October 3, 2025 • 32 mins
Ready to tackle fall projects without stepping on hidden landmines? We kick off with a hands-on deck build—why we chose two-by-sixes over five-quarter boards, used a camo jig to hide fasteners, and saved big by assembling stainless cable rails from components. Then we widen the lens to what really protects your home: how aluminum rails beat rust at the coast, when PVC makes maintenance easy, and why looks-versus-longevity is the trade you should decide up front.
From there, we dig into the myths that cost homeowners the most in North Carolina. Flood risk isn’t just for the coast—Raleigh and the mountains have real exposure, and flood policies cap out fast. We break down replacement cost versus actual cash value, the 80% insured-to-value rule, and why an annual call with your agent can save you tens of thousands when storms hit. Termites aren’t covered by standard policies, slab homes get chewed more often, and a low-cost termite bond offers the inspection, treatment, and paper trail future buyers trust.
We also draw a bright line on what to DIY: swapping a light is one thing, but bigger electrical work needs permits and documentation or it can trip fines and kill a sale. HOA power under North Carolina’s Planned Community Act surprises a lot of buyers—think fences, sheds, paint, and pools controlled by covenants with daily fines. And if your basement “waterproofing failed,” it probably didn’t; it’s your gutters and grading. Watch your house during a rain, extend downspouts, and ensure positive slope. To wrap, we hit septic pumping schedules tied to real household load and how revaluations push taxes and insurance—plus how to contest assessments and right-size coverage.
Subscribe, share this with a neighbor who loves a project, and leave a review with the one myth you’re double-checking this week. Your question might shape our next 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.
I love October, especially aftera very, very, very hot June and
July because now I not only haveproject ideas I want to do
around the house, the weather isperfect for it.
Would you agree, Donnie?
SPEAKER_01 (00:18):
Yeah, we still have a couple of warm days, but you
know, they got pumpkin spice inOktoberfest, so that kind of
remedies the hot days.
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
It just feels good.
You just you get inspiredbecause when it's hot, you can
sit inside and go, I reallyshould fix that, or I really
should make a fire pit or workon a deck or whatever.
And then you walk out and go, ohLord, it's just too hot.
But this time of year, youactually want to put those plans
into action.
Uh, you've been busy doing anyprojects like that?
SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
Oh, yeah.
Um, we were very fortunate tofind a sweet spot in our
workload because we closed aboutfive projects in four weeks, and
so I found myself with onelittle remodel going on.
It was an um insurance job thatthey had a pipe burst in, you
know, bottom most floor of asplit level house.
And we went in there and turnedthat thing from the 70s to 2025.
(01:05):
And, you know, justunderstanding where the
load-bearing walls were, we wereable to blow out some walls here
and there.
Um the homeowners are a realtor,and the husband is actually he
he makes cornhole bags, and hequit his full-time job.
He started as a side hustle, butuh really neat guy and and
started this um cornhole bagbusiness, and he actually goes
to the big ESPN tournaments whenthey they host those, and and he
(01:28):
makes a great living.
I see his orders and everything,but uh uh, you know, the guy is
is really making it happen, andhe's able to spend a lot of time
with his family simultaneously.
But yeah, that job was the onlything we had.
We uh sort of did a charitything.
A lot of local people listeninghere for uh Eastern Alamance
football program.
They asked me to build a mediadeck for two stations that
(01:50):
actually host our radio show,WBAG and the Maverick.
And basically they have thistower for all the the video
folks, but they kind of pushedthe radio folks out and and they
don't have the room for it, sothey knew they didn't need the
vantage point of a of a secondstory window, and we built a
tower off to the side of thebleachers, and I knew there'd be
(02:11):
a lot of eyes on it, so we didso many cool things.
Like I bought something called acamo deck screw jig where we use
two by sixes, true two by six uhwood on as the floor instead of
the five-quarter deck boards.
Two by sixes are about the sameprice as the five-quarters, so I
thought, why not get the extrahalf inch?
And uh this deck jig fits overthe board, and you're able to
(02:33):
screw the uh floorboards or thedeck boards into the joist from
the sides, so it goes in at anangle and you have no face
screws.
So we did that along with thestanding seam, which is a
conceal fastener metal on theroof, and we just tried to jazz
it up every chance we got, uh,along with the black cable
rails, and I don't want tooverstep because I know you're
in building sales, but uh thethe cable rails are what seems
(02:57):
to be the hot thing these days,and you can watch a few YouTube
videos and figure out how to putit together yourself instead of
buying a kit.
The kits range anywhere from agrand to two grand, and I think
I had less than$400 buying itpiece by piece on Amazon.
You just have to know how to putit together, but yeah, really
excited uh for WBAG and theMaverick to see this thing.
(03:17):
I think this Friday will be thefirst game where they'll
actually get to use it, so uh,we're pumped.
Yeah, I don't have a problemwith you doing that.
It didn't hurt my feelings.
Well, I say that because Ididn't buy it from a building
supply.
And um, you know, the two by twopickets, ballusters, whatever
you call them, they'reguaranteed to warp.
You know, they're gonna twist,they're gonna uh bow, and I'm
just not a fan.
(03:38):
Anything that's gonna be exposedto the weather, especially if
you have a southern exposurethrough your deck, you know,
that sun's just gonna eat thatthing alive, and you're gonna
have to eventually replace it.
And these are stainless steel,they have black and they have
the silver color.
So uh we did black on this onebecause it goes more with the
team colors, but um I just thinkthe wire rails, you know, kind
of mixes a little industrialwith residential, and and uh
(04:01):
it's a good look, man.
SPEAKER_00 (04:02):
PVC is fine.
PVC, a lot of it has the metalinsert, so it's very sturdy,
it'll last, it's easy to replaceor update if you need to.
Lots of options, but that's thebeauty of having options.
Whatever works for you in yourhouse or what you want to do,
you can do it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:16):
I agree all the way around.
I did not mention PVC.
Sorry guys, uh, I am a fan ofthe PVC version because it's
just a pressure washing thingfor maintenance.
And of course they have the umwrought iron version, but you
know, everything with wroughtiron has to be powder coated,
and uh the powder coatingprocess is expensive and it
still has to be touched up atthe joints uh every so often.
But um one thing, and I didn'teven mean to get into this, but
(04:39):
since we're on it, handrails, umuh basically aluminum handrails
uh kits, they sell them in sixand eight foot sections at the
big box stores, and I know youguys can get those as well.
Um they I put those on several,several houses, and they seem to
be a big hit too, because theygive the wrought iron
appearance, but they're morethan half the cost.
I mean, they're just I'm sorry,less than half the cost.
(05:00):
They're they're reallycompetitively priced.
I want to say each section isless than$200.
So if you look around your deckand pull a tape measure, that's
pretty easy math to see what youcan upgrade your rails for.
And aluminum is what they use atthe beach because it will not
rust.
And so it's very sturdy.
You know, I think that they'restrong and you know, very very
much maintenance-free.
So I'm a fan of that as well.
SPEAKER_00 (05:20):
Yeah, I agree a hundred percent.
Again, lots of options, and whenyou know uh what it's gonna be
used for, what you would like,if you're not worried about
aesthetics, or you might be.
I I still like a wood one, Ithink it looks great.
Nothing against PVC, but it itlooks like PVC, if you know what
I mean.
So there's that trade-off.
Yeah, you know what I mean?
(05:40):
Um and for people who aren'tfamiliar with this show, they're
probably like, what am I tuninginto?
And it's engaging.
This is the Carolina contractorshow.
And to sum it up, we talk aboutyour house, and obviously, with
this, we're talking about yourhouse or even uh commercial or
unique ways you can uh build adeck and what material materials
you use.
Uh for me, my name's Eric Smith,and I sell wood and lumber and
(06:04):
stuff.
And Donnie Blanchard across fromme is a uh general contractor
and he builds things with woodand puts PVC and railing systems
and houses together from thefrom the ground up.
And what we do every week is wejust talk about your house, DIY
projects, and we weren't evenplanning on talking about
railing, it just popped upbecause there's really no um
(06:24):
super strict schedule of thingswe have to talk about, but we
just hey what pops in your mindand and uh I do want to thank
those uh stations.
That's a cool thing you did forme because uh TV people are just
snobs.
And me being former 30 years inradio, we're actually still
doing radio.
Uh, thanks to the Maverick anduh WBAG for you know keeping
(06:45):
radio alive and and doing stufflike that, and kudos to you for
helping them out.
SPEAKER_01 (06:48):
Oh yeah, those are my guys.
And uh Joe Gray does a great jobat uh at WBAG and Chuck Marsh
got the Maverick off the groundfour or five, maybe longer than
that, four or five years ago, Iwant to say, and he's just done
a fantastic job.
They host concerts, and uh youwould be amazed at just how many
people still listen to theradio.
But um speaking of that,something popped into my head
when you said that.
(07:08):
WBAG, the B.A.G.
stands for Burlington andGraham, and they've been around,
you know, as they're as old asmy grandparents with the radio
station.
But what the heck is the W?
Do you know that since you're aradio guy?
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
Aside from one station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, the
W signifies that the station iseast of the Mississippi, and
stations with K, like in LA, Iused to do stuff for uh stations
there at KLOS.
The K signifies it's uh west ofthe Mississippi.
It was like a hundred years agoin the twenties they made that
official.
What always got me was why wouldyou say stations that are east
(07:44):
of the Mississippi will get theW prefix designation?
Why not an E like East?
And then obviously, where didthey come up with the K for the
west of the Mississippistations?
I don't know, I've never reallylooked that far into it.
But basically, aside from KDKAin Pittsburgh, stations on the
east are W, stations on the westof the Mississippi are a K.
SPEAKER_01 (08:07):
That's insane.
I bet there's a a good answerfor that.
And and you know, radio used tobe so much more popular when
that was all established, but Imight dig into that and see if I
can come up with something fornext week.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
So today's episode, though, it's funny we talked
about rail systems for yourhouse and stuff like that.
Today, what we're gonna talkabout is if you're a homeowner,
you're gonna you're gonna digthis show because uh we're gonna
talk about some myths of owninga home mainly in North Carolina,
because there are a few uniquethings that are uh in this state
that affect your home and owningit and people don't know.
(08:38):
And the one of them I'm gonnaget to at the end of the show, I
think is gonna surprise maybeyou, Donnie, when I looked at
some percentages.
But uh as you're whether you'rea new homeowner, if you moved
here to North Carolina and thisis your second or third home
you've bought, there are acouple things you need to know
about.
One of them, we've been verylucky with hurricane season this
year.
(08:59):
Uh last year, this time, themountains were recovering and
you know, flooding.
It's a big deal.
But a lot of people think Idon't need flood insurance
because I'm not on the coast.
And ready for this stat?
40% of homes in Raleigh, NorthCarolina, where I was born,
salute uh 40% of homes inRaleigh are in a flood zone.
(09:25):
I had no idea about that.
1.2 million properties in NorthCarolina are in a flood zone.
I don't know what percentage arecovered, but we kind of think
the beach is somewhere you needto have it when you don't.
And Hurricane Helene last yearshowed that you can be on top of
a mountain, basically, and havea flood.
And last year, Helene being thethe main uh uh flash point of
(09:48):
this,$2.5 billion in damagesacross the state due to
flooding.
So the best thing, I guess,would contact your insurance
agent, would you think wouldhave that information know if
you should get it or if you'rein a flood zone?
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
Oh, yeah.
No, they can get that, they canput their finger right on that
info, and that's their duediligence.
That's their job when they takeyour policy out is to know if
you're in a floodplain becauseof course they don't want to get
burned and and miss that as anagent.
But yeah, that's uh somethingthat a lot of homeowners are
underinsured because they don'tknow how to, they don't know to
ask for, they don't know to askthe right questions.
And I want to say the maximumamount of coverage for a flood
(10:24):
policy is$250,000.
I don't know where they arrivedat that figure, but I guess they
think that you know, where theystop, homeowners insurance will
kick in after that.
And so I think that they arebasing that off of just building
the first the first floor ofyour house or rebuilding, you
know, the bottom four feet ofyour house after a flood.
SPEAKER_00 (10:41):
Yeah, because I guess, and you maybe you know
better, that that's people mightthink that's pretty expensive
for just the bottom section, butif you have a tree go through
your your roof on your secondfloor, you don't have to worry
about what's below it.
You're you're repairing yourroof and any damage to the
structure on the second floor.
But if the first floor has a lotof damage, fixing it is also
(11:05):
going to have uh implications onwhat's above it.
SPEAKER_01 (11:08):
Oh, absolutely.
Yes, sir.
And um I don't know that I'veseen a flood claim where an
engineer didn't have to getinvolved because you know it's
your literally shakes yourfoundation, not shakes it, but
you know, it compromises it forsure.
And I want to say that when Iwas in uh Louisiana, so I I
worked the very very firsthurricane I worked as an
insurance adjuster was Katrina,and that was baptism by fire, if
(11:30):
there ever was a thing.
And basically what we went inand did is we had to measure up
to the outlets, which is 18inches.
So if the water got above theoutlets, it was another price
code.
So if the four-foot break forthe drywall was another price
code, and there were severalhouses that got more than that
because everything on the damside of Lake Poncha train just
really caught it bad.
(11:51):
But um, yeah, they have theyhave coverage uh in place for
it, but you got to ask the rightquestions to make sure you got
it if you need it.
And those poor people in themountains, I don't think even if
I lived there as a formerinsurance adjuster, I wouldn't
have thought to ask for that.
But everybody up there, or 90%of those people got burned.
SPEAKER_00 (12:09):
It's crazy.
And that's why knowing what yourpolicy covers, and every year
talking to your insurance agentor even scheduling a one-on-one
to let them go over the policy,we'll find all sorts of stuff
you may be covered for, may notbe covered for, or even over or
undercovered, because beingundercovered can be just as bad.
Yep.
Yep.
Um totally.
Uh not carrying enough coveragewill burn you as well.
(12:30):
All right.
So speaking of insurance and andknowing your history, Donnie, in
it, uh homeowners insurance inNorth Carolina covers termite
damage, and a lot of peopledidn't realize that.
And the reason reason theydidn't realize it is because
that's not even true.
Your homeowner's insurancedoesn't necessarily include pest
problems, including termites,and you can get a rider for
(12:52):
that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
Yep, for sure.
But you like again, you gottaask the right questions, and
termite damage is something thatnobody thinks about until it
happens to you.
SPEAKER_00 (13:00):
So my pest company here in uh in Wilson County, and
they're they're uh all throughthe state, mine, is they'll
offer termite inspection, andbasically what they do is if you
don't have the coverage, theycome in, they go through your
house and they determine in mostcases you don't have any damage.
Uh they might have to do uh acouple drills and some masonry
(13:21):
to put in some repellent orwhatever it is the process they
use, and then you get aninsurance policy.
And then once a year, they comein and they inspect your house
again, go underneath it andwherever they need to go, and
that might just be 75 to 100bucks, and you now have an
insurance policy on your housethat guarantees no termites, and
(13:42):
if there is, there will be amonetary amount listed.
But those guys know if they goin and they don't see any damage
and they can do proactivethings, they're so confident
that termites won't come in ifthey're checking it every year
that they can hand out thesepolicies for pennies on the
dollar.
So that's like the the easy wayto get some uh insurance on your
house for termites.
SPEAKER_01 (14:02):
Oh, for sure.
And I do recommend that if youhave an older home and it's low
to the ground, those are waymore prone to termite damage
than something new that's jackedup in the air a little bit.
And um the way it works in myworld from an inspection
standpoint is that when we builda new home, most municipalities
make require us to show acertificate of a termite
treatment at some point uh wherethey not fail, but they don't
(14:25):
want to keep up with it.
You're the homeowner, it's yourresponsibility that they don't
they don't require you to show amaintenance plan or anything
like that.
And um, you know, I'm guilty ascharged because I don't have a
maintenance plan on my personalhouse, but I'm also pretty far
up in the air.
I know what to look for, and um,you know, I I don't think that
my house is very prone to totermites, but um, when I
mentioned a second ago thathouses that are lower to the
(14:47):
ground uh are definitelysomething to keep an eye out
for.
Slabs, uh that's the nine out often times that I've seen termite
damage, it's always been in aslab house because you've got
the concrete slab right there atground level.
You know, you've got the uhbottom plate and just a few
inches above that, and uh I'llget into that in a second
because that bottom plate isrequired to be treated wood.
(15:08):
Uh anything in contact with theground or any kind of concrete
is required to be treated, butuh most of those are um are
where I've seen the termitedamage.
A lot of older homes that hadthe carport uh closed in.
So you had this old car port ona ranch style house, and someone
closed it in and made a recessedliving room out of it.
That those are are very muchprone because you've got
(15:29):
everything old, and theyprobably had no termite
treatment when the house wasbuilt.
And um a lot of times thosefolks look at it like, well, uh
they'll just slap a regular twoby four down for your bottom
plate instead of a piece oftreated wood or any kind of seal
seal in there, and uh andtermite damage is almost a
guarantee.
Um treated wood is notcompletely termite deterrent.
(15:51):
Uh they they will eat treatedold treated wood because that uh
that chemical treatment thatthey put on there will
eventually dissipate and it goesaway as as time goes on.
And I'm not gonna say that itdoesn't work because as long as
it's not exposed to water, it'sreally not a problem.
But uh they seem to avoidtreated wood, especially uh for
the first 10, 15 years or so.
(16:12):
And uh, but that's a pretty bigmisconception, is they won't eat
treated wood, and I'm thinking,why would they?
Because if they've got anythinganywhere close by that's not,
why would you eat the chemicals?
But you know, termites arecrazy.
And just to give a quickrundown, not to be long-winded,
but earlier you mentioned notcarrying enough coverage burns
people.
Uh, if you do have homeownersinsurance and don't know the
right questions to ask, I thinkthe most important one is do I
(16:35):
carry enough coverage?
And to make a reference toHurricane Katrina down in New
Orleans, what happened waspeople had the same insurance
agent for 20 years, 30 years,and the insurance agents were
comfortable.
They didn't check their peopleto make sure they were up in
their policy.
So as the value of your housegoes up, you're required to up
your insurance coverage to meetthat amount.
(16:57):
And their threshold is 80% ofthe value of the house.
So we had to do what was calledan insured-to-value report,
meaning if your house was uh amillion-dollar home, you had to
carry at least$800,000 worth ofcoverage.
And what that what that adds upto is if you have an insurance
claim and it's a total loss orwhat have you, you have
replacement cost coverage, andanybody who's had a claim knows
(17:18):
that they they keep a little bitof the money until you've
complete the work and then theypay you the full value.
So they'll depreciate whateverwas damaged, whether it be your
roof, your siding, your windows,whatever.
And uh they may give you 60% upfront and they hold 40% on the
back end until you or I, as acontractor, shows proof or
pictures that we actually wentthrough with the replacement.
(17:40):
So with the replacement costcoverage, you get that money
back.
If you are not insured to valueand you don't carry at least
80%, they give you what's calledACV, actual cash value.
So that that extra 40% that theythey withheld, they keep instead
of giving it back to you.
And when I say there were peopleheadhunting agents in New
(18:01):
Orleans, I mean that was a realthing.
There were some gangsters downthere and they were gonna go get
their guy, but insurance agentswere were literally fleeing town
because they had underinsuredpeople by the hundreds out there
getting shorted two, three, fourhundred thousand dollars a
piece.
SPEAKER_00 (18:15):
We've talked about this before, Donnie.
I'm not a big fan of uh messingwith too much electricity.
I've changed out light switchesbefore and I've hooked up a
ceiling fan.
But in North Carolina, the goodnews is you can do it yourself
on even major electrical work inyour own home and you don't need
a permit.
Now, if you believe that youcould be facing fines as much as
(18:35):
$500 a day because you can workon your own home and you can do
electrical work, but you stillhave to pull that permit for
anything above outlets.
And a lot of people don'trealize that.
There is big fines if they findout.
But the reason is great becauseif Billy Joe Jim Bob, who might
be a fine person when it comesto doing electrical work in your
(18:56):
house, but if he's not pullingpermits and he doesn't know his
stuff, you've got a house thatyou're reselling that you can't
document electrical work wasdone correctly or with permit,
that can help or hinder you frombeing able to sell it.
And also, bad wiring accountsfor 20% of all house fires in
(19:16):
North Carolina.
So if you don't know what you'redoing, don't do it, get a pro.
If you are pro, you s youprobably already know you got to
pull permits if you're gonna dosome major electrical work.
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (19:28):
And is with outlets, I agree with you wholeheartedly
there.
You know, things like lightfixtures and ceiling fans, if
you're pretty darn handy, thenyou know the rule is that
fixture is dead at the switch.
So if it's turned off at thewall switch, then then have at
it.
You don't have to flip a breakeror anything, but not knowing how
outlets and things like that areGFIs or tied together, and then
(19:48):
then you really have to play thebreaker game.
And I think we posted somethingon our Instagram that that will
actually you plug this littletool into the outlets you'd like
to change out, and then you godown to the panel and it will it
will identify the breaker that'sassociated with that run of
outlets, and so it makes it alittle bit easier, but I just
say I agree with you and call anelectrician.
SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
And some you've got the little uh it's like a
sniffer, but it's forelectricity, and you can hold it
over a switch and it'll do alight.
I learned, I think nobody gothurt, but I learned we have a uh
three light switch at our frontdoor.
It does the outdoor lights, oneinside above, and stairs, and
found out they're on twodifferent circuits because I uh
(20:28):
turned off the circuit that itwas labeled for and just took my
sniffer there and uh put it upthere and it lit up.
And I'm like, that's impossible.
No, whoever wired it up musthave changed it in the past and
has two independent circuitsrunning to one light switch.
So if you thought you'd turn itoff because the light above you
(20:49):
went off, no, it's still one ofthose switches was still hot.
But as you said, it's a lightswitch, turn it off, there ain't
no juice coming to it.
But uh I don't like messing withelectricity.
Nah, stay away.
All right, Donnie learnedsomething today, and that was
that I don't live in an hoa.
Donnie lives out in the sticks.
I live in the city of Wilson.
I'm not in an HOA, and if I everwas buying a house and they
(21:12):
said, here's this new house,it's for sale, you can look at
this, it's in an HOA, I'd go,Well, I'm sorry.
Did you say HOA?
Because I'm I'm already out.
I have no desire.
I get it.
Donnie gets it.
We understand the point of HOAs.
I kind of look at them as likean upper middle class prison and
everybody's gonna be the sameand act the same, and then
(21:34):
you're gonna have some Karen ormale Karen come around and say,
You didn't move your trash canscorrectly, or you have your
kids' bicycles in the drivewayat a 45 degree angle, or so
fine.
Say you do like that.
I understand it.
You come to North Carolina oryou move into an HOA by your
house, and you think, Well, Igotta cut my grass and keep my
(21:54):
garage door shut, keep thebushes trim, I get it.
But the backyard is mine, andI'm gonna paint this corner wall
over here by the porch, fireengine red, and I'm putting up
that silver uh stripper orsilhouette on the side, you
know, whatever you want to do.
And people don't know in NorthCarolina there's a Planned
Community Act that lets HOAs in25% of new developments call the
(22:18):
shots on fences, whether or notyou can have a pool, paint
colors, uh, you get that Leonardshed, then they bring it in,
your HOA can say, uh, you didn'tget permission for that.
Well, it can't be seen from thestreet.
Don't matter.
We haul the shots, it's in yourHOA agreement.
And when breaking the rules, youcan get daily liens by the HOA
(22:40):
for like a hundred bucks.
And if you want to follow anappeal, you got to pay for that.
And I mentioned the um shedbecause some guy in uh Pinehurst
put in a uh Shed$5,000 lawsuitagainst him filed by the his
HOA.
SPEAKER_01 (22:56):
Yeah.
I don't agree with the homeownerassociation thing, and and I
don't know, but I guess you knowwhat you're signing up for when
you move in.
And like you mentioned, um Isome people need an hoa, or they
would have cars and boats parkedin the front yard, and I get it,
and so you gotta you gottaaccount for the people who would
bend the rules uh to the tune ofsomething bad, but at the same
(23:19):
time, not for me.
And if I were buying a house,unless I just really love the
area, that HOA would run me off.
SPEAKER_00 (23:25):
Yeah, not not my thing.
Now you have um a basement howuh I mean you can you've modded
yours.
Yours is not a crawl space, youhave a basement.
Uh you got waterproofing on it,and a lot of times when you're
doing a foundation, I know yourdad really knows about this
stuff.
You put in um foundationwaterproofing on the outside and
(23:46):
things like that.
And a lot of people think inNorth Carolina that's enough,
it's gonna last forever, youdon't have to worry about that
again, and you have experiencewith Midani.
SPEAKER_01 (23:55):
The waterproofing, I don't know that it has a shelf
life or you have to update itbecause how hard would that be?
But I I will say that um thewaterproofing systems come with
a guarantee, and it's good toalways use a reputable company.
In my experience, we do acombination of pre-cast walls,
poured walls.
I'm not a fan of a cinder blockbasement walls because the
(24:15):
options are just so much better.
But I'll start with thepre-cast, which people often
know as superior walls.
Um, though the ideal walls isthe only other company in our
area that does that, but that's5,000 psi concrete, which is
bridge concrete, and they claimthat you don't even have to put
a waterproofing agent on it,that it's going to be sealed.
And they're banking on thatbecause the base is basically
(24:36):
anywhere from eight to teninches of gravel, number
sixty-seven uh cleanstone, andit has a series of corrugated
pipe running through that andthen around the perimeter.
So uh their their reasoning isthat if any water gets down to
the vulnerable point at thebottom of the basin where it
meets a slab, then it's gonnahit that gravel and those
openings that the corrugatedpipes make and make its way out.
(24:58):
Well, I've never had a basementleak.
I mean, I've just it works justexactly like it's supposed to.
Um the other version with thepoured concrete walls, of course
they bring in forms, they pour afoot has a footing with a rebar
and they tie all that into thepoured walls, and that
absolutely has to have thatbecause you know you have joints
and vulnerable places betweenthe concrete.
But um I said all that to saythat I've never seen a basement
(25:23):
leak problem that wasn'tassociated with from bad
drainage up top.
And so nine times out of ten, ifyou've got a basement leak, it's
because you've got a downspoutfrom your gutter system that
channels a heavy volume of waterright in that one area.
So, you know, go outside and seewhat's dumping the water right
there.
It's not like it's gonna be somegradual thing unless you have a
grading problem, and that's theother culprit, is that uh you
(25:46):
don't have positive drain allthe way around your house.
I think the building code is 10foot of positive drain all the
way around all four sides ofyour house or whatever you have.
And um and I think that you knowthe basement leak problem kind
of or the even the basementpotentially leaking goes away
because uh that water's got tocome from up top, obviously, and
(26:06):
you know, just not having yourdownspouts routed underground in
the proper location, or maybeyou have a downspout drain
that's been crushed in the yardand it's not and it's it's
bubbling back.
But we've said this on the showseveral times.
It's not common to go outsideand look around your house while
it's raining, but you'll beamazed at what you find if you
do.
So throw a raincoat on, get yourumbrella, go outside when it's
(26:26):
raining in the daylight, andjust make sure all your
downspouts are draining theright way.
If they're underground, makesure it's not bubbling back out
there because you have ablockage there, and more than
anything, make sure that youhave the proper drainage around
the perimeter because uh thosetwo things are 95% of the
culprit when you have a leak.
SPEAKER_00 (26:42):
And don't go out in that that storm if there's
lightning in your holdingumbrella.
That's just a a safety tip.
Uh we got a couple more minutesleft in this episode of the
Carolina contractor show.
I want to try to get to both ofthem, Donnie, real quick.
I don't have septic.
Uh, a lot of people don'tunderstand with septic, you're
gonna want to have an inspectionuh done on this.
And the there's an issue notonly with septics, the
(27:04):
inspection is not to check forsay leaks, but to make sure you
avoid a backup because those arecommon and can be very, very
expensive.
And I didn't know, but we'retalking insurance for flooding.
You can get insurance for yourseptic tank?
SPEAKER_01 (27:18):
Yeah, well, basically it's a sewer backup,
and so that applies to citysewer or a septic tank, but
that's not a that's not standardcoverage.
And another to dial back to thebeginning of the show, that's
the right question to ask.
Make sure you talk to youragent.
And, you know, if you have ahouse with uh average size
family, it's you know, twoadults, two kids, boy, girl, um,
so two guys, two gals in thehouse.
(27:40):
Maybe the rule of thumb appliesto you and you only pump your
septic tank every four to fiveyears.
But let me tell you, you got ahouse full of women, and they're
flushing toilet paper andfeminine products and all the
things down, and something likeCOVID happens, or you're shut in
your house, or anything likethat.
Like, man, I'm telling you, theheck with the rule of thumb, get
that baby pumped about every twoyears at a minimum, and um, you
(28:02):
know, get your kids out of thehouse, dial it back to every
five years.
But uh, if you got a lot ofwomen in the house, sorry, gals,
but they generate a whole lot ofuh waste, and I I don't maybe
it's just the girls around me orthe women that I had with my my
girls use a lot of toilet paper,but I see in general uh you
know, a lot of women in thehouse, you got four girls, and
uh that then I would definitelyhave that septic maintenance uh
(28:24):
maintained a lot more regularlythan five years.
SPEAKER_00 (28:27):
Well, I'm just gonna say I have three women in my
life and they're angels andcause no problems.
And for you to say somethinglike that is shocking and I'm a
little stunned, and it'll it'llprobably harm our relationship.
I'm sorry if I offended you,Eric.
No, I'm just seeing, okay,they're gone now.
Um but but yeah, that's that's agood point.
Um take care of it because thethe not taking care of it is
(28:50):
very, very expensive.
SPEAKER_01 (28:51):
The whole point was I got carried away, didn't I?
Uh sewer backup is is anendorsement that you have to add
to your policy.
So ask your agent and see if youhave that or if you need to add
it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:01):
All right.
Speaking of insurance, I'msurprised a number of people
that don't know this.
This isn't necessarily a NorthCarolina thing.
Uh it's very popular now,property taxes.
Should we get rid of them?
And some states are doing it.
Uh, Governor DeSantis in Floridais talking about it, and some
other states.
Uh property taxes stay the sameafter you buy, and people don't
understand.
(29:22):
I was surprised a number ofpeople that don't realize that
they won't stay the same andthey're always going to go up.
But when we talked about yourproperty value going up, people
say, hey, your house that'sworth$250 four years ago, the
town has now decided that it'sworth$300, and you go, Well, my
property tax went up.
(29:42):
Why'd my insurance go up?
Because if the they say yourhouse is worth more, your
insurance company isautomatically getting that
information and going to say,Oh, well, that needs means
you're gonna have to be insuredfor more.
So we're gonna charge you more,which is also why after an
evaluation, you should have avisit with your uh insurance.
Adjuster to make sure that youare covered, as we talked about
(30:03):
earlier in the show, we won'thave to revisit all that.
But uh the average bill in 2025in North Carolina jumped$400.
Um, and you can use onlineestimators to push back on those
tax hikes and and and file a uma complaint or that you want a
hearing on that.
Um but at my house, for personaluh example, we got slammed
(30:26):
combined a 29% increase on taxesand insurance, and they send it
to you in a letter from yourwhoever you get your mortgage
from, and it's and it'sdifferent looking.
It says important mortgagepayment information.
And I opened it up and I said,Well, I could buy a new truck on
monthly payments or pay the newdifference on my mortgage.
(30:49):
And it was almost$400 a month mymortgage went up because of
re-evaluation and the propertytax and insurance going up.
SPEAKER_01 (30:58):
No fun.
I don't have anything good tosay, money racket all day long.
And I understand you know, thetaxes pay things that we enjoy
in terms of conveniences ineveryday life, but man, like
nobody wants to pay them.
You know, I tell my children,just wait, don't decide your
political affiliation until youpay your own taxes and utilities
and house payment and all thestuff that dad pays now.
(31:20):
But hold tight, you know, you'renot gonna like it any more than
I did.
SPEAKER_00 (31:23):
There's lots of stuff when you own a house that
uh there's no rule book for, butthat's why we tried to approach
a few of them.
Uh we got more of this on thewebsite, the
Carolinacontractor.com.
You can listen to this show,past shows.
Also got a YouTube page up.
Just search the CarolinaContractor Show.
We're on Instagram, as Donniewas mentioning.
You can find us on social media.
And if you have a question or acomment or something, uh ask the
(31:45):
contractor is a literalclickable button on our website,
and that goes to Donnie.
So if there's a question or youhave an idea for a show, or you,
hey man, you said I don'tbelieve that's right.
I want to, I I think you'rewrong on that.
Hey, we take criticism too.
You can uh go ahead and send itthere.
But uh we just want to thank youfor listening and all the new
listeners that are coming in.
(32:05):
Uh the show's grown about uh 10,15 percent listenership and
people following us, and we'restill killing it in Australia.
Over 3% of our listeners, man,Australian.
So good day down there too.
Yeah, that's nice to includethose folks.
We appreciate it.
So we thank you again for tuningin and checking out the show,
and we hope to hear and see younext week on the Carolina
(32:26):
Contractor Show.
Have an awesome day, everybody.
Thanks.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit the CarolinaContractor.com.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
I love October, especially aftera very, very, very hot June and
July because now I not only haveproject ideas I want to do
around the house, the weather isperfect for it.
Would you agree, Donnie?
SPEAKER_01 (00:18):
Yeah, we still have a couple of warm days, but you
know, they got pumpkin spice inOktoberfest, so that kind of
remedies the hot days.
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
It just feels good.
You just you get inspiredbecause when it's hot, you can
sit inside and go, I reallyshould fix that, or I really
should make a fire pit or workon a deck or whatever.
And then you walk out and go, ohLord, it's just too hot.
But this time of year, youactually want to put those plans
into action.
Uh, you've been busy doing anyprojects like that?
SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
Oh, yeah.
Um, we were very fortunate tofind a sweet spot in our
workload because we closed aboutfive projects in four weeks, and
so I found myself with onelittle remodel going on.
It was an um insurance job thatthey had a pipe burst in, you
know, bottom most floor of asplit level house.
And we went in there and turnedthat thing from the 70s to 2025.
(01:05):
And, you know, justunderstanding where the
load-bearing walls were, we wereable to blow out some walls here
and there.
Um the homeowners are a realtor,and the husband is actually he
he makes cornhole bags, and hequit his full-time job.
He started as a side hustle, butuh really neat guy and and
started this um cornhole bagbusiness, and he actually goes
to the big ESPN tournaments whenthey they host those, and and he
(01:28):
makes a great living.
I see his orders and everything,but uh uh, you know, the guy is
is really making it happen, andhe's able to spend a lot of time
with his family simultaneously.
But yeah, that job was the onlything we had.
We uh sort of did a charitything.
A lot of local people listeninghere for uh Eastern Alamance
football program.
They asked me to build a mediadeck for two stations that
(01:50):
actually host our radio show,WBAG and the Maverick.
And basically they have thistower for all the the video
folks, but they kind of pushedthe radio folks out and and they
don't have the room for it, sothey knew they didn't need the
vantage point of a of a secondstory window, and we built a
tower off to the side of thebleachers, and I knew there'd be
(02:11):
a lot of eyes on it, so we didso many cool things.
Like I bought something called acamo deck screw jig where we use
two by sixes, true two by six uhwood on as the floor instead of
the five-quarter deck boards.
Two by sixes are about the sameprice as the five-quarters, so I
thought, why not get the extrahalf inch?
And uh this deck jig fits overthe board, and you're able to
(02:33):
screw the uh floorboards or thedeck boards into the joist from
the sides, so it goes in at anangle and you have no face
screws.
So we did that along with thestanding seam, which is a
conceal fastener metal on theroof, and we just tried to jazz
it up every chance we got, uh,along with the black cable
rails, and I don't want tooverstep because I know you're
in building sales, but uh thethe cable rails are what seems
(02:57):
to be the hot thing these days,and you can watch a few YouTube
videos and figure out how to putit together yourself instead of
buying a kit.
The kits range anywhere from agrand to two grand, and I think
I had less than$400 buying itpiece by piece on Amazon.
You just have to know how to putit together, but yeah, really
excited uh for WBAG and theMaverick to see this thing.
(03:17):
I think this Friday will be thefirst game where they'll
actually get to use it, so uh,we're pumped.
Yeah, I don't have a problemwith you doing that.
It didn't hurt my feelings.
Well, I say that because Ididn't buy it from a building
supply.
And um, you know, the two by twopickets, ballusters, whatever
you call them, they'reguaranteed to warp.
You know, they're gonna twist,they're gonna uh bow, and I'm
just not a fan.
(03:38):
Anything that's gonna be exposedto the weather, especially if
you have a southern exposurethrough your deck, you know,
that sun's just gonna eat thatthing alive, and you're gonna
have to eventually replace it.
And these are stainless steel,they have black and they have
the silver color.
So uh we did black on this onebecause it goes more with the
team colors, but um I just thinkthe wire rails, you know, kind
of mixes a little industrialwith residential, and and uh
(04:01):
it's a good look, man.
SPEAKER_00 (04:02):
PVC is fine.
PVC, a lot of it has the metalinsert, so it's very sturdy,
it'll last, it's easy to replaceor update if you need to.
Lots of options, but that's thebeauty of having options.
Whatever works for you in yourhouse or what you want to do,
you can do it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:16):
I agree all the way around.
I did not mention PVC.
Sorry guys, uh, I am a fan ofthe PVC version because it's
just a pressure washing thingfor maintenance.
And of course they have the umwrought iron version, but you
know, everything with wroughtiron has to be powder coated,
and uh the powder coatingprocess is expensive and it
still has to be touched up atthe joints uh every so often.
But um one thing, and I didn'teven mean to get into this, but
(04:39):
since we're on it, handrails, umuh basically aluminum handrails
uh kits, they sell them in sixand eight foot sections at the
big box stores, and I know youguys can get those as well.
Um they I put those on several,several houses, and they seem to
be a big hit too, because theygive the wrought iron
appearance, but they're morethan half the cost.
I mean, they're just I'm sorry,less than half the cost.
(05:00):
They're they're reallycompetitively priced.
I want to say each section isless than$200.
So if you look around your deckand pull a tape measure, that's
pretty easy math to see what youcan upgrade your rails for.
And aluminum is what they use atthe beach because it will not
rust.
And so it's very sturdy.
You know, I think that they'restrong and you know, very very
much maintenance-free.
So I'm a fan of that as well.
SPEAKER_00 (05:20):
Yeah, I agree a hundred percent.
Again, lots of options, and whenyou know uh what it's gonna be
used for, what you would like,if you're not worried about
aesthetics, or you might be.
I I still like a wood one, Ithink it looks great.
Nothing against PVC, but it itlooks like PVC, if you know what
I mean.
So there's that trade-off.
Yeah, you know what I mean?
(05:40):
Um and for people who aren'tfamiliar with this show, they're
probably like, what am I tuninginto?
And it's engaging.
This is the Carolina contractorshow.
And to sum it up, we talk aboutyour house, and obviously, with
this, we're talking about yourhouse or even uh commercial or
unique ways you can uh build adeck and what material materials
you use.
Uh for me, my name's Eric Smith,and I sell wood and lumber and
(06:04):
stuff.
And Donnie Blanchard across fromme is a uh general contractor
and he builds things with woodand puts PVC and railing systems
and houses together from thefrom the ground up.
And what we do every week is wejust talk about your house, DIY
projects, and we weren't evenplanning on talking about
railing, it just popped upbecause there's really no um
(06:24):
super strict schedule of thingswe have to talk about, but we
just hey what pops in your mindand and uh I do want to thank
those uh stations.
That's a cool thing you did forme because uh TV people are just
snobs.
And me being former 30 years inradio, we're actually still
doing radio.
Uh, thanks to the Maverick anduh WBAG for you know keeping
(06:45):
radio alive and and doing stufflike that, and kudos to you for
helping them out.
SPEAKER_01 (06:48):
Oh yeah, those are my guys.
And uh Joe Gray does a great jobat uh at WBAG and Chuck Marsh
got the Maverick off the groundfour or five, maybe longer than
that, four or five years ago, Iwant to say, and he's just done
a fantastic job.
They host concerts, and uh youwould be amazed at just how many
people still listen to theradio.
But um speaking of that,something popped into my head
when you said that.
(07:08):
WBAG, the B.A.G.
stands for Burlington andGraham, and they've been around,
you know, as they're as old asmy grandparents with the radio
station.
But what the heck is the W?
Do you know that since you're aradio guy?
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
Aside from one station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, the
W signifies that the station iseast of the Mississippi, and
stations with K, like in LA, Iused to do stuff for uh stations
there at KLOS.
The K signifies it's uh west ofthe Mississippi.
It was like a hundred years agoin the twenties they made that
official.
What always got me was why wouldyou say stations that are east
(07:44):
of the Mississippi will get theW prefix designation?
Why not an E like East?
And then obviously, where didthey come up with the K for the
west of the Mississippistations?
I don't know, I've never reallylooked that far into it.
But basically, aside from KDKAin Pittsburgh, stations on the
east are W, stations on the westof the Mississippi are a K.
SPEAKER_01 (08:07):
That's insane.
I bet there's a a good answerfor that.
And and you know, radio used tobe so much more popular when
that was all established, but Imight dig into that and see if I
can come up with something fornext week.
SPEAKER_00 (08:17):
So today's episode, though, it's funny we talked
about rail systems for yourhouse and stuff like that.
Today, what we're gonna talkabout is if you're a homeowner,
you're gonna you're gonna digthis show because uh we're gonna
talk about some myths of owninga home mainly in North Carolina,
because there are a few uniquethings that are uh in this state
that affect your home and owningit and people don't know.
(08:38):
And the one of them I'm gonnaget to at the end of the show, I
think is gonna surprise maybeyou, Donnie, when I looked at
some percentages.
But uh as you're whether you'rea new homeowner, if you moved
here to North Carolina and thisis your second or third home
you've bought, there are acouple things you need to know
about.
One of them, we've been verylucky with hurricane season this
year.
(08:59):
Uh last year, this time, themountains were recovering and
you know, flooding.
It's a big deal.
But a lot of people think Idon't need flood insurance
because I'm not on the coast.
And ready for this stat?
40% of homes in Raleigh, NorthCarolina, where I was born,
salute uh 40% of homes inRaleigh are in a flood zone.
(09:25):
I had no idea about that.
1.2 million properties in NorthCarolina are in a flood zone.
I don't know what percentage arecovered, but we kind of think
the beach is somewhere you needto have it when you don't.
And Hurricane Helene last yearshowed that you can be on top of
a mountain, basically, and havea flood.
And last year, Helene being thethe main uh uh flash point of
(09:48):
this,$2.5 billion in damagesacross the state due to
flooding.
So the best thing, I guess,would contact your insurance
agent, would you think wouldhave that information know if
you should get it or if you'rein a flood zone?
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
Oh, yeah.
No, they can get that, they canput their finger right on that
info, and that's their duediligence.
That's their job when they takeyour policy out is to know if
you're in a floodplain becauseof course they don't want to get
burned and and miss that as anagent.
But yeah, that's uh somethingthat a lot of homeowners are
underinsured because they don'tknow how to, they don't know to
ask for, they don't know to askthe right questions.
And I want to say the maximumamount of coverage for a flood
(10:24):
policy is$250,000.
I don't know where they arrivedat that figure, but I guess they
think that you know, where theystop, homeowners insurance will
kick in after that.
And so I think that they arebasing that off of just building
the first the first floor ofyour house or rebuilding, you
know, the bottom four feet ofyour house after a flood.
SPEAKER_00 (10:41):
Yeah, because I guess, and you maybe you know
better, that that's people mightthink that's pretty expensive
for just the bottom section, butif you have a tree go through
your your roof on your secondfloor, you don't have to worry
about what's below it.
You're you're repairing yourroof and any damage to the
structure on the second floor.
But if the first floor has a lotof damage, fixing it is also
(11:05):
going to have uh implications onwhat's above it.
SPEAKER_01 (11:08):
Oh, absolutely.
Yes, sir.
And um I don't know that I'veseen a flood claim where an
engineer didn't have to getinvolved because you know it's
your literally shakes yourfoundation, not shakes it, but
you know, it compromises it forsure.
And I want to say that when Iwas in uh Louisiana, so I I
worked the very very firsthurricane I worked as an
insurance adjuster was Katrina,and that was baptism by fire, if
(11:30):
there ever was a thing.
And basically what we went inand did is we had to measure up
to the outlets, which is 18inches.
So if the water got above theoutlets, it was another price
code.
So if the four-foot break forthe drywall was another price
code, and there were severalhouses that got more than that
because everything on the damside of Lake Poncha train just
really caught it bad.
(11:51):
But um, yeah, they have theyhave coverage uh in place for
it, but you got to ask the rightquestions to make sure you got
it if you need it.
And those poor people in themountains, I don't think even if
I lived there as a formerinsurance adjuster, I wouldn't
have thought to ask for that.
But everybody up there, or 90%of those people got burned.
SPEAKER_00 (12:09):
It's crazy.
And that's why knowing what yourpolicy covers, and every year
talking to your insurance agentor even scheduling a one-on-one
to let them go over the policy,we'll find all sorts of stuff
you may be covered for, may notbe covered for, or even over or
undercovered, because beingundercovered can be just as bad.
Yep.
Yep.
Um totally.
Uh not carrying enough coveragewill burn you as well.
(12:30):
All right.
So speaking of insurance and andknowing your history, Donnie, in
it, uh homeowners insurance inNorth Carolina covers termite
damage, and a lot of peopledidn't realize that.
And the reason reason theydidn't realize it is because
that's not even true.
Your homeowner's insurancedoesn't necessarily include pest
problems, including termites,and you can get a rider for
(12:52):
that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
Yep, for sure.
But you like again, you gottaask the right questions, and
termite damage is something thatnobody thinks about until it
happens to you.
SPEAKER_00 (13:00):
So my pest company here in uh in Wilson County, and
they're they're uh all throughthe state, mine, is they'll
offer termite inspection, andbasically what they do is if you
don't have the coverage, theycome in, they go through your
house and they determine in mostcases you don't have any damage.
Uh they might have to do uh acouple drills and some masonry
(13:21):
to put in some repellent orwhatever it is the process they
use, and then you get aninsurance policy.
And then once a year, they comein and they inspect your house
again, go underneath it andwherever they need to go, and
that might just be 75 to 100bucks, and you now have an
insurance policy on your housethat guarantees no termites, and
(13:42):
if there is, there will be amonetary amount listed.
But those guys know if they goin and they don't see any damage
and they can do proactivethings, they're so confident
that termites won't come in ifthey're checking it every year
that they can hand out thesepolicies for pennies on the
dollar.
So that's like the the easy wayto get some uh insurance on your
house for termites.
SPEAKER_01 (14:02):
Oh, for sure.
And I do recommend that if youhave an older home and it's low
to the ground, those are waymore prone to termite damage
than something new that's jackedup in the air a little bit.
And um the way it works in myworld from an inspection
standpoint is that when we builda new home, most municipalities
make require us to show acertificate of a termite
treatment at some point uh wherethey not fail, but they don't
(14:25):
want to keep up with it.
You're the homeowner, it's yourresponsibility that they don't
they don't require you to show amaintenance plan or anything
like that.
And um, you know, I'm guilty ascharged because I don't have a
maintenance plan on my personalhouse, but I'm also pretty far
up in the air.
I know what to look for, and um,you know, I I don't think that
my house is very prone to totermites, but um, when I
mentioned a second ago thathouses that are lower to the
(14:47):
ground uh are definitelysomething to keep an eye out
for.
Slabs, uh that's the nine out often times that I've seen termite
damage, it's always been in aslab house because you've got
the concrete slab right there atground level.
You know, you've got the uhbottom plate and just a few
inches above that, and uh I'llget into that in a second
because that bottom plate isrequired to be treated wood.
(15:08):
Uh anything in contact with theground or any kind of concrete
is required to be treated, butuh most of those are um are
where I've seen the termitedamage.
A lot of older homes that hadthe carport uh closed in.
So you had this old car port ona ranch style house, and someone
closed it in and made a recessedliving room out of it.
That those are are very muchprone because you've got
(15:29):
everything old, and theyprobably had no termite
treatment when the house wasbuilt.
And um a lot of times thosefolks look at it like, well, uh
they'll just slap a regular twoby four down for your bottom
plate instead of a piece oftreated wood or any kind of seal
seal in there, and uh andtermite damage is almost a
guarantee.
Um treated wood is notcompletely termite deterrent.
(15:51):
Uh they they will eat treatedold treated wood because that uh
that chemical treatment thatthey put on there will
eventually dissipate and it goesaway as as time goes on.
And I'm not gonna say that itdoesn't work because as long as
it's not exposed to water, it'sreally not a problem.
But uh they seem to avoidtreated wood, especially uh for
the first 10, 15 years or so.
(16:12):
And uh, but that's a pretty bigmisconception, is they won't eat
treated wood, and I'm thinking,why would they?
Because if they've got anythinganywhere close by that's not,
why would you eat the chemicals?
But you know, termites arecrazy.
And just to give a quickrundown, not to be long-winded,
but earlier you mentioned notcarrying enough coverage burns
people.
Uh, if you do have homeownersinsurance and don't know the
right questions to ask, I thinkthe most important one is do I
(16:35):
carry enough coverage?
And to make a reference toHurricane Katrina down in New
Orleans, what happened waspeople had the same insurance
agent for 20 years, 30 years,and the insurance agents were
comfortable.
They didn't check their peopleto make sure they were up in
their policy.
So as the value of your housegoes up, you're required to up
your insurance coverage to meetthat amount.
(16:57):
And their threshold is 80% ofthe value of the house.
So we had to do what was calledan insured-to-value report,
meaning if your house was uh amillion-dollar home, you had to
carry at least$800,000 worth ofcoverage.
And what that what that adds upto is if you have an insurance
claim and it's a total loss orwhat have you, you have
replacement cost coverage, andanybody who's had a claim knows
(17:18):
that they they keep a little bitof the money until you've
complete the work and then theypay you the full value.
So they'll depreciate whateverwas damaged, whether it be your
roof, your siding, your windows,whatever.
And uh they may give you 60% upfront and they hold 40% on the
back end until you or I, as acontractor, shows proof or
pictures that we actually wentthrough with the replacement.
(17:40):
So with the replacement costcoverage, you get that money
back.
If you are not insured to valueand you don't carry at least
80%, they give you what's calledACV, actual cash value.
So that that extra 40% that theythey withheld, they keep instead
of giving it back to you.
And when I say there were peopleheadhunting agents in New
(18:01):
Orleans, I mean that was a realthing.
There were some gangsters downthere and they were gonna go get
their guy, but insurance agentswere were literally fleeing town
because they had underinsuredpeople by the hundreds out there
getting shorted two, three, fourhundred thousand dollars a
piece.
SPEAKER_00 (18:15):
We've talked about this before, Donnie.
I'm not a big fan of uh messingwith too much electricity.
I've changed out light switchesbefore and I've hooked up a
ceiling fan.
But in North Carolina, the goodnews is you can do it yourself
on even major electrical work inyour own home and you don't need
a permit.
Now, if you believe that youcould be facing fines as much as
(18:35):
$500 a day because you can workon your own home and you can do
electrical work, but you stillhave to pull that permit for
anything above outlets.
And a lot of people don'trealize that.
There is big fines if they findout.
But the reason is great becauseif Billy Joe Jim Bob, who might
be a fine person when it comesto doing electrical work in your
(18:56):
house, but if he's not pullingpermits and he doesn't know his
stuff, you've got a house thatyou're reselling that you can't
document electrical work wasdone correctly or with permit,
that can help or hinder you frombeing able to sell it.
And also, bad wiring accountsfor 20% of all house fires in
(19:16):
North Carolina.
So if you don't know what you'redoing, don't do it, get a pro.
If you are pro, you s youprobably already know you got to
pull permits if you're gonna dosome major electrical work.
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (19:28):
And is with outlets, I agree with you wholeheartedly
there.
You know, things like lightfixtures and ceiling fans, if
you're pretty darn handy, thenyou know the rule is that
fixture is dead at the switch.
So if it's turned off at thewall switch, then then have at
it.
You don't have to flip a breakeror anything, but not knowing how
outlets and things like that areGFIs or tied together, and then
(19:48):
then you really have to play thebreaker game.
And I think we posted somethingon our Instagram that that will
actually you plug this littletool into the outlets you'd like
to change out, and then you godown to the panel and it will it
will identify the breaker that'sassociated with that run of
outlets, and so it makes it alittle bit easier, but I just
say I agree with you and call anelectrician.
SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
And some you've got the little uh it's like a
sniffer, but it's forelectricity, and you can hold it
over a switch and it'll do alight.
I learned, I think nobody gothurt, but I learned we have a uh
three light switch at our frontdoor.
It does the outdoor lights, oneinside above, and stairs, and
found out they're on twodifferent circuits because I uh
(20:28):
turned off the circuit that itwas labeled for and just took my
sniffer there and uh put it upthere and it lit up.
And I'm like, that's impossible.
No, whoever wired it up musthave changed it in the past and
has two independent circuitsrunning to one light switch.
So if you thought you'd turn itoff because the light above you
(20:49):
went off, no, it's still one ofthose switches was still hot.
But as you said, it's a lightswitch, turn it off, there ain't
no juice coming to it.
But uh I don't like messing withelectricity.
Nah, stay away.
All right, Donnie learnedsomething today, and that was
that I don't live in an hoa.
Donnie lives out in the sticks.
I live in the city of Wilson.
I'm not in an HOA, and if I everwas buying a house and they
(21:12):
said, here's this new house,it's for sale, you can look at
this, it's in an HOA, I'd go,Well, I'm sorry.
Did you say HOA?
Because I'm I'm already out.
I have no desire.
I get it.
Donnie gets it.
We understand the point of HOAs.
I kind of look at them as likean upper middle class prison and
everybody's gonna be the sameand act the same, and then
(21:34):
you're gonna have some Karen ormale Karen come around and say,
You didn't move your trash canscorrectly, or you have your
kids' bicycles in the drivewayat a 45 degree angle, or so
fine.
Say you do like that.
I understand it.
You come to North Carolina oryou move into an HOA by your
house, and you think, Well, Igotta cut my grass and keep my
(21:54):
garage door shut, keep thebushes trim, I get it.
But the backyard is mine, andI'm gonna paint this corner wall
over here by the porch, fireengine red, and I'm putting up
that silver uh stripper orsilhouette on the side, you
know, whatever you want to do.
And people don't know in NorthCarolina there's a Planned
Community Act that lets HOAs in25% of new developments call the
(22:18):
shots on fences, whether or notyou can have a pool, paint
colors, uh, you get that Leonardshed, then they bring it in,
your HOA can say, uh, you didn'tget permission for that.
Well, it can't be seen from thestreet.
Don't matter.
We haul the shots, it's in yourHOA agreement.
And when breaking the rules, youcan get daily liens by the HOA
(22:40):
for like a hundred bucks.
And if you want to follow anappeal, you got to pay for that.
And I mentioned the um shedbecause some guy in uh Pinehurst
put in a uh Shed$5,000 lawsuitagainst him filed by the his
HOA.
SPEAKER_01 (22:56):
Yeah.
I don't agree with the homeownerassociation thing, and and I
don't know, but I guess you knowwhat you're signing up for when
you move in.
And like you mentioned, um Isome people need an hoa, or they
would have cars and boats parkedin the front yard, and I get it,
and so you gotta you gottaaccount for the people who would
bend the rules uh to the tune ofsomething bad, but at the same
(23:19):
time, not for me.
And if I were buying a house,unless I just really love the
area, that HOA would run me off.
SPEAKER_00 (23:25):
Yeah, not not my thing.
Now you have um a basement howuh I mean you can you've modded
yours.
Yours is not a crawl space, youhave a basement.
Uh you got waterproofing on it,and a lot of times when you're
doing a foundation, I know yourdad really knows about this
stuff.
You put in um foundationwaterproofing on the outside and
(23:46):
things like that.
And a lot of people think inNorth Carolina that's enough,
it's gonna last forever, youdon't have to worry about that
again, and you have experiencewith Midani.
SPEAKER_01 (23:55):
The waterproofing, I don't know that it has a shelf
life or you have to update itbecause how hard would that be?
But I I will say that um thewaterproofing systems come with
a guarantee, and it's good toalways use a reputable company.
In my experience, we do acombination of pre-cast walls,
poured walls.
I'm not a fan of a cinder blockbasement walls because the
(24:15):
options are just so much better.
But I'll start with thepre-cast, which people often
know as superior walls.
Um, though the ideal walls isthe only other company in our
area that does that, but that's5,000 psi concrete, which is
bridge concrete, and they claimthat you don't even have to put
a waterproofing agent on it,that it's going to be sealed.
And they're banking on thatbecause the base is basically
(24:36):
anywhere from eight to teninches of gravel, number
sixty-seven uh cleanstone, andit has a series of corrugated
pipe running through that andthen around the perimeter.
So uh their their reasoning isthat if any water gets down to
the vulnerable point at thebottom of the basin where it
meets a slab, then it's gonnahit that gravel and those
openings that the corrugatedpipes make and make its way out.
(24:58):
Well, I've never had a basementleak.
I mean, I've just it works justexactly like it's supposed to.
Um the other version with thepoured concrete walls, of course
they bring in forms, they pour afoot has a footing with a rebar
and they tie all that into thepoured walls, and that
absolutely has to have thatbecause you know you have joints
and vulnerable places betweenthe concrete.
But um I said all that to saythat I've never seen a basement
(25:23):
leak problem that wasn'tassociated with from bad
drainage up top.
And so nine times out of ten, ifyou've got a basement leak, it's
because you've got a downspoutfrom your gutter system that
channels a heavy volume of waterright in that one area.
So, you know, go outside and seewhat's dumping the water right
there.
It's not like it's gonna be somegradual thing unless you have a
grading problem, and that's theother culprit, is that uh you
(25:46):
don't have positive drain allthe way around your house.
I think the building code is 10foot of positive drain all the
way around all four sides ofyour house or whatever you have.
And um and I think that you knowthe basement leak problem kind
of or the even the basementpotentially leaking goes away
because uh that water's got tocome from up top, obviously, and
(26:06):
you know, just not having yourdownspouts routed underground in
the proper location, or maybeyou have a downspout drain
that's been crushed in the yardand it's not and it's it's
bubbling back.
But we've said this on the showseveral times.
It's not common to go outsideand look around your house while
it's raining, but you'll beamazed at what you find if you
do.
So throw a raincoat on, get yourumbrella, go outside when it's
(26:26):
raining in the daylight, andjust make sure all your
downspouts are draining theright way.
If they're underground, makesure it's not bubbling back out
there because you have ablockage there, and more than
anything, make sure that youhave the proper drainage around
the perimeter because uh thosetwo things are 95% of the
culprit when you have a leak.
SPEAKER_00 (26:42):
And don't go out in that that storm if there's
lightning in your holdingumbrella.
That's just a a safety tip.
Uh we got a couple more minutesleft in this episode of the
Carolina contractor show.
I want to try to get to both ofthem, Donnie, real quick.
I don't have septic.
Uh, a lot of people don'tunderstand with septic, you're
gonna want to have an inspectionuh done on this.
And the there's an issue notonly with septics, the
(27:04):
inspection is not to check forsay leaks, but to make sure you
avoid a backup because those arecommon and can be very, very
expensive.
And I didn't know, but we'retalking insurance for flooding.
You can get insurance for yourseptic tank?
SPEAKER_01 (27:18):
Yeah, well, basically it's a sewer backup,
and so that applies to citysewer or a septic tank, but
that's not a that's not standardcoverage.
And another to dial back to thebeginning of the show, that's
the right question to ask.
Make sure you talk to youragent.
And, you know, if you have ahouse with uh average size
family, it's you know, twoadults, two kids, boy, girl, um,
so two guys, two gals in thehouse.
(27:40):
Maybe the rule of thumb appliesto you and you only pump your
septic tank every four to fiveyears.
But let me tell you, you got ahouse full of women, and they're
flushing toilet paper andfeminine products and all the
things down, and something likeCOVID happens, or you're shut in
your house, or anything likethat.
Like, man, I'm telling you, theheck with the rule of thumb, get
that baby pumped about every twoyears at a minimum, and um, you
(28:02):
know, get your kids out of thehouse, dial it back to every
five years.
But uh, if you got a lot ofwomen in the house, sorry, gals,
but they generate a whole lot ofuh waste, and I I don't maybe
it's just the girls around me orthe women that I had with my my
girls use a lot of toilet paper,but I see in general uh you
know, a lot of women in thehouse, you got four girls, and
uh that then I would definitelyhave that septic maintenance uh
(28:24):
maintained a lot more regularlythan five years.
SPEAKER_00 (28:27):
Well, I'm just gonna say I have three women in my
life and they're angels andcause no problems.
And for you to say somethinglike that is shocking and I'm a
little stunned, and it'll it'llprobably harm our relationship.
I'm sorry if I offended you,Eric.
No, I'm just seeing, okay,they're gone now.
Um but but yeah, that's that's agood point.
Um take care of it because thethe not taking care of it is
(28:50):
very, very expensive.
SPEAKER_01 (28:51):
The whole point was I got carried away, didn't I?
Uh sewer backup is is anendorsement that you have to add
to your policy.
So ask your agent and see if youhave that or if you need to add
it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:01):
All right.
Speaking of insurance, I'msurprised a number of people
that don't know this.
This isn't necessarily a NorthCarolina thing.
Uh it's very popular now,property taxes.
Should we get rid of them?
And some states are doing it.
Uh, Governor DeSantis in Floridais talking about it, and some
other states.
Uh property taxes stay the sameafter you buy, and people don't
understand.
(29:22):
I was surprised a number ofpeople that don't realize that
they won't stay the same andthey're always going to go up.
But when we talked about yourproperty value going up, people
say, hey, your house that'sworth$250 four years ago, the
town has now decided that it'sworth$300, and you go, Well, my
property tax went up.
(29:42):
Why'd my insurance go up?
Because if the they say yourhouse is worth more, your
insurance company isautomatically getting that
information and going to say,Oh, well, that needs means
you're gonna have to be insuredfor more.
So we're gonna charge you more,which is also why after an
evaluation, you should have avisit with your uh insurance.
Adjuster to make sure that youare covered, as we talked about
(30:03):
earlier in the show, we won'thave to revisit all that.
But uh the average bill in 2025in North Carolina jumped$400.
Um, and you can use onlineestimators to push back on those
tax hikes and and and file a uma complaint or that you want a
hearing on that.
Um but at my house, for personaluh example, we got slammed
(30:26):
combined a 29% increase on taxesand insurance, and they send it
to you in a letter from yourwhoever you get your mortgage
from, and it's and it'sdifferent looking.
It says important mortgagepayment information.
And I opened it up and I said,Well, I could buy a new truck on
monthly payments or pay the newdifference on my mortgage.
(30:49):
And it was almost$400 a month mymortgage went up because of
re-evaluation and the propertytax and insurance going up.
SPEAKER_01 (30:58):
No fun.
I don't have anything good tosay, money racket all day long.
And I understand you know, thetaxes pay things that we enjoy
in terms of conveniences ineveryday life, but man, like
nobody wants to pay them.
You know, I tell my children,just wait, don't decide your
political affiliation until youpay your own taxes and utilities
and house payment and all thestuff that dad pays now.
(31:20):
But hold tight, you know, you'renot gonna like it any more than
I did.
SPEAKER_00 (31:23):
There's lots of stuff when you own a house that
uh there's no rule book for, butthat's why we tried to approach
a few of them.
Uh we got more of this on thewebsite, the
Carolinacontractor.com.
You can listen to this show,past shows.
Also got a YouTube page up.
Just search the CarolinaContractor Show.
We're on Instagram, as Donniewas mentioning.
You can find us on social media.
And if you have a question or acomment or something, uh ask the
(31:45):
contractor is a literalclickable button on our website,
and that goes to Donnie.
So if there's a question or youhave an idea for a show, or you,
hey man, you said I don'tbelieve that's right.
I want to, I I think you'rewrong on that.
Hey, we take criticism too.
You can uh go ahead and send itthere.
But uh we just want to thank youfor listening and all the new
listeners that are coming in.
(32:05):
Uh the show's grown about uh 10,15 percent listenership and
people following us, and we'restill killing it in Australia.
Over 3% of our listeners, man,Australian.
So good day down there too.
Yeah, that's nice to includethose folks.
We appreciate it.
So we thank you again for tuningin and checking out the show,
and we hope to hear and see younext week on the Carolina
(32:26):
Contractor Show.
Have an awesome day, everybody.
Thanks.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit the CarolinaContractor.com.
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