August 13, 2023 • 43 mins
Jim starts with a caller who has an A/C unit creeping up in degrees. He also gets questions about water draining, EnergyQ, a dragging door, mortar crumbling, a home with a raised slab, and more.
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(00:00):
This is probably gonna sound a littlestrange to you. Texas Home Improvement is
on the air with your hosts,Jim Dot 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 prayers.
And I'm really glad I could talkto you. You're you're the smartest
(00:20):
guy. No, and I meanthere. Call Jim now with all your
home improvement questions at seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. Texas Home
Improvement brought to you by twos ServicesPlumbing, Foundation, repair and air Conditioning.
Texas Remodeled. Team Windows, theofficial window company of Texas Home Improvement.
(00:41):
American Standard Comfort the way you likeit. James Hardy Sighting, the
best sighting on the planet. USAInsulation Wall foam insulation for existing homes,
ready seal stain and seiler floor inthe core, Sunburst shutters where beauty meets
energy efficiency. Guardian Roof Systems,Residential and commercial rooping Specialist, Woodland's Water
(01:02):
Restoration, your hometown solution for propertydamage and pictures. Remodeling and Construction Party
blank specialist and now broadcasting live fromthe Dutton Ranch. Here's Jim dot Hey.
Welcome to Texas Home Improvements, yourtotal home improvement source. Any home
(01:25):
improvement question you have, just pickup the phone, give me a call
and let's talk about it here onTexas Home Improvement number two. Call seven
one three two one two five eightseven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four andI'll see what I can do to help
you out here on Texas Home Improvement. Now, don't forget about our website.
(01:45):
It's th chipro dot com. There'sall kinds of helpful information there,
links to the people you hear metalk about. Of course, there's a
place to sign up for our newsletterthat goes out every other week, and
the ask Jim button where you cansend in email questions. It's just a
wealth of information to help you out. In fact, I had somebody text
(02:07):
me this morning looking for some informationon watering the foundation. I sent them
to thhipro dot com because we've gota video there to help you with those
kinds of things. So if youhad an issue, check out thhipro dot
com. But when we're on here, we prefer to take calls and answer
questions. So if you got aquestion, pick up the phone, give
(02:28):
me a holler at seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four, and we are
going to head to my hometown forthe first call today, Robert and Pasadena.
How can I help you? Howare you doing? Jim So my
AC sisterm you don't have a checkedout every spring in the four by you
(02:50):
guys, you know, for thecheckoup and all that, and everything seems
fine. However, the last twodays I noticed that the AC has skipped
up a couple of degrees above whatI have is sit okay, and then
he comes back down a couple acouple of the afternoons. That's coming back
down to seven eight ways where Ihad to sit, and I wanted to
list something to worry about. Oris just because the excessive heat that we're
(03:14):
having, Well, the excessive heatis definitely taking its toll on things,
But you're trying to keep it setat seventy eight and it's creeping up to
eighty, is what you're saying.Yes, he goes up to eighty twenty
three, okay, then no,it needs to be checked out. You
need you call and get us outto take a look at what's going on.
(03:35):
Okay, okay, yeah, becauselike I said, I noticed is
you know, I guess they waslike about four o'clock start coming back down
to seventy eight, and I thought, well, maybe it's because the heat
that we've been having. But Iguess I'm gonna call you ice again and
have you'll come and look at it. Yeah, because in actuality, the
three to five o'clock in the afternoonsthat's the peak heat time. Yeah,
(03:58):
and so if it was going tocreep up, that would be the time
it should creep up. And ifit's going back down at that point,
then something is askew somewhere. Okay, okay, can I guess I'll give
you all the call again. Alrighty, I appreciate that, Thank you,
Thank you sir, and again ournumber seven one three two one two five
(04:21):
eight seven four. And yeah,I mean three to five in the afternoon
that's peak heat. And if yoursystem is creeping up a little bit,
then hey, I somewhat understand it. But if you're trying to hold it
at like seventy eight and it's creepingall the way up to eighty two eighty
three, like he was talking.No, that's higher than it should be
(04:44):
going. So there's a lot ofthings that can be causing something like that,
and you don't know until you getin and start checking the system out.
But I don't think it sounds likesomething that's gonna be low on COOLINGT
or anything, because during peak timeit's cooling it back down, Which that's
(05:05):
the part that's not making a wholelot of sense. But hey, we'll
get it checked out and find outwhat's going on. Again, if you
got a question seven one three,two one two, five eight seven four,
let's jump into an email question thatcame in twenty two minutes ago from
Jim in spring Texas. He says, I'm wondering if I could benefit from
(05:27):
some refreshment of my insulation in theattic. I live in spring Woodlands area
in a home built in nineteen ninety. It's about thirty three hundred square foot,
single story. Who should I callfor an assessment and estimate? Well,
first, you can take a lookat it yourself. I mean,
if you've got fiberglass or cellulose orsomething like that in there, you should
(05:51):
have something in the range of fifteensixteen inches of insulation, and so if
you've got less than that, yeah, you want to get it checked out.
The in checking it out, Imean, that's gonna be the first
thing you're gonna look at. Sobeyond that, then if you want to
(06:13):
get it looked at further, Iwould call USA Insulation and let them take
a look at it. You canreach them at three four, six,
two nine seven, twenty eight hundredand let them come out, take a
look and see what's going on.Now. I recommend them for doing phone
installation in the walls all the time, but they also do the addicts,
(06:36):
so you know, go ahead andfeel free to give them a holler.
I get our number seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four Alan
in West Memorial. How can Ihelp you? Hi there, I've got
water draining down to the curb.We have a combination French train on one
(06:59):
side of the house that put theirthree four years ago. And even when
my water meter is not turning,there's water collecting at the curve. For
the last couple of days, Ishut off a sprinkler system as far as
I know how, and it's stillkind of down there, and I'm wondering
what that could be and could itlikely be from AC drain like condensation.
(07:23):
Doubtful that it being that far down, I wouldn't expect it to be from
the AC system unless it's draining intoa pipe that would run down there.
Yeah, and I'm not sure ifthey connected it that way. Yeah,
normally that the AC will drain intoa sewer pipe, though not not like
(07:46):
a yard drain. Typeline is ameter box down at that end anywhere it
is how close? Maybe about tentwelve feet from the curve, maybe fifteen
at the most, okay, andit's probably three or four feet from the
(08:13):
from the French drain itself, likethe path the drain paths, right,
I would be more inclined to believeyou've got a city waterline leak, more
so than than a drain line withwater with as dry as its spin and
everything. And if your meter's notspinning, it would have to be the
(08:37):
city's line is leaking, and it'sit's happening all over the place because as
a dry the soils dry out andshrink and move. They're breaking pipes and
cracking fittings and and things like that, and I'm betting that's what's happening there.
Oh interesting, Well that's good.That means I won't be stocked with
a high water bill first. Yeah, yeah, the meter's not spinning,
(09:00):
you're not going to get a highwater bill. But it'll the problem is
going to be as time goes on, they'll tend to get a lot worse.
And so I would go ahead andput a call in and report it.
Let them come out and check itout. Okay, I'm guessing they're
pretty motivated to come out for somethinglike that, since it's on the right
bit, you would think they wouldbe motivated as heck to get out there.
(09:22):
But truthfully, on a small leaklike that, you may not even
hear from them for a month.Oh okay. The big ones, you
know, where it's buckling the streetand stuff like that, that's the ones
that they'll jump on right away.Okay, all right, well that's great
information. Thanks very much. Youbet you take care, all right.
(09:43):
But yeah, it amazes me howhow slow it is on reaction time on
some of this stuff. You know, we're told to conserve water, conserve
water. Government ends up with allthese leaks. They don't have to conserve
we'll get to it when we getto it, and literally that's what they'll
tend to tell us. But uhyeah, definitely get it reported though,
(10:05):
so it can get in the lineif you've got something like that happening.
Again, if you've got a questionseven one three, two one two five
eight seven four, let's head toGalveston. Pam, how are you today?
Well, I'm good, trying tostay cool just like everybody else.
Yep. How can I help you? I have an energy to question.
(10:30):
Okay, I have a small littlerent house here. Actually that's a has
a call space. Could that beused to keep the heat in during the
winter. Yes, and since it'sperforated, it's not going to cause rot
or anything of that sort. Corrected. It allows the moisture vapors to pass
(10:54):
through. And what you're trying todo is maintain underneath the crawl space to
you know, everybody wants to putinsulation all the time. What you're talking
about is trying to use the energyqueue instead to maintain the floor heat.
Correct Yes, yeah, it wouldhelp. I'm going to tell you up
front it's not going to set theworld on fire doing that. But even
(11:20):
when people put insulation, it doesn'tmake a big difference on their energy bills.
Uh. They It tends to keepthe floors a little bit more comfortable
for when you walk on them withbare feet and such. But as far
as saving money on the on theheating and cooling, it doesn't do a
whole heck of a lot. Really. Well, I had a tenant that
(11:41):
was living there and he had,you know, tried to block it off
with plywood and ugly, ugly stuff. And you know, I said why
and he said that wind's blowing underthere and it just makes it so cold.
And you know one about that.Yeah, and I know years ago
(12:05):
when we had a horrible freeze.I also have a raised cottage and I
was thinking of putting insulation in andfortunately i've I've heard that that could cause
it rotting issue. Yes, definitely. Honestly, if I was using it
for a rent house like you mentioned, I would do nothing. Okay,
(12:26):
okay, because they won't They won'tmaintaintain stuff that needs to be changed periodically
on it, and so I wouldtend to leave it alone. Okay,
you're saying that it would have tobe periodically changed, Well, you want
to you want to watch and makesure that nothing changes, you know,
(12:48):
starts you start building humidity somewhere andstuff like that. Gotcha. Okay,
well, good, thank you.I just all of a sudden was reading
about energy qu for the attic,and I just thought, let me ask
that end to my mind. SoI thank you for your help. You
bet, Pam, you take carehuh yeah. And if you're looking for
(13:09):
a radiant barrier for your attic orthe walls in your home, you can't
beat the energy queue. I useit everywhere. I've had it in my
house for a nineteen years. Already, great product and it will work under
a cross space. Don't get mewrong, but your dollar savings are going
(13:31):
to be tremendous. In an attic, it literally pays for itself and just
typically a few months in a crossspace, it would take years and years.
That's and that's just the the wayit is on that stuff. Look,
we talked about air conditioning a secondago. You know what the guy
called in about his system and howit's fluctuating in temperatures. If you need
(13:54):
to get your air conditioning system checkedout, give to you West air Conditioning
a call. You can reach usat seven one three four seven five zero
zero zero four. And I knowa lot of times people are coming out
and telling you, oh, youneed a new system. Your system's eight
years old or ten years old orwhatever. You know, just because it's
(14:15):
a few years old doesn't mean itneeds to be replaced. Let's take a
look at what it's going to costto fix it versus replacement before we actually
call and say, hey, youneed a new system. So again,
if you need a second opinion,or you just want to get it fixed
or maintained. When you want thebest, you call due West seven one
three four seven five zero zero zerofour. A USA insulation. You know
(14:41):
I talked about them a minute ago. As well as far as how to
check the attic insulation. You're lookingfor fifteen sixteen inches to have the right
R value. Well, USA Insulationthey can take care of that for you.
But they also have this great proprietarynon expansive foam they can inject into
the walls of your existing home.They'll get you the best. Our value
(15:03):
has a great fire rating and cancelsup to eighty percent of the noise from
outside as well. Now, ifyou're looking to make your house more energy
efficient, this is what you needto take a look at is USA Insulations
wall foam insulation. In fact,I've going to schedule I've got them scheduled
to be coming out to my houseto take a look in a couple of
(15:24):
weeks when I'm available to look atit. They're available. I just didn't
have the time right now to doit, so I scheduled for a couple
of weeks out. But you cancall them at three four six, two
nine seven twenty eight hundred. That'sthree four six two nine seven twenty eight
hundred for USA Insulation. To allyou folks who like to vent on social
(15:52):
media, shut up and vent yourat it. It's probably a hundred and
fifty degrees in that we're back toit, says Home Improvement with Jill Duck.
You know, eventing that attic notonly can make a difference on your
heating and cooling bill, but itcan also extend the life of your shingles.
It really does make a huge difference. Got a Home improvement question seven
(16:15):
one three two one two five eightseven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four andall see what I can do to help
you out. We're gonna head toCypress. Can Rick, Welcome to Texas
Home Improvement. Hey, how youdoing. I'm doing great? How about
(16:36):
you? Good? I got aI got a couple of little problems with
a door, the front door onthe threshold about midway in there. It
kind of dragged right there. I'mjust wondering, is there anything I could
kind of do to Oh, Imean I need to cut in a little
(16:56):
bit, or do I need toget a door guy out there or what
on that. So it's it's rubbingin the middle of the threshold, right,
and has it always done that oris that something new? Uh,
it's probably been doing that for aboutmonths now. Okay. Normally, if
(17:17):
it's rubbing in the middle of thethreshold, it's an indication that maybe the
one of the screws that holds thethreshold down has broken or come loose and
allowed the threshold to crown up alittle bit. And normally to check that,
you'd have to remove the rubber stripif it's got one, and that's
where the screws are to fasten itdown, is under that rubber strip and
(17:41):
check those out. Okay, Okay, I'll give that. I'll give that.
Chick. I got an I've gotanother door that goes goes into the
garage from the kitchen and recently wehad floory put in the door shuts.
Okay, not a problem. Butit doesn't I guess it's not lining up
(18:03):
with the latches and lining up tothe hole where we can lock it.
Okay, the door from so Idon't how do I how do how can
I put the I guess the bestway up? Uh? I take it
off the little plate and when itand then when you it'll lock it.
But the plate's not there. Butthat's not good. That's not good because
(18:25):
it's not put a little security there, a little best right? Is there
a way to find out how toline it up right? And what it's
doing? Now, yeah, youhave started doing it because they actually put
the boor in. Well yeah,And I'm kind of wondering what might have
happened that would have changed that.When did they take the door off the
(18:45):
hinges when they did it? Idon't, I don't think so. I
think they cut one little side ofthe door on the bottom. Okay,
then they would have had to takeit off the door. They would have
had to take it off the hingesto do that, then off the wall
there and so The first thing Iwould check again is the screws. Make
(19:08):
sure everything is tight so that thedoors not tilted a little bit, put
new screws in the okay, andthen as far as your question, can
the striker plate be adjusted, itcan be. Normally, what you have
to do in order to adjust isone, you know, just be physically
(19:29):
watching the door as you're closing itto see where the door ye pin is
sticking out, you know, andso you can see how much you need
to move the striker plate. Thenyou take the screws out hammer toothpicks or
wooden match sticks or something into theholes that are there for the screws now
(19:55):
and literally reset screws in the rightposition for where you need a striker plate.
You'll typically have to make your recessa little bit bigger for the striker
plate because normally, you know,it's pretty tight in that opening, so
you'll probably have to chisel it outjust a little bit more to slide it
(20:15):
up or down. But it's reallynot a huge problem. But the fact
that you've got two doors acting up, I'm wondering if it's not weather related
that you're getting a little bit ofmovement on the foundation, so you may
want to consider starting a watering programas well. Okay, okay, okay,
well, thank you, you bettake care. Hey, let's talk
(20:40):
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(21:00):
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com. I've been using American Standardin my homes since nineteen ninety nine.
(21:22):
I love the dual speed in thevariable speed. That's where you get maximum
humidity control and total comfort. Doyou think it's hot now? We're just
getting warmed up. We're back toJim Dutman on Texas Home Improvement. Hey,
(21:44):
welcome back seven one three, two, one two five eight seven four
Again, any home improvement question youhave, feel free to pick up the
phone, give me a call,and let's see what we can do.
To help you out here on TexasHome Improvement. We're head out to Katie
and so welcome to seven. Howcan I help you, Hi, Jim,
(22:06):
I was calling about our brick outsideon our house. The it looks
like the like something is eating themortar between some of the bricks. And
I saw a bug ones that haduh it looked like mortar like it was
(22:27):
covered with uh that grout that's betweenthe bricks, and and it was moving.
So I think it was a bugand uh uh And it was on
the wall, on the brick wall, and I uh. And when I
put my finger on the grout,I I can move my finger down the
(22:51):
grout and the little dust from thegrout falls down like it's breadcrumbs. It
is it? Is there something thatis it like because it's dry weather or
is it the insecticide we used?No, it's just you know, sometimes
the grout just doesn't hold up.How old is the home? It was
(23:18):
built in the seventies. Okay,you're getting to the age of the home
where Yeah, if they when theyused it's in especially in the seventies.
The building boom of the seventies,they just started building junk and they weren't
real careful and if they got thesand mix proportioned to the Portland mix out
(23:42):
of sync, this is what happens. Now. It lasts for years,
but it does start wearing and decaying. Now, I will tell you it'll
take years for it to become atrue issue. As far as the amount
of mortar coming out, and thefixed for it is relatively simple. They
just do what's called tuck pointing andbasically they again it's called tuck pointing,
(24:10):
check like U c K, yes, ma'am okay, And basically what they
do is they'll take off some ofthe mortar, get it back to where
they can put like a quarter tohalf an inch thick of new mortar over
the old mortar, and that'll dressit up to where it quits deteriorating or
(24:30):
coming out, and puts a newmortar on there just to seal everything up.
But it's not something you know,unless you got sections that are already
receding back, you know, likethree quarters of an inch or so.
I wouldn't get in a rush todo this. Well, I don't know.
(24:52):
It looks like there is something isreceding in the corner, maybe two
or three bricks on that where thebrick meets the second floor, I think,
okay, and uh, I meanthere's not a floor there, but
(25:18):
it's the that would be where thesecond story might be if there was a
floor right there. And and soit I don't know. It looks like
it is moving in that place,and it is dark. It's instead of
being the color of our mortar,it's become a dark gray. And we
(25:41):
have another or brown, and wehave another place that is the mortar also
became a dark gray or brown,and and a and a pest control person
said that was from bees that musthave been there once where they they're what
(26:03):
they did leak it down, butat all, well, let me give
you the name of a brick guythat can help you out with this.
Okay, great, it's mister Brickand his number is seven one three,
eight five six okay, eight threetwo nine. Okay seven one three eight
(26:30):
five six eight three two nine,yes, ma'am. All right, Well,
thank you, Jim, Thank youso much. You're welcome. You
have a great day. And Ihave another quick question, okay, is
that okay, we need to getour foundation looked at it. Does the
(26:52):
does this problem with the bricks haveanything to do with the foundation. Well,
if if the if the bricks werecracking, you know, a stair
stepping in the mortar, then Iwould say, yes, there's a possibility
of that. But if it's justmortar deterioration, then I'd say no.
Oh okay, Well you have agreat gay you as well, and if
(27:15):
you need the foundation looked at,obviously, i'd like you to call my
company, do West Foundation Repair,Yes, sir, okay, thank you,
thank you. By way. Yeah, it amazes me how many people
don't call us, but then afterthey got what they thought was a great
deal, they're calling because it didn'twork out, and now they need me
(27:38):
to look at it to take careof the problem. It's a whole lot
easier if you just call up front. All right, let's sad to Seabrook
and fram How can I help youtoday? Thanks so much for taking my
call. I really appreciate it.We just recently got a new sense a
seed or fense a couple of weeksago. And Seabrooke is outside of Houston,
(28:02):
so it's been pretty warm down here, yep. And the posts have
a couple cracks in them, Acouple of feet long, and we asked
the fence company to come back out, and he indicated that that was just
the quality of wood they were gettingand it shouldn't be a problem. But
(28:22):
I'd like an expert opinion on that. Well, he's not telling you wrong.
The quality of wood, the wayit was treated and dried and stuff,
it has changed over time, anda lot of it has to do
with the fact that the government regulatedwhat they could treat it with several years
(28:45):
ago. But as far as itshould it be a problem. You know,
if it's just a crack that's runningup and down with the fence,
no, it really shouldn't be abig problem. I would would recommend you
probably put a stain on it ora sealer on it rather so that the
wood's not taken on moisture, becausewhat typically causes those is the wood takes
(29:11):
on moisture when it rains. Whenit dries out, just like our soil,
it'll start to crack the wood.And you know from the expansion and
contraction of the moisture in the wood, and so if you put a sealer
on there, it'll minimize the amountof moisture that the wood takes on.
Therefore, minimize the cracking, andthat would be probably better than having them
(29:34):
patch it or anything. Oh yeah, I wouldn't bother trying to patch it,
because when you try to put those, you know, they'll put a
filler in there and stuff. It'llstick out like a sore thumb. Okay.
And then at the top of thepence, it's that when they first
put it in, all the boardswere aligned, and now a few weeks
(29:57):
after the fence there's a couple ofthem that look like they're warping a little
bit. And again a sense personsaid, that's because of the heat.
But yeah, you should be straight. Do you have you did you use
a treated picket or a cedar?Because it sounds like treated seedar. You
(30:18):
did use cedar, Okay, Okay. Typically the cedar stays pretty good,
you know, as far as thestaying in alignment and everything that way.
So as the wood dries, though, it is going to change a little
bit. How far off is it? Just maybe half an inch quarter of
(30:45):
an inch? Not very much,Okay. I would probably let it go
for now and let's see how itends up once all the wood is completely
dried. And again I would puta sealer on there. To protect the
wood over time, and it reallykeeps those fences looking like new for years.
(31:06):
When you when you put a sealer, I use ready seal all the
time. I've got a cedar fencethat is now sixteen years old, and
if you walked up to it,you would swear it's a two year old
fence. Well, yeah, wedid that in the back and yeah,
yeah, we really liked that.But I think I'll just go back to
(31:27):
the fence company and basically say youneed to see the fence force and see
how that goes. Well, Idon't think that's probably gonna go very well
if it wasn't further the deal.But you know, the other question I
will have on the on the fence, take a look at how high the
(31:47):
fence goes above the top rail,because that can make a difference on that
back and forth that you're having there. You know, if it's only say
ten inches or something, that's fine. But if the rail that they've got
it nailed to is say two footfrom the top of the fence, that's
(32:10):
just too much space and it doesallow that picket to warp as it's drying
right rights closer to ten inches.But I think I'll go out and measure
it well. I really appreciate yourwonderful advice already. You take care,
bodbye and again our number seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
(32:36):
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four, Randy.
I gotta take a quick break andthen I'm gonna jump onto your call
here on Texas Home improvement. Butlet's talk about foundation repair for a second.
You know this heat that we've beentalking about a few times today that
is causing massive amounts of foundation problemsto develop. The soils when they dry
(32:58):
out, they shrink when they atwhat they expand not quite as much as
they were the time before. Beforeyou know it, you got a foundation
problem. And you know sometimes peoplesay, oh, well, it's just
normal settlement. There is no suchthing as normal settlement. When it settles
and it's causing damage to the sheetrock and doors to not close properly and
(33:20):
things like that, that is outsidethe norm. That's when you need to
address it. Doesn't necessarily mean youneed to put peers on the house.
Yet. You know, like Itold the one guy, you'd probably time
to start watering the foundation. Andif you're not watering right now. You
are way behind the curve already,so let's make sure that everybody's watering the
foundation. If you've got questions onhow to do preventative maintenance, or you're
(33:45):
seeing signs of movement, give mycompany a called due West Foundation Repair.
You can reach us at seven onethree four seven three seven one five six
at seven one three four, seventhree seven one five six, or if
you want those detailed water instructions,we do have a video put together.
(34:05):
It's on the Thhipro dot com websiteand on the Due West Foundation Repair website
as well, which is du dashWest dot com. Remember, when you
want the best, your call dueWest. Oh. Let's talk about USA
Insulation again, because again this heatis just reeking havoc with homes and in
(34:29):
the winter months, you know whenyou were feeling those cool drafts coming through
the walls and I'm talking about wherethe plug in outlets were and the light
switches on the outside walls, that'san indication you need to be calling USA
Insulation. Now, you've heard metalk about them in the past, you've
heard me recommend them. I lovefoam insulation in the walls. I don't
(34:52):
like to encapsulate the house. ButI do love it in the walls because
ins French, you're not going tobeat r value. In fact, when
they put in foam insulation into walls, you're getting up in the mid twenty
our value in the walls. You'renot doing that with fiberglass, cellulose or
any other type of insulation. Sowhen you want to get your walls taken
(35:13):
care of, if you want tomake your house more energy efficient, call
USA Insulation at three four six twonine seven twenty eight hundred deaths three four
six two nine seven twenty eight hundred. Some places put up with dishonest,
corrupt contractors. Don't try that.Here here's more with Jim dot Em on
(35:38):
Texas Own Improvements. Hey, welcomeback to Texas Own Improvements. Seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. I'm gonna head to Baytown and
Randy. How can I help youtoday? Hey, Jim, thanks for
taking my call. I have afamily member who is thinking very seriously about
(36:02):
buying a home that has a raisedslab. I guess from I guess it
was raised right after Harvey, Iguess. And I just kind of want
to know does your companies, doesyour company do that or is that frowned
upon? Is that okay for afoundation in the future? You know,
(36:23):
I'm just kind of worried about it. Yeah. In fact, we raised
the first slab in nineteen eighty nine, and you know, after the hurricane
hit New Orleans, we helped FEMAright. The du West helped FEMA right
the rules as far as how todo these house raisings and stuff. So
(36:45):
we do a lot of them,and yes, I definitely believe they need
to be done. I will tellyou up front. I think there's a
lot of shysters in that business becausethey don't worry about getting their peers deep
enough to support it in the future. Uh, And so there will be
some issues with some of them,but you know that's that's on just regular
(37:08):
leveling of foundations as well. There'sthere's a lot of bad players. So
yes, I I don't have anissue with buying one that's been raised that
way. Okay, good, Letme ask you what foundation like that under
a wanty or something you think mostof the time on the house raisings,
(37:31):
Uh, companies did not offer lifetimewarranties. Now typically Due West does,
but uh, you know, afterwe helped FEMA set those rules. There
was a lot of companies out ofthe Northeast who got into doing it,
and they follow FEMA around into differentflood areas, and you know, they're
in the Houston area in Galveston Countyand stuff doing them now, not as
(37:57):
heavy as they were a year ago, but still doing them. And they
do not offer lifetime warranties on them. They're typically only offering like a five
year I see, Oh, howhigh was it raised? You know,
let's talk about tea and a halfseat maybe say seat okay, so that
(38:17):
one's not not lifted real high.If it needed adjustments, that'd be fairly
simple to do. And honestly,one raised that high probably wouldn't be unbelievably
expensive to make adjustments if if ifit ever needed it, what I would
suggest is get it checked to makesure that it's in a good state right
(38:38):
now. And how long ago wasit raised? You know, yeah,
I don't know. I know afterthey raised it, they redid all of
the end, you know, theyremodeled everything, all the walls, and
I'm sure if it was done,if it was done five years ago,
were longer, you'll probably be prettygood with it. If it's done in
(39:00):
the last say, two or threeyears, that's where you got to look
a little harder at it. Isee, the older it gets, the
better it'll stay. Okay, AndRandy, I'm that music man. I
need to take a break. I'mgonna put you on hold, and if
you've got more questions, be morethan happy to come back to you.
Let's talk about Sunburst shutters real quick. It's the best selling plantation shutter in
(39:24):
America. They're made of Pollywood andthey are just playing gorgeous. You don't
have to worry about them warping,cracking, shipping, you know. All
that's kind of stuff that we weretalking about other wood doing. These shutters
don't do it because that Pollywood isguaranteed and that's a lifetime guarantee not to
do that. So if you're lookingfor shutters for your home, take a
(39:45):
look at Sunburst shutters. They actuallyhave design consultants who will work with you
to make sure you get that perfectlook and fit for your home. Seven
one three, eight nine, sixeighty one fifty seven one three, eight
nine, six eighty one fifty forSunburst shutters. Oh, let's talk about
(40:07):
woodlands, water restoration, you know, talking about house raisings and different things
like that. Disasters do happen,and you need a company you can trust
when they happen. I want youto write the number down for Woodlands Water
Restoration. This is a restoration companythat will work with you and your insurance
(40:27):
company to get your property back togetherthe way it was supposed to be.
Two eight one five, seven,six eight four five nine, water damage,
flood, mold, fire, dozenor you know, whatever happens,
they can help you. And let'sface it, flooding is a big deal
here in the Houston area. WoodlandsWater Restoration they know how to mitigate all
(40:53):
this stuff. Two eight one fiveseven, six eight four five nine joined
the petition to get Jim Dutton's pictureon cans of bud light. It'll save
the company and just might save theworld. Here's more with Jim on Texas
Home Improvement. Hey, welcome backto Texas Home Improvement. We were talking
(41:19):
with Randy and Baytown and Randy Igot about a old minute and a half.
How can what else did you have? Well, one more quick question
if you don't mind, I don'tmind. Is there is there some kind
of database like if the owner doesn'tknow which company did their their rays,
So ib is there some kind ofdatabase if we could look at to see
(41:40):
who did it or check with thecity because permits should have been pulled.
I see that's a good idea.Yeah, that would be the because no,
there is no database on it oranything. Sounds good. Thank you,
Jim, you've been very helpful.Randy, you take care you b
(42:04):
Yeah, and you know, ifyou're looking at getting a house raised or
looking at purchasing one, you're gonnawant to know the details. I mean,
I'm far be it. I wouldnot tell you not to buy it,
because most of the time you're goingto be in good shape. I
just would recommend you have it checkedout before buying it, so you make
sure that it is sitting there solidand hasn't had to have a bunch of
(42:29):
work done to keep it that way. With that being said, have a
wonderful weekend, don't forget join usagain next Saturday, starting at two o'clock
right here on seven forty ktrh.Before we go, though, let's talk
about some plumbing. You know.I talked about the foundation repair and how
I'd like you to use my companyand air conditioning. But you know when
(42:49):
it comes to underslab plumbing, andI'll do Wes Total Plumbing. We do
all types of plumbing, water heatersand just dripping faucets and everything. But
we're I really want to focus onis the underslab sewer lines. You know
you're getting those cast iron pistry placeyou're having to do tunnels underneath. If
the company you're using or looking atusing isn't going to put support tiles underneath
(43:13):
there, you will be destined tohave a problem. I will guarantee you
there's no way to backfill that tunnelback as tight as the soils were,
that area will settle. Happens allthe time. You don't want to go
through that mess a second time.So called due West Total Plumbing. Let
us mix the foundation underpinning along withthe plumbing repair. When you want the
(43:37):
best, you called due West
This is probably gonna sound a littlestrange to you. Texas Home Improvement is
on the air with your hosts,Jim Dot 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 prayers.
And I'm really glad I could talkto you. You're you're the smartest
(00:20):
guy. No, and I meanthere. Call Jim now with all your
home improvement questions at seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. Texas Home
Improvement brought to you by twos ServicesPlumbing, Foundation, repair and air Conditioning.
Texas Remodeled. Team Windows, theofficial window company of Texas Home Improvement.
(00:41):
American Standard Comfort the way you likeit. James Hardy Sighting, the
best sighting on the planet. USAInsulation Wall foam insulation for existing homes,
ready seal stain and seiler floor inthe core, Sunburst shutters where beauty meets
energy efficiency. Guardian Roof Systems,Residential and commercial rooping Specialist, Woodland's Water
(01:02):
Restoration, your hometown solution for propertydamage and pictures. Remodeling and Construction Party
blank specialist and now broadcasting live fromthe Dutton Ranch. Here's Jim dot Hey.
Welcome to Texas Home Improvements, yourtotal home improvement source. Any home
(01:25):
improvement question you have, just pickup the phone, give me a call
and let's talk about it here onTexas Home Improvement number two. Call seven
one three two one two five eightseven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four andI'll see what I can do to help
you out here on Texas Home Improvement. Now, don't forget about our website.
(01:45):
It's th chipro dot com. There'sall kinds of helpful information there,
links to the people you hear metalk about. Of course, there's a
place to sign up for our newsletterthat goes out every other week, and
the ask Jim button where you cansend in email questions. It's just a
wealth of information to help you out. In fact, I had somebody text
(02:07):
me this morning looking for some informationon watering the foundation. I sent them
to thhipro dot com because we've gota video there to help you with those
kinds of things. So if youhad an issue, check out thhipro dot
com. But when we're on here, we prefer to take calls and answer
questions. So if you got aquestion, pick up the phone, give
(02:28):
me a holler at seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four, and we are
going to head to my hometown forthe first call today, Robert and Pasadena.
How can I help you? Howare you doing? Jim So my
AC sisterm you don't have a checkedout every spring in the four by you
(02:50):
guys, you know, for thecheckoup and all that, and everything seems
fine. However, the last twodays I noticed that the AC has skipped
up a couple of degrees above whatI have is sit okay, and then
he comes back down a couple acouple of the afternoons. That's coming back
down to seven eight ways where Ihad to sit, and I wanted to
list something to worry about. Oris just because the excessive heat that we're
(03:14):
having, Well, the excessive heatis definitely taking its toll on things,
But you're trying to keep it setat seventy eight and it's creeping up to
eighty, is what you're saying.Yes, he goes up to eighty twenty
three, okay, then no,it needs to be checked out. You
need you call and get us outto take a look at what's going on.
(03:35):
Okay, okay, yeah, becauselike I said, I noticed is
you know, I guess they waslike about four o'clock start coming back down
to seventy eight, and I thought, well, maybe it's because the heat
that we've been having. But Iguess I'm gonna call you ice again and
have you'll come and look at it. Yeah, because in actuality, the
three to five o'clock in the afternoonsthat's the peak heat time. Yeah,
(03:58):
and so if it was going tocreep up, that would be the time
it should creep up. And ifit's going back down at that point,
then something is askew somewhere. Okay, okay, can I guess I'll give
you all the call again. Alrighty, I appreciate that, Thank you,
Thank you sir, and again ournumber seven one three two one two five
(04:21):
eight seven four. And yeah,I mean three to five in the afternoon
that's peak heat. And if yoursystem is creeping up a little bit,
then hey, I somewhat understand it. But if you're trying to hold it
at like seventy eight and it's creepingall the way up to eighty two eighty
three, like he was talking.No, that's higher than it should be
(04:44):
going. So there's a lot ofthings that can be causing something like that,
and you don't know until you getin and start checking the system out.
But I don't think it sounds likesomething that's gonna be low on COOLINGT
or anything, because during peak timeit's cooling it back down, Which that's
(05:05):
the part that's not making a wholelot of sense. But hey, we'll
get it checked out and find outwhat's going on. Again, if you
got a question seven one three,two one two, five eight seven four,
let's jump into an email question thatcame in twenty two minutes ago from
Jim in spring Texas. He says, I'm wondering if I could benefit from
(05:27):
some refreshment of my insulation in theattic. I live in spring Woodlands area
in a home built in nineteen ninety. It's about thirty three hundred square foot,
single story. Who should I callfor an assessment and estimate? Well,
first, you can take a lookat it yourself. I mean,
if you've got fiberglass or cellulose orsomething like that in there, you should
(05:51):
have something in the range of fifteensixteen inches of insulation, and so if
you've got less than that, yeah, you want to get it checked out.
The in checking it out, Imean, that's gonna be the first
thing you're gonna look at. Sobeyond that, then if you want to
(06:13):
get it looked at further, Iwould call USA Insulation and let them take
a look at it. You canreach them at three four, six,
two nine seven, twenty eight hundredand let them come out, take a
look and see what's going on.Now. I recommend them for doing phone
installation in the walls all the time, but they also do the addicts,
(06:36):
so you know, go ahead andfeel free to give them a holler.
I get our number seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four Alan
in West Memorial. How can Ihelp you? Hi there, I've got
water draining down to the curb.We have a combination French train on one
(06:59):
side of the house that put theirthree four years ago. And even when
my water meter is not turning,there's water collecting at the curve. For
the last couple of days, Ishut off a sprinkler system as far as
I know how, and it's stillkind of down there, and I'm wondering
what that could be and could itlikely be from AC drain like condensation.
(07:23):
Doubtful that it being that far down, I wouldn't expect it to be from
the AC system unless it's draining intoa pipe that would run down there.
Yeah, and I'm not sure ifthey connected it that way. Yeah,
normally that the AC will drain intoa sewer pipe, though not not like
(07:46):
a yard drain. Typeline is ameter box down at that end anywhere it
is how close? Maybe about tentwelve feet from the curve, maybe fifteen
at the most, okay, andit's probably three or four feet from the
(08:13):
from the French drain itself, likethe path the drain paths, right,
I would be more inclined to believeyou've got a city waterline leak, more
so than than a drain line withwater with as dry as its spin and
everything. And if your meter's notspinning, it would have to be the
(08:37):
city's line is leaking, and it'sit's happening all over the place because as
a dry the soils dry out andshrink and move. They're breaking pipes and
cracking fittings and and things like that, and I'm betting that's what's happening there.
Oh interesting, Well that's good.That means I won't be stocked with
a high water bill first. Yeah, yeah, the meter's not spinning,
(09:00):
you're not going to get a highwater bill. But it'll the problem is
going to be as time goes on, they'll tend to get a lot worse.
And so I would go ahead andput a call in and report it.
Let them come out and check itout. Okay, I'm guessing they're
pretty motivated to come out for somethinglike that, since it's on the right
bit, you would think they wouldbe motivated as heck to get out there.
(09:22):
But truthfully, on a small leaklike that, you may not even
hear from them for a month.Oh okay. The big ones, you
know, where it's buckling the streetand stuff like that, that's the ones
that they'll jump on right away.Okay, all right, well that's great
information. Thanks very much. Youbet you take care, all right.
(09:43):
But yeah, it amazes me howhow slow it is on reaction time on
some of this stuff. You know, we're told to conserve water, conserve
water. Government ends up with allthese leaks. They don't have to conserve
we'll get to it when we getto it, and literally that's what they'll
tend to tell us. But uhyeah, definitely get it reported though,
(10:05):
so it can get in the lineif you've got something like that happening.
Again, if you've got a questionseven one three, two one two five
eight seven four, let's head toGalveston. Pam, how are you today?
Well, I'm good, trying tostay cool just like everybody else.
Yep. How can I help you? I have an energy to question.
(10:30):
Okay, I have a small littlerent house here. Actually that's a has
a call space. Could that beused to keep the heat in during the
winter. Yes, and since it'sperforated, it's not going to cause rot
or anything of that sort. Corrected. It allows the moisture vapors to pass
(10:54):
through. And what you're trying todo is maintain underneath the crawl space to
you know, everybody wants to putinsulation all the time. What you're talking
about is trying to use the energyqueue instead to maintain the floor heat.
Correct Yes, yeah, it wouldhelp. I'm going to tell you up
front it's not going to set theworld on fire doing that. But even
(11:20):
when people put insulation, it doesn'tmake a big difference on their energy bills.
Uh. They It tends to keepthe floors a little bit more comfortable
for when you walk on them withbare feet and such. But as far
as saving money on the on theheating and cooling, it doesn't do a
whole heck of a lot. Really. Well, I had a tenant that
(11:41):
was living there and he had,you know, tried to block it off
with plywood and ugly, ugly stuff. And you know, I said why
and he said that wind's blowing underthere and it just makes it so cold.
And you know one about that.Yeah, and I know years ago
(12:05):
when we had a horrible freeze.I also have a raised cottage and I
was thinking of putting insulation in andfortunately i've I've heard that that could cause
it rotting issue. Yes, definitely. Honestly, if I was using it
for a rent house like you mentioned, I would do nothing. Okay,
(12:26):
okay, because they won't They won'tmaintaintain stuff that needs to be changed periodically
on it, and so I wouldtend to leave it alone. Okay,
you're saying that it would have tobe periodically changed, Well, you want
to you want to watch and makesure that nothing changes, you know,
(12:48):
starts you start building humidity somewhere andstuff like that. Gotcha. Okay,
well, good, thank you.I just all of a sudden was reading
about energy qu for the attic,and I just thought, let me ask
that end to my mind. SoI thank you for your help. You
bet, Pam, you take carehuh yeah. And if you're looking for
(13:09):
a radiant barrier for your attic orthe walls in your home, you can't
beat the energy queue. I useit everywhere. I've had it in my
house for a nineteen years. Already, great product and it will work under
a cross space. Don't get mewrong, but your dollar savings are going
(13:31):
to be tremendous. In an attic, it literally pays for itself and just
typically a few months in a crossspace, it would take years and years.
That's and that's just the the wayit is on that stuff. Look,
we talked about air conditioning a secondago. You know what the guy
called in about his system and howit's fluctuating in temperatures. If you need
(13:54):
to get your air conditioning system checkedout, give to you West air Conditioning
a call. You can reach usat seven one three four seven five zero
zero zero four. And I knowa lot of times people are coming out
and telling you, oh, youneed a new system. Your system's eight
years old or ten years old orwhatever. You know, just because it's
(14:15):
a few years old doesn't mean itneeds to be replaced. Let's take a
look at what it's going to costto fix it versus replacement before we actually
call and say, hey, youneed a new system. So again,
if you need a second opinion,or you just want to get it fixed
or maintained. When you want thebest, you call due West seven one
three four seven five zero zero zerofour. A USA insulation. You know
(14:41):
I talked about them a minute ago. As well as far as how to
check the attic insulation. You're lookingfor fifteen sixteen inches to have the right
R value. Well, USA Insulationthey can take care of that for you.
But they also have this great proprietarynon expansive foam they can inject into
the walls of your existing home.They'll get you the best. Our value
(15:03):
has a great fire rating and cancelsup to eighty percent of the noise from
outside as well. Now, ifyou're looking to make your house more energy
efficient, this is what you needto take a look at is USA Insulations
wall foam insulation. In fact,I've going to schedule I've got them scheduled
to be coming out to my houseto take a look in a couple of
(15:24):
weeks when I'm available to look atit. They're available. I just didn't
have the time right now to doit, so I scheduled for a couple
of weeks out. But you cancall them at three four six, two
nine seven twenty eight hundred. That'sthree four six two nine seven twenty eight
hundred for USA Insulation. To allyou folks who like to vent on social
(15:52):
media, shut up and vent yourat it. It's probably a hundred and
fifty degrees in that we're back toit, says Home Improvement with Jill Duck.
You know, eventing that attic notonly can make a difference on your
heating and cooling bill, but itcan also extend the life of your shingles.
It really does make a huge difference. Got a Home improvement question seven
(16:15):
one three two one two five eightseven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four andall see what I can do to help
you out. We're gonna head toCypress. Can Rick, Welcome to Texas
Home Improvement. Hey, how youdoing. I'm doing great? How about
(16:36):
you? Good? I got aI got a couple of little problems with
a door, the front door onthe threshold about midway in there. It
kind of dragged right there. I'mjust wondering, is there anything I could
kind of do to Oh, Imean I need to cut in a little
(16:56):
bit, or do I need toget a door guy out there or what
on that. So it's it's rubbingin the middle of the threshold, right,
and has it always done that oris that something new? Uh,
it's probably been doing that for aboutmonths now. Okay. Normally, if
(17:17):
it's rubbing in the middle of thethreshold, it's an indication that maybe the
one of the screws that holds thethreshold down has broken or come loose and
allowed the threshold to crown up alittle bit. And normally to check that,
you'd have to remove the rubber stripif it's got one, and that's
where the screws are to fasten itdown, is under that rubber strip and
(17:41):
check those out. Okay, Okay, I'll give that. I'll give that.
Chick. I got an I've gotanother door that goes goes into the
garage from the kitchen and recently wehad floory put in the door shuts.
Okay, not a problem. Butit doesn't I guess it's not lining up
(18:03):
with the latches and lining up tothe hole where we can lock it.
Okay, the door from so Idon't how do I how do how can
I put the I guess the bestway up? Uh? I take it
off the little plate and when itand then when you it'll lock it.
But the plate's not there. Butthat's not good. That's not good because
(18:25):
it's not put a little security there, a little best right? Is there
a way to find out how toline it up right? And what it's
doing? Now, yeah, youhave started doing it because they actually put
the boor in. Well yeah,And I'm kind of wondering what might have
happened that would have changed that.When did they take the door off the
(18:45):
hinges when they did it? Idon't, I don't think so. I
think they cut one little side ofthe door on the bottom. Okay,
then they would have had to takeit off the door. They would have
had to take it off the hingesto do that, then off the wall
there and so The first thing Iwould check again is the screws. Make
(19:08):
sure everything is tight so that thedoors not tilted a little bit, put
new screws in the okay, andthen as far as your question, can
the striker plate be adjusted, itcan be. Normally, what you have
to do in order to adjust isone, you know, just be physically
(19:29):
watching the door as you're closing itto see where the door ye pin is
sticking out, you know, andso you can see how much you need
to move the striker plate. Thenyou take the screws out hammer toothpicks or
wooden match sticks or something into theholes that are there for the screws now
(19:55):
and literally reset screws in the rightposition for where you need a striker plate.
You'll typically have to make your recessa little bit bigger for the striker
plate because normally, you know,it's pretty tight in that opening, so
you'll probably have to chisel it outjust a little bit more to slide it
(20:15):
up or down. But it's reallynot a huge problem. But the fact
that you've got two doors acting up, I'm wondering if it's not weather related
that you're getting a little bit ofmovement on the foundation, so you may
want to consider starting a watering programas well. Okay, okay, okay,
well, thank you, you bettake care. Hey, let's talk
(20:40):
about American Standard. My choice inair conditioning, and American Standard is nationally
recognized for excellence for performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction. You can take
care of your family all year longwith American Standard air. American Standard technology.
It meets the ever changing Texas weatherhead on. So keep your home
(21:00):
cool and humidity free or be readyfor a little heat when you need it.
Invest wisely and invest in the homecomfort system that'll last you a long,
long time comfort the way you likeit. That's American Standard air dot
com. I've been using American Standardin my homes since nineteen ninety nine.
(21:22):
I love the dual speed in thevariable speed. That's where you get maximum
humidity control and total comfort. Doyou think it's hot now? We're just
getting warmed up. We're back toJim Dutman on Texas Home Improvement. Hey,
(21:44):
welcome back seven one three, two, one two five eight seven four
Again, any home improvement question youhave, feel free to pick up the
phone, give me a call,and let's see what we can do.
To help you out here on TexasHome Improvement. We're head out to Katie
and so welcome to seven. Howcan I help you, Hi, Jim,
(22:06):
I was calling about our brick outsideon our house. The it looks
like the like something is eating themortar between some of the bricks. And
I saw a bug ones that haduh it looked like mortar like it was
(22:27):
covered with uh that grout that's betweenthe bricks, and and it was moving.
So I think it was a bugand uh uh And it was on
the wall, on the brick wall, and I uh. And when I
put my finger on the grout,I I can move my finger down the
(22:51):
grout and the little dust from thegrout falls down like it's breadcrumbs. It
is it? Is there something thatis it like because it's dry weather or
is it the insecticide we used?No, it's just you know, sometimes
the grout just doesn't hold up.How old is the home? It was
(23:18):
built in the seventies. Okay,you're getting to the age of the home
where Yeah, if they when theyused it's in especially in the seventies.
The building boom of the seventies,they just started building junk and they weren't
real careful and if they got thesand mix proportioned to the Portland mix out
(23:42):
of sync, this is what happens. Now. It lasts for years,
but it does start wearing and decaying. Now, I will tell you it'll
take years for it to become atrue issue. As far as the amount
of mortar coming out, and thefixed for it is relatively simple. They
just do what's called tuck pointing andbasically they again it's called tuck pointing,
(24:10):
check like U c K, yes, ma'am okay, And basically what they
do is they'll take off some ofthe mortar, get it back to where
they can put like a quarter tohalf an inch thick of new mortar over
the old mortar, and that'll dressit up to where it quits deteriorating or
(24:30):
coming out, and puts a newmortar on there just to seal everything up.
But it's not something you know,unless you got sections that are already
receding back, you know, likethree quarters of an inch or so.
I wouldn't get in a rush todo this. Well, I don't know.
(24:52):
It looks like there is something isreceding in the corner, maybe two
or three bricks on that where thebrick meets the second floor, I think,
okay, and uh, I meanthere's not a floor there, but
(25:18):
it's the that would be where thesecond story might be if there was a
floor right there. And and soit I don't know. It looks like
it is moving in that place,and it is dark. It's instead of
being the color of our mortar,it's become a dark gray. And we
(25:41):
have another or brown, and wehave another place that is the mortar also
became a dark gray or brown,and and a and a pest control person
said that was from bees that musthave been there once where they they're what
(26:03):
they did leak it down, butat all, well, let me give
you the name of a brick guythat can help you out with this.
Okay, great, it's mister Brickand his number is seven one three,
eight five six okay, eight threetwo nine. Okay seven one three eight
(26:30):
five six eight three two nine,yes, ma'am. All right, Well,
thank you, Jim, Thank youso much. You're welcome. You
have a great day. And Ihave another quick question, okay, is
that okay, we need to getour foundation looked at it. Does the
(26:52):
does this problem with the bricks haveanything to do with the foundation. Well,
if if the if the bricks werecracking, you know, a stair
stepping in the mortar, then Iwould say, yes, there's a possibility
of that. But if it's justmortar deterioration, then I'd say no.
Oh okay, Well you have agreat gay you as well, and if
(27:15):
you need the foundation looked at,obviously, i'd like you to call my
company, do West Foundation Repair,Yes, sir, okay, thank you,
thank you. By way. Yeah, it amazes me how many people
don't call us, but then afterthey got what they thought was a great
deal, they're calling because it didn'twork out, and now they need me
(27:38):
to look at it to take careof the problem. It's a whole lot
easier if you just call up front. All right, let's sad to Seabrook
and fram How can I help youtoday? Thanks so much for taking my
call. I really appreciate it.We just recently got a new sense a
seed or fense a couple of weeksago. And Seabrooke is outside of Houston,
(28:02):
so it's been pretty warm down here, yep. And the posts have
a couple cracks in them, Acouple of feet long, and we asked
the fence company to come back out, and he indicated that that was just
the quality of wood they were gettingand it shouldn't be a problem. But
(28:22):
I'd like an expert opinion on that. Well, he's not telling you wrong.
The quality of wood, the wayit was treated and dried and stuff,
it has changed over time, anda lot of it has to do
with the fact that the government regulatedwhat they could treat it with several years
(28:45):
ago. But as far as itshould it be a problem. You know,
if it's just a crack that's runningup and down with the fence,
no, it really shouldn't be abig problem. I would would recommend you
probably put a stain on it ora sealer on it rather so that the
wood's not taken on moisture, becausewhat typically causes those is the wood takes
(29:11):
on moisture when it rains. Whenit dries out, just like our soil,
it'll start to crack the wood.And you know from the expansion and
contraction of the moisture in the wood, and so if you put a sealer
on there, it'll minimize the amountof moisture that the wood takes on.
Therefore, minimize the cracking, andthat would be probably better than having them
(29:34):
patch it or anything. Oh yeah, I wouldn't bother trying to patch it,
because when you try to put those, you know, they'll put a
filler in there and stuff. It'llstick out like a sore thumb. Okay.
And then at the top of thepence, it's that when they first
put it in, all the boardswere aligned, and now a few weeks
(29:57):
after the fence there's a couple ofthem that look like they're warping a little
bit. And again a sense personsaid, that's because of the heat.
But yeah, you should be straight. Do you have you did you use
a treated picket or a cedar?Because it sounds like treated seedar. You
(30:18):
did use cedar, Okay, Okay. Typically the cedar stays pretty good,
you know, as far as thestaying in alignment and everything that way.
So as the wood dries, though, it is going to change a little
bit. How far off is it? Just maybe half an inch quarter of
(30:45):
an inch? Not very much,Okay. I would probably let it go
for now and let's see how itends up once all the wood is completely
dried. And again I would puta sealer on there. To protect the
wood over time, and it reallykeeps those fences looking like new for years.
(31:06):
When you when you put a sealer, I use ready seal all the
time. I've got a cedar fencethat is now sixteen years old, and
if you walked up to it,you would swear it's a two year old
fence. Well, yeah, wedid that in the back and yeah,
yeah, we really liked that.But I think I'll just go back to
(31:27):
the fence company and basically say youneed to see the fence force and see
how that goes. Well, Idon't think that's probably gonna go very well
if it wasn't further the deal.But you know, the other question I
will have on the on the fence, take a look at how high the
(31:47):
fence goes above the top rail,because that can make a difference on that
back and forth that you're having there. You know, if it's only say
ten inches or something, that's fine. But if the rail that they've got
it nailed to is say two footfrom the top of the fence, that's
(32:10):
just too much space and it doesallow that picket to warp as it's drying
right rights closer to ten inches.But I think I'll go out and measure
it well. I really appreciate yourwonderful advice already. You take care,
bodbye and again our number seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
(32:36):
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four, Randy.
I gotta take a quick break andthen I'm gonna jump onto your call
here on Texas Home improvement. Butlet's talk about foundation repair for a second.
You know this heat that we've beentalking about a few times today that
is causing massive amounts of foundation problemsto develop. The soils when they dry
(32:58):
out, they shrink when they atwhat they expand not quite as much as
they were the time before. Beforeyou know it, you got a foundation
problem. And you know sometimes peoplesay, oh, well, it's just
normal settlement. There is no suchthing as normal settlement. When it settles
and it's causing damage to the sheetrock and doors to not close properly and
(33:20):
things like that, that is outsidethe norm. That's when you need to
address it. Doesn't necessarily mean youneed to put peers on the house.
Yet. You know, like Itold the one guy, you'd probably time
to start watering the foundation. Andif you're not watering right now. You
are way behind the curve already,so let's make sure that everybody's watering the
foundation. If you've got questions onhow to do preventative maintenance, or you're
(33:45):
seeing signs of movement, give mycompany a called due West Foundation Repair.
You can reach us at seven onethree four seven three seven one five six
at seven one three four, seventhree seven one five six, or if
you want those detailed water instructions,we do have a video put together.
(34:05):
It's on the Thhipro dot com websiteand on the Due West Foundation Repair website
as well, which is du dashWest dot com. Remember, when you
want the best, your call dueWest. Oh. Let's talk about USA
Insulation again, because again this heatis just reeking havoc with homes and in
(34:29):
the winter months, you know whenyou were feeling those cool drafts coming through
the walls and I'm talking about wherethe plug in outlets were and the light
switches on the outside walls, that'san indication you need to be calling USA
Insulation. Now, you've heard metalk about them in the past, you've
heard me recommend them. I lovefoam insulation in the walls. I don't
(34:52):
like to encapsulate the house. ButI do love it in the walls because
ins French, you're not going tobeat r value. In fact, when
they put in foam insulation into walls, you're getting up in the mid twenty
our value in the walls. You'renot doing that with fiberglass, cellulose or
any other type of insulation. Sowhen you want to get your walls taken
(35:13):
care of, if you want tomake your house more energy efficient, call
USA Insulation at three four six twonine seven twenty eight hundred deaths three four
six two nine seven twenty eight hundred. Some places put up with dishonest,
corrupt contractors. Don't try that.Here here's more with Jim dot Em on
(35:38):
Texas Own Improvements. Hey, welcomeback to Texas Own Improvements. Seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. I'm gonna head to Baytown and
Randy. How can I help youtoday? Hey, Jim, thanks for
taking my call. I have afamily member who is thinking very seriously about
(36:02):
buying a home that has a raisedslab. I guess from I guess it
was raised right after Harvey, Iguess. And I just kind of want
to know does your companies, doesyour company do that or is that frowned
upon? Is that okay for afoundation in the future? You know,
(36:23):
I'm just kind of worried about it. Yeah. In fact, we raised
the first slab in nineteen eighty nine, and you know, after the hurricane
hit New Orleans, we helped FEMAright. The du West helped FEMA right
the rules as far as how todo these house raisings and stuff. So
(36:45):
we do a lot of them,and yes, I definitely believe they need
to be done. I will tellyou up front. I think there's a
lot of shysters in that business becausethey don't worry about getting their peers deep
enough to support it in the future. Uh, And so there will be
some issues with some of them,but you know that's that's on just regular
(37:08):
leveling of foundations as well. There'sthere's a lot of bad players. So
yes, I I don't have anissue with buying one that's been raised that
way. Okay, good, Letme ask you what foundation like that under
a wanty or something you think mostof the time on the house raisings,
(37:31):
Uh, companies did not offer lifetimewarranties. Now typically Due West does,
but uh, you know, afterwe helped FEMA set those rules. There
was a lot of companies out ofthe Northeast who got into doing it,
and they follow FEMA around into differentflood areas, and you know, they're
in the Houston area in Galveston Countyand stuff doing them now, not as
(37:57):
heavy as they were a year ago, but still doing them. And they
do not offer lifetime warranties on them. They're typically only offering like a five
year I see, Oh, howhigh was it raised? You know,
let's talk about tea and a halfseat maybe say seat okay, so that
(38:17):
one's not not lifted real high.If it needed adjustments, that'd be fairly
simple to do. And honestly,one raised that high probably wouldn't be unbelievably
expensive to make adjustments if if ifit ever needed it, what I would
suggest is get it checked to makesure that it's in a good state right
(38:38):
now. And how long ago wasit raised? You know, yeah,
I don't know. I know afterthey raised it, they redid all of
the end, you know, theyremodeled everything, all the walls, and
I'm sure if it was done,if it was done five years ago,
were longer, you'll probably be prettygood with it. If it's done in
(39:00):
the last say, two or threeyears, that's where you got to look
a little harder at it. Isee, the older it gets, the
better it'll stay. Okay, AndRandy, I'm that music man. I
need to take a break. I'mgonna put you on hold, and if
you've got more questions, be morethan happy to come back to you.
Let's talk about Sunburst shutters real quick. It's the best selling plantation shutter in
(39:24):
America. They're made of Pollywood andthey are just playing gorgeous. You don't
have to worry about them warping,cracking, shipping, you know. All
that's kind of stuff that we weretalking about other wood doing. These shutters
don't do it because that Pollywood isguaranteed and that's a lifetime guarantee not to
do that. So if you're lookingfor shutters for your home, take a
(39:45):
look at Sunburst shutters. They actuallyhave design consultants who will work with you
to make sure you get that perfectlook and fit for your home. Seven
one three, eight nine, sixeighty one fifty seven one three, eight
nine, six eighty one fifty forSunburst shutters. Oh, let's talk about
(40:07):
woodlands, water restoration, you know, talking about house raisings and different things
like that. Disasters do happen,and you need a company you can trust
when they happen. I want youto write the number down for Woodlands Water
Restoration. This is a restoration companythat will work with you and your insurance
(40:27):
company to get your property back togetherthe way it was supposed to be.
Two eight one five, seven,six eight four five nine, water damage,
flood, mold, fire, dozenor you know, whatever happens,
they can help you. And let'sface it, flooding is a big deal
here in the Houston area. WoodlandsWater Restoration they know how to mitigate all
(40:53):
this stuff. Two eight one fiveseven, six eight four five nine joined
the petition to get Jim Dutton's pictureon cans of bud light. It'll save
the company and just might save theworld. Here's more with Jim on Texas
Home Improvement. Hey, welcome backto Texas Home Improvement. We were talking
(41:19):
with Randy and Baytown and Randy Igot about a old minute and a half.
How can what else did you have? Well, one more quick question
if you don't mind, I don'tmind. Is there is there some kind
of database like if the owner doesn'tknow which company did their their rays,
So ib is there some kind ofdatabase if we could look at to see
(41:40):
who did it or check with thecity because permits should have been pulled.
I see that's a good idea.Yeah, that would be the because no,
there is no database on it oranything. Sounds good. Thank you,
Jim, you've been very helpful.Randy, you take care you b
(42:04):
Yeah, and you know, ifyou're looking at getting a house raised or
looking at purchasing one, you're gonnawant to know the details. I mean,
I'm far be it. I wouldnot tell you not to buy it,
because most of the time you're goingto be in good shape. I
just would recommend you have it checkedout before buying it, so you make
sure that it is sitting there solidand hasn't had to have a bunch of
(42:29):
work done to keep it that way. With that being said, have a
wonderful weekend, don't forget join usagain next Saturday, starting at two o'clock
right here on seven forty ktrh.Before we go, though, let's talk
about some plumbing. You know.I talked about the foundation repair and how
I'd like you to use my companyand air conditioning. But you know when
(42:49):
it comes to underslab plumbing, andI'll do Wes Total Plumbing. We do
all types of plumbing, water heatersand just dripping faucets and everything. But
we're I really want to focus onis the underslab sewer lines. You know
you're getting those cast iron pistry placeyou're having to do tunnels underneath. If
the company you're using or looking atusing isn't going to put support tiles underneath
(43:13):
there, you will be destined tohave a problem. I will guarantee you
there's no way to backfill that tunnelback as tight as the soils were,
that area will settle. Happens allthe time. You don't want to go
through that mess a second time.So called due West Total Plumbing. Let
us mix the foundation underpinning along withthe plumbing repair. When you want the
(43:37):
best, you called due West
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