June 4, 2025 • 32 mins
Ever sat in your living room staring at a mysterious crack, wondering if you should worry? Donnie Blanchard and Eric dive into a treasure trove of common homeowner questions in this information-packed episode that leaves no construction conundrum unsolved.
The guys bust open the persistent myth about black shingles making attics hotter. Through Donnie's experience as an insurance adjuster, complete with impromptu temperature tests across various shingle colors, you'll learn that the five-degree difference between colors is negligible compared to proper ventilation and insulation choices. This revelation alone could save you from avoiding a preferred aesthetic for your next roof.
Concrete control joints, those intentional lines in your driveway that always seem to collect debris, get a thorough explanation. "The only guarantee with concrete is that it will crack," Donnie explains, revealing how these joints actually protect your investment by controlling where cracks appear. His practical advice on maintenance will help you extend the life of your concrete surfaces without unnecessary worry.
The deck material debate gets settled with surprising facts about composite options like Trex. Did you know those beautiful, low-maintenance boards are actually made from recycled plastic bags and sawdust? The hosts compare initial costs versus lifetime maintenance, helping you make an informed decision for your outdoor space based on your specific priorities and situation.
From granite countertop sealing schedules to the truth behind shingle warranties and certification requirements, this episode delivers actionable information you can use immediately. The friendly, conversational expertise makes complicated topics accessible whether you're a seasoned DIYer or just trying to understand what needs attention in your home.
Got a burning question about your house? Head to thecarolinacontractor.com and click "Ask the Contractor" – your question might feature in the next Q&A episode!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
You know, donnie, this is goingto be the first show I think
we've done where we both haveinvasive guests in our
perspective or our studios thatwe're using because I've got to
fly, or our studios that we'reusing because I've got a fly,
and once in a while I'm goinglike this like come here, you,
(00:26):
son of a, and then I look at youand you've got the same problem
going on too.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yep, Two different flies but same nuisance.
Man, I can't stand it.
I grew up in an old house andflies and ants in an old house,
you know just one of thosethings where you had to deal
with those on a daily basis andI carried that into adulthood.
So, yeah, I got no place forthem, but I don't know how this
little rascal got in here.
I'm going to get them beforethe show's over.
What if it is the same fly?
(00:51):
Oh wow, it sounds like somekind of multiverse thing.
You're getting too complicated.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, we're not going to talk about the inside and
the outside.
We talk about roofs andbasements and crawl spaces and
kitchens.
And hey, man, if you're a DIYer, if you like to sit in your
garage and putter and do stuffand make little improvements on
your house, you're going to likethe Carolina Contractor Show.
The website'sthecarolinacontractorcom.
That makes it easy to remember.
We've got a lot of stuff upthere, including links to our
(01:21):
social media the IG page.
We got the YouTube page.
We record all these shows and weupload them to YouTube so you
can bask in our gloriousness.
And then we've got links topast shows.
You can download them inpodcast form and listen to
things, and they're set up by asubject.
So if there's somethingspecific you want to hear us or
hear our opinion on, you candownload that podcast and listen
(01:42):
to it at your own convenience.
If you have questions, you canmail those to us through the
little link on the website.
It's called Ask the Contractor.
It goes to Donnie and the coolthing about it is Donnie being a
general contractor and we'll goon that in a second.
He answers all your questionsand we sometimes do a show about
it.
And for quite a while, Donnie,we've been talking about doing a
(02:02):
show of nothing but questions,and today is the day that we're
going to do nothing butquestions for the entire show.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
It's exciting, isn't it?
It is man, and these are allover the place, so we're going
to cover a little bit ofeverything.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, we're not going to spend too much time screwing
around like we normally do, butwe want to get right to the
questions.
If you have one and you didn'tknow you could submit one, you
can go ahead and do that now.
Again, the website,thecarolinacontractorcom and
click on the ask the contractorbutton.
We do want to thank everybodyfor their downloads and
interacting on social media andInstagram and YouTube and stuff,
(02:36):
and this show will be a greatexample where we want your input
afterwards, because there mightbe stuff that we didn't address
.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I want to add one thing before we get going with
the questions.
A lot of people send questionsabout the house, but you could
ask a broader question.
I know that I get privatequestions.
People try to email me or callme on my personal cell to say,
hey, we're thinking aboutbuilding a house, where do we
start?
And usually we've done a showto answer that question.
But it doesn't have tonecessarily be about the house
If it's about the process or howto find an architect or just
(03:10):
what the starting point is, orwe're thinking about selling,
but we want to have our plan inplace before we sell our
existing house to build ourforever home.
And it doesn't have to be justabout the DIY or how to do
things around the house ortricks and tips, but can be just
about anything and just to putthat out there.
You know we're.
We're here for the people andeverybody that listens are what
(03:30):
drives the show.
So feel free to ask anything.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, and I'll give a little perspective for people
who might be new to the show.
I do inside sales for a homebuilder supply so I sell lumber
and brick and block and RMC andshingles and roofing materials
to contractors.
Donnie is not one of ourcustomers, Donnie's a general
contractor.
He also owns SureTop Roofingand owns Blanchard Building
(03:54):
Company.
So he's out in the field, he'sworking with people and that's a
great point.
You don't go to somebody'salready completed house and put
in an outlet.
You build houses from theground up so you can definitely
help people if they want to knowhow do I buy.
You used to be an insuranceadjuster so you know stuff about
insurance and anything youdon't know.
(04:15):
In your vast knowledge ofconstruction you have the
contacts to ask people who cananswer those questions.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah, for sure, and I want to give you a compliment.
So Eric and I last week talkedabout, uh, we really need to
ramp up our social mediapresence.
We have so many cool things outthere and, and you know, we
both stay so busy that we justdon't take the time to post
things that we need between workand kids and just life in
general.
Uh, there's only so many hoursin the day.
But, uh, eric joined ourInstagram account and you're
(04:44):
killing it, man.
I mean, every day there'ssomething good on there and
pretty cool for me to get onthere and just see what's going
on in your world.
But, you know, very excitingwith the new location at Home
Builder Supply and, side note,there, the only reason I don't
buy everything from you isbecause you work two hours away,
and so that makes it a littlebit of a challenge, and the
(05:05):
delivery fee on that would justcrush me into the ground.
But check out our Instagrampage.
Eric's been active.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You know what?
I appreciate that and it's fun,and it's not all construction.
It is like you said, donnie,some of the stuff we talk about
isn't related to a fix or abuild.
I was showing my pool.
Every year when I open it up,and my pool every year when I
open it up, there's a gaspbecause it usually doesn't have
a good color and it's like, ohmy Lord, and I'm like just be
patient, I'll have that becrystal clear in no time.
(05:32):
So I'd put up some pictures.
They're not up now because Ihad them on the Daily Story on
IG, but we'll start posting themin real form so they'll stick
around longer and people canlook at them.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, and I have some crazy jobs going right now.
I have some crazy jobs goingright now.
I text you these picturesprivately, when I should
probably take that same amountof time to put them online.
But I have a couple ofadditions, slash renovations
that are just unbelievable.
I've never done transformationslike this, and so I need to put
it out there.
And, that being said, we've beenblessed to the tune of another
(06:03):
year and a half's worth of workon the books right now.
So, gosh, and that being said,you know we've been blessed to
the tune of another year and ahalf's worth of work on the
books right now.
So, gosh, it's a catch 22,.
Man, you want to advertise andput it out there, but, but if
you have more than you canhandle on the books, you know
you don't want to turn peopleaway.
So I'm going to do it anyway,and, and we've just got stuff
that people have to see outthere, and rather than do it on
the Blanchard Building socialmedia, I'll just put it on the
(06:23):
Carolina Contractor, and that'lljust be provocative for ideas
and so forth.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, that'd be pretty cool.
By the way, I suggested at ournew site we put a sign up that
says coming soon Buc-ee's, justto generate the attention.
But then of course, once itopened and they found out it
wasn't a Buc-ee's, that wouldprobably be a negative.
But I was thinking maybeBucky's Home Building Supply
People would just absolutelyflock to it.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
We're getting a Bucky's in Mebane, so really
close, and I know the show airson about five different radio
stations locally, so that's nokidding.
We're getting a Bucky's inMebane and they're going to put
I'll get better numbers when weget on the air next but they're
putting so many thousand squarefeet of shopping area and Mebane
is essentially becoming the newbig city between Greensboro and
(07:09):
Raleigh, so I'm looking forwardto that and it's just going to
drive a lot of people to thisarea.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, they're a pretty interesting company, how
they work, and everybody wantsto go to them.
But again, we can't do this,donnie.
It's so easy for us justdropping these conversations
about things going on around us,but we want to get to the gist
of this show, which is questionsfrom listeners.
Again, if you have one, you cango to the website
thecarolinacontractorcom andclick on Ask the Contractor.
We're going to start off withone that you should definitely
(07:35):
know about Donnie owning SureTop Roofing, and that is a true
or false question.
True or false?
Black shingles make your attichotter than other colors.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
So that's a false and that was just something that
was an old wives' tale that itprobably carried a lot of weight
for the last 30, 40 years andbefore houses were insulated so
well, it was probably true andthe way that they I'll start
from the top down the way theymake the shingles.
Now the fiberglass mat is a lotthinner but, but it basically
(08:07):
is a better shingle that lasts alot longer in terms of years,
but it doesn't hold heat as much.
And I'll say that when I usedto do my insurance adjuster gig,
I had to mark every slope north, south, east, west, and
basically had a compass on mytool belt that would do that.
Well, the compass hung off mytool belt about knee height, so
about 18 inches off the roof,and it had a thermometer on it.
(08:29):
I bought the cheapest one Icould find and it just so
happened to tell me how hot theshingles were just below that.
So I got obsessive, compulsive,about checking that.
And everything from green tored to black to gray, um, they
all registered just about thesame.
They were all within fivedegrees of one another.
So it's a misconception tothink that a black shingle is
(08:51):
going to overheat your roof.
And I say that because it's ournumber one selling color first
of all, and really the onlyhesitation that people have is
exactly what you just asked me,and so definitely a myth in the
roofing world.
So don't be afraid of the blackor the charcoal, yeah, and this
is definitely a myth in theroofing world, so, so don't be
afraid of the black or thecharcoal.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, and this is going to look really, really bad
on video, but I'm going to kindof hold up A picture.
Those are two different colors.
Should have done it this way.
Shingles, you know, on theircertainty they're more a black
and silver birch.
Those talk about black andwhite, and one thing you can do
to offset that is like a radiantbarriers, like tech shield.
(09:27):
So if you had a house with morea black shingles versus the
silver ones and the ones withblack had tech shield on it,
they're going to keep your atticcooler than the white ones
without it.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Right, absolutely that radiant barrier is a
miracle for houses.
I mean, it does exactly whatit's supposed to do.
And the retrofit version is alittle bit different where the
tech shield, sheathing orplywood that goes on your roof,
it has it actually put right onthe backside of the plywood, so
(09:57):
but it still works.
It still works fine.
The retrofit version goes onthe bottom of the rafters, so it
essentially makes a eight inchcavity where the outside air
comes in through your soffit andstack effect, heat rises, stack
effect pulls that air up to theridge vent and it basically
keeps all that outside air and anice little cavity and out of
(10:18):
the attic.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So, but either way, radiant barrier definitely has
an impact on that All right,donnie, this wasn't one of the
questions, but it's something Iget on a regular basis.
You can get ridge vent filteredor unfiltered and basically
it's a little bit cheaper to getit unfiltered and some people
like the skip on that $4 a piece.
So if you're getting 40 feet ofit, you're talking 40 bucks.
(10:39):
Is there a big pro or conbetween filtered and unfiltered?
Do you only choose one?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
So yes, no, I'm sorry I didn't answer that right.
There is a pro and a con and no, I don't use one in particular.
It's a case byby-case scenario.
So with the GAF productsthere's Cobra 3 and there's one
called Snow Country, and theSnow Country has a filter on it.
It's a lot more popular upnorth but it keeps that fluffy
(11:06):
snow from getting in there andit basically lands on the ridge
vent and it doesn't bypass thatfilter and of course it melts
eventually and then it drainsright back out of there.
But where the filtered ridgevent will burn you is if you
have a heavy tree cover,especially if you have pines and
pin oaks.
Those are the ones that havethe thinner leaves.
So it's one of those thingswhere, yes, it can keep out the
(11:30):
snow, but if you have a lot offoliage that lands on your roof
every year when fall comesaround, then it's basically
going to block up your ridgevent and your ridge vent can't
do what it's supposed to do,meaning exhaust the heat out of
your attic.
So it's case by case scenario.
If you've got a wide open area,you build your house where it
used to be a field and you don'thave any mature tree cover
(11:53):
around, then go for it.
I think it's superior to theunfiltered.
But if you've got a lot ofhardwoods, pines, pin oaks
around your house and you putthat filter on there, I wouldn't
give it three years before it'scompletely clogged and it
doesn't allow the roof tobreathe like it needs to.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Let's move on to the ground.
People see this all over theirhouses, I'm sure if you've got
poured concrete, whether it'sslabs, driveways, sidewalks.
I've got an issue with my pooldeck not a major one, but this
is control joints on concrete.
Someone said mine are crackedand they're full of dirt and
debris.
Is this going to impact howthey function and whether or not
(12:28):
should they clean them out?
So will that keep it fromcracking more?
Dive into that a little bit,donnie.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Okay, well, first of all I'll start by talking about
what a control joint is.
And when your concrete guypours your slab or apron
whatever the case may be theonly guarantee they'll give you
on that concrete is that it willcrack, and so a control joint
is basically a way ofcontrolling where the crack will
be.
So, yeah, the only warrantythere is, the concrete is going
(12:58):
to crack, and they're going totry to control it best they can.
So, um, uh that when you see uh, basically a tic-tac-toe
pattern or just um, a plus signpattern in your concrete, that's
what that's for.
Some folks cut uh control jointsa little deeper than others,
and having the dirt and thedebris packed in there isn't a
great thing, but it doesn'treally hurt anything.
(13:21):
It doesn't affect any kind ofexpansion or contraction with
the concrete.
My advice in that scenariowould be to pressure wash
everything out of the crack, andwhat you don't want to do is
have an open area for water topenetrate down below the slab
and get under the concrete.
So it doesn't hurt anything totake in some exterior caulking
(13:41):
and pressure wash out all thecontrol joints and just put a
bead of caulk on the crack downbelow and then you know you can
maintain that as the years go by.
But that's really cheapinsurance to make sure you don't
get a lot of water thatpenetrates that slab and gets up
under it and can cause a lotmore problems than the expansion
and contraction.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yeah, and in June I'm having a company come by and
they're going to do a little bitof lifting and reinforcing
using the polyurethane foamsystem.
People see commercials for itwhere it shows a sidewalk is
like dropped an inch orsomething and they come in and
they drill through the concreteand they inject the foam and it
takes just a few minutes under30 minutes and you'll see in the
commercials where it raises itup level.
(14:21):
It also helps support theground underneath too Cheaper
than tearing up all the concreterepouring it.
So I'll report back on thatwhen they come out and do it.
But I'm kind of excited aboutthis being done.
I'm going to take some pictures.
I've talked with the guy whocame out and I'll tell you this.
The guy who came out was spentan hour and change just doing
(14:41):
every possible measurementtapping with a rubber hammer.
I mean it was very, veryimpressive.
So I'm kind of excited to takesome pictures before and after
and see how it comes out.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, that's a simple concept and I just think it's
genius the way that they figuredout how to do this with
expanding spray foam.
And usually the reason thatproblem would happen in the
first place is because waterpenetrated that slab somewhere
and either compacted or washedthe dirt out, so that caused a
settlement from the get-go.
So, anyway, awesome point andyeah, I can't wait to hear about
(15:14):
the results.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
All right.
Next question Someone saidwhat's the best way to insulate
a well pump house?
Very common, especially ifyou're living out in the sticks.
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Thanks for that.
I have a well.
But anyway, the thing you wantto stop it wasn't a dig A pump
house.
If you have an airy, open pumphouse, the temperature is going
to change from outside to insidea lot quicker.
So we talked about on theweatherization show a couple of
weeks ago convective versusconductive heat transfer and the
convective is air movement likea convection oven and basically
(15:48):
you want to stop the open airmovement from outside to inside.
So a spray phone we're bigadvocates for that on the show.
Inside, so spray foam we're bigadvocates for that on the show.
And I think what I would do ifyou have a decent size well
house is I would try to insulatethe walls, the inside of the
walls, with rigid foaminsulation.
It's pretty cheap and grab atube of liquid nails or some
(16:09):
sort of caulking will usually dothe trick.
You can cut the rigid foam witha regular razor knife and
basically stop the.
That would be conductivebecause that's the wall heat
transfer.
But I basically run it up pastall the gaps and then I buy the
cheapest uh bat insulation I canI can find to put in between
the rafter cavities on the pumphouse assuming it does have
(16:31):
rafters.
And then what's not covered.
I take one can of spray foam andyou can just get the regular
spray foam it doesn't have to below expansion and I seal all
the gaps between the two ofthose, and so that's the best
way to tackle both convectiveand conductive heat transfer.
I will say the conductive isway more important.
You know, if the temperaturedrops overnight and basically
(16:53):
the inside of that pump house isstill going to stay 10 degrees
warmer through the night andreally you have to just make it
until the sun comes up andthings start to escalate
temperature wise and you'reusually OK.
But dealing with the convectiveor keeping them, keeping the
wind out of that thing, isprobably the most important.
I think another thing you coulddo is buy just some regular
cheap pipe insulation, cheappipe insulation, and if the
(17:17):
water line that goes to thehouse is exposed in that short
distance between the wellheadand where it goes underground,
make sure that's insulated aswell, because that's a
vulnerable point.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
All right, I'm calling an option here.
I'm going to switch twoquestions the order we had them
because I think it'll make moresense.
This is the time of year,especially with us.
I know with YouTube people wantdecks built or they want the
tops redone or something.
Most common question I get iswhat's the difference between
treated wood and a compositematerial like Trex?
(17:46):
And I jokingly say one's madeout of wood or one is real and
the other isn't.
Wood's a real thing.
Trex is synthetic, but youcorrectly wanted to point out
that that's not entirely true?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah well, I didn't know this until I dove in.
Years ago I changed my deck outto composite and so I have the
Trex material and I absolutelylove it.
You know, it holds up theweather a lot.
I can pressure wash it and itlooks brand new right after that
.
Pressure wash it and it looksbrand new right after that.
But big misconception that thecomposite is just a fake
(18:21):
material because it's actually acombination of recycled plastic
and sawdust.
So they actually take sawdustfrom the sawmills and I don't
know where the productionfacilities are and how that all
goes down, but they mix thatwith recycled plastic.
Side note there I want to say,the one that I read up on had a
contract with one of the big boxstores and they got all their
(18:41):
plastic bags.
So when you look at composite,as nice as it is, it's just
basically a combination ofrecycled plastic bags and
sawdust and that doesn't soundfancy at all, but the end
product looks great.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
It sure does, and I know the literature.
Trex what I'm speaking about isTrex is 95% recycled material.
Lots of colors, it's beautiful.
It's a great option to consider.
The pros and cons are mainlytwo Wood.
You're going to have to stainit.
You're going to have to takecare of it a lot more often than
(19:14):
you will ever with a Trex.
As you said, give it a pressurewash and it looks pretty much
the same.
Trex can be a lot hotter tostep on if it's had a lot of
direct sun exposure.
So if you've got little kids ordogs or something, you've got
to be aware of that.
Also, if you have an existingdeck with joy spans already set
(19:35):
and you want to get Trex, theyhave to be a little bit closer.
I believe they recommend 16inches, so if you're like me, I
have a 24 inch spread I wouldhave had to put in a joist in
between every existing one, andso I stayed with just using
traditional lumber for mine.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
But the startup cost is higher with trex, but the
maintenance cost is almost zeroThird option on the deck and I
was pleasantly surprised when Ilooked into this.
But you can also use number onegrade two by sixes instead of a
five quarter by six.
A two by six will also work inthat case and you have to space
those out and account forexpansion and contraction.
(20:14):
But if you do that, there'sonly a handful of places around
that sell number one gradematerial.
You definitely have to usenumber one grade.
Number two wouldn't be greatunder your feet if you don't
have shoes on.
But I was fascinated to knowthat the two inch material, or
inch and a half material, wasjust about the same price as the
five quarter, which is a trueone inch material and, um, and
(20:36):
you know that that's a bulkybase on your deck.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah, and it's funny, A lot of people who aren't
familiar with lumber hear us saythe five and a quarter is a
true inch and the two is a oneand a half, and they're like
what's going on?
We're not.
We could do a whole show on themeasurements of of lumber now
compared to how it originallywas.
We're not going to do that.
So, Donnie say, someone takesthe position of I'm going with
(21:00):
real wood, I like it.
Whether they're doing the twoby sixes or they're doing the
five and a quarter boards, therecan be a period of time we need
to let the wood cure before wetry to paint or stain it,
especially stain it If it'sstill too green.
How long do you wait?
Speaker 2 (21:15):
for that.
It's case by case andorientation of the deck matters.
So if it's on the north side ofyour house, that treated wood
is going to take longer to cureout and I recommend a minimum of
three weeks.
But I really recommend holdingout for about three months, if
you can wait that long to putany kind of stain on it.
(21:36):
One way that we tested is witha moisture meter and it needs to
be less than 15%, and 15% beingthe bare minimum.
If it's 12, 10, then that'seven better.
But treated wood has moistureinjected into it and that's how
it rejects water.
So I think a big thing to do tomake sure you hit this thing
right on the first try is to dothe water test.
(21:57):
You know, put some water on aon a horizontal surface and see
if it absorbs the water.
And so if it, if it beads thewater, then it's still not ready
.
That means it's still in curingmode.
So, like I mentioned, itusually takes at a minimum of
three weeks, but it could take amaximum of three months if it's
on the north side and doesn'tget a lot of sunlight.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Hey, let's move inside.
Granite countertops big thing.
A lot of people have them.
They take a little bit ofmaintenance and mainly you have
to seal them.
Some people may have had themfor several years and not
realize there's maintenance withmy granite.
What do I do?
How do I seal it?
What do they do, donnie?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I'm being a big time hypocrite when I say this.
You should seal them once ayear.
That's what the manufacturerssay, and I have had my granite
countertops for about 12 yearsnow and I've probably sealed
them three times ever.
And it's fine.
You can definitely tell.
In the areas where you may havea soap dish or you know where
(22:58):
we keep our detergent rack,that's always kind of a.
It stays wet, you know everyday, and so you can definitely
tell that there's a visiblechange in the way the granite
looks right there.
So those areas have to bemaintained.
I would say every year is a goodpractice.
But you know those are the onesthat really matter.
(23:19):
You don't really get water onall your countertops.
I think that sealing themaround the sink areas are what's
most important.
And so, that being said, withquartz.
You know quartz doesn't havepores like granite, so of course
doesn't have to be sealed ever.
But you know there's trade-offsthere, because you can't take a
hot pan off the stove and sitit on quartz.
(23:40):
It'll damage it, and that's notthe same with granite.
So there's tradeoffs in bothdirections.
I cook a lot so I don't want toget rid of my granite.
She likes quartz better.
So I guess I'm going to get ridof my granite.
But yeah, I, uh, I, Idefinitely uh.
You know these, thesecountertops have served their
purpose.
We're just looking for a newlook more than anything.
And you know I can use apotholder where where I need to,
(24:02):
instead of just slinging pansall over the kitchen.
But but yeah, I would say at aminimum every three years is
necessary.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
All right, man, we we said at the beginning of this
show, donnie, that we're goingto be jumping all around.
We're not going to talk aboutquick fixes.
So let's go back outside.
And this is something peoplecome into my store and ask about
when they're getting shingles.
They'll say, yeah, I need abundle of shingles for repair.
I'm doing a roof and I say, doyou want 30 or 25 year, or
architectural or three tab?
(24:31):
And some people say, well, howlong do they last?
Does that mean it's going tolast 30 years, guaranteed?
No, it's just describing thetype.
But how long can a 20 or 30year or how long can a 30 year
architectural last?
It can last 30 years or longerwith correct maintenance, right?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Absolutely.
We see 30 year shingles thatwere put on 30 years ago make it
to that 30-year mark here andthere.
Shingles have come so far inthe last 30 years that now what
used to be a 30-year shingle isa 50.
And so we normally see otherthings happen, like the algae
(25:14):
deterrent isn't in place on a30-year-old shingle.
So, you know, the north side ofthat roof looks so terrible
that people will go ahead andreplace it before that 30-year
mark.
It's pretty rare to see it hit30.
I do once in a while.
But you know they didn't havearchitectural shingles around 30
years ago like they do now.
So now everything'sarchitectural.
Where they had a lot of threetabs and faux architectural,
(25:37):
there was a CertainTeed Horizonshingle that was a three tab
painted up to look like anarchitectural and of course
those got discontinued andthat's a.
Like you said.
We could do a whole nother showon that.
But definitely the rightquestion to ask would be if the
person installing it iscertified with the shingle
manufacturer, so the builder.
I call it builder gradeshingles.
Those are the cheaperarchitecturals.
(25:58):
They are still 30 years andprorated all day, every day.
But when you get into thelarger brands GAF, certainteed,
owens, corning they all offer a50 year warranty, but the
installer has to be certifiedwith the company, meaning
they're vetted, educated,trained and they're set apart
from just average Joe installerbecause they do all the bells
(26:19):
and whistles underneath the roofthat you can't see and that's
what makes it last 50 instead of30 these days, and I stress
this all the time.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
There are many, many reputable roofers out there who
do excellent work, but theymight not be certified and if
you're going to invest the moneyin a top shingle like
CertainTeed or GAF, they haverequirements that not only the
employees be trained on how toinstall, but certain materials
being used.
A common thing from roofers isto use three-tab as a starter
(26:51):
strip, and we won't go into thedetails, but basically they're
taking a three-tab shingle andflipping it upside down.
I think GAF requires this too,but CertainTeed requires you use
their starter strip or it canvoid some or all of the warranty
on the shingles being put down.
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
When we do a CertainTeed roof, we use all
CertainTeed.
When we do a GAF roof, we doall GAF, unless somebody
requests otherwise.
But the more products of thatmanufacturer you use on the roof
, the stronger the warranty is.
And so with GAF, for instance,they have a system plus warranty
which is 50 years non-proratedon the shingle, meaning if you
have a problem with that shingle, they don't prorate it for how
(27:31):
many years it's been on thehouse.
Then they have silver pledgeand golden pledge, which gets
into 10 year workmanship, 25year workmanship warranties,
meaning if something happens tome and I check out of here
tomorrow, you've got a warrantywith a $6 billion company and
that's strong.
And if you ever have a problem,they find the next guy in line
who's a master elite like we are.
They find the next master elitewhich is much stronger than
(27:52):
just being certified with thecompany.
We're their guy and they'llfind somebody highly qualified
to fix your problem and thenthey'll pay for it.
So doesn't get any better thanthat?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
What are your other standings with like CertainTeed
and what are their?
Like you said, master Elite,what CertainTeed.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Shingle Master.
They didn't get fancy but yeah,they both, they're the Coke and
the Pepsi of my world and so wereally we, we really try to
encourage people to go with oneof the two.
I would say Owens Corning is aclose third place, but GAF and
Certainty just really have agood lock on the market.
They stay ahead of of whateverthe latest, greatest may be.
(28:30):
You know, we see the amount ofmarket research they put and
just the amount of care they putinto saying, hey, who's out
there installing our shingles?
We want to make sure thatthey're representing us well and
that they're very well trainedand highly qualified to do that
job.
And they both offer severallines of designer shingles.
So we were revamping the websitehere, but we bought the domain
name designer shingle dot com,which I think will be the new
(28:53):
architectural shingle in another20 years.
But we feature every singledesigner shingle from both of
those companies and OwensCorning has a couple.
I think there's a couple fromAtlas on there.
But we have a pretty intensegallery that you can go through
and just look at designershingles for days, and the goal
there was for us to be theauthority on designer shingles
(29:20):
and then they stopped makingthem when the pandemic hit and
it took them a couple of yearsto get back in production.
But I'd say by this time nextyear they'll all be back up and
running and we can get our handson all the more popular designs
just here today.
So if anybody's curious aboutthat, feel free to reach out and
I can send you some information.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Time for one more question.
Donnie, you sent me some videoearlier of a house you're doing
some work on and it had interiorrailing systems and stuff.
Is there a pro or what are thebasic pros and cons of wrought
iron railing versus aluminumhandrails?
Basically, everybody couldidentify either one.
Wrought iron usually has thosecool designs and they twist and
(29:52):
everything.
Aluminum is more easily, Iassume, installed, manufactured,
definitely, and there's a costdifference.
But since you put stuff likethat in, do you have a
preference or can you explainreal quick the differences?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
I'd say the big differences are what you
mentioned.
Cost is a big thing.
Aluminum is definitely lessexpensive.
In the roofing world aluminumis more, but with the aluminum
it doesn't cost as much as thewrought iron, and I believe that
the reason is that it's not ascustomizable.
So if you have something whereyou want the detail and the
things like I mentioned, Ishowed you today in the video,
(30:25):
so wrought iron might be youronly choice there, but say it's
on the outside.
You know aluminum doesn't rust,it's.
It's superior to any kind ofsteel, especially if it's
painted steel.
It's superior to that in termsof how long it's going to hold
up and how good it's going tolook.
So a combination we do is we doa lot of wrought iron inside
and a lot of aluminum out and wesave a lot of money.
(30:46):
The drawback with the aluminumoutside is that it comes in six
and eight foot sections and soyou just basically have to take
the spacing of your columns,figure out if you need sixes or
eights, and you just basicallyhave to take the spacing of your
columns, figure out if you needsixes or eights and you buy a
divider post where you need to.
But I'm a big fan.
It's a really good-looking setof rails and on the inside I
haven't really put aluminum onthe inside.
(31:07):
Usually if people go that route, they want the wrought iron.
And I will say if you do gowith wrought iron, you want to
get it powder-coated.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
It costs a little more, it's hundreds, not
thousands more and that powdercoating is going to last a lot
longer than just having itpainted.
Well, cool man Again.
If anybody out there hasquestions about their house,
again we covered everythingdecks and roofs, and inside and
outside.
Please go to the website,thecarolinacontractorcom.
You can submit it there byclicking on Ask the Contractor.
(31:36):
We love doing these shows.
Even if you have a commentabout it, a direction, a topic
you want us to discuss ingeneral, please let us know.
You are the reason the showexists.
So go to the website and findthat information.
Don't forget you can find us onsocial media.
You can find us on YouTube andFacebook and, of course, you can
hear us on the radio too, everyweekend and sometimes some
(31:58):
weekdays too.
We've got several stations.
We're on in North Carolina andyou get details about that also
at the website.
Thanks for tuning in andchecking us out.
We hope to hear from you verysoon on the Carolina Contractor
Show.
Thanks everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit thecarolinacontractorcom.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
You know, donnie, this is goingto be the first show I think
we've done where we both haveinvasive guests in our
perspective or our studios thatwe're using because I've got to
fly, or our studios that we'reusing because I've got a fly,
and once in a while I'm goinglike this like come here, you,
(00:26):
son of a, and then I look at youand you've got the same problem
going on too.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yep, Two different flies but same nuisance.
Man, I can't stand it.
I grew up in an old house andflies and ants in an old house,
you know just one of thosethings where you had to deal
with those on a daily basis andI carried that into adulthood.
So, yeah, I got no place forthem, but I don't know how this
little rascal got in here.
I'm going to get them beforethe show's over.
What if it is the same fly?
(00:51):
Oh wow, it sounds like somekind of multiverse thing.
You're getting too complicated.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, we're not going to talk about the inside and
the outside.
We talk about roofs andbasements and crawl spaces and
kitchens.
And hey, man, if you're a DIYer, if you like to sit in your
garage and putter and do stuffand make little improvements on
your house, you're going to likethe Carolina Contractor Show.
The website'sthecarolinacontractorcom.
That makes it easy to remember.
We've got a lot of stuff upthere, including links to our
(01:21):
social media the IG page.
We got the YouTube page.
We record all these shows and weupload them to YouTube so you
can bask in our gloriousness.
And then we've got links topast shows.
You can download them inpodcast form and listen to
things, and they're set up by asubject.
So if there's somethingspecific you want to hear us or
hear our opinion on, you candownload that podcast and listen
(01:42):
to it at your own convenience.
If you have questions, you canmail those to us through the
little link on the website.
It's called Ask the Contractor.
It goes to Donnie and the coolthing about it is Donnie being a
general contractor and we'll goon that in a second.
He answers all your questionsand we sometimes do a show about
it.
And for quite a while, Donnie,we've been talking about doing a
(02:02):
show of nothing but questions,and today is the day that we're
going to do nothing butquestions for the entire show.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
It's exciting, isn't it?
It is man, and these are allover the place, so we're going
to cover a little bit ofeverything.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Yeah, we're not going to spend too much time screwing
around like we normally do, butwe want to get right to the
questions.
If you have one and you didn'tknow you could submit one, you
can go ahead and do that now.
Again, the website,thecarolinacontractorcom and
click on the ask the contractorbutton.
We do want to thank everybodyfor their downloads and
interacting on social media andInstagram and YouTube and stuff,
(02:36):
and this show will be a greatexample where we want your input
afterwards, because there mightbe stuff that we didn't address
.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I want to add one thing before we get going with
the questions.
A lot of people send questionsabout the house, but you could
ask a broader question.
I know that I get privatequestions.
People try to email me or callme on my personal cell to say,
hey, we're thinking aboutbuilding a house, where do we
start?
And usually we've done a showto answer that question.
But it doesn't have tonecessarily be about the house
If it's about the process or howto find an architect or just
(03:10):
what the starting point is, orwe're thinking about selling,
but we want to have our plan inplace before we sell our
existing house to build ourforever home.
And it doesn't have to be justabout the DIY or how to do
things around the house ortricks and tips, but can be just
about anything and just to putthat out there.
You know we're.
We're here for the people andeverybody that listens are what
(03:30):
drives the show.
So feel free to ask anything.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, and I'll give a little perspective for people
who might be new to the show.
I do inside sales for a homebuilder supply so I sell lumber
and brick and block and RMC andshingles and roofing materials
to contractors.
Donnie is not one of ourcustomers, Donnie's a general
contractor.
He also owns SureTop Roofingand owns Blanchard Building
(03:54):
Company.
So he's out in the field, he'sworking with people and that's a
great point.
You don't go to somebody'salready completed house and put
in an outlet.
You build houses from theground up so you can definitely
help people if they want to knowhow do I buy.
You used to be an insuranceadjuster so you know stuff about
insurance and anything youdon't know.
(04:15):
In your vast knowledge ofconstruction you have the
contacts to ask people who cananswer those questions.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah, for sure, and I want to give you a compliment.
So Eric and I last week talkedabout, uh, we really need to
ramp up our social mediapresence.
We have so many cool things outthere and, and you know, we
both stay so busy that we justdon't take the time to post
things that we need between workand kids and just life in
general.
Uh, there's only so many hoursin the day.
But, uh, eric joined ourInstagram account and you're
(04:44):
killing it, man.
I mean, every day there'ssomething good on there and
pretty cool for me to get onthere and just see what's going
on in your world.
But, you know, very excitingwith the new location at Home
Builder Supply and, side note,there, the only reason I don't
buy everything from you isbecause you work two hours away,
and so that makes it a littlebit of a challenge, and the
(05:05):
delivery fee on that would justcrush me into the ground.
But check out our Instagrampage.
Eric's been active.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You know what?
I appreciate that and it's fun,and it's not all construction.
It is like you said, donnie,some of the stuff we talk about
isn't related to a fix or abuild.
I was showing my pool.
Every year when I open it up,and my pool every year when I
open it up, there's a gaspbecause it usually doesn't have
a good color and it's like, ohmy Lord, and I'm like just be
patient, I'll have that becrystal clear in no time.
(05:32):
So I'd put up some pictures.
They're not up now because Ihad them on the Daily Story on
IG, but we'll start posting themin real form so they'll stick
around longer and people canlook at them.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, and I have some crazy jobs going right now.
I have some crazy jobs goingright now.
I text you these picturesprivately, when I should
probably take that same amountof time to put them online.
But I have a couple ofadditions, slash renovations
that are just unbelievable.
I've never done transformationslike this, and so I need to put
it out there.
And, that being said, we've beenblessed to the tune of another
(06:03):
year and a half's worth of workon the books right now.
So, gosh, and that being said,you know we've been blessed to
the tune of another year and ahalf's worth of work on the
books right now.
So, gosh, it's a catch 22,.
Man, you want to advertise andput it out there, but, but if
you have more than you canhandle on the books, you know
you don't want to turn peopleaway.
So I'm going to do it anyway,and, and we've just got stuff
that people have to see outthere, and rather than do it on
the Blanchard Building socialmedia, I'll just put it on the
(06:23):
Carolina Contractor, and that'lljust be provocative for ideas
and so forth.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, that'd be pretty cool.
By the way, I suggested at ournew site we put a sign up that
says coming soon Buc-ee's, justto generate the attention.
But then of course, once itopened and they found out it
wasn't a Buc-ee's, that wouldprobably be a negative.
But I was thinking maybeBucky's Home Building Supply
People would just absolutelyflock to it.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
We're getting a Bucky's in Mebane, so really
close, and I know the show airson about five different radio
stations locally, so that's nokidding.
We're getting a Bucky's inMebane and they're going to put
I'll get better numbers when weget on the air next but they're
putting so many thousand squarefeet of shopping area and Mebane
is essentially becoming the newbig city between Greensboro and
(07:09):
Raleigh, so I'm looking forwardto that and it's just going to
drive a lot of people to thisarea.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, they're a pretty interesting company, how
they work, and everybody wantsto go to them.
But again, we can't do this,donnie.
It's so easy for us justdropping these conversations
about things going on around us,but we want to get to the gist
of this show, which is questionsfrom listeners.
Again, if you have one, you cango to the website
thecarolinacontractorcom andclick on Ask the Contractor.
We're going to start off withone that you should definitely
(07:35):
know about Donnie owning SureTop Roofing, and that is a true
or false question.
True or false?
Black shingles make your attichotter than other colors.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
So that's a false and that was just something that
was an old wives' tale that itprobably carried a lot of weight
for the last 30, 40 years andbefore houses were insulated so
well, it was probably true andthe way that they I'll start
from the top down the way theymake the shingles.
Now the fiberglass mat is a lotthinner but, but it basically
(08:07):
is a better shingle that lasts alot longer in terms of years,
but it doesn't hold heat as much.
And I'll say that when I usedto do my insurance adjuster gig,
I had to mark every slope north, south, east, west, and
basically had a compass on mytool belt that would do that.
Well, the compass hung off mytool belt about knee height, so
about 18 inches off the roof,and it had a thermometer on it.
(08:29):
I bought the cheapest one Icould find and it just so
happened to tell me how hot theshingles were just below that.
So I got obsessive, compulsive,about checking that.
And everything from green tored to black to gray, um, they
all registered just about thesame.
They were all within fivedegrees of one another.
So it's a misconception tothink that a black shingle is
(08:51):
going to overheat your roof.
And I say that because it's ournumber one selling color first
of all, and really the onlyhesitation that people have is
exactly what you just asked me,and so definitely a myth in the
roofing world.
So don't be afraid of the blackor the charcoal, yeah, and this
is definitely a myth in theroofing world, so, so don't be
afraid of the black or thecharcoal.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, and this is going to look really, really bad
on video, but I'm going to kindof hold up A picture.
Those are two different colors.
Should have done it this way.
Shingles, you know, on theircertainty they're more a black
and silver birch.
Those talk about black andwhite, and one thing you can do
to offset that is like a radiantbarriers, like tech shield.
(09:27):
So if you had a house with morea black shingles versus the
silver ones and the ones withblack had tech shield on it,
they're going to keep your atticcooler than the white ones
without it.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Right, absolutely that radiant barrier is a
miracle for houses.
I mean, it does exactly whatit's supposed to do.
And the retrofit version is alittle bit different where the
tech shield, sheathing orplywood that goes on your roof,
it has it actually put right onthe backside of the plywood, so
(09:57):
but it still works.
It still works fine.
The retrofit version goes onthe bottom of the rafters, so it
essentially makes a eight inchcavity where the outside air
comes in through your soffit andstack effect, heat rises, stack
effect pulls that air up to theridge vent and it basically
keeps all that outside air and anice little cavity and out of
(10:18):
the attic.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So, but either way, radiant barrier definitely has
an impact on that All right,donnie, this wasn't one of the
questions, but it's something Iget on a regular basis.
You can get ridge vent filteredor unfiltered and basically
it's a little bit cheaper to getit unfiltered and some people
like the skip on that $4 a piece.
So if you're getting 40 feet ofit, you're talking 40 bucks.
(10:39):
Is there a big pro or conbetween filtered and unfiltered?
Do you only choose one?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
So yes, no, I'm sorry I didn't answer that right.
There is a pro and a con and no, I don't use one in particular.
It's a case byby-case scenario.
So with the GAF productsthere's Cobra 3 and there's one
called Snow Country, and theSnow Country has a filter on it.
It's a lot more popular upnorth but it keeps that fluffy
(11:06):
snow from getting in there andit basically lands on the ridge
vent and it doesn't bypass thatfilter and of course it melts
eventually and then it drainsright back out of there.
But where the filtered ridgevent will burn you is if you
have a heavy tree cover,especially if you have pines and
pin oaks.
Those are the ones that havethe thinner leaves.
So it's one of those thingswhere, yes, it can keep out the
(11:30):
snow, but if you have a lot offoliage that lands on your roof
every year when fall comesaround, then it's basically
going to block up your ridgevent and your ridge vent can't
do what it's supposed to do,meaning exhaust the heat out of
your attic.
So it's case by case scenario.
If you've got a wide open area,you build your house where it
used to be a field and you don'thave any mature tree cover
(11:53):
around, then go for it.
I think it's superior to theunfiltered.
But if you've got a lot ofhardwoods, pines, pin oaks
around your house and you putthat filter on there, I wouldn't
give it three years before it'scompletely clogged and it
doesn't allow the roof tobreathe like it needs to.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Let's move on to the ground.
People see this all over theirhouses, I'm sure if you've got
poured concrete, whether it'sslabs, driveways, sidewalks.
I've got an issue with my pooldeck not a major one, but this
is control joints on concrete.
Someone said mine are crackedand they're full of dirt and
debris.
Is this going to impact howthey function and whether or not
(12:28):
should they clean them out?
So will that keep it fromcracking more?
Dive into that a little bit,donnie.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Okay, well, first of all I'll start by talking about
what a control joint is.
And when your concrete guypours your slab or apron
whatever the case may be theonly guarantee they'll give you
on that concrete is that it willcrack, and so a control joint
is basically a way ofcontrolling where the crack will
be.
So, yeah, the only warrantythere is, the concrete is going
(12:58):
to crack, and they're going totry to control it best they can.
So, um, uh that when you see uh, basically a tic-tac-toe
pattern or just um, a plus signpattern in your concrete, that's
what that's for.
Some folks cut uh control jointsa little deeper than others,
and having the dirt and thedebris packed in there isn't a
great thing, but it doesn'treally hurt anything.
(13:21):
It doesn't affect any kind ofexpansion or contraction with
the concrete.
My advice in that scenariowould be to pressure wash
everything out of the crack, andwhat you don't want to do is
have an open area for water topenetrate down below the slab
and get under the concrete.
So it doesn't hurt anything totake in some exterior caulking
(13:41):
and pressure wash out all thecontrol joints and just put a
bead of caulk on the crack downbelow and then you know you can
maintain that as the years go by.
But that's really cheapinsurance to make sure you don't
get a lot of water thatpenetrates that slab and gets up
under it and can cause a lotmore problems than the expansion
and contraction.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yeah, and in June I'm having a company come by and
they're going to do a little bitof lifting and reinforcing
using the polyurethane foamsystem.
People see commercials for itwhere it shows a sidewalk is
like dropped an inch orsomething and they come in and
they drill through the concreteand they inject the foam and it
takes just a few minutes under30 minutes and you'll see in the
commercials where it raises itup level.
(14:21):
It also helps support theground underneath too Cheaper
than tearing up all the concreterepouring it.
So I'll report back on thatwhen they come out and do it.
But I'm kind of excited aboutthis being done.
I'm going to take some pictures.
I've talked with the guy whocame out and I'll tell you this.
The guy who came out was spentan hour and change just doing
(14:41):
every possible measurementtapping with a rubber hammer.
I mean it was very, veryimpressive.
So I'm kind of excited to takesome pictures before and after
and see how it comes out.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, that's a simple concept and I just think it's
genius the way that they figuredout how to do this with
expanding spray foam.
And usually the reason thatproblem would happen in the
first place is because waterpenetrated that slab somewhere
and either compacted or washedthe dirt out, so that caused a
settlement from the get-go.
So, anyway, awesome point andyeah, I can't wait to hear about
(15:14):
the results.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
All right.
Next question Someone saidwhat's the best way to insulate
a well pump house?
Very common, especially ifyou're living out in the sticks.
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Thanks for that.
I have a well.
But anyway, the thing you wantto stop it wasn't a dig A pump
house.
If you have an airy, open pumphouse, the temperature is going
to change from outside to insidea lot quicker.
So we talked about on theweatherization show a couple of
weeks ago convective versusconductive heat transfer and the
convective is air movement likea convection oven and basically
(15:48):
you want to stop the open airmovement from outside to inside.
So a spray phone we're bigadvocates for that on the show.
Inside, so spray foam we're bigadvocates for that on the show.
And I think what I would do ifyou have a decent size well
house is I would try to insulatethe walls, the inside of the
walls, with rigid foaminsulation.
It's pretty cheap and grab atube of liquid nails or some
(16:09):
sort of caulking will usually dothe trick.
You can cut the rigid foam witha regular razor knife and
basically stop the.
That would be conductivebecause that's the wall heat
transfer.
But I basically run it up pastall the gaps and then I buy the
cheapest uh bat insulation I canI can find to put in between
the rafter cavities on the pumphouse assuming it does have
(16:31):
rafters.
And then what's not covered.
I take one can of spray foam andyou can just get the regular
spray foam it doesn't have to below expansion and I seal all
the gaps between the two ofthose, and so that's the best
way to tackle both convectiveand conductive heat transfer.
I will say the conductive isway more important.
You know, if the temperaturedrops overnight and basically
(16:53):
the inside of that pump house isstill going to stay 10 degrees
warmer through the night andreally you have to just make it
until the sun comes up andthings start to escalate
temperature wise and you'reusually OK.
But dealing with the convectiveor keeping them, keeping the
wind out of that thing, isprobably the most important.
I think another thing you coulddo is buy just some regular
cheap pipe insulation, cheappipe insulation, and if the
(17:17):
water line that goes to thehouse is exposed in that short
distance between the wellheadand where it goes underground,
make sure that's insulated aswell, because that's a
vulnerable point.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
All right, I'm calling an option here.
I'm going to switch twoquestions the order we had them
because I think it'll make moresense.
This is the time of year,especially with us.
I know with YouTube people wantdecks built or they want the
tops redone or something.
Most common question I get iswhat's the difference between
treated wood and a compositematerial like Trex?
(17:46):
And I jokingly say one's madeout of wood or one is real and
the other isn't.
Wood's a real thing.
Trex is synthetic, but youcorrectly wanted to point out
that that's not entirely true?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah well, I didn't know this until I dove in.
Years ago I changed my deck outto composite and so I have the
Trex material and I absolutelylove it.
You know, it holds up theweather a lot.
I can pressure wash it and itlooks brand new right after that
.
Pressure wash it and it looksbrand new right after that.
But big misconception that thecomposite is just a fake
(18:21):
material because it's actually acombination of recycled plastic
and sawdust.
So they actually take sawdustfrom the sawmills and I don't
know where the productionfacilities are and how that all
goes down, but they mix thatwith recycled plastic.
Side note there I want to say,the one that I read up on had a
contract with one of the big boxstores and they got all their
(18:41):
plastic bags.
So when you look at composite,as nice as it is, it's just
basically a combination ofrecycled plastic bags and
sawdust and that doesn't soundfancy at all, but the end
product looks great.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
It sure does, and I know the literature.
Trex what I'm speaking about isTrex is 95% recycled material.
Lots of colors, it's beautiful.
It's a great option to consider.
The pros and cons are mainlytwo Wood.
You're going to have to stainit.
You're going to have to takecare of it a lot more often than
(19:14):
you will ever with a Trex.
As you said, give it a pressurewash and it looks pretty much
the same.
Trex can be a lot hotter tostep on if it's had a lot of
direct sun exposure.
So if you've got little kids ordogs or something, you've got
to be aware of that.
Also, if you have an existingdeck with joy spans already set
(19:35):
and you want to get Trex, theyhave to be a little bit closer.
I believe they recommend 16inches, so if you're like me, I
have a 24 inch spread I wouldhave had to put in a joist in
between every existing one, andso I stayed with just using
traditional lumber for mine.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
But the startup cost is higher with trex, but the
maintenance cost is almost zeroThird option on the deck and I
was pleasantly surprised when Ilooked into this.
But you can also use number onegrade two by sixes instead of a
five quarter by six.
A two by six will also work inthat case and you have to space
those out and account forexpansion and contraction.
(20:14):
But if you do that, there'sonly a handful of places around
that sell number one gradematerial.
You definitely have to usenumber one grade.
Number two wouldn't be greatunder your feet if you don't
have shoes on.
But I was fascinated to knowthat the two inch material, or
inch and a half material, wasjust about the same price as the
five quarter, which is a trueone inch material and, um, and
(20:36):
you know that that's a bulkybase on your deck.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah, and it's funny, A lot of people who aren't
familiar with lumber hear us saythe five and a quarter is a
true inch and the two is a oneand a half, and they're like
what's going on?
We're not.
We could do a whole show on themeasurements of of lumber now
compared to how it originallywas.
We're not going to do that.
So, Donnie say, someone takesthe position of I'm going with
(21:00):
real wood, I like it.
Whether they're doing the twoby sixes or they're doing the
five and a quarter boards, therecan be a period of time we need
to let the wood cure before wetry to paint or stain it,
especially stain it If it'sstill too green.
How long do you wait?
Speaker 2 (21:15):
for that.
It's case by case andorientation of the deck matters.
So if it's on the north side ofyour house, that treated wood
is going to take longer to cureout and I recommend a minimum of
three weeks.
But I really recommend holdingout for about three months, if
you can wait that long to putany kind of stain on it.
(21:36):
One way that we tested is witha moisture meter and it needs to
be less than 15%, and 15% beingthe bare minimum.
If it's 12, 10, then that'seven better.
But treated wood has moistureinjected into it and that's how
it rejects water.
So I think a big thing to do tomake sure you hit this thing
right on the first try is to dothe water test.
(21:57):
You know, put some water on aon a horizontal surface and see
if it absorbs the water.
And so if it, if it beads thewater, then it's still not ready
.
That means it's still in curingmode.
So, like I mentioned, itusually takes at a minimum of
three weeks, but it could take amaximum of three months if it's
on the north side and doesn'tget a lot of sunlight.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Hey, let's move inside.
Granite countertops big thing.
A lot of people have them.
They take a little bit ofmaintenance and mainly you have
to seal them.
Some people may have had themfor several years and not
realize there's maintenance withmy granite.
What do I do?
How do I seal it?
What do they do, donnie?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I'm being a big time hypocrite when I say this.
You should seal them once ayear.
That's what the manufacturerssay, and I have had my granite
countertops for about 12 yearsnow and I've probably sealed
them three times ever.
And it's fine.
You can definitely tell.
In the areas where you may havea soap dish or you know where
(22:58):
we keep our detergent rack,that's always kind of a.
It stays wet, you know everyday, and so you can definitely
tell that there's a visiblechange in the way the granite
looks right there.
So those areas have to bemaintained.
I would say every year is a goodpractice.
But you know those are the onesthat really matter.
(23:19):
You don't really get water onall your countertops.
I think that sealing themaround the sink areas are what's
most important.
And so, that being said, withquartz.
You know quartz doesn't havepores like granite, so of course
doesn't have to be sealed ever.
But you know there's trade-offsthere, because you can't take a
hot pan off the stove and sitit on quartz.
(23:40):
It'll damage it, and that's notthe same with granite.
So there's tradeoffs in bothdirections.
I cook a lot so I don't want toget rid of my granite.
She likes quartz better.
So I guess I'm going to get ridof my granite.
But yeah, I, uh, I, Idefinitely uh.
You know these, thesecountertops have served their
purpose.
We're just looking for a newlook more than anything.
And you know I can use apotholder where where I need to,
(24:02):
instead of just slinging pansall over the kitchen.
But but yeah, I would say at aminimum every three years is
necessary.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
All right, man, we we said at the beginning of this
show, donnie, that we're goingto be jumping all around.
We're not going to talk aboutquick fixes.
So let's go back outside.
And this is something peoplecome into my store and ask about
when they're getting shingles.
They'll say, yeah, I need abundle of shingles for repair.
I'm doing a roof and I say, doyou want 30 or 25 year, or
architectural or three tab?
(24:31):
And some people say, well, howlong do they last?
Does that mean it's going tolast 30 years, guaranteed?
No, it's just describing thetype.
But how long can a 20 or 30year or how long can a 30 year
architectural last?
It can last 30 years or longerwith correct maintenance, right?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Absolutely.
We see 30 year shingles thatwere put on 30 years ago make it
to that 30-year mark here andthere.
Shingles have come so far inthe last 30 years that now what
used to be a 30-year shingle isa 50.
And so we normally see otherthings happen, like the algae
(25:14):
deterrent isn't in place on a30-year-old shingle.
So, you know, the north side ofthat roof looks so terrible
that people will go ahead andreplace it before that 30-year
mark.
It's pretty rare to see it hit30.
I do once in a while.
But you know they didn't havearchitectural shingles around 30
years ago like they do now.
So now everything'sarchitectural.
Where they had a lot of threetabs and faux architectural,
(25:37):
there was a CertainTeed Horizonshingle that was a three tab
painted up to look like anarchitectural and of course
those got discontinued andthat's a.
Like you said.
We could do a whole nother showon that.
But definitely the rightquestion to ask would be if the
person installing it iscertified with the shingle
manufacturer, so the builder.
I call it builder gradeshingles.
Those are the cheaperarchitecturals.
(25:58):
They are still 30 years andprorated all day, every day.
But when you get into thelarger brands GAF, certainteed,
owens, corning they all offer a50 year warranty, but the
installer has to be certifiedwith the company, meaning
they're vetted, educated,trained and they're set apart
from just average Joe installerbecause they do all the bells
(26:19):
and whistles underneath the roofthat you can't see and that's
what makes it last 50 instead of30 these days, and I stress
this all the time.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
There are many, many reputable roofers out there who
do excellent work, but theymight not be certified and if
you're going to invest the moneyin a top shingle like
CertainTeed or GAF, they haverequirements that not only the
employees be trained on how toinstall, but certain materials
being used.
A common thing from roofers isto use three-tab as a starter
(26:51):
strip, and we won't go into thedetails, but basically they're
taking a three-tab shingle andflipping it upside down.
I think GAF requires this too,but CertainTeed requires you use
their starter strip or it canvoid some or all of the warranty
on the shingles being put down.
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
When we do a CertainTeed roof, we use all
CertainTeed.
When we do a GAF roof, we doall GAF, unless somebody
requests otherwise.
But the more products of thatmanufacturer you use on the roof
, the stronger the warranty is.
And so with GAF, for instance,they have a system plus warranty
which is 50 years non-proratedon the shingle, meaning if you
have a problem with that shingle, they don't prorate it for how
(27:31):
many years it's been on thehouse.
Then they have silver pledgeand golden pledge, which gets
into 10 year workmanship, 25year workmanship warranties,
meaning if something happens tome and I check out of here
tomorrow, you've got a warrantywith a $6 billion company and
that's strong.
And if you ever have a problem,they find the next guy in line
who's a master elite like we are.
They find the next master elitewhich is much stronger than
(27:52):
just being certified with thecompany.
We're their guy and they'llfind somebody highly qualified
to fix your problem and thenthey'll pay for it.
So doesn't get any better thanthat?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
What are your other standings with like CertainTeed
and what are their?
Like you said, master Elite,what CertainTeed.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Shingle Master.
They didn't get fancy but yeah,they both, they're the Coke and
the Pepsi of my world and so wereally we, we really try to
encourage people to go with oneof the two.
I would say Owens Corning is aclose third place, but GAF and
Certainty just really have agood lock on the market.
They stay ahead of of whateverthe latest, greatest may be.
(28:30):
You know, we see the amount ofmarket research they put and
just the amount of care they putinto saying, hey, who's out
there installing our shingles?
We want to make sure thatthey're representing us well and
that they're very well trainedand highly qualified to do that
job.
And they both offer severallines of designer shingles.
So we were revamping the websitehere, but we bought the domain
name designer shingle dot com,which I think will be the new
(28:53):
architectural shingle in another20 years.
But we feature every singledesigner shingle from both of
those companies and OwensCorning has a couple.
I think there's a couple fromAtlas on there.
But we have a pretty intensegallery that you can go through
and just look at designershingles for days, and the goal
there was for us to be theauthority on designer shingles
(29:20):
and then they stopped makingthem when the pandemic hit and
it took them a couple of yearsto get back in production.
But I'd say by this time nextyear they'll all be back up and
running and we can get our handson all the more popular designs
just here today.
So if anybody's curious aboutthat, feel free to reach out and
I can send you some information.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Time for one more question.
Donnie, you sent me some videoearlier of a house you're doing
some work on and it had interiorrailing systems and stuff.
Is there a pro or what are thebasic pros and cons of wrought
iron railing versus aluminumhandrails?
Basically, everybody couldidentify either one.
Wrought iron usually has thosecool designs and they twist and
(29:52):
everything.
Aluminum is more easily, Iassume, installed, manufactured,
definitely, and there's a costdifference.
But since you put stuff likethat in, do you have a
preference or can you explainreal quick the differences?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
I'd say the big differences are what you
mentioned.
Cost is a big thing.
Aluminum is definitely lessexpensive.
In the roofing world aluminumis more, but with the aluminum
it doesn't cost as much as thewrought iron, and I believe that
the reason is that it's not ascustomizable.
So if you have something whereyou want the detail and the
things like I mentioned, Ishowed you today in the video,
(30:25):
so wrought iron might be youronly choice there, but say it's
on the outside.
You know aluminum doesn't rust,it's.
It's superior to any kind ofsteel, especially if it's
painted steel.
It's superior to that in termsof how long it's going to hold
up and how good it's going tolook.
So a combination we do is we doa lot of wrought iron inside
and a lot of aluminum out and wesave a lot of money.
(30:46):
The drawback with the aluminumoutside is that it comes in six
and eight foot sections and soyou just basically have to take
the spacing of your columns,figure out if you need sixes or
eights, and you just basicallyhave to take the spacing of your
columns, figure out if you needsixes or eights and you buy a
divider post where you need to.
But I'm a big fan.
It's a really good-looking setof rails and on the inside I
haven't really put aluminum onthe inside.
(31:07):
Usually if people go that route, they want the wrought iron.
And I will say if you do gowith wrought iron, you want to
get it powder-coated.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
It costs a little more, it's hundreds, not
thousands more and that powdercoating is going to last a lot
longer than just having itpainted.
Well, cool man Again.
If anybody out there hasquestions about their house,
again we covered everythingdecks and roofs, and inside and
outside.
Please go to the website,thecarolinacontractorcom.
You can submit it there byclicking on Ask the Contractor.
(31:36):
We love doing these shows.
Even if you have a commentabout it, a direction, a topic
you want us to discuss ingeneral, please let us know.
You are the reason the showexists.
So go to the website and findthat information.
Don't forget you can find us onsocial media.
You can find us on YouTube andFacebook and, of course, you can
hear us on the radio too, everyweekend and sometimes some
(31:58):
weekdays too.
We've got several stations.
We're on in North Carolina andyou get details about that also
at the website.
Thanks for tuning in andchecking us out.
We hope to hear from you verysoon on the Carolina Contractor
Show.
Thanks everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit thecarolinacontractorcom.
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