Insulation Options

Jim jumps right into some calls to start the show today. He gets question about gas plumbing, a clogged drain line, building a barndominium with insulation, wiring in a conjunction box that’s not covered, and much more. Jim continues in the second hour on the busy phone lines offering up the best home improvement advice.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is probably gonna sound a littlestrange to you. Texas Home Improvement is
on the air with your host,Jim Dutton. That's what I need to
know. You always give me theway to go, great observation. You
got to be on the radio.Well, this might be the answer to
my prayers. And I'm really gladI could talk to you. You're you're
the smartest guy. No, andI mean there. Call Jim now with

(00:23):
all your home improvement questions at sevenone three two one two five eight seven
four. That's seven one three,two one two five eight seven four.
Texas Home Improvement brought to you byDuos Services Plumbing, Foundation, Repair and
air Conditioning. Texas Remodeled. TeamWindows, the official window company of Texas
Home Improvement. American Standard Comfort theway you like it. James Hardy Sighting

(00:45):
the best sighting on the planet.USA Insulation Wall Foam insulation for existing homes,
Ready seal stain and seiler floor intoCore sun Verse Shutters where beauty meets
energy efficiency. Guardian Roof Systems,Residential commercial rooping Specialist, Woodland's Water Restoration,
your hometown solution for property damage andpictures. Remodeling and Construction Party Plank

(01:08):
specialists and now broadcasting live from theDutton Ranch. Here's Jim dot Hey,
welcome to Texas Home Improvement. Yourtotal home improvement so as seven one three
two one two five eight seven four. That's seven one three, two one

(01:32):
two five eight seven four. Anyhome improvement question you have, feel free
to pick up the phone, giveme a call, and I'll see what
I can do to help you outhere on Texas Home Improvement. Uh Now,
if you can't call in, Iwish you would call in. But
if you can't call in, youcan always go to our website t hipro

(01:52):
dot com. There's all kinds ofhelpful information there. There's links to the
people you hear me talk about.There's questions and answers, and you know,
there's a spot to sign up forour newsletter. There. There's a
lot of videos to help you out, and of course you ask Jim button
which then I use the email questions. One of the things that's new on
there is if you'll put your phonenumber, a lot of times I can

(02:15):
call you back to help you outwhen you go through the email process.
But don't be surprised if I callyou back, I'm probably going to be
recording it and so I can useit on the show in the future.
When don't I want to take sometime off, you know. Anyways,
if you got a question, Iwould much rather talk with you than email

(02:36):
with you. Seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. And
why do I prefer talking with youbecause then we can dialogue and I can
usually get you a better answer becauseI can get some of my questions answered
as well. So seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
Now, this week's been kind ofa busy week. Thursday and Friday,

(03:00):
I went around with the Passading LivestockShowing Rodeo on a little trail ride.
We went around to the elementary schools, or not all of them, but
some of the elementary schools in thePasadena area. Had a great time doing
that little bit warm but hey,it was still fun. And then this

(03:20):
morning did the parade for the PassingLivestock Showing Rodeo. I am first vice
president right now for the Rodeo,and we just have a great time with
that, and it's it's really agreat organization for the area. I mean,
it gives typically over five hundred thousanda year back to the youth of
the area for education purposes and differentthings like that, along with doing things

(03:46):
for the community also. And itcovers more than just Pasadena. It's it's
Pasadena Deer Park, Laport down toClear Creek. I mean, lots of
different areas. So next weekend youmissed a parade that was this morning.
Me and my wife Mary, wewere, you know, driving down through
the parade, waving with everybody.But next weekend, both Friday and Saturday

(04:13):
is cook Off. Make plans tocome on out. I'll be at the
SPS Due West cooking team there anduh, you know, come by say
hi. I'll be out there actuallydoing the show on Saturday as well.
And then two weeks from yesterday,September twenty second, the Rodeo itself kicks
off and I'll be out there everynight for that as well. So Rodeo

(04:38):
runs from September twenty second through thethirtieth. You can go to Pasadena Rodeo
dot com to get more information andsee our entertainment lineup. It's really great.
You can purchase your tickets there andbe ready to go. Anyways,
if you got a home improvement questionseven one three, two, one two,
five, eight seven four. Let'ssee here there we go. Chris,

(05:08):
this is Jim. How can Ihelp you pay? Jim my son
is buying a new home in anaddition north of Kadi against my advice.
But it's a KB home's home.It's real thinking. Well, the construction
materials are pretty pretty poor. Butone of the things we found when we

(05:30):
inspected it was that it has naturalgas, but there is no natural gas
outlet in the lossry room for adryer. So I plumbed the house I
live in now for gas back abouttwenty five years ago. I understand now
that you can use as a polyvinyltype of piping that can be used for

(05:51):
gas plumbing. So my question iscan that be spliced into Are there fittings
available to splice it that into airon pipe gas line, which I assume
is what they probably used in thisnew house. There are, depending on

(06:11):
the lines that we're talking about.My understanding is that you have a limit
on how long of run you cando with the flexible lines, so you'll
you'll want to check that out aswell. Well. I'm not talking about
the metal flexible lines that you seesticking out on top. Yeah, you're
you're talking about the poly lines thatthey have out now, and and I'm

(06:33):
yeah, uh I know in theyard lines. Yes, they use,
they used. I mean that that'swhat all the yard lines are. I
hate it because you look at itwrong and the stupid things get a hole
in them. But really, I'mnot I gotta be honest, I'm not
real sure what the codes are inthe walls and through the attic and stuff

(06:56):
like that. And so that's right, that's right. I'm saying. I
would check with your with the cityin that area what they allow, because
some cities will allow things that othercities won't allow. Yeah, they're they're
out in the county there, there'sno city, which is kind of unfortunate
because there was no code inspectors onthe project when they built these houses.

(07:18):
And I saw at ye really saystuff. Well you know how those darned
kids are. They don't listen toparents at all. I never did,
But well I was, I wasgoing to add my parents. My parents
still say that about me, andI say it about my kids. So

(07:39):
actually I'm not telling I followed alot of my father's advice, just not
immediately, yea. And and itworked out when I didn't follow his advice.
I learned problems, learned the hardway. Yeah, but anyway,
Yeah, this this plastic pipe.They just replaced all the underground lines in

(08:01):
my neighborhood with plastic pipe for gas. And they're saying that it's really way
better than the old iron pipe thatdoesn't corrode. And it doesn't corrode,
and you know, there's been someexplosions from leaking pipes that have corroded and
all that kind of stuff. Butbe honest with you, it hasn't been

(08:22):
in the ground long enough for themto know what it's going to do in
the long run. You know.Back when they started putting that steel pipe
in, they thought that was theend all to catch all as well.
M Yeah, I don't know.All I know is getting up in an
attic anytime rather than December January tryingto iron black iron pipe. Yeah not

(08:45):
fun. Yeah. No, Iknow they that you can use it.
I just don't. And I knowthey have the adapters to go, you
know, to the metal pipe andeverything. I just don't know what the
codes are. And if you wantto talk to my master plumber, Alton,
he'd be able to tell you whatwhat you can and can't do on
it. Uh, And I'm gonnatell you up front the first thing he's

(09:09):
gonna tell you as well, you'resupposed to be a licensed plumber to be
able to do that, but uh, he will, he will tell you
what the code is or what youcan do the state. The state allows
homeowners to do their own plumbing andwiring, although some there are some people
that shouldn't do that breaks on theircar. So okay, all right,

(09:35):
well thanks you bet, take careChris. All right again at number seven
one three two one two five eightseven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.Let's head to the Woodlands and Lou,
this is Jim. How can Ihelp you? Yeah, so good afternoon.

(09:58):
I have a question. We havea a three time air conditioning system
and the evaporator, coil and furnaceare obviously in the attic. And what's
happening is and you know, thishas been a rather hot summer, but
we've had this particular system for sixyears as a replacement from a Linux system

(10:22):
prior to that, and the linethat goes from the drip pan down to
the master bathroom sink keeps getting cloggedand when it does that, of course,
it shuts my system off, becauseapparently they have under this new system
and automatic shut off. I don'twant to call it gauge or something,

(10:45):
And it's a safety switch that when'tit registers any moisture there, it shuts
the system down. Yeah, andthe old system it used to dissipate got
clagged in the sink. It justwould pipe it out to the off side
and let the water water would comeflying over the outside of the house.
But this one apparently shuts it off. My question, this thing keeps getting

(11:07):
clogged and I don't know why.I guess one of the questions I have
is is it possible that the reasonit's getting clogged so frequently is because maybe
the evaporator coil, even though Iknow the system is only six years old,
might be dirty. I mean,I don't know much about air conditioning

(11:28):
system, but I can't figure outwhy, all of a sudden this year
it seems to be getting clogged allthe time. Well, let me ask
you how when you say all thetime, how often is this happening?
Oh, it's it's happening a coupleof three times. What happens is that

(11:48):
we have to constantly put draino inthe master bathrooms think to make sure that
that think is flowing free and clear. Otherwise it just can't come down quick
enough and it just backs up.So it happened a couple of three times,
and I don't know it in timefor the summer. No, h

(12:11):
Well, of course we don't usethe system as much in the off season,
right, But yeah, it's it'sbeen over the last you know,
I'd say it's happened one, two, three times in the last September.
I'm gonna take five. I'm gonnaput you on hold, and I'll come
right back to you when we comeback with more Texas home improvement. Let's

(12:33):
talk about sunburst shutters real quick.You know, if you're looking for shutters
for your home, you take alook at sunburst shutters. Now, they're
made of Pollywood and it's a plantationstyle shutter that is inside your home and
it is gorgeous. Uh. ThesePollywood gives you that rich look of fine
wood shutters without the inherent problem youknow, I'm talking about the chipping,

(12:56):
cracking, warping, or splitting.You get a lifetime warranty with this Pollywood.
I have it in my home.I've been out to homes that it's
been in for twenty six, twentyseven years. It still looks as good
as the day it was put in. If you are looking for shutters for
your home, you need to takea look at Sunburst shutters. Seven one
three, eight nine, six eightyone fifties number to call. They can

(13:20):
have a design consultant come out andwork with you to make sure you get
that perfect look and fit for yourhome. Seven one three eight nine six
eighty one fifty. You know,if your air conditioning system is acting up,
you know we're talking with Lou rightnow about his and you need somebody
out there to take a look.Called due West air Conditioning. Whether it's

(13:41):
a simple repair like that, aservice agreement that you're wanting to get done,
or you need a whole new system, or worse, somebody's telling you
you need a new system and youdon't. When you want the best call
Due West. We'll come out,take a look, see what's going on
and get things taken care of foryou. Do West air Conditionings number is
seven one three four seven five zerozero zero four and a technician can come

(14:05):
out go through the system. Seeexactly what's going on and let you know
what your options are. And yes, we do have some great financing to
help with all this as well.So again seven one three four seven five
zero zero zero four. And remember, when you want the best, you
call Due West. And it's notjust air conditioning, foundation repair and plumbing

(14:28):
as well. Five. Come onyour mind, I'll come back you see,

(14:56):
hey, welcome back to Texas HomeImprovement. Seven one three, two
one two five eight seven four.When we left, I was talking with
lou about his air conditioning system andhow the primary drain plugs up, and
Louis we were talking about how oftenthis happens. You know, you mentioned
three times. But in what time? What type of timeframe are we talking

(15:20):
about? Well, I'll say fromyou know, I guess the first time
I looked at us April through.Now, okay, yeah, that's a
lot for it to be backing upthat often in that time frame. And
is it the sink itself that backsup or is it the pipe going to
the sink? It's the pipe goingto the sink, because okay, what

(15:45):
happens is it is because we hadthe backup last year towards the end of
the season, we you know,we've since then, well, especially this
time here. Every two weeks,my wife puts draino on our master bathroom
sinks and she runs it like crazyto make sure that it going down.
So the problem pears to be betweenthe the drip and the sink, you

(16:06):
know, the drip and to thesink. And really what needs to happen
is, you know, typically whenit plugs that way in ac contract or
they'll blow it out. But itneeds to have like bleach or something put
in there to kill what's growing inthere, and that may have to happen
periodically, So that would be thefirst thing I would tell you. You

(16:29):
ask, so why is it happeningso much more now? And part of
it has to do it's just playingthe temperatures. Because our systems are running
a lot more, they're pulling moremoisture out of the air, and so
by feeding it continuously that way,it's giving more opportunity for stuff to grow.
And on top of everything else,the way our weather has been with
no rain, there's more stuff floatingin the air bacteria wise, and that

(16:55):
they can get in there and startgrowing as well. Okay, so you
don't think it's the evaporator coil.That not even if even if you had
a dirty evaporator coil, that typicallyis not playing into this. Okay.
And I assume, because I'm usuallychallenge that this pipe or line that goes

(17:18):
from the drip pan to the sinkis would be difficult to replace. I
assume because it was probably installment.They put the house in right most of
the Yeah, most of the time, that is correct, Okay, okay.
One unrelated question to this why Ihave you on the phone, well,
and that is that when they typicallyput a new system in, like

(17:41):
a three ton system, how muchrefrigerant or free on do they usually put
in? I mean, I knowit can range for three tons between six
and twelve pounds, but what anac company fill it up to the top?
Would they maybe only put ten poundsin? I'm just trying. Well,
the pound is done per system,depending on the specs of the system,

(18:02):
and if you overcharge it, it'snot going to work properly. So
it's not like a car where youcan add more gas into it too and
stuff. It's it's set where yougot to hit that pound. It's just
recommended it in order for it tooperate. Properly, Okay, okay,

(18:22):
because what happened was when the guywas out, that's not this last one.
The time before, about a monthearlier, when I jammed up,
he said, oh it was lowon refrigerent. He put one pound in
and I kind of was a littleconfused because I couldn't understand the relationship between
putting a pound of refrigerent and thelineup in the attic. But absolutely no

(18:44):
kind of yeah, absolutely no coalationat all. Okay, well that's what
I thought. And okay, alrightyAnd one other last question. When I
have you on the phone and Iheard your advertising due West, did they
come up to the wood ones?Yes, sir, you just you do
come up to the wood ones.Okay. I didn't know that. I

(19:04):
thought maybe you were just down inthere and you didn't come up this way.
Okay, Well that's nice to know. Oh right, Okay, thank
you very much for your help.I very much appreciate it. You as
well. Take here and again ournumber seven one three, two one two
five eight seven four. We're gettingready to take a break for news,

(19:25):
traffic and weather, so I'm gonnakind of well, you know what,
Linda, Linda, let's go aheadand get the question started. How can
I help you? Well, thanksfor taking my call, Jim. I'm
building a barn dooz out in theWimer Textas area. It's going to be
a weekend house, and I'm justlooking kind of what your recommendation would be

(19:51):
on how to insulate this thing.It's a metal frame building, one story
on a slab, gonna have totwo by six sort of timber inside the
metal frames. A bit. Now, you're building it out of metal building.
So are you having just a regularmetal building where you got the big
red iron and your wall spaces betweenthe sheet metal and the sheet rock is

(20:21):
going to be like twelve inches?Or is this one where you're building it
more out of tubing and then puttingthe framing inside, it'll be probably ten
inches inches? But yes, yes, all right, and it's probably not
a sheet metal outside. We're probablygoing to go with party board on the
outside. Perfect. I'll tell youwhat. I got to take a break

(20:41):
for news, traffic and weather.When we come back, let's start addressing
this because you know there's ways youcan build this. It will drastically save
you money on your energy bills.We'll be back with more texts as home
improvement. Before we go, let'stalk about shingles. You know, when
it comes to your roof, youget to ask a question, what's your

(21:02):
number? In other words, howmany times do you need to buy a
new roof before you're going to getone that can handle hail and wind and
all the stuff that we have todeal with here. Well, for me
it was four. I've been inmy house twenty years and I'm on my
fourth roof, mostly because of hail. I shouldn't say mostly all because of
hail. Now I've decided I'm goingwith a Class four shingle and that's going

(21:25):
that's the toughest on the market.I mean, it's really going to strengthen
it up where I don't have toworry about it. And the shingles I'm
going with, I'm gonna do ReviusShingles by f Wave. Gonna make a
huge difference on my deductibles that Igot to pay, but it also helps
with my insurance payments as well.Anyways, if you want to find out

(21:48):
more about these shingles, you needto go to our website t hipro dot
com and click on the link forRevius Shingles by f wave. Can you
helped us a long time ago whenI had a crack on the kitchen floor
that we kept having it repaired overand over again, and you said it
was the hot water line adjacent tothe dishor should that caused? And that's

(22:14):
exactly what it was. Cracks inyour floor are crack pot contractors at your
door. Jim Dunnan will fix themboth. Here he is on Texas Home
Improvement. Hey, welcome back toTexas Home Improvements. Seven one three,
two one two five eight seven four. When we left, I was talking

(22:34):
with Lyndy and Lindy there still I'mstill here, all right. So you're
gonna be building a barneminium. You'llhave about ten inches of space that you
can put insulation. You know,in new construction typically we only have three
and a half three and three quarters, you know, it's a three two

(22:56):
by four walls, and so we'regetting right now when we're using just like
fiberglass insulation is basically in our thirteeninsulation. With what you're doing, you'll
be able to put in in Rnineteen easily, and probably even more than
that if you want to use justregular fiberglass. But some of the other

(23:19):
choices you have would be to useeven a blown in insulation that can be
used to fill the cavity. Now, normally I don't recommend that in the
walls because over time it tends tosettle and you'd end up with packed insulation
in the bottom. And you know, three quarters of the way up the

(23:41):
wall on up is has no insulationas time goes on. So that's the
reason when you have so much spacelike that, I would recommend you start
taking a look at like the Rnineteen or or maybe even a little higher
fiberglass hype insulation. It'll have thepaper on it so you can nail it

(24:03):
to your or staple it rather tothe studs to hold it in place,
and that's gonna really help to makeyour house more energy efficient. But one
of the other things I would recommendyou do is a radiant barrier when we're
doing new construction. That way,radiant barriers can be put in both the

(24:25):
walls and the attics. And ifyou'll put that radiant barriers in first look
at the energy que radiant barrier.It comes in a four foot wide roll.
It's perforated so it's still breathable andyou can put that up and then
that insulation you will probably have anelectric bill that is just going to astonish

(24:47):
you because the radiant barrier stops theheat transfer and then the insulation is allowed
to do its job much better.So the radiant barrier would be up against
the hardy board. Yes, sir, if you use the energy queue,
because that's a multi layer system witha thermal brake, so it can actually
be sandwiched between building materials. Okay, would you not recommend any foam installation

(25:19):
you can, and if it wasa two by four stud wall, I
would recommend foam, But when youhave the kind of space that you have,
there's no reason to go with theadded expensive foam. A foam on
a two by four wall is typicallyonly going to give you an R twenty
four to twenty six anyways, andyou can accommodate that with accomplish that just

(25:45):
using the fiberglass with the kind ofspace you have. All right, how
about the ceiling. In the ceiling, you know you're typically going to be
looking for like an R thirty nine, R forty nine, anything in that
range. And there again go withback type insulation. It doesn't settle over

(26:07):
time, so Once you put itin, you're done all right. And
if I wanted to have storage inthe space above the first floor, the
batting would kind of get in theway of that, wouldn't it. It
does, it starts getting crushed downa little bit, unless you, you
know, put risers to raise yourdecking above it. But if you're gonna

(26:33):
want to do that, then whatI would typically recommend is go ahead,
and you still want to go withan R thirty nine minimum, again,
put the radiant barrier over the topof it, and then you can put
your plywood on top of that,and that keeps the heat that does get
into that attic space from getting downinto your insulation. My personal home,

(26:57):
I have about twenty five to thirtypercent of it that has no insulation.
What does have insulation is only aboutsix inches thick. And my electric bill
last month with all this heat we'vebeen having, was two hundred dollars and
I'm running a five ton unit.Would would you foam the bottom of a

(27:23):
metal roof? I typically would say, no, what are you going to
air condition the attic space that's open? I mean, if you want on
that you if you wanted to aircondition the attic space. Then yes,
you could put the insulation on theattic roof that way, and you don't

(27:48):
need insulation then between the living spaceand the attic, and so your plywood
can go straight down on top ofyour ceiling joist and you're good to go.
Okay, all right, Well,you give me some good ideas here.
We're in the construction or preconstruction phase, and I've got all kind of

(28:10):
flexibility on how I sure at thispoint the only thing I'm gonna tell you
is don't encapsulate the whole thing withfoam. You know, if you want
to use foam in the walls,use it, but then you need breathable
in the attic. If you wantto use foam in the attic, go
ahead and use it, but thenmake sure you use a breathable insulation in
the walls, because the biggest mistakewe make with our houses is when we

(28:33):
seal them up so tight. That'swhen they start growing mildew and stuff inside.
And you want to avoid that.Well, for what it's worth,
that is what the builder is recommending. Yeah, I know, it's easy
for him. It's one of thereasons why I called you. I just
the builder is recommending sort of afull encapsulation and then having a sort of

(28:56):
a fresh air system pulling in freshair to help keep the thing yep from
killing itself. Yeah, and Iwill say they're doing much better nowadays with
that than they used to do.But you're still now dependent on that fresh
air intake to avoid the sick homesyndrome. And if you are, you

(29:22):
know on our thirty nine is ourthirty nine. It doesn't matter what the
insulation is. And fiberglass is aheck of a lot cheaper than foam.
All right, Well, you gotme walking the straight and narrow here driving.
All right, Linda, you takecare and let us know how the
construction goes. Hey, let's talkabout Texas Remodel Team windows division. Yeah,

(29:48):
they have a complete windows division.Now, I've had Texas Remodel Team
on the show here for you know, over ten years, and they've always
done great work. Now, Ididn't typically talk about their window division,
but their window division they've been aroundfor years as well, and it is
amazing what they do because you know, sometimes you get into replacement windows and

(30:12):
there is rotten wood around it orsomething. Most window companies are gonna tell
you, Hey, sorry about that, but hey, I put those windows
in. I cocked it up againstthat rotten wood. So you'll be okay
for a while. No, notat Texas Remodel Team. They'll take they'll
be able to bring in the guysto take care of the rotten wood and
put the windows in the way they'resupposed to be done. When you want

(30:33):
to get it a great job,you call Texas Remodel Team Window Division two
eight one six one two fifty nineninety one. All right. You know
we talked about air conditioning from Duewest, but you know Due West is well
known for being a foundation repair company, and if you want your foundation fixed

(30:55):
right, you're gonna call dust FoundationRepair. I know there's a lot of
their companies out there, but didyou know a third of the foundation repair
companies go what a business every year? Do West is celebrating forty five years
of business this month. When youwant the best, you call due West
seven one three four seven three sevenone five six. Jim Dutton is not

(31:18):
perfect, but he's always right.Here's more with Jim on Texas Home Improvements.
Hey, welcome back to Texas FilmImprovement. Seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. Let'ssee Carla in Conro. How can I
help you? Yes, we're aboutto build a house, and I think

(31:44):
you answered my question with the othergentleman that was just on the line about
a phone house. Uh huh.My husband says, we're going to have
a phone house, and I'm concernedbecause I've heard of a six home sick
Holm syndrome. Yes, ma'am,and that is a real thing. I

(32:09):
love foam insulation in the walls whenyou're building your own regular stick construction,
because it gives you a great Rvalue. You cannot beat the R value
of foam. But in the atticspace, you know whether you're using foam
or fiberglass. Our thirty eight isour thirty eight. R forty five is

(32:29):
R forty five. It doesn't makeit any more energy efficient, but by
having a breathable insulation like fiberglass,you avoid that Sickholm syndrome. And that's
the reason I prefer to do itthat way. I got nothing against foam
insulation. I recommended all the time. It just has to be used with

(32:51):
common sense and encapsulating the whole houseis easy for the builders, but they
don't have to deal with the ramificationsof several years later when that little electric
motor on that flapper goes out andit's no longer drawing fresh air in through
the insulation system or through the airconditioning system. I'm sorry, uh,

(33:13):
And that's that's what causes the problem. So I just avoid it by having
the breathable insulation in the attic andthe the fiber the foam insulation in the
walls. Do you use the radiantbarrier also in the attic them along with
the fiberglass insulation, yes, ma'am. Yeah. In fact, if I'm

(33:36):
a building new, I'm gonna putit both in the walls an the attic.
Okay, even well, what ifyour foam in the walls, you
use a radiant barrier there also,you absolutely can. You can put it
either behind the sheet rock or behindyour siding. Either one you'll you'll get
better results by putting it behind thesiding because that it's less heat load in

(34:01):
the summer months on the insulation.Because all the R value is is giving
you a number. The higher thenumber, the longer it takes for the
heat to transfer through the insulation.And so if you have a radiant barrier
that's blocking the heat you don't haveas much that's trying to go through the

(34:21):
insulation. Okay, all right,well I will pass on that information.
Thank you so much. You're welcome. You take care again. A number
seven one three, two, onetwo five eight seven four Lorraine in wood

(34:42):
Forest. How are you today?I'm good, Jim. How are you?
I'm doing wonderful. How can Ihelp you? Well? Thank you
for taking my call. Like questionis, we've recently moved into a new
house with a three car tandem attachedgarage which is not insulated, and the
other day it was one hundred andsixteen degrees in the garage. We have

(35:05):
a refrigerator there which is not doingtoo well, so looking to see how
we could perhaps insulate the garage.We have a double metal door which we
were thinking of insulating. We havean attic space which is not insulated,
and we were also thinking about anexhaust fan on the roof. Well,

(35:30):
the best thing you brought up isthe exhaust fan, because if you put
insulation, you need an air conditionthe space otherwise what happens, you know,
Like I was just talking about,the higher the R number, the
longer takes heat to transfer through theinsulation. Well, what's combating it on
the other side in the summer monthsis the air conditioner. And if you

(35:53):
don't have air conditioned space, theinsulation just heats up and then it holds
that heat and starts releasing it atnight. And so instead of making the
garage more comfortable, it just dragsout the heating process longer. Oh wow,
okay. And so typically, ifyou're not gonna heat and cool it,

(36:15):
just use a radiant barrier and thatwill drastically change the temperature. I
can tell you I've got my metalbuildings that we use for our shop.
We put radiant barriers on it,and it is typically a fifteen degrees difference
between outside and inside the shop.It's it's literally like being under a shade

(36:37):
tree. So we would put theradiant barrier in the attic, yes,
ma'am. Uh huh okay. Andthen on those doors that you have,
they actually make radiant barriers foam orfoam bubble wrap like radiant barriers that you

(36:59):
can put on the doors, andthat that takes care of the heat transfer
from the doors as well. Thatwould be good because the sunrise is on
those doors. Oh yeah, Sowe can use the fan on the roof
and radiant barrier, yes, ma'am. Uh huh. And the radiant barrier

(37:20):
would go on the on the flooror on the roof, roof, put
it on the attic floor, atticfloor, okay, yep. And the
radiant barrier I recommend is called EnergyQueue and you can call them at one
eight hundred nine hundred sixty two twentysixty two. Perfect. Okay, Well,

(37:49):
thank you so much for your helpwith my husband. And I really
enjoy your show and really appreciate yourinformation. I appreciate your call. You
have a wonderful weekend. Thank youyou as well. But hey, we're
gonna take a quick break. We'llbe back with more Texas Home improvement again.
Seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. All right,

(38:27):
we've had this discussion about insulation nowgoing for good thirty minutes here and you
hear me say this all the time. I love foam insulation in the walls.
But what do you do if youhave an existing house? Can you
put foam in there? Absolutely?Call us a insulation. They have a
proprietary, non expansive foam they caninject right into the walls of your existing

(38:52):
home. You'll get the best ourvalue. It has a great fire rating
and cancels up the eighty percent ofthe noise as well. Call USA Insulation
at three four six two nine seventwenty eight hundred. That's three four six
two nine seven twenty eight hundred,and they're not going to try to sell

(39:13):
you foam in the attic. Ifyou need insulation in the attic, they're
going to use a breathable insulation upthere because they understand how this insulation works
and what common sense tells us.All Ah, Woodlands water Restoration. You
know, disasters happen. You getwater damage, you get fire, you

(39:35):
get oh Heaven forbid mold in thehouse, or worse you flood well Woodlands
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eight four five nine for Woodlands WaterRestoration. The only state where you eat

(40:00):
halloweenos to cool your mouth off.Welcome to Texas Summer. Here's more with
Jim Dutton on Texas Home Improvements.Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements.
Seven one three two one, two, five, eight, seven four,
Let's head out to Columbus. Lloyd. Welcome to Texas Home Improvement.

(40:22):
Hello, hello Lloyd? How canI? Hell? How are you doing?
Wonderful? I got a contract ona house. It's older and it's
got some wine that they've got conjunctionboxes. Uh huh, and they're not

(40:42):
covered. Does that Should I justput covers on them? Or I have
electrician come out or what? Well, it depends on the situation, but
they have Any time that there's wiresthat are connected, it has to happen
in a junction box. So ifthey're if the connections are in the junction
box and it just doesn't have acover on it, yeah, I just
add the cover. But you know, if if it's more than that,

(41:07):
you probably should have an electrician checkit. Okay. Does I know you
had a lot of insulation, butit also haslation, but a lot of
places it's missing. Yep. Doyou do you recommend just blowing insulation in
there because it there's no room toget in there and actually put barrats.

(41:32):
Yeah. If if you don't havethe room to get in to spread the
bats, then then use a blownin fiberglass insulation. Okay fiberglass, yep,
okay blowing fiberglass. Oh, plumbing. I'll tell you what, Lloyd,

(41:52):
that music means. I gotta takea break for news, traffick and
weather. I'm gonna put you onhold and I'll come back to you when
we come back with more or TexasHome Improvement, because we do have another
hour to go seven one three,two one two five eight seven four.
You know, American Standard Air ismy choice and air conditioners, and I

(42:14):
started using American Standard way back innineteen ninety eight, ninety nine on my
personal home and I'm still using themtoday now. My first one, it
was a single speed air conditioning system. I since moved from that home the
house i'm in now. Last yearI installed a variable speed. Now,
American Standard is nationally recognized for excellencefor performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction.

(42:40):
So you can take care of yourfamily all year long with American Standard
Air. In American Standard technology,it meets the ever changing Texas weather head
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going on. I can tell youthat variable speed I have truly control roles
to humidity levels better than anything I'veever used in the past. Invest wisely

(43:05):
and invest in the home comfort systemthat'll last you a long, long time.
Comfort the way you like It AmericanStandard Air dot Com. This is
probably gonna sound a little strange toyou. Texas Home Improvement is on the
air with your host, Jim dotThat's what I need to know. You
always give me the way to go, great observation. You got to be

(43:30):
on the radio. Well, thismight be the answer to my pros.
And I'm really glad I could talkto you. You're you're the smartest guy
noo and I'm mad there tall Jim. Now with all your home improvement questions
at seven one three two one twofive eight seven four. That's seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour Jaxon's Home Improvement brought to you by
Dust Services, Plumbing, Foundation Repairand air Conditioning Texas Remodeled Team Windows,

(43:52):
the official window company of Texas HomeImprovement. American Standards, Comfort the Way
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(44:15):
commercial rooping specialist, Woodland's Water Restoration, your hometown solution for property damage and
victors, remodeling and construction, partyplank Specialists, and now broadcasting live from
the Dutton Ranch, here's Jim dotHey. Welcome the Texas Home Improvement I

(44:37):
should say welcome back to Texas HomeImprovements since this is our two But if
you have a home improvement question,now's the KNT time to call. Seven
one three two one two five eightseven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four,and I'll see what I can do to
help you out here on Texas HomeImprovement. Don't forget about the website t

(45:00):
each eye pro dot com. It'sthere's a resource to help you out twenty
four seven. And we'll talk aboutthe website a little bit more later in
the show. But right now sevenone three two one two five eight seven
four, let's head straight back toher call with Lloyd and h Lloyd,
you had another question going, ActuallyI have two, but both are pretty

(45:22):
quick. Okay. Inspectively, didthe house said there's no water supply available
at the hose bib? But onthe outside of the house. I never
heard of that. Well, doesit have hose bibs outside? Yeah,
there's a hose bib there. He'sparting at it, but it just doesn't

(45:45):
turn on. Yes, or assumethat's what he meant. Yeah, I
would have to. I would haveto make that assumption. And my big
question is going to be why doesn'tit work? Is it just needs a
new host bibber? Or is thewater pipe cut off or something? Okay?

(46:06):
Is that the only Is that theonly one? Yeah, that's the
only one that he poke that up? Okay, then that would that that
actually would be something I would bringup with the seller to find out,
Hey, why isn't this thing working? Okay? Gotcha? The other quick

(46:27):
question is it has a I callit the air handler. Uh, the
heating unit is a hall claw hallwaycloset. Okay, And it's very very
noisy. Is this possible to putit up in the attic? In most
cases? Yes, it's going todepend on how much room you have in
the attic, though. You know, if you got a really low pitched

(46:50):
through, if it don't fit,yeah, well all the new ones laid
down flat, so correct this ones up so maybe I have to have
a new one. Well, evensome of the ones that stand up can
lay flat is so you'd have tohave the ac tech look at it to
see if that's one that they coulduse in the attic or if you'd have
to change it. Okay, andone other quickie, do y'all go to

(47:17):
Columbus, Texas? Absolutely? Ohokay, cool, I'm not good y'all
to come out and give me abit on the air and other stuff.
Okay, that'd be great. Iappreciate it. You bet you take care
you two fat again her number sevenone three two one two five eight seven

(47:42):
four, Melinda, thank you forholding. How can I help you?
I have a question about my tilesin my home. They're cracked and they're
somewhat perpendicular to the front of thehouse going toward the back of the house.
Okay, ceramic tiles, and thegrout is also separating. The tile

(48:05):
hasn't separated enough that I could pullit up and see what's underneath it.
I've had three foundation companies, reputablebull come out and look and they said
there's no foundation problem. Okay,man, I'm surprised. I'm surprised you
got that out of three different companies, me too, in this, in
this in the foundation repair industry.Look, there's a lot of things that

(48:30):
can cause those cracks. How bigan area do you have tiled in the
home, primarily all of it?Okay, say two thousand square feet.
Yeah, And here's the thing.The bigger the area of tile, the
more likely it is that it's goingto have a crack like that. Because
all concrete cracks by nature. Wehave steel in it to hold it together

(48:53):
when it cracks, But what causesit is the expansion and contraction of the
concrete with the temperature and moisture changeswe have. And so the larger area
of tile you have, the morelikely you are you went over one of
those cracks, and that crack willtransfer through to the tile, you know,

(49:15):
if you have it repaired, theymake a mast stick that has elasticity
to it so that as the asthe concrete expands and contracts, it doesn't
pass that crack right through to thetile. Again, they also make mats
that you can put down under thetile that span over the cracks in order

(49:37):
to avoids having the crack through thetile as well. So there are options
of how to handle it. Butyeah, if you've had three companies tell
you that you don't have a foundationissue, I absolutely would take that as
you don't have one. But whileI continue to have cracks, I can.

(49:59):
I can fi the three cracks Ihave now, but then I'm going
to get more cracks in between.Not necessarily, because like I said,
it's it's normally the expansion and contractionof the concrete underneath, and that's normally
going to happen in just that spotthat has cracked, and it'll continue to

(50:20):
expand and contract just right there.Okay, those cracks are are in three
different rooms. Yes, because youhave a large area of tile. Yeah,
yeah, okay. And is itpossible that they didn't float the tile
when they put it in? Oh, that's very possible. I mean,
if the floor was fairly flat,there was no reason to float it.

(50:42):
M the floating. The floating isonly done in order to make it level.
So if it's if it's already level, you know, doesn't have waves
in it up and down, thenthere's no reason to float it. Okay.
I thought that also helped prevent thecracks. No, it No,
it doesn't do anything. We helpedthat. Okay, that's very helpful.

(51:06):
Thank you so much. You're welcome. You take care. Thank you and
again our number seven one three,two one two, five eight seven four
Jim in Spring Branch, Welcome toTexas Home Improvement. Thank you. I've
got to hope hopefully a weird questionfor you. Now, why would you

(51:28):
want a weird question? Well,wait till I tell you. Fifteen years
ago, I had my house leveltwenty four hundred square foot brick house on
a slab and everything. And nowsome doors are getting a little sticky,
but that's because of the draft.I think. Worried about that. But
I've got a new problem about twothree four weeks ago. It's on the

(51:53):
north side of the house. Theslab is about six inches above the ground
and along the front of the househour bus of az Alia Bushesn't you know
we got a soaker was on it. Well, a couple of times ago
we used a soaker hose, andall of a sudden, little later,
I'm in the room where I wassitting at the computer room. In there

(52:14):
in the rug about five feet fromthe wall or four feet waters coming up
soaking the rug. So something's soakingit up and bringing you know, water
didn't go up here all that easily, right, So what is going on?
And can I just get some kindof a loom sheets or something that

(52:35):
two feet thick or something to shovedown in front of the house or well,
I guess my first question is howmuch? How much? How often
are you watering? Every time?My wife yells at me? All right,
are you forgetting to turn the wateroff and just leaving it on?

(52:58):
H I leave it on maybe maybemax once our max and then it's a
little bit water away from the plantsout in the front yard, but not
a float or anything. Okay,Yeah, if you're just leaving it on
for for an hour, like yousaid, that's not what's causing the issue.

(53:20):
There can be other things that causeit though, like uh, sewer
lines that get leaks in them cancause all the store lines are in the
back of the house, not nearthis, and all the water pipes are
way over the other side of thehouse. Okay, I don't get anything

(53:43):
they're leaking, but yeah, thefurthest the closest store pipe would be about
twenty feet twenty five feet to abathroom. Okay, it's the other way,
and it's a home in spring branch, Yes, sir. Do you
know how spring Branch got its name? Uh? No, I've been here

(54:05):
in this house for fifty five years. Yeah. Well, but something could
have changed that that's allowed one ofthose springs to pop up there if there's
been any construction around the home orand I don't mean on your property.
I mean it could be something thatwas three four doors away that changed the

(54:28):
underground water flow. It can actuallyhappen. I'm not saying that's what's causing
this, but how much water areyou having to come up? Oh?
Just maybe on the rug maybe?Yeah, twelve fifteen inch circle and line,
just a paper towel and stop itup and put a fan on it

(54:50):
and a couple of days later it'sdrive and you can't keep doing that the
whole or something right away. Andit's not a sunken living room, which
the the house is flat, correct, yes, sir? Okay, Well,
it's not that we don't see this, but here's the things to start

(55:12):
looking at. Because of the ageof the home. The first thing that
you have to look for is outside. Are there any areas that have low
spots that can hold water when itrains? And I understand we haven't been
having rain, but that's going tobe the first thing to look at.
The second thing to look at ishow much of the foundation is actually showing.

(55:35):
You know, normally what we're lookingfor is three or four inches of
the foundations showing below the brick coming. I've got six inches. Okay,
you've got something with static pressure.Then that's pushing up. Now, concrete
does wick water, but in orderfor it to go up that high,
you've got to have something that's givingit static pressure, that's pushing it through

(55:59):
there to go up six inches thatway. I wonder if the azaleabush just
do anything at roots have come underneathnow that a root system shouldn't shouldn't be
doing this. There's got to besome type of water source. Something has
changed in the in the drainage,in the flow of moisture through the soil.

(56:23):
Something has changed somewhere, right,I agree, it's just one to
one. I actually the people thatleveled the house, they haven't. I
got an appointment for them to comelook at it. But it's anyway,
so I thought, hey, I'llcall you and see which the thoughts were.
Yeah, yeah, something has definitelychanged to do that, because if

(56:45):
you've got you know, if yourslab is elevated that much above the ground,
Uh, there's got to be sometype of static pressure that is pushing
the moisture through. How old thehouse is it built in the nineteen sixty
two, had the cast iron pipeshas been changed yet? No, I'm

(57:07):
very careful about when it gets cold, dreaming everything and no I'm talking.
I'm talking to sewer pipes under thehouse. When I when they leveled the
house, they went and did apressure test, Uh huh and they found
no leagues there. Yeah, butthat was you said fifteen years ago.

(57:28):
Yeah, I will bet you moneythat's where it's gonna be. Okay,
well i'll have that. They'll comeout and check it out, I guess.
And yeah, yeah, get astatic test on check to see.
But I'm betting that's where it's atbecause pretty much anything right now from the
sixties that has cast iron pipes nolonger holds. It's just they have lived

(57:52):
their life cycle at this point.Yeah, a few months ago, the
kitchens think plugged up and I haveto get all new pipes and everything done
for twelve thousand dollars. Yep,that wasn't up to code. Yeah,
well coach's changed since then as well. But jem, I really I believe
that's what your problem is going tobe, as your cast iron sewer pipes

(58:14):
are probably shot at this point.Okay, well, I appreciate the inputs
and I'll try to blame it onthe tooth ferry maybe. All right,
good luck with that one, andI probably wouldn't look for the dollar under
my pillow tonight. Okay, thankyou sir, have a good weekend you
two by bye. And look,if you're having that type of issue,

(58:37):
due West, we replace sewer pipeslike that all the time, so yes,
we're very accustomed to seeing this.By all means, feel free to
give us a call. Seven onethree four seven three seven one five six.
Let's talk about James Hardy Siding.If you're looking for siding for your
home, why would you not lookfor the best siding, the one that's

(59:00):
going to give you the best curbappeal and make your home look gorgeous.
And that's exactly what James Hardy Sidingis going to do for you. On
top of that, you don't haveto worry about bugs eating it. It's
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It's just the best way to sideyour home. And you know what

(59:21):
cement type siding like that, itrivals as far as getting increase on your
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else you want siding for your home. Take a look at James Hardy Siding.

(59:45):
Go to thhipro dot com and clickon the link to James Hardy Siding.
Oh, let's talk about replacement windows. And if you're looking for replacement
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(01:00:35):
I can lava, it wouldn't matteranyway, because I have a pet stays
so well. The cold was christedBay. Go ahead, drink it in,
goes down smooth. This is TexasHome Improvement with Jim Dotton. They

(01:01:00):
welcome back to Texas Home Improvement.Seven one three, two one two five
eight seven four. Susie in SantaFe, Welcome to seven forty KTRH.
How can I help you? Letme know if I need to take you
off his spickerphone, it would help. Okay. So I have a property

(01:01:21):
in New Boston, Texas, whichis outside of Textra, Canada. Or
I bought for my sister, butI own it. And when I bought
it, we knew it had somefoundation problems and they they weren't quite honest
about things. But anyway, whenI'm at a point now where it's sinking,
I've got to do something about it. And I'm a little nervous with

(01:01:47):
contracting someone I don't know, andI knew that I was going to get
advice from you guys, but maybeI just fend out. Y'all might have
someone close enough that y'all would comegive me a quote. I do work
in Texarkana all the time. Ohyou do? So this is New Boston,
into small town seventeen miles west oftexture Canna. Okay, yep,

(01:02:15):
that's not a problem at all.Okay, Well, how do I go
about getting you Alado giving me yourquote? Just call the office and our
call center will set it up foryou. Oh man, that's awesome.
And you can call the local officebecause honestly, I've got a call center

(01:02:35):
in our office that answers for allmy locations, and so the number you
can call it is just the sevenone three four seven three seven one five
six. I will do that.I appreciate it very much. And for
Texarcana, it would be somebody comingout of my Dallas office. Okay,
okay, Well, let's said thishas been going on, and I said

(01:02:59):
there was a lot of things thatend up having to be fixed at that
house, and I thought I hadtime, but she says it's sinking.
Yeah, so there could be aleak underneath. Call it's in it to
sink quicker. Yeah, Well,the durrount has actually been worse up there
than here, and that's just whinghave it. And she smells a sewer
smeil. Now, oh yeah,that's that's a different thing. Then yep.

(01:03:22):
Okay, so I need to doI can't wait any longer. Sure,
okay, yeah, we can definitelyget you taken care of. Oh
perfect, Okay, we'll call theoffice on Monday. Thank you, ma'am,
Thank you so much. Bye bye. And that's the du West Foundation
Repair Plumbing an air Conditioning office.You can call seven one three four seven

(01:03:46):
three seven one five six. Gottatake a quick break for news, traffic
and weather here on seven forty ktreeights. Then we'll come back with more
Texas home improvement. And again,don't forget about our website, t hipro
dot com. It's airs a resourceto help you out. Twenty four seven.

(01:04:17):
You know, American standard heating andair conditioning systems have been around for
a lot longer than people realize.I know. I put my first one
in my home back in ninety eight, and I've been using American Standard ever
since. I love those systems.They're nice and quiet there, they perform
really well. They're just great systems. Now, the house I live in

(01:04:41):
I have a variable speed that youcan't beat. I mean humidity control,
temperature control. It's just got theworks for you. But American Standard uh,
you know, it's nationally recognized forexcellence for performance, reliability, and
customer satisfaction. So take care ofyour family all year long with American Standard

(01:05:02):
Air. In American Standard technology,it meets the ever change in Texas weather
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the way you like it. AmericanStandard Air. If you're fixing to fix

(01:05:30):
something, Jim Dutton's fixing to tellyou how to fix it. This is
is Home Improvements. Hey, welcomeback to Texas Home Improvement seven one three,
two, one two five eight sevenfour. We're gonna head straight back

(01:05:50):
to the calls Lily in Spring.How can I help you today? Hi,
Jim, I have a water problem. I guess some time ago.
I noticed that it's been quite awhile. We had just moved into this
house, and I noticed that thewater in the my sink in my vanity

(01:06:15):
had a strange smell to it,kind of a moldy smell, but it
wasn't very strong. I didn't kindI just ignored it. I didn't think
it was no big deal. Butit has since then, it has gotten
stronger and stronger, and I thinkI need someone to come and test it

(01:06:35):
and let me know what to do. And you know, I don't understand.
I don't know what it is,whether it's the pipes or is it
only happening on the one sink.Uh it was at the beginning, and
now I can tell it's it's comingin through some of the other sinks in

(01:06:57):
the house. Also, let metell you this, I have a water
softener, uh huh. And Ineglected to add the salt pellets to it,
and I finally did go get some. And as I was opened it
up to put the salt in there, I noticed I had no salt in
there whatsoever. Right, And itwas all the way down to the bottom.

(01:07:19):
And I don't know what if there'ssupposed to be a pan or something
inside there, but it looked likeit was just sitting on the ground.
And as soon as I opened it, I could smell dirt, you know,
the earth, right, And soI went ahead and filled it up
anyway, And so I thought,did that have anything to do with it?

(01:07:40):
The fact that now I can smellthat same smell through out the water,
that definitely will because the way thewater softener works, what the salt
does is you know that tank thatnext this, next to the salt canister
that has beads in it, andthe salt is you to clean those beads.

(01:08:00):
And so when it's going through itscycle to clean those beads, it
doesn't have the salt to clean it. And all it's happening is the water's
going in and getting that kind ofmusty smell out of your holding reservoir where
the salt should have been, andnow those beads have that on it instead

(01:08:21):
of being cleaned with the salt.I see, Now here's what I would
do before I did how long agoyou add salt, but a week ago?
Okay, most of the systems youcan go out, hit a button
and tell it to go ahead andgo through a cleansing process. I would

(01:08:44):
do that before I did anything else, because what may happen is that may
go through clean up the beads andstuff, and then that may take care
of the odor issue that you're havingas far as throughout the house when it's
isolated at one sink like it originallywas. Normally, what's causing that is

(01:09:05):
dissimilar metals touching each other. Inother words, it may have copper coming
in at one place and a gallanizedpipe was tied to the copper, and
those dissimilar metals will actually cause thewater to get an odor in it.
Let's see, well I did whenI had my shower redone. I noticed

(01:09:30):
that my pipes are copper throughout thehouse, right, So that's another thing.
I thought, well, maybe it'sthe copper pipes they're causing it.
Now, the copper pipes themselves wouldn'tdo it. It would have to be
another type of metal mixed in withthe copper pipes too for that to be

(01:09:54):
happening. So that would but Iwould start first, like I said,
by one, getting the UH systemto cycle through and clean everything up.
Two, the are you smelling onboth the cold and hot water side?
Yes, I am before just comein through the hot and I thought,

(01:10:15):
well maybe the water heater, right, That's that was going to be My
next suggestion is to have that analdrod checked because if it's if it's just
the hot water side, then it'slikely in the water heater itself, and
the anal drod would normally take careof that. What is that it's a
it's a rod so that when thereare dissimilar metals touching each other, it

(01:10:36):
doesn't let it eat away at themetals. It's it's a sacrificial rod,
a piece of metal that that deterioratesinstead of everything else. And who would
know about that? Plumber? Ohokay, so I would have to call
it plumber, yes, ma'am uh, and they would you know that's the

(01:11:00):
that's happening, sure, because likeI said it, even it would smell,
yeah, even before I got thewater softener put in. Yeah,
yeah, I think there is ametal you know, the similar metal problem
somewhere in there. So it's possiblethat maybe the water softener it may not
be causing this, but maybe wellI think the I think the smell that

(01:11:24):
you're getting everywhere now is probably throughthe water softener just because it wasn't being
cleansed, right, But the restof it, uh, you know,
going through that one faucet there,No, I think that's dissimilar metals.
I see I see. Okay,so I should get the water heater check
first with the plumber, correct,get cycle your water softener system first,

(01:11:45):
okay, then then you can dealwith the plumber. And if you want
to talk with my master plumber,Alton, give him a call and he'd
probably be able to help you outwith this. At the four seven three
seven one five six, yes,ma'am, okay, I wrote that down
during okay, someone else was talking, okay, and that's your master plumber,

(01:12:05):
right, yes, ma'am, okay, and uh uh. As far
as the water softener, do Icall the people that installed it for me?
Or you can y'all have somebody alsothat no, all, you can
probably help you with that as wellif he if he's familiar with your brand.
But otherwise you can call the peoplewho installed it, okay, because

(01:12:30):
it's only it's been about I thinkjust six years ago that I had it,
and oh yeah yeah, so itshould still be good. It just
needs probably just needs some service workdone on it. Okay, okay,
okay, thank you very much.You're welcome. Take care and let's head
to Sagemont and Michael, this isJim. How can I help you?

(01:12:53):
It's Michelle, I'm sorry, that'sokay. I was listening to you on
my home and I heard you speakingwith Melinda about her and tile that was
cracking. Okay. I don't havethat issue, but I want to put
luxury vinyl down. And I havea two thousand square foot house, okay,

(01:13:16):
And I'm like, oh, becauseI want to put it all throughout
the house. So would I havethat problem with luxury vinyl, No,
ma'am. Eventually possibly, No,no, because the luxury vinyl has give
to it and it and it'll it'll. Are you doing the glue down or
the floating? I don't know yetwhich would you Which would you suggest?

(01:13:39):
I'm putting floating and got it yet, I'm putting floating in my own house
right now, okay? And howsick would you do it? Oh?
It comes into set thickness, Soyou don't have Yeah, you don't have
choices. No, but I meanI'm looking at it or sometimes six millimeters

(01:14:00):
or five millimeters. Yeah, that'sgonna be the surface, and the thicker
the better. If you go overto Floren to Core, you know you
got one. Yeah, you gotthat one right there. But I'll meet
them all and take a look weput uh, let's see which one.

(01:14:24):
I put Aqua Gard in my son'shouse and in my house we're using the
uh oh shoot begins with an enduh newcre new Core thank you, Yeah,
because that's what I've been looking athis new Core. Yeah. And
the difference is Aqua Guard has alot of them that do have a thin

(01:14:45):
wood surface, so it's a truewood. New Core is all vinyl.
Great for water. I see.Uh so that's read and I put it
in my house. But yeah,you won't have any problems with that.
Okay, yeah, you're yeah,so I know those slabs are a little

(01:15:06):
bit wavy, so you'll still endup putting some floor leveler in there to
level it out before you do it. Okay, Yeah, my house was
built in sixty seven. Yes,man, I used to live in Sage
months so so yeah, okay,Well that's good to know. Alrighty,
you take care you bye bye,and I got to take a quick break

(01:15:29):
here. We'll be right back withmore Texas homeproven. But let's talk about
sunburst shutters. You know, ifyou're looking for shutters for your home,
the best selling plantation shutters in Americaare Pollywood shutters from Sunburst Shutters. Now
Pollywood gives you that rich look offine wood shutters without wood's inherent problems.
It performs better, lasting far longerthan traditional wood shutters and insulating up to

(01:15:53):
seventy percent more efficiently. Pollywood shuttersare also guaranteed not to chip, crack,
warp, or split. But everythingat Sunburst Shutters is designed to last
longer and look better and outperform allother products on the market. And yes,
I do have these in my home. Love my Sunburst shutters. You
will too. Everybody that sees themare going to love them and ask you

(01:16:14):
where you got them. Just tellthem you got them from Sunburst Shutters.
Seven one, three, eight nine, six eighty one fifty due West air
Conditioning. Yes, air conditioning anddue West do go hand in hand.
We've we've had a full air conditioningbranch for years already. And you know
what in September, d West isselling, You're selling celebrating our forty fifth

(01:16:38):
year in business. In fact,we're having a party on September twenty three
for that. But you know,if you're needing a company that you can
trust is going to be there totake care of all your needs. You
need due West air Conditioning. Callus at seven one three four seven five
zero zero zero four. There ain'tnothing he don't know about home improvement,

(01:17:09):
stinking smarter like here's Jim Dutton onTexas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome back
to Texas Home Improvement, your totalhome improvement source. Let's head out to
Trinity and Dayton. How are youtoday? Doing well? Thanks for taking
my college him my pleasure. I'vegot a three tank septic system. It's

(01:17:30):
an aerobic and my trash tanks.The first tank keeps going up. It's
the second time I've pumped it intwo years. Is that normal? Not
at all? Okay, So itjust keeps going up all the way and
then causing a backup into the houseand something that was normal or not.
No, it's not. I meansomething has either gotten in there. Uh.

(01:17:54):
You know. Some of the thingsthat can cause this type of problem
is if it and I to saythis, but if you get a hole
in it and dirt fills in there, you can have this kind of problem.
But other things that can cause itis somebody putting stuff in or they
shouldn't be putting in. Yeah,no, it's a it's a newer home
it's only ten years old. Whenwe had to pump the second time by

(01:18:15):
the same company, they taught usto stop using red X and use a
sour butter milk if we can oncea year. So I'm wondering if it's
the enzyme breaking it down. Butbut you said, this is a an
aerobic system, right, Yeah,it's a three tank system, yes,
said okay, because I have anaerobic system in my house, and you

(01:18:35):
know, I have it service quarterlylike you're supposed to. I don't add
anything. When I had a septictank, I had to add for because
all those microbes you add and stuffare for the leech fields. But when
it's an aerobic system where it's youknow, sprinkling out, you don't need
to do that, okay. InterestYeah, it's just it's like I said,

(01:19:00):
because we asked the tank cleaners andthey're like, every septic is unique.
Sometimes it's once a year for theircustomers. Sometimes yeah, ten years.
It just kind of depends on howyour system operates. It does,
but I've never heard of one havingto be done as often as you just
said. Yeah. Yeah, thisis the second time we've lived there forty
years. Pumped it in twenty oneand then just pumped it again. So

(01:19:20):
it was all the way to thetop two now and how many people are
in the house now it's down totwo. At one point it was three
and four. Okay, well maybethree and four took their problem with them.
Maybe can grow up. You knowhow it goes, Jim, take

(01:19:40):
it easy by Yeah. Let's seehere Brad in Kingwood, how can I
help you? Hey, Jim,I've got a question on you. See,
so I've done of units about fourfour to five years old. H
and this summer, with this unbearableheat, every time we have a power

(01:20:05):
surge, the compressor freezes up.Is there something wrong with that AC or
is that just it's overworked. Whenyou say freezes up, is it getting
ice on it or just locking itup? What I mean is it blows
hot air as soon as soon asit we have a power surge, okay,
t yep, you're having to turnit off and reset it. So

(01:20:29):
what you need to get is asurge protector because wherever you're at, and
this happens in different places differently becauseof the way the power grid is,
you're getting a power surge that's trippingthe switches. In it and you're having
to power it down to reset everythingback to normal and get a surge protector

(01:20:50):
put on. They're not all thatexpensive and that should clear this problem up.
Is that a surge protector on theAC because I have one on my
election box. Is it doing thisAC system as well? Sure? Sure,
hope it was. Doesn't sound likeit. You may want to get

(01:21:11):
that checked out because it's either notworking right or that particular circuit's not included
on it. Very good, Verygood. I have one other quick question
if you got time, If youdon't mind, let me take this quick
break and I'll come right back toyou and we'll finish out Texas All Improvement
the hour with you. Hey,let's talk about ready seal real quick.

(01:21:38):
If you're, you know, puttingin a new fence or even have an
old fence, you want to cleanit up and keep it looking gorgeous.
A deck dock, any type ofwood ready seal, wood, stain and
sealer is all in one. Youcan add color and seal the wood from
moisture in one easy step, andcombining the stain and sealer eliminates extra costs

(01:22:00):
because it saves time during the application. But it stills producing a high end
quality finish every time, stain andseal with no cracking, chipping, flaking,
peeling. It just plane looks gorgeousAnd if you're looking for a way
to protect all the wood around yourhome, you need to take a look
at Ready Seal is made here inTexas. It's family owned, family run

(01:22:23):
business, and you can find itat the box stores like Lowsenholme Depot,
hardware stores, lumber yards. Virtuallyany place it sells building materials carries Ready
Seal. But if you want tofind a store nearest you just go to
ready seal dot com. You knowyou've heard me say this for years.
When it comes to insulation, foamworks best in the walls, and when

(01:22:44):
it comes to putting it into yourwalls, you need to call USA Insulation.
They have a proprietary non expansive foamthey can inject right into the walls
of existing homes. You'll get thebest our value. It has a great
fire rating and cancels up to eightypercent of the noise as well. Call
three four, six, two,nine, seven, twenty eight hundred.

(01:23:05):
If you want to check them outonline, go to our website thhipro dot
com and click on the link forU s a installation. We're back to
Texas Home improvement. Home improvement advice, tips and information for you and your
mama. Here's Jim dot and welcomeback, Brad. You're gonna be the

(01:23:31):
last call of the day. Howcan I what was your second question?
So I've reached out to two RadiantBarrier and it seems like they only tell
the product. Is there anybody thatinstalls that product? I gotta be honest,
I don't know if the who theinstallers are. Yeah, yeah,

(01:23:58):
because I always put it in myself. I don't know. I'm a little
too old to get up there anddo it myself. I get it.
I have two sons. I shouldn'tsay I install it. They have done
the last two places for me.Oh good for you? All right,
sounds good, good, All right, take care, Brad k And with

(01:24:20):
that being said, we're at theend of the show. I do want
to remind you t hipro dot com. It's there's a resource to help you
out twenty four seven. While you'rethere, sign up for our newsletter.
It goes out free of charge everyother week. And of course that's where
you'll find the ask Jim button.But it's full of resources. I mean,

(01:24:41):
you've got links to the people youhear me talk about. There's questions
and answers and videos and all thisstuff to help you out. So again
t H I pro dot Com,don't forget Tomorrow two o'clock right here on
seven forty KTRH, we'll have anotherhour of Texas Home Improvement. All before

(01:25:23):
we go, let's talk about WoodlandsWater Restoration. You know, when disaster
happens, water damage, fire,flood, mold, you just got a
lot of different things that can happen. You need a company you can trust,
and in the Houston area turns ofthe restoration experts at Woodlands Water Restoration.
I've used their services several times.In fact, when we're coming up

(01:25:45):
on Rodeo, we start the hadthe parade today, we start the cook
off next weekend. That's actually howI started with Woodlands Water Restoration was through
the passing Livestock Show and Rodeo.They came in and did some clean up
work force and I've been using theirservices ever since. In fact, I
recommend them through Due West as wellif you need any of their services.

(01:26:08):
Again, deal with the insurance companydoing the build. Back water fire,
flood mold doesn't matter. Call WoodlandsWater Restoration two eight, one, five,
seven, six, eight, four, five nine