December 20, 2025 • 33 mins
Football brains, builder brains, and a holiday shopping list that actually gets used—this one brings it all together. We open with Phillip Rivers’ headline‑grabbing return, the Panthers’ late‑season spark, and a dash of fantasy playoff chaos, then steer straight into a practical gift guide for homeowners, weekend warriors, and anyone who loves a well‑equipped garage. No fluff, no gimmicks—just the tools and upgrades that save time, money, and headaches.
We break down why cordless tool ecosystems are the best value right now, and which pieces punch above their weight: impact drivers, orbital sanders, trim and framing nailers, and those versatile “everything in a bag” kits with shared batteries. From there, we get into smart home wins like a thermostat you can set and forget, compact air purifiers that help allergy sufferers, and small LED herb gardens that keep fresh basil and mint on hand without grocery markups. Cleaning up? A quality steam cleaner and a reliable wet/dry vac turn spills and shop dust into quick work when you’ve only got minutes to spare.
On the road and on the job site, we talk real preparedness: a “dad emergency kit” with a multi‑tool that can break glass and cut seatbelts, a bright lantern‑style flashlight, a proper floor jack, first aid supplies, and jumper solutions that don’t require a second car. We compare inverter generators to traditional units—quieter, more efficient, and friendly for tailgates and camping—and spotlight trickle chargers and solar maintainers that keep seasonal batteries alive. For grill lovers, think organized caddies, bold rubs, and wireless thermometers that save your turkey when you switch from electric to charcoal. And if cozy nights are your thing, rechargeable hand warmers, heated insoles, and a smokeless‑style fire pit can extend patio season, with quick tips for safe use on decks.
Ready to shop smarter and gift like a pro? Tap play, grab the full list, and send us your house questions at thecarolinacontractor.com. If this helped you pick a winner, share it with a friend and leave a quick review so more DIYers can find the show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Donnie, you're in your 40s.
I'm in my 50s.
How do you feel about PhillipRivers back in the NFL?
SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
I'm pulling for the guy, man.
It's pretty fascinating to seesomebody just a couple years
younger go out there and umreally just take on mountain of
men and uh take a chance ongetting hurt, but more power to
him, man.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
Old guys rule.
By the time the show hits somemarkets, his first game will be
over.
But here's what I'm gonna make aprediction on is drop back three
steps, two and second down, sixyard throws, he'll probably do
fine.
You know he can throw 40 plusyards pretty comfortably, but no
quarterback goes the whole gamewithout getting hit, and that's
what I worry about.
He's gonna get tackled.
(00:45):
I don't even mean a sack, buttwo or three of those, maybe
reality sets in.
Yeah, didn't you say that theyalready gave him a nickname?
SPEAKER_01 (00:52):
Uh yeah, Old Man Rivers.
That's fit.
How do how do all theIndianapolis quarterbacks get
all the good nicknames?
You know, Daniel Jones fromDuke, he ended up there and you
know had a fantastic seasonbefore he got hurt last week,
but uh they named they nicknamedhim Indiana Jones, and I thought
that was spot on.
Peyton didn't have a nickname,did he?
I don't champion.
He was great.
He didn't need one.
Yeah.
(01:12):
Winner.
He didn't need one.
How's your fantasy team coming?
SPEAKER_00 (01:15):
Uh pretty good, and I'm excited.
Uh, I mean, we had a uh a alittle bit of a hiccup, but uh
eight weeks ago uh Matt Staffordgot dropped by somebody in my
pool, and I picked him up andhe'd been pretty much on fire,
and he's got Nakua um as his hottarget, and I've got both of
them.
So I'm in the playoffs.
Um I'm playing the number oneteam.
(01:35):
He's got one player who mightnot be running, uh, a running
back who might not be playingthis weekend.
But uh if he's out, he has nobackup on his pool.
But you know these guys at lastminute, like one minute before
they lock down the rosters,he'll make that change.
But I'm feeling good forsomebody who didn't try to get
into fantasy football, and nowI'm in the playoffs.
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
I haven't told you this, but I got to see both
those grown men cry, MattStafford and Puka Nakua.
Um last week, I got uh lastminute Saturday, or on Saturday,
I got Sunday tickets for thePanthers-Rams game, and I
couldn't turn them down.
They were great seats, and weactually missed one of our
Thanksgiving dinners to go tothat, but um it was it was
(02:17):
probably the biggest win inPanthers since since I would say
it's probably the biggest winsince 2015-16, something like
that, when we were actually goodand going to the playoffs.
But uh my sweetheart went withme and and her favorite part of
the game was to walk to the carbecause it was electric, man.
When we won, Charlotte was onfire, and it was like the walls
(02:38):
were shaking with all the voicesin Unity screaming, keep
pounding! And people were just,I mean, on cloud nine, and it
was just about as enjoyable towatch all the Rams fans walk to
their car with their tail tuckedand heads down, man.
And it was good times.
SPEAKER_00 (02:55):
And Bryce is looking better, he's more comfortable,
he's his accuracy is up, andthey put up a stat over the past
uh four games for him, and it'sa 45-degree angle.
Everything's going up, he seemscomfortable, and I'm I'm not
trying to be negative.
I don't think he's gonna ever bean elite quarterback.
He's got that, let's face it, aheight issue, but he's starting
(03:17):
to work that, and I think hisdefense is giving him a little
bit more time.
Just that half second extra isallowing him to find a target
and finish that play.
Yeah, he's a smart guy and agreat kid, so I'm I'm pulling
for him.
Yeah, I'm I mean, we're bothhometown boys and and love to
see the Panthers make theplayoffs.
And if you had said even fourweeks ago they've got a shot,
(03:38):
I'd say Panthers ain't gonnamake the playoffs.
Man, they could host a gamepotentially the way they're
playing.
That's just that's nuts.
So yeah, Phillip Rivers isplaying football, and and of
course, Cam Ward peed and moanedabout it already, saying, Well,
I'm only 36, why didn't theypick me?
Well, let's be honest, PhillipRivers knows that play so well,
(03:59):
and he's not an ego guy.
He's not a cancer in the lockerroom, and he'll probably be the
first person that thinks if he'sbeing detrimental to playing
this and that it's uh anexperiment that went awry, he'll
say, You need to get me out ofhere.
Yeah, I don't see Cam orKaepernick or these other guys
who are egotistical jerks gonnago in there and and make a
(04:19):
better position or or a betteruh influence on the team.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Chemistry is everything.
Yeah.
All right, this is the uhCarolina contractor football
show.
And uh I'm Eric Smith, Cross forMe General Contractor Donnie
Blanchard, and yeah, we liketalk football because we're just
normal everyday guys.
And the whole thing with thefantasy football is I've never
done it before, and I actuallygot into it by accident.
(04:42):
I clicked on a link and it says,Hey, you're in a group, and I
went, Yeah, what the hell?
Okay.
And next thing I know, Ifinished well enough to make it
to the playoffs, and Donniehates people like me because you
put like um four to five hours anight, weeks in advance, trying
to figure out the best picks,and then somebody like me just
falls into it accidentally anddoes really well.
Yeah, sometimes it works,sometimes it doesn't.
(05:03):
Yeah, it's life.
But we're not gonna talk justabout football, though we could.
We are gonna talk about thistime of year because it is uh
getting close to Christmas.
We're in December, and uh, youknow, you might still be
thinking, what can I getsomebody on the Christmas list?
And a lot of this stuff when itcomes to DIYers, you might think
of the normal stuff to getpeople, and we'll we'll go over
(05:23):
some of those items you can get.
But me and Donnie also got somepersonal favorites we wanted to
talk about, and also some ideasthat maybe you haven't thought
about.
And these are not exclusive tomanly men things.
There's uh stuff for everybodywhen it comes to home
maintenance and DIY and stufflike that.
First of all, hit the websitethecarolinacontractor.com.
We've got links to past showsthere.
(05:44):
You can listen to them inpodcast for them.
They're all up there by datethey aired, or you can sort them
by the title.
So if there's a specific topicyou want to learn about, we got
uh the YouTube page runningvideos of the show up.
We've got Instagram, socialmedia, Facebook.
Also, if you want to contact us,the best way to do it is through
the Carolinacontractor.comwebsite.
There's a button that says askthe contractor, and those are
(06:05):
for Donnie.
And again, being a generalcontractor, he can answer a lot
of your questions.
Um we're a little overdue, I'dsay, Donnie, for a show of
nothing but questions fromlisteners.
So maybe beginning of the yearwe do one of those.
Yeah, let's do it.
I'll put them together.
All right, we'll do one ofthose.
Uh, if again, you want to youhave a question about your
house, the inside, the outside,uh, anything plumbing,
electrical, appliances,grilling, go ahead and submit
(06:28):
that website again, the CarolinaContractor.com.
All right.
So let's just jump into this.
Uh, we really don't have ascript or much information.
We just wanted to kind of shootthe bull about Christmas gifts.
So you're shopping for ahomeowner.
Um, maybe it's your spouse,maybe it's a parent, maybe it's
a a child, maybe it's a coolneighbor, a cool boss.
I never thought about that.
Or maybe just some ideas, whatto get your dad.
(06:50):
Bosses get like snacks or cardsand stuff, but imagine if you
brought them a power saw orsomething.
They'd probably like, I likethis guy.
This is cool.
Um, but if you got somebody whotinkers, you like Calvin and
Hobbs had a cartoon, I can'twait till I'm old and can just
putter around the garage.
You got somebody like that inyour life, or they are maybe
they're just a hand a handyman.
(07:10):
They might not do it for aliving, but they're really good
at it.
Um, tons of reasons, tons ofitems you can get.
Uh I was not late to the game,but later than most.
And this was I got the cordlessdrill set.
I've got the basic DeWalt bag,and I've gotten a couple
attachments, but I'm sure you'vegot a cordless drill set,
(07:31):
Donnie.
Oh yeah, like plenty.
SPEAKER_01 (07:33):
And um I got them for the truck, one for the
garage, and it's one of thosethings where you just kind of
accumulate those when they go onsale.
And uh, yeah, good to haveimpact.
That's kind of taken over in thedrill world depending on the
application.
But yes, sir.
SPEAKER_00 (07:47):
Yeah, so you can buy just like the the drill, but um,
I've seen the DeWalt bag.
It's very cool.
It comes in a box, but when youtake it out, it's a big bag and
it's got everything in it.
It's like um 400 bucks, but youget the drill, the impact driver
you're talking about, uhreciprocating saw, circular saw.
They got multi-purpose tools,they've got chargers, batteries,
(08:09):
and the batteries work foreverything.
So you got one battery chargingwhile you're using one.
Uh, you could build a deck anduh and a screen porch on top of
it just with a tool set in oneof those big bags.
I think cordless hasrevolutionized the hand tool
business.
Absolutely.
Definitely.
SPEAKER_01 (08:26):
Yeah, and and I'm a big fan.
I uh it's not that I justpreferred to walt everything,
but it makes it so much easier.
So I have the uh the big bagwith the sawzall, the
reciprocating saw or skill saw,uh, as well as the um comes with
the drill and all the bits, evenlike a handy-dandy flashlight
that works on a battery, andthey all work with the same
batteries.
Speaking of that, the black Ishouldn't say this because it'll
(08:47):
make people feel like theymissed out on something, but the
best Black Friday thing I'veseen in a long time is Lowe's
had a uh limit one per percustomer, and I've could have
gotten my you know kids orsomebody to buy one as well.
But I bought my futurefather-in-law a set of four
DeWalt batteries, and there'stwo of the bigger ones and two
of the regular batteries for$99.
(09:09):
Four batteries for a hundredbucks is unheard of.
That's a steal.
Yeah, it was one day only, andum, I got it.
SPEAKER_00 (09:16):
Good for you.
Yeah, now you're making us mad.
We didn't know about that.
I should have paid it, I shouldhave paid attention.
You didn't do it.
Um let's see, something else.
Um we won't go in details.
If you don't have a smartthermostat, just go ahead and
get one.
Uh and if you're not cool oninstalling it, a great gift is
hey, the HFAT guy is gonna put asmart thermostat in the house uh
(09:36):
after the holidays.
Just a money saver, uh set andforget type of item.
Very practical.
Me and Donnie have talked awhole lot about them.
You're talking$100 and$150.
Uh I guess I guess going to yousaid it Lowe's was it, I I guess
gift cards always work to thebig box stores.
Oh, yeah, that's just boring.
(09:56):
It is boring, but it is a giftcard a lazy gift?
SPEAKER_01 (10:00):
Yeah, I don't think dudes care.
I think you can't give a woman agift card.
I don't think I mean, I'm justlike, yeah, I'll pick what I
want, but you know, women wantyou to be a little more
thoughtful, so I guess itdepends on the person.
SPEAKER_00 (10:11):
Uh I agree with guys for the most part.
Um, I think women are fine ifit's maybe and it's gonna sound
sexist if it's like coffee, likeif it's Starbucks, where they
can just drive through and handthem the card.
But but I do agree, you can'tjust give gift cards or cash.
Kids like cash, kids like giftcards, but I don't think here's
(10:31):
what I'd say you give a cool oneor two gifts in person, and then
if you say, hey, if you I gaveyou this great little DeWalt
drill bag with all these toolsin it, here's another hundred
bucks so you can pick up extrastuff when you fix all these
things that she'll give you alist for later.
SPEAKER_01 (10:46):
You know, you just said something funny on
accident.
Kids like cash.
No, they don't.
I know what you mean.
They like the gift cards justfine.
But um uh I gave my daughter ahundred dollar bill for dinner
and gas, and she said, Oh, dad,can I just like take your card
instead?
It's just so easy.
They don't like the part aboutgoing in the gas station, you
know, giving them the the card,remembering what the the meter
(11:07):
said about what their tab wasbefore they walked in, and then
making sure the math is right.
That's a lot of work for ateenager.
SPEAKER_00 (11:12):
Okay, so you are 100% correct on my daughter
Reagan's 16th birthday.
I got her this box, and it youpull this little um happy
birthday sign, and it pulls up adollar bill that's in
cellophane, and then it pulledlike 10 of those, and then it
pulled like 10 fives, and thenit pulled like 10 10s.
Know what she did within an hourof that?
(11:34):
She thought it was really cool.
She says, Can I give you thecash and you just put it on my
cash app card?
Oh yeah.
So I ended up with a couplehundred bucks in cash that I
withdrew like you know, twohours before the party, and
ended up just keeping it anyway.
So you're right.
They they'd rather just have thecard or have it on their phone.
For sure.
Uh something that's kind of youdon't think about as a tool you
(11:56):
want, but I'm gonna mentionthis, Donnie, is um we're
talking cordless tools, orbitalsanders.
Having a sanders actually a kindof a big deal.
You it's one of those items youdon't know you need it until you
need it.
Um mine are actually stillcorded, so if I needed one when
I use it occasionally, I have topull the old extension cord.
(12:18):
But I guess uh getting acordless sander is a big deal or
something pretty good thatpeople could use.
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
Absolutely.
You always got to sand somethingif you're handy around the
house.
I mean, everything from thehouse to any kind of house
project is gonna need a sander,and you're you're a hundred
percent right.
It's not one of those thingswhere you're doing it for two
hours at a time.
So, you know, a battery worksgood in that application.
I have gone full-blown battery,everything that I can because
you know, when you're uh whenyou're going to a job site, you
(12:45):
don't want to unload a nail gun,a hose, a compressor.
You have to get a drop cord torun the compressor, and heaven
forbid you need two separatenail guns.
You got to run a splitter andanother air hose to another nail
gun.
Uh, I bit the bullet when weclosed it on several houses
recently, and I bought abattery-powered framing nailer
and a battery-powered uh trimgun.
Uh, and so they both have savedme hours on end already, and
(13:09):
it's so convenient just to havethem on your truck.
You go to a house, you got apunch list, you know, a piece of
quarter round here or there,just go in there with a trim
gun, bang, bang, bang, andyou're done.
Um, the framing nailer comes inhandy when we do blocking and
things like that, where we'renot trying to frame a room or
you know, put studs up to thepoint where we're gonna need,
we're gonna go through 600 nailsuh on that that particular
(13:30):
thing.
When we block behind thesheetrock before it goes up for
things like handrails, paper uhtowel, I'm sorry, toilet paper
holders, uh, towel bars, thingslike that, then that frame of
nailer comes in super handy.
SPEAKER_00 (13:43):
Is are are they is it a name brand or is it
proprietary nails?
Like we sell plastic and paperstrip nails, like for pass load
guns and Milwaukee.
What is this one one of those orit's something else?
SPEAKER_01 (13:53):
Yeah, both were DeWalt because that's the
battery package I already hadthe most of.
So I got DeWalt on both ofthose.
There are other ones that havehigher ratings, but that was
convenient for me.
But yes, sir, the nails arespecific to DeWalt.
So they do cost a little bitmore for a box, but I hadn't
gone through my first box oneither.
So all good there.
SPEAKER_00 (14:09):
Yeah, and if you're you're at your house and you're
not doing a major project andyou like uh changed out, you you
broke some cord around or orplaced a little bit of casing or
something, that um finishednailer is gonna be fine or
whatever.
I guess that makes a lot ofsense.
You don't need a big giant boxof nails.
For sure.
SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
I mean, sometimes if we're doing a bigger project,
the nail gun compressor, I mean,that's just what you got to do
if you're gonna be working therefor several days.
But for little onesies, twosies,it it comes in handy.
SPEAKER_00 (14:36):
All right.
Uh last year, get this.
I asked for a steam clean vacuumcleaner.
And my wife told themother-in-law and said, Hey,
this is what Eric wants.
And she didn't believe my wife,because what kind of straight
red-blooded American male wouldsay, I want a steam, I want a
steam cleaner.
And I said, I do.
On the day it wasn't Christmas,we always go to their house a
(14:57):
couple days before, and they'rein the middle of the floor is a
wrap box, and she walks up to meand goes, Now your wife told me
you wanted this, and I'm not sosure.
And I said, Is this a sharksteam cleaner?
And she goes, It is.
I said, You don't understand.
I want this thing.
And I was so excited.
I love a steam cleaner becausewhen there's spills, whether
it's animal, vegetable, ormineral, you get issues where of
(15:21):
cleaning it up quickly.
We usually, you know, damp itwith a towel or something.
I saw the test of one of them.
I test rode one.
Would you test ride a vacuumcleaner?
I was drinking at the time.
It was ugly.
But it came in handy when mywife was sitting on.
I always take her coffee becausethat's just the awesome person I
am.
I take her coffee upstairs everymorning before I leave to work.
(15:44):
And she barely had taken a sipand it spilled.
And the kids tried to do whatthey could, and then I got home
that afternoon and go upstairs,and you see obviously where the
coffee had spilled, and itsmelled like coffee in the room,
which was kind of nice.
But I got out my steam cleanerthing, and that shark took care
of business you wouldn't havenever known a full yeti cup of
(16:07):
coffee had spilled and sat therefor eight hours.
That thing took it to task, andI love it.
Also, don't use a shop vacinside.
Have you ever tried to do thatby accident?
Not thinking uh yeah.
Time or two.
If you don't have the filter setcorrectly or you don't have a
good filter on it, a shop vacwill shoot dust out its vent.
And if you think, man, if if avacuum will vacuum this floor
(16:29):
well, what will my shop vac do?
You gotta make sure you have theright filter on it because
otherwise, whatever you pull in,half of it's just gonna shoot
right out the back end.
But I use it in my attached umstorage building because leaves
and dirt and crap get all inthere, and I I don't know a guy
that doesn't have a shop back.
SPEAKER_01 (16:46):
Yeah, and a shop back's one of those things.
It goes bad every couple years,so that's that's always a safe
bet.
I think I have I have one that Idon't think I've ever used
before, but it's only a matterof time before I'll need it.
Mine's got to be 10 years old.
I don't.
Maybe you got a good one, butI'm I'm striking out at the big
box stores and I just get thecheap one.
SPEAKER_00 (17:02):
Yeah, I just got a craftsman.
It's run like a dream for me,and I've even used it for wet
and dry applications.
SPEAKER_01 (17:08):
Mine go through uh heck, and so mine go from job
site to job site.
I'm I beat up on them.
I'm I'm hard on the shop bag,man.
Okay, that's all right.
SPEAKER_00 (17:15):
I'll I'll give you a pass on that one.
You do work harder than I do.
I don't know about that.
Now, for uh people who like tocook, I think this is a great
idea.
Uh indoor herb gardens, they'rethey're little kits, they're
self-watering systems, and theyhave their own LED lights, and
you can just set them on your uhkitchen sink window if you have
one, and you need basil or orsomething, it'll be right there.
(17:38):
They're low maintenance.
I think they're a great stockingstuff or gift.
By the way, some of you just gotexcited because I said a
self-watering LED light systemthat can grow things inside.
You ain't growing pot insideyour house with one of these, so
don't get excited because firstof all, your energy bill would
give it away, that wheel outsidewhen you turn on the grow
lights.
(17:58):
So I've heard would go yeah.
But um, I thought it was kind ofcool because my girls cook a lot
and they they're into the spicesand and and things like that.
So I think I make a fun littlegift.
SPEAKER_01 (18:09):
They hit you over the head for those spices just
for a small amount at thegrocery store.
I mean, they they think a lot ofthose things.
So I I think that not only isthat a great gift idea, probably
save you a lot of money.
SPEAKER_00 (18:18):
Last thing I want to mention, this is real-world
advice that I have.
Uh air purifiers.
Um you have big ones, but I'mnot talking about those.
We've got this small portableair purifier.
It's literally um the size of uhtwo malt liquors.
And it's got a filter that youcan clean and replace.
I recommend getting that as agift if you got somebody in your
(18:38):
house with breathing or allergyproblems.
SPEAKER_01 (18:40):
No, I think that's cool.
It they look kind of like anovelty, but I I'm glad to hear
you say that it works because ifthat's a air quality issue that
your daughter's having, thenthat's a pretty easy fix.
SPEAKER_00 (18:50):
All right, Donnie, you came up with a uh uh idea of
a package of gifts you could getsomebody um the on Christmas,
and I thought it was prettycool.
So why don't you take this one?
SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
Yeah, I mean, I just labeled this as emergency kit
for dads.
I mean, you could get a box ofthings, and dads are hard to buy
for, no secret there, becauseyou know, if you're 35 and up,
you pretty much have one ofeverything.
And if you're a homeowner on topof that, you know, you need
these things that you buy anduse one time a year.
And um your children and and orwife, unless it's clothes or
(19:21):
just something generic, you'reprobably a tough one to buy for.
So I thought any of these are asafe bet or all these would make
a cool package gift.
But um, and most of this, mostof this is available on Amazon,
but a five-in-one tool with aglass break device on one end,
that's one of those things thathas a screwdriver, you know, a
knife, and uh just kind of likea multi-tool.
But um they've they've steppedup their game with those, and
(19:42):
they have those where if you'retrapped in a car, you know, you
somebody else is trapped in acar, you could bust out a window
without uh injuring yourself.
And and and though they have theblade built in that can cut a
seatbelt?
Yes, blade built in for that.
And some of them haveflashlights and and uh you know
you can get as funky as you wantto, but I think just one with a
the main core things is prettygood.
Um my next item.
(20:03):
Go ahead.
Sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
And you know someone's gonna make a five in
one tool with a vape on it.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:11):
Oh, you made me go dad mode on that.
No, I hate that stuff.
And I mean, yeah, I I'm I'llprotest that if they come out
with that.
But yeah.
Uh a good flashlight.
Most people neglect a goodflashlight and and I say that I
have one where you basicallyopen the flashlight up and it
turns into a lantern.
So there's an internalflashlight and getting getting a
flashlight that's either mobileand you can uh move it around or
(20:33):
has a tripod attachment,something cool like that is a
good dad gift.
A self-defense tool, you know,anything that anything that you
can have that basically you getinto a pickle that's not you
don't have to shoot somebody isalways a nice option.
I have a first aid kit in mytruck.
I have a first aid kit in everytruck that I I own for the
roofing company, the buildingbusiness.
(20:54):
I just think that's a cheapthing to have on on hand that
can come in handy.
Jumper cables.
Everybody needs jumper cables orone of those jumper boxes.
A decent jack, you know, carjack, they're always bare
minimum and uh basically youjust don't have the room in all
trucks or trunks for that carjack, but that is a handy thing
to have.
SPEAKER_00 (21:13):
Dude, anything with a flame I knew I can't believe
you forgot that.
Get a guy anything that shoots aflame out of it or burns.
Yeah.
Or if you can get something thatshoots a flame and has a sharp
edge, knife edge on it, that's awin.
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
The cheapest best thing that produces a flame is a
flamethrower attachment for apropane tank.
And they sell those at all thebig box stores.
I think they're a little cheapercheaper at Harbor Freight, but I
use that all the time.
Anytime we start a bonfire orthat used a solo stove out on
the deck or the patio it takesabout two seconds and you know
it uses very little propane andit's just really cool.
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
I've seen people use it to uh get rid of weeds the
the really thin on the drivewayand stuff they'll just walk
through and burn the weeds.
Yeah oh I hadn't seen that butyeah multifaceted.
Yeah um I have uh thought aboutgetting a generator I'm very
lucky in my uh town of Wilson atleast my neighborhood my grounds
my grounds my lines areunderground we rarely have power
(22:09):
go out but still having a littlegenerator I've thought about
getting it never pull thetrigger but people need no
generator sits outside and it'sloud and it makes noise but
there's also inverters and wouldyou quickly tell the people the
difference because you just gotan inverter yeah I I actually
was waiting on the power companyto to bring a transformer to the
(22:32):
job site and then the framersgot started before we could do
that.
SPEAKER_01 (22:34):
So you know me I just needed an excuse and um I
was amazed the inverters were acouple thousand more than they
are now and I got caught a BlackFriday sale when I was in the
market to buy that but theinverters are those super quiet
generators for lack of a longexplanation and I think the um
uh basically the way that itworks is it only produces as
much power as being called forsort of like a um on demand
(22:57):
water heater you know you're uhit it doesn't operate at max
capacity as opposed to agenerator which you know it
cranks out as much uh as muchwatta as it possibly can all the
time and that's why it runs soloud and it's just a pain but
these inverters are really niceand when I'd get done with this
on this job site you know wecould use it for a camp or we
could use it for a tailgate andit's not it's not obnoxiously
(23:20):
loud so I just think that um uhshopping for those is is a lot
different.
I got that one at Harbor Freightand the one that they carry
there is made just like theHonda.
It's just uh you know adifferent casing but it looks
super nice.
It even has a remote control anduh you know for a camper
application if you were in thecamper didn't want to go turn it
off you can just uh hit your keyfob there and take care of that.
(23:41):
What about battery chargers?
So I got one for Christmas lastyear and it's the one that will
actually jump a car off.
And so not only will it do thatit's got a mean flashlight on
it.
It will recharge phones.
It's not like the the batterypacks or the power banks that
the kids have this thing is thereal deal and um you know the
fact that it'll start a car andyou don't have to have another
vehicle there or the jumpercables I think it cuts out a lot
(24:04):
of the difficulty with that.
SPEAKER_00 (24:05):
And you also mentioned uh within the past
couple years you got a tricklecharger and those are you know
if you have a riding lawnmowerit has a battery on it or other
devices like I've just got topull lawnmower so I don't really
need it.
But uh these are becoming bigI've seen people buy ones that
have a solar shield that stickson the windshield wires that go
(24:26):
in the hood and you just connectit to your car battery for a car
that you might not be using allthe time so it doesn't go dead
if you go to crank it up two orthree weeks without it uh being
used.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
I think it's genius.
And uh a lot of times I've hadto replace a battery from lead
to go so far dead wheresomething you don't use all
winter long and summer comesaround and not only did the
battery not work, it can't becharged anymore.
So something as cheap as a solartrickle charger uh it comes in
handy.
Basically I had uh our fourwheeler battery go dead um I
don't know several weeks ago andI literally hooked that trickle
(24:59):
charger up pulled it out in thesun and maybe had it connected
and under the sun for about twohours and instead of having to
do all I mean not that it's alot of trouble but instead of
having to pull something elseover there jump it off and all
that it not only got the fourwheeler to start the battery was
already charged when we when wegot on it.
SPEAKER_00 (25:16):
Great idea those trickle chargers you're right uh
long range walkie talkies youmay have heard ads on uh radio
and TV for these things um yourmileage will greatly vary I did
some research on these and thedistance advertised is like
maximum on a good day clearrange good weather um
underwhelming the reviews I'veseen from the tech magazines if
(25:38):
it's something uh you have arelative living down the street
or I don't know factories but Idon't get the walkie-talkie
fascination because with cellphones you can text andor call
somebody nationwide why wouldyou want to add another device
to keep on your hip so you cannext del them again.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Yeah I agree with that.
You got certain people if you'rea retiree and you know you don't
like carrying a phone around andyou're gonna be out on the farm
or you know just out of sightand just for the sake of having
some sort of safety mechanism toleave one on the kitchen counter
and you know something happensyou don't have a phone you could
contact somebody but other thanthat maybe having a grandkid
that lived within a few blocksof you that would think
(26:19):
something like that's cool.
That's the only justification Ican think of.
SPEAKER_00 (26:22):
Yeah I say uh for grandma grandpa's and I'll be
there soon enough uh life alertand a jitterbug phone.
Just let him do that.
All right we're gonna do some uhquick ideas here uh you'll
understand what I mean when Itell you this Donnie red blue
red i'll I'll do the reds theseare some quick ideas you can get
somebody for Christmas as wewrap up this episode of the
Carolina contractor show grillcaddies are great you can find
(26:45):
them anywhere they're cheapthat's gonna be all the basic
tools for your your person wholikes to cook out and you don't
have to worry about mixing andmatching and you can they're
usually washable you keep themclean they stay organized
they're always there meat rubswe talk about grilling out all
the time again easy to find ifyou can imagine the flavor I'm
(27:07):
sure somebody has it so ifyou've got somebody who loves to
grill out and you don't in NorthCarolina you don't have to wait
till summer to grill out you canbe grilling out just about any
time of year weather changes somuch.
Get that and then of coursewireless thermometers so you can
do that slow roast or you'redoing that smoker or whatever
you put in that wirelessthermometer and it's going to
monitor you can set it up to doalarms and let you know when
(27:29):
it's reached temperature and andman you can stay inside with
your baby while the stuff'soutside cooking.
SPEAKER_01 (27:35):
Well not only that the wireless thermometer saving
grace for me if I switch so uhfor instance I made turkeys a
different way completely andhuge success on the electric
smoker and the game with theelectric smoker is it's low and
slow.
You don't have to worry aboutburning anything and it just
does everything perfect unlessthere's a you know a better a
different cut of meat that mayrequire um a stronger heat
(27:57):
source.
So I cooked those same turkeysbecause I cooked multiple for
Thanksgiving and I switched overto the green egg and having the
charcoal as the heat sourceversus an electric heat source
with the uh other smoker changedeverything.
I had one of these wirelessthermometers in the turkeys and
I expected a two to three hourcook time and within an hour I
had reached the the go totemperature so had I not had
(28:18):
those in there that would havealerted my phone that they were
already you know to the finishedwith the cooking cycle and half
the time I would have burnedeverything.
Oof not not good.
Rechargeable hit me with somethings real quick.
Yeah um I live with I mean bythese things especially with you
know kids playing sports andcold games at night but
rechargeable hand warmers arethe handiest thing on the
(28:38):
internet and uh oh I said handyfor hand warming.
Anyway um I didn't do that onpurpose but those and insoles I
have the rechargeable insolesthey both work with my iPhone
charger so you're running latefor the game you throw them on
your charger in the car and andit works just fine it'll get you
through two or three hours butalso handy on the job site when
we're working through winter.
Rechargeable electric blanketsthat's something that if you sit
(29:00):
outside or want to you knowutilize your outside area in the
colder months that's somethingthat works well and I have
several people that live bythese heated jackets.
The uh the heated jackets areare on the money but my
understanding is they don't lastmore than a couple of years
because of uh the the batteriesjust technology is just not
there for those um and I canimagine there's a dance there
(29:20):
you know they can't heat it upbut so much because they'll
light the coat on fire so Idon't know what kind of
parameters they operate in orwhat kind of test they run on
those things but there's got tobe something behind that.
And the last thing is thecoolest thing I want to buy my
kids this but they just wouldn'tappreciate it.
My crew leader did some work uhor helped me with at my personal
house with some things.
Well we ate I got taco truck foreverybody and you know we all
(29:42):
ate he said man my wife made mylunch don't worry about me so
comes in the house and he sitsthis 2050 Space Age lunchbox up
on my counter and I'm thinkingwhat in the world is this and
it's a rechargeable lunchbox.
I want to say the the name brandis called Lunch Ease and uh
that's the name brand so I didmy homework and there's several
versions that are much lessexpensive but the lunchbox
(30:04):
itself is about 130 and the lunthe what carries the lunchbox
and your other items and it allfits perfectly in there is about
another hundred bucks.
So if you really want to go allout for dad or the worker
outside worker in your familythese things will allow you to
charge up the lunchbox youprogram it for what time you
want to eat or roundabout andyou can say I'm gonna have lunch
at 12 o'clock and it'll start at11 1130 it'll have your food 150
(30:28):
degrees like it just came out ofa restaurant by the time you're
ready for it and it's just agenius idea.
SPEAKER_00 (30:34):
Hey I just want to add to the list of stuff you can
get at last minute guys are notoffended when you give them
tools uh yard tools rakes andand shovels and stuff you know
some people would not give theirtheir wife pots and pans guys
don't mind that at all give usyard tools easy uh security
cameras they're so small andcheap put them in a windowsill
if you need an extra part ofyour house to watch that fits in
(30:56):
a stocking um you mentioned uhsolo stoves those are probably
pretty big uh item and I don'tmean price but just popularity
uh real quick you like yours?
SPEAKER_01 (31:06):
Uh I love it because and and it they they've they've
mastered the technology of uhthe intake and the exhaust and
so basically they have thisintake uh plate or they have a a
set a separating piece so itdoesn't sit directly on the deck
but I use my thermometer gunlike they hit you in the
forehead with during COVID and Iuh at the very bottom of it it
was it was close to the ambienttemperature of you know 50 60
(31:29):
degrees and the uh temperatureof the flame coming out of the
top was 350 so just in about an18 inch span you had a 300
degree swing and I think that'sjust amazing.
So in your opinion if you have awood deck it's fine to put that
on and using cool weather whatwe do just for cheap insurance
is I bought a grill mat for 20,30 bucks and I put a grill mat
under that and it workswonderful wonderful.
SPEAKER_00 (31:49):
Yeah because a lot of people like myself wouldn't
put something on it you go outin the yard or onto a concrete
slab but man that would be niceto sit by the comfortable uh
chairs that you have on yourdeck and have a a nice little
fire.
SPEAKER_01 (32:01):
Is it pretty smokeless?
Uh smokeless yeah I mean alittle bit here and there but
nothing crazy.
You know I nobody's ever had tomove their chair because the
smoke was following the beauty.
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Well cool well maybe I'll find one my stock and I'll
have to put that on my list.
Again little ideas but sometimesthis time year we forget those
small items that someone mightlike or just a DIY item.
I'd if I had a big tool bag withall the battery uh powered
tools, the cordless tools inthem, that'd be a pretty big
deal but now that solo stove issounding good too.
(32:30):
But uh we'll have this list upon the website or for the most
part just listen to the show attwo times speed and you can find
out the answers to gifts thatyou can give the DIYer twice as
fast.
But uh man, Christmas is hereanother year gone just about
Donnie.
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
Yeah it goes by faster every year, dude.
I don't like it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:47):
Yeah it does.
The years go up and the timegoes faster but at least we
still got football.
I hope Philip Rivers does good.
I'm looking forward to uh oldman river grandpa out there on
the gridiron throwing somefootball.
I hope so yep all right uhthanks for tuning in we hope you
have a great Christmas and uhhope these ideas uh help you for
the DIYer in your house or inyour family and again hit the
(33:08):
website theCarolinacontractor.com and
thanks for tuning in we hope youtune in again next time on the
Carolina Contractor Show.
Merry Christmas everybody
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Donnie, you're in your 40s.
I'm in my 50s.
How do you feel about PhillipRivers back in the NFL?
SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
I'm pulling for the guy, man.
It's pretty fascinating to seesomebody just a couple years
younger go out there and umreally just take on mountain of
men and uh take a chance ongetting hurt, but more power to
him, man.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
Old guys rule.
By the time the show hits somemarkets, his first game will be
over.
But here's what I'm gonna make aprediction on is drop back three
steps, two and second down, sixyard throws, he'll probably do
fine.
You know he can throw 40 plusyards pretty comfortably, but no
quarterback goes the whole gamewithout getting hit, and that's
what I worry about.
He's gonna get tackled.
(00:45):
I don't even mean a sack, buttwo or three of those, maybe
reality sets in.
Yeah, didn't you say that theyalready gave him a nickname?
SPEAKER_01 (00:52):
Uh yeah, Old Man Rivers.
That's fit.
How do how do all theIndianapolis quarterbacks get
all the good nicknames?
You know, Daniel Jones fromDuke, he ended up there and you
know had a fantastic seasonbefore he got hurt last week,
but uh they named they nicknamedhim Indiana Jones, and I thought
that was spot on.
Peyton didn't have a nickname,did he?
I don't champion.
He was great.
He didn't need one.
Yeah.
(01:12):
Winner.
He didn't need one.
How's your fantasy team coming?
SPEAKER_00 (01:15):
Uh pretty good, and I'm excited.
Uh, I mean, we had a uh a alittle bit of a hiccup, but uh
eight weeks ago uh Matt Staffordgot dropped by somebody in my
pool, and I picked him up andhe'd been pretty much on fire,
and he's got Nakua um as his hottarget, and I've got both of
them.
So I'm in the playoffs.
Um I'm playing the number oneteam.
(01:35):
He's got one player who mightnot be running, uh, a running
back who might not be playingthis weekend.
But uh if he's out, he has nobackup on his pool.
But you know these guys at lastminute, like one minute before
they lock down the rosters,he'll make that change.
But I'm feeling good forsomebody who didn't try to get
into fantasy football, and nowI'm in the playoffs.
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
I haven't told you this, but I got to see both
those grown men cry, MattStafford and Puka Nakua.
Um last week, I got uh lastminute Saturday, or on Saturday,
I got Sunday tickets for thePanthers-Rams game, and I
couldn't turn them down.
They were great seats, and weactually missed one of our
Thanksgiving dinners to go tothat, but um it was it was
(02:17):
probably the biggest win inPanthers since since I would say
it's probably the biggest winsince 2015-16, something like
that, when we were actually goodand going to the playoffs.
But uh my sweetheart went withme and and her favorite part of
the game was to walk to the carbecause it was electric, man.
When we won, Charlotte was onfire, and it was like the walls
(02:38):
were shaking with all the voicesin Unity screaming, keep
pounding! And people were just,I mean, on cloud nine, and it
was just about as enjoyable towatch all the Rams fans walk to
their car with their tail tuckedand heads down, man.
And it was good times.
SPEAKER_00 (02:55):
And Bryce is looking better, he's more comfortable,
he's his accuracy is up, andthey put up a stat over the past
uh four games for him, and it'sa 45-degree angle.
Everything's going up, he seemscomfortable, and I'm I'm not
trying to be negative.
I don't think he's gonna ever bean elite quarterback.
He's got that, let's face it, aheight issue, but he's starting
(03:17):
to work that, and I think hisdefense is giving him a little
bit more time.
Just that half second extra isallowing him to find a target
and finish that play.
Yeah, he's a smart guy and agreat kid, so I'm I'm pulling
for him.
Yeah, I'm I mean, we're bothhometown boys and and love to
see the Panthers make theplayoffs.
And if you had said even fourweeks ago they've got a shot,
(03:38):
I'd say Panthers ain't gonnamake the playoffs.
Man, they could host a gamepotentially the way they're
playing.
That's just that's nuts.
So yeah, Phillip Rivers isplaying football, and and of
course, Cam Ward peed and moanedabout it already, saying, Well,
I'm only 36, why didn't theypick me?
Well, let's be honest, PhillipRivers knows that play so well,
(03:59):
and he's not an ego guy.
He's not a cancer in the lockerroom, and he'll probably be the
first person that thinks if he'sbeing detrimental to playing
this and that it's uh anexperiment that went awry, he'll
say, You need to get me out ofhere.
Yeah, I don't see Cam orKaepernick or these other guys
who are egotistical jerks gonnago in there and and make a
(04:19):
better position or or a betteruh influence on the team.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Chemistry is everything.
Yeah.
All right, this is the uhCarolina contractor football
show.
And uh I'm Eric Smith, Cross forMe General Contractor Donnie
Blanchard, and yeah, we liketalk football because we're just
normal everyday guys.
And the whole thing with thefantasy football is I've never
done it before, and I actuallygot into it by accident.
(04:42):
I clicked on a link and it says,Hey, you're in a group, and I
went, Yeah, what the hell?
Okay.
And next thing I know, Ifinished well enough to make it
to the playoffs, and Donniehates people like me because you
put like um four to five hours anight, weeks in advance, trying
to figure out the best picks,and then somebody like me just
falls into it accidentally anddoes really well.
Yeah, sometimes it works,sometimes it doesn't.
(05:03):
Yeah, it's life.
But we're not gonna talk justabout football, though we could.
We are gonna talk about thistime of year because it is uh
getting close to Christmas.
We're in December, and uh, youknow, you might still be
thinking, what can I getsomebody on the Christmas list?
And a lot of this stuff when itcomes to DIYers, you might think
of the normal stuff to getpeople, and we'll we'll go over
(05:23):
some of those items you can get.
But me and Donnie also got somepersonal favorites we wanted to
talk about, and also some ideasthat maybe you haven't thought
about.
And these are not exclusive tomanly men things.
There's uh stuff for everybodywhen it comes to home
maintenance and DIY and stufflike that.
First of all, hit the websitethecarolinacontractor.com.
We've got links to past showsthere.
(05:44):
You can listen to them inpodcast for them.
They're all up there by datethey aired, or you can sort them
by the title.
So if there's a specific topicyou want to learn about, we got
uh the YouTube page runningvideos of the show up.
We've got Instagram, socialmedia, Facebook.
Also, if you want to contact us,the best way to do it is through
the Carolinacontractor.comwebsite.
There's a button that says askthe contractor, and those are
(06:05):
for Donnie.
And again, being a generalcontractor, he can answer a lot
of your questions.
Um we're a little overdue, I'dsay, Donnie, for a show of
nothing but questions fromlisteners.
So maybe beginning of the yearwe do one of those.
Yeah, let's do it.
I'll put them together.
All right, we'll do one ofthose.
Uh, if again, you want to youhave a question about your
house, the inside, the outside,uh, anything plumbing,
electrical, appliances,grilling, go ahead and submit
(06:28):
that website again, the CarolinaContractor.com.
All right.
So let's just jump into this.
Uh, we really don't have ascript or much information.
We just wanted to kind of shootthe bull about Christmas gifts.
So you're shopping for ahomeowner.
Um, maybe it's your spouse,maybe it's a parent, maybe it's
a a child, maybe it's a coolneighbor, a cool boss.
I never thought about that.
Or maybe just some ideas, whatto get your dad.
(06:50):
Bosses get like snacks or cardsand stuff, but imagine if you
brought them a power saw orsomething.
They'd probably like, I likethis guy.
This is cool.
Um, but if you got somebody whotinkers, you like Calvin and
Hobbs had a cartoon, I can'twait till I'm old and can just
putter around the garage.
You got somebody like that inyour life, or they are maybe
they're just a hand a handyman.
(07:10):
They might not do it for aliving, but they're really good
at it.
Um, tons of reasons, tons ofitems you can get.
Uh I was not late to the game,but later than most.
And this was I got the cordlessdrill set.
I've got the basic DeWalt bag,and I've gotten a couple
attachments, but I'm sure you'vegot a cordless drill set,
(07:31):
Donnie.
Oh yeah, like plenty.
SPEAKER_01 (07:33):
And um I got them for the truck, one for the
garage, and it's one of thosethings where you just kind of
accumulate those when they go onsale.
And uh, yeah, good to haveimpact.
That's kind of taken over in thedrill world depending on the
application.
But yes, sir.
SPEAKER_00 (07:47):
Yeah, so you can buy just like the the drill, but um,
I've seen the DeWalt bag.
It's very cool.
It comes in a box, but when youtake it out, it's a big bag and
it's got everything in it.
It's like um 400 bucks, but youget the drill, the impact driver
you're talking about, uhreciprocating saw, circular saw.
They got multi-purpose tools,they've got chargers, batteries,
(08:09):
and the batteries work foreverything.
So you got one battery chargingwhile you're using one.
Uh, you could build a deck anduh and a screen porch on top of
it just with a tool set in oneof those big bags.
I think cordless hasrevolutionized the hand tool
business.
Absolutely.
Definitely.
SPEAKER_01 (08:26):
Yeah, and and I'm a big fan.
I uh it's not that I justpreferred to walt everything,
but it makes it so much easier.
So I have the uh the big bagwith the sawzall, the
reciprocating saw or skill saw,uh, as well as the um comes with
the drill and all the bits, evenlike a handy-dandy flashlight
that works on a battery, andthey all work with the same
batteries.
Speaking of that, the black Ishouldn't say this because it'll
(08:47):
make people feel like theymissed out on something, but the
best Black Friday thing I'veseen in a long time is Lowe's
had a uh limit one per percustomer, and I've could have
gotten my you know kids orsomebody to buy one as well.
But I bought my futurefather-in-law a set of four
DeWalt batteries, and there'stwo of the bigger ones and two
of the regular batteries for$99.
(09:09):
Four batteries for a hundredbucks is unheard of.
That's a steal.
Yeah, it was one day only, andum, I got it.
SPEAKER_00 (09:16):
Good for you.
Yeah, now you're making us mad.
We didn't know about that.
I should have paid it, I shouldhave paid attention.
You didn't do it.
Um let's see, something else.
Um we won't go in details.
If you don't have a smartthermostat, just go ahead and
get one.
Uh and if you're not cool oninstalling it, a great gift is
hey, the HFAT guy is gonna put asmart thermostat in the house uh
(09:36):
after the holidays.
Just a money saver, uh set andforget type of item.
Very practical.
Me and Donnie have talked awhole lot about them.
You're talking$100 and$150.
Uh I guess I guess going to yousaid it Lowe's was it, I I guess
gift cards always work to thebig box stores.
Oh, yeah, that's just boring.
(09:56):
It is boring, but it is a giftcard a lazy gift?
SPEAKER_01 (10:00):
Yeah, I don't think dudes care.
I think you can't give a woman agift card.
I don't think I mean, I'm justlike, yeah, I'll pick what I
want, but you know, women wantyou to be a little more
thoughtful, so I guess itdepends on the person.
SPEAKER_00 (10:11):
Uh I agree with guys for the most part.
Um, I think women are fine ifit's maybe and it's gonna sound
sexist if it's like coffee, likeif it's Starbucks, where they
can just drive through and handthem the card.
But but I do agree, you can'tjust give gift cards or cash.
Kids like cash, kids like giftcards, but I don't think here's
(10:31):
what I'd say you give a cool oneor two gifts in person, and then
if you say, hey, if you I gaveyou this great little DeWalt
drill bag with all these toolsin it, here's another hundred
bucks so you can pick up extrastuff when you fix all these
things that she'll give you alist for later.
SPEAKER_01 (10:46):
You know, you just said something funny on
accident.
Kids like cash.
No, they don't.
I know what you mean.
They like the gift cards justfine.
But um uh I gave my daughter ahundred dollar bill for dinner
and gas, and she said, Oh, dad,can I just like take your card
instead?
It's just so easy.
They don't like the part aboutgoing in the gas station, you
know, giving them the the card,remembering what the the meter
(11:07):
said about what their tab wasbefore they walked in, and then
making sure the math is right.
That's a lot of work for ateenager.
SPEAKER_00 (11:12):
Okay, so you are 100% correct on my daughter
Reagan's 16th birthday.
I got her this box, and it youpull this little um happy
birthday sign, and it pulls up adollar bill that's in
cellophane, and then it pulledlike 10 of those, and then it
pulled like 10 fives, and thenit pulled like 10 10s.
Know what she did within an hourof that?
(11:34):
She thought it was really cool.
She says, Can I give you thecash and you just put it on my
cash app card?
Oh yeah.
So I ended up with a couplehundred bucks in cash that I
withdrew like you know, twohours before the party, and
ended up just keeping it anyway.
So you're right.
They they'd rather just have thecard or have it on their phone.
For sure.
Uh something that's kind of youdon't think about as a tool you
(11:56):
want, but I'm gonna mentionthis, Donnie, is um we're
talking cordless tools, orbitalsanders.
Having a sanders actually a kindof a big deal.
You it's one of those items youdon't know you need it until you
need it.
Um mine are actually stillcorded, so if I needed one when
I use it occasionally, I have topull the old extension cord.
(12:18):
But I guess uh getting acordless sander is a big deal or
something pretty good thatpeople could use.
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
Absolutely.
You always got to sand somethingif you're handy around the
house.
I mean, everything from thehouse to any kind of house
project is gonna need a sander,and you're you're a hundred
percent right.
It's not one of those thingswhere you're doing it for two
hours at a time.
So, you know, a battery worksgood in that application.
I have gone full-blown battery,everything that I can because
you know, when you're uh whenyou're going to a job site, you
(12:45):
don't want to unload a nail gun,a hose, a compressor.
You have to get a drop cord torun the compressor, and heaven
forbid you need two separatenail guns.
You got to run a splitter andanother air hose to another nail
gun.
Uh, I bit the bullet when weclosed it on several houses
recently, and I bought abattery-powered framing nailer
and a battery-powered uh trimgun.
Uh, and so they both have savedme hours on end already, and
(13:09):
it's so convenient just to havethem on your truck.
You go to a house, you got apunch list, you know, a piece of
quarter round here or there,just go in there with a trim
gun, bang, bang, bang, andyou're done.
Um, the framing nailer comes inhandy when we do blocking and
things like that, where we'renot trying to frame a room or
you know, put studs up to thepoint where we're gonna need,
we're gonna go through 600 nailsuh on that that particular
(13:30):
thing.
When we block behind thesheetrock before it goes up for
things like handrails, paper uhtowel, I'm sorry, toilet paper
holders, uh, towel bars, thingslike that, then that frame of
nailer comes in super handy.
SPEAKER_00 (13:43):
Is are are they is it a name brand or is it
proprietary nails?
Like we sell plastic and paperstrip nails, like for pass load
guns and Milwaukee.
What is this one one of those orit's something else?
SPEAKER_01 (13:53):
Yeah, both were DeWalt because that's the
battery package I already hadthe most of.
So I got DeWalt on both ofthose.
There are other ones that havehigher ratings, but that was
convenient for me.
But yes, sir, the nails arespecific to DeWalt.
So they do cost a little bitmore for a box, but I hadn't
gone through my first box oneither.
So all good there.
SPEAKER_00 (14:09):
Yeah, and if you're you're at your house and you're
not doing a major project andyou like uh changed out, you you
broke some cord around or orplaced a little bit of casing or
something, that um finishednailer is gonna be fine or
whatever.
I guess that makes a lot ofsense.
You don't need a big giant boxof nails.
For sure.
SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
I mean, sometimes if we're doing a bigger project,
the nail gun compressor, I mean,that's just what you got to do
if you're gonna be working therefor several days.
But for little onesies, twosies,it it comes in handy.
SPEAKER_00 (14:36):
All right.
Uh last year, get this.
I asked for a steam clean vacuumcleaner.
And my wife told themother-in-law and said, Hey,
this is what Eric wants.
And she didn't believe my wife,because what kind of straight
red-blooded American male wouldsay, I want a steam, I want a
steam cleaner.
And I said, I do.
On the day it wasn't Christmas,we always go to their house a
(14:57):
couple days before, and they'rein the middle of the floor is a
wrap box, and she walks up to meand goes, Now your wife told me
you wanted this, and I'm not sosure.
And I said, Is this a sharksteam cleaner?
And she goes, It is.
I said, You don't understand.
I want this thing.
And I was so excited.
I love a steam cleaner becausewhen there's spills, whether
it's animal, vegetable, ormineral, you get issues where of
(15:21):
cleaning it up quickly.
We usually, you know, damp itwith a towel or something.
I saw the test of one of them.
I test rode one.
Would you test ride a vacuumcleaner?
I was drinking at the time.
It was ugly.
But it came in handy when mywife was sitting on.
I always take her coffee becausethat's just the awesome person I
am.
I take her coffee upstairs everymorning before I leave to work.
(15:44):
And she barely had taken a sipand it spilled.
And the kids tried to do whatthey could, and then I got home
that afternoon and go upstairs,and you see obviously where the
coffee had spilled, and itsmelled like coffee in the room,
which was kind of nice.
But I got out my steam cleanerthing, and that shark took care
of business you wouldn't havenever known a full yeti cup of
(16:07):
coffee had spilled and sat therefor eight hours.
That thing took it to task, andI love it.
Also, don't use a shop vacinside.
Have you ever tried to do thatby accident?
Not thinking uh yeah.
Time or two.
If you don't have the filter setcorrectly or you don't have a
good filter on it, a shop vacwill shoot dust out its vent.
And if you think, man, if if avacuum will vacuum this floor
(16:29):
well, what will my shop vac do?
You gotta make sure you have theright filter on it because
otherwise, whatever you pull in,half of it's just gonna shoot
right out the back end.
But I use it in my attached umstorage building because leaves
and dirt and crap get all inthere, and I I don't know a guy
that doesn't have a shop back.
SPEAKER_01 (16:46):
Yeah, and a shop back's one of those things.
It goes bad every couple years,so that's that's always a safe
bet.
I think I have I have one that Idon't think I've ever used
before, but it's only a matterof time before I'll need it.
Mine's got to be 10 years old.
I don't.
Maybe you got a good one, butI'm I'm striking out at the big
box stores and I just get thecheap one.
SPEAKER_00 (17:02):
Yeah, I just got a craftsman.
It's run like a dream for me,and I've even used it for wet
and dry applications.
SPEAKER_01 (17:08):
Mine go through uh heck, and so mine go from job
site to job site.
I'm I beat up on them.
I'm I'm hard on the shop bag,man.
Okay, that's all right.
SPEAKER_00 (17:15):
I'll I'll give you a pass on that one.
You do work harder than I do.
I don't know about that.
Now, for uh people who like tocook, I think this is a great
idea.
Uh indoor herb gardens, they'rethey're little kits, they're
self-watering systems, and theyhave their own LED lights, and
you can just set them on your uhkitchen sink window if you have
one, and you need basil or orsomething, it'll be right there.
(17:38):
They're low maintenance.
I think they're a great stockingstuff or gift.
By the way, some of you just gotexcited because I said a
self-watering LED light systemthat can grow things inside.
You ain't growing pot insideyour house with one of these, so
don't get excited because firstof all, your energy bill would
give it away, that wheel outsidewhen you turn on the grow
lights.
(17:58):
So I've heard would go yeah.
But um, I thought it was kind ofcool because my girls cook a lot
and they they're into the spicesand and and things like that.
So I think I make a fun littlegift.
SPEAKER_01 (18:09):
They hit you over the head for those spices just
for a small amount at thegrocery store.
I mean, they they think a lot ofthose things.
So I I think that not only isthat a great gift idea, probably
save you a lot of money.
SPEAKER_00 (18:18):
Last thing I want to mention, this is real-world
advice that I have.
Uh air purifiers.
Um you have big ones, but I'mnot talking about those.
We've got this small portableair purifier.
It's literally um the size of uhtwo malt liquors.
And it's got a filter that youcan clean and replace.
I recommend getting that as agift if you got somebody in your
(18:38):
house with breathing or allergyproblems.
SPEAKER_01 (18:40):
No, I think that's cool.
It they look kind of like anovelty, but I I'm glad to hear
you say that it works because ifthat's a air quality issue that
your daughter's having, thenthat's a pretty easy fix.
SPEAKER_00 (18:50):
All right, Donnie, you came up with a uh uh idea of
a package of gifts you could getsomebody um the on Christmas,
and I thought it was prettycool.
So why don't you take this one?
SPEAKER_01 (19:00):
Yeah, I mean, I just labeled this as emergency kit
for dads.
I mean, you could get a box ofthings, and dads are hard to buy
for, no secret there, becauseyou know, if you're 35 and up,
you pretty much have one ofeverything.
And if you're a homeowner on topof that, you know, you need
these things that you buy anduse one time a year.
And um your children and and orwife, unless it's clothes or
(19:21):
just something generic, you'reprobably a tough one to buy for.
So I thought any of these are asafe bet or all these would make
a cool package gift.
But um, and most of this, mostof this is available on Amazon,
but a five-in-one tool with aglass break device on one end,
that's one of those things thathas a screwdriver, you know, a
knife, and uh just kind of likea multi-tool.
But um they've they've steppedup their game with those, and
(19:42):
they have those where if you'retrapped in a car, you know, you
somebody else is trapped in acar, you could bust out a window
without uh injuring yourself.
And and and though they have theblade built in that can cut a
seatbelt?
Yes, blade built in for that.
And some of them haveflashlights and and uh you know
you can get as funky as you wantto, but I think just one with a
the main core things is prettygood.
Um my next item.
(20:03):
Go ahead.
Sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
And you know someone's gonna make a five in
one tool with a vape on it.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:11):
Oh, you made me go dad mode on that.
No, I hate that stuff.
And I mean, yeah, I I'm I'llprotest that if they come out
with that.
But yeah.
Uh a good flashlight.
Most people neglect a goodflashlight and and I say that I
have one where you basicallyopen the flashlight up and it
turns into a lantern.
So there's an internalflashlight and getting getting a
flashlight that's either mobileand you can uh move it around or
(20:33):
has a tripod attachment,something cool like that is a
good dad gift.
A self-defense tool, you know,anything that anything that you
can have that basically you getinto a pickle that's not you
don't have to shoot somebody isalways a nice option.
I have a first aid kit in mytruck.
I have a first aid kit in everytruck that I I own for the
roofing company, the buildingbusiness.
(20:54):
I just think that's a cheapthing to have on on hand that
can come in handy.
Jumper cables.
Everybody needs jumper cables orone of those jumper boxes.
A decent jack, you know, carjack, they're always bare
minimum and uh basically youjust don't have the room in all
trucks or trunks for that carjack, but that is a handy thing
to have.
SPEAKER_00 (21:13):
Dude, anything with a flame I knew I can't believe
you forgot that.
Get a guy anything that shoots aflame out of it or burns.
Yeah.
Or if you can get something thatshoots a flame and has a sharp
edge, knife edge on it, that's awin.
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
The cheapest best thing that produces a flame is a
flamethrower attachment for apropane tank.
And they sell those at all thebig box stores.
I think they're a little cheapercheaper at Harbor Freight, but I
use that all the time.
Anytime we start a bonfire orthat used a solo stove out on
the deck or the patio it takesabout two seconds and you know
it uses very little propane andit's just really cool.
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
I've seen people use it to uh get rid of weeds the
the really thin on the drivewayand stuff they'll just walk
through and burn the weeds.
Yeah oh I hadn't seen that butyeah multifaceted.
Yeah um I have uh thought aboutgetting a generator I'm very
lucky in my uh town of Wilson atleast my neighborhood my grounds
my grounds my lines areunderground we rarely have power
(22:09):
go out but still having a littlegenerator I've thought about
getting it never pull thetrigger but people need no
generator sits outside and it'sloud and it makes noise but
there's also inverters and wouldyou quickly tell the people the
difference because you just gotan inverter yeah I I actually
was waiting on the power companyto to bring a transformer to the
(22:32):
job site and then the framersgot started before we could do
that.
SPEAKER_01 (22:34):
So you know me I just needed an excuse and um I
was amazed the inverters were acouple thousand more than they
are now and I got caught a BlackFriday sale when I was in the
market to buy that but theinverters are those super quiet
generators for lack of a longexplanation and I think the um
uh basically the way that itworks is it only produces as
much power as being called forsort of like a um on demand
(22:57):
water heater you know you're uhit it doesn't operate at max
capacity as opposed to agenerator which you know it
cranks out as much uh as muchwatta as it possibly can all the
time and that's why it runs soloud and it's just a pain but
these inverters are really niceand when I'd get done with this
on this job site you know wecould use it for a camp or we
could use it for a tailgate andit's not it's not obnoxiously
(23:20):
loud so I just think that um uhshopping for those is is a lot
different.
I got that one at Harbor Freightand the one that they carry
there is made just like theHonda.
It's just uh you know adifferent casing but it looks
super nice.
It even has a remote control anduh you know for a camper
application if you were in thecamper didn't want to go turn it
off you can just uh hit your keyfob there and take care of that.
(23:41):
What about battery chargers?
So I got one for Christmas lastyear and it's the one that will
actually jump a car off.
And so not only will it do thatit's got a mean flashlight on
it.
It will recharge phones.
It's not like the the batterypacks or the power banks that
the kids have this thing is thereal deal and um you know the
fact that it'll start a car andyou don't have to have another
vehicle there or the jumpercables I think it cuts out a lot
(24:04):
of the difficulty with that.
SPEAKER_00 (24:05):
And you also mentioned uh within the past
couple years you got a tricklecharger and those are you know
if you have a riding lawnmowerit has a battery on it or other
devices like I've just got topull lawnmower so I don't really
need it.
But uh these are becoming bigI've seen people buy ones that
have a solar shield that stickson the windshield wires that go
(24:26):
in the hood and you just connectit to your car battery for a car
that you might not be using allthe time so it doesn't go dead
if you go to crank it up two orthree weeks without it uh being
used.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
I think it's genius.
And uh a lot of times I've hadto replace a battery from lead
to go so far dead wheresomething you don't use all
winter long and summer comesaround and not only did the
battery not work, it can't becharged anymore.
So something as cheap as a solartrickle charger uh it comes in
handy.
Basically I had uh our fourwheeler battery go dead um I
don't know several weeks ago andI literally hooked that trickle
(24:59):
charger up pulled it out in thesun and maybe had it connected
and under the sun for about twohours and instead of having to
do all I mean not that it's alot of trouble but instead of
having to pull something elseover there jump it off and all
that it not only got the fourwheeler to start the battery was
already charged when we when wegot on it.
SPEAKER_00 (25:16):
Great idea those trickle chargers you're right uh
long range walkie talkies youmay have heard ads on uh radio
and TV for these things um yourmileage will greatly vary I did
some research on these and thedistance advertised is like
maximum on a good day clearrange good weather um
underwhelming the reviews I'veseen from the tech magazines if
(25:38):
it's something uh you have arelative living down the street
or I don't know factories but Idon't get the walkie-talkie
fascination because with cellphones you can text andor call
somebody nationwide why wouldyou want to add another device
to keep on your hip so you cannext del them again.
SPEAKER_01 (25:57):
Yeah I agree with that.
You got certain people if you'rea retiree and you know you don't
like carrying a phone around andyou're gonna be out on the farm
or you know just out of sightand just for the sake of having
some sort of safety mechanism toleave one on the kitchen counter
and you know something happensyou don't have a phone you could
contact somebody but other thanthat maybe having a grandkid
that lived within a few blocksof you that would think
(26:19):
something like that's cool.
That's the only justification Ican think of.
SPEAKER_00 (26:22):
Yeah I say uh for grandma grandpa's and I'll be
there soon enough uh life alertand a jitterbug phone.
Just let him do that.
All right we're gonna do some uhquick ideas here uh you'll
understand what I mean when Itell you this Donnie red blue
red i'll I'll do the reds theseare some quick ideas you can get
somebody for Christmas as wewrap up this episode of the
Carolina contractor show grillcaddies are great you can find
(26:45):
them anywhere they're cheapthat's gonna be all the basic
tools for your your person wholikes to cook out and you don't
have to worry about mixing andmatching and you can they're
usually washable you keep themclean they stay organized
they're always there meat rubswe talk about grilling out all
the time again easy to find ifyou can imagine the flavor I'm
(27:07):
sure somebody has it so ifyou've got somebody who loves to
grill out and you don't in NorthCarolina you don't have to wait
till summer to grill out you canbe grilling out just about any
time of year weather changes somuch.
Get that and then of coursewireless thermometers so you can
do that slow roast or you'redoing that smoker or whatever
you put in that wirelessthermometer and it's going to
monitor you can set it up to doalarms and let you know when
(27:29):
it's reached temperature and andman you can stay inside with
your baby while the stuff'soutside cooking.
SPEAKER_01 (27:35):
Well not only that the wireless thermometer saving
grace for me if I switch so uhfor instance I made turkeys a
different way completely andhuge success on the electric
smoker and the game with theelectric smoker is it's low and
slow.
You don't have to worry aboutburning anything and it just
does everything perfect unlessthere's a you know a better a
different cut of meat that mayrequire um a stronger heat
(27:57):
source.
So I cooked those same turkeysbecause I cooked multiple for
Thanksgiving and I switched overto the green egg and having the
charcoal as the heat sourceversus an electric heat source
with the uh other smoker changedeverything.
I had one of these wirelessthermometers in the turkeys and
I expected a two to three hourcook time and within an hour I
had reached the the go totemperature so had I not had
(28:18):
those in there that would havealerted my phone that they were
already you know to the finishedwith the cooking cycle and half
the time I would have burnedeverything.
Oof not not good.
Rechargeable hit me with somethings real quick.
Yeah um I live with I mean bythese things especially with you
know kids playing sports andcold games at night but
rechargeable hand warmers arethe handiest thing on the
(28:38):
internet and uh oh I said handyfor hand warming.
Anyway um I didn't do that onpurpose but those and insoles I
have the rechargeable insolesthey both work with my iPhone
charger so you're running latefor the game you throw them on
your charger in the car and andit works just fine it'll get you
through two or three hours butalso handy on the job site when
we're working through winter.
Rechargeable electric blanketsthat's something that if you sit
(29:00):
outside or want to you knowutilize your outside area in the
colder months that's somethingthat works well and I have
several people that live bythese heated jackets.
The uh the heated jackets areare on the money but my
understanding is they don't lastmore than a couple of years
because of uh the the batteriesjust technology is just not
there for those um and I canimagine there's a dance there
(29:20):
you know they can't heat it upbut so much because they'll
light the coat on fire so Idon't know what kind of
parameters they operate in orwhat kind of test they run on
those things but there's got tobe something behind that.
And the last thing is thecoolest thing I want to buy my
kids this but they just wouldn'tappreciate it.
My crew leader did some work uhor helped me with at my personal
house with some things.
Well we ate I got taco truck foreverybody and you know we all
(29:42):
ate he said man my wife made mylunch don't worry about me so
comes in the house and he sitsthis 2050 Space Age lunchbox up
on my counter and I'm thinkingwhat in the world is this and
it's a rechargeable lunchbox.
I want to say the the name brandis called Lunch Ease and uh
that's the name brand so I didmy homework and there's several
versions that are much lessexpensive but the lunchbox
(30:04):
itself is about 130 and the lunthe what carries the lunchbox
and your other items and it allfits perfectly in there is about
another hundred bucks.
So if you really want to go allout for dad or the worker
outside worker in your familythese things will allow you to
charge up the lunchbox youprogram it for what time you
want to eat or roundabout andyou can say I'm gonna have lunch
at 12 o'clock and it'll start at11 1130 it'll have your food 150
(30:28):
degrees like it just came out ofa restaurant by the time you're
ready for it and it's just agenius idea.
SPEAKER_00 (30:34):
Hey I just want to add to the list of stuff you can
get at last minute guys are notoffended when you give them
tools uh yard tools rakes andand shovels and stuff you know
some people would not give theirtheir wife pots and pans guys
don't mind that at all give usyard tools easy uh security
cameras they're so small andcheap put them in a windowsill
if you need an extra part ofyour house to watch that fits in
(30:56):
a stocking um you mentioned uhsolo stoves those are probably
pretty big uh item and I don'tmean price but just popularity
uh real quick you like yours?
SPEAKER_01 (31:06):
Uh I love it because and and it they they've they've
mastered the technology of uhthe intake and the exhaust and
so basically they have thisintake uh plate or they have a a
set a separating piece so itdoesn't sit directly on the deck
but I use my thermometer gunlike they hit you in the
forehead with during COVID and Iuh at the very bottom of it it
was it was close to the ambienttemperature of you know 50 60
(31:29):
degrees and the uh temperatureof the flame coming out of the
top was 350 so just in about an18 inch span you had a 300
degree swing and I think that'sjust amazing.
So in your opinion if you have awood deck it's fine to put that
on and using cool weather whatwe do just for cheap insurance
is I bought a grill mat for 20,30 bucks and I put a grill mat
under that and it workswonderful wonderful.
SPEAKER_00 (31:49):
Yeah because a lot of people like myself wouldn't
put something on it you go outin the yard or onto a concrete
slab but man that would be niceto sit by the comfortable uh
chairs that you have on yourdeck and have a a nice little
fire.
SPEAKER_01 (32:01):
Is it pretty smokeless?
Uh smokeless yeah I mean alittle bit here and there but
nothing crazy.
You know I nobody's ever had tomove their chair because the
smoke was following the beauty.
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Well cool well maybe I'll find one my stock and I'll
have to put that on my list.
Again little ideas but sometimesthis time year we forget those
small items that someone mightlike or just a DIY item.
I'd if I had a big tool bag withall the battery uh powered
tools, the cordless tools inthem, that'd be a pretty big
deal but now that solo stove issounding good too.
(32:30):
But uh we'll have this list upon the website or for the most
part just listen to the show attwo times speed and you can find
out the answers to gifts thatyou can give the DIYer twice as
fast.
But uh man, Christmas is hereanother year gone just about
Donnie.
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
Yeah it goes by faster every year, dude.
I don't like it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:47):
Yeah it does.
The years go up and the timegoes faster but at least we
still got football.
I hope Philip Rivers does good.
I'm looking forward to uh oldman river grandpa out there on
the gridiron throwing somefootball.
I hope so yep all right uhthanks for tuning in we hope you
have a great Christmas and uhhope these ideas uh help you for
the DIYer in your house or inyour family and again hit the
(33:08):
website theCarolinacontractor.com and
thanks for tuning in we hope youtune in again next time on the
Carolina Contractor Show.
Merry Christmas everybody
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