EnergyQ Radiant Barrier

Jim starts with a quick email question about leveling an upstairs foor. He also gets calls on regulators on a gas line, patio covers, water pressure, home insualtion, an underground electrical conduit, roof vents, and more. Jim continues in the second hour with more of your home omprovemnt questions. Don’t forget the website thipro.com for more information.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Idiot body. Texas Home Improvement ison the air with Jim Nutt. Welcome
to Texas Home Improvement. What canI do for you? And you're from
Texas? How could you tell?You? Call Jim now with all your
home improvement questions. That's seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.

(00:20):
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four. Texas Home
Improvement brought to you by Ready Seal, Stain and Sealer, Sunburn Shutters.
Where beauty meets energy efficiency, AmericanStandard comfort the way you like it do.
West Services Foundation Repair, Plumbing andair Conditioning, Guardian Roof Systems,

(00:41):
Texas Remodel Team Windows the official windowinstaller of Texas Home Improvement. James Hardy
Sighting the best sighting on the planet, floor in the core, Victor's Remodeling
and Construction, Hardy Plex Specialists,Rev Synthetics, Shingles by f Wave and
USA n Wall Phone insulation for existinghomes, and now broadcasting live from the

(01:07):
Dotton Ranch. Here it's Jim dotHey, Welcome to Texas Home Improvements.
Your total home improvement source. Sevenone three two one two five eight seven
four. That's seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. Any
home improvement question you have, feelfree to pick up the phone, give

(01:30):
me a call. I'll see whatI can do to help you out here
on Texas home Improvement. Also,don't forget about our website t hipro dot
com. That's there as a resourceto help you out twenty four to seven.
So anytime you have a home improvementissue, start at thhipro dot com.
We've got contractors, we got todo it yourself, suggestions, there's

(01:52):
questions and answers and videos. Imean, it's it's just there is a
full time resource to help you withall your home improvement needs. And again,
anytime you're looking for somebody you hearme talk about or a contractor,
go to tchipro dot com and wedo have our contractors list there to help
you out. Uh so again tchiprodot com. While you're there, make

(02:15):
sure you sign up for our newsletterthat goes out every other week. It's
free at charge and it's chocked fullof helpful information all the time as well.
But our number again seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
Any home improvement question you have,pick up the phone, give me
a call and I'll see what Ican do to help you out here on

(02:37):
Texas Home Improvement. That's seven onethree two one two five eight seven four
uh and uh, I'll tell youwhat I think. We'll lead off with
an email question here. So thiscomes from Joe and it came in earlier
this week. He says, Jim, I live in the clear Lake area.
I have a two story house thatis about thirty five years old.

(03:00):
Your crew fixed and adjusted my foundationtwo years ago. They did a great
job. It is time to changethe upstairs carpet, but there appear to
be loose boards in areas that arenot level upstairs. Could you recommend someone
that can level the upstairs floor beforewe have the carpet replaced. Well,

(03:23):
if it's what I'm thinking, itis, you know, loose boards,
and you got high and low spotsvery common on the second floor. When
they come in to put flooring in, they typically have to float those floors
out and they can attach the thewood floors that are loose and all that
stuff at the same time. Soyour foreign company actually ought to be able

(03:46):
to take care of that for you. And that's, like I said,
normally, that's part of the servicesthat they do when they're putting in new
floors that way. So again,if you've got a home proven question seven
three two one two five eight sevenfour, let's head to Brazoria Charles sister,

(04:08):
Jim, how can I help you. I've got a gas grills cut
from the big big box stores,work off propane for the propain tank,
and I have propane in my housealready. I happen to have a propane
line in it that was dedicated justfor this purpose. What I want to
do is hope that hook to grillup to the gas line. My question

(04:32):
is do I need any other regulatorsor tent just go off that line?
Uh? Typically you should be ableto go straight off that line because coming
out of the tank, the propanetank that you have in your yard already
has a regulator to regulate what goesout to every place. Okay, yeah,

(04:55):
and so, and that normally isall you should need. Uh.
But I will be honest with you, I am not one hundred percent sure
on that, but I believe that'sthe way it is. I mean,
because I ran a line at myhouse to do the same thing. Okay,
let me ask something else with Iwas gonna, yeah, put a
put an isolation valve in a quickconnect sitting, you know, kind of

(05:17):
like you have off for a airhose. Yeah, well they actually make
them for the gas lines that way. Oh is it a special thing that
yes, any air hoes? Nope, no, they make one four gas
lines. Okay, so I shouldget that then, yep. Okay,
Well, thank you very much.You've been helping you. You bet you

(05:39):
take care and again seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four Going to friends with
James. Welcome to Texas Home improvement. Hey there, I got a quick

(05:59):
question for you. I was lookingat getting a patio extension back patio of
my house, and I wonder whatyour opinion was on aluminum patio covers,
because the codes that I've gotten area lot cheaper than you know, going
the traditional style. But I justI don't know, you know, it
looks different than the house, andI don't know long term, I don't

(06:21):
know if it's noisier. Just wonderwhat your thoughts are. Traditionally, what
you'll find is, yes, it'sgoing to be less expensive up front,
it is going to be a littlebit noisier because anything that hits it echoes
like it's unreal. I mean,it's it's basically like a tin can getting

(06:42):
hit. The bigger issue, though, that most people run into is the
heat. If it's in direct sunlight, it gets extremely hot and it becomes
difficult to sit under it in thesummer months. Interesting, that's exactly,

(07:03):
but when the sun is beating onthat metal. Think about it, like,
you know, you put any pieceof metal out in the yard in
the in the direct sun, yougo to touch it, it's so hot
you can't handle it well. Whenthat cover gets that way, it's it's
just like a hot plate radiating theheat down to where you're trying to sit

(07:25):
under it, and it just doesn'tbecome usable at that. Now there are
things you can do, like aradiant barrier and stuff like that to to
help mitigate some of that, butthat's the biggest downside of using the metal
covers. Do they work great?Absolutely, they work just fine, But

(07:47):
in general you you'll find that awooden one is going to be a lot
more user friendly for you. Yeah, that's what I suspect. It was
just a price difference that that kindof surprised me. How much cheaper it
was, and you know, Iwas just wondering if what the doubt.

(08:07):
You know, you can't get everythingfor free, right, I just wondered,
Okay, it's got to be adownside to the to the lower costs.
Yeah, I mean that falls underthe uh you get what you pay
four claws right right, Well,I appreciate that in but thanks very much.
You bet, if you need somebodyto put one, you know,

(08:28):
something up for you, give thefolks at Texas Remodel Team a call Texas
Remodel okay, yeah, and youcan reach them at two eight one six
one two fifty one excuse me,and now they do complete sun rooms and

(08:50):
stuff as well. Okay, TexasRemodel. I appreciate that, you bet,
you take care. Thanks a lotabout it. And again our number
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. That's seven one three
two one two five eight seven four. You may may hear me coughee coughing

(09:11):
a little bit today and every oncein a while I'll shut the mic off
to cough and stuff. I gota bad sinus infection and that's the reason
I was gone last weekend. Uh, but I'm still recovering from it and
so every once in a while itdoes catch up to me while I'm talking
and let's see, Larry, howare you today? Well, I'm just

(09:37):
as good as I can. Actually, I should say super. There you
go. Well, how can Ihelp you? Well, I've got a
water pressure issue. When I canbuy bolt on these little rain bird water
pressure so you can get at homepeople or lows, and I got fifty
to sixty pounds right when it comesto my house. My toilets and bathtubs

(09:58):
are great, but the ten yearsold and I just purchased last year.
We've got these fansy little water thingsthat look like the old whale pumps.
Yeah, and very poor stream.I had a plumber over here doing something
else of a year or two ago, and he said, basically he thinks
they might be clogged up. Justthrow him away and put some new ones
in to regain your water pressure outof the sink faucets. Well, there's

(10:20):
an easy way to find out.And how's that underneath there should be a
shut off valve there is under thewater feed to the to the faucet itself.
Yeah, and uh, I putthat water hoole, that water feed
hose into a five gallon bucket.Turn the water on and see if you're

(10:43):
getting full full force there. Ifyou are, we'll try that. If
you are, then the faucet hasan issue. If you're not, then
it could be just those cutoff valvesunder the faucet. You mean, yeah,
a plot debris in the supply line. Well, yeah, but it
could be that you don't need toreplace the faucet, but just that cutoff

(11:05):
valve under the faucet, and that'sa heck of a lot cheaper than a
faucet. You're absolutely right. Well, I'll give that a try. Thank
you, you bet, you takecare and again seven one three, two,
one two, five eight seven four. Keep in mind debris does get
into two lines, especially when thehouse is first built. Now, some

(11:31):
of the other things though, onsome of those faucets is even if debris
got into the faucets itself, theycan be taken apart, cleaned and put
back together and start working right.So the big part is to find out,
okay, where is it choking downand slowing down, And surprisingly enough,

(11:54):
a lot of times it is inthe valves under the faucet, not
the valve itself, simply because thatvalve has the little orifices, just like
your faucet does, and so everythinghas to choke down going into it also.
Anyways, we're gonna take a quickbreak. We'll be right back with
more Texas Home Improvements. Seven onethree two point two five eight seven four

(12:26):
Due West air Conditioning. You knowwe're coming into the time of year where
air conditioning systems are going to beneeded again. Well, let's face it,
it's it's fairly warm out there today. But you may or may not
want to run the air conditioner.But whether it's for air conditioning or for
cooling, I shouldn't say air conditioning, whether it's for cooling or heating.
When you need a company who cancome out and service your unit, keep

(12:48):
it working the way it's supposed tobe called the best, called to West
Foundation Repair, Foundation Repair, twoWest air Conditioning. Excuse me, it's
one of our divisions at Due West. And you know, whether it's air
conditioning, plumbing, or foundation repair, when you want the best, you
call Due West. Because we area service oriented company, We're going to

(13:11):
do what needs to be done totake care of your homes needs. So
call us at seven one three fourseven three seven one five six again.
It's seven one three four seven threeseven one five six. At floor end
Decore, we know pro as yourone stop source. We deliver everyday savings
on over a million square feet ofinstock flooring tools and installation materials. See

(13:35):
how our flooring experts can help saveyou time and money with our best in
class selection at rock bottom prices andwith pro level benefits like our dedicated Pro
Service Team, Pro Hotline, ProPremier Financing and unbeatable Pro Loyalty program.
You get what you need, whenyou need it, where you need it.
Come discover floor End Decore where weknow pro. When Jim Dutton of

(13:56):
Texas Home Improvement recommends a company,I don't steer you wrong and he recommends
Guardian roof Systems said down to LeakCity. Hello jd Hey Jim, how
you doing that? Man? Idid call you last week about Chimney caps
you recommended. I called Guardian Roofing. I did call them. The technician
came out, he was on time, and man, that did it.

(14:16):
Kudos to Guardian. Good job forme. I really really appreciate that.
Guardian roof Systems. Click the linkunder Trusted contractors at thchipro dot com.
You know, the best selling plantationshutters in America are from Sunburst Shutters and
they're made of polywood. Now,the polywood is guaranteed never to warp,
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(14:41):
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want a gorgeous look and shutter,and one that's going to be energy efficient
as well, you need to takea look at Sunburst shutters. Now.
I have them in my home,my parents have, my sister have them
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(15:01):
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make sure you get that perfect lookand fit for your home. Call Sunburst
Shutters at seven one three eight ninesix eighty one fifty. That's seven one
three eight nine six eighty one fifty, or just go to th hi pro
dot com and click on the linkfor Sunburst Shutters. Hi Jim, how

(15:28):
you doing. I just heard yourshow. I'm walking around buildings. I
hate a compartment in my house,probably like a eight by ten room,
and I'm gonna be growing plants inthere, and I wanted to know what
you think I could use for ventilationor filtration? He oh, little,
because I wouldn't want the house wellstraight inch. Yeah, I hope the

(15:50):
drugs don't mess up if you're upholstreamsehan, I gotta ask you a question.
You're gonna be growing illegal plants inthere? Oh no, no,
just just plant, you know,Okay, But because otherwise I'm not gonna
tell you how to fix it up, so you know, strawberry, whatever
kind of cool plan. Let metake you down. Here's more with Jim

(16:17):
Dutton and Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements.
Seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. That's seven one three
two one two five eight seven four. Let's head to wes Houston, Gary.
Welcome to Texas Home Improvement. Howcan I help you? Yeah,

(16:41):
I sure appreciate your show. I'mgonna ask you a question to get a
million times. Last week my nextdoor neighbor changed out as insulation that is,
oh, I think about forty yearsold and mine is similar. And
they vacuumed all the old inslation nowin place to blow in and it was
a white color and they say,hey, this is the best stuff.

(17:02):
Can you talk to me one aboutwhether it's vacuum all the old stuff out?
It almost looks like snow. Wellthe insulation that they took out,
what kind was it? Was itfiber it was it's like that gray stuff
that's basically broken down into dust.Okay, yeah, it's a cellular s

(17:26):
insulation. Then, yes, sir, And in that situation, a lot
of times I do recommend vacuuming thatout because once it starts breaking down into
dust, uh, it starts filteringinto the living space of the home,
and so it becomes a real nightmaretrying to keep the house dust free,
and you know, you'll you'll actuallysee particles floating around in the light and

(17:48):
stuff. So in that situation,yes, it is best to take it
out. Now, the white thatthey blew in, hey, that's just
a brand of fiberglass insulation. Anduh, the the nice part about the
fiberglass is it's not gonna degrade overtime, so it doesn't turn to dust,

(18:10):
but it will settle over time andyou will have to add more insulation
down the road, but it'll buyyou a lot of years. Well,
I sure appreciate that there's some verticalinsulation as well that I guess they'll use
some baffles. But to your point, my house it's like looks like snowing

(18:30):
in there in the sunlight with dustyep, and I can't keep it,
keep it dusted. And my maid'sgoing in. You're a pig, so
might might want to consider a newmaid. But not teasing you. Actually
she's really good, and you know, it really bothers her. Every time
I come in, she comes inthere's dust, and I figured it was

(18:52):
from the inflation. I got onemore quick question on this, sure,
So my inflation is sung to thepoint where I can see the pipe running
across. Should those be wrapped beforethe inslation goes in, you know,
if you can see them. Isure would, because you know, it
used to be we just didn't getthe freezing weather that we had to worry

(19:12):
about it that much. But let'slet's be real. I mean, it's
it's becoming more and more of aproblem all the time. Yeah, yeah,
so I think I'll ask you youhave a do they wrap it in
a certain thing or is it justlike the phone roll phone pipe get at
the store. Yeah, just justthe phone pipe wrap that you can get

(19:32):
at the stores. Yes, Icould probably. If I try to do
it myself, I'll fall through,for darn shirt. You know. You
say that and and I kind ofchuckle because a lot of times people think,
Okay, yeah, I can goup in the attic and I can
do that and and save myself.You know what, three hundred dollars or
whatever to to wrapping the pipes,and then they step through the ceiling and

(19:56):
it's seven hundred dollars to fix thewhole. Dah, you feel like school.
So a buddy of mine he gotup in his floor and he's a
big guy too, and he fellall he fell through to where his arms
were caught on the rafts or hisbody was hanging through. Yeah, I
know, he's just you know,hanging there. His arms are up and

(20:18):
everything else. I took a longtime to get him out because he's so
big. Yeah. So the Actually, I'm a dentist and he was too,
and he heard himself. He brokesome ribs, and so I stepped
into his practice for a week sohe could heal. But every time I
see him now, I'll go,hey, man, been up in the
attic lately? You got to pokefun when you can. Oh yeah,

(20:41):
absolutely, yeah. Well I appreciatethe information. And I'm I half the
people coming over to they do evaluateand and and I think he made oh
the owner made this point. Hegoes, are they just got a brand
new AC last year? And hegoes, you know, our house heats
up so fast when the AC offAnd he said, we figured it was

(21:04):
inlation. And does that make senseto you? I mean, oh,
yeah, yeah, because you losethe majority of your cool air. You
know, that's where the heat buildup comes from. Is the attic down
into the living space. Yeah.Yeah, I have a nice energy company.
It's not expensive, but if Ican save I would definitely do that.
Absolutely well. I enjoy your show. I don't want to hold you

(21:26):
up anymore. No problem. Youtake care o it. Bye bye,
right and again our number seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
We're gonna take a quick break fornews trafficking weather. We'll be back
with more Texas home improvement. Youknow, when it comes to your roof,

(21:53):
let me ask you a question.What's your number? In other words,
how many times you need to buya new roof when there's a hailstorm
or a windstorm or something that torethe shingles or broke the shingles on your
roof. Well, for me,it was four. I'll live in an
area where we get a lot ofhail, and I had four different roofs

(22:17):
in twenty years. I stopped buyingroofs because I put Revas Shingles by f
Wave on my roof. Not onlyis it going to handle a hale,
but if a hurricane comes in,it'll handle the winds of a hurricane with
no problem. In fact, it'sbeen tested up to one hundred and seventy
miles an hour with no issues.You're looking for the last and final roof,

(22:38):
you need to take a look atReva Shingles by f Wave. Go
to our website thchi pro dot comand click on the link to f Wave.
He'll give you his honest opinion everytime. That'll get you unfriended on
Facebook. Here's more with Jim Duttonon Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome

(23:03):
back to Texas Home Improvements. Yourtotal home improvement sour seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.That's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four and I head toCyprus. Hello, Douglas. How are
you today? Oh? Very well, Thank you, Jim. I just
wanted to follow up. I calledyou about a week ago that I accidentally

(23:27):
hit an underground electrical condo while diggingup. Oh yeah, yeah, that
was two weeks ago. It wastwo weeks ago, and uh as I
dug it up my hand and excavated, it was a little worse than I
had described to you, so Iwas afraid to touch it. So I

(23:48):
called an electrician. I thought itwas would be of interest to your listeners,
a big, large Houston service,multi service company, and they came
and they gave me a bid ofbetween ten and twenty six thousand dollars to
repair it. Ten thousand if theyhad to run pull new wire through the

(24:10):
conduit, up to twenty six thousandif they could not pull the wire successfully
and I had to excavate it andreplace it all. So I was shocked,
and naturally I called somebody else toget another bid. Got a small,
more mom and pop electrical contractor,the licensed master electrician. He had

(24:33):
me take pictures and he quoted meover the phone twenty six hundred dollars as
opposed to ten thousand, also pullingnew wire from the pole to the house.
He came out promptly the next morning, took a look at it,
said we don't need a new pullnew wire. He had his guys cut

(24:55):
to the contbat two feet of theconduit out and sleeve it with a larger
pipe size and threw it all nicelyback together with PVC inspected, and charged
me about one thousand dollars. SoI thought it was interesting getting multiple bids,
one bid over ten thousand dollars andgot the job done for about one

(25:18):
thousand percent less at about one thousanddollars by what seemed to be very competent
to able guys. Yeah, soI'm assuming then that the wire itself wasn't
nick. They just had to redothe housing. It was not nicked.
I mean, the wire was ingood shape. It was just the conduit.

(25:40):
Yeah, But I was shocked thatyou could get bids that varied so
widely. Well, yeah, andit can be, but I mean that
one of the big difference was pullingthe wires. But twenty six hundred to
ten thousand, that's that's quite ajump. Yeah, they were going to

(26:00):
pull the new wires the second upfor twenty six hundred dollars yep versus ten
to twenty six thousand. The firstcompany said, because they said, well,
we'll get into the panel. Youhave an old panel, it's not
made anymore. If something breaks,I'll have to replace the panel, and
then we might not be able topull the wires. We'll have to replace

(26:21):
all the condo it and drench itup. So it was it was pretty
shocky. Oh yeah, But anyway, I got it fixed and I was
very happy with the the job theydid. Oh, very good. So
I just wanted to follow it upand advise your listeners to if it sounds
like it's too much, get anotheropinion, you know, yep, yep,

(26:45):
Okay, Well sir, okay,I'm glad it worked out for you.
Okay, bye bye, thanks foryour advice. Bye bye, you
bet bye bye. And yeah,I mean, especially when people haven't looked
at it, it's always good toget more than one opinion. Uh,
you got to look in and youdo when you're hiring contractors, you do

(27:07):
got to compare apples to apples.You know, what are they doing?
Are they carrying insurance and all thatkind of stuff. But you know,
especially in this case where hey,the wire itself wasn't nicked. It just
had to have the conduit fixed.Hey, it can make a huge difference
again. Seven one, three,two, one, two, five,

(27:30):
eight, seven four. Let's headto Beaumont and York. Welcome to Texas
home improvement. Hey Jim, howare you doing? Wonderful? Good?
Uh? I got a too farquestion. I have a gable roof about
a twenty one hundred square foot home, and I guess from in the attic
up to the ridge is maybe tenor twelve feet. I got a good

(27:52):
ridge vent. I've put some additionalsoft advents in, but I noticed when
I've been up there on the gableend, I pull a lot of pull
a lot, pull a lot ofair in through the top gable vents,
and I'm wondering if I should closethose off and that way it'll pull more
from the soft up through you know, the roof. And a second question

(28:14):
I had was on radiant barriers,and I've heard you talk about them before.
Is that something that I can layover insulation or should it go on
the under side of the rafts?Okay, well, let's start with the
venting first, because what you've gotgoing is multiple types of venting. It
sounds like you have a ridge ventgoing. Yes, sure, I do

(28:36):
a good one, Okay, reroofed here last year. So and so
when you put the ridge vent on, yes, you want to close up
those invents because air is going togo path of least resistance and right now
that's pulling in through the ends,and by closing those off, then you'll
start drawing more in through the softvents and taking it up. The key

(28:57):
thing is to make sure you gotplenty of soft itvents though, yes,
sir, I understood, okay.And then as far as the radium barrier,
that energy Q radium barrier you hearme talk about that actually is a
multi layer system that you can layon the attic floor. That's that's where
I have it on my own houseand it works great. Uh and yes,

(29:22):
you just it comes in four footwide rolls and you can cut it
into ten or twelve foot long pieces. Uh. So it's easier to handle
if you want. And you justtake and lay it up there just like
blankets on top of that insulation,and it'll keep the heat that does get
in the attic from getting into theinsulation. So the insulation does a better
job for you. Well, Iappreciate your answer. Thank you so much.

(29:47):
Enjoy it. So bye again ournumber seven one three two one two
five eight seven four. That's sevenone three two one two five eight seven.
And yeah, anytime you do anattic ventilation, you got to keep
in mind one intake, one exit. And I don't mean just one hole

(30:08):
for intake and one hole for exit. I mean one type. And when
you got the end open up thatway. Now you're opening up multiple types
of ventilation. We'll be back withmore Texas Home Improvement. So let's talk

(30:30):
about Texas Remodel Teams Window Division.You know, if you're looking for windows
for your home, there's a lotof different companies out there, and one
I'm going to tell you to callis Texas Remodel Team because not only can
they take care of the window needs, but say there's some bad wood around
the window, they can take careof that as well. And if you
got like a patio cover or somethinglike that and you want to enclose it

(30:53):
to have a nice area for sittingoutside, you know, Texas Remodel Team
can take care of that for youas well. So whether it's new windows
for the home or just a newway of being able to sit out outside
in the back and enjoy the yard. Call Texas Remodel Team at two eight
one six one two fifty nine ninetyone. That's two eight one six one

(31:18):
two fifty nine ninety one, orgo to thchi pro dot com and click
on the link for Texas Remodel Team. At floor End Decore, we know
pro as your one stop source.We deliver everyday savings on over a million
square feet of instock flooring tools andinstallation materials. See how our flooring experts
can help save you time and moneywith our best in class selection at rock

(31:41):
bottom prices and with pro level benefitslike our dedicated Pro service Team, Pro
Hotline, Pro Premier Financing and unbeatablePro Loyalty program. You get what you
need, when you need it,where you need it. Come discover floor
End Decore where we know pro.You know James Hardy Side is the best
siding on the planet and if you'relooking for a way to upgrade the looks

(32:05):
of the outside of your home,give it some curb appeal. Take a
look at James Hardy Siding. Yougot stuck a look, you got the
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you pull up in the driveway again. You want to learn more about it,
just go to thchi pro dot comand click on the link for tech

(32:28):
for James Hardy Siding. When JimDutton Texas Home Improvement recommends a company,
you won't steer you off. LikeDue West Services. I had your phenomenal
company out regarding a foundation watering systemand so tired of lugging those miserable so
corrosives that keep getting destroyed. It'sjust a nightmare. So anyway, I

(32:52):
had Jacob out from your company dueWest and he was phenomenal, and you
run a tip top organization he was. That's beautifully the truck he drove up
and was perfect. I mean,you just have made yourself a wonderful company.
I can't thank you enough. Ireally appreciate it. Do West Services
Foundation Repair, Total Plumbing and airConditioning called seven one three four seven three

(33:16):
seven one five six. That's sevenone three four seven three seven one five
six online at do dash West dotcom. That's du dash West dot com.
Do West Services. Recently on TexasHome Improvement A startling revelation as Jim

(33:37):
Dutton took what we thought was aroutine called to the show, Ah,
Mary, Joe and Waxahatchie. WhereWaxahatchie. Where Waxahatchie. Where Waxahatchie.
Welcome to Texas Home Improvement. Well, now, Jim, you have to
say walks Ahatchie, not Waxahatchie.You want to know the honest truth.

(33:58):
What I'm aankey, that's bad.I've only lived in Texas for about forty
five years now, So what canI say? Well, we shall appreciate
all the information that you give out, so we'll I pass the fact that
you're a Yankee. Okay, We'regoing to stop right there while we're ahead.

(34:22):
Here's more with Jim Dotton on TexasHelp Improvement. Uh. You know
the bad thing is I actually knowhow to say the city. I just
you mess up sometimes. What canI say? Hey, you got a
quick home improvement question? Seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.

(34:44):
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. And
I'll see what I can do tohelp you out here on Texas How Improvement.
Matt welcome, How can I helpyou today? Okay, just gonna
pass along a couple of tips onon the plumbing world. We had an
issue, We thought we had anissue. My wife found that the shower

(35:05):
upstairs was extremely forceful. The waterpressure was really great, so she'd go
upset. It's like the shower forsome reason, the pressure in the shower
downstairs, which had the same fixtures, was not only about half that.
And one diagnosis, not from aplumber of another person was it might be
the control handle somewhere in there.But our next door neighborhood had the same

(35:31):
experience. And what's going on thesedays is in the green energy world of
saving everything, the hand held showerwands. If you take it where it
attaches, you'll find there's a littleblackwasher in there. It reduces the pressure

(35:52):
significantly and saves water. But itall, yeah, it takes you got
a shower twice as long. It'sa sham blue wall. So yep,
that was that fixed it. Wejust took that out. And another another
issue that was we thought we hadthis cold weather. We had some damn
his moisture that kept occurring in thecarpet in the closet which is adjacent to

(36:15):
where the shower is and it woulddry out. That would use the shower
and it would come up. Youknow, Oh my goodness about I had
a pressure leak in anyway, itwas correctly diagnosed. It's not a pressure
leak. And what can often happenin an older house, not old,
but well twenty five years old,the shower pan where you stand can develop

(36:36):
small cracks yep, and if itbegins to leak, it will show up
in a carpet nearby, water runsdown and you're you know, every time
when we couldn't use the shower,it dried up and it was hardly visible.
I couldn't. They've put it outto be the vergetball crafts enough be
where you stand. If you takea ten minute shower, uh, and

(36:59):
then ends up standing a little bit, it'll leap thither. And of course
there's several solutions. You can spendten thousand dollars and have a new shower
install oh fancy, haul the wholething out and read you the bathroom.
Or you can go and buy ata big box store or on the internet.
Aligne. The super sealed stuff likethe guy with a motor boat who

(37:22):
paints it and goes for a ride. Because you got a seal, your
flex seal, send it down,clean the pan and just put a coat
of clear or white and you basicallyseal the pan and it'll out last you.
So just just for information, maybesomebody has the experience. Don't run
to think that you need a wholenew bathroom. If you get some marcher

(37:44):
anywhere around the shower, odds areit might be coming through a shovel,
small cracks in the pan, andyou can you can replace the whole pand
but you don't have to tear thatall out, just repaint it with seal.
So good luck with information. Yeah, let me ask you a question
on that, because i'm the flexseal stuff. Does it works very very
well? Yes? But doesn't itshow that you have it on there?

(38:09):
Well, it depends on how gooda painter you are. You can have
you got clear flex seal, Youbuy clear using the brush and it's gonna
be white. You're gonna be standingaud it. And most people in the
shower have a slip proof mat anywaythat they put in there. So uh,
it's it's you know, for acouple of thousand dollars, it's worth

(38:30):
it to me. Yeah, Okay, So that's the way we went.
We spent you know, spend fiftydollars a can, a boot flex seal
and some decent brush, yeah,and cleaner and uh that'll last it for
my lifetime. Anyway, there yougo. So I'm sure the fellow with
a sink situation surely one common thingthat I'm sure he's look at this.

(38:52):
But what happens to a lot ofpeople, mainly ladies who don't understand how
those aerators work. They get cloggedup really easy, the ones that their
bubble you know, oh yeah,unscrew, yeah, those things are a
major source of clogging up right thereat this outlet, and unscrew and blow
them out or by another one.But anyway, good luck to everybody on

(39:13):
plumbing deals. Alrighty, you takecare, okay, thank you much again
our number seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four. We're gonna
head up to northwest Houston. Judy, how are you today? Okay?
My problem is ever since I putin the bridge vent and took out the

(39:39):
whirlybirds, my attic is hot,hot, hot. Okay, Well what
happened? Well, do you haveenough softa vents? Well, they're the
same as on that the regular roofwith the whirlybirds was up there. Do

(40:05):
I need more since it's got aradiant barrier? No? No, the
radiant barrier is designed to keep toblock heat transfer. So I'm not sure
why, you know, just makingthose changes would have but typically the ridge
vent is the better way to go. So the first thing I would check

(40:29):
is make sure they cut the slotsfor the ridge vent, because there's been
a few times where people call meand when they go up and look,
they can't see any light, whichmeans the roofer didn't cut the line,
you know, and so you're notgetting any air going out. Well,
can you do that yourself? No, ma'am, that's that's that's something the

(40:51):
roofer would need to do. AndI'm gonna have to cut you off because
that music meant I need to takea break here on Texas Home Improvement.
So real quick, let's talk aboutUSA Insulation. You know you've heard me
say this for years. When itcomes to insulation, foam works best in
the walls, and when it comesto putting it into your walls, you
need to call USA Insulation because theyhave a proprietary non expansive foam they can

(41:16):
inject right into the walls of yourexisting home. You'll get the best our
value. It has a great firerating and it cancels up to eighty percent
of the noise as well. CallUSA Insulation at three four six two ninety
seven twenty eight hundred. That's threefour six two nine seven twenty eight hundred

(41:38):
and let them come out and takea look at your home and see what
they can do for you. WhenJim Dutton of Texas Home Improvement recommends our
coveredy, he won't steer you wrong, and he recommends Guardian roof Systems said
down to Leak City. Hello jdHey Jim, how you doing there?
Man? I did call you lastweek about uh Kimney caps. You recommend

(41:59):
it. I call Guardian. Idid call them. The technician came out,
he was on time, and man, that did it. Kudos to
Guardian. Good job for me.I really really appreciate that. Guardian roof
Systems. Click the link under trustedcontractors at thhipro dot com. Let's talk
about due West Total Plumbing. Youknow, if you're having plumbing issues and

(42:20):
you can't take care of himself,you need a plumber. Call my company,
due West Total plumbing, whether it'sjust a dripping faucet or you got
to replace all the sewer lines underthe home. We can help you.
When you want the best, youcall due West at seven one three four
seven three seven one five six.That's seven one three four seven three seven

(42:42):
one five six. You know alot of window companies can put in new
windows, but can they make thetrim look right? Do they use high
end cock to seal up the airgaps? And do they offer multiple styles
and choices so you can get theexact windows you need and want for your
home. Jim Dutton, host oftex Improvement for Texas Remodel Team, they
have a window division that does nothingbut windows, and they can make sure

(43:06):
that things like your trim, yourbrick, even your windowsill looks perfect because
after all, they are owned bya construction company. They carry all the
major brands of windows, and theirinsult crews are second to none, giving
them a four point nine stars outof five on Google Reviews and an A
plus rating with the BBB plus athumbs up from me Great windows, great

(43:28):
prices and a great installation called theTexas Remodel Team Window Division for your new
Windows Today. Two eight one sixone two fifty nine ninety one two eight
one six one two fifty nine toninety one online at Texas Remodel team dot
com. There ain't nothing you don'tknow about home improvement stinking smart air like

(43:58):
here's Jim Dotton, non Texas homeImprovement. Heay, welcome back to Texas
Home Improvement your total home improvement sourceseven one three two one two five eight
seven four. That's seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
Ron out of Austin sent me anemail earlier this week and he says he's

(44:22):
got foul smell. Recently, wehave been experiencing a foul odor coming from
our master bedroom. Only the toiletin the master bath appears to be okay,
no leak or backup evident thoughts,thank you okay oil. There can
be several things one and more likelythis is probably going to be it.

(44:45):
There is hair gunk and stuff likethat building up in the pea traps and
it could be either in the showertub or in the sink. And as
that stuff starts to decay, itdoes give off a terrible odor. In
a lot of times people think it'sa sewer gas or coming from the toilet
and it ends up being nothing morethan that stuff degrading. So what you

(45:07):
end up doing is taking apart tosink. Now, what I typically will
do is spray some scrubbing bubbles anduse an old toothbrush to clean down into
the pipe stem. It gets backdown below where the pea trap is.
The odor's gone then, but youcan take the pea trap apart if you
want, clean it out, cleanout the stem going down to the pea

(45:30):
trap from the sink, and againyou'll get rid of the odor that way,
but most of the time that's whereyou're gonna find it. With that,
that's it for this hour of TexasHow Improvement. But we got another
hour to go. Seven one threetwo point two five eight seven four.

(45:59):
All right, let's talk about AmericanStandard Air my choice in air conditioners.
And you know, I've been usingAmerican Standard in my home since about nineteen
ninety eight. Love it works great, and they are nationally recognized for excellence
for performance, reliability, and customersatisfaction. So take care of your family
all year long with American Standard Airas well. You know American Standard heating

(46:22):
and air conditioning systems. They meetthe ever changing Texas weather head on so
you can keep your home cool andhumidity for your be ready for a little
heat when you need it. Investwisely and invest in the home comfort system
that will last you a long longtime. Now, Comfort the Way you
Like It begins at American Standardair dotCom. And when you go there,

(46:45):
take a look at all the differenttypes of systems. I mean, granted
you got the single speed, butyou got the dual speed, the variable
speed. That's the ones I trulylove for humidity control. So again,
American Standard. Texas Home Improvement ison the air with Jim Dutton. Welcome

(47:07):
to Texas Home Improvement. What canI do for you? You're from Texas?
How could you tell you? Tall, Jim? Now with all your
home improvement questions. That's seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. Texas
Home Improvement brought to you by ReadySeal, Stain and Sealer, Sunburn Shutters.

(47:28):
Where beauty meets energy efficiency. AmericanStandard Comfort the Way you Like It.
Do West Services, Foundation Repair,Plumbing and air Conditioning, Guardian Roof
Systems, Texas Remodel Team, Windows, the official window installer of Texas Home
Improvement, James Hardy sighting the bestsighting on the planet floor in the core

(47:51):
Victor's Remodeling and Construction party Plex specialistsREVS Synthetic shingles by f Wave and USA
Insulation Wall Foam installation for existing homesand now broadcasting live from the Dotton Ranch.
Here's Jim dot and welcome back toTexas Home Improvements. Your total home

(48:16):
Improvement source seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four. That's seven
one three two one two five eightseven four. Any home improven question you
have, pick up the phone,give me a call and hey, I'll
see what I can do to helpyou out here on Texas Home Improvement.
Also, don't forget about our websitet hipro dot com. There's all kinds

(48:39):
of helpfl information there, links tothe people you hear me talk about.
There's questions and answers and videos.It's just a wealth of information when you
go to t hi pro dot com. But again, our number seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. Uh, Alice is Jim.

(49:00):
How can I help you? Yeah, that afternoon, Jim. A couple
of years ago, I reinsulated myattic upstairs and they sucked all the old
stuff and you looked like Christmas.When they finished, it looked really nice
a lot. So my question is, should I've done the garage also too.
Would that make a difference keeping thehouse cooler or keeping a warmer?

(49:22):
I wonder if I go and insulatemy garage also. No, Now,
you only put insulation on in areasthat are heated and cooled, and it's
to act as the buffer zone betweenthe unair conditioned space and the air conditioned
space. So if you put itin garages and stuff, what traditionally happens

(49:46):
is during the day, when itgets hot in the attic, the insulation
absorbs all that heat and then allnight long it's releasing the heat, but
it's keeping the garage hot longer becauseit's releasing that heat. Where on regular
insulation, you know, regular airconditioned space, what happens is there's a

(50:07):
fight in the insulation. So yougot the cool side and that's pushed up
into the insulation. You got thehot side coming down into the insulation,
and in the middle there they're fighting, and throughout the day the heat gains,
but at night then the coolness pushesback and takes over the insulation and

(50:28):
that's what keeps it energy efficient becauseit doesn't let the hot ever push all
the way to the air conditioned space. Okay, I should appreciate the information.
I was thinking about it. Isaid, I'm gonna call gym for
before I do it, So don'teven worry about it. Now, if
you want to do anything with thegarage, put a radiant barrier there and

(50:52):
that'll help. Yeah. I've heardyou talk about the radium barrier something like
carput you can lay, cut andlaid. Yeah. Yeah, it's the
energy Q. It's multi layers andI mean it's it's really inexpensive to use
and it makes a huge difference.Oh okay. And uh and that that

(51:12):
radio for the garage, that justfor the garage or help the whole house.
Oh you could do the whole housewith that. Oh okay. You
can just lay it over the insulationyep, yep, because then it'll keep
the heat that's in the that getsin the attic from ever getting to the
insulation. So it uh. AndI will tell you my own house.
I got parts of my house thathave no insulation, just that radiant barrier.

(51:36):
Uh. And and truthfully, in. You know, we just had
the uh spacecraft go to the moonagain this week. And if you go
back to the old Apollo missions,when when you see all that gold stuff
around the spacecraft, Uh, thatwas the original radiant barriers. Oh I
didn't know that and and so yeah, it it. It does a tremendous

(52:02):
job as far as blocking the heat. Okay, and uh, could you
suggest a company that does that kindof work? Absolutely? Oh, you
can definitely do it yourself. It'sa very easy do it yourself project.
Uh. But whether you want tohave it done or just get the material,
call Energy Q Radium Barrier right andtheir number is one eight hundred,

(52:28):
nine hundred sixty two twenty. Okay. I appreciate that, Jim, you
bet you take care. Thank you, Yes, sir, you have a
good time and thank you, byebye bye. And as always, you
can go to our website th hipro dot com and you'll find Energy Q
Radium Barrier there as well. Again, if you got a question seven one

(52:52):
three two one two five eight sevenfour that's seven one three two one two
five eight seven or Christen Bellville,how can I help you today? Hey,
Jim, I'm calling. I hadjust built a new house and we
installed an Isocerne fireplace. I've neverhad an issue with the fireplace before.

(53:15):
And I'm getting smoke coming back fromout the fireplace into the house, not
drafting right, and We've tried severaldifferent things, and I just really don't
know where to go. Now.Usually that's a sign that the chimney's not
high enough, because it's in aboutthree and a half four feet above the

(53:37):
highest point of the house according tothe specs, I'm well above where I
need to be. What about treesaround the house? No trees anywhere around
Okay. Then the only other thingthat can typically cause that is if there's
a you know, a breeze orsomething that's blocking the draft. But normally

(53:57):
if the chimney's high enough, anduh, you shouldn't be having those kinds
of issues. You know, it'sat a it's a forty four inch pretty
large, and it's kind of atisocurns limit to where their damper goes to
a bigger size from h I thinkat forty eight inch it changes. And
I was thinking maybe that's the issue, that it's just not big enough to

(54:20):
carry the smoke out. And thenthe cap on top that they sent with
it. It's it's wide open.We're going to try a different style cap
to go on it, but itseems like I'm getting more air down the
chimney than i have going out.Me let me ask one other question.
How the house is this it's lessthan six months old. Okay, you're

(54:46):
gonna laugh, but I want youto try something. Okay, crack a
window when when you lighten it,lighting it, yes, sir, and
see if that changes it. Wehave open windows and doors, uh huh,
and it it a bad bit.We've turned the air conditioner off,

(55:09):
We've run it with the air conditioneron, the heat on, heat off,
and I still can't keep that smokefrom coming out of the face of
the Okay, then then there issomething that's just not letting it draft all
the way up. And you verywell could be right that it's it's a
you know, too small of openingsomewhere. But typically, like I said,

(55:30):
typically that's going to be a heightissue above that's causing that. And
and normally, you know the reasonI had I've suggested to opening a window,
you know, cracking a window openis on some of these newer houses,
they're so tight that it can't geta draft going. And normally,

(55:52):
once you get a draft going,you should be fine. It shouldn't back
up again after that. That thefact that it kind of sounds like,
even after you get the fire goinggood, you're still backing up correct,
yes, or the And I don'thave any type of spray pome in the
house. It's just conventionalation. Uh, big glass doors front and rear.

(56:15):
It's it's not I don't think it'stight that it's creating that. But even
when we open the window, opena door and it starts to draft,
it still starts to back up onus. And I don't They had mentioned
maybe putting a fan on top tohelp fuck the smoke out, but then

(56:36):
I have to tear everything down todo that, and I've never heard one.
Yeah, I've never heard of afireplace having to do that. Yeah,
I haven't either. That That's whyI was concerned. And I'm I'm
actually pulling up the specs here realquick. Uh. I've never used this

(56:59):
type the fireplace before. I've normallyused the inserts with the inter and out
or bites and never had an issue. This is the first one that I've
done, and it's been it's beenchaos ever since. Well, i'll tell
you what, give me a fewminutes and and uh, when we go

(57:22):
on this next break, I wantto check something out real quick. Uh.
Yeah, maybe it has its justI've got I've got my codebook stuff
out and sometimes it takes me afew minutes to search through that. So
uh, because I am really thinkingthat it's that that I'm still thinking leaning

(57:44):
towards it's some type of the draftproblem. But it's even though you got
it that far away. Uh,something, something's got to be causing it.
Uh. Now, you know youmentioned the size of the here we
go, the flute and all thatstuff, but that shouldn't be causing it

(58:07):
that drastically, if that makes senseto you. Yes, Or the house
is up on a hill, andI know when we get north wind or
even the south wind and it's coolwhen we started, that's when we have
the biggest problem. So I'm kindof concerned that maybe the cap on top
is just letting too much air through. And I agree with you. I

(58:31):
do believe it's some type of draftingproblem obviously, but I don't know where
it would be coming from. Yeah, you don't think the air conditioner would
be too much to the return wouldbe sucking it back out. Well,
it can be on a very wellsealed house, but the problem is the

(58:54):
air conditioning system typically is pressurizing thehouse to push share out. If it's
trying to draw air in, thenyou would have a control problem with the
AC as well. Yes, sir, and but and you've tried it with
it off, so that should eliminatethat. Yeah, I've tried it open

(59:17):
doors, closed doors, air on, air off. I still get it.
Yeah, you got me baffled.I'm not sure you have you reached
out to the manufacturer. I have. I've got the people that are that

(59:37):
we purchased it from there. Theyhave been great. They have been working
on it and trying to come upwith every solution. It's a current I
believe is out of Alabama area.They have yet to send anybody out with
it to look at it, butthey're working on it. So I've always
wondered if you had some suggestions.Nope, it sounds like you did everything

(59:58):
I would have. Okay, well, I appreciate it. Alrighty, you
take care, Chris, Thank youagain. Our number seven one three two
one two five eight seven four let'stalk about Reva Shingles by f Wave.
You know, when it comes toyour roof, you want one that's gonna

(01:00:19):
stay, stay put, handle thestorms, handle the hail, handle the
wind, all the stuff that damagesa roof. And Reva Shingles by f
Wave is the toughest Class four shingleon the market that I know of.
This shingle not only passes the twoinch hail test, it also passes the
two inch steel ball test, andwhen they did the wind test, it

(01:00:42):
went over one hundred and seventy milesan hour before they stopped on the wind
test because it just was staying.It was doing what it needed to do.
You want your last roof for yourhome, you need to take a
look at Reva Shingles by f Wave. It's what I put on my home
because I don't want to have todeal with any roof issues again. And
you can do the same thing.Go to thchi pro dot com and click

(01:01:06):
on the link for f Wave.You know, if you're having a sewer
leak under your homes foundation, that'ssomething that really needs to be addressed,
but it needs to be addressed bysomebody who can take care of the plumbing
as well as the homes foundation.That's why you want to call do West
both a plumbing company and the foundationrepair company to make sure if your homes

(01:01:28):
foundation stays in tact years after theplumbing work is done. When you want
the best, call du West sevenone three or seven three seven one five
six online at dudash West dot com. When Jim Dutton of Texas Home Improvement
recommends a company, he won't steeryou wrong, and he recommends Guardian roof
Systems said down to Leak City.Hello jd Hey Jim, how you doing

(01:01:51):
that? Man? I did callyou last week about uh timnycaps you recommended.
I called Guardian Roofing. I didcall them. The technician came out,
he was on time, and man, that did it. Kudos to
Guardian, good job for me.I really really appreciate that. Guardian roof
Systems. Click the link under Trustedcontractors at thhipro dot com. All right,

(01:02:12):
let's talk about Texas Remodel team.You know, they got a great
window division. That's all they dois replacement windows and they got a four
point nine stars out of five onGoogle Reviews and a plus rating with the
BBB. But they can do somuch more at Texas Remodel Team. You
know, if you if you gotsay a patio cover, and you want

(01:02:34):
to have an enclosed room that youcan enjoy the outdoors out in your back
patio, Texas Remodel Team can dothat for you. There's just a wealth
of information over there. Yes,they can do complete remodels as well.
But whether it's windows or a sunroomcalled Texas Remodel Teams Window Division two eight

(01:02:55):
one six one two fifty nine ninetyone. You were listening to Texas Home
Improvement with Jim Ditton. You werea source for all things home improvement.
That's as big ass Texas here.It's Jimmy Dutton A seven one three two
point two five eight seven four.Any home improvement question you have, feel

(01:03:20):
free to pick up the phone andgive me a call. We'll see what
we can do to help you outhere on Texas Home Improvement. And I
found what I was looking for becauseI had read something. You know,
we all look at the minimums allthe time, as though it's the standards.
And I was looking up a fireplacechimney inspection guide and the top of

(01:03:43):
the flu must be three foot higherthan the highest point of the roof penetration
or the top must be two foothigher than any part of the roof within
ten horizontal feet. And this isthis is the part that I thought I
had read, and I just wantto verify it. These rules are minimums.

(01:04:03):
In some instances, chimney heights mayneed to be increased to achieve sufficient
draft. And I really think that'swhat we're dealing with here, because the
height that you were talking about ofthe chimney above the roof was very close
to the minimums, and everything youdescribed says it needs to be higher.

(01:04:26):
And I'll tell you what I mightif I was in that situation, would
try is to put an extension onit. Doesn't have to be mounted permanently,
but put an extension on it andtry it. See if that makes
a difference. And if it doeswell, then it can just be permanently
taken care of. But at leastyou'll know if it is a Heighth restriction,

(01:04:51):
because everything you're describing on that chimneyis a heighth issue. Anyways.
One three, two, one,two, five, eight seven four.
Any home improvement question you have,feel free to pick up the phone,
give me a call and I'll seewhat I can do to help you out
here on Texas Home Improvements your TotalHome Improvement source again seven one three,

(01:05:15):
two one two five eight seven four. Huh. I had an email come
in from Jack in Magnolia and hesays he's asking him subject is windows best
price on double hung double pane windowssize thirty five and a half wide by
seventy one and a quarter high.Jack, I ain't got a clue because

(01:05:40):
I don't look at things as faras what's the best price. I look
at things as though, what's gonnado the job that needs to be done
at the best price. And soif I simply look at the best price,
it's it's gonna knock out a lotof stuff because the can't it doesn't
do the job I need it todo. On windows, what do you

(01:06:03):
want in windows to do? Imean, if all you're interested in is
keeping rain water out, the cheapestwindow you can find will do that.
However, if you're looking at doingenergy efficiency and things like that, now
you got to start looking at otherthings. You want maximum glass, Now
you're looking at a different window.So there's things that have to play into

(01:06:26):
it more so than just the price. Alone. In fact, I know
I read this, I don't knowa month ago, but this is a
poem from John Ruskin. It isunwise to pay too much, but it
is worse to pay too little.When you pay too much, you lose
a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you

(01:06:47):
sometimes lose everything because the thing youbought was incapable of doing the thing it
was bought to do. The commonlaw business balance prohibits paying a little and
getting a lot. It can't bedone if you deal with the lowest bidder.
It is well to add something forthe risk you run, and if
you do this, you'll have enoughto pay for something better. Keep that

(01:07:12):
in mind as you're shopping contractors,because when you're hiring a contractor, you're
not buying a two by four.You're buying the skills to put that two
by four in properly where it needsto be. And that's where a lot
of times it gets missed, andpeople end up shortcutting when they shouldn't and

(01:07:32):
end up with a project that doesn'tlook the way they expected it to look
when it's done. And trust me, I'm not saying go hire the most
expensive people because you can run thesame risk with highing the most expensive people.
Take your time to do the duediligence and look at everything that's being
offered, the longevity of the company, how long they've been in business,

(01:07:57):
do they have a true office,things like that, and weigh everything together
when hiring contractors. And it doesn'tmatter if it's you know, somebody who's
doing a remodeling job, or aplumber, an electrician, an air conditioning
company, foundation repair, just whatevertype of contractors you're hiring. You got

(01:08:17):
to look at everything combined and goone step further. When you start looking
at warranties and things like that,you got to make sure that the company
is there to back the warranty.And if they're not, how is it
backed, Because in most cases,if the company is gone, so goes
the warranty. We'll be back ina moment with more Texas Home Improvements seven

(01:08:41):
one three, two, one two, five, eight, seven four.
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(01:09:54):
Welcome to the Dutton Ranch. We'redishonest contractors. Taken to the train
station. Here's more Texas Home Improvementwith Jim Dutton. Kay, welcome back
to Texas Home Improvement. Seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.

(01:10:15):
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four Gary,
Welcome to seven forty k t H. How can I help you? Yes,
I was wondering what you think.Uh. I have a house that
we put a new roof on it, probably five years ago, and in

(01:10:40):
uh in the garage is also airconditioned and heated in the house, and
I was wondering about putting the opencell phoam installation on the underdeck. We
do have. When the house wasbuilt, they did spread in a radiant
barrier there and it's a large,single story house, and I was wondering

(01:11:11):
if it would help with the heatingand air conditioning to the house. Do
you have insulation on the attic floor, Yes, it's it's been down there
since nineteen eighty nine. Yeah,so it's been there a long time.

(01:11:35):
And was it bat type insulation orblown in? Okay, Well, in
general, I'm going to tell youI would I typically do not recommend putting
blown in insulation or foam insulation onthe roof deck. And there's multiple reasons

(01:11:56):
for it. Now. One,I like foaming the walls because inch for
inch you're going to get the highestR value. But if you put it
on the attic, you know,the roof deck, now you're basically going
to be heating and cooling the atticin order for it to do you any
good. But the negatives of it, and there's more and more negatives coming

(01:12:19):
out all the time. One ofthe issues that we're running into is some
mortgage companies are no longer willing towrite mortgages on roofs, on the homes
that have foam insulation on the roofdecks, because typically when it's sprayed on
there, people can't see when there'sa leak, and so it can cause

(01:12:45):
tremendous amount of wood rot and nobodyknows it's there and the mortgage company ends
up with pulling the bag, youknow, on the home. Some of
the insurance companies have started to takemaking that stance as well. Now this
started in England, but it's actuallymoved into the United States. But the
latest thing that's coming out is someof the roofing manufacturers of the shingles are

(01:13:15):
avoiding warranties over it as well.Wow, And I'm not sure why they're
doing that, because it's not thatit's going to heat up the shingles anymore
or anything like that, but they'renot offering warranties on it when it's got
the spray foam. Okay, well, you know that's that's enough. I

(01:13:40):
don't want to move to some otherproblem. I mean, I don't have
a problem that I can't mean,yeah, you can easily just add some
some more insulation on the attic floorand accomplish the same thing. Because you
know, the big selling point forfoam insulation is inch for InChI it's the
highest R value. Well, inthe attic, you've got room to put

(01:14:00):
whatever our value you want. Okay, Well, one of the I guess
one of the reasons Jim, Iwas thinking about not adding any more installation.
And it obviously it's been up therea long time, so it has
compressed or dropped. But if Ihad a leak in the pipes that are

(01:14:27):
running across the rafters, I wouldn'tsee it or be harder for me to
find that kind of a leak.If we had a frozen pipes or whatever
the leak was. Sure. That'sactually what started my thinking about doing it
on the underside of the deck becausewhen we hit a couple of years ago,
when we had that, we didhave four pipes in the attic actually

(01:14:50):
were in the walls. They weren'tin the attic before. And now I
had the water off in the houseand so we I had people up there
when we turned the water back on, and we found the leagues immediately.
But if I was traveling and Iwas to get a league, then actually
that was why I had thought aboutdoing the spray photel. So okay,

(01:15:14):
well you've given me enough information thatand first of all, it was a
quote was very expensive it is yeah, So okay, okay, Well you've
answered what I need. Thank youvery much. Well, here here's what
I would do in your attic situation. Okay, I would look at putting
a you know, if you needmore insulation, hey put it in.

(01:15:36):
But I will tell you I don'thave insulation in twenty five to thirty percent
of my home. I just havethat energy Q radiant barrier on the attic
floor. Okay. I have athree thousand square foot house running a two
hundred dollars electric bill in the summer. Wow. Okay. So, and

(01:15:59):
the pipes, the pipes that arein the attic are under the radiant barrier
and the radium barrier. That energyQ works two ways, so any heat
that comes up from the living spacethat gets under the radiant barrier in the
winter months holds it there. AndI have two houses. My primary residence

(01:16:20):
is actually in North Texas. I'mnorth of DFW, and I have a
place down in Pasadena where I grewup, and that's I go back and
forth every single week. And thehouse in North Texas when we have those
freezes. I have had one apipe in my wall freeze. I've never

(01:16:43):
had the ones in the attic freezewith that energy QU up there, So
consider putting that over top, andI think that'll take care of your freeze
problem. Okay, the energy Qis it like does it come in like
each or it comes in a role. It's four foot wide. A roll

(01:17:04):
is a thousand square feet. Butyou know, the easiest way to handle
it is to cut it into youknow, ten or twelve foot long pieces
and just lay it up there likea blanket. Okay. It's called energy
Q yep. And you'll you'll findit on on our website thhipro dot com
or you can call them at oneeight hundred nine hundred sixty two twenty.

(01:17:29):
All right, well, I'm gonnalook it up and give him a call.
So thank you very much. Youbet take care and uh, you
know, like I said, Imake well like this time I'm in Truthfully,
I'm in north North Texas right now. I haven't been up here in
three weeks. I've been down inPasadena the whole time. But you know,

(01:17:51):
uh yeah, I deal with thecold and the heat and in both
markets, and you can't beat thatenergy queue that that is the way to
make your house much more energy efficient. And definitely I would avoid putting foam
in the attic. Love it inthe walls, but not the attic.
Something else I love is Sunburst shutters. You know, they are the best

(01:18:13):
selling plantation shutters in America and Ihave these Sunburst shutters in my home now.
The thing I like about the pollywoodthat I have. It gives you
that rich look of fine wood shutterswithout woods inherent problems. You know,
it lasts far longer than traditional woodshutters, it insulates up to seventy percent
more efficiently, and it's guaranteed notto chip, crack, warp, or

(01:18:36):
split. I mean, you justdon't find anything better than that. So
if you're looking for shutters for yourhome, take a look at Sunburst shutters.
They do offer design consultations so youcan work with an expert to make
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(01:18:58):
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where we know pro. Yeah.I just mentioning the fact that I have
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(01:19:41):
back and forth because due West airConditioning. We have offices in Dallas,
Houston, DUS Foundation Repair, wehave offices in Dallas, Houston, Corpus
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Houston. Houston is our home officeat du Wa Wes And that's why I'm
down there every week. I grewup in Pasadena, still go down and

(01:20:03):
work every week in Pasadena. Andif you're looking for somebody to take care
of the needs of your home,you know all the services around your home,
the air conditioning, the plumbing,the foundation. You want the best.
You call due West. That's sevento one three four seven three seven
one five six. You know alot of window companies you can put in

(01:20:27):
new windows, but can they makethe trim look right? Do they use
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your home. Jim Dutton, hostof Texas ho Improvement for Texas Remodel Team.
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(01:21:13):
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(01:21:41):
Home Improvement with Jim Dutton. Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements.
Your total home Improvement source seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
We're gonna head to San Antonio,Wes. I'm gonna help you,
Hey, mister Dutton. First ofall, I love your show, thanks

(01:22:02):
for all you do. Second ofall, I love your fall Guy theme
song. Third of all, I'vegot an aerobic septic system. And instead
of the sprinklers going off once aday for you know, an hour or
whatever, they do well less thanthat. They're going off about every thirty
to sixty minutes, and they're stayingon for anywhere from maybe two to eight

(01:22:28):
or ten seconds. Okay, soit's just constant throughout the day. I
mean I've been in the backyard forthe last hour, so they've probably gone
off half a dozen times. Idon't know if it's a clock issue or
if you've ever heard of anything likethat. It's got a sensor that's malfunctioning.
And what do you know what censor? Because I have aerobics in my

(01:22:50):
house as well, yes, andin the tanks. The one that does
the sprinkling I mean, yes,you have two ways of second it.
One is to come to Ford togo off every day at a set time.
The other is it has a sensorthat when it hits a certain water
level, it goes off, drainsthe tank down. And it sounds like

(01:23:13):
the sensor is malfunctioning. It's it'sgoing off that hey we hit the water
level, clicks on and then itsays, oh, nope, sorry,
the wrong thing and shuts off again. And you think that would happen even
if the even if we had itset to go off when the clock was
on. Yepka, Yeah, becauseeven when you have a clock, it

(01:23:35):
has that sensor as a backup,so you know, in case you have
a party and you got a housefull of people and the tank fills,
it'll go off without overflowing everything.So I'm guessing that I'm betting that's what
it's going to be, is justthat sensor. So that sounds like something
as long as we can deal withthe sprinkles going off on a regular basis,

(01:23:59):
probably wait till the next quarterly inspectionto have them service that, or
is that something that hey, weneed to fix that pretty I would probably
go ahead and give him a callbecause you'll you're putting a lot of undo
wear and tear on the pump starting. Okay. Oh they're good to know,
all right, mister Dutton. Thanksagain, love the show, Thank
you, sir, you take care, Thank you and again seven one three

(01:24:25):
two one two five eight seven fourMichael and Dickinson. How can I help
you? Hey, mister Dutton,I got a house down in Galaston and
there's no insulation in the attic atall. Uh So my question is is
should I just run energy Q inthis in the attic and or should I

(01:24:47):
run both both types entergry Q andregular BAT. If you're ever going to
sell the house, you're gonna wantto put some regular installation in, okay,
because when they do the inspection,they'll come in and say, oh,
it doesn't have any insulation boom,got it. Yeah, and then

(01:25:09):
it probably will be so down theline somewhere. Yeah. And on the
energy cute on the put it onthe floor or on the on the roof.
Oh, put it on the onthe attic floor because that way whatever
heat does get in the attic doesn'tgo into the living space. Got it.
And one more question another house Ihave in Dickinson. It's kind of

(01:25:32):
built up like a beach house.Really don't have too much issue during the
uh summertime, but in the wintertime, I get a lot of coolness
comes up through the floor because it'sall open. Uh. Like I said,
like a beach regular beach house.Uh. Looking at uh putting in
insulation there? Uh do you recommendspraying? What's your recommendation for that?

(01:25:58):
Yeah, I typically don't recommend puttingany insulation, But if you're gonna put
something, use a closed cell foaminsulation and only put you know, like
two inches of it, don't don'tfill the whole cavity. What about I'm
fixing the redo the floors in thathouse as well. Uh, what about

(01:26:21):
putting energy Q below the flooring,in between the flooring and the You absolutely
can do that, and you knowthat'll and energy Q has two different styles.
One is perforated so it allows vaporthrough it, and the other one
is a solid and you can usethat then and you don't get the air

(01:26:42):
infiltration on there. And and thisis for everybody listening. These houses that
are up on stilts, A lotof the codes are forcing architects to put
in insulation underneath those homes now andit is wreaking havoc because the insulation holds
moisture. It's causing wood rot,causing floors to warp and cup and I

(01:27:06):
mean it's just creating a nightmare tryingto meet the codes. And uh that
that shouldn't be. I mean,we didn't have these issues before when we
just left them open. So asmuch as possible, leave it open.
All right, sounds great, Opiate, you bet you take care? Yes,

(01:27:28):
there you do. And with that, we're going to take a quick
break. We'll be back for onemore segment of Texas Home Improvement. You

(01:27:56):
know, if you're looking for away to protect some wood, whether it's
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(01:28:17):
me about using it on his wife'srace garden. He's gonna have boards around
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(01:28:38):
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(01:29:03):
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(01:29:24):
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(01:30:06):
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(01:30:30):
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six one two five nine nine one. That's two eight one six one two
five nine nine one our click thelink at thchipro dot com. We're back
to Texas Home Improvement. Home improvementadvice tips and information for you and your
mama. Hi, here's Jim Dotmore. Hey, welcome back to Texas Hall

(01:32:05):
Improvement. We are pretty much outof time today, But I do want
to remind you about thhipro dot com. It's there to help you as a
resource. Twenty four to seven thecompanies you heard me talk about, the
advice and things like that. You'llfind it at thchipro dot com. A

(01:32:25):
lot of questions and answers, videoclips to help you. I mean,
it's all there as a resource.So start your projects by going to thchipro
dot com. And keep in mindwe'll join each other again tomorrow starting at
two o'clock right here on seven fortyk t H. With that, have
a wonderful afternoon, and I'll lookforward to visiting with you again tomorrow.

(01:33:12):
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