June 12, 2025 • 28 mins
Ever see those social media ads promising miracle solutions for your home? In this eye-opening episode, contractor Donnie Blanchard takes on misleading claims about attic fans that promise to dramatically lower temperatures by 25-30 degrees. Drawing from professional experience, Donnie explains why these mechanical ventilation systems often fail to deliver and can actually disrupt your roof's natural airflow when improperly installed. The conversation highlights how even AI systems perpetuate these myths, emphasizing the value of expert knowledge over algorithm-generated advice.
As summer heats up, the discussion shifts to everyone's favorite warm-weather activity: grilling. Donnie shares professional-grade hacks that will transform your outdoor cooking game, from using a battery-powered blower to quickly heat charcoal to his multi-layered glove technique for handling messy prep work. You'll learn why investing in proper lighting and quality meat thermometers makes all the difference when cooking after dark, and how simple tools like wooden skewers can revolutionize hot dog flipping.
The hosts also walk through essential summer maintenance checks every homeowner should perform. From setting ceiling fans to rotate counterclockwise for optimal cooling to inspecting often-overlooked hoses in appliances that could cause costly water damage, these practical tips help protect your biggest investment. The episode offers smart solutions for cleaning dishwashers with vinegar, using sink plungers effectively, and preventing mosquito breeding grounds around your property.
Whether you're looking to debunk home improvement myths, up your grilling game, or create a simple summer maintenance checklist, this episode delivers practical advice from seasoned professionals who understand what actually works. Join us next week when we dive deeper into HVAC maintenance and additional warm-weather home care strategies.
Have a question about your home project? Visit thecarolinacontractorcom to submit your questions and access our complete library of home improvement expertise.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Donnie, do you have asmartphone?
I do yes, sir, and you havesocial media and so you see the
ads that pop up on, likeFacebook and IG and stuff.
Absolutely All right.
I got a question for you that'sright in your wheelhouse.
I saw an ad today on Instagramand it was for a wired attic fan
(00:32):
and it said it will lower theinside temperature of your attic
25 to 30 degrees.
Is that a work?
Your laugh gives it away.
Is that a worthwhile investment?
Is it true?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No, I'd be interested to see the the advertisement,
because that's that's false allthe way around.
Maybe they lower the attictemperature five to 10 degrees
and but but yes, there's only aspecific scenario where an attic
fans warranted.
If you have ridge vent, thenyou're not supposed to have a
power attic fan because it'llactually pull air in through the
(01:06):
ridge vent and it causes thepassive ventilation concept to
pretty much go away because theattic's not breathing like it
should.
If you have a hip roof and youonly have about a hip roof is
more like a pyramid shape whereyou only have six to eight feet
of ridge vent across the top.
That's not enough for thepassive ventilation to work.
So in that scenario you canwarn a power addict fan, but
(01:29):
most of the time they don't dowhat they're supposed to do.
From a roofing standpoint I'dsay 80 plus percent of the time
they don't work when we getthere.
So the hardwired versionsaren't made to last and it's
what we put on these days.
A 50 yearyear shingle, Iwouldn't give that power attic
fan a 15 year lifespan.
I'd say power attic fans andpipe boots probably last about
(01:49):
the same amount of time.
So I'm not a fan ah, nice playon words.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Not a fan of the fan.
Ah, we talked about in the past, though like things like tech
shield will do more to uh,regulate the heat in your attic
than some scheme like a fanabsolutely uh tech, shield the
radiant.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
We talked about that what two, three weeks ago?
And it basically keeps the heatpenetration from the shingles
to the plywood from getting intothe attic and heating the attic
up aggressively.
And the retrofit version of theRadiant Barrier goes on the
bottom side of the rafters andit works better in my opinion,
because it causes the heat thatdoes get through to be
(02:26):
sandwiched in between thoserafter cavities.
So basically, with the passiveventilation concept, the stack
effect heat rises, the air comesin through the soffit vents,
makes its way on the backside ofthat roof plywood and it forces
all that heat out of the ridgevent.
So I think that the radiantbarrier makes that ridge vent
work even better and I wantpeople to understand.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
we are new to AI, not me and Donnie.
We've been on the AI train fora couple of decades now, I think
.
But I went on and asked one ofthe AI services while you were
chatting there do attic fanswork effectively?
And it's like yes, here's whyit removes hot, humid air, all
this stuff.
And I'm like that's completelyfalse.
(03:07):
And I think we've becomereliant, or more reliant, on AI
to give us answers, as thoughthey're unbiased and correct,
like there's some godlike answer.
And right there AI is saying oh, attic fans definitely can work
and cool your house down in theteens to 20 degrees at a time.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So what the AI did is it pulled from 10, 15 websites
Instead of going to the handydandy GAF installation manual
that tells the yays and nays ofthe roof installation
requirements, that get you anactual 50 year warranty and you
can have ridge vent, but not apower addict fan.
(03:47):
It can't be both, and becausethat power addict fan just
screws up the whole passiveventilation concept.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
The technical term for the power addict fan is
mechanical ventilation, so it'sgot to be either or not both,
and so if you're new to the showand you're going, who's this
guy talking about addicts andshingles and fans and how they
work and which is better?
Well, that's Donnie Blanchard.
He's general contractor, alsoowner of Sure Top Roofing, also
owner of Blanchard BuildingCompany.
So he's done a couple of roofsand he knows a couple of things
(04:15):
about them.
My name's Eric Smith.
I do inside sales for HomeBuilder Supply in Wilson,
greenville.
I just sell stuff to people.
Donnie actually puts them moreto practical use.
I just sell stuff to people.
Donnie actually puts them moreto practical use.
But this all combines to becomethe Carolina Contractor Show
and we do this every week andwe've got just years of material
Material yeah, because I'mfunny, we'll call it material
(04:35):
Years of shows all locked intothe website at
thecarolinacontractorcom.
We're also up on YouTube.
You can visit those sites andlisten to past shows.
You'll be able to, of course,contact us through social media.
You also have a question aboutyour house.
Maybe you had a question likedoes this attic fan work?
So you ask Donnie and you clickon the ask the contractor
(04:56):
button and then you can submityour question and we'll answer
those on shows.
As a matter of fact, we gotsome multiple questions on
today's show from people thathad piped in and all sorts of
stuff that we just like.
We'd like to talk about yourhouse, let's get to the point.
We like to talk about DIYprojects and hacks and ideas
that are good and some thingsthat are bad, and now that we're
(05:17):
entering this nice warm weatheras we hit the June God, we're
at the halfway mark of the year.
This is nuts Donnie Summer.
Everybody wants to be outside,but there's a lot of stuff you
can do inside, but what's yourmain thing that you like to do
in summer?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
It doesn't really have anything to do with the
house.
I work all day.
So when I come home I like tohit the grill man, there's
something about it and I puttogether an awesome porch
outside.
So I grill and I don't reallycome back inside for very much
and I like to sit out there,smell the grill, kick the TV on
on the porch and just kind ofedge out for a minute after a
long day.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Since I'm not a grill meister and I'm not saying that
you proclaim to be some savantwith charcoal and gas, but
you've got to have some grillhacks that you can offer people
as we get into that time of yearof being outside and cooking
food over an open flame.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Um, let me think.
Um, kind of depends on what I'mdoing.
So, uh, long longer cook.
We're doing ribs or Boston butor chicken wings.
You know, all those things takea long time.
If I'm doing burgers, I don'treally do anything special.
(06:30):
I think burgers just warrantthe gas grill because it's easy
to start up.
You know, quick, clean, dropthe burgers and everybody eats
faster than normal.
But when you get into thelonger things, you know there's
a few hacks that I use everysingle time.
One thing that I keep a batterypowered blower on my porch,
which is super convenient foreverything, especially gosh
during pollen season.
It saved me.
But I have a green egg, and soa green egg is basically a
charcoal, a lump charcoal stylegrill, and you have to light the
(06:54):
charcoal.
It's a much longer startupprocess and, and sometimes when
you don't have the time or maybeyou get started late, then you
need to get the temperature ofthe grill to a certain point
before you can even put the foodon there.
And so I take thatbattery-powered blower and it's
a small one, but I take that andput it in the bottom vent of
(07:15):
the grill and just introducesome airflow, and I also have a
charcoal starter that puts out alittle bit of air but not as
much as the blower.
But you can jump thetemperature from 100 to 300
really quick with the blower.
So that's one hack.
My glove game is pretty strong.
So I have to order thesenitrile gloves on Amazon, by the
case, and it's justexponentially cheaper than
(07:36):
buying them in the grocery store.
But when I'm prepping the food,sometimes I'll put on as many
as two or three layers of gloveson each hand.
So when you're in the messystuff and all the raw meat you
can just peel off that top layerof gloves and just keep rocking
man.
So it's a big time saver.
And another thing is whenyou're pulling pork, if you cook
a Boston butt, I have the browncloth work gloves stashed away
(08:01):
and they're thick cloth workgloves.
I guess they're cotton, I don'tknow, but I put.
I buy at least one or two packsof the extra large nitrile
gloves and I put over those soyou can.
You can shred the meat withforks and do everything, but
there's no substitute for yourhand and doing individual pieces
.
But having a thick cotton gloveunder a nitrile keeps the heat
(08:21):
off your hands.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Dude, I got a question.
Sometimes you start cookinglater.
It's hard to cook at night.
Do you ever cook?
You know, once you get thatnine o'clock hour, how do you
know what you're doing to beable to see how the cook's going
?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Oh, no doubt there's.
Well, and that's a reallyimportant point, I have a couple
of grill lights that I boughtand they don't always work with
every single grill.
So when you open the grill up,you have a hard time pointing
that light because it usuallygoes on the handle of the grill
or something like that.
So if the handle is notpositioned correctly it doesn't
go on the food.
So I dork out all the way and Ihave a headlight and I'll just
throw that baby on and I looklike I'm going on a mining
(08:59):
excursion.
But you know, you can put theheadlight lamp right on the meat
because you know, uh, the eyetest is a lot to do with it.
I don't really use thethermometer as much as I should,
but, um, you know, havingdirect light, I have an outdoor
lamp and I have recessed cans,but of course in the summer you
don't want to throw all thoselights on because it just
attracts bugs.
And, um, I think a grill lightthat goes on the handle If it
works for your grill, it's thebest option there.
(09:20):
A headlight second best, do you?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
are you experienced enough, donnie, of cooking?
Do you need to use a clock or aset of timer knowing to flip
stuff, or you just, you justknow when it's done?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
It depends on the cut of meat and and you know
there's certain things likeinvestment.
Another thing that's a must isa meat thermometer.
You know I have this handydandy meat thermometer that
(09:51):
connects to my phone and ittells you the ideal temperature
and all the things.
But grills have hot spots andso if you have the grill full
then there's a great chance thatone side is going to cook a lot
faster than the other.
So having multiple thermometersis a really good investment to
make sure everything goes okay,yeah, and I also want to stress
with people grilling is not hard.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Some people don't do it because they think it's
difficult to do and get thechicken or the beef cooked not
only how you like it, but makesure you've cooked it enough.
But just take your time.
Who was the guy?
Roger Mooking, who was the big?
Yeah, he was great because hesaid just go out and grill
something, just try it.
(10:32):
It's fun to do and I definitelyagree with that.
Do you have a grill caddy?
My wife bought me one.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh yeah, grill caddy on Amazon is probably one of the
best things I've ever gotten onAmazon.
So, um, and back to Roger'spoint, my, my future son-in-law.
He just bought a grill and he'sgetting into cooking and I
don't know who's more excitedabout that, me or him, but but
he's really.
I mean just on an average gasgrill.
He's killing it and doing agreat job, but he's realizing
what our old guys are have knownfor so long that there's.
(11:00):
There's just something about it, man.
It's just something that feelsgood about feeding your family
and doing a good job at it.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's really just about having fire to play with.
Now I, when I would take mybasic little charcoal grill, um,
when I would cook hot dogs, Iput those on the second level
and I would just putindividually where they would
sit perfectly in line.
And then I saw a thing where itsaid no, you take a pack of
eight hot dogs and you put twowood skewers through them,
(11:28):
horizontally or perpendicularly,anyway, she put it through, so
they're all connected and allyou have to do is grab the
skewers to flip them over.
And I was like, oh my God, Ifelt so stupid that that's the
easiest way.
No more tongs.
No, we're trying to roll them,you just flip them.
And there's nothing wrong withwhen you grill out.
You should always throw on somehot dogs anyways, because
(11:49):
they're the best things.
When you reheat them later,they still taste like they came
right off the grill.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
How'd you word that when you called me, you were so
excited.
You said um, I was today yearsold.
Is that how you said todayyears?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
old, yeah, and I'm old, so it's really sad my grill
game isn't quite as good.
So, um, I can do, you know,steaks and burgers and chicken
and stuff.
Um, I haven't tried shrimp likeon a skewer, not that it'd be
tough.
But do you, donnie, have afavorite single thing you like
to grill or smoke?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
uh, on the grill, and I'm not just you know, I'm
discounting everything, all theeasy stuff.
Burgers, uh, wings, areningsaren't too easy but they're not
hard either.
I'd say that a Boston butt.
So for pulled pork I like thaton the smoker and for the grill.
There's just no substitute forthe heat source when you cook
ribs on the green egg.
So that charcoal heat source itreally does the trick and it
caramelizes everything, puts thebest crust skin flavor that
(12:41):
you've ever had on the ribs ifyou do them the right way on the
green egg.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Man, I'm hungry.
We're going to have to do ashow outside at our respective
grill sometime, just talkingabout whatever while we're
flipping steaks and burgers.
I'm down On today's show theCarolina Contractor.
We're going to be talking aboutsummer.
Obviously, grilling out is oneof the big things.
We're going to hit a few thingsright off the bat of things
that homeowners can do to prepfor summer.
The small ones.
(13:08):
We going to ask you and see ifyou're prepped.
It's summer.
What direction should ceilingfans be rotating?
Clockwise or counterclockwise?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Counterclockwise all the way.
So the counterclockwise willpush the air down from the fan
and that's what you want in thesummer to generate a breeze.
The opposite of that clockwisein the wintertime.
It'll basically pull the warmair up and circulate it around
the room.
So counterclockwise in thesummer, clockwise in the winter.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
All right, I bought last year an electric pressure
washer.
You inspired me to do this.
I don't think we got the samething.
I regret waiting as long as Idid to get one.
You can do it in the spring,definitely wait till after
pollen season, but a pressurewasher is a great all-around
(14:10):
tool to have during the summer.
Um, mine is what I would say,um, one step above entry level,
but it does the work for me.
You have a pressure washer, Iknow right.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, and all my stuff is a steel.
So the?
Uh, not a steel S T A L, it's awhat S T I H L.
So my dad was a steel guy.
You know everything from ablower to weed eater, uh, string
trimmer as you say.
But uh, the steel products justseem to last.
I went through two electricpressure washers from big box
(14:36):
store.
I got the steel pressure washer.
I use it, my son uses it andwe're just.
You know, we can't wear thatthing out.
It it's always worked great.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
It's a wonderful thing to have because you can,
you know, do siding or pressurewasher walkways, washer car, or
you'll be amazed how many thingsyou can do with a pressure
washer.
Yeah, here's another thing youcan do for summer, especially
beginning of it.
Walk up to your wife and say,hon, do you want me to trim the
bushes?
And this is time to show somelove to your landscaping.
(15:05):
I did it two weeks ago.
I had a guy come in and itmakes you feel good about your,
your yard.
You get yard pride, I guess.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Well, um, yeah, absolutely.
It doesn't take a long time todo that and they make a battery
powered head streamer now.
So so the battery-powered hedgetrimmer that I have, the
battery's compatible across theboard.
So I think they've got thatbattery stuff figured out, where
the battery on that one goes inthe blower and it goes in the
hedge trimmer and will also workin my little fancy electric
(15:35):
lawnmower down at the coast.
So it's a little heavy, but itworks really well.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
We know you're a roof guy so this comes across as a
bias question, but always thistime of year take a look at your
um gutters and, especially ifyou get some of those spring and
summer rains coming in see ifyou've got the waterfall coming
over the gutters.
A good time to have some prepwork done or maybe some repair
work done.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah absolutely Um with the roof.
You know you want to make surethe roof and the gutters are
doing what they're supposed todo and of course, the roof is
going to shed the water off, uh,and the gutters shed the water
away from the house and you know, either one of those
functioning improperly is goingto be a really big deal going
into summer.
And you know, people oftenthink that you only need to
check your gutters after theleaves fall in the winter.
(16:17):
But there's a lot of dang uh,what's the right word Dangler
leaves and um, that uh, klingons, yeah, klingons, that don't uh,
that don't let go in the fall.
And you really need to checkyour your gutters, uh, in early
summer, especially before allthese summer storms that we get.
So we're probably three or fourweeks late on giving that
advice, but, um, we had a lot ofrain last week and I think that
(16:41):
that's just a wise thing to do.
Or call us.
We do roof inspections for free,but roofs are maintenance.
People think I've got a 30-yearroof.
I don't have to have it lookedat for 30 years, but there are
other components like theflashing and the pipe boots and
things that go bad along the way.
So very wise to get thatchecked out, because you could
spend a lot of money on interiordamages just from neglect.
Yeah sure.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Top top roofingcom.
Uh, we were talking aboutdecking uh recently and I have
uh treated.
You have uh composite decking.
Um, we made clear treated deck.
Treated wood requires somemaintenance, so you're going to
want to take that pressurewasher.
Maybe, if you haven't stainedor sealed it in a while, you can
do a step up higher and makesure you get rid of the old
(17:22):
stain so it'll show up an evencoat when you update it this
spring.
Always wait until after pollenseason, which we're way past
that, but I don't know why.
I just like a real wood deckand I understand the
functionality and thepracticality of having something
like Trex or another compositematerial and man the composite
decks.
When they're done right andthey all have the nice square
(17:45):
edge, they can look like a pieceof artwork.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Oh, for sure, and I like mine.
But my deck is on the northside of my house, so saving
grace there is that the sun iscompletely on the other side by
the time it really gets to theheat of day, so it doesn't heat
up like most Trex decks.
And you know to your point Ilike a wood deck as well, and I
think we talked about this on ashow two or three weeks ago that
you could get it away with twoby six decking instead of using
(18:10):
the five quarter deck boards.
But if you do the two by sixdecking, it's just that much
thicker and you always want touse the number one grade and
that'll last probably just aslong as a composite, as long as
you maintain everything.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Yeah, and that goes tied.
When we talked about using afive quarter, you're going to
want to have a closer joistspacing.
If you've got something like 24inch joists, definitely go with
a two by six because it won'tcost you really a whole lot more
and maybe pre-drill those twoby sixes before you put a screw
in those.
But you're right, that woodwill last a long time.
(18:43):
Another thing about this timeof year love is in the air and
that's bugs and they're likedoing it everywhere and
multiplying.
You've got to go around youryard and look for places that
are going to be a bug breedingground, obviously a bucket, or
if you've got a trash can lidthat's been sitting in the
corner with water in it, you'vegot to go there and tip it over.
And there are home treatmentsfor mosquitoes.
(19:05):
I've seen them online.
You can call some of thecommercial places to do spraying
for mosquitoes.
We've done it at the Smithhousehold and have had anywhere
from moderate to very goodsuccess with the commercial
mosquito controls.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh yeah, no, I'm a fan of that, as well as the
preventables.
As far as having the standingwater not accumulating anywhere
around the house, I think theone place people need to be
careful of is if you have animproperly pitched gutter, it's
always going to have standingwater in that, and so if you
have a gutter that's uh, that'sholding water on one side or the
other, that's definitelysomething to address because you
(19:39):
know they're they're going toget in there.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
It's like a high rise condo for mosquitoes.
Um yeah, Another thing we wantto talk about are your hose.
Um, what do we need to know?
What do we need to know aboutour hoes, Donnie?
Speaker 2 (19:55):
You worded that wrong .
Hoses was, I think, the prompt,more than one hoe.
Okay, and what we're talkingabout is not a lot of garden
hoes outside, we're talkingabout hoses inside the house.
And you know we put this listtogether.
We didn't do this off of Google.
This was something that's amuch better piece of advice than
anything you can find online,because we went personal and I
(20:18):
went.
You know this is a what, threeor four year checklist that we
put together and people don'tgive enough attention to the
hoses in your house and thereare about four main hoses, and
I'll start with your washer.
Of course, you got a hot andcold water hose going to your
washer, and not just the hosesbut the fittings on the hoses.
Those are things that couldgive way to a leak and you
wouldn't know it because it'sbehind your washer.
But that's that's something tomaintain, at least.
(20:40):
What?
Three to five years is a goodway to look, because you're at
the mercy of a washer and the uhacid washer, whitewashing
machine.
The washer in the fitting inthe hose is what I meant to say,
and you know it's got constantpressure on it, so it's
constantly got hot and coldwater on it and anything that
has.
That is something that needs tobe looked at.
I'll move into the kitchen andtalk about the water line hose
(21:03):
behind the refrigerator, kitchenhose, kitchen hose and the
water line behind therefrigerator.
That's something that you neversee.
So it's worth just pulling thatfridge out.
And, side note there, if you'regoing to pull it out, take a
small vacuum to the back of itand vacuum the coils off.
That will extend the life ofyour refrigerator.
Just not good to have all thedust and debris back there
(21:23):
around those.
Going over to the dishwasher Iwas waiting for you to make
another joke Dishwashing hoe.
The dishwasher hose comes outfrom behind the dishwasher and
it ties into the drain underyour sink and so there's no
dedicated line to drain thedishwasher.
(21:43):
It piggybacks on the sink drainand of course there are two
connections.
You really can't get to theconnection to the dishwasher
very easy, but the one under thesink is something you can see
pretty quick.
You know it's not unlikely tosee a drip under there and it's
just kind of hidden because youdon't look under your sink very
often.
But those are the main four andI will say, if you have a
dehumidifier anywhere in thehouse.
(22:03):
The dehumidifier drain isdefinitely a vulnerable point as
well.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So that's worth checking out.
Another thing let's deviatefrom hose.
Um, that's good to do this timeof year, just any time of year,
if there's something thatcauses you to remember to do it.
But test your smoke and carbonmonoxide detectors, get a combo
machine.
They're pretty cheap, no doubt,and uh, maybe just upgrade them
, even if they seem to beworking fine if they're a few
five years old.
(22:29):
Go ahead and buy a set and putthem in the appropriate spots in
your house so you can havethose running, because we tend
to, you know, smoke detectors,carbon monoxide detectors,
become wallpaper on your wall,even if they're big, bright and
white and have a blinking light.
You don't think about them.
So it's best not forget aboutthose things.
(22:50):
You mentioned dishwashers andchecking out the hose and your
dishwashing hose.
What are some general cleaningtips you can do with a
dishwasher?
Or think, all that food thatgoes to the dishwasher gets
ground, goes down the disposal,you can get some rank smells
coming out of there?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, for sure, you know, we've been told by
plumbers not to put boilingwater down that because it's not
good for the drain pipes.
Um, if you get some nastysmells, I'd go with the hottest
water you could get, maybe heatit up to, not to the point of
boiling and gosh, because thatwill, that will, uh, help that
(23:34):
pass through if there's anythinghung up right there.
So, hot water and dishdetergent for the disposal.
Uh, the hack that I've used onmy dishwasher is, you know, I, I
, you, I have an emptydishwasher and I just run a low
speed cycle but I put two cupsof vinegar in the bottom, and
vinegar is, you know, god's giftto nature.
So it's, um, it's a good thingto completely uh clean your,
(23:57):
your dishwasher.
And my dishwasher is kind ofold, maybe 11 years old and, um,
uh, I've had good results.
It seems like it works betterafter I run the two cups of
vinegar through, uh, each andevery time, but I do that every
couple of years and I've seengood results.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Another thing you can do and you only think of doing
this when you have a clog, butis to plunge your sink, because
even if you pour stuff down thedrain, especially when it hits
the P trap, it won't necessarilyget rid of the material that
has built up on the bottom halfof it.
So you can clean it out andthen say, well, why is it still
smelling?
And I've talked to you aboutthis before.
They have sink plungers thatfit in a sink, that are small,
(24:42):
so including a bathroom sink,and if you're using a bathroom
sink or any basin that has theoverflow holes in it, you got to
plug those holes first.
But go ahead and use a sinkplunger and clean it out.
That got to plug those holesfirst, but go ahead and you know
, use a sink plunger and cleanit out.
That way to make sure you'repushing stuff through the pipe,
because hot water and vinegarand stuff won't necessarily get
(25:03):
all the stuff that's built up.
But you can put a foam cleanerdown there, give it a couple
shots with a um, a sink plunger,and really get rid of any
residual stuff.
Now, if you really want to getrid of it and you're not worried
about it, it's pretty easy todo take your P-trap off and
clean that thing out.
You might be stunned,especially if it's a bathroom
(25:24):
sink.
What makes it down to theP-trap and never makes it over
that little hump to get out intothe sewer system.
It's easy to do do 10 minutesto clean a P-trap.
So I would do that.
Donnie, I just realizedsomething.
We've got a ton of stuff wewant to talk about and we've
almost burned up the show justgiven the basic tips of summer.
(25:46):
So I want to ask you would itbe cool if we come back next
week and go into more depthsubjects like HVAC units and
things like that and what peoplecan do to get prepped for
summer and avoid some issueslike I've run in with my HVAC
unit that I can talk about nextweek?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Yeah, I knew that was going to happen.
But absolutely, man, it's a lotof content this time of year.
You know the questions arerolling in, so we appreciate
everybody's interaction because,like I always say, that drives
the show and it just feels good.
You know, we've got a heck ofan audience now and new radio
stations pick us up.
It seems to be on the regular,and just glad that we can
(26:26):
contribute to your house, yourpeople, family, that kind of
thing.
All right.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So that's what we're going to do.
We're going to let you all knowthat next week we're going to
kind of do a part two of thisand we're going to go into
in-depth about HVAC units andI'll tell my story and then
we'll talk about that and thenwe'll get into some other stuff
you can do for summer for allyou homeowners, whether it's
inside or outside.
Donnie's got an interestingidea on insect control that I
wasn't aware of.
(26:50):
But go to the website,thecarolinacontractorcom.
We'll have this stuff also onsocial media, up on the YouTube
page, so you can watch it andwe'll all learn some stuff
together this summer whileDonnie grills everything for us.
And so if you hit a smallvarmint on the way over, put it
on the grill.
Donnie will have it on thegreen egg and we'll eat it later
.
But we'll put recipes up on thewebsite too.
(27:13):
But you can find it all atthecarolinacontractorcom and we
will see you next week for parttwo.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Right, donnie.
Yes, sir, that all sounds greatand, by the way, I don't have
any recipes for possum, raccoonor turtle.
And if you are curious aboutthat, you just said roadkill on
the grill.
If you're curious about that,and you just said roadkill on
the grill, if you're curiousabout that, I do have some guys
that I work with who will eatall three, and so you know,
maybe private message me throughthe website.
And I never knew this, but theguys told me turtles have three
(27:43):
kinds of meat, so there's awhite meat, a dark meat and then
a third kind of meat.
That I'm curious, but I don'treally want to know that bad.
So, uh, supposedly raccoons area little greasy but possums are
wonderful.
Uh, I've been told about allthat.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So I, uh, I hope I never get hungry enough to have
to try that, but but maybe Well,we'll have to have them on for
a special third episode of uh,grill what you kill with your
car and we'll.
We'll dedicate that to them.
All right, We'll see you guysnext week for part two of
getting ready for summer on theCarolina contractor show.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina contractor show.
(28:21):
Visit the Carolinacontractorcom.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Donnie, do you have asmartphone?
I do yes, sir, and you havesocial media and so you see the
ads that pop up on, likeFacebook and IG and stuff.
Absolutely All right.
I got a question for you that'sright in your wheelhouse.
I saw an ad today on Instagramand it was for a wired attic fan
(00:32):
and it said it will lower theinside temperature of your attic
25 to 30 degrees.
Is that a work?
Your laugh gives it away.
Is that a worthwhile investment?
Is it true?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
No, I'd be interested to see the the advertisement,
because that's that's false allthe way around.
Maybe they lower the attictemperature five to 10 degrees
and but but yes, there's only aspecific scenario where an attic
fans warranted.
If you have ridge vent, thenyou're not supposed to have a
power attic fan because it'llactually pull air in through the
(01:06):
ridge vent and it causes thepassive ventilation concept to
pretty much go away because theattic's not breathing like it
should.
If you have a hip roof and youonly have about a hip roof is
more like a pyramid shape whereyou only have six to eight feet
of ridge vent across the top.
That's not enough for thepassive ventilation to work.
So in that scenario you canwarn a power addict fan, but
(01:29):
most of the time they don't dowhat they're supposed to do.
From a roofing standpoint I'dsay 80 plus percent of the time
they don't work when we getthere.
So the hardwired versionsaren't made to last and it's
what we put on these days.
A 50 yearyear shingle, Iwouldn't give that power attic
fan a 15 year lifespan.
I'd say power attic fans andpipe boots probably last about
(01:49):
the same amount of time.
So I'm not a fan ah, nice playon words.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Not a fan of the fan.
Ah, we talked about in the past, though like things like tech
shield will do more to uh,regulate the heat in your attic
than some scheme like a fanabsolutely uh tech, shield the
radiant.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
We talked about that what two, three weeks ago?
And it basically keeps the heatpenetration from the shingles
to the plywood from getting intothe attic and heating the attic
up aggressively.
And the retrofit version of theRadiant Barrier goes on the
bottom side of the rafters andit works better in my opinion,
because it causes the heat thatdoes get through to be
(02:26):
sandwiched in between thoserafter cavities.
So basically, with the passiveventilation concept, the stack
effect heat rises, the air comesin through the soffit vents,
makes its way on the backside ofthat roof plywood and it forces
all that heat out of the ridgevent.
So I think that the radiantbarrier makes that ridge vent
work even better and I wantpeople to understand.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
we are new to AI, not me and Donnie.
We've been on the AI train fora couple of decades now, I think
.
But I went on and asked one ofthe AI services while you were
chatting there do attic fanswork effectively?
And it's like yes, here's whyit removes hot, humid air, all
this stuff.
And I'm like that's completelyfalse.
(03:07):
And I think we've becomereliant, or more reliant, on AI
to give us answers, as thoughthey're unbiased and correct,
like there's some godlike answer.
And right there AI is saying oh, attic fans definitely can work
and cool your house down in theteens to 20 degrees at a time.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So what the AI did is it pulled from 10, 15 websites
Instead of going to the handydandy GAF installation manual
that tells the yays and nays ofthe roof installation
requirements, that get you anactual 50 year warranty and you
can have ridge vent, but not apower addict fan.
(03:47):
It can't be both, and becausethat power addict fan just
screws up the whole passiveventilation concept.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
The technical term for the power addict fan is
mechanical ventilation, so it'sgot to be either or not both,
and so if you're new to the showand you're going, who's this
guy talking about addicts andshingles and fans and how they
work and which is better?
Well, that's Donnie Blanchard.
He's general contractor, alsoowner of Sure Top Roofing, also
owner of Blanchard BuildingCompany.
So he's done a couple of roofsand he knows a couple of things
(04:15):
about them.
My name's Eric Smith.
I do inside sales for HomeBuilder Supply in Wilson,
greenville.
I just sell stuff to people.
Donnie actually puts them moreto practical use.
I just sell stuff to people.
Donnie actually puts them moreto practical use.
But this all combines to becomethe Carolina Contractor Show
and we do this every week andwe've got just years of material
Material yeah, because I'mfunny, we'll call it material
(04:35):
Years of shows all locked intothe website at
thecarolinacontractorcom.
We're also up on YouTube.
You can visit those sites andlisten to past shows.
You'll be able to, of course,contact us through social media.
You also have a question aboutyour house.
Maybe you had a question likedoes this attic fan work?
So you ask Donnie and you clickon the ask the contractor
(04:56):
button and then you can submityour question and we'll answer
those on shows.
As a matter of fact, we gotsome multiple questions on
today's show from people thathad piped in and all sorts of
stuff that we just like.
We'd like to talk about yourhouse, let's get to the point.
We like to talk about DIYprojects and hacks and ideas
that are good and some thingsthat are bad, and now that we're
(05:17):
entering this nice warm weatheras we hit the June God, we're
at the halfway mark of the year.
This is nuts Donnie Summer.
Everybody wants to be outside,but there's a lot of stuff you
can do inside, but what's yourmain thing that you like to do
in summer?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
It doesn't really have anything to do with the
house.
I work all day.
So when I come home I like tohit the grill man, there's
something about it and I puttogether an awesome porch
outside.
So I grill and I don't reallycome back inside for very much
and I like to sit out there,smell the grill, kick the TV on
on the porch and just kind ofedge out for a minute after a
long day.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Since I'm not a grill meister and I'm not saying that
you proclaim to be some savantwith charcoal and gas, but
you've got to have some grillhacks that you can offer people
as we get into that time of yearof being outside and cooking
food over an open flame.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Um, let me think.
Um, kind of depends on what I'mdoing.
So, uh, long longer cook.
We're doing ribs or Boston butor chicken wings.
You know, all those things takea long time.
If I'm doing burgers, I don'treally do anything special.
(06:30):
I think burgers just warrantthe gas grill because it's easy
to start up.
You know, quick, clean, dropthe burgers and everybody eats
faster than normal.
But when you get into thelonger things, you know there's
a few hacks that I use everysingle time.
One thing that I keep a batterypowered blower on my porch,
which is super convenient foreverything, especially gosh
during pollen season.
It saved me.
But I have a green egg, and soa green egg is basically a
charcoal, a lump charcoal stylegrill, and you have to light the
(06:54):
charcoal.
It's a much longer startupprocess and, and sometimes when
you don't have the time or maybeyou get started late, then you
need to get the temperature ofthe grill to a certain point
before you can even put the foodon there.
And so I take thatbattery-powered blower and it's
a small one, but I take that andput it in the bottom vent of
(07:15):
the grill and just introducesome airflow, and I also have a
charcoal starter that puts out alittle bit of air but not as
much as the blower.
But you can jump thetemperature from 100 to 300
really quick with the blower.
So that's one hack.
My glove game is pretty strong.
So I have to order thesenitrile gloves on Amazon, by the
case, and it's justexponentially cheaper than
(07:36):
buying them in the grocery store.
But when I'm prepping the food,sometimes I'll put on as many
as two or three layers of gloveson each hand.
So when you're in the messystuff and all the raw meat you
can just peel off that top layerof gloves and just keep rocking
man.
So it's a big time saver.
And another thing is whenyou're pulling pork, if you cook
a Boston butt, I have the browncloth work gloves stashed away
(08:01):
and they're thick cloth workgloves.
I guess they're cotton, I don'tknow, but I put.
I buy at least one or two packsof the extra large nitrile
gloves and I put over those soyou can.
You can shred the meat withforks and do everything, but
there's no substitute for yourhand and doing individual pieces
.
But having a thick cotton gloveunder a nitrile keeps the heat
(08:21):
off your hands.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Dude, I got a question.
Sometimes you start cookinglater.
It's hard to cook at night.
Do you ever cook?
You know, once you get thatnine o'clock hour, how do you
know what you're doing to beable to see how the cook's going
?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Oh, no doubt there's.
Well, and that's a reallyimportant point, I have a couple
of grill lights that I boughtand they don't always work with
every single grill.
So when you open the grill up,you have a hard time pointing
that light because it usuallygoes on the handle of the grill
or something like that.
So if the handle is notpositioned correctly it doesn't
go on the food.
So I dork out all the way and Ihave a headlight and I'll just
throw that baby on and I looklike I'm going on a mining
(08:59):
excursion.
But you know, you can put theheadlight lamp right on the meat
because you know, uh, the eyetest is a lot to do with it.
I don't really use thethermometer as much as I should,
but, um, you know, havingdirect light, I have an outdoor
lamp and I have recessed cans,but of course in the summer you
don't want to throw all thoselights on because it just
attracts bugs.
And, um, I think a grill lightthat goes on the handle If it
works for your grill, it's thebest option there.
(09:20):
A headlight second best, do you?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
are you experienced enough, donnie, of cooking?
Do you need to use a clock or aset of timer knowing to flip
stuff, or you just, you justknow when it's done?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
It depends on the cut of meat and and you know
there's certain things likeinvestment.
Another thing that's a must isa meat thermometer.
You know I have this handydandy meat thermometer that
(09:51):
connects to my phone and ittells you the ideal temperature
and all the things.
But grills have hot spots andso if you have the grill full
then there's a great chance thatone side is going to cook a lot
faster than the other.
So having multiple thermometersis a really good investment to
make sure everything goes okay,yeah, and I also want to stress
with people grilling is not hard.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Some people don't do it because they think it's
difficult to do and get thechicken or the beef cooked not
only how you like it, but makesure you've cooked it enough.
But just take your time.
Who was the guy?
Roger Mooking, who was the big?
Yeah, he was great because hesaid just go out and grill
something, just try it.
(10:32):
It's fun to do and I definitelyagree with that.
Do you have a grill caddy?
My wife bought me one.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Oh yeah, grill caddy on Amazon is probably one of the
best things I've ever gotten onAmazon.
So, um, and back to Roger'spoint, my, my future son-in-law.
He just bought a grill and he'sgetting into cooking and I
don't know who's more excitedabout that, me or him, but but
he's really.
I mean just on an average gasgrill.
He's killing it and doing agreat job, but he's realizing
what our old guys are have knownfor so long that there's.
(11:00):
There's just something about it, man.
It's just something that feelsgood about feeding your family
and doing a good job at it.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's really just about having fire to play with.
Now I, when I would take mybasic little charcoal grill, um,
when I would cook hot dogs, Iput those on the second level
and I would just putindividually where they would
sit perfectly in line.
And then I saw a thing where itsaid no, you take a pack of
eight hot dogs and you put twowood skewers through them,
(11:28):
horizontally or perpendicularly,anyway, she put it through, so
they're all connected and allyou have to do is grab the
skewers to flip them over.
And I was like, oh my God, Ifelt so stupid that that's the
easiest way.
No more tongs.
No, we're trying to roll them,you just flip them.
And there's nothing wrong withwhen you grill out.
You should always throw on somehot dogs anyways, because
(11:49):
they're the best things.
When you reheat them later,they still taste like they came
right off the grill.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
How'd you word that when you called me, you were so
excited.
You said um, I was today yearsold.
Is that how you said todayyears?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
old, yeah, and I'm old, so it's really sad my grill
game isn't quite as good.
So, um, I can do, you know,steaks and burgers and chicken
and stuff.
Um, I haven't tried shrimp likeon a skewer, not that it'd be
tough.
But do you, donnie, have afavorite single thing you like
to grill or smoke?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
uh, on the grill, and I'm not just you know, I'm
discounting everything, all theeasy stuff.
Burgers, uh, wings, areningsaren't too easy but they're not
hard either.
I'd say that a Boston butt.
So for pulled pork I like thaton the smoker and for the grill.
There's just no substitute forthe heat source when you cook
ribs on the green egg.
So that charcoal heat source itreally does the trick and it
caramelizes everything, puts thebest crust skin flavor that
(12:41):
you've ever had on the ribs ifyou do them the right way on the
green egg.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Man, I'm hungry.
We're going to have to do ashow outside at our respective
grill sometime, just talkingabout whatever while we're
flipping steaks and burgers.
I'm down On today's show theCarolina Contractor.
We're going to be talking aboutsummer.
Obviously, grilling out is oneof the big things.
We're going to hit a few thingsright off the bat of things
that homeowners can do to prepfor summer.
The small ones.
(13:08):
We going to ask you and see ifyou're prepped.
It's summer.
What direction should ceilingfans be rotating?
Clockwise or counterclockwise?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Counterclockwise all the way.
So the counterclockwise willpush the air down from the fan
and that's what you want in thesummer to generate a breeze.
The opposite of that clockwisein the wintertime.
It'll basically pull the warmair up and circulate it around
the room.
So counterclockwise in thesummer, clockwise in the winter.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
All right, I bought last year an electric pressure
washer.
You inspired me to do this.
I don't think we got the samething.
I regret waiting as long as Idid to get one.
You can do it in the spring,definitely wait till after
pollen season, but a pressurewasher is a great all-around
(14:10):
tool to have during the summer.
Um, mine is what I would say,um, one step above entry level,
but it does the work for me.
You have a pressure washer, Iknow right.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, and all my stuff is a steel.
So the?
Uh, not a steel S T A L, it's awhat S T I H L.
So my dad was a steel guy.
You know everything from ablower to weed eater, uh, string
trimmer as you say.
But uh, the steel products justseem to last.
I went through two electricpressure washers from big box
(14:36):
store.
I got the steel pressure washer.
I use it, my son uses it andwe're just.
You know, we can't wear thatthing out.
It it's always worked great.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
It's a wonderful thing to have because you can,
you know, do siding or pressurewasher walkways, washer car, or
you'll be amazed how many thingsyou can do with a pressure
washer.
Yeah, here's another thing youcan do for summer, especially
beginning of it.
Walk up to your wife and say,hon, do you want me to trim the
bushes?
And this is time to show somelove to your landscaping.
(15:05):
I did it two weeks ago.
I had a guy come in and itmakes you feel good about your,
your yard.
You get yard pride, I guess.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Well, um, yeah, absolutely.
It doesn't take a long time todo that and they make a battery
powered head streamer now.
So so the battery-powered hedgetrimmer that I have, the
battery's compatible across theboard.
So I think they've got thatbattery stuff figured out, where
the battery on that one goes inthe blower and it goes in the
hedge trimmer and will also workin my little fancy electric
(15:35):
lawnmower down at the coast.
So it's a little heavy, but itworks really well.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
We know you're a roof guy so this comes across as a
bias question, but always thistime of year take a look at your
um gutters and, especially ifyou get some of those spring and
summer rains coming in see ifyou've got the waterfall coming
over the gutters.
A good time to have some prepwork done or maybe some repair
work done.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah absolutely Um with the roof.
You know you want to make surethe roof and the gutters are
doing what they're supposed todo and of course, the roof is
going to shed the water off, uh,and the gutters shed the water
away from the house and you know, either one of those
functioning improperly is goingto be a really big deal going
into summer.
And you know, people oftenthink that you only need to
check your gutters after theleaves fall in the winter.
(16:17):
But there's a lot of dang uh,what's the right word Dangler
leaves and um, that uh, klingons, yeah, klingons, that don't uh,
that don't let go in the fall.
And you really need to checkyour your gutters, uh, in early
summer, especially before allthese summer storms that we get.
So we're probably three or fourweeks late on giving that
advice, but, um, we had a lot ofrain last week and I think that
(16:41):
that's just a wise thing to do.
Or call us.
We do roof inspections for free,but roofs are maintenance.
People think I've got a 30-yearroof.
I don't have to have it lookedat for 30 years, but there are
other components like theflashing and the pipe boots and
things that go bad along the way.
So very wise to get thatchecked out, because you could
spend a lot of money on interiordamages just from neglect.
Yeah sure.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Top top roofingcom.
Uh, we were talking aboutdecking uh recently and I have
uh treated.
You have uh composite decking.
Um, we made clear treated deck.
Treated wood requires somemaintenance, so you're going to
want to take that pressurewasher.
Maybe, if you haven't stainedor sealed it in a while, you can
do a step up higher and makesure you get rid of the old
(17:22):
stain so it'll show up an evencoat when you update it this
spring.
Always wait until after pollenseason, which we're way past
that, but I don't know why.
I just like a real wood deckand I understand the
functionality and thepracticality of having something
like Trex or another compositematerial and man the composite
decks.
When they're done right andthey all have the nice square
(17:45):
edge, they can look like a pieceof artwork.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Oh, for sure, and I like mine.
But my deck is on the northside of my house, so saving
grace there is that the sun iscompletely on the other side by
the time it really gets to theheat of day, so it doesn't heat
up like most Trex decks.
And you know to your point Ilike a wood deck as well, and I
think we talked about this on ashow two or three weeks ago that
you could get it away with twoby six decking instead of using
(18:10):
the five quarter deck boards.
But if you do the two by sixdecking, it's just that much
thicker and you always want touse the number one grade and
that'll last probably just aslong as a composite, as long as
you maintain everything.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Yeah, and that goes tied.
When we talked about using afive quarter, you're going to
want to have a closer joistspacing.
If you've got something like 24inch joists, definitely go with
a two by six because it won'tcost you really a whole lot more
and maybe pre-drill those twoby sixes before you put a screw
in those.
But you're right, that woodwill last a long time.
(18:43):
Another thing about this timeof year love is in the air and
that's bugs and they're likedoing it everywhere and
multiplying.
You've got to go around youryard and look for places that
are going to be a bug breedingground, obviously a bucket, or
if you've got a trash can lidthat's been sitting in the
corner with water in it, you'vegot to go there and tip it over.
And there are home treatmentsfor mosquitoes.
(19:05):
I've seen them online.
You can call some of thecommercial places to do spraying
for mosquitoes.
We've done it at the Smithhousehold and have had anywhere
from moderate to very goodsuccess with the commercial
mosquito controls.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh yeah, no, I'm a fan of that, as well as the
preventables.
As far as having the standingwater not accumulating anywhere
around the house, I think theone place people need to be
careful of is if you have animproperly pitched gutter, it's
always going to have standingwater in that, and so if you
have a gutter that's uh, that'sholding water on one side or the
other, that's definitelysomething to address because you
(19:39):
know they're they're going toget in there.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
It's like a high rise condo for mosquitoes.
Um yeah, Another thing we wantto talk about are your hose.
Um, what do we need to know?
What do we need to know aboutour hoes, Donnie?
Speaker 2 (19:55):
You worded that wrong .
Hoses was, I think, the prompt,more than one hoe.
Okay, and what we're talkingabout is not a lot of garden
hoes outside, we're talkingabout hoses inside the house.
And you know we put this listtogether.
We didn't do this off of Google.
This was something that's amuch better piece of advice than
anything you can find online,because we went personal and I
(20:18):
went.
You know this is a what, threeor four year checklist that we
put together and people don'tgive enough attention to the
hoses in your house and thereare about four main hoses, and
I'll start with your washer.
Of course, you got a hot andcold water hose going to your
washer, and not just the hosesbut the fittings on the hoses.
Those are things that couldgive way to a leak and you
wouldn't know it because it'sbehind your washer.
But that's that's something tomaintain, at least.
(20:40):
What?
Three to five years is a goodway to look, because you're at
the mercy of a washer and the uhacid washer, whitewashing
machine.
The washer in the fitting inthe hose is what I meant to say,
and you know it's got constantpressure on it, so it's
constantly got hot and coldwater on it and anything that
has.
That is something that needs tobe looked at.
I'll move into the kitchen andtalk about the water line hose
(21:03):
behind the refrigerator, kitchenhose, kitchen hose and the
water line behind therefrigerator.
That's something that you neversee.
So it's worth just pulling thatfridge out.
And, side note there, if you'regoing to pull it out, take a
small vacuum to the back of itand vacuum the coils off.
That will extend the life ofyour refrigerator.
Just not good to have all thedust and debris back there
(21:23):
around those.
Going over to the dishwasher Iwas waiting for you to make
another joke Dishwashing hoe.
The dishwasher hose comes outfrom behind the dishwasher and
it ties into the drain underyour sink and so there's no
dedicated line to drain thedishwasher.
(21:43):
It piggybacks on the sink drainand of course there are two
connections.
You really can't get to theconnection to the dishwasher
very easy, but the one under thesink is something you can see
pretty quick.
You know it's not unlikely tosee a drip under there and it's
just kind of hidden because youdon't look under your sink very
often.
But those are the main four andI will say, if you have a
dehumidifier anywhere in thehouse.
(22:03):
The dehumidifier drain isdefinitely a vulnerable point as
well.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So that's worth checking out.
Another thing let's deviatefrom hose.
Um, that's good to do this timeof year, just any time of year,
if there's something thatcauses you to remember to do it.
But test your smoke and carbonmonoxide detectors, get a combo
machine.
They're pretty cheap, no doubt,and uh, maybe just upgrade them
, even if they seem to beworking fine if they're a few
five years old.
(22:29):
Go ahead and buy a set and putthem in the appropriate spots in
your house so you can havethose running, because we tend
to, you know, smoke detectors,carbon monoxide detectors,
become wallpaper on your wall,even if they're big, bright and
white and have a blinking light.
You don't think about them.
So it's best not forget aboutthose things.
(22:50):
You mentioned dishwashers andchecking out the hose and your
dishwashing hose.
What are some general cleaningtips you can do with a
dishwasher?
Or think, all that food thatgoes to the dishwasher gets
ground, goes down the disposal,you can get some rank smells
coming out of there?
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, for sure, you know, we've been told by
plumbers not to put boilingwater down that because it's not
good for the drain pipes.
Um, if you get some nastysmells, I'd go with the hottest
water you could get, maybe heatit up to, not to the point of
boiling and gosh, because thatwill, that will, uh, help that
(23:34):
pass through if there's anythinghung up right there.
So, hot water and dishdetergent for the disposal.
Uh, the hack that I've used onmy dishwasher is, you know, I, I
, you, I have an emptydishwasher and I just run a low
speed cycle but I put two cupsof vinegar in the bottom, and
vinegar is, you know, god's giftto nature.
So it's, um, it's a good thingto completely uh clean your,
(23:57):
your dishwasher.
And my dishwasher is kind ofold, maybe 11 years old and, um,
uh, I've had good results.
It seems like it works betterafter I run the two cups of
vinegar through, uh, each andevery time, but I do that every
couple of years and I've seengood results.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Another thing you can do and you only think of doing
this when you have a clog, butis to plunge your sink, because
even if you pour stuff down thedrain, especially when it hits
the P trap, it won't necessarilyget rid of the material that
has built up on the bottom halfof it.
So you can clean it out andthen say, well, why is it still
smelling?
And I've talked to you aboutthis before.
They have sink plungers thatfit in a sink, that are small,
(24:42):
so including a bathroom sink,and if you're using a bathroom
sink or any basin that has theoverflow holes in it, you got to
plug those holes first.
But go ahead and use a sinkplunger and clean it out.
That got to plug those holesfirst, but go ahead and you know
, use a sink plunger and cleanit out.
That way to make sure you'repushing stuff through the pipe,
because hot water and vinegarand stuff won't necessarily get
(25:03):
all the stuff that's built up.
But you can put a foam cleanerdown there, give it a couple
shots with a um, a sink plunger,and really get rid of any
residual stuff.
Now, if you really want to getrid of it and you're not worried
about it, it's pretty easy todo take your P-trap off and
clean that thing out.
You might be stunned,especially if it's a bathroom
(25:24):
sink.
What makes it down to theP-trap and never makes it over
that little hump to get out intothe sewer system.
It's easy to do do 10 minutesto clean a P-trap.
So I would do that.
Donnie, I just realizedsomething.
We've got a ton of stuff wewant to talk about and we've
almost burned up the show justgiven the basic tips of summer.
(25:46):
So I want to ask you would itbe cool if we come back next
week and go into more depthsubjects like HVAC units and
things like that and what peoplecan do to get prepped for
summer and avoid some issueslike I've run in with my HVAC
unit that I can talk about nextweek?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Yeah, I knew that was going to happen.
But absolutely, man, it's a lotof content this time of year.
You know the questions arerolling in, so we appreciate
everybody's interaction because,like I always say, that drives
the show and it just feels good.
You know, we've got a heck ofan audience now and new radio
stations pick us up.
It seems to be on the regular,and just glad that we can
(26:26):
contribute to your house, yourpeople, family, that kind of
thing.
All right.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So that's what we're going to do.
We're going to let you all knowthat next week we're going to
kind of do a part two of thisand we're going to go into
in-depth about HVAC units andI'll tell my story and then
we'll talk about that and thenwe'll get into some other stuff
you can do for summer for allyou homeowners, whether it's
inside or outside.
Donnie's got an interestingidea on insect control that I
wasn't aware of.
(26:50):
But go to the website,thecarolinacontractorcom.
We'll have this stuff also onsocial media, up on the YouTube
page, so you can watch it andwe'll all learn some stuff
together this summer whileDonnie grills everything for us.
And so if you hit a smallvarmint on the way over, put it
on the grill.
Donnie will have it on thegreen egg and we'll eat it later
.
But we'll put recipes up on thewebsite too.
(27:13):
But you can find it all atthecarolinacontractorcom and we
will see you next week for parttwo.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Right, donnie.
Yes, sir, that all sounds greatand, by the way, I don't have
any recipes for possum, raccoonor turtle.
And if you are curious aboutthat, you just said roadkill on
the grill.
If you're curious about that,and you just said roadkill on
the grill, if you're curiousabout that, I do have some guys
that I work with who will eatall three, and so you know,
maybe private message me throughthe website.
And I never knew this, but theguys told me turtles have three
(27:43):
kinds of meat, so there's awhite meat, a dark meat and then
a third kind of meat.
That I'm curious, but I don'treally want to know that bad.
So, uh, supposedly raccoons area little greasy but possums are
wonderful.
Uh, I've been told about allthat.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
So I, uh, I hope I never get hungry enough to have
to try that, but but maybe Well,we'll have to have them on for
a special third episode of uh,grill what you kill with your
car and we'll.
We'll dedicate that to them.
All right, We'll see you guysnext week for part two of
getting ready for summer on theCarolina contractor show.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina contractor show.
(28:21):
Visit the Carolinacontractorcom.
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