Happy Birthday Jim Dutton!

Jim starts with an email question asking for a contractor to replace wooden columns. He also takes some calls on insulation in the attic, a radiant barrier for a garage door, an aging composition roof, a popping noise coming from a hip roof, an electric bill running up from an A/C unit, and a whole lot more. Jim continues in the second hour with more calls and emails questions.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is probably gonna sound a littlestrange to you. Texas Home Improvement is
on the air with your host,Jim Duttem exactly what I need to know.
You always give me the way togo, great observation. You got
to be on the radio. Well, this might be the answer to my
pros. And I'm really glad Icould talk to you. You have the
smartest guy, no, and Imean the tall Jim. Now with all

(00:23):
your home improvement questions at 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 USServices Plumbing, Foundation, Repair and air
Conditioning, Texas Remodel Team Windows,the official window company of Texas Home Improvement.
American Standard Comfort the way you likeit. Jans Hardy Sighting the best

(00:45):
sighting on the planet. USA InsulationWall, phone insulation for existing homes,
Ready seal stain and sealer floor inthe core, Sunburst Shutters where beauty meets
energy efficiency. Guardian Roof Systems,Residential andmmercial rooping Specialist, Wood Lenks,
Water Restoration, your hometown solution forproperty damage and Victor's remodeling and construction party

(01:07):
Plank Specialists and now broadcasting live fromthe Dutton Ranch. Here's Jim dot Hey,
welcome the 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

(01:30):
five eight seven four. Any homeimprovement question you have, feel free to
pick up the phone, give mea call and I'll see what I can
do to help you out here onTexas Home Improvement again, it's seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. And of course don't forget about
our website t hi pro dot com. There is all kinds of helpful information

(01:52):
there, links of the people youhear me talk about. There's questions and
answers and video clips and uh,there's copies of our newsletter that goes out
every other week, which you cansign up for at our website tchipro dot
com. There's also copies of theTV show that goes out every week.
I mean, there's just again,all kinds of helpful information as well as

(02:14):
they ask Jim button where you cansend in email questions. So when I'm
not on the air here taking callsand answering questions, you can always go
to tchipro dot com. And sincewe are on the air taking questions,
yes we are live, it's timeto pick up the phone, give me
a call and any home improving questionyou have. You know, whether you're

(02:38):
doing yourself, thinking about it,working with a contractor, it doesn't matter.
That's what I'm here to help youout with. So seven one three
two one two five eight seven four. I've got all open lines since the
show just started. Seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
And with that, I'm going tostart with the email question. Anita and

(03:06):
Waller sent in a question this weekand asking about wooden column replacement. Says,
a twenty seventeen built house has fivewooden columns, two at the back
door, three in the front porch. Bottom is now rotted out. All
five columns need to be replaced.Who is a reputable contractor in the Waller,

(03:29):
Texas area that can provide an assessmentand a quote on replacing these five
columns. According to the builder,they are weight supporting columns. Appreciate your
input. Okay, well that's easyenough. I'm going to give you actually
two people that you can call.One is the Texas Remodel team. You

(03:53):
can reach them at two eight onesix' one two fifty nine two eight
one six one two fifty nine ninetyone. The other is Victor's Remodeling and
Construction at eight three two two fourto three ninety nine ninety seven, eight

(04:14):
three two two four three ninety nineninety seven. Either one of those two
companies should be able to help youout with this situation. It's just a
matter of will will they go toWaller, But you're you're up in between
both of those guys, so uh, I think they'll probably both willing to
go there. So it gives yousome choices to help you out with this

(04:36):
situation. Uh Now, I'm envisioningthat these are like four x four posts,
and so as it's rotting on thebottom, uh yeah, whatever it's
supporting, the post is going tostart going loose. But in some cases
it is a column that's around asteel post that's inside. And since I'm

(05:00):
not sure which one you have,these two guys, both of them would
be able to help you with iteither way. So again, if you
got a home improvement question seven onethree two one two five eight seven four
that's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four and I'll see what
I can do to help you outhere on Texas Home Improvement your Total Home

(05:25):
Improvement source seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four And let's see
here. This came in from Paulin Laporte and he says, I'm looking
at a three M product for aradiant barrier in the wall. It can

(05:46):
be placed between studs or under drywallbarrier. Breathing is questioned. I can
have an inch at top and bottom. Is there any concerns, Yes,
I do have concerns over that oldhomes stripping out old drywall insulation for new
electrical receptacles. Okay, look,I personally love putting radium barrier behind the

(06:14):
sheet rock. In fact, I'mredoing my upstairs and that's one of the
things I will be doing. Iuse the energy Q radium barrier. And
one of the things I like aboutit is there's actually two different versions.
One is unperforated, so it's asolid sheet, which sounds like the three
M product is from your description there. The other one is perforated. It

(06:40):
has holes in it and that allowsit to be breathable, so you don't
have to worry about it building uphumidity. Behind it. You know,
when you go up into Northern States, they would use the solid sheet there
places where they use plastic over theinsulation. You don't do that here in
Texas. It'll create too many moldand mildew problems because of our humidity issues.

(07:04):
So yeah, to take a lookat the energy Q now, you
can go to our website thhipro dotcom and you'll find energy Q Radium barrier
there under contractors or just call themup at one eight hundred nine hundred sixty
two twenty and they be able tohelp you with this situation. Again,

(07:28):
if you got a home improven questionseven one three, two, one two
five eight seven four Uh, BrianN. Porter, how can I help
you today? Hey, I gota nineteen seventy eight home. It was
built. Uh. The addic theinsulation is you know plat I mean how

(07:49):
much insulation, what kind of insulationand how thick does it have to be
to replace it? And do youhave to remove the old insulation? Well,
first you're typically looking for like fifteenor sixteen inches of insulation in the
attic. Now, normally when youblow in a fiberglass or a cellulose,

(08:13):
it'll be fluffy and it'll be thatthick. Over time, it'll tend to
settle, and that's when you gotto add insulation again. Now, your
other choice is to go with abat type insulation. It's a fiberglass that
you can literally lay in there ontop of the existing insulation. The advantage

(08:33):
to using the bat insulation because it'sa pain in the butt to put it
in compared to blowing in, butit never settles. You don't have to
worry about doing it again when youput it in. Use the unfaced though,
no paper on it. Oh okay, okay. And it comes in

(08:54):
fifteen inches. Oh yeah, it'llcome in different with you fifty teen inches
for going between two sixteen inch studcenters, it'll come in twenty four inch
centers. So it's got different sizesfor the different and what you can do.
I don't know how much insulation youhave left in the attic. Is
it up high enough where it's nearthe top of the ceiling joist? Yeah,

(09:20):
it's flush with the joys okay.So what I would recommend doing then
is, rather than worrying about gettingone that will fit between you go in
the opposite direction of the ceiling joist. So you can use as wide as
piece that you can get and youjust go across it, so it's like

(09:41):
a checkerboard, right, Okay,that'll work. Okay again, use on
faced so you don't have to worryabout any moisture issues or anything. Yeah,
no, pick for now you haveto do the roots as well or
no, just leave that alone,Just leave that alone. Just do the

(10:03):
attic floor. Okay, all right, thank you much, Jim, you
bet you take care alrighty, MerryChristmas and again seven one three two one
two five eight seven four we'll headup to the woodlands. Hello Bill,
Oh hi, had you doing,Jim? Wonderful? So my question is

(10:28):
I have a south facing garage doorthat when the sun beats in, especially
the winter the summertime, it justheats the garage up like crazy, which
makes my freezer worth way overtime.Ye. So uh, I've tried to
hire a handyman to put in someradiant barrier and he said the only thing

(10:50):
to find was had wood in it, which made it too heavy for the
garage door. So I'm wondering isthere an alternative? Yes, it had
wood in it. I've never seenone with wood. I'm a surprised.
Yeah. Look, if you goup to like Low's or home depot,
they carry a radium barrier that isa bubble wrap. It looks like bubble

(11:15):
wrap and they actually have it ina two foot wide roll that is made
four garage doors. You can rollit out on there is your door,
a metal one or a wood one. This metal okay? On the metal
you know, you got your faceand then it turns sideways and heads in
and then it'll have a little turndown lip and you can actually use just

(11:39):
sheet metal screws to go through theradium barrier into that turndown lip to screw
it on there. So it leavesa dead air space between the radium barrier
and the face of the door.And that'll take care of you. Paul,
super thank you, you bet youhave a merry Christmas. Oh and

(12:03):
you also and happy sure you aswell. Well. That music means we
got to take a quick break.We'll be back with more Texas Home Improvements
seven one three, two one twofive eight seven four. Well, you

(12:24):
know, this is an odd timeof year for our air conditioning systems because
we're bouncing back and forth between heatingand cooling. But you know, This
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you've got a gas heating system calleddue West air Conditioning, we can come
out. We can check it,make sure everything's working the way it's supposed

(12:45):
to, do a tune up onit so you don't have to worry about
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oh god, you know your system'snine years old, it's time for
a new one, let us comeout and give you a second opinion.
You know, tip it and ACsystem is gonna last anywhere fifteen even twenty

(13:05):
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that doesn't mean it's time to replaceit. So when you want the best,
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discover Floor end Decore where we knowpro. When Jim Dotten of Texas Home
Improvement recommends a company, he won'tsteer you wrong like Guardian roof Systems and
does be thank you because after HurricaneHarvey, I had the Guardian Roofers put
on a new roof at my house. Oh it's just beautiful. I recommend

(14:11):
them to anybody. I do aswell. I've used them several times.
If I ever have any more problems, I know where to go now Guardian
roof Systems. Click on the linkunder our contractors at thhipro dot com.
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(14:31):
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more efficiently. So if you're lookingfor shutters for your home, you need
to take a look at Sunburst shutters. I have them in my home,

(14:52):
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them. They want Sunburst shutters becausethey are gorgeous. So how do you
get them? Well, first youcall Sunburn Shutters for free design consultation so
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(15:15):
That's seven one three eight ninety sixeighty one fifty. Or just go to
thchipro dot com and click on thelink for Sunburst Shutters. Hello, you've
reached the voicemail out Jim Dutton.Jim's now getting a new hierdo and manicure

(15:35):
right now, so he ain't gota lot of time, so make your
message short. Hi, Jim,this is your loving and thoughtful wife Mary.
I wanted to wish you a veryhappy birthday, but I do have
a question for you, because Iknow you have all the answers. It's
now December twenty twenty three, andI want to know if the swing in
our backyard will ever get painted andwin? Thank you Jim, you are

(16:02):
Here's more Texas Home Improvement with JimDucks. Hey, welcome back to Texas
Home Improvement. Your total home Improvementsour seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. That's seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.

(16:23):
And of course don't forget about ourwebsite th hipro dot com. Let's
head to friends with and Gordon.This is Jim. How can I help
you? Hey, Jim, thanksfor taking another one on my calls.
My pleasure to beat you to itand wish you a merry Christmas. First,
thank you very much. I wantedto ask you about Ruth's as far

(16:45):
as I've got an aging composition roof, and I was thinking what your opinion
is for going back to the compositionversus metal versus the new solar shingles.
Well, I will tell you Ijust put a new roof on my house

(17:06):
a week ago, and I wentwith a hail and wind resistant shingle this
time because I've had too many issuesand had to replace my roof too many
times, so I went with aClass four shingle that Revue shingle by f
wave extremely durable. I don't haveto worry about replacing this roof again.

(17:27):
But there's nothing wrong with going witha regular shingle, just you know,
you have to be aware that it'sgot limits on the wind, it's got
limits on what it'll handle as faras hail and stuff like that. As
far as a metal roof, theyare gorgeous, they're durable. Here's the

(17:47):
only downside. They typically cost liketwice what a regular composition shingle costs,
and you can sometimes get a discounton your insurance turns. But if the
roof gets dinged up, you know, storm comes in and drops hail and

(18:08):
stuff like that. And I gota place over in Pasadena as an example,
I had guardian roof systems out therethis week, in fact, because
I was up on the roof anddidn't realize I had gotten hail damage.
You know, after that tornado wentthrough Pasadena, there was another storm that
came through and dropped two and ahalf inch hail. It tore the shingles

(18:30):
up, yep, And so I'mgonna have to get a new roof as
well. And now I'm gonna bethat's a townhouse I have there, so
I'll be stuck with doing the shinglesto match the neighbors shingles. But you
know, there is nothing wrong withgoing with shingles. The metal the problem

(18:52):
that you're on into. You geta hailstorm like that, it dings it
up, and insurance says, well, it's still a usable, viable shingle.
It didn't take away from the life. It only cosmetically damaged it.
And so you may end up witha dinged up roof, but extremely rare
in our area. Nothing that wouldkeep me from putting a metal roof on

(19:14):
the solar ones. I have beenfollowing those four well, probably ten or
fifteen years already waiting for them tobe a good, viable option, and
honestly, in the last three yearsI know they're putting them on. I
haven't heard anything good or bad aboutthem yet though. The only thing I

(19:36):
have heard, and for me itis a negative, is depending on how
the orientation of your roof is andthe angle of the roof and everything determines
if they're going to really do youany good on the power as far as
generating power, and they are extremelyexpensive and unless you can get some good
rebates from the power company, andtax credits and stuff. It's not cost

(20:02):
effective at all. Okay, Classfour shingles you was talking about at the
beginning. Yes, I didn't realizethe classes of them. There is,
so is class four. It goesfrom one to four. Yeah, Class
four is the big boys that andthere's class four in asphalt shingles as well.

(20:22):
But the difference on this Reva shingleis the materials it's made out of.
When the hail does hit it,it doesn't ding it the way other
shingles can be dinged up. Itwith stands a two inch hailball with no
problem. Okay, but yes,the shingles are classed in different I've never

(20:47):
heard of a Class one. I'msure there are some, but I mean
that's a pretty low grade shingle.So normally in our market we're looking at
a three and four and four wouldbe up to down and friends would closer
to the coast hurricane uh WIN rating. Yes, UH four typically is going

(21:07):
to have a hail rating of twoinches or better and wins typically up to
one hundred and thirty. Now,the shingle that I just used at Reva
Shingle, uh it's rated for overone hundred and thirty because that's where the
test stops. But they ran itall the way to one hundred and seventy
and still didn't have issues with it. Okay, well that kind of answers

(21:30):
my question. Which way to go? Yeah, that's read and I put
it on. All right, Wellyou have a good day, sir,
you as well take care and havea merry Christmas. Thank you. How
about mine? And again seven onethree two point two five eight seven four,
And you know talking about that FWave shingle, you know, uh

(21:53):
that this is the fourth roof I'veput on my house because between getting hit
with hail and win and different things, is when the wind peels up your
shingle, it'll tend to get debrisunderneath there, so it doesn't ever adhere
back down the way it should.That's the beautiful part on this Reva shingle.
By F Wave, it's not goingto peel up, so you don't

(22:15):
get the debris underneath there that keepsit from being locked together. It with
stands the two inch hail test,but it also passes a two inch steel
ball test as well. It's justa durable shingle that once it's on your
home. You just plane don't haveto worry about it, and that's the
reason I went with it. Andif you're wanting to get some more information
on the Reva shingles by f Wave, go to our website tchipro dot com

(22:41):
and you will find links there tosee the shingle itself. And we're gonna
be putting some videos up where wehad my roof done. I just did
it last week, so I meanit's just fresh and finished, but it
is gorgeous. Hello, you've reachedthe voicemail out Jim Dutton. Jim's getting

(23:04):
a new higher do and manicure rightnow, so he ain't got a lot
of time, so make your messageshort. Hey Dad, it's your son
Adam. Happy birthday. But bythe way, mom's looking at contractors again.
You can't use your broken toes andexcuse anymore. She's ready to get
stuff done at the house. Bigtoe. Here's Lord Texas Home Improvement with

(23:29):
Jim Duty. Yeah. You knowa funny thing. I break my toe
and I keep going at his house. His toe is not broken. I
don't see him coming down and helpingme get mine done, even though I'm
working on it. I mean,I last weekend. I tore the wall
out during Thanksgiving weekend there and onthe second floor, rebuilt it, got

(23:51):
it reinsulated. So I'm secured inand I'm ready to start putting sheet rock
up. And you know what,he's gonna have to come and help me
haul that sheet rock upstairs, becausethat's one thing I probably won't do by
myself. Anyways. Yes, itis my birthday. I'm sixty one today,
and thank you very much for listeningto Texas Home Improvement. I have

(24:11):
a great time doing the show andwas not going to skip doing the show
just just to sit around and celebratea birthday of getting older. You know
how it is seven two five eightseven four. Don How are you today?
Hey, I'm great, Jim,happy birthday, thank you, sir.

(24:33):
Hey, I'm out in Montgomery andof course it's on a on small
acreage started off Sandy Lomas and youknow they built it up clay when they
built the house in ninety one.It's a it's ranch style, three thousand
square foot with a brick exterior.I'm hearing on one end of the house.

(24:56):
My old house over in bamel Forestused to do this every once in
a while. But I never couldfigure out what it was. But popping
noises, you know, like inthe morning when the sun comes up and
starts hitting that. It's a hiproof on the east side. You'll hear
it pow, you know, andit'll it'll pop, you know. But
it's it's got two by six exteriorwalls. The builder built it that way

(25:21):
or the whoever built it, soit's it's it's pretty pretty tough house.
There's no sheet rock damage, nosticking doors, no issues whatsoever. But
that popping noise. It just soundslike one day the whole thing's going to
collapse on you because it's loud.When it does it, it's loud,

(25:41):
and it'll it'll pop here and there. And of course it's a hip roof
the far end of the house.It's over the master bedroom. Very difficult
to crawl all the way back inthere and get your head looking like at
that top rail, I guess iswhat what's it called of the frame?
Any concerns with that, No,it's just God telling you it's time to

(26:03):
get up. There you go,and that's usually exactly about the time I
need to be getting up. Well, what's causing it? As the attic
and those roof heats and cools off. The wood expands and contracts, and
actually so do the nails. Andwhen that wood slides ever so slightly on

(26:29):
those nails, it sounds horrible,but it doesn't hurt a thing. Okay,
well, there you go. That'sgood. Another issue real quick,
and that end is the master bathwe rebottled. I gutted that whole house
as far as flooring, didn't dothe kitchen cabinets, but bathrooms and everything.
And went in and just you know, with a couple of subcontractors,

(26:52):
me sort of doing it, hadthe time to, you know, not
being a construction guy, but knewsome guys that could help me. And
we gutted that bathroom and uh andand took out the smaller shower and put
in a glass shower, left theexisting bigger it's got a Jacuzie tub,
which now we really not super fondof, but but we left that all
like that, new, new newtile and stuff. Noticed water, because

(27:17):
it's hard water a little bit startingto stain right under the the valve on
the on the exterior of the housethat would be on the it's on the
corner that showers on a corner ofthe mastom and uh, water was sorting
to stand and you could just seeit standing there just a little bit enough
to see some white residue and thegrout being a little wet. And so

(27:38):
I put a hose going over tothe to the jacuzzie tub off of my
shower outlet and turned that own andwas draining that into that, and of
course you could see some water backthere. So it's either my my copper
pipes because it's all in the slabcopper pipes that come up into that corner

(28:00):
there, or the valve there.And I started trying to take that valve
apart. I replaced that when wedid this. That was fifteen years ago
when we remodeled that. And it'sa it's a dance, is what it
is, the A and Z orsomething. But it's a little more complicated
than your average one. But I'vegotten it down, looking at the instructions,

(28:22):
looking online, doing everything good andwithout taking a crowbar to pry that
square handle off of that valve itself, I can't get that off. Yeah,
to get to get to my squareuh probably a ten inch by eight
inch backing plate that matches chrome whatever. I can't can't get that to look

(28:45):
in there or to even get tothat valve and to see is that my
leak? Well, how do Iget into that wall? Let me ask
you a quick question. Does thathave a where it goes up to a
shower head? Yes, sir,okay, yeah, And that's more more
likely where it's leaking is right therewhere it all ties together. It's more
likely going to be the pike thatgoes up to the shower head. But

(29:07):
as far as getting that off,they actually make a polar for that.
You can go to a plumbing supplystore and get it. But basically,
it'll have two metal arms that kindof go around each side of the handle.
It'll have a screw that goes throughthe middle, and then it'll have

(29:27):
a pin that's on the end ofthat screw that goes where the screw is.
It holds the handle on and yougrab it on there and you just
turn it and basically as you're turningit, those two handles on each that
are on each side of your showerhandle, grip it and pull it off.

(29:48):
I may have something similar to thatto automotive polar There is something very
similar that's used in the automotive industry. The difference is this is going to
be a little bit small than what'son the automotive industry, but it may
be able to work. I'm notsure you'll have the pin that goes in
through the screwhole, and that's wherethe big difference comes in. Okay,

(30:11):
So it is pressed, it's it'sowned there, and it went on easier
than it's going to come up withfifteen years of a little bit of hard
water dribble. It's the hard waterthat's that's locked it into place now.
And so yeah, you're gonna endup breaking it off using that puller that
way. Well awesome that that thatthat I've put it on hold. It's
sitting in there in an unused showerand the wipe is staying there. We're

(30:34):
going to nothing like getting it donetoday. That to make you happy.
Okay, thanks a whole bunch foryour health, you bet, don you
have a merry Christmas. You thankyou. Let's talk about Texas Remodel Team.
You know, if you've listened tothe show for any length of time,

(30:57):
you know I've talked about Texas RemodelTeam for a long time about their
remodeling and how they can help youwith that. But they have a window
division now, the Window Division,it covers all over the Houston area and
they have an A plus rating withthe BBB. And all these crews do

(31:17):
in their window division is change outthe windows. But the nice thing about
dealing with them is they're not juststuck on one type of window. They've
got the vinyl, they got thewood, the fiberglass, all the different
types of windows you want, andthey got the expertise to change them out.
And if they if there's some rottenwood around the window or some trim
that's got to be specially done,they've got crews that can handle that as

(31:38):
well. Call Texas Remodel Team foryour windows at two eight one six'
one two fifty nine ninety one.When Jim Dutton of Texas Home Improvement recommends
a company, he won't steer youwrong like Guardian root Systems. I Jim,
this b thank you because after HurricaneHarvey, I had the Guardian Roofers

(31:59):
put on a new roof at myhouse. Oh it's just beautiful. I
recommend them to anybody. I doas well. I've used them several times.
If I ever have any more problems. I know where to go now,
Guardian roof Systems. Click on thelink under our contractors at thhipro dot
com. You know, if you'relooking for a way to dress up the

(32:20):
outside of your home, you needto take a look at James Hardysiding.
It is the number one way toget curb appeal for your house, and
it is gorgeous and once it's installed, it's there to stay. It'll help
raise the value of your house.In fact, Hearty Siding and remodeling the
kitchen they run neck and neck foryour biggest return on investments into your home.

(32:42):
So you want to learn more aboutit, go to thchipro dot com
and click on the link for JamesHardy Siding. When Jim Dotton, Texas
Home Improvement recommends a company, hewon't steer you wrong like Do West Services.
I had your phenomenal company out regardinga foundation water system and so tired
of lugging those miserable so cross thatkeep getting destroyed. It's just a nightmare.

(33:08):
So anyway, I had Jacob outfrom your company Do West and he
was phenomenal and you run a tiptop organization. He was dressed beautifully,
the truck he drove up and wasperfect. I mean, you just have
made yourself a wonderful company. Ican't thank you enough. I really appreciate
it. Do West Services Foundation RepairTotal Plumbing and air Conditioning called seven one

(33:32):
three four seven three seven one fivesix. That's seven one three four seven
three seven one five six online atdo dash West dot com. That's du
dash West dot com. Do WestServices. Hello, you reached the voicemail

(33:55):
off Jim Dutton. Jim getting anew HIGHERD and manicure right now, so
we ain't got a lot of time, so make your message short. Hey,
happy birthday Dad. This is Johann. Just wanted to say happy birthday.
And I guess we didn't get thepilot's license done in the last three
years. Hopefully we get it donesometime in the next three Here's more Texas

(34:16):
home improvement with Jim Dutton. Oh, I didn't hear these kids of mind
complaining when I didn't work on thepilot's license to help them remodel on their
homes and stuff. I may haveto reconsider some of this stuff. You
got a question seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. Let's

(34:39):
head over to Deer Park. Hello, John, how can I help you?
Hello this you're done, have yourbirthday, Thank you, sir.
H I put a one in freezers, you know, the small freezers and
the light deals running up? Arethem things? Typically energy hogs? No?

(35:01):
So when you say it run up? What what kind of electric bill
are we talking about? Like fourhundred dollars at open back in the summer.
At four hundred dollars bill in thesummer. And uh, the air
condition wouldn't cool. It wouldn't godown past eighty two. Now that's that's

(35:21):
where your that's where your money's goingin, is the air conditioner. If
it's not going down past eighty two, it was staying running the whole time.
Makes it sound like there's an issuewith it? Undersized or was it?
Did it used to cool it down? Yeah? Actually it's a big
unit. I think four ton,I think is that what it's It's fifteen

(35:42):
hundred square living space, so theyhave a three tons, But I put
a four ton in it. Igot a deal on it, and I
had a guy put a new upstairs. Call Okay, he said, he
said it's a it could be Igot the old gas in it, but
he said that one's compatible with thenew gas so if I put the outside

(36:05):
a new outside unit, it'd becompatible with that one up there. And
when was this done, Oh,about two years ago? Okay, And
was your electric bill high last yearas well? I don't recall it.
I just noticed it when we hadthis real hot summer and when it cooled
down, like ninety three or somethinglike that, it would cool on down

(36:29):
to seventy eight. I always couldput it on seventy eight. Yeah,
you got you got a problem withthe AC system. And here's one of
the things that can happen sometimes whenwhen they start mixing and matching this stuff.
If it's not yet, I thinkit can work, but if it's
not a proper match on the fit, it will actually run the electric bill

(36:50):
up because they're not energy conscious aboutit at that point. And the fact
that your system was running all thetime gives me an indication. Especially if
you uped it from a three tonto a four ton, typically it would
have done just the opposite. Whenyou up the size that way, it
would limit the amount that it runs. And then I started you would be

(37:14):
calling me saying, hey, myhumidity levels of skyrocketed in my house.
And it's because the unit wasn't runninglong enough. What you're indicating to me
is there's an issue in the hookupor the coolant level. Something is off,
and your unit needs to be servicedand checked out. Okay, when

(37:34):
he put when he put the upstairsupstairs unit, he said, oh uh,
the free on, he didn't Hedidn't lose any free on the free
once. Fine, And it's aphysically bigger call than what was in it.
Yeah, because how long ago didhe do that? Yeah, about
two years ago he put that.Okay, it unit's like twelve years old.

(38:00):
Well, okay, outside unit,Yeah, yeah, let's let's get
a service tech out there and takea look at it and see what's going
on, because it seems to mesomething is something is off, the levels
are off or something. Right,I understand that as of the first of
the year, I think it wasthe first of the year that the unit's

(38:20):
got more expensive. Outside units,Well, in this past year, well,
let's see, last year we hadI think five price increases. In
twenty three, I think there wasonly three price increases. And yes,
they've already announced there'll be another priceincrease in January. So what kind of
free on are they using? Nowadays, they're still using the the U four

(38:45):
ten A U. There are someother coolants available from some of the carriers
but or manufacturers, but right nowthey're still using four ten A. I
got a goodman unit, I know, if I mean to good, but
I had good luck with the onebefore that the last twenty years. Sure,
yep. And it's not unusual foran AC unit to last fifteen to

(39:08):
twenty years. So I think youknow yours. You said yours is twelve.
I think it's just really going tobe a matter of servicing it,
because it sounds like it probably hadn'tbeen serviced since it was installed two years
ago. Right right, Well,when you you mean service in the outside
unit, both what typically what happensis like when dew West Service is a

(39:30):
unit, for instance, we comein, we disassemble the outside unit,
clean all the coils out there,get all the debris out from underneath where
the compressor and everything is. Checkthe fan motor. Then we take apart
the system in the attic, pullthe fan out and the motor, clean
all the dust and stuff out offthe blades and all that stuff. Check

(39:51):
all the coolant levels, check thecoils for cleanliness, go through the entire
system and do it a tune upon it to get it working way it
should be. Uh, and that'sprobably all you need done. Well,
well, what i'd like to do? I think the upstairs probably Okay,
it's only a year and a half, two years at least, get the
bottom. When they did it ain'tbeen serviced. I just take the hose

(40:13):
and wash calls out on outside.Yeah. Well, but when you when
you do that, when you doa servicing, you're you're checking both and
and the AC system should be checkedtwice a year, once in the spring
and once in the fall because inthe spring you're getting ready for cooling season
and the fall you're getting ready forheating season. And so okay, how

(40:34):
much would that cost to get thatchecked out? Oh? I off the
top of my head, I don'tknow. Probably one hundred and forty bucks.
Okay, Well, and this isuh you're talking about your company?
Do sure? Yeah, I givedue West the call at seven to one
three four seven three seven to onefive six seven sounds like a Pasadena number.

(41:01):
It is. We're right there ontwo twenty five. Okay, we'll
do. Thank you, sir,Have a merry Christmas. Hey, let's
talk about USA Insulation. You've heardme say this for years. When it
comes to insulation, phone works bestin the walls, and when it comes
to putting it into your walls,you need to call USA Insulation. They

(41:23):
have a proprietary non expansive phone theycan inject right into your walls of your
existing homes so you get the bestour value. It has a great fire
rating and cancels up to eighty percentof the noise from outside as well.
Call three four six two ninety seventwenty eight hundred. That's three four six

(41:45):
two nine seven twenty eight hundred.Or you can go to thchipro dot com
and click on the link for USAInsulation. But if you're looking to insulate
the walls of your home and helpwith your energy bills, USA is the
company to call. At floor endDecore, we know pro as your one

(42:05):
stop source. We deliver everyday savingson over a million square feet of instock
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(42:27):
need it, where you need it. Come discover floor end decore where we
know pro look when disaster happens,and we all know disasters are gonna happen.
You've got to have a company youcan trust to come in and not
only get you built back the wayit was before, but also to deal
with the insurance company to make sureyou get the maximum coverage that you have

(42:49):
coming to you. And that's whatWoodland's water Restoration does. They handle everything
for you. Two eight one fiveseven six eight four five nine is the
number four Woodlands water Restoration. Youknow a lot of window companies can put
in new windows, but can theymake the trim look right? Do they
use high end cock to seal upthe air gaps? And do they offer

(43:09):
multiple styles and choices so you canget the exact windows you need and want
for your home. Jim Dutton,host of Texas ho Improvement for Texas Remodel
Team, they have a window divisionthat does nothing but windows, and they
can make sure that things like yourtrim, your brick, even your windowsill
looks perfect because after all, theyare owned by a construction company. They

(43:31):
carry all the major brands of windows, and their insul crews are second to
none, giving them a four pointnine stars out of five on Google Reviews
and an A plus rating with theBBB plus a thumbs up from me.
Great windows, great prices, anda great installation called the Texas Remodel Team
Window Division for your new Windows todaytwo eight one six one two fifty nine

(43:54):
ninety one two eight one six onetwo fifty nine to ninety one online at
Texas Remodel Team dot com rampall.What does Jim doudn't wear under his clothes?

(44:22):
Well, that depends. Happy Birthday. Here's more Texas Home Improvement with
Jim Dutte. Oh I miss youhaw. That was fun days. Got a
question seven one three two one twofive eight seven four. Let's head the

(44:42):
spring, Matt. This is Jim. How can I help you? H
Jim, Happy birthday. I enjoyyour show. Thank you, sir.
My question is timely just based onthe advertiser, but I've had this question
for a while. We have astucco home, uh three stories, and
we're thinking about windows, and myneighbor has a brick home and they got
windows, and I was looking attheir window sills, and it looks pretty

(45:05):
straightforward in a stucco home. Onthe exterior, it looked like the kind
of there wasn't really the window sillin the nice wood border. But would
it be expected to damage the stuccoif we got new windows in a stucco
home. Typically not, because whatthey do is each window opening is measured,

(45:25):
and it would be measured by whatever'sthe furthest end on the opening so
that it slides into place, andthen they can trim out and seal from
the backside anything that needs to bedone on that stucco. So it would
be so the expectation would be theywouldn't damage the stucco, which would increase
the cost of repainting and stuff likethat. Correct. Now, obviously I

(45:51):
haven't looked at how your stuccle wasapplied or anything, but in general,
no, it does not cause damage. But when they come out and look
at Texas remodel team, they wouldbe able to tell you whether it's going
to cause you problems or not.All right, well, I think it,
you bet. You take care,have a merry Christmas. And with

(46:15):
that, let's talk about American StandardAir, which is my choice for air
conditioning systems. I mean, AmericanStandard is nationally recognized for excellence for performance,
reliability, and customer satisfaction. ButI've had American Standard heating and air
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(46:35):
job. Whether you want the singlespeed or like the variable speed I have
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long with American Standard and American Standardtechnology. It meets the ever changing Texas
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ready for a little heat when youneed it. Let's face it, we

(46:57):
don't typically need a lot of heat, but invest wisely and invest in the
home comfort system that will last youa long, long time comfort the way
you like it. That's American Standardairdot com. And again, if you're
looking for a system, take alook at American Standard heating and air conditioning
systems. This is probably gonna sounda little strange to you. Texas Home

(47:22):
Improvement is on the air with yourhost, Jim Dock. That's what I
need to know. You always giveme the way to go. Great observation.
You got to be on the radio. Well, this might be the
answer to my pros and I'm reallyglad I could talk to you. The
smartest guy though, and I meanthe tall Jim. Now with all your
home improvement questions. That's seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.

(47:46):
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. Jax's
Home Improvement brought to you by USServices Plumbing, Foundation, Repair and air
Conditioning, Jex's Remodel Team. Windows, the official window company of Texas Home
Movement, American Standards, Comfort theway you like it. Jans Hardy Sighting,
the best sighting on the planet.USA Insulation Wall, Phone insulation for

(48:08):
existing homes, Ready seal stain andsealer floor in the Core, Sunburst Shutters
where beauty meets energy efficiency. Guardianroof Systems, Residential and commercial roofing Specialist,
Woodland's Water Restoration, your hometown solutionfor property damage and Victor's Remodeling and
Construction Party Plank Specialists. And nowbroadcasting live from the Dutton Ranch, here's

(48:36):
Jim dute Hey. Welcome back toTexas Home Improvement. Your total home improvement
source. Seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four. That's seven
one three two one two five,eight seven four. Any home improvement question
you have, feel free to pickup the phone, give me a call,

(48:57):
and I'll see what I can doto help you out here on Texas
home improvement. And that's whether you'redoing it yourself, thinking about a project,
working with a contractor, or hey, you just had something go out
at the house and you just gota question. Seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. Andsince this is the start of a new
hour, I will tell you Igot all open lines, So pick up

(49:19):
the phone and give me a call. You guys dictate what what direction the
show takes by asking your questions.So seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. Now, ofcourse, don't forget about our website thipro
dot com. There's all kinds ofhelp information there, links to the people

(49:39):
you hear me talk about. There'squestions and answers, and there's uh,
you know, just uh copies ofthe TV show and of our newsletter that
goes out every other week, whichby the way, you can sign up
for at thhipro dot com as wellas well as he asked Jim Button.
And that's how you can send inemail questions but when we're live like this,

(50:00):
it's best to just pick up thephone and give me a call.
It's just you and me talking.Sure, there's some other people listening in,
but you know, when you andI are talking, it's just us
going over what you got going andhow it can be taken care of.
So seven to one three two onetwo five eight seven four, and I'll

(50:21):
see what I can do to helpyou out here on Texas Home Improvement.
All right, So had an emailcome in this week from Jim in the
Woodlands and he says, uh,any good contractor for exterior painting and repairs
as needed stucco and hardy siding.It is for a town home development.

(50:45):
Absolutely, you need to give thefolks over at Texas Remodel Team a call.
You can reach them at two eightone six one two fifty nine ninety
one and they can hook you upwith all that because you're right there in
their backyard being in the Woodlands.So again that's Texas Remodel Team two eight

(51:07):
one six one two fifty nine ninetyone. Again, if you had a
home improven question seven one three twoone two five eight seven four, that's
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. Let's head out to
sugar Land and Steve. Welcome toTexas Home Improvement. How can I help

(51:30):
you, Hi, Jim. Iheard a loud popping sound this morning on
my Uh well, it woke meup. It sounded like somebody was knocking
on my door. And what Isuspect is there was something that went wrong
in my foundation. That's just myguess. It sounded like maybe a beam

(51:51):
or like a concrete separating or somethinglike that. How old house is it?
I haven't noted it. The houseis forty eight years old. Okay,
two story Perry home. And sothe r it's a post tension I
think so, yes, sir,Yeah, if the go ahead, you

(52:17):
can see what you can see wherethe the rods come out of the side
where they sealed off the ends ofthe rods of they pulled attention on them.
Yep. Yeah, walk around theoutside and see if one of those
have popped loose, because you knowwhat can happen is those cables over time.

(52:39):
Uh, if it breaks loose,you know what't installed properly or or
just rusts or anything like that,it can give way. And when it
does, it makes a horrible noise. But normally if it was one of
the post tension cables where those littlecups are where they've got the mortar over
them, that'll loose and you're you'reable to tell that that's what it was.

(53:04):
The other thing that it's it's verylikely can be, is nothing more
than as the sun starts beating inIn fact, we had a call about
this in the last hour, startsbeating on the roof and on the siding
and everything. The wood will tendto expand and contract with temperature and moisture
changes, and when it does,it can ever so slightly move on a

(53:28):
nail and it'll make a god awfulpopping noise when it does that. There's
absolutely nothing wrong, nothing to worryabout. But it just sounds like heck,
like like somebody just hit the housewith a sledgehammer. Right. That's
well, that's that's what I suspectedto one of those two things that I've
noticed over the past several months,where the especially on the second floor,

(53:50):
on the front corner of the house, the doors are starting to uh not
be square in the brain and there'sa definitive slope than the bathroom with the
front corner of the house on thesecond floor. Yeah, so I didn't
know there was just the woods settlingon the second floor that was causing that
because it doesn't show up on thefirst floors and there's no broken bricks or

(54:15):
anything like that on the outside ofthe house. Well, the wood won't
settle like that. Now, ifit's up against the wall, it could
be that something is pulling loose there. If it's more in the middle of
a room, then it's probably justsagging. And again that can make those
got awful noises as well. Ohyeah, we sagging. I just don't

(54:37):
know what was causing with sagging.Poor support on the first floor. Poor
support on the first floor is exactlyit. You know, especially in the
timeframe that your home was built,they got into a real habit of trying
to stretch out too far what theboards would do, and so over time,

(54:59):
yes, it would meet codes andeverything, but over time it would
start sagging a little bit. Anduh so you'll if if you can get
up on a step ladder and lookacross your ceiling, you'll see it dip
in the middle of the room,and that's what you're probably seeing on the
second floor. Then yeah, sir, so you don't see. It's probably

(55:21):
not foundation then, but it couldbe suddenly as the wood in the frame
orse the second yep. Yeah,Now, if it gets bad enough,
what you may have to do andthis is very unusual that you have to
do this, but if it getsbad enough, you end up pulling the
sheet rock or the flooring on thesecond floor. Either sheet rock on the

(55:44):
first floor or the flooring on thesecond floor. You get to where the
joystar there and jack them back upand then line them like with a plate
of steel or a second board orsomething to stiffen them up. Uh,
to take care of it. Butit's it's unusual to have to do that.

(56:05):
Unfortunately, that's what I thought Imight have to do, so ul
you keep an eye on it.I have to keep adjusting the doors so
that the striker is yeah, withthe the lads, but I'll keep an
eye on it, and thank youvery much for your suggestions. I'll get
back to the house. I'll checkon the to see whether one of those

(56:25):
caps might have popped off. Alrighty, you take care and have them marry
Christie, you bet, Thank youvery Christmas, and again our number seven
one, three, two, fiveeight seven four. Let's head to kingwood
Mark. How are you today?Bye? M you. I'm doing wonderful.

(56:46):
Good. Fireplace question. I havean older home built in the eighties.
Uh, fireplace damper is rusted andcrooked. I had a company come
out and look at it, andthey gave me two bids wand for just
inserting a I guess type of heatlater? That's gas? Or I can
rebuild the inside and run a dampercord from the inside of the furnace fireplace

(57:13):
up to the I guess the pipethat comes out of the fireplace outside.
Not sure which way to go?Uh? The problem run the cord,
he said. I can only burna wood fire. I can't be a
gas fire. Do you have anysuggestions that I got one company? Do
you have a suggestion of another companythat I might feel a research Well?
I guess yes maybe. But letme ask you a question. Why is

(57:37):
he telling you you could run woodbut not gas, Because if if the
damper doesn't close correctly, the gascould build up inside the flu and cause
a combustion problem. Okay, okay, Well, there is a place over

(58:00):
on fifty nine, just outside ofsix' ten and all they do is
fireplace stuff, and that is theplace I would stop at and talk to
them. Uh. That's on thenorth side of fifty nine, just outside
the six' ten loop, justbefore fifty nine makes that curve there.

(58:22):
The other thing I would possibly dois talk to the folks over at mister
Brick, because you know, theycan relay stuff, and you know,
if it's just a damper, theyshould be able to go in there,
pull that and redo it. Butagain, I'm not looking at it,
so I'm not sure as far aswhat would be involved in it, but

(58:44):
they could take a look at it. Mister Brick's number is seven to one,
three, eight five, six eightythree, twenty nine. Okay,
all right, I got that one. Yeah, because it was the guy
was saying, was there's some Iguess Olderhall they had a soluble moorder.
I guess on the inside. Noweither it has come out and I have

(59:07):
gaps. So he said that wouldhave to be you know, repaired.
Yeah, that and for that,that's I would call mister Brick for that.
Okay, all right, I'll givethem a holler and a ready spy
guy in six ten. Do youknow the name of them off hand?
I do not remember the name ofthem. Uh, Okay, I just

(59:28):
don't want to pass him and andand and talk see him. And I've
talked to him once before. Ijust can't remember the name of them.
Okay. I can find him onthe west So all right, I appreciate
your time. You have a merryChristmas you as well. Thank you,
sir, Thank you, and againour number seven one three two one two

(59:49):
five eight seven four. That's sevenone three two one two five eight seven
four. And I'll see what Ican do to help you out here on
Texas Home and proved your total homeimprovement source. And I'm looking to see
if I can Lord's chimney two eightone four nine seven four thousand. I

(01:00:10):
think that's them two eight one fournine seven four thousand, so hopefully that's
the right guy there. Hey,let's talk real quick about F Wave shingles.
Now. I just had my roofredone at my home and I called
my roofer and I had the Revashingles by f Wave put on it.

(01:00:31):
And when it comes to your roof, let me ask you a question,
how many times are you going toreplace it before you get tired of dealing
with these throwaway roofs, and that'sreally what they are. Because the wind
gets a little too strong, itdamages the shingles. You get hit by
a little bit of hail, itdamages the shingles. I don't have to
worry about that anymore. With theReva Shingles by f Wave, I'll stand

(01:00:57):
a two inch hail test with noproblem. In fact, it'll pass a
two inch steel ball test. It'llwithstand wins well in excess of one hundred
and thirty miles an hour. Ijust planing. Don't have to worry about
my roof anymore. And if you'rewanting to be worry free with your shingles,
you need to take a look atReva Shingles by f Wave. You
can go to thchi pro dot comand there you'll find Reva Shingles by f

(01:01:22):
Wave. You know, when youhear the words foundation repair, the first
thing that goes to your mind is, oh, my gosh, I don't
want to have to deal with this. When you deal with the right company,
it's not a problem. That's whyI want you to call my company,
due West Foundation Repair. We'll comeout, take a look, tell
you what's going on, and helpyou not only with the foundation repair problem

(01:01:42):
a foundation maintenance to keep you fromhaving further problems. When you want the
best, you call due West sevenone three or seven three seven one five
six online at dudash West dot com, at floor endecor we know Pro as
your one stop source. We delivereveryday savings on over a million square feet
of instock flooring tools and installation materials. See how our flooring experts can help

(01:02:06):
save you time and money with ourbest in class selection at rock bottom prices
and with pro level benefits like ourdedicated Pro Service Team, Pro Hotline,
Pro Premier Financing and unbeatable Pro Loyaltyprogram. You get what you need,
when you need it, where youneed it. Come discover floor and Decore
where we know pro. All right, we've talked about Texas Remodel Team a

(01:02:28):
few minutes ago. As far asyou know, they can do remodeling and
painting and all that stuff for you, and you know they kind of specialize
on that up on the north northeastside of town. But when it comes
to replacement windows, let me tellyou, they'll go all over the Houston
area and they've been part of theshow for ten years. They do a

(01:02:49):
great job. But what we haven'ttalked about a lot over the years is
the fact that they have a windowdivision. Now. Their window division does
nothing but replacement windows and all typesof replacement windows. Whether it's vinyl,
wood, fiberglass, it doesn't matter. Texas Remodel Team can help you with
it. But the beautiful part aboutdealing with them, if there is some

(01:03:10):
bad wood or some trim work thathas to be done, they have people
on staff that can handle it.So call Texas Remodel Team at two eight
one six one, two fifty nineninety one for all your window needs.
That's two eight one six one,two fifty nine ninety one. Hello,

(01:03:36):
you've reached the voicemail out Jim Dutton. Jim getting a new higerd and manicure
right now, so he ain't gota lot of time, so make your
message short. Hello Jim, thisis your flight instructor, wishing you a
happy birthday and hopefully this will bethe year that we get you your pilots
license. And just a reminder,no, you can't take a leak out
the window at thirty thousand feet.Here's more Texas Home Improvement with Jim Ducks.

(01:04:03):
All right, welcome back to TexasHome Improvements. Seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.That's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. And no,I don't fly at thirty thousand feet.
Uh so I'm okay, I'm okay. Seven one three two one two five

(01:04:26):
eight seven four. We're gonna headto tom Ball. Anthony, how are
you today? I'm good, Jim, how are you? I'm doing wonderful
great, Hey, Jim, myroof is over twenty years old. I'm
going to be replacing it early nextyear. H Has anybody come up with
a good radiant barrier to install directlyunder the shingles? Yeah? Actually,

(01:04:48):
energy Q radium barrier can go directlyunder the shingles. Is is that as
efficient as the old way of uh, you know, actually having it in
the decking or whatever under the decklum. Yes, because the energy Q actually
is a multi layer system, soit's designed to be sandwiched in between building

(01:05:12):
materials, and so by putting itdirectly under the shingle, it actually keeps
the heat from ever getting into theattic, and so yes, it works
extremely well. I highly recommend it, especially when when people have like cathedral
ceilings, and stuff, and theydon't have an enough room to put fifteen
sixteen inches of insulation and stuff.You put the energy queue there. It

(01:05:35):
makes a huge difference. That soundsgood, That's what I was looking for.
Appreciate the recommendation. You bet youtake care all right? Christoss to
you, bye bye bye and again. Seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. That's seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.

(01:05:59):
That's see Mark and Dayton. Howare you today? Good? Thank
you good? Well? How canI help you? Well? I was
asking about is it acceptable to spicerafters. Well, I would say if
it's done properly, yes, butprobably most of the time it's not done

(01:06:24):
properly. So what do you meanby done properly, I've seen different methods.
Yeah, well, by done properly, I mean if you got to
have a splice, you would haveto have it fish plated. And where
people mess up on the fish platingas they typically make it too short.

(01:06:45):
And fish plating is where you gotanother piece that's basically attached to the side
of the one that is jointed,and you need to run that down a
ways, not just a two footpiece of board, you know, run
a five foot piece, and personally, I'd prefer to have it on both
sides of the joint. Okay,yeah, what does the code say to

(01:07:12):
that? I mean, I knowthe I'm going to carry. There's no
code? Uh? Is there awhat does Texas fallow? Texas typically follows
I believe the Southern Building Code,but some places adopt the International Building Code,
but most of the time it's theSouthern Okay, all right, well,

(01:07:33):
I appreciate it, you bet,you take care and again our number
seven one three, two, onetwo five eight seven form a hold off
jumping into the next call, becauseI know we're coming up on news,
traffic and weather here in just aminute, So if you're on hold,

(01:07:53):
I will get to you right afternews, traffic and weather. You know,
we say Merry Christmas here, andI kind of last weekend was talking
about the fact that I don't sayhappy Holidays. It's Merry Christmas. So
last night I'm at a restaurant andme and my wife were having dinner and
the couple next to us, theguy has the white beard, and we'd

(01:08:14):
been talking a little bit and tellthem, man that you got the Santa
Claus thing going. Well, everywe got all done with our meals and
we're all leaving and they said,oh, happy Holidays. I said,
guy, you can't go around lookinglike Santa Claus saying happy Holidays. You
gotta be saying Merry Christmas. Hejust laughed. He says, you're right,

(01:08:35):
whole ho ho Merry Christmas. Andin a way we went and look,
that is what the you know,the kids are expecting to hear and
see when they see a guy wholooks like Santa Claus. And you know
what, it's not something that shouldbe offensive to anybody to say Merry Christmas.
So with that being said, we'regoing to take a break for news,

(01:08:57):
traffic and weather. In the meantime, I have a Merry Christmas.
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(01:09:41):
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com. Check out their systems andyou know that's the one that's gonna take
care of you. Let's bring outour first guest and see what he can
do. Here's the star of TexasHome Improvement, Jim. Take it away,

(01:10:27):
Jim. Here's more Texas Home Improvementwith Jim Dutton. Hey, welcome
back to Texas Home Improvement. Sevenone, three, two, one,

(01:10:50):
two, five eight seven four.Let's head straight back into the calls,
John and Cyprus. How can Ihelp you today? Well, my evaporator
coils on my air conditioning or drippingwater really bad. It started somewhere around
the time that I had a newcompressor put in, and I'm wondering if

(01:11:12):
it could be related to that.I did clean the coils, you know,
I did use some of that foamingcleaner and cleaned them as best I
could myself, but it didn't help. And I'm wondering could they have overcharged
the free on and the things runningtoo cold, or could it be that

(01:11:34):
that you know that there's a mismatchwith the compressor. Hey, well,
where's the water dripping at? Well, it's you know, it's a vertically
mounted unit and it's just dripping straightdown into the air chase. Just in

(01:11:57):
fact, it's run up underneath mytile before I discovered it. So I
got a couple. Now, yeah, you need to get technician out there
and have the system checked. Thenhow old a system is it? The
rest of the system was put inin twenty fifteen, and in that compressure,

(01:12:17):
I believe that was August or maybeSeptember. Okay, because there should
be water coming off the coils.That's you know, it takes moisture out
of the air and then it shoulddrip down into a pan and drain out
through the pan. And so thepan may have a rust hole in it

(01:12:38):
or something that's allowing the water todrip down further. And that's what needs
to be checked out, is Okay, why is it dripping not so much?
Why the coils are dripping, Butwhy is it going down beyond where
it's supposed to go? Right,Well, it does drip off. I
mean you can look in there andyou see they're dripping straight down from not

(01:13:00):
just the edges. You know,it's a right kind of a V shaped
upside down D on the YEP coils, and it's dripping pretty much all over.
Yeah, and again it should bedoing that because that's how it's removing
the moisture out of the air.Is it just captures it and lets it
drip down. A normal AC systemwill typically produce up to fifteen gallons of

(01:13:28):
water a day dripping like that.Yeah, I believe it. I know
it now for sure. Yeah,so it's not at that part doesn't bother
me. The fact that it's drippingbeyond the catchpan that would drain into either
outside or into like under a sinkor something. That's an indication that either
the line came disconnected or like Isaid, there's rust holes or something something

(01:13:53):
that should be easily fixable. Yeah, well, it looks like the only
pain or on the edges, youknow, the bottom edges and that upside
down D. Yeah. It neverit had never done this before. Always
stayed dry under there. Yeah,but uh, just all of a sudden,

(01:14:13):
it's uh, you know, drippingoff of the coils, directly off
of the coils instead of running.I'm assuming it was used to run,
you know, at a slant downinto the pan on either side of the
coill. Yeah, but as faras directly under the coils, there's there's
not a pan. Okay, well, either way, it's it needs just

(01:14:39):
be serviced and find out, youknow, why why is it doing.
They'll check the levels and and thefan speeds and all that kind of stuff
to verify everything. Right, Okay, well, I guess I'll do that
and maybe next spring, you know, before it gets hot. Well I
would definitely do it before it getstoo hot, because you don't need that

(01:15:00):
run around. And you know,typically at this time of year, we're
bouncing back and forth between heating andcooling. So yeah, well that's true.
Would I need to have somebody comeout on a fairly warm day or
could they do just anytime? No, they something like that. They should
be able to do pretty much anytime. You know, if the temperatures are

(01:15:21):
down in the forties, I wouldsay, no, they're not going to
be a be able to check it, but as long as it's say above
sixty five, you should be fine. Okay, all right, well I'll
do that then, all right,you bet you have a merry Christmas you
too, And of course yeah youcan call the West Air Conditioning. We'd

(01:15:45):
be more than happy to help youout with that as well. Let's see
seven one three, two, onetwo, five eight seven four John.
Welcome to seven forty KTRH. Howcan I help you? I don't have
a bottom. I that's trying tolearn to know something about the concrete sidewalk.

(01:16:06):
I live in the heights and alsomy driveway it's about a hindred years
old and it's like like on mydriveway as like maybe two foot area that
it's like a skim coat came offas original finish, but it's like it

(01:16:27):
separates and there's some kind of basedmaterial. And I've seen that on the
city sidewalk too. It's like,right, it's different than the newer concrete.
I didn't know where they mixed thedifferent or use the different process and
laying the stuff. No, what'shappened is when you finish concrete, you

(01:16:48):
first use what's called a mag troweland and you know that creates the cream
that comes to the surface. Thenas it's hardening, you use the steel
trails to give it a nice finish. Well, sometimes over time, especially
if concrete freezes a time or two, you know, it gets moisture on

(01:17:10):
it, it soaks in, andit freezes it, it'll pop that surface
off and it'll make it look likebecause now you're looking at the gravel and
everything in the concrete that's underneath,so it looks like it's a base material
when actually it's just the cream surfacehas blistered off. Oh okay, I
know about thirty years ago, Ihad my approach to the driveway done and

(01:17:32):
it was starting to drizzle a littlebit, and I was concerned, but
guys didn't seem too worried. Andno, after a while, now almost
I can pee gravel surface. Yeahsee, I'll the gravel what with that
getting wet and they laid it orthey didn't do it right, Well,

(01:17:53):
that sounds sometimes if they don't usea steel trowel on it and and mag
floated out enough, they just broomit real quick. You don't have that
cream finish on the top and sothe right down to the surface. Yeah,
Okay, I got one heavy question. It's not a problem. Yeah,
but I've got like a thirteen bythirteen front porch, you know,

(01:18:16):
bel on the house, which actuallyhas a cross space hundred and years ago.
Run around there and I can seelike it's like there used to be
wood that maybe turn my state off. Maybe fourm boards now just one that
concrete designed to be suspended with nothingunder it. I don't know how thick

(01:18:38):
it is. It's probably three orfour inches firs. Should I go on
there and put a beam under iton the fORCH, No, it'll span
just fine. In fact, ifyou go into a parking garage, uh,
you know that's a lot of timesonly four or five inch concrete between
those beams on it is. Wellyeah, well it's designed that way or

(01:19:03):
whether Yeah, no, they're they'redesigned that way. Don't worry about it.
Yeah, okay, well I appreciateit, Thank you, you bet
you have a merry Christmas. Andagain our number seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. That'sseven one three two one two five eight

(01:19:25):
seven four. Let's talk about Sunburstshutters. They are the best selling plantation
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(01:19:45):
holds up better than wood shutters becauseone is going to insulate seventy percent more
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have to worry about replacing them.In fact, I've been out to houses
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(01:20:06):
shutters for your windows, you needto take a look at Sunburst Shutters.
Now, everything at Sunburn Shutters isdesigned to last longer, look better,
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(01:20:28):
Call Sunburn Shutters at seven one threeeight ninety six eighty one fifty.
That's seven one three eight nine sixeighty one fifty. Or of course you
can go to thchipro dot com andclick on the link for Sunburn Shutters.
When Jim Dutton of Texas Home Improvementrecommend as a company he won't steer you
wrong like Guardian roof Systems. IJim, this would be thank you because

(01:20:51):
after Hurricane Harvey, I had theGuardian Roofers put on a new roof at
my house. Oh beautiful. Irecommend them to anybody I do as well.
I've used them several times. IfI ever have any more problems,
I know where to go now Guardianroof Systems. Click on the link under
our contractors at thhipro dot com.You know, we talked about air conditioning

(01:21:15):
a minute ago, and if you'reneeding an air conditioning contractor that you can
trust, call my company due Westair Conditioning. We'll come out, we
service the unit, and typically whatwe're gonna do, we're gonna take the
outside unit apart, clean the coils, clean out underneath where the compressor is
and the fan motor and all thatstuff. Then we're also going and make

(01:21:36):
sure everything is oiled that needs tobe oiled. Then we're going to take
the fan motor out from the insideunit, clean all that up, get
all the dirt and debris off ofit, check those coils, and just
tune everything up and get it runningthe way it's supposed to. And if
somebody's telling you you need a newsystem because yours is oh, eight,

(01:21:57):
nine, ten, twelve years oldor whatever, it's definitely time to call
Due Wes for a second opinion.You know, the a normal system is
going to last fifteen plus years.Now, if you've got to put a
lot of money into making it laststhat long, it may warrant looking at
changing it out. But don't changeit out just because of age. When
you want the best, call DueWest. That's seven to one, three

(01:22:20):
four seven, three seven one fivesix. You know a lot of window
companies can put in new windows,but can they make the trim look right?
Do they use high end cock toseal up the air gaps? And
do they offer multiple styles and choicesso you can get the exact windows you
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(01:22:42):
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at Texas Remodel Team dot com.What does Christmas snow and your mother in

(01:23:30):
law have in common? They're bothcold and flaky. Here's more Texas Home
Improvement with Jim dot Hey. Welcomeback to Texas Home Improvement seven one three
two one two five eight seven fourgonna head to Kingwood and ed. Welcome
to Texas Home Improvement. How canI help you? Yes, sir,

(01:23:55):
I've got two water here. It'sfairly good size house, but it takes
forever for my order to get hot. What is a tankler water heater and
how much does it cost? Well, a tankless water heater has basically continuous
hot water flow. Now your tanktype water heater, it's got water in

(01:24:23):
it that's hot already and what's happeningis the time it takes to get from
the tank to the faucet seems tobe long, and honestly, going to
a tankless is not going to fixthat because the water still has to travel
the same distance, and in fact, it may even add a second or
two because a tankless water heater hasto have water flow before the heater kicks

(01:24:50):
in on it. To solve theissue that you're having, is it all
over the house or just certain area? It's pretty much all over the house,
okay, So you could look atputting in a recirculating system, and
by doing that, you'd have aloop going around the house that's got hot

(01:25:11):
water in it all the time,and so the only distance the hot water
would have to travel to hit thefaucet would be basically from where that loop
is down to the faucet itself,you know, because it's typically running in
an attic. The other options youhave are to put a small tank list

(01:25:31):
like over by the bathroom and bythe kitchen and stuff like that, and
so it can kick in and itcan be just a little one ten type
tankless water heater that uses one tenpower and as the water hot water hits
it, it shuts off, andthen you're using the hot water from the

(01:25:56):
tank. So you do have optionsto clear this problem up, but it's
just how long does it take toget there? Oh it's it maybe forty
five seconds to a minute and ahalf. Okay, yeah, I mean
that would be the quickest way.Deal. Yeah, yeah, it's not
that big a deal. It's justaggravating when you when you want hot water

(01:26:18):
it takes forty five seconds or so. Well, it's aggravating when you get
all undressed, you're ready to takea shower and you're standing there waiting for
the hot water to get there tostep into the shower. I get it,
I mean exactly. Yeah. Sobut yeah, you can put an
on site right there next to it. But going tankless in the house won't

(01:26:42):
fix that problem. Now, Iwill tell you Novvey on tankless water heaters.
They do have a recirculating system thatyou could install that circulates the water
the whole time and gives you continuoushot water. That may be something you
want to take a look at.Okay. And it's a smaller than a

(01:27:02):
regular worder here, oh yeah,substantially smaller, Like it uses probably fifteen
percent of the space that a tankdoes. Okay, okay, I just
I just was curious because I didn'tunderstand what a tankless is. But sounds
like either the loop or put atankless close to the shallot. Yeah,

(01:27:26):
that would be the best to solveyour issues. Awesome, thank you,
thank you, sir. Christmas,Merry Christmas. And with that, I
know we're getting ready to take abreak. Let's see. Yeah, I'm
gonna have to hold off, Patty. I'm gonna get to you in just
a minute when we come back withmore Texas home improvement. And again,

(01:27:48):
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you're in charge of toasting your motherin law and at the dinner, make
sure you have a big enough toaster. Here's more Texas Home Improvement with Jim

(01:31:24):
duttmow. Hey, welcome back toTexas Home Improvement. I'm going to go
to the last call of the day, Patty. How can I help you
today? Hi, thanks for takingmy call. My question is I've had
foundation repair on my house built innineteen seventy in southwest Houston. And when

(01:31:44):
they were putting it back together afterthe foundation job air quote was done,
I was concerned they didn't put enoughdirt under the house and they said we
can't do that, and I said, I don't know those problems. It
came out, it should go backso and my problem is now it's failing
again. So I'm thinking there's nodirt under my house holding it up or
not enough dirt? Is that somethingto be concerned about? No, ma'am,

(01:32:05):
because if they dug tunnels, I'mmaking the assumption that they put pears
underneath there. Yes, and thepeers are what's holding the house, not
the soil. So even if there'ssome companies who don't even fill the tunnels
at all. Now, I don'trecommend doing that, but it's trust me.
That's yeah. You're never going toget all the soil back when you

(01:32:28):
dig a hole. You just can'tcompact it the way mother nature does.
So the fact that you have soilleft over is totally normal. Okay,
Okay, I mean we shouldn't pumpit back in with mudding or anything like
that. I don't know the rightword, no, ma'am. Because you
want to leave the void there andallow the soil to expand and contract without

(01:32:49):
moving the foundation, the underpinting shouldbe strong enough to hold it. Okay,
Well, thank you for answering myquestion. I might be able to
swallow my fear now and have aMarria Christmas. You as well. Take
care, Patty, And yeah,I mean that is part of doing foundation
repair, is leaving that void sothe soil can expand and contract without moving

(01:33:13):
the foundation. Again, it's justa matter of is the support enough to
hold it? With that, havea wonderful day. Appreciate you tuning in
today and don't forget we've got anotherhour tomorrow starting at two o'clock right here
on seven forty krh. Hey,and thank you for all the birthday wishes
today as well. But let's talkabout what happens when disaster hits and you

(01:33:39):
know what I mean, water damage, flooding, fire mold, all these
things that we just we don't wantto have to deal with. Well,
you gotta have a company you cantrust that's going to come in and deal
with it for you. That's Woodland'sWater Restoration, and I highly recommend you
write the number down so you haveit when you need it. Woodland's Water

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Restoration is two eight one five sevensix eight four five nine, and they'll
deal with the insurance company. Theydo the remodeling or rebuilding I should say,
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(01:34:23):
and that is what Woodlands Water Restorationdoes. So again two eight one five
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