
to know people is good. We haven't been evicted yet,
or take us a couple of months for any petitions
like that to surface. We got a lot of home
proof home improvement stuff going on though, from concrete driveways,
uh to arc fault arc fault breakers. They just never

(01:16):
go away. But well, we're most in we're most interested
in taking phone calls from you, our listeners at seven
o four five seven oh one, oh seven nine seven
O four five seven oh one oh seven nine. You
can call us or text us at UH at that
number and get UH and we'll get to us and

(01:38):
we get I like the text park because we can
kind of go back and forth even after we've answered
a question, and we can answer other questions. So don't
be bashful. Just don't do it. If you're driving for
a couple of reasons. The real the good reason is,
you know, for safety. The other reason behinds you is
losing their mind because you're driving two while an hour.

(02:00):
Why I look at your phone. Yeah, I'd just say
it could happen. Let's see, Dave, what's going on in
your world? Are you going to get a break for Christmas? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (02:11):
Holiday, I've got a little little break coming up, just
a couple of weeks and then it'll be right back
at it again. Just wrapping up some projects for this year.
Our garage that that r V garage we're doing will will,
we'll spill over into next year. But it's it's it's
it's just really garage doors because they're special order, because

(02:34):
it's a bit they're big, you know, it's a big garage.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, so yeah, but tall ones right.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah, yeah, and then on to the same stuff next year,
you know, kitchens and bathrooms, inspections, consoles.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
It's all good.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
I was thinking about you the other day because I
was climbing around the garage attic trying to drop on
a new line of an outlet down a wall, which
is not going to happen. I just can't get close
enough to get a drill in there, and I don't
feel like we'll open it up drywall. But as I
was poking around up there, I saw the big I

(03:08):
guess it's from one of a better term, the anchor
bolt that goes from the slab all the way up
through the wall left and right of the garage doores.
It's a big old I don't know. That must be
at least an inch in diameter.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, they're they're I think they're three quarter.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Inch that make maybe that's what.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Yeah, they hold the they hold the not only the here,
they're just holding the bottom plate down. Obviously the plywood
ties the whole wall together to the top plate and
the bottom plate. But when you get by the coast
it's a little different. That threaded rod goes from the
like you said, from the foundation all the way up
and it has to be every so many feet. Yeah,

(03:46):
I don't know if it's eight feet apart or what
it is.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
But I mean I only saw the one and I thought, yeah,
I'm we're at the coast now, So got anchor bolts
to go all the way through the top plate.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, yeah, there's a whole front wall of the garage
is changed by code as well, so it's called portal
portal framing, and so the header goes So if you
have a twenty four foot wide garage and you have
a sixteen foot garage door, that header is twenty four feet.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
It has to go from corner to corner. Isn't the crazy?

Speaker 1 (04:22):
It is crazy, But I mean if you think about
windloads and stuff like that, and like I just remember
our home in Atlanta, we had instead of a sixteen
foot door, we had two nine by seven doors and
it had a little column in between it and the
whole framing on that. Yeah, I mean it was fine,

(04:45):
but you wouldn't want to go through a storm with it,
right it was.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
I mean, well it's skinny. The part about the bad
part about that is if it was ever to get bumped, yeah,
there's nothing right. Well, it's holding up two headers.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Well that's what but I mean, yeah, there's nothing tough
hold it. It's not like a concrete column or something
like that.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah. Anyway, that changed too, so stem walk.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yes, so anyway, so another reason to stay current with
code and all that good stuff. But that's why, that's
why we have people like David Doble and so progress.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
They'll count on me for all of that because I
get behind too and I see things and I'm like,
when did that change?

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, so about two years ago I said, what.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
That's Our plumber at this house was like, yeah, well
I did this two years ago, and now I got
to redo this portion of it because they changed the
code on it. But but we're about getting ready to
close up all the walls at UH at the Footpouse,
so that'll be good. All right, Let's see we got
uh we've got lines open seven O four five, seven

(05:56):
oh one oh seventy nine. It's it's new, it's different,
it matches, is our new FM signal, and and we're
grateful for that. We've got a question just covering ugly
concrete and David, you and I, uh, we used to
talk about sandy tread as a as a good, you know,

(06:18):
product to put over like the surface around pools or
or even on walls. It had it could hold it,
could you know, tolerate certain amounts of hydrostatic pressure and
things like that. But I feel like you spoke of
another product more recently in addition to sandy tread m M.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yeah, oh goodness, it's out of it. It's out of Henderson, Nevada.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
Yeah. Okay, well, I'll let you I'll let you stew
on that, but I'll find it. But I think that
the question was just going over some rough concrete and
it needs something more than paint. I think there it
certainly wouldn't. Probably, I'm guessing rough means it's just ugly.

(07:07):
I don't think staining would be an option. It doesn't
sound like staining is an option. There's do have concrete
and masonry paint that we've used with success in different applications.
But it sounds like we're trying to fill in a
little bit of a little bit of a rough surface
so that if it's not perfectly smooth, no biggie at

(07:27):
the end of the day. But something that's going to
go down in and fill in gaps and stuff like that.
So I felt like Sandy tread would be a solution
that you.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
It is and it's a good product.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
It's a little thicker than the other product we're talking about,
which is called Simco Simco Simcoworks, dot com s E
M c O. But that's more like a uh probably
it paints more like paint and it's a little runnier.
The Sandy Tread is is a little bit thicker, so

(07:59):
you can puld up your millage much faster with it.
With this product, you have to put multiple coats to
to you know, to get to get where you need
to be. I think sim Code is kind of like
when you put down one coat or two coats, you're
you're you're getting close to shower pan liner thickness.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
Okay, okay, And.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
It takes it would probably take four or five coats
of the sim Co.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Works to to to be able to do that.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
But I've used that sim cove. It's easier, it is
easier to work with. I have to say, you just
have to put multiple coats on.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
That might be better worth what what does a cost comparison?
Do you know?

Speaker 3 (08:40):
It's it's probably works out about the same to get
the same thickness.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
I would think. I just think workability is probably the key.
Oh so uh I like it?

Speaker 1 (08:53):
All right? There we go Simco works dot Com. All right,
we got to take a break. We run long. I
give us a call where seven four five seven oh
one oh seven nine or text us at seven O
four five seven oh one oh seven nine using the
WBT text line driven by Liberty Buick GMC. We'll talk
when we returned to the Home Deep Home Improvement Show

(09:13):
with John to Day. Welcome back. It's the Home Deep

(09:37):
Home Improvement Show with John to Dave. I'm John Gordon.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
I'm Dave Doval.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
Give us a call. We're at seven O four five
seven oh one oh seven nine. Seven O four five
seven oh one oh seven nine. Just trying to check
the text feed here. We're good, David. This I think
I think I know what the deal is here. I
suspect this is we you know we. You and I
have spoken many in the cooler weather cold weather about

(10:03):
the use of auxiliary heat. I actually went out and
bought another one of those little black radiator kind of
heaters that heats up the oil, because I just think
they'll give you a nice steady heat. You know and
for a for a you know, a space. But the
concern here is I bought some auxiliary heaters and it
feels like my house is colder than ever. It's I'm

(10:30):
guessing that where you play, if you place that auxiliary
heat too close to the thermostat, then you're going to
warm the air around the thermostat and it's going to say, okay,
houses where we want it to be and shut down. Right,
So placement of those heaters is kind of important. Yeah, yeah,

(10:50):
that'd be my guess, right, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
Yeah, absolutely, that's even like burning like a gas log
or a fireplace. If it's if that heat can reach thermistat,
it's probably not gonna it's probably not gonna come on.
That's why we always mentioned people to try to run
the fan in the on position instead of auto, because
you can you could return will pull that air, that

(11:13):
warmer air out and distribute around the house and then
it's not you know, it's not ninety five degrees in one.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Room one room, yeah, and the rest of the house
is cold.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah. So anyway, I think I think that's it. It's
probably it's probably pretty simple and and maybe merits talking
about folks you know, really worry about their thermostat. We've
had situations if if you remember where people had thermostat's
recessed in wall cavities or on you know, in in

(11:48):
scenarios where there was no insulation in the wall and
you had cold air moving from a crawl space up
into the attic or or or even on exterior walls
in some scenarios, and so the the thermostat was either
running way too long or not long enough, depending on
its location and stuff. If you look at a thermostat

(12:08):
professionally installed, it'll typically sometimes by design, it has the
little grill almost with little slots for air to pass
through cut in behind it. That's the older version. The
newer ones, as you said David last week, that looked
like little iPads on the wall, they'll have a little
space bar to pull them out from the wall a

(12:32):
little bit so that so that you don't get you
don't read the temperature of the wall, you read the
temperature of the room. Anyway, probably more information than we needed,
but I suspect the challenge that this person is having
is the placement of the the auxiliary heater and just
try try moving into a more remote section you'll get
the benefit of heating that section without changing the you know,

(12:54):
the functioning of the heating system at large. So that's it. Oh,
here's one. I've changed all my smoke alarms. I meant
to look this up on and I didn't get a
chance to do it before now, David, but I changed
my smoke alarm batteries. At daylight savings time, I don't

(13:15):
have any chirps. The green light is on, but every
once in a while I see intermittent red light blink
on the devices. Any idea what that is. I meant
to look that up on Kidda to see if I
could figure it out, but.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
I think ours do it too, and I'm not sure
if it's the carbon monoxide the combos, because you know
the we use the combos outside the in the hallways,
so you know, the rule is one in one in
each sleeping quarters, and then one outside those that common hallway,

(13:51):
and so like our master our bedroom is on the
other side of the house, so we have another one
outside in the hallway there, and then there's one at
the other end of the hallway, and then we have
a gas dryer, so I actually put one in the
laundry room as well. That's probably smart, just because and
then the bonus room or the fourth bedroom upstairs, same

(14:14):
thing had to have one inside the room and then
one outside. But each of those I used a carbon
monoxide for the common hallways. And I think I see
that red light blinking. It's almost like it's a I
don't know if it's a check. I mean, there is
a green light too, but yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
The green lights. I'm presuming the green lights stay steady.
I should have done this before I got out of
the air, so I just while you were talking, I
just popped it in, you know, and who knows what's right,
because it's like Wikipedia, you can't get anything. It's not
AI anymore. But it's at a blinking red light on
a smoke detector. Usually in the case it is functioning properly,
but it can also signal a low battery. So if

(14:53):
they said they changed the batteries at daylight saving time,
which was just a couple months ago, that we're saying
it seems to be working fine.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah, because I don't notice the one in the bedroom
because you know, there's been a few nights that you're
laying there staring at the ceiling.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
So you've never had those. I don't think have you.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Never? Never? I stare at the wall. Yeah. Yeah, it's
like somebody asked me one time, I do go to
sleep at night, and I'm like, I sleep like a baby.
I wake up every four hours and cry. But I
don't do that anymore. I'm retired now, right, Just any

(15:33):
way to wake up? Oh, way to go there? Hey,
Merry Christmas everybody. So so it looks like it looks
like a good As I go further through this, it
says normal operation. A slow blink every thirty to sixty
seconds indicates the smoke detectors functioning properly and actively monitoring

(15:55):
for smoke. And then warning signals we talked of. There's
an end of life signal. Now you know, we get
we can buy the ten year smoke a arms that
you don't change batteries out there good for ten years, right,
and they'll give you an end of life signal. I
think that's just a steady red light. I can't remember

(16:16):
whether beeps or not. Most manufacturers have been extremely thoughtful,
and that beep has a timer on it so it
will not once a battery is low or end of life.
It also has like a light sensor on it, and
it doesn't beep until you go to bed and turn
off all the lights. I think two in the morning
ish is about what the safety feature is on that.

(16:38):
So all right, so that's mystery solved. Poom, let's move
on in the shower stall So I'm still loving the
shower we did in this fliphouse. Chris, Chris has a

(16:58):
good taste, but he's like that, let's let's do tile
on the ceiling also, right, because I was just going
to say, just go up, you know, six feet seven
feet and paint and he's like, no, no, let's do it all.
And it really looks good the whole as you know, David,
the whole thing done across the ceiling is very pretty.

(17:19):
But this particular scenario is grout chipping out in the
shower apparently like everywhere, so I don't know whether the
ceiling is done also, But just like smoke alarms can
have an end of life situation if you've not been
kind of cleaning and ceiling your grout with some degree

(17:39):
of you know, regularity, it it has a lifetime also
because moisture gets in there and.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
It'll break it up, right, it does.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
There really is you could regrout a little bit like
you can fill in the game, but you're gonna have
color challenges. I think once that starts happening, you're going
in and cleaning everything out. Like cutting out and regrouting,
I'm thinking is the only answer there. You've got folks

(18:17):
like grout Medic and grout doctor and the folks you
can call out and they'll come and just do that
for you. But it's once that starts happening, I don't
think that there's a solution we can do. You can
kind of patch stuff up, but it's going to look
like the south end of a northbound dog. It's not
going to be a happy day. What about then, it says,
is there such a thing as stained proof groud? Yes? Yeah,

(18:39):
I think.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
Epoxyroxy grouts, and then if you seal them regularly, that
also helps keep them from staining, depending on what you
pour it on it. But but most of the time,
if it's liquid, it will it will it will deflect it,
it won't let it. It won't let it penetrate in
which is the idea, just to keep it moisture off.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Of it what you spill in the shower. I've had
a beer in the shower before. I've never taken red
wine in the shower. Maybe we should try that. I
don't know cranberry juice, so yeah, so I think there
is stained proof rout it's apoxy. If you talk to
somebody like Rout Medica crowd Doctor to have the work
done for you. Haven't talked about that because it's a
little more expensive that I think you want a professional

(19:21):
to do. You can do your own grouting, but if
you're going to use your POxy versions, you should have
a professional to it because it's it's an epoxy. It
sets up and it can be a real challenge if
you don't get it done right. All right, we got
to slide away for a break. We're gonna do it
seven oh four five, seven one oh seven nine by
phone or by text using the WBT text line by
Liberty View at GMC. Any way you do it, we'll

(19:43):
talk when we return to the Home Deep Home Improvement
Show with John and Dave. Welcome back. It's the Home

(20:09):
Depot Home Improvement Show with John and Dave.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
I'm John Gordon, I'm Dave Doval.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
Time for our Home Depot Product of the Week. I've
been waiting to do this. It's so simple but so awesome.
This week's Home Depot Product of the Week is from
Eco Smart. They manufacture led bulbs, while they manufacture a
lot of different bulbs, but I saw this product before
I retired from the Home Depot at a product show
the company does for all their store managers from new

(20:35):
products coming out in the spring. So I saw this
back in March, but it wasn't going to be in
the stores till later. It's called the Universal Select Bulb.
One bulb allows you to select four different let's say
lumens watts, the lumens equivalent to a forty watt, a

(20:57):
sixty watt, a seventy five watt, or a one hundred
watt bulb. And then in addition, there's another switch that
allows you to go from twenty seven hundred kelvin, which
is soft white, to sixty five hundred kelvin, which is
daylight Deluxe.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
So it's like, that's that don't landing lights?

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Yes, it's like the fa You have to register this
bulb with the FAA if you live within certain distance
of the airport. Maybe I don't know, but this to
me is like totally cool. So now you're not changing bulbs.
You're not keeping different bulbs, like you can have two
or three backup bulbs and you can adjust them. Okay,

(21:41):
here I need a forty What here? I need a sixty?
What here? I need one hundred? Wat right? And the
price point, David stand up and cheer three bulb pack
fifteen ninety eight. So let's say sixteen bucks I mean
for three bulbs. But it takes the place of whatever, right,
how many you had have, like, because I've got a

(22:03):
whole flipping cabinet full of bulbs, mostly because I'm a
pack rat, but partly because it makes sense to have
some bulbs anyway. So I think it's a great it's
it's it's eco smart universal select bulbs. Four different lumen levels,
light levels, and five different or six different temperatures or

(22:24):
shades of white, from soft white all the way up
to daylight de luxe. This is the first time I'm
seeing daylight DeLux. That kind of caught me off guard.
Five thousand usually is daylight, so this is sixty five hundred,
another fifteen hundred.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
I do see those once in a while, those hot
those those big numbers, but not often.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, it comes with a SPF thirty thing.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
Just most everything we do on the on the on
your recess lights ends up being around somewhere between three
and thirty five hundred is what.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
Most people choose.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
Yes, unless you're unless it's a light in a bathroom,
and then a lot of times they'll they'll brighten that up.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
I tried to I wish they had just get out
of my head. I had a.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Like, how about brail?

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, candle?

Speaker 1 (23:15):
All right? Uh so here, Yeah, here's a question from
Jim about growd Actually, he says a question about it's
not about grout, but it's about granite. Our granite is
a lighter color and look great for twelve years. Within
the past year the entire counter has taken on a
dull brownish tinge. Is there anything that can be done

(23:35):
to lighten the color up? Is this natural oxidation of
iron in the granite? I suspect Jim is correctly, you know,
diagnosed what the issue is. If it's not just a
stain here or there, like in an area where you
do a lot of food prep. But if it's overall,
it probably is a function of just changing in the granite, like, uh,

(24:04):
it's it granted, is susceptible to u V to heat.
Those kinds of things will change the stone's color. It's
it's it's a natural product. I think the good news,
David is if if you want to get that back in.
I don't know how deeply the color this coloration goes

(24:26):
in the actual top. But we've actually spoken in the
past about having professionals come out and they can actually
grind that down a little bit, can't they and then
reseal it and resurface it. And that could be, but
it sounds like a professional situation that you'd want to
call somebody out to take a look at it.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
Well, And I think a lot of times that stuff
is it's it's wet sanded, you know, and they're using
all pneumatic sanders. Uh so everything's run by air because
you're you're you're keeping water on it so that you
don't it helps with the scratching, but it.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
Also helps keep the the paper.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
Make paper lasts longer, so kind of like kind of
like the finishes how they work on a car with
Emerald right exactly. So they're using a little bit of
liquid and that helps with the scratches, and it also
helps to keep the paper from deteriorating faster.

Speaker 2 (25:18):
So yeah, it can be done. It's just probably messy.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
You know, normally when they do that, those tops are
laying on some type of table or sawhorses, and you
know it's designed, the whole area is designed for it
to be wet sanded like that.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yeah, it's yeah, I don't know how they would do
that in place, although it's done. I think it's just
a lot of a lot.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
Of I would expect wet backs and and all of that,
and then you know.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
Probably plastic over the cabinets and on the floor.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
And yeah, I mean, I'm sure it can be done.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
We had I had an email not long ago about
a more marble marble floor.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
And it needed it needed attention, and that's that's what
I told the emailer was, you know there's people out
there that will come and they'll grind that floor. I
don't know if you've ever seen that before where they
lay big format tile and uh, sometimes it doesn't get
done properly and you'll have edges of the tile sticking up.
Not a whole lot, but you know, if somebody pays

(26:25):
for a floor like that, they want it flat. And
the last time I saw it, they had to hire people.
They came in and they ground that floor down and
then put a shine back on it.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
It was gorgeous when it was finished.

Speaker 3 (26:36):
Yeah, it was gorgeous before they ground it.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
I was in a office building in Dallas several months
ago now, but it was brand new and it was
a huge open area as you entered this massive office
building and they used large format marble tile and David
I was like, Okay, this is going to be this

(27:01):
will be interesting. It was as smooth as glass as
far as you could see. So whoever did that was
a master man. It was perfect.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
Or maybe they grounded that and they may have grounded
it's exactly right. It's very possible put it in.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
And then it just said we don't trust anybody to
do this right. We're going to put it in and
grind it. But it's you won't regret doing the ground
But Jim, I hope that's helpful. You may want to
consider calling somebody out.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
And call pro and also talk to him about what
you're using to clean with, uh, what kind of product
you know, because if you're if you're constantly wiping it
down with bleach, because you know, a lot of people
believe that you have to disinfect like that all the time.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
You know.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
The key to that is what I learned John was proxide.
So if you're if you're worried about your countertops, or
you're worried about bacteria or whatnot, then you can use
three percent three percent peroxide and you just put a
spray bottle, spray it down it's sat and wipe it
off it. It takes care of any bacteria that's on there.

(28:05):
There you go, and I don't think any discoloring.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
So so there you go. But Jim appreciate you appreciate
the text. I hope that's helpful. Pop us. Another note,
if there's if you if you have some follow up questions,
it's time for us to take another break. So we're
gonna go ahead and do that. Folks. We are at
seven O four five seven one oh seven nine seven
O four five seven oh one oh seven nine by
phone or by text using a WBT text line driven

(28:30):
by Liberty View a GMC. Give us a call. We'll
talk when we return to the Home.

Speaker 4 (28:34):
Deep Home Improvement showing Time to day.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
Welcome back. Then it's the Home Deep Home Improvement Show
with Johnna Dave. I'm John Gordon.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
I'm Dave Doval.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
We're taking you calls at seven O four five seven
one o seven nine calls or texts Jim on the
on the question with the granted I remember, David, we've
spoken about in the past people were trying to remove
a particular stain from granted and there's some uh, there's

(29:23):
a process. There's something called I think it's called the poultice,
which is kind of a paste, and you can make
it yourself, I think using like we've heard everything from
like mayonnaise to but I think the most common is
a poultice of like baking soda.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
Okay, you Jim, you may try that, just like in
one corner or an area where it would be inconspicuous
and see if that actually does the trick, If it
draws the this coloration out, then you could actually get
a professional poultice and and maybe do the whole surface.

(30:08):
That might be much less aggressive than having to have
somebody grind it down. But then a professional may come
in and tell you the exact same thing or say hey,
I've got a solution that will work for you, because
they'll have both chemicals and equipment to do that.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
So anyway, so here in here real quick, just the rundown, John,
you were right about a natural oxidation. So it can
just be from the sun.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (30:36):
That typically happens to granted And I know our granted.
We have granted on a on a cooking station outside.
It's exposed to the southern sun, and you know, we're
I'm starting to see some fissures in it.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
And and uh there's been.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
A couple of places that have popped out. I think
they had I think they were filled before. But uh, right,
so the sun's working on it. And then the second
the second leading causes use of acidic cleaners. So that's
what they're talking about, is vinegar and bleach. Using those
chemicals or using those on the countertop too often, well

(31:14):
can cause it the oxides to get down in there
because it breaks down and goes through the ceiler, is
what happens.

Speaker 2 (31:20):
So and then it talks about cleaning.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
It says, you know, exposing it to high temperature, so
not using a trivit or a hot pad to set
a pan on, because you know, granted will take the heat.
That's not a problem, but it it it can discolor
it so improper ceiling and water damage, you know, that's
what we talk about. You see that around the faucet

(31:44):
a lot. Your hands are wet and you turn on
and turn.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
The faucet off, and it drips there.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
If it doesn't get dried up, eventually, eventually you'll see
that it changes colors around the faucet. And if you're
on well water you have a lot of minerals in
your water, you really see it right there at the faucet.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
So yeah, so those are those are a handful of things.
There's some pretty good articles out there about it to
read about.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
It and then how to fix it.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
So all right, there you go. Thanks for doing that, Jim.
I hope that's helpful. Okay. I also wanted to go
back to one thing that we've spoken about, and I
believe it merit's repeating, is in the whole grout department,
when you're doing the grout thing, or cleaning grout or
replacing grout. I've been surprised at how many professionals don't

(32:30):
pay attention to this. When you're talking about a vertical
wall meeting a horizontal surface, whether it's a tub, you know,
the edge of a tub or the edge of a
shower pan. Grout is typically not the correct item there.
That has to be a cock, a cock that's going
to stay resilient after curing. We're dissimilar products or in

(32:53):
those situations two different planes connect or meet. You need
something that's going to be resilient and move up and down,
expand and contract as weight and things shift and change.
So that'll save you some headaches down the road.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
Also, I think, yeah, the bathroom we just did, we
just went through that and it was exactly what it was.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
The an acrylic and acrylic.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
Jetted tub with a with a wall tile and where
it met they put the grout and the first time
you get the first time it was filled and someone
stepped in it, it pulled away and the grout started
popping loose, so it had to be caught. I've had
that conversation a handful of times with tile setters, and

(33:37):
a lot of times.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
Guys say, oh no, the newer grouts will hold.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
In the corners, and not when it's dissimilar like that,
especially if there could be any movement. And there's movement,
make no doubt about it. That's why John, we always
talk about when you calk a fiberglass tub. So if
you have a fiberglass tub or really any tub and
tile on the walls, you should fill the tub with

(34:02):
water when you calk it.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
So you do all your prep work and.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
Get that done, and then you fill the tub right
when you're ready to do your the calking portion, and
you leave the water in the tub because that really
helps out.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
I mean, you could set some.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
Bags of concrete in there too, I guess, but it's
a lot of work.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Yeah, we've talked about even buckets of water and stuff
like that to do it. But I mean, just I'm
neither a mathematician or a physicist. But let's just say
you weigh two hundred pounds and your size ten feet.
You're taking two hundred pounds over maybe I don't know,

(34:45):
twelve square inches twelve square twenty four square inches, and
so like you're adding I don't know, eight ten pounds
per square inch of pressure, right, that's meaningful, right, And
so you're going to push that surface. Now, Okay, enough
of thinking about what I might wagh. My garage door

(35:07):
is noisier in the cold weather. We'll send it south
for this for the for the for the winter. I
don't know. I guess that makes sense. If it's a
metal door, things contract and so it's going to rattle
and shake about. I don't know, David, that that's indicative
of any kind of problem. I guess you could lubricate

(35:34):
certain things. I don't know where all the noise is occurring.
Our garage door sounds like, you know, the eighty seventh
mechanized division. Every time you open it and close it,
it doesn't matter how cold or warm it is. That'll
be next on the list, I guess.

Speaker 2 (35:46):
But are not so quiet?

Speaker 1 (35:48):
Yeah, So that's what we had in Atlanta too, was
like you could open and close that door with people
sleeping in the bonus room upstairs and they wouldn't move.
But this thing does. It really does sound like you know,
a panzer division moving down the street. But I think
just lubricating. We've typically recommended like a silicone or the teflon,

(36:11):
the aerosol teflon uh to do rollers and the little
spindles that go into the hinges and things like that,
and and you might get you might take some of
the squeaking out of it. But if it's rattling metal,
I think that's just a function it's it's not the
snuggest fit in the world. If you're thinking about replacing

(36:33):
a door, if it's got any age on it, David,
I'm I'm a I like the the solid panels, the
you know.

Speaker 2 (36:41):
Doors.

Speaker 1 (36:42):
Yeah, they're quieter, they are good insulations. So if your
door faces particularly actually in the summertime, if your door
faces south or southwest or west, it's taken a pounding
from the sun on it's whatever paint surface it has.
But it's also just on a regular metal door, uninsulated,
it's just conducting every bit of that heat right into

(37:02):
the garage. I think was last week we talked about
so somebody asked us, you know, how important is that it
insulating the garage walls and stuff like that, And we said, hey,
you're not going to get you know, a ton of
energy savings out of that. But you made a really
good point and said, yeah, but it's going to be
more comfortable. So there's some things to consider. So noise

(37:23):
you're in the cold probably makes sense.

Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yeah, just probably you're right.

Speaker 3 (37:30):
Lubit with a non wetting lubrication. In other words, it
doesn't stay wet because it attracts grease and you have
problems with that, and then just just go through and
just check the nuts and the bolts on the door,
so everywhere there's a strap hinge, just make sure they're tight.
And then uh, you know, check the track, make sure

(37:51):
it's tight. Leave the spring alone. Nothing for you to do,
nothing for you to do there. I mean you can
put a piece of cardboard behind those and spray them
with with some type of oil to keep them from rusting,
but other than that, there's not a whole lot you
can do with it.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
All right, so I hope that's helpful. We're about ten
fifteen seconds away from a break, so we'll take it.
It's the it's the top of the hour break, so
it'll be a minute. But grab a cup coffee, check
out the news that's coming up, and then get ready
to give us a call or a text at seven
oh four five seven oh one oh seven nine seven
o four five seven one oh seven nine. Remember you

(38:28):
can always send us an email at Ask John and
Dave dot com or questions at Ask John and Dave
dot com and and we can get your information to
you that way. Don't go away. We're going to take
a break and be back to answer your home improvement questions.
I'm a home depot hom improvement show with John and Dave.

(39:03):
Welcome back. It's the whole Deep Out Show with John
and Dave.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
I'm John Gordon, I'm Dave Doval.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
It's call. We're at seven o four five seven one
seven nine. We want to talk about what's important to you,
So give us a shout. Let's see, David, we cleaned
up our questions about a noisy garage store. This one
is is a good question. It says, I have a
slow toilet. I've augured it. Do I need to pull

(39:32):
it to use like a larger drain augur? I think
the answer is probably what, Well, yeah, unless there's something
in the trap. So well, if they've used an augur
in the in the toilet, you've probably eliminated the you know,
the proverbial g I Joe that got flushed by the kids.

Speaker 3 (39:51):
Well, I mean it's possible unless it just won't Unless
it won't come out. And you know we've both seen
that before. Yeah, hairspray lid, you know, toilet paper roll
holders unsprung in the trap, right, seen that?

Speaker 2 (40:07):
Toys? So uh, you know, And the thing is, and.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
I had this conversation not long ago, someone at their
toilet was not flushing properly and they thought he said
that he was pretty sure that.

Speaker 2 (40:21):
It was the all of the fill holes were.

Speaker 3 (40:24):
Getting clogged up. And we talked about that. You can
dump cleaners, you know, you can put vinegar whatever. You
drain the water out of the tank and you dump
it right down. Usually can use a funnel and open
the flapper, dump the water right down it. But I said,
but to prove the theory whether it's the if it's
if it's the water that's not spinning properly, to help

(40:47):
wash the bowl down and then flush it, you just
take a couple two three gallons of water and dump
it down the toilet all at once, So a bucket
of water and dump it all at once. And if
it flush and there's no problem, then you know that
you're you're having problem with with the water circulating uh

(41:08):
in the toilet. So that's a way to quick to
quick prove that. So, like you said, and with an
auger right, and then I think you're right, John. After
that you have to.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
Pull the toilet and then yeah.

Speaker 3 (41:23):
And it and it could still be in the trap.
And then the way that we test that because I
don't know if you've ever seen this, but whenever, uh,
there is something lodged in the trap of the toilet,
and and of course you can't see it, and you
can't feel it because you can't get your hand down
in there to to to reach it.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
You can.

Speaker 3 (41:42):
What we would do is you if you plunge it,
plunge it, plunge it, and then it seems to flush better. Well,
then you you start putting wads of toilet paper in
there and follow it. If there's something stuck in there,
it gets hung up on it in the in the trap.
So that's that's some of the ways that that we found.
It has to be something pretty big to get caught

(42:02):
in the actual soil pipe in the floor, right, not
saying that can't happen, because it it does, but it's
usually well, the other a bigger clog, you know, further
down the line.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
And I guess depending on the edge of the house.
And we don't know that. I mean, I guess there's
still some and in urban areas and things like that,
there's still some of the old clay tile out there.

Speaker 2 (42:26):
Absolutely tree roots get in there. Cast iron, well, cast
iron too, exactly.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
Yes, yeah, so so there could be there could be
some issues you know, down into the main train line.
But but great question. I think you want to be
ginger and dealing with that because you end up you know,
breaking the toilet or something like that. So, uh, well,
there was something that I wanted to say when you
were talking about flushing the uh to get rid of

(42:52):
the scale in the holes.

Speaker 3 (42:54):
But anyway, yeah, well some type of it's usually some
type of acid that you have to put in it.
But but but the vinegar is the best way to start.
And you just if you could dump it and then
let it let it set for a while and probably
like c.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
L R something, that's what that's what is the lime
scale remover? Right?

Speaker 3 (43:15):
Yes, and you know you could put that also in
a in a pump up bottle, uh you know, like
a garden sprayer, and then you can spray it up
underneath the rim. And then if you can dump it
down the hold the flapper open with no water. You
don't want to dilute the product, but c l R
or whatever and pour that down and then let it

(43:37):
just let it set, you know, be patient, don't turn
the water back on the toilet for a little while.
Just let it set and and a lot of times
it'll it'll clean it up.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
Would would you tape up the holes like with a
painter's taper, you could just to hold the chemical in
the hole.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
You could, you could certainly do that to to to hold.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Eventually it would break loose, right, sure, but it might
slow it down enough to make it do a better job.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
He could do that.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
And then you can also go through individually with a
small brush, and you can you can actually, you know,
get a mirror and you just work it and go
around and clean it. You know, if you're gonna do
that yourself, it's one thing. If you're going to pay
someone to do it, you probably better off just to
go ahead and buy another toilet. I was gonna say that,
right because the hourly rate.

Speaker 1 (44:28):
Now, yeah, so what's we should figure out? Like, who
is it Willie Nelson that Mama to let your babies
grow up to be cowboys. Mama, tell your babies to
grow up to be plumbers mm and electricians and carpenters
and such a handyman. Yeah, mcinning welders. There's I learned

(44:53):
last night, you know, talking to all the neighbors, that
there's one gentleman, and he does windows, cleans gutters, cleans out, gutters,
cleans out dryer events and forever how many years he
has not left our little subdivision all day, every day.

(45:13):
That's his job. He never goes beyond the geography of
our tiny lilaria and he just stays busy doing handyman stuff.

Speaker 3 (45:21):
What an awful problem to have, you know what I know?
All right, let's see John, you get ready to unseat him?

Speaker 1 (45:27):
You know, Sock, you're reading my mind. I'm waiting for
Barim to ask me if I have a trip to
go on, and then when she starts asking shouldn't I
have something better to do? Then I want to go
pursue that.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
Let's talk to JJ JJ. Good morning on the whme
Deep home improvement show with John and Dave.

Speaker 5 (45:42):
How are you good morning?

Speaker 2 (45:44):
How's everyone lovely?

Speaker 1 (45:46):
Well?

Speaker 5 (45:47):
Great? And for the having listeners, this is JJ, and
it's not going to be about my side by side
refrigerator with a leak that eventually died last month. Anyway,
A question I have for you, and I really appreciate
your time, is I live in a two story townhouse.

(46:10):
The guest bedroom and bathroom is separate upstairs, it has
a tub and a shower connected. Now underneath that bathroom
is the dining room. There's some sort of leak. I've
avoided that bathroom. There hasn't been anybody really visiting the years,
and there was an incident where I had to run

(46:33):
some water in the bathtub and I noticed that the
wet spot or the brown spot downstairs has gotten bigger.
So besides a plumber having to probably cut into the
ceiling downstairs to look up, are they going to also
have to cut the wall where the faucet is in

(46:56):
the tub, which is on the other side into the
guests bedroom. I think you have to cut in there
as well.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
Do you think possibly possible? I think they'll do to
your your point that they'll start it with the ceiling, David,
I'm sorry interrupted you guys.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
No, No, that's you're exactly right.

Speaker 1 (47:14):
So I think they'll do the ceiling first JJ and
see if they can kind of figure out water it
could be running. Like the problem with leaks is it manifests.
It can manifest anywhere from three inches to three feet
six feet from where the actual leak occurs. Is it
runs down and then puddles enough to get through the
dry wall. So I think they'll probably open up the

(47:37):
ceiling first and get a little camera thing in there
and look around. Then they may determine that okay, it's
leaking from the mixer the valve itself, and if they
depending on how the tub and shower are finished, they
may have to open up access on the as you say,
in the bedroom wall or the wall opposite that, the

(47:58):
common wall. But at the end of the day, JJ,
is as bad as that feels, It's not the end
of the world because the plumber won't do it. But
there's enough good drywall people who will come in and
they can finish that. And if you want to do
the painting yourself, save a little money, you can. But
they'll finish that up. So you you it's imperceptible and it'll.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
Be okay, JJ, you're problem. I guess your problem is
the ceiling that is in question. Is it Does it
just go on forever in the downstairs?

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Uh?

Speaker 5 (48:31):
No, The thing is it's not It really isn't from
the faucet. It was from the drain.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
Yeah, and so.

Speaker 5 (48:40):
Probably better news because what happened was I turned off
the water. I want to run out of town with thanksgiving.
The main the main water line inside the house, and
then when I turn it on, I guess the air
bubbles in the system. I guess it causes the tub
to leak a little bit. And I had it stopped up,

(49:02):
and then when I released the water, it drained down,
so it wasn't water coming from the faucet, it was
just right water going down.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
It could be I'm sorry, go ahead, JJ. It could
be as simple as pulling that drain out of the tub,
unscrewing it, putting a plumber's putty around it, and tighten
it backed down. It could be as simple as that.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
And I bet you could find a video if it's
something you want to try yourself. It's it's it's not
that complicated. I don't know what kind of stopper you have,
so you know that would be the first thing is
to look at that and understand that. But other than that,
it's just a it's a plumbing call. And then real
quick for you and for other folks. The way that
you can prove a lot of times if it's the

(49:46):
drain is you don't run the water in that in
that particular tub, you get a five gallon bucket or
a couple of them, and you fill water up from
a different location and go in and put it in
the tub. And then that way you're not running the
actual faucet, because if John fit's a leak in the
wall constantly, then you would constantly have a wet ceiling.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
I see, hey, JJ, we got JJ hak tych for
a second. We want we have run way past the break.
We're gonna put you on hold make sure that we
get you squared away. But we got to slip away
from a break here, folks. It's the Whole Deep Home
Improvement Show with Johnny Table. We'll be back right after
these important messages. Welcome back. It's the Whole Deep Home

(50:54):
Proving Show with Johnny Dave.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
I'm John Gordon, I'm Dave Doval.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
We are in your calls at one. I'm sorry, seven
four five, seven, one oh seventy nine and it's time
for our Home Depot Product of the Week this week.
I've been waiting to share this one a It's a
product from Eco Smart. They manufacture bulbs, and it's called
the Universal Select light bulb. The reason I really like

(51:21):
this light bulb it allows in one bulb, it has
settings that allow you to adjust brightness three different levels,
actually four different levels, forty sixty, seventy five and one
hundred watt equivalents, and six shades of white, soft white,
bright white, true white, cool white, daylight, and daylight Deluxe.

(51:45):
So in a single bulb, six different color temperatures are
light temperatures, and four different sets of illumins brightness options.
You can get a three pack of these bulbs for
fifteen dollars and ninety eight cents. Says, let's just say
sixteen dollars, because I'm good with numbers like that anyway.

(52:07):
That's it's a great deal. Put those three bulbs in
your cabinet or wherever you store your bulbs, and you
now have I can't do the math on that. It's
like four factorial. Actually I guess it would be four
plus six is ten factorial different combinations of light bulbs.

(52:28):
So whatever that number is, ten times nine times eight,
it that's how many bulbs it replaces or is the
same ass I have no idea how I got down
that rattle. Fifteen ninety eight three bulbs, four different brightness settings,
six different color settings. Check it out. Eco Smart Universal
Select Bulbs all right, David, you'll have to hit one

(52:50):
of the stores and see if everybody staying on the
aisle look at it like the last time we talked
about bulbs. Okay, all right, did we get do we get? JJ?
Squared away?

Speaker 2 (53:01):
I think he was good. He was gone by the
time I got into the phone.

Speaker 1 (53:04):
So okay, So JJ, thanks thanks for the call. I
think I think the good news is you've you know,
you've identified some things and it probably is not as
terrible as as you think. And David, I do like
the idea of just testing it with, you know, ten
gallons of water from another source, just to isolate to
you the drain versus that.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
That gives you the opportunity to see if it's a
drain or if it's the actual faucet dripping, you know,
because then once you get to that, then you have
to decide is that the shower, is it the shower
riser in the wall? You know, is it the goose
neck in the wall, because you know it's not leaking
when you're only running water out of the spout, you
know that eliminates that.

Speaker 1 (53:43):
So yeah, just so yeah, there can be a lot
of things, let drive it so good to know it
and this is this next question is sort of related
to that, well, maybe in a really really roundabout way,
but the question is about well water and can it
affect pecks fittings. I learned a long time ago that

(54:08):
when somebody asked a question in certain scenarios, the appropriate
response is why do you ask? So the question here
is why do you ask? I suspect the reason that
the person is asking this question is they're seeing some
kind of corrosion in their pecks fittings. But I don't know, David,
can well water affect I think aren't they usually brass.

Speaker 2 (54:32):
Well brass or plastic?

Speaker 3 (54:34):
So they've they've plastic has become kind of the new norm.
And of course there's pecks A and pex B. It's
got complicated. But they have a stretcher for pipe. Have
you seen that stretches the pipe and then you put
the fitting on, and then the pipe relaxes back down
and shrinks back down around the barbed fitting. And there
are no there's no clips, there's no rings, there's no go,

(54:56):
no crimping. So what happened with some of the brass fittings,
and it was I think I don't know if it
was just certain manufacturers, but it was called zincification. But
the water, uh, the zinc was being pulled out and
out of the brass fittings and they started to fail,
so you get little drips and leaks, you know, which

(55:17):
We thought those brass fittings were full proof, but evidently
not so. But you'd have to look it up to
see which manufacturer and all.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
That what it was.

Speaker 3 (55:28):
But but most people are using plastic. And then I
don't I don't know if if it was the chlorine
in the water that was affected and causing the zincification,
or if it was if it's just water in general,
you know, so it could be well, water would would
could possibly do it too.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
Okay, all right, well there you go. Let's talk to Linda. Linda,
good morning on the Whole Deep at Remprovement Show with
John to Dave. How are you.

Speaker 6 (55:53):
I'm fine. I hope you are. I enjoyed listening you
guys every Saturday.

Speaker 5 (55:57):
Thank you, well, thank you.

Speaker 6 (56:00):
This is my opportunity to take advantage of your health.
I have a couple of things going on, and I
don't know if they're related or they're individual problems. I
have a fire alarm that is connected to the house
when it was built. It was built in nineteen eighty six,
and I've never had a problem with it going off
when I'm cooking, But now I do.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
I have a.

Speaker 6 (56:22):
Pocket door that goes to my kitchen and I have
to close it to turn my oven on, and every
time I turn anything, you know, cooking on, it seems
that the fire alarm goes off. I have a in
the same room. I have a Boss radio that I
come in in the morning and all of a sudden
it's going off one of seven point nine, and it's

(56:43):
just static. It's just comes on by itself. And I
come into the kitchen with the radio with static. My
lights in my little first bathroom they seem to dim
now and then. And I have a brand new show
that is three years old, and the clock it displays

(57:06):
the time, it seems that some of the numbers have
faded and they'll come back, and they'll fade and they'll
come back. Do I need to place replace my file
on a AM I and my lights and my radio
and my show or are they all related?

Speaker 2 (57:20):
I think it's related.

Speaker 3 (57:21):
I think she's got a loose neutral somewhere's neutral.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
Yeah, So the only one thing I would say, David
and Linda, that is the fire alarm nineteen eighty four,
if you've not done anything to it. Depending on it's
possible that we were talking earlier, that it has reached
its lifespan and so it's reacting oddly, so that could
be independent. But to David's point, the fact that it's

(57:46):
all happening together now, I do know, tongue in cheek,
this is just that when we went to one oh
seven point nine FM WBT Charlotte's FA News Talk, we
did add a feature that for frequent listeners that radio
would just come on automatically. Just kidding Linda. But David's

(58:12):
point I think is right. The static, the flickering of
the lights all sound like a loose neutral wire, and
the fact that they're all around everything's happening in the
kitchen makes us think that it might be a loose
neutral in the what's called the bus bar in the
in the breaker box. So that neutral line that controls

(58:36):
that whole circuit has to be grounded or attached to
a bus bar, and so an electrician, I don't think
I would go in there and mess with it myself,
but an electrician have them come out and take a
look at it, and they'll actually check the receptacles, they'll
check the neutrals at all those points, and then they'll
check the neutral at the bus bar. And our guess

(58:59):
is that that solves the problem.

Speaker 6 (59:02):
Okay, that'd be true.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
That helpful.

Speaker 6 (59:05):
Yes, it's very annoying when I when I cook them,
the alarm goes off and I have to open the
front door of the back door and wave the doors
trying to get some fresh air in.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
It's crazy.

Speaker 6 (59:16):
I've been here for thirty years and I can't cook
without closing.

Speaker 1 (59:19):
The neighbors are starting to wonder. The neighbors are starting
to talk.

Speaker 6 (59:24):
Okay, all right, well, I appreciate you help.

Speaker 1 (59:26):
Now check it out and let us know. You know,
you can send us an email at questions at ask
John at dave dot com. And if you have some
follow up questions or calls, again, we appreciate the calls.
All right, Linda, thanks for the call. We got to
slide away for a break. We'll be back to answer
your home improvement questions on New Stock eleven ten. Welcome back.

(59:58):
It's the Whole Deep Home Improvement Show with John and Babe.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
I'm John Gordon, I'm Dave Doval.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
We're at seven O four five seven oh one O
seven nine and we are on one O seven point
nine FM WBT, Charlotte's FM News Talk. I just had
to get that out, all right, one day open here

(01:00:25):
not for the average bear. All right, let's see, uh oh,
this is this is it is the season, David. Here's
here's oldie, but Goldie. I've got candle wax on LVT
and carpet, and I so I think I'm guessing concerned
about scraping the LVT to get it off, and then
candle wax on the carpet. I think on I don't

(01:00:50):
know that we've ever talked about candle wax on LVT.
I think you would just put some ice on it
to get it just good and hard, and you should
be able to just pop it up with like a
not too sharp putty knife. Uh. Then what we recommend
for a carpet is is a warm iron, not a
hot iron. And it's hard to find a brown paper

(01:01:10):
bag anymore because everything is plastic. But if you can
get some craft paper, you could probably even use a
cloth of some sort. But you want to put a
warm iron on there to kind of get the wax
to its liquid state again and then put the cloth
down or the the brown wesed talking about brown craft
paper all the time, put that over the wax mark,

(01:01:33):
and then put the warm iron on it. Not too
hot because you don't want to melt the carpet fibers.
They will melt, but that makes the wax liquid again,
and then the paper draws it up. And it's going
to take a few applications. You got to be patient.
And then if you could, you could even take it, David,
I think you could probably take a hair dryer to
the LVT just to get the wax liquid again and

(01:01:55):
wipe it away. You should be fine.

Speaker 3 (01:01:57):
Yes, yeah, and I'm sure you can. Uh, And it
probably worked as fine. Remember I told you of that.
Years ago.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
We bought, uh, Gina bought some candles for outdoors.

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
Well we thought they were outdoors. They really weren't outdoor.
She thought she bought plastic candles, but they weren't. They
were real wax, but they were electric. I don't know
if you've ever seen those. Oh yeah, but they're real candles.
And so we were going on vacation and we decided
I put them in the deck box and we had
brand new cushions, had the cushions in there, threw those

(01:02:32):
candles in there. When I when we got back from vacation,
the candles had melted all over those brand new cushions.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
So hey, they were waterproof at that, I want to.

Speaker 1 (01:02:43):
Say they resist it was.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
It was nice. They cleaned up easy.

Speaker 3 (01:02:48):
But that's what I did, was it was so much
that I couldn't use the iron or the hair dryer.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
So I just I fired.

Speaker 3 (01:02:56):
Up the grill and with the lid, with the lid
club and I laid newspaper on top of it. And
then i'd laid the I would lay the cushion on it,
and then I'd take it off, pull the paper off,
get a new another piece of paper. And that's what
we used, was newspaper. And it worked, It worked.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
It worked, and then if you're worried about the print,
you can just get like that white packing paper, right,
that's the same kind of.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
Paper, right exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
Yeah, So that's an inexpensive way to have that have
that stuff aroun in. You can use it for lots
of things, so you know, and that white paper you
also can clean glass with that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
Remember the old thing about using newspaper to clean.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
Well, when I was in college and I was just
trying to make money anyway I could, I would clean windows,
and I always use newspapers paper. It just left it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:42):
Clean most of the time. That's all they're good for anyway.

Speaker 1 (01:03:48):
Yeah, yeah, okay, they leave residue in your mind, not
on the windows, right, all right, so candle wax on
a carpet and melody t good to go there. Let's see,
let's see, let's see. Uh all right, I gotta be
careful how I say this. Are there two sizes of

(01:04:12):
sink traps? And then I think they they mean Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday because they just have three letters after the question,
And so are there are two sizes of sink traps? Right? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
Inch and a quarter, an inch and a half inch
and a half and two inch two.

Speaker 3 (01:04:33):
Technically that's true in technically, but those are ago.

Speaker 1 (01:04:39):
Yeah, but but I can't. We're sort of guessing like
what people are thinking and asking questions here. But typically
in like a vanity, you would be one and a quarter, right, well,
not necessarily, because not that I think about it, ours
are all one and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:04:55):
Well, yeah, the bigger the better, as far as I'm concerned.
But but you will see and a lot of a
lot of tracked homes you're going to find inch and
a quarter.

Speaker 1 (01:05:06):
How do you deal with so when you buy like
the replacement kits, they usually have the additional fittings in
there that you could actually step down and not have
a leak. But the best way is to take the
tail piece off, or to take one section of it
out and pull the slip nut and everything away and

(01:05:27):
just kind of take a measurement. You can eyeball it
and tell one is bigger than the other. David to
your point, unless you get into the fact that there's
some two inches. But usually when you get into two
inch and three, now you're talking PVC, like actual PVC
drain pipe, not the thin wall traps that you can
pick up that you would put in right, so you'll

(01:05:49):
see that one is larger than the other. The good
news is, I mean, in the worst case scenario, buy
what you need in both sizes and take it home
and before you open the package, hold it up and
the exactly it's like that ain't hard to keep your
receipt or if you shop at the home depot, use
a pro extra number or a card and just swipe

(01:06:11):
it and no way you go. That's so, that's it,
so yes, so yes, Virginia, there are two sizes of
traps on Yeah, okay, just we do that. We do
that in construction just to confuse people. All right, we
I think we are another point to take a break.
This will be our last break this hour. So don't
go away. We're gonna take your calls. We're at seven

(01:06:33):
o four five seven oh one oh seven nine, and
we'll take your and you can text us at number
also using the WBT text line driven by the liberty view
of GMC. So don't go away, give us a shop,
give us a text. Wee back right after these messages.

(01:07:03):
Welcome back. It's the whole Deep Bubble Provement show at
John and Dave.

Speaker 7 (01:07:06):
I'm John Gordon, I'm Dave Doval or in the last
segment this uh, this these couple of hours, folks, So
give us a shower at five to seven zero seven
four seven nine.

Speaker 1 (01:07:19):
They can do a text at that. You can send
us a text at that same number. Two. Then here's
here's a good one. This is let's see good morning.
I have a banging in the wall, like when I
flush the toilet, the washing machine behind the walls, making
the washing machine behind the walls making a banging sound.

(01:07:41):
And on the others and on the other end of
the house, I have a shower and flush the toilet.
It does same thing, It does the same thing. Just
can't just can't do two things at one time. I
live alone. So when my son came to visit, he
was taking a shower and I flushed the toilet the
other of the house, and there was a banging coming

(01:08:01):
from the wall behind the washing machine. It sounds like crazy,
so not really crazy, not surprising that it's behind the
washing machine, David. It sounds like the washing machine is
acting like a vent. The standpipe for the washing machine
is acting like event. Is that possible?

Speaker 2 (01:08:17):
It is possible?

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
And is it?

Speaker 3 (01:08:21):
And does it only when the sound? Is it when
they're flushing or is when they're running water? I have
a power on and flush the toilet.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28):
Oh okay, yeah, so it's like when they happen concurrently.
In other words, it feels like, David, there's too much
water entering the system and it doesn't have an event,
and so you're getting hammering as as air exits, and
then more water air, more water. Is my interpretation of that.

(01:08:50):
What what do you think? It actually doesn't sound crazy.

Speaker 3 (01:08:55):
Right, and it's and it's just it's it's it's just uh,
it's it's just making the noise in the pipe.

Speaker 2 (01:09:03):
I don't I don't think it's rattling the pipes. I
wouldn't think.

Speaker 1 (01:09:06):
So here's here's a couple of things to think about.
We don't have a name a person, Texter. Number one
is it could be that there's an air emittence valve,
a stuoter valve that allows this venting to happen so
that everything flushes and exits smoothly. Uh, And that could
be faulty. So you can look underneath the sinks in

(01:09:29):
the in the two places that are problematic and see
if there's a It almost looks like a like a
short cylinder sitting on top of one of the pipes. Uh.
And they can fail over a period of time. Usually
what that happens is they fail open and you get
sewer gas. But it's possible that that could be a problem,
But David, I think the more likely problem is a

(01:09:50):
blocked vent somewhere that's not allowing air in as the
water exits, and so it's drawing it from that other places, right,
So that's and pipe of the washing machine, which is
the largest clearest the next largest clearest opening to air.
That would be my guess, and probably a plumber could

(01:10:10):
salute that out for you and tell you whether you
have other issues, but that would be. If not, then
the next step is an exorcist. Right. So but I
think that's it. That would be my That would be
our guest, David. What am I missing?

Speaker 2 (01:10:26):
I thank you? I think that's it.

Speaker 1 (01:10:29):
Yeah, okay, great, I mean we appreciate the question. It's
a good it's not it's not crazy. All kinds of
silly things happen when you know, physics and fluids and
stuff do their.

Speaker 3 (01:10:37):
Thing right, And the clog, the clog is probably near
the vent, probably not necessarily in the vent, correct, and
so it's it's probably just the rod needs the line
needs to be rotted out, cleaned out, you know. And
then of course there's all kinds of questions, right, is
it is it cast iron?

Speaker 2 (01:10:55):
Is it PVC? Is you know all those things? How right?
How old is the house?

Speaker 1 (01:11:01):
So?

Speaker 3 (01:11:02):
Yeah, so it's always good to have a it's good
to have a relationship with your doctor. And it's good
to have a good relationship with your plumber.

Speaker 1 (01:11:10):
Plumber.

Speaker 8 (01:11:11):
Yeah, there you go, right, all right, next question, oh
here with this is of all that we love our
house that we live in.

Speaker 1 (01:11:26):
This is me speaking David, our house we love. But
what can I do to get heat for the bathroom floor?
We have rugs everywhere. That of all the things that
we miss about our home in Atlanta, the heated bathroom
floor could be top of the list. It's not hard

(01:11:47):
to do, it's not expensive. Retrofitting could be a little
bit more, But the answer is yes, you can heat
a bathroom floor, usually if it's a ceramic tile, and
it sounds like you have ceramic and that's reason for
rugs everywhere you have you have to redo the ceramic
floor well, and you can't on a cross space. You

(01:12:09):
can get up underneath there and do something right.

Speaker 3 (01:12:11):
And you can also lay tile over tile. So with
the mats, the mat that they have so they have
a mat system that's low voltage, you would actually pull
the you could actually pull the toilet and and you
could go in there and you can overlay. You could
put the mate down and then you could overlay the
floor with tile on tile so it raises you up.

(01:12:34):
You have to raise the floor flans a little bit,
and of course you lose a little bit of distance
on your on your vanity. But that's the cheapest way.
You know, if the floor is in good shape, if
the tile's not cracked, or you don't have a lot
of bounce or anything going on in there, you can
tile right over the tile.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
That's a good point. And and and then you got
to undercut your door. You got to cut your door. Also,
your your exhaust fent is probably not right work.

Speaker 3 (01:12:57):
Yeah, just a couple of a couple of couple of adjustment,
but but it can be done.

Speaker 2 (01:13:03):
And look at it this way.

Speaker 3 (01:13:04):
If it's a bathtub, it makes that step in a
little bit a little bit less.

Speaker 1 (01:13:07):
There you go. Yeah, not perceptibly, I guess, but all right,
so so yeah, that's not the end of the world.
It's it's a it's a great it's a great solution
if you're doing some remodeling and you're replacing a ceramic floor,
you're replacing tile or floor in a bathroom for the
amount of money that it costs to have that done,

(01:13:30):
particularly the low voltage mats and things like that, because
you're not now you're not running you know, home run
lines from a circuit breaker somewhere up to that spot.
It's a really worthwhile investment. You'll, you'll truly, that's one
that you're you're you're glad you did when when it's done.
All right, here's I have sections of fiberglass insulation missing

(01:13:53):
in a crawl space, but my house is comfortable. Do
I need to replace it? Technically yes, right, you're supposed
to have fiberglass installation. You're suposed to have installation between
the crawl space and the and the and the living space. David,
one of the advantages could simply be a vapor barrier.
That's that's that would be on the back of insulation
that would be up against your floor and and working

(01:14:14):
as a vapor barrier. But it's if it's not a
big section, it's probably it's probably not a big deal.
But the correct answer, I think is, yeah, you're supposed
to have an insulation play.

Speaker 3 (01:14:24):
Yeah, you have to replace it, and you can do
without it if you I think we talked about this
last week. If you if you seal a cross space,
if you insulate the foundation walls, you can eliminate the
insulation in the floor space itself.

Speaker 2 (01:14:38):
But other than that, gotta have.

Speaker 1 (01:14:40):
It, gotta have it, gotta go back, and it's not
a hard if a small section is an easy to
do at yourself job, check out Tiger Teeth online. It's
just a little little things that help hold it in
place and it's a very easy to do at yourself job.
All right, it's time for us to wrap this up, folks.
We're headed into the Christmas holiday Honikah I think is
in full swing. Quansa coming up. Whatever holiday is that

(01:15:03):
you're celebrating, this is a special time of the year,
and especially at this time of the year, we want
to remind you that we think the most important kind
of home improvement you can make is the one that
makes your home a happier place to live in. Don't
forget to work on that project this week, and we'll
see you next week. Be when we return to the
Home Deeple Home Improvement Show with John Today