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February 4, 2024 83 mins
On today's show, Jim takes some calls about cracking foundation and moisture in the walls. Afterwards, Ryan from USA Insulation calls in to provide some additional expertise and advice.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:00):
This is probably gonna sound a littlestrange to you. Texas Home Improvement is
on the air with your host,Jim. 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
president. I'm really glad I couldtalk to you. You're the smartest guy,

(00:20):
and I mean there. Call Jimnow with all your home improvement questions.
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four. That's seven
one three, two, one two, five eight seven four. Taxa's Home
Improvement broughts you by US Services Plumbing, Foundation, Repair and air Conditioning.
Texas Remodel Team Windows, the officialwindow company of Texas Home Improvement. American

(00:41):
Standards, Comfort the way you likeit, Jane's Hardy Sighting the best sighting
on the planet. USA Insulation WallPhone insulation for existing homes, Ready seal
stain and sealer floor in the core, Sunburst Shutters where beauty meets energy efficiency.
Guardian roof Systems, Residential and marcialroofing Specialist, Woodland's Water Restoration,

(01:03):
your hometown solution for property damage andVictor's Remodeling and Construction Party Plank specialists and
now broadcasting live from the Done Ranch. Here's Jim dot Hey, welcome to
Texas Home Improvement. Your total homeimprovement SOUR is seven one three two one

(01:25):
two five eight seven four. That'sseven one three two one two five eight
seven four. Any home improvement questionyou have, feel free to pick up
the phone and give me a calland I'll see what I can do to
help you out here on Texas HomeImprovement. Also, don't forget about our
website, tchipro dot com. It'sfull of helpful information. There links to

(01:48):
the people you hear me talk about. There's questions and answers, and videos
and copies of the TV show.There's the podcast, there is uh the
newsletter. Everything is there at tiprodot com as well as if you scroll
all the way down to the bottom, look to the lefters you ask Jim
button where you can send in emailquestions as well. Again, that's all

(02:10):
available at thipro dot com. Well, we are once again out at the
fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo,but we're still here to take calls and
answer questions. So if you dohear a little bit of background noise,
don't worry about it. Uh,it's just people passing by. It's the
last day of the fort Worth StockShow on Rodeo. It guess the next

(02:34):
big one will be the Houston LivestockShow on Rodeo. Can't remember. Maybe
San Antonio comes first, But nonetheless, this is where we're at today.
So again, if you got aquestion seven one three two one two five
eight seven four, and I'll seewhat I can do to help you out
here on Texas Home Improvements your totalhome Improvement source. Uh, look,

(02:59):
I know we've had a little bitof weather. You know, the weather
will come and go. A lotof people start questioning should they keep their
foundation watering systems going? Yes,you should. You do it year round
in the winter months. Even thoughwe got a little rain. You're playing
catch up from the summer, especiallythis past summer with their drought situations we

(03:21):
had and getting the soil ready fornext summer. So keep that in mind.
With that, man said, let'shead to our first call of the
afternoon. Fred. This is Jim. How can I help you? Hello?
Fred, Hey, good morning,rocher. I'm sure if you're enjoying
a good day, oh absolutely,well, how can I help you?

(03:46):
I'm one of these people that wasn'tprepared to write anything down. You were
talking to a lady about attic insulationa few days ago and you were telling
her about something cue something which itwas some kind of a sandwich material.
Yeah, it's a radiant barrier andit's called energy Q energy Q yep.

(04:10):
Where would I'll get a quote onthat? Uh, I'm gonna give you
two ways. One you can goto my website thhipro dot com and uh
there's a link there to them ifyou want to call them directly. It's
one eight hundred, nine hundred sixtytwo twenty one and sixty two twenty yep,

(04:35):
sixty two two zero. And I'mgoing to find well, I can
either one of you give me aquote on that. If you call,
they'll be able to help you outwith it. Yeah, okay, okay,

(04:55):
sounds like I did product. Soit's a great product. I've been
using it for twenty plus years already. Well, I'm in an old house
and it's a atic just you know, lose fill and it's compressed yep.
So I need to seek it upthere you go, Thank you, Greg,
You take care. I have agood weekend. Get some time off,

(05:17):
buddy, you know, I'm kindof thinking I might try that tomorrow.
Yeah, once in a while anyway, but you know, you know
how the song goes though, tomorrownever comes. But I'm trying. Yeah,
the best lead plans of mine.Some men. That's it, Take
care, thank you and again ournumber seven one three two one two five

(05:42):
eight seven four, And I'll seewhat I can do to help you out.
We're in head down to clear Lake. Ben. This is a gym.
How can I help you? Hey, uh, good morning or good
afternoon. The water line that goesfrom our meter on the street to our
house, which is maybe fifty feetthere's a one inch PVC line and so

(06:03):
far being here twenty years, it'scracked at a fitting three times. And
say fitting or different fittings. Theseare different fittings. Like first of okay,
there's a transition from the PVC tothe copper right which is pretty close
to the house, and that's thatone time. That was the first time

(06:26):
that thread cracked. But there's acouple there's a couple elbows in there because
the line that comes from the watermeter, actually the one inch is in
like a two inch PVC sleeve upto maybe ten foot or eight foot from
the house and then it comes outand then there's a little bit of a

(06:48):
the elbow up and elbow and tothe copper because it's at a different sort
of angle in a different height,so it doesn't in that unit that elbow
has cracked. Okay, thinking betweenthe house and the line, there's some
maybe some stretching or or changes goinglike it's pulling some stress, and I'm

(07:12):
just wondering if putting it back in, should I put some kind of like
a maybe like a U shape togive it some to relieve the stress,
allow us to pull and push whenwhen you know the I think with the
dry summer combined with the drying outof the soil and shrinkage, and then
this rain we had last couple ofweeks, a lot of rain. Maybe

(07:33):
it did a number on the groundand that it does. Yeah, that
our soils when it dries out,they shrink. When it gets wet,
it'll expand again, but not quiteas much as it was before. But
you get a lot of up anddown movement of the soil. You're really
not getting lateral where it's moving sideto side. It's it's it's typically up

(07:53):
and down movement that does the damage. Okay, so that maybe that that's
pulling pushing up on the fittings thenyeah, yeah, yeah, so it's
it's probably is it better just haveone straight line if possible, then having
little elbows and things in there.Well, an anytime that you have an

(08:20):
elbow, you have you know,any type of fitting. Uh, you
have a place that's subject to break. You are usually better with just straight
pipe than you are with fittings.So as much as possible, you want
to avoid the fittings. Okay,Uh, what I would look at,
you know, if it keeps happeningdown the road, which you may want

(08:45):
to look at is replacing it witha pex line. And you know that'll
that'll take the up and down movementof the soil. Uh. It can
expand and contract and all that stuffwithout breaking. Uh. And you wouldn't
have to have any fittings anywhere otherthan where it ties on to where the
meter is and ties on to wherethe valve is going into the house.

(09:11):
Can this one section which is betweenwhere the copper is and then that two
inch sleeve it goes around the waterline, it's about I know five feet
five feet Could that just could Ijust put texts right there? It's a
short absolutely, yep, okay,okay, all right, well thank you,

(09:33):
you bet you take care. Thanksagain. Our number one seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. That's seven one three two one
two five eight seven four ron.Welcome to seven forty k t H.

(09:54):
How can I help you? Hi? I have some moisture up in my
attic. When I was going upto the to the attics the opening and
the attic is right by the hallbathroom and we have a floored decking there,
and I pulled the decking up thatI could see that some of the

(10:18):
plywood was damp. And that's also, of course, where the water lines
go, but there was no moistureon it on the water lines up there.
It's over the shower and the ashe said, the beams were kind

(10:43):
of blackish. And I have afan up there in the attic, and
so I've just been leaving it onfor the last couple or three days and
it's not blackish anymore. But Iwanted to see if there was somebody who
would come out and see if thewood is damaged and get that moisture out.
I do have a a fan ofcourse in the bathroom and it is

(11:05):
lined out to somewhere. Yeah,you sent me an email I did,
Yeah, I saw it this morning. Here we go. You know,
as far as if the wood isdamaged, if the wood dries out and
it's still hard, you don't haveany issue with the wood. The fact

(11:28):
that it got wet won't hurt itany So I don't want it to get
wet again. Yeah, it's thegetting wet and dry and getting wet and
drying that's what will cause problems withit and cause it to start the cane.
But you know when it when itbecomes a problem because if you take
a screwdriver or a knife and pokeinto it and it's soft, well,

(11:50):
now you got wood damage. Butif the wood itself is still hard,
you're you're good. You don't haveto worry about that. Now. As
far as the moisture, because youmentioned the exhaust van has a tube on
it and it takes it outside.Uh it can still yeah, well very

(12:11):
well. Could be dumping it inthe attic. You may want to find
out where it's going outside. Anduh, I'll tell you what you mind.
If I put you on hold andcome back to you after the break.
We got to take a quick break. We'll be back with more.
Texas Home Improvements seven one three,two, one two five eight seven four.

(12:37):
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if you're having an air conditioning problemand you don't know who to deal
with, give do West air Conditioningto call it. Seven one three,
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got going. They can do theroutine maintenance that you need to have done,

(12:58):
and all that is well. Butyou know, so often air conditioning
problems are minor repairs, but youget somebody out there who's trying to sell
you a new unit simply because yoursis you know, ten, twelve,
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it, fix it. If it'sgoing to be a major job, that's

(13:18):
when you need to start looking ata new one. When you want the
best, call due West again.Seven one three, four, seven,
three, seven one five six TexasHome Improvement, your holdly home Improvement Tors.
Any home improvement question you have,feel free to pick up the phone,

(13:39):
give me a call seven one threetwo 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 helpyou out here on Texas Home Improvement.
And when we left, we weretalking with Ron and uh, okay,
Ron, sorry about that. Soyou know we already talked about the wood,

(14:05):
the fact, I don't think youreally have an issue with it,
but you in the email you sentme the vent pipe, we're not sure
where it goes. I think Iwould find out where it's going, because
surprisingly enough, a lot of timesbuilders dump them in the attic and that
can create a moisture issue, amold issue, all kinds of bad things.

(14:28):
So we want to verify that itis going outside somewhere, whether it's
up through the roof or out toa soft event. Secondary thing is we've
got to verify that there's not ahole in that vent pipe, because that
still could be causing issues in theattic. Then then beyond that, we

(14:50):
got to find out, you know, if the vent pipe is good and
venting out like it should. Nowwe've got to figure out, Okay,
where's this moisture coming from. Andthat's going to mean checking if there's any
water pipes in the area, it'sgonna mean checking to see if there's a
roof leak. But we've got tofind the moisture that's getting on the wood
because time and time again getting itwet that way will cause it to start

(15:13):
to deteriorate. And what about drillingsome holes through the decking. It's three
corning's flight way, so you know, only a nepor you know, to
help air it out above the showerarea. Well, I don't think it's

(15:35):
coming from the shower though, becausethe shower, what's on the ceiling of
the shower drywall, and see,moisture is not going to pass through the
drywall. If the moisture was passingthrough the drywall, the drywall would be
shot. I have had some moldup at the top of the shower.

(16:00):
That's probably just for well, itwould be more than just a little mold.
I mean, molding the shower ispretty common. But what would happen
is that dry wall would actually besoft to the touch. So if you
reach up there and it's mushy,well then yeah, it could be coming
through there. But if you reachup there and it's hard, it's not

(16:22):
coming through the sheet rock, okay, And if it was coming through the
dry wall that way, it wouldbe the first time I've ever seen it
go through drywall. Okay, that'sprobably yeah. You know, we just
have one shower in there. Mywife's showers are there a shower in a

(16:45):
different shower, so and the kidsare gone. Okay, Well, it
hasn't got time to dry out duringthe day. Well, dry wall won't
dry in a day, though,it would take it a week to dry
out. I feet if it wasgetting wet enough where it was getting wood

(17:07):
above it wet. Yeah, Ijust don't think it's going to be that.
It's it's gonna be either that ventpipe or a leak in the roof,
one or the other. Well,poor poor pipe. There was a
bunch of there was a bunch ofjunk on top of the decking. I
mean, you know, boxes andtons and stuff like that. Yeah,
so nothing's getting down from the roofit's coming out, Okay, then it

(17:30):
then it's got to be that ventpipe is probably either venting underneath there or
has a leak in the pipe,and that's dumping the moisture from the bathroom
in there. Well, I replacedthat that fan because the other one stopped
working and it was metal, ametal hose that went metal flex. Yeah,

(17:52):
yep, so I might try toreplace that with that plastic flex just
well, actually those metal flex hoseswork very well, but maybe I had
to stretch it a little bit toomuch. Yeah, And and in stretching,
especially if it was an older one, in stretching it, you might
have popped one of the seams.Yeah. The house was filled in the

(18:15):
seventies. Yep. Okay, well, that's that sounds like where you need
to be looking then. And look, the easiest way to find that is
going to be to go ahead andturn the fan on, and you should
feel the air movement up there,if it's putting enough to cause the wood

(18:37):
moisture. That way, you wouldfeel the air movement from that pipe.
Okay, Okay, they get sometissue paper and tap it onto a pencil
and see if it if it masyep, all right, Okay, well,
thanks so much for your help,you bet ron. You take care,
yes you feel yes, you filedmy Saturday afternoon up. Well,

(19:02):
uh it may let's see it.It's two thirty now, so you know,
I'll ask you like my dad usedto ask me all the time.
What are you doing between two andfour tonight? Yeah? Oh yeah,
yeah to get healthy out? Yep, all right, you take it easy,
I'll take it. Take a lookthere again our number seven one three

(19:26):
two one two five eight seven four. Any home improvement question you have,
feel free to pick up phone,give me a call and I'll see what
I can do to help you out. Seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. We're getting readyto take a break for news, traffic
and weather. We'll be back withmore in Texas home improvement. Let's talk

(20:10):
about some Revia shingles real quick.You know, when it comes to the
shingles on your home, you needsomething that's gonna be extremely durable. I'm
gonna withstand whatever comes our way.Well, let's face it. Along Gulf
Coast here we get a lot ofstorms and with those storms comes high wind
Reva shingles by f Wave. Notonly is it the toughest Class four shingle

(20:32):
on the market, these shingles alsowithstand winds in excess of one hundred and
seventy miles an hour. I'm tellingyou, if you're looking for a shingle
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by f Wave is what you want. It's all synthetic and so it's heavier.
And I got the opportunity this pastweek to play with a oh a

(20:57):
hail cannon and shoot it up someand regular shingles and stuff. I tell
you it is tough. You wantto learn more about these shingles, go
to thchi pro dot com and clickon the link for f Wave Welcome back
to Texas Home improve Mature hotal homeImprewing Source seven one three two one two

(21:22):
five eight seven four Again any homeimprovement question you have seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.I got open lines available right now,
so this is a great time topick up the phone give me a call.
Seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. So Gloria in
Houston says, I have two doubleattached garage built nineteen eighty six with concrete

(21:49):
cement floors. Outside wall is brick. When I moved in, the inside
walls of the garage had sheet rockingike storms. Some of the sheet rock
fell on my car. My husbandsaid, it's moisture. I took the
sheet rock out when it rains,concrete floor gets moisture, wet. It's

(22:12):
dangerous for me to walk in thegarage. Is there anything to prevent the
floors from getting moisture and wet.Well, what's happening is they're sweating from
the moisture and temperature changes. Andthere's not going to be a whole heck

(22:33):
of a lot you can do aboutthe sweating other than possibly putting a dehumidifier
in the garage or something along thoselines. But there are products you could
put down on the concrete that wouldkeep it where it's not slippery, and
that may be something you want toconsider doing so that when you're walking around
out there, you don't you know, hit a spot and start sliding.

(22:56):
But as far as making it whereuh, it doesn't sweat, that's that's
simply hot and cold hitting each otherand causing the issue. So that one
probably nothing you're gonna be able todo about that. But again, try
the tea humidifier. They do wondersin garagers all right, seven one three,

(23:21):
two, one two five eight sevenfour. Ruben in Missouri City,
How can I help you? Hey, Ruben? Up there, I hear
you. How can I help you? Yes. How do you go about
insulvating sender an older cinder block home? Yeah, ye, yeah. The

(23:52):
walls are strictly cinder block and youdon't have any wood strips on it,
and then sheet rock or anything.It's like stuck on the inside, and
it's all cinder blocks, and needlessto say, it's hide in the summertime
and cold in the winter. Ohyeah, Okay, there's a couple of
things you can look at doing.One. Uh, if you're tired of

(24:17):
looking at the wood blocks, youknow, you could put furring strips and
and add some siding on the outsidewith insulation behind it. But that that
gets kind of pricey and not anot a super big reason to do it.
However, there are coatings that youcan apply to the blocks that will

(24:38):
help with the temperature changes. I'mmaking the assumption right now that the blocks
are just painted with regular paint,so one of paint masonry paint. Okay.
There is a product called cool coatand it's spelled k O O L
co O A T and their websiteis coolcoat dot com. This is a

(25:03):
product that you can add to anypaint and it basically has ceramic beads and
acts as a radiant barrier. U. Is it going to be the end
all? Absolutely not, but it'lldefinitely help, especially in the type of
situation you got. Okay, Yeah, I was curious about that. That's

(25:25):
actually my cousin's home, but Ikept wondering how the heck could I insulate
just for her? And I'm gladI called you. Yeah, I used
I used to have a fourplex thatwas that had that same problem. The
upstairs would heat and cool fine becausethat had regular two by four walls up

(25:45):
there that had insulation. The downstairsthough, was block and man that you
just couldn't control it. But uh, that that cool cult would definitely help
you out with that. Good toknow, A you bet take care and
again our number seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. That's

(26:10):
seven one three, two one twofive eight seven four. Chuck, how
are things going in Ireland today?Good Jim? How are you? I
am doing wonderful? Good Happy NewYear's You love your show. Uh,
here's here's what I have. Wehad very hot summer, as you know,

(26:32):
and our our fridgid ducks started tosweat, and uh, we just
had them insulated and the installer youknow, we're concerned about running AC is
so low. We ran it atsixty eight all summer and it was comfortable,
but the ducks started to sweat.Now we insulated the ducks with R

(26:56):
eighth wrapped them. And he hadhe had recommended that he decreased the humidity
using a whole house dehumidifier. Thatmay UH take some pressure off of running
AC so low during the summer.He suggested running UH a standalone dehumidifier in

(27:23):
our attic because that's where our ACis and I think it's suspended above the
UH the plan and all of that, right, and there's a separate a
separate return for that. Is thatyour recommendation as well, or is it?
Would you? He said not toput it in, not to build

(27:45):
it into the h HVAC because thatwould put more heat. Well, I
wouldn't worry about it producing more heat. But the biggest reason I wouldn't put
it in the fact is if themoisture in the attic is what's causing the
problem, you know it's not goingto get rid of it putting it in

(28:07):
the HVAC system, however, AndI'm gonna leave this however, hang for
a second, because we've got totake a quick break here. I think
there is a better solution for whatyou got going on. So Chuck,
I'm gonna put you on hold andI'll come right back to you when we
come back with more Texas Home Improvementsseven to one three two one two five

(28:29):
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(28:55):
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(29:42):
You see, welcome back to TexasHome and Room. It's your total

(30:03):
home improvement source. You know,I just had to have the roof on
my house replaced here at the townhousein Pasadena just oh gosh, I guess
a couple of weeks ago now,and I had Guardian Roof Systems do it.
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(30:23):
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said, let's go back to ourcall we were on with Chuck in Myerland

(30:48):
again. If you want to callseven one three two one two five eight
seven four and okay, Chuck uh. You know, the the moisture that
you're getting is typically caused by atemperature differential. The attic is hot,
you got cold air going through theduck work, and when it meets that

(31:11):
warm air, it sweats. Now, by putting insulation on it, you
have definitely helped it. But oneof the things you're not going to like
this answer, But one of thethings that you can do is actually turn
the thermostat up a little bit.Sixty eight is extremely cold, and it's
really over the delta mark that ACSshould be run at when we're in extreme

(31:34):
hot temperatures. For this very reason, it will not only cause the duck
work to sweat, but the registersinside the home and other stuff just because
of that temperature differential. But ifyou do want to run at that cold
and keep the home that cool,take a look at insulation. Take a

(31:56):
look at USA insulation. They caninsulate the walls of your existing home.
That'll help maintain the temperature in thehome better. But also take a look
at adding insulation in the attic.Keep it breathable. But thirteen inches more.
Okay? Uh? And did youdid you cover the duck work with

(32:19):
it or is the duckwork suspended?Well, it's suspended in this rep in
R eight right. Well, butour our eight is kind of a minimum.
That's that's what the minimums? Theminimum codes are now is our eight
for duckwork? So uh, ifyou try to go too far on the
delta, you would still have anissue. Does that does the insulation that

(32:42):
they used is it silver where ithas the radiant barrier on the outside of
it? No? No, it'sjust blown in. No, I'm talking
about on the duck work. Ohyeah, it has silver run it for
sure. Yes. Okay, haveyou had any issues since you insulated the
ducwork? None? Okay. Iwould leave it alone at this point unless

(33:07):
you start having an issue, Iwouldn't do anything else. Okay. And
what about adding or tacking radiant barrierto the to the choices on the roof.
It definitely helps. Radium barriers whatthey do is block the heat transfer.

(33:30):
Now, I typically use energy Qradium barrier that you lay on the
attic floor, but in your situation, since the duckwork is suspended, I
would take a look at a radiantbarrier that I could put on the roof
rafters up there, and that wouldhelp with the heat that builds up in

(33:51):
the attic and make sure you havea good attic ventilation for every one hundred
and fifty square foot of attic space. Plus we have a red a uh
an extensive bron did our roofing andwe I put ridge roofing in and okay
to solar fans in. Well,what about the soft events though, Oh

(34:14):
yeah, we had James Hardy siding, we had continuous Okay, I think
I think you're good. I don'tthink you need to do anything else at
this point. Then no, it'sbecome the money to uh No, I
mean I don't think you'll have thesame issue. Uh uh. I mean
you can put the radiant barrier ifyou want, but I personally would probably

(34:37):
try it for the summer first andsee if it acts up. If it
does, then add the radiant barrier. But if it don't, don't worry
about it. My wife said,said the same thing, And you have
to jack the insulation or the temperatureup maybe to seventy and uh yeah,
it's exactly opposite a home and Ilike a meat locker cold. Well,

(35:02):
you know, if if you wantto do the rest of the home at
seventy and keep an office real cold, you can't actually blow more duckwork in
there to keep that room cooler.Yeah, yeah, I just don't like
the flexible ducks, you know,yeah, garbage, so they are.

(35:23):
Yeah, all right, you takecare, chuck up money, all right,
take care and again our number sevenone three, two, one,
two, five eight seven four.Let's head up to humbol Hello Curtis,
Hey sir, how are you.I'm wonderful. How about you? I'm

(35:46):
doing well? Thank you. Uh. My question is in my mother in
law's house, she has a manof block system, and in the guest
shower, just in the shower,there's no hot water. It'll fair early
trickle out and it's not even hot. Okay. What do I do is

(36:08):
are the sinks and everything running finein there? Yes? Okay. The
first thing to check is well,let me ask one other question. Is
that a single handle faucet in theshower? Yes, okay. The first
thing I would check, if it'salways done this is remove the handle.

(36:30):
And what you're gonna see underneath thehandle is this little gear looking thing.
It'll have a typically a Phillips headscrew in it that you can undo the
screw and adjust this gear thing.And what that does is regulate the hot
water site. And it sounds likeyou're just not getting enough hot water coming

(36:52):
through and that'll up the amount ofhot water coming through. Okay, you
need to handle fill itself here,yep, Okay, you bet. Take
care. Hey, we're gonna takea quick break. We'll be back with
more Texas Home Improvement seven one,three, two, one two five eight

(37:12):
seven four. You know I wastalking about reinsulating the walls a second ago,
and USA Insulation they can help youwith that. You know, when
it comes to insulation, foam worksbest in the walls, and when it
comes to putting into your walls ofyour existing home, USA Insulation is the
company to call. They have aproprietary non expansive foam they inject right into

(37:36):
the walls of your existing home andyou'll get the best our value. It
has a great fire rating and cancelsup to eighty percent of the noise from
outside as well. So if you'relooking for insulation to make your house more
comfortable, more energy efficient, andcut down on the noise from outside,
you can't beat USA Insulation three foursix, two nine seven one eight hundred.

(38:00):
That's three four six, two nineseven twenty eight hundred, Or go
to th hi pro dot com andclick on the link for USA Insulation.
Jean Dunnan. Spadamn, whoa JanDunnan Spamdaman Jim Dunn't had a salt sdandaman

(38:22):
gun right to the well. Sambadam, You'll improve your heart Samba dam.
Everybody on. Joe, whoa JimDunn. Jo, We're back with
more Texas Home Improvement and Jim Dunnon. Hey, welcome back to Texas Home
Improvements, your total home improvement source. We're gonna jump straight back into the

(38:45):
calls at seven one three, two, one two five eight seven four.
Patricia, how can I help you? Hi? Yes, I was wanting
to know how you could play.I think I've caught the shoe hold like
to the tears, what the spindlesor the balustrades go in. I'm sorry

(39:07):
say that one more time because Ididn't hear you very well. I want
to know how you replace the shoehole, the part that the balustrades or
the spindles from the banister go downto the bottom part of the wood.
How do you get that wood replaced? Well, honestly, I would have

(39:30):
to look at exactly how it isbecause some of them come in as a
track where it's a single piece andyou would have to literally take all the
spindles off to replace it, butothers are put together where the spindles are
sandwiched between a piece of wood oneach side. So I couldn't really tell

(39:52):
you without looking at exactly how yoursis done. Okay, there is a
shop so in Pasadena on Spencer Highwaythat specializes in doing uh staircases and the
spindles and all that kind of stuff, and they would be able to help
you out with that. And I'msorry to do this to you, Patricia,

(40:15):
but I gotta let you go becausewe are completely out of time on
this hour, but we do haveanother hour to go, so seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. You know, American Standard Air
is my choice in air conditioning systems. I've been using them in my personal
home since nineteen ninety nine. Theyare nationally recognized for excellence for performance,

(40:37):
reliability, and customer satisfaction. Iuse them because they're nice and quiet,
they perform well and are extremely energyefficient. But American Standard heating and air
conditioning systems, let me tell you, they take care of your family all
year long. Now. American Standardtechnology, it meets the ever changing Texas
weather head on. But you cankeep your home pool and humidity free or

(41:00):
be ready for a little heat whenyou need it. Let's face it,
we just don't need it that often. But you can invest wisely and invest
in the home comfort system that willlast you a long, long time.
Comfort the Way you Like It beginswith American Standardair dot com. Go to
thhipro dot com and you can clickon American Standard as well. It's probably

(41:23):
gonna sound a little strange to you. Texas Home Improvement is on the air
with your host, Jim Jack.Exactly what I need to know. You
always give me the way to go, great observation. You got to be
on the radio. Well, thismight be the answer to my pros.
And I'm really glad I could talkto you. You're the smartest guy.

(41:45):
And I mean there's tall Jim.Now with all your home improvement questions.
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four. That's seven one
three, two, one two fiveeight seven four. Actually Home improvement brought
to you by DUS Services, Plumbing, Foundation, Repair and Conditioning, Texas
Remodel Team Windows, the official windowcompany of Texas Home Improvement. American Standards.

(42:06):
Comfort the Way you Like It Jane'sHardy Sighting, the best sighting on
the planet. USA Insulation Wall,Phone insulation for existing homes, Ready Seal
stain and Sealer Flooring, The CoreSunburst Shutters where beauty meets energy efficiencies.
Guardian roof Systems Residential and commercial roofingSpecialist, Woodland's Water Restoration, your hometown

(42:28):
solution for property damage and Picture's Remodelingand Constructions. Hardy Plank Specialists. And
now broadcasting live from the Dutton Ranch. Here's Gym e Hey, Welcome back
to Texas Home Improvements, your totalhome improvement source. I'm get here to

(42:49):
help you out any home improvement questionyou have. Feel free to pick up
the phone, give me a call, and let's talk about it here on
Texas Home Improvement. You know it'sjust going to be me and you talking
about it. Yeah, there's apeople listening, but you know it's just
going to be you and me holdinga conversation when we're talking about your home
improvement needs. So seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.

(43:13):
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four, And I'll see
what I can do to help youout here on Texas Home Improvement. Also
don't forget about our website thhipro dotcom. There's all kinds of helpfl information
there, links to the people youhear me talk about, questions and answers,
and videos and places to sign upfor the newsletter to ask Jim button

(43:36):
where you can send in email questions. It's all available at thhipro dot com.
But again our number seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four,
and I'll see what I can doto help you out. Let's see,
we're gonna head to sugar Land andand I'm not sure how to pronounce

(43:57):
that? Is it? Does she? Yes? Yes, yes, How
can I help? I had it? Yeah, thank you so much for
taking my phone. I have aquestion about water softener or water conditioner for
my house in sugar Land, andyou are only two of us. You
have a three bedroom small house.From debating whether I should go for water

(44:17):
softener or water conditioner, I'm reallyconfused, so please well give your opinion.
It really depends on what you're lookingto do. Uh. And I
say that because I actually was lookingat some water conditioners earlier this week and
I put one in the townhouse totry it out. And the here's the

(44:45):
biggest difference when you use a watersoftener. UH, it is taking the
mineral out of the water and soeverything that comes through is softened water.
It gives you that slick feel onyour skin, things like that when you
use the water conditioner. And theone I was that I installed was flow

(45:07):
Tech. It's an inline water system. UH. Basically what it does is
the company the product is called flowTech it's flow f l O W te
C H and And basically what itdoes is, UH, it goes through

(45:30):
an electric AM current changes the waythe UH molecules are going through, and
it lets it pass through without buildingup on the faucets and the scaling and
all that kind of stuff. Andafter putting it in, I used to
shower a couple of times. Idefinitely felt the difference. Now in my

(45:53):
house in Dallas, I have awater softener, so the one in Pasadena,
I have this the the water treatment, and both of them are doing
what I want to do. Thetreatment. What it does is it's it's
not quite a slick feeling on yourskin as with the water softener. But

(46:15):
I definitely felt the difference, Likewhen washing my hair when I had the
regular hard water that the city putsout. My hair always to be felt
like straw, and that's gone.And so I definitely I was looking at
whether we were going to carry thisline or not, and I told him
put it in. I'll try itout for three to six months and make

(46:37):
a decision. But I'll tell youit only took me a week. I
got no problem using this flow techtechnology. So if you want to call
the Due West office, we'll getyou hooked up. Okay, okay,
And what about these other softeners?Like I wonder that I can say the
name of the company I was goingin the big Bucks, Apac and King

(47:02):
those kind of water conditioners. Areyou familiar with those names? I'm not
familiar with those brands, so Ican't say you know how they'll work or
not work. It doesn't require salt, so I'm more, you know,
interested in those things. Now?Are they an electric system or are they

(47:22):
magnetic electric? You know? Abig cylinder plating a looking cylinder one trender
only Okay. Again, I haven'tused that particular one, so I'm not
familiar with how well it's going towork or not. This one I have
used now and definitely know what flowtech right, Yep, yep, I

(47:45):
see okay, okay, thank youvery much, you bet you take care
okay and again seven one three twoone two five eight seven four and again.
Uh, this flow is something Iam going to start carrying right away.
I was that impressed with it.And I tell you guys all the

(48:07):
time, I don't I won't tryto sell you something unless I've checked it
out and typically have used it myself. And this is definitely something I would
put into any home. It worksvery well. So with that being said,
if if you're looking to you know, uh, get better water at

(48:28):
your home, get rid of themineral deposits that you're having, uh,
feel free to call due West atseven one three four, seven three,
seven one five six. All rightagain if you got home proven questions seven
one three I'm saying again a lot, ain't I seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. Let'shead to Missouri City Ray. Welcome to

(48:51):
seven forty k TRH. Hey,thanks for taking my call, Jim.
I don't know if you can answermy question or not. Here's my situation.
I live in a two story homethat's thirty three hundred square feet and
my den the ceiling is twenty fiveplus feet high and on either side of

(49:15):
the room, approximately ten feet fromthe floor. I have two vents.
Well back when we had the freeze, but about two weeks ago, escually
I would set my thermostat at seventythree degrees and man, it would only
get up to sixty eight sixty ninedegrees, and that sucker didn't It ran

(49:40):
for like three or four days andnever cycled off. Yep. And I
have a five fourteen seer unit andthe thermostat sets at the top of the
stairs, kind of out in theopen. So since the the freeze has

(50:00):
gone away and we're back to normaltemperature. Whatever, if I said it
to seventy seventy one seventy five,it cycles on and off as it should.
Do you think that's an h backproblem or a thermostat problem. Well,
let me ask you a quick question. First, the bedrooms did they

(50:23):
get warm? Yes? Okay.It is neither an HVAC or a thermostat
problem. It's a problem that theceiling's twenty five feet tall. Hot air
rises, and if you'd have gotclimbed up on a ladder, it would
have been hotter and snot up there. Okay. So and the fact that

(50:43):
the thermostat is out in the openear that you know, that open room,
that's what caused it not to recycleoff like it should. Yeah,
it's it's in the cold room insteadof in some place where it's staying warm.
The thing that would help you outon this would be a ceiling fan
set in reverse to where it's pullingair up and it goes up through the

(51:07):
middle of the room, hits theceiling, comes down the walls, and
it just creates a cycle where it'sbringing the hot air down from the up
up top there, and that wouldbalance it out for you. Okay,
Would it cost too much to movethat thermostat to an enclosed room, to

(51:28):
like one of the say the masterbedroom or something. I probably wouldn't recommend
doing that, only because you know, the rest of the year it's doing
just fine where it's at. Andhow often do we get that that ice
cold that way? Okay? Man, I got an eight hundred dollars that
could bid yep. But putting thethermo sat in another room's not going to

(51:53):
change that situation where the hot airis going up in that tall ceiling and
you got it. You got toput a fan up there to bring it
down. Okay, So I havea fan there, just didn't turn it
on. So what I need todo is turn the fan on and turn
it on reverse correct, so it'ssucking air up instead of pushing air down.

(52:15):
Okay, that's what I needed toknow. Man, I appreciate it
very much. You bet you takecare all right, thank you. And
that's really anytime you got tall ceilings, the tall ceilings will make it where
in the summer months you stay coolerlower because the hot air that builds up
in the summer goes up in thatceiling as well. But the problem is

(52:37):
when we get really cold out,that's where your heat's at is up there.
And that's the reason you set theceiling fan to reverse. And that
is why ceiling fans have reverse onthem. So you know, it's like
I said, sucks the air up, takes the hot air from the ceiling,
wraps it down the walls and intothe room. So again, if

(52:58):
you've got a question seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four, let's talk
about f wave shingles. You know, I just put those on my home
about uh, I don't know amonth, month and a half ago.
Now love it look scorgeous, extremelydurable. Uh. I mean if you're

(53:22):
looking for something that can withstand hail, which in the area where my home
is, that I put it on. I have a lot of hail storms,
but also something that withstands winds.I'm telling you this Reva Shingle by
f Wave is the one you want. Uh. It's been tested up to
winds in excess of one hundred andseventy miles an hour when a hurricane comes

(53:45):
in. Do you want to worryabout your shingles blowing off and getting water
in the home. I'd much ratherbe worried about that the roof is going
to peel off before the shingles.Well, with the Reva Shingles by f
Wave, you don't have to worryabout it. Go to th hi pro
dot com and click on the linkfor Reva Shingles by f Wait. You

(54:07):
were listening to Texas Home Improvement withJim Dotton, yours source for all things
home improvement that says big ass Texas. To here, Jimton and prop the
map to Texas Improvement seven one three, two, one two five eight seven
four that's seven one three, two, one two five eight seven four.

(54:31):
Again, any home improvement question tohave, feel free to pick up the
phone, give me a call,see what I can do to help you
out here on Texas Home Improvement.We're going to head up to Conroe and
Karen. This is Jim. Howcan I help you? Jess, Sir,
I've got a problem with black flexcoming out of my airbands when the

(54:51):
air conditioners on, and they've gotkind of a vibrus, uh make up
that they're flack. And I askmy HVAT guy and you said he didn't
know what it was. And whatis coming out black? What? They're
black? Black like little black pieces? Oh okay, how old a home

(55:15):
is this? I've been living inthe home about ten years now, but
now how old is the house?Though it's it's about ten years old?
Oh okay, okay, because myfirst inclination is it's probably got flex duck

(55:37):
in it, and inside some ofthe flex duck they used a it's it's
not black, but it's almost looksblack. It's a dark, dark,
grayed out plastic inside of them.And it sounds like that's kind of sounds
like what's happening is that plastic iscoming apart and coming into the How small

(56:00):
the pieces are these? Are theyslightly larger than dust? Or is it
like a little eighth inch by eightfaces about the hip of my little finger?
How big they are? Okay,so it's either going to be the
plastic from inside the duckwork or it'sgonna be Oh, I'm sorry, I

(56:27):
got distracted. I don't know whypeople would bring their dogs out to a
rodeo where there's all these big animalsand they're walking around with these little bitty
poodles and they got signs all overhere that says old dogs allowed. Those
big animals will will have those littlepoodles for lunch. But any anyways,

(56:51):
around the ducks, the vent coversand stuff like that, they use a
foam material to seal it against theceilings and stuff. And I'm almost wondering
if some of that's not coming loose. Okay, is there any remedy that
you can think of? Yeah,you'd have to just take the vent off,

(57:14):
peel off the the material that's onthere, and put new on.
It really would be no big deal. But I'm not one hundred percent sure
that's what it is now. I'mreally leaning more towards it's the plastic.
Either way, what I would dois take the vent cover off and look
up into the vent and see ifthat's got a black plastic liner in there.

(57:38):
You know that's what it is.But at the same time, you
can take it and look at thatcushion that you know, the weather stripping
it's in the UH grate and seeif it's missing pieces. And either way

(57:58):
you're going to figure out what itis by taking the cover off. Okay,
that's bitch. I have one morequick question. I have a big
oak tree in my front yard andI've noticed the roots were coming up closer
to the house. Is that somethingthat I should be worried about? Should
I put those roots or just leavethem alone? Oh? No, you

(58:19):
need to let them grow under thehouse so I can come out and do
a foundation repair job for you.Oh you feel like a good use car
too. Really, what you needto do is the tree is probably put
in when the house was built,correct. Ah, yes, sir,

(58:40):
Okay, you need to be lookingat root shields. And what the root
shield does is basically dig a trenchbetween the house and the tree and puts
a high density plastic in there sothat the tree roots don't grow under the
house. Because all joking aside,that causes probably the three quarters of the

(59:01):
foundation problems that happen are the treeroots going under the foundation, taking the
moisture out and causing the foundation tomove, okay, and by by putting
in a root shield, you eliminatethat problem. It's just preventative maintenance.
It is a whole lot cheaper thanhaving to do foundation repair. Do you

(59:25):
have any companies that you know thatyou would trick him in? Why,
of course I do do West foundationrepair my company. Uh No, we
do the preventative maintenance as well asthe foundation because honestly, half the time
when we go out to look athouses, they don't need foundation repair.
They just need some preventative attention.Because it's caught early enough you can deal

(59:47):
with it with prevention. But uhyeah, if you'll call us at seven
to one three four seven three sevenone five six, we'd be more than
happy to come out and take alo look at it. And realistically,
you're typically looking at oh let mesee here. Many times you know you're

(01:00:15):
probably looking at something in the rangeof five hundred dollars a tree to roots
shield them, okay, and that'sthat's that is way cheaper than having to
to do foundation repair later. Ican only imagine, Well, thank you
so much. I appreciate it.You're welcome. You take care, okay,

(01:00:37):
fight and that goes for everybody.I mean, if you don't keep
the soil maintained, because what causesfoundation problems the soils when they dry out,
they shrink, they get wet,they'll expand again, but not as
much as they were. And overa period of years of doing that,
you've got foundation movement. You letthe tree roots get underneath there, guarantee

(01:01:00):
you're gonna have foundation movement. Andit'll start with the outside because as the
tree grows in, the outside goesdown first, and you let it keep
going, you underpin the outside.Later on the middle of the house goes
down. The root shields are preventativemaintenance to maintain your property. Seven one,

(01:01:21):
three, two point two, five, eight, seven four. Will
be back in a moment with moreTexas home improvement. Let's talk about American
standard. You know, American standardair conditioning systems have been around for a
long time. I've been personally usingthem since nineteen ninety nine. But American
Standard heating and air conditioning systems theygive you a lot of choices. I

(01:01:45):
had a call earlier asking about heatpump systems. Absolutely and I've used American
Standards heat pump systems. Love it. You can keep your home cool and
humidity free or be ready for alittle heat when you need it. Their
technology it meets the ever changing Texasweather head on. Now, when you

(01:02:07):
go to American Standard Air dot com, you can see all the different systems
they have and choose the one that'sright for your home. Now, keep
in mind American Standard he and airconditioning systems. They're built here in Texas,
unlike a lot of other systems thatare available out there. So again,
comfort the way you like it beginsat American Standardair dot Com. He's

(01:02:32):
dependable, consistent, andsane, thecomplete opposite of Texas weather. Here's Jim
Dutton on Texas home improvement. Welcomeback to Texas Home improverent shor Total Home
Improver source seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four. I want

(01:02:53):
to thank Guardian roof Systems for takingcare of this portion of Texas home improvement.
You know, if you're needing youneed to call Guardian roof Systems.
I use them for my put anew roof on the office. They put
a new roof on the town home. They've done projects that we've done as
far as charity projects and stuff.They just do a great job on the

(01:03:14):
roofing and they're keeping up with technology. A lot of roofing companies do not
keep up with technology as far asunderlayments and drip edges and things like that.
At Guardian roof Systems, not onlydo they keep up with that stuff,
but they also know how to keepup with the insurance requirement changes and
how to deal with the insurance companiesand deductibles and things like that. So

(01:03:38):
you want a great roofing contractor,call Guardian roof Systems at two eight one
four zero seven seven to two eightzero. With that being said, I
want to welcome back to the showBrian with USA Insulation, and Brian,
I better turn your mic on.Welcome back. Thank you so much.

(01:04:00):
I'm glad to be back on.Let's talk about insulation because I had some
calls a little earlier as far aspeople struggling to keep their temperature in their
home consistent and stuff during the coldweather. That hits Houston, and you
know, insulating the walls is oneof those things that needs to happen because
our walls are horrible as far asair penetrations, Yes, definitely. You

(01:04:28):
usually lose about thirty five percent ofthe energy losses through the walls, ten
percent through windows and doors, andanother twenty five percent through your attic.
So with insulating your walls, you'reactually keeping that warm air inside or during
the summer, the cool air inside, and it's not penetrating out through that
cavity which is between the sheep rockand the sheathings outside of your house,

(01:04:51):
and that's where we come in.We actually insulate those cavities around the exterior
of the house with an injection phonethat we do it from out side,
not having to take off all thatsheet rock. It saves a lot of
expense and we can bring that ourvalue up in your exterior walls, where
most of our customers are getting betweena thirty and fifty percent drop in their

(01:05:12):
electricity or energy charge throughout the year. Well, and a lot of people
don't realize in older homes, I'mnot talking about the stuff they're building now
exactly that's all sealed up with thestuff. But you get into a house
that was built in the seventies andearlier, they are so breathable. It's

(01:05:33):
like, literally it's like having atwo foot square hole in the wall.
It is. When we look atolder homes, a lot of times they
weren't even putting batting in those homesgoing back in the seventies or younger or
earlier had no in insulation. Sowe find those cavities completely empty. So
when we fill that up with that. But what I'm talking about it isn't

(01:05:54):
so much that as much as itis the air gaps along windows and doors
and things like that. Yeah,it all up and it's a two foot
square hole that's into your house.And when you guys put the insulation in
it, it fills and seals allthose cavities. It sure does. It
makes it unpenetraled where the wind orheat that's coming through the cold it stops

(01:06:15):
that. And you're right, becausethere are so many cracks and crevices that
the foam gets into and just sealsit up tight and it hardens within about
sevent to ten minutes. So whenyou guys are insulating the home, and
like you were just talking about,you're dealing with something from the sixties.
Yes, no insulation in the walls. I mean, as you're insulating that

(01:06:40):
house, the people got to besaying, what's happening to my home?
It just feels different. Well,it actually when we put it in the
house, it actually adds some structureto the house. It does deaden the
outside noise by about eighty percent,so it does make it quieter when you're
sleeping. But that's just one ofthe benefits. The main reason you're doing
it is to bring down that innercosts that you have with Well, we

(01:07:01):
all know last summer Texas heat wasjust basically another Texas summer. But we're
gonna gear up for it soon again. Oh yeah, it's it's coming.
I mean, last month we've complainedabout the cold, and quite frankly,
we'll have another cold front this month. But then all of a sudden comes
May and we're gonna be saying,I want winter back. I don't.
I like summer myself, me too. But yeah, this last winter,

(01:07:25):
the last month, my gas bill, I've heard a lot of customers complaining
how high it got because of thosecold This is where when the insulation goes
in, it's going to actually protectyour pipes and keep them from freezing.
And so that is one of thebenefits along with other things that helps your
house as far as maintaining that temperatureand making sure that you're comfortable and that

(01:07:47):
heater and gas is not running constantlyto maintain that temperature house. So,
if somebody is wanting to get theirhome reinsulated, I like to say reinsulated
because well, in most cases reallyolder home. Yeah, I mean,
but you're retrofitting it with insulation.What kind of damage can they expect from

(01:08:09):
getting miss done? Well, sincewe do it from the outside. If
it's a brick house, we actuallygo through the mortar joints, so we're
not making any damage to the brick. We go through the sheathing and directly
into that cavity and fill that cavityup. If it's hardy bored or hardy
plank or final sighting, we actuallyremove a strip of the siding at the

(01:08:29):
top allowing us to have access tothose cavities, and then we seal it
back up and then put the sidingback on, so you don't really know
where we went through. We wantthe house to look the same, if
not somewhat better when we do it. Okay, So if somebody wants to
get their house insulated, how theyget in touch with you? They can
call three four six nine seven eighthundred and schedule a free in home appointment

(01:08:54):
estimate. I come out and reviewwhat you have, take some measurements of
the house, and give you estimateright then on the spot. And we're
offering right now eighteen months no intereston a full house. Plus we're doing
a twelve hundred dollars tax credit andyou get from the federal federal government and
we match that this month on latefor February. Oh wow. Again,

(01:09:15):
that's Brian from USA Insulation three foursix two nine seven twenty eight hundred or
obviously you can go to our websitethchipro dot com and you'll find a link
there for USA Insulation as well.And Brian, I appreciate you taking time
to talk with us. Hey,thank you for calling us. Thanks to
Monk you bet take care alrighty,So before we jump back into the calls

(01:09:41):
and uh, Brenda and Warren,I will get you guys in just a
minute. We're gonna have to takea quick break here. Let's talk about
sunburst shutters. The best selling Plantationshutters in America Pollywood Shutters from our friends
at Sunburst Shutters, and Pollywood givesyou that rich look of fine wood shutters
without woods inherent. It performs better, lasting far longer than traditional shutters and

(01:10:06):
insulating up to seventy percent more efficiently. Hollywood Shutters are guaranteed not to chip,
crack, warp, or split.But everything at Sunburst Shutters is designed
to last longer, look better,and perform all other products on the market.
And yes, I do have thisin my home. Love it.
You know you can call Sunburst Shuttersat seven one three eight nine six eighty

(01:10:30):
one fifty and set up a freedesign consultation so you can work with an
expert to make sure you get thatperfect look and fit for your home.
Again. That's seven one three eightnine six eighty one fifty four Sunburst Shutters.
You know, when you hear thewords foundation repair, the first thing
that goes to your mind is,oh, my gosh, I don't want

(01:10:51):
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,
d Wes Foundation Repair. We'll comeout, take a look, tell you
what's going on and help you notonly with the foundation repair problem, the
foundation maintenance to keep you from havingfurther problems. When you want the best,
get called due West seven one threeor seven three seven one five six

(01:11:14):
online at dudash weest dot com.Smile you look up in Texas this morning.
This is Texas Home Improvement with JimDutton. Hey, welcome back to

(01:11:39):
Texas Home Improvement seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. Let's
head back to the calls as promised. Uh, Brenda, how can I
help you today? Hi? Howare you today? Wonderful? How about
you? I'm doing well? Thankyou. We live on along a coast

(01:12:00):
and it's very human down here.Our house is on stilt, so we
have a concrete slab underneath our homeand there's a little one bedroom apartment on
that concrete underneath us. Okay,and we've we've noticed that when it rains
really heavy, water has a tendencyto pool up by one of the walls
of that apartment. And when wewere replacing floors and ceiling the concrete in

(01:12:28):
the apartment because we thought maybe thatcould be a contributing factor. But we're
still seeing the water pooling and we'rewondering is it going to get our drywall
and stuff again? And it is, how do we stop it? Well,
why is it pulling? There?Is there? Is it pulling on
concrete or pulling in theatre pooling onthe concrete. So it's raining in and

(01:12:53):
kind of sitting on the concrete.Yeah, and those big pools I'm just
saying little puddles from stuff. Yeah. Yeah. If if the water that's
pooling there is running back towards wherethe seal plate is, yes, uh,
it will start soaking into the wood. And if we when we start

(01:13:14):
getting into these and it will happeneventually, these two and three week rains,
it will start soaking up into thatseal plate, up into the dry
wall and insulation and stuff. Sotypically so it doesn't happen. Well,
building materials are poorous and and you'renot going to be able to seal it

(01:13:35):
off. What you got to dois get the water off that concrete.
How far is it to get toan outer edge of that concrete, Well,
it's about a fifteen foot long wall. And when when when it rains
in, it comes in under thecarport. You know, it rains like
straight in almost like sidways rain andit'll sit there if we don't squeeze at

(01:13:59):
all. You got a problem.Can you use a water I mean one
of those flex fields or something likethat. You can, and that's gonna
work for a period of time.But keep in mind concrete is porous,
and so the longer the water sitson it, the further then the moisture

(01:14:25):
will travel up under it. Tookthe floor on the inside. We sealed
the concrete floor on the inside.Okay. You know, typically what I
would tell you is to cut somelines in it to take the water to
the edge that drain out that way, just with a concrete saw. You
score it down just enough to whereit drains the water out. But fifteen

(01:14:50):
feet's a little too far for that. Yeah, and just just score the
concrete. But fifteen feet's a longways for that to work. Well,
it doesn't do it all the waydown the wall, just part of it.
Okay, But so how far fromthe wall is the edge of the

(01:15:15):
concrete though, to get away fromthe wall, Well, it's it's it's
still a distance. Yeah, it'sstill about ten seets Okay. Well,
but now you're getting into numbers whereyou can score it with a concrete saw,
and that'll let the water drain away. Because if it hits there and
it sits there for you know,half a day, no big deal.

(01:15:38):
But if it sits there, youknow for you know, two or three
days, that's where it becomes aproblem. Yeah. No, we go
out there and squeezee it off rightafter it rains and does that because that's
our concerns. Yeah, but thewheel let water sit on it at all.
It'll be fine until you go onvacation. Well, yeah, exactly.

(01:16:00):
Okay, so the best bet isto score it. Yep. Okay,
thank you, You're welcome. Youtake care, bye bye, and
let's see here again. Seven onethree, two one two five eight seven
four Warning Woodlands, how can Ihelp you? Hey, Jim, good
afternoon, and thanks for texting mycall. So this seems like a little

(01:16:23):
bit of a simple problem. Ithought, I check with you. I
got a clogged line between my poolskimmer basket and the pump and it's just
full of each I think, andI'm trying to figure out a way to
clear that out. I've tried acouple of things that I haven't worked yet.
Got the ideas. The other questionwas. Somebody has told me that
sometimes they will on some tool installations, and I wasn't involved in the installation,

(01:16:46):
they'll put a cord skated line underground. Uh. So it looks like
it's TVC on each end, butit might be corrugated in between. Now,
this is the pump line that's runningfrom the skimmer to the pool pump,
right, Yeah, it's a suctionline that sucks right on the skimmer.
That's that's not going to be corrugatedthat that's that's gonna be a PVC

(01:17:08):
line, okay. Uh And usuallyit's an inch and a half to two
inch line, depending on the poolcompany. Right. Uh. But you're
thinking it just got full of leaves. Yeah, I think what happened is
it's not my pool. I'm tryingto help somebody. I think the basket
for a while lifted up out ofthe water. So, okay, suction

(01:17:30):
pulling suction and a lot of leavesin the pool probably just clogged that that
pipe up where it's not making itall the way over to the other basket
upstream from the pump. Yep.Okay. So typically the pool pump would
pull those leaves through and it wouldget captured in the filter. They're at

(01:17:53):
the pump itself, but since itgot clogged before it got there, kind
of tells me that something big probablygot into it as well. I'm not
so sure. I wouldn't try usinga hand crank type snake in that two
inch line, run it from theskimmer backwards and that I tried to put

(01:18:19):
a pump take in there, didn'tget it in very farm. I don't
know if there's a ninety Greek turnon that pipe or are. Yeah,
they're more than likely. And Iheard the music I'll break here in a
second. They're more than likely isand that three and now I was going
to try to go from the pumpbackwards. But if you can't go backwards,
then you try got to try itfrom the skimmer forward. Yeah,

(01:18:41):
I just wonder if there's a skimmer, if there's a ninety degree in that
skimmer, yeah, oh I knowthere is. Yeah, so you can't
hard to get a snake around that. Yeah. The only other thing,
well, the little hand crank ones, they'll they go through p traps and
stuff even uh so they'll they'll doa lot of flexibility. The other thing
you could do is use a aircompressure and and try to blow it backwards

(01:19:08):
from the skimmer. Yeah. Idid try that, and all I got
was bubbles at the other end.It didn't really put out any plug or
anything. Eh, you got somethingelse going on then, yeah, okay,
well I thought it. Next time, I try to get one of
those little luck inflatable hose endings youcan put it in there. Yeah,

(01:19:30):
try to try to blow it backYeah. All right, well, Warren,
I'm sorry I couldn't help you moreon that one. That's fine,
all right, well, thank you, take care. Hey, let's talk
real quick about ready Seal. Youknow, if you're looking at any outdoor
wood that you want to protect,Ready Seal is a product you can use.
Now. This is far and awaythe best product for staining a fence

(01:19:51):
deck or virtually any outdoor wood.And it soaks deep down into the wood
fiber with a waterproof and oil creatinga flexible barrier that keeps the moisture out
and it's goofproof. So if you'relooking for an easy, do it yourself
project, take a look at ReadySeal. When Jim donn't recommends a contractor,

(01:20:15):
he won't steer you rong. DylanHey Jim, just falling in real
quick about one of your trusted contractors, Texas Remodel Teams. We've been working
with them for four or five yearsnow, just project after project. He's
the only guy we call. Andthey did a great job on an outdoor
kitchen for a huge patio extension,outdoor fireplace the kitchen as well. Nothing

(01:20:36):
but good things to say about them. Were constantly spreading the good word regarding
their team from our neighbors. Itreally is a good time to get things
done around the house with Texas RemodelTeam. If you're needing any type of
remodeling, whether it's just a roomedition or an outdoor kitchen, or maybe
just a patio cover, highly recommended. Call Texas Remodel Team now at two

(01:20:59):
eight one one six one two fivenine nine one. That's two eight one
six one two five nine ninety one, or click the link at th hipro
dot com. That's that's right,that's right, Texas. I'm from Texas.

(01:21:26):
In Texas, we have the deathpenalty and we use it. That's
right. If you've gone to Texasand kills somebody, we will kill you
back. This is Sas Home Improvementwith Jim doesn't. That's right. That's
say, hey, welcome back toTexas Home Improvement, your total home improvement

(01:21:49):
source. Uh. You know,we are really out of time at this
point, so I will tell youdon't forget about our website, t h
I pro dot com. You hearme talk about all these different companies all
the time. That's where you'll findlinks to them. That's also where you'll
find a place sign up for ournewsletter that goes out every other week.

(01:22:10):
You'll find the ask Jim button tosend me email questions. It's just a
wealth of information when you go tothhipro dot com. With that being said,
I'll visit with you again tomorrow righthere on seven forty kPr H at
two o'clock. Well, I guessI better take care one last thing before

(01:22:44):
we go, and that's plugging myown company do West Services. You know,
if you're having foundation problems, ifyou're having air conditioning problems, if
you're having plumbing problems. We havethree complete divisions at du West to help
you with all your home services thatyou need to get addressed. So when
you want the best, you calldue West. That's seven one three four

(01:23:05):
seven three seven one five six,And when it comes to the foundation division,
here's what we're gonna do. We'regonna come out. You're gonna show
us around, show us what you'reseeing. Then we'll draw the house up
inside and out, take elevation readingsto see the high and low spots,
take a look at where the treesare and the drainage and all that stuff.

(01:23:26):
And then we can sit down andgo over the recommendations with you.
And you know, half the timewe're not recommending foundation repair, just preventative
maintenance. Again, when you wantthe best, call due West seven one
three four seven three seven one fivesix
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