How To Prepare for Beryl

Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
Texas at his Home Improvement is onthe air with your host, Jim Dutton.
Let me a lot of trouble frustration, really appreciate You're wonderful. Thanks
here the godsend. Listen to yourshow. It's happened to turn on perfect
time. If you recommend them,then you never give them from the show.
Any four recommendations, all going thatcall Jim now with all your home

(00:25):
improvement questions. That's seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two,one two five eight seven four. Texas
Home Improvement brought to you by ReadySeals, Stain and Selar Sunburn Shutters.
Where beauty meets energy efficiency, AmericanStandard Comfort the way you like it do.
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(00:48):
Texas Remodel Team Windows, the officialwindow installer at Texas Home Improvement. James
Hardy Siding, the best sighting onthe Planet floor and the Core Victor's Remodeling
and Construction. A party playing specialist, Reva Synthetic Singles by f Wave and
USA Insulation Wall Home Insulation for assistinghomes. Now broadcasting live from the Dot

(01:11):
Ranch. Here's Jim dony Hey,welcome to Texas Home Improvements, your total
home improvement source. I am JimDott here to help you out. Seven
one three two one two five eightseven four. That's the number to call
with any home improvement question you have. Seven one three two one two five

(01:34):
eight seven four. Of course,don't forget about our website, t hipro
dot com. There's all kinds ofhelpful information there, links to the people
you hear me talk about. There'squestions and answers. I mean, it's
just a wealth of information when yougo to thchipro dot com. But while
you're there, sign up for ournewsletter. It goes out every other week.

(01:55):
It's free of charge, but itstill has a lot of helpful information
for you. And don't forget that'swhere you find they asked Jim button where
you can send in email questions.So again it's t hipro dot com,
but our number seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. If

(02:15):
you like me, you've been workingon projects at the house over this uh
fourth of July weekend, or maybeyou're trying to prep a little bit for
the impending hurricane that's coming in.Whatever you got going on, feel free
to pick up the phone and giveme a call at seven one three two
one two five eight seven four,and I'll see what I can do to

(02:38):
help you out here on Texas HomeImprovement. And you know, talking about
the hurricane, you know, likelike they said, it's it's coming up
to coast. We're going to beon the dirty side of this thing.
And one of the things that overthe last couple months that we've had is
quite a few calls about generators notworking when it's time to use them.

(02:59):
They're they're fired up, they're runfor five minutes a month, but when
it's time to use it, thething won't stay running. Well, I
don't have a whole house generator.I have a portable generator. But I
will tell you that this morning Iwent and fired mine up. Now mine's
of gas, being portable. Andone of the concerns I had was one

(03:23):
was a gas too old. Twowas gonna stay running and stuff. And
I could hear the motor just justa little bit every once in a while,
hiccup, you know, one't runningnice and smooth. And so what
I did is I put a loadon it and had that thing running at

(03:45):
full blast. Now, why didI do that because I know as long
as it was sitting with the gasthat we have to use nowadays, things
will tend to start to come up. By running it full blast, I
was flushing out the system and Ileft it run for thirty forty five minutes.
Though now I know that it runsthe way it's supposed to do.
It's moved out, got rid ofall that noise, so my carburetor's all

(04:09):
cleaned out and I know it's producingelectricity. And I would recommend to everybody
if you've got a generator, insteadof just letting that you know, once
a month five minute tests be enough. Fired up once in a while,
make it run through full cycles andlet it run for thirty forty five minutes

(04:30):
to an hour to make sure everythingis working the way it's supposed to.
And that includes whether it's a wholehouse generator or just a portable generator,
so that you're ready when the stormcomes in. Of course, some of
the other things we need to dois make sure any loose things we have
around the house are picked up andbuy around the house, I mean outside.

(04:55):
If you need to board up windowsor protect windows, do it early.
Don't wait until the last minute.The way this one looks is we're
probably going to be wet. Uh, So wait until the last minute is
not going to do you well.So just a couple of tidbits and we
can talk about other things later.But if you got a question seven one

(05:15):
three, two, one two,five eight seven four, let's head to
Victoria and David. This is Jim. How can I help you? Hey,
Jim, we're roughly sixty miles inlandfrom the Gulf and they're expecting uh,
you know, tropical star I meana Category one hurricane here right.

(05:39):
What do you think about do youthink there's a need to board up for
something like that or not? Youknow, I would hate to tell you
not. And then it increases toa Cat two or three. And in
the past we have seen that happenwhere you know it's coming in and as
it gets closer to the coast,the water's heat up, and these things

(06:00):
every once in a while will jumpfrom that Cat one to a Cat two
or three. So, given asclose as you are, and given where
this storm is actually predicted to comein, if it was my house,
yeah, I'd probably be looking atboarding up at this point. You know,
that's happened on the last two hurricanesthat jumped up all of a sudden

(06:24):
just as it was getting near thecoast and increased in strength. So okay,
good advice. I appreciate it,and stay safe in the storm up
there you as well. And look, wouldn't you rather board up and not
have to, you know, andand go through the storm and not need

(06:48):
the boards then to not board upand wish you ahead In the end.
We're not talking a two or threeday project to board up. We're tipic
talking a couple hours. It's wellworth looking at doing it. Now.
Do I think we need to inHouston itself? Well, I don't know.

(07:11):
You know, I will tell youmy biggest fear with this particular storm,
because it does keep trying to makethat north turn and then it keeps
going back east, is as it'scoming in, it's gonna hit those warm
waters and it's gonna follow the coastright on up until it gets to Galveston,
and then when it hits the bay, that's where it's going to turn

(07:33):
and head in. And you know, it would not be the first time
we've had that happen. And I'mnot trying to predict the weather. I'm
just telling you that's the fear Ihave with this particular storm, just the
way it keeps acting. And it'salready been up to a Cat five,
so we know it has the potentialto grow. And when it hits those

(07:53):
warm waters in that part of theGulf, which are right now warmer than
normal, we have a potential problem. So I'm telling you in my book,
we need to be better safe thansorry. So seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.And I know everybody's telling you what you

(08:16):
need to get together for a stormcoming in and everything, but look the
key things. Make sure you gotwater, make sure you have food,
and a radio that you can listento and stay tuned to seven forty so
that you can hear what's going onwith the storm and stuff. Phone chargers

(08:37):
and all this kind of stuff.And truthfully, I would recommend everybody get
a power inverter so that you canhook up to a uh well to any
battery, uh you know, vehicletype battery and be able to charge cell
phones and stuff like that, becauseI know you can go start your cars

(08:58):
and trucks and charge up your equipmentthat way, But do you want to
be wasting your gas in case youneed it later. So just some tidbits,
and you know, this is whensolar power sometimes is intriguing. I
have solar panels that I use onmy RV to keep my battery charge when

(09:18):
I go camping where there's no power, and I can run most everything,
obviously not the air conditioner, butyou know, as far as my lights
and water pumps and all that stuffoff of that battery on the RV and
the solar panels I have keep thatbattery charged. And we typically go camping

(09:41):
for about a week and a half, which I'll be actually doing at the
end of July here or mid July, camping that way, and I keep
everything charged. Now, actually doyou do the show even using that type
of power. So it does work. This is a great example of what
solar can do for us. Butlook, if you're getting ready for the

(10:03):
storm, if if you're even remotelyworried about should you board up or not,
you should do. I think it'sgoing to take a direct hit to
Houston. No, not based onwhat I'm seeing. But the problem is
it can again, it can changein a heartbeat and we go into major
problems. So got a home improvenquestion seven one three, two, one

(10:28):
two, five, eight seven four. I will tell you on the fourth
of July, I was painting.Uh you know, Uh, I scraped
off the popcorn ceiling. Then wehad to do the tape and float retextured
everything. So on the fourth Iprimed everything that was new. Uh,

(10:48):
got all that done. Then onyesterday I painted. Well, no,
on the fourth I painted the ceilingwith the first code of paint. Yesterday
I put a second code of painton it, and then was repainting the
walls using the same color that theyhad. So that's only going to be
the one coat. And so thisis all in the master bedroom and next

(11:11):
I'll put in new flooring and thenI can move all our furniture back into
the master bedroom. So that's whatI've been doing with my fourth of July
weekend. You know, I knowa lot of people had to work yesterday,
but still we have time to betaking care of projects. And one
of the projects that we definitely needto be working on. I know we've

(11:31):
got rain now, but if itclears out, please secure anything around the
yards that can blow away, becausethat is what causes all the damage.
And truly that's why we have toboard up. It's it's usually not the
winds themselves, it's the stuff thatwe have that's loose that the wind picks

(11:52):
up and blows through our windows thatcauses the problems. So if you got
a question seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four, that's seven
one three two one two five eightseven four, and I'll see what I
can do to help you out hereon Texas Home Improvement, your total home
improvement source. Look, let's talkabout Concord window film because if you've got

(12:33):
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hey, Concord window film can helpwith that. Uh, maybe you got
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(13:16):
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(14:03):
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(14:26):
well. When you want the best, you call due West seven to one
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Improvement recommends our company, he won'tsteer you wrong, and he recommends Guardian
roof Systems said down to Leak City. Hello jd Hey damn, how you
doing that? Man? I didcall you last week about timneycat Fleek and

(14:50):
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called Guardian Roofing. I did callhim. The technician came out, he
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the wrong type of sealing. Sohe cleaned it and resealed it and manage
that did it. Kudos to youfor recommending Guardian, and kudos to Guardian
for doing a polite, pleasant goodjob for me. I really really appreciate

(15:13):
that, and thank you so much. You met take care of Guardian roof
Systems, the official roofing company ofTexas Home Improvement. Here's their number.
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thhipro dot com. Summer time inTexas our favorite time of the year.

(15:39):
Let it snow, Let its snowlet its right. This is Texas Home
Improvement with Jim dott Hey. Welcomeback to Texas Home Improvement. Your total
home improvement sour seven one three twoone two five eight seven four Tim and
Sieber. How can I help you? Yes, Jem, I got a

(16:03):
question about boarding up the windows.I haven't done that before, but normally
I saw on TV they just puta piece of plywood, so I would
assume on the siding, the hartneysiding part where the window is, they
just kind of screwed in and theyget there. But they are lower part

(16:26):
of the house where you have birdsveneer, so that troubably, uh,
the part where I don't know howthey do it. And then also I
see somebody instead of having apply wood, they have that look SMALLI a metal
woof thing thing. They cut itdown and fit it in there. Can

(16:48):
you go into the details mechanically?How does that work? Oh? Sure
you got You've got a lot ofchoices. I mean, obviously, like
you said said, where you gotwood siding or hardy siding, you can
screw into it and you're done.Where you got brick, you typically would
cut it to fit inside the windowopening, and there's a product called plylocks.

(17:15):
You can get it typically at thebox stores, and it clips onto
the plywood and basically wedges the plywoodinto the window opening and secures it that
way. Some of the other choicesthough, they make materials out of a
oh it's almost like a cardboard look, but it's made out of plastic,

(17:40):
so it's a heavy duty material thatyou can put over the windows. They
make heavy duty tarp type materials thatcan be put over the windows. And
typically what they do with these typeof products is you put bolt studs into
the brick, and you have holesin the plastic or in the tarp with

(18:07):
grammets on them that you can hangonto those bolts, put a wing nut
down and you can do that withplywood as well, and then everything is
secured into place where you don't haveto worry about it and people worry that,
oh, I'm going to see thosebolts sticking out. You know what,
nobody ever notices them. They're smallenough that it's just not that big
a deal. So that gives youa lot of different ways of doing it.

(18:33):
I know you're you're in the Seabrookarea, Is that right? Yes?
Yes, I am so truthfully.With this storm, unless it starts
coming up the coast, we won'tneed to be worried about plywood. But
if it does come further up thecoast or starts growing massively in size,

(18:56):
then we would have to start worryingabout it. On this particular storm.
But given the the type of seasonit looks like we're going to have,
I would recommend that everybody starts gettingboards ready for later this season, even
if we don't need them this goaround. I see, I see okay.
Uh So what about the the metositting a metal hooking tide that I

(19:22):
saw people come up that window?Uh? Is that something that uh that
uh abstraca better than I will?What do you see? No? I
don't think so, because the youknow, unless your windows narrow are real
narrow. Uh, it would requiremultiple pieces, and having one solid piece

(19:47):
go across is better. Oh Isee, I see okay, I really
said you have you as well,take care, thank you. But you
know, I think the big thingswe're going to have to probably watch more
so on this particular storm is goingto be the title surge, which we're

(20:10):
all used to that and the amountof rain. But you know a few
minutes ago when the news was on, they were predicting up to five inches
of rain till Wednesday, and usuallyour system can handle that with no big
problems. When we start getting upinto the twelve inches and stuff like that,
yeah, we're going to have issues. And we're still far enough out.

(20:33):
Nobody really knows for sure what we'regoing to have. Now. One
thing I'm going to tell everybody todo. You know, after you have
damage, I tell people make sureas you're tearing everything out that you document
document document, Take your phones rightnow, video every room of your home.

(20:53):
Walk through the house, video thecondition, the possessions, everything.
So you've got a base point nowfor before and if you do get unlucky
and flood or you don't get damageto the home, you now have something
to go back and say on thisdate, this right here shows you what

(21:15):
condition my home was in. UhSo, like I say, you got
a baseline to have that discussion withthe insurance companies. So just a little
side note, tidbit of information.Have a home proven question seven one three
two one two five eight seven four. That's seven one three, two one
two five eight seven four. Youknow, Texas Remodel Teams window division can

(21:45):
help you with all your window needs. And if you're looking at new windows,
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(22:06):
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(22:29):
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for Texas Remodel Teams Window Division.The devil called he wants his weather back.

(22:57):
You're listening to Texas Home Proof MAT'swith Jim dott Hey. Welcome back
to Texas Home Improvement. Seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four Bill on the

(23:18):
west side. How can I helpyou? Yes, sir, mister Jim
Dunnon, I have a new roofon my home. It's uh this steel
steel shiggles. Yeah, beautiful,beautiful roof. And each one of these
steel shiggles is about one foot logone foot wide three foot log and about

(23:40):
two inches tall. And underneath thevacant space there they put in a fob
backing. I called it a onepiece of fold material that fills in that
whole space. The man who sawme the roof assured me that that this
the steel shigle have an aluminum zincalloy coating that will that reflects percent of

(24:06):
the radiant heat. And I waswondering about your thoughts on a radiant barrier,
one of these things that you buythe roll of radiant barrier and put
it up in the attic and putit And I've also some people say that
you can lay it on top ofthe insulation, and others say no,
you must put it up under therafters. And but the man that sold

(24:30):
me the shape, that sold methe new roofs, said that do not
do anything like that. Leave italone. You're going to mess something up.
You've got ninety percent radiant radiant heatprotection as it is, so leave
it alone. And I noticed,I can tell that my inside my home

(24:55):
is a lot easier to cool nowthat it was, say a year ago.
And how much insulation you have inyour attic? Oh, I think
I don't know, sir, butI think I have adequate. I think
here's the deal. There are alot of different types of radiant barriers out
there. And you know, thereare some that are single ply that have

(25:17):
to go on, you know,on the roof rafters and if anything's touching
it, it won't work. Ithas to have dead air space. There
are others that are designed where youcan lay them on the attic floor.
So it's just two different types ofradiant barriers. I will tell you in
my personal home, I have theplywood, the text shield plywood that has

(25:41):
the radiant barrier on the bottom.Yes, And I put the energy Q
radiant barrier that lays on top ofmy insulation, so any heat that does
build up in the attic doesn't transferinto my insulation. Allows allows my insulation
to work much better. People kindof misunderstand what a radiant barrier is actually

(26:07):
four and what it does. Aradiant barrier, you know that we always
talk about, Oh, it blocksyou know, ninety five percent of the
you know and stuff. It doesn'tmatter. It blocks the heat transfer,
and that's the important part of it. So even when you have a radiant
barrier on your plywood or on theroof rafters or anything, you're still going

(26:33):
to have heat build up in theattic. And that's the reason I also
have the energy Q, which isa multi layer system that can lay on
the attic floor. And the wayyou can really tell that it's doing its
job, I have a sheet thatgoes across the pull down staircase. I
can pull down my staircase, doesn'tmake not one ounce of difference. But

(26:56):
I reach up and I move thatradiant barrier. You're over just a little
bit. The first time you getan opening, you can feel the heat
rushing down. Yes, sir,so they work. So you're telling me
I can't put a radiant barrier ontop of the insulation. Absolutely. Okay.
Another thing, sir, what doyou think of this the statement that

(27:18):
may have made about the aluminum zincalloy all the coding called the roof shagles
steel roof shaggles that reflex dity percentof the radiant heat. I don't know
if it's the aluminum zinc alloy doingit or not, but there are a
lot of the metal roofs that dohave a reflective ability to them and blocks

(27:41):
that heat transfer. So yeah,I don't question that a whole lot.
But truthfully, if it was myhome, I would still put the radiant
barrier on the attic floor. Okaywhen you say on the attic floor on
top of the insulation, on topof the insulation, yep, mister Jim
Dutton, I appreciate your thoughts,my pleasure. Thank you, sir,

(28:04):
you bet take care. Got backagain and look, if you want to
talk to energy Q radium barrier orget more information, you can go to
our website thhipro dot com. You'llyou'll find energy q radium barrier there or
you can call them at one eighthundred nine hundred sixty two twenty. The

(28:26):
beautiful part about that material, it'snot real expensive and you typically save it
in energy costs in a matter ofmonths. It really does make that big
a difference. Let's see seven onethree, two, one two five eight
seven four Brett. This is Jim. How can I help you? Yeah,

(28:47):
Jim, I have a question onan AC system to choose. Uh,
my wife and I we have asmall little ranch down in Mattagorda County
which is preparing for the possible herbCanaan weather. But but part of that
is we're going to build a littlecabin out there when we go down on
the weekends, probably about one thousandand twelve hundred square feet, two bedrooms.

(29:12):
I'm just wondering should I go minisplits or just do a central air
system. What's your thoughts and whatyou're like dislike I'm more worried about humidity
removal. Sure, so when areyou looking at building? Probably within the
next six months. Okay, here'sa read. I asked that question.

(29:38):
The energy people, the with thefederal government have come out with you know,
EPA with new guidelines on hvac's duckwork, when you put in ducks is
now going to have to pass astatic test. Along with that, they've

(29:59):
up the coolants, changed the coolantsagain rather and so it's making all the
equipment have to be different again.It is really going to drive up the
cost of the old style HVAC systemsthat we're all used to having to the
tune of a system nowadays that youcan get for say fifteen eighteen thousand is

(30:26):
probably going to go up another tento twelve thousand in cost. The mini
splits, the ducklass systems are goingto become the prominent system out there because
it's going to be so much lessexpensive and they're already cheaper to operate.
So on what you're building, Iwould look at the ducklass type system if
it was mine. And with that, I'm going to put you on hold

(30:49):
because I got to take care ofsome business here. But you know,
if you're looking for an HVAC system, take a look at American standard.
This is my choice air conditioners.In fact, I do have an American
standard mini split system as well asa variable speed system. The American standard

(31:10):
technology. It meets the ever changingTexas weather head on, so keep your
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and invest in the home comfort systemthat will last you a long, long

(31:33):
time comfort the way you like it. American standardair dot com. And if
you're looking for a system for yourhome, you know, go to thchi
pro dot com, click on thelink for American Standard and scroll through and
just be amazed at how many choicesyou actually have for air conditioning systems.
At floor Endcore, we know proas your one stop source. We deliver

(31:56):
everyday savings on over a million squareour feet of instock flooring tools and installation
materials. See how our flooring expertscan help save you time and money with
our best in class selection at rockbottom prices and with pro level benefits like
our dedicated Pro service Team, ProHotline, Pro Premier Financing and unbeatable Pro
Loyalty program, you get what youneed, when you need it, where

(32:19):
you need it. Come discover floorand decore where we know pro You know,
James Hardy siding is the best sidingon the market. I've got James
Hardy siding on my home. I'vehad it for fifteen years already love it,
you know I want with the colorplus still looks great. I did
wash it once and I'll probably haveto do that again here before long.

(32:42):
But look, if you're looking fora maintenance free siding that's gonna hold up,
going to keep paint better than anysiding you've ever seen. You're looking
for James Hardy siding. When JimDotton No Texis Home Improvement recommends the company,
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(33:09):
miserable so cross that keep getting destroyed. It's just a nightmare. So anyway,
I had Jacob out from your company, Due West, and he was
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(33:30):
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(33:51):
du dash west dot com. DoWest Services. Welcome to Texas Summer,
the only where you get condensation onyour butt from the hot water in the
toilet bowl. Here's Jim Dunton onTexas Home Improvements. Hey, welcome back
to Texas Home Improvements. Seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.

(34:15):
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four. You know,
before we had to take that quickbreak there, I was kind of
going over the differences between a minisplit, duckless whatever you want to call
it, and conventional air conditioning systems. And with the added costs that are

(34:37):
getting ready to start coming out onthe conventional systems, you're going to see
more and more people switching over tothe mini split duckless systems. Uh,
and we're just gonna call them anyI guess we'll call them duckless. You
know, if you go overseas that'salready the predominant AC system them. We're

(35:00):
kind of running behind the rest ofthe world in sticking with the ducks and
the way we heat and cool ourhomes. And as far as the little
place that he was talking about building, Look, we've got a place like
that up at the Deerly. SoI was up there last weekend, and

(35:21):
you know how hot it was lastweekend, and we have just one unit
in there, and it kept itkeeps the main body of the house cool,
kept the bedrooms just fine. Now, we don't have any blower motors
or anything to bring air into thebedroom, so we just leave the doors
open and it circulates just fine inthere. But you have the choice when

(35:45):
you go with these duckless systems.You can actually put one of the head
units in every single room, andthey make outside units that will handle multiple
head units like that. You know, it's not uncommon to have it with
two or three, four, butthey got something that'll handle eight. And

(36:08):
I think they got more than thateven available now. But nonetheless, the
beautiful part about going with those typeof systems, every room can have a
different temperature setting. So you canadjust the living room at night to let

(36:28):
it warm up to you know,seventy eight degrees, and have the bedroom
set it sixty nine degrees and betotally comfortable without having to heat and cool
the entire home. Now, yougot to be careful when you're going with
those duckless systems in that if you'vegot somebody in the house who's say cold

(36:52):
natured, they like to run theheat when everybody else wants the air conditioner
running, you do need an upgradedducktugless system or put in a separate outside
unit for them, because you canliterally, when doing them that way,
have one room that's got a heatergoing in other rooms that got the AC

(37:12):
going. But you do have toupgrade the system or put a separate outdoor
unit for those particular rooms. Butit is very capable of doing that.
So it does make it where everybodycan be set at their own comfort level.
As far as manufacturers, you know, I mentioned in that ad their

(37:36):
American Standard. American Standard had teamedup with Mitchubishi in the past to make
the ducklist systems, and you know, there's a lot of different manufacturers who
make duckless systems, and the ducklesssystems have been around for years already.
The technology is proven and a lotof times it is more energy efficient to

(38:01):
go with a ducklass than it isto go with the standard duck type system.
Now, there are some downfalls.They don't dehumidify is good as a
regular duck type system, but thatcan be compensated with a dehumidifier, a
whole house dehumidifier, so that's easyto compensate for. The Other issue that

(38:22):
I've seen with them over the yearsis the drain on them. It's harder
to keep the drains clean on themthan it is with a standard duct type
system because the drain pipes are typicallysmaller, so they do clog up easier,
and when you're putting them in asa retrofit, it's a little bit

(38:44):
harder to get the drain going outside, so it does create some minor issues.
All of them are easy to takecare of. One of the things
you can do with them is youcan actually put a little pump to pump
the water through the pipe instead ofjust letting it gravity feed. So you

(39:05):
do have options to take care ofthem. So just my little two bits
on that. And I did seesomething advertised on TV that I haven't seen
yet, but I will be lookingat it further, and that's a device
that can be hooked up to anair conditioner to inject some chemical into the

(39:25):
drain line periodically to keep it clean. You know we talk about pouring bleach
in it every couple months. Well, this automatically would do that, so
it keeps it cleaned out for youall the time. It's something I hadn't
seen before, makes all the sensein the world, and it definitely is

(39:45):
something I'll look further into. Butlook, if I tell you, don't
let somebody scare you into replacing yourHVAC system. If it's still working,
fine, keep it, but beprepared when you do replace your standard HVAC
system. The cost is getting readyto go up substantially, and I've been

(40:09):
told as much as thirty five thirtyeight percent starting at the first of the
year. I have not received anynumbers yet from manufacturers suggesting it's going to
be that high, but that doesn'tmean it's not going to be substantial.
So as I know more on it, I will let you know more as

(40:30):
well. Got a question seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
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(41:17):
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(43:09):
I said down to Leak City,Hello JD Hey Jim, how you
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managed that did it. Kudos toyou for recommending Guardian, and kudos to
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really appreciate that, and thank youso much you met. Take care.
Guardian roof Systems the official roofing companyof Texas Home Improvement. Here's their number
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(43:53):
o seven seventy two eighty, orclick the link under Trusted Contractors at tapro
dot com. Texas Home Improvement remindsyou to be sure and hydrate so you
don't die drate. Here's more withJUT Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome

(44:17):
back to Texas Home Improvement. Sevenone three, two one two five eight
seven four Joe and Seeley. Howcan I help you well? Sir h
Listening to your last segment there talkingabout the mini splits. Yeah, your
description there of the camp house anduh for better for I guess clarification.

(44:42):
We've got kind of an upgrade deercamp house. Uh. We built.
It's a four bedroom, uh,one for myself and each of the kids
and their families. And in eachbedroom we have a head for a mini
split. It feeds off of asingle unit. Is everybody one of them
like sixty eight degrees? One ofthem like we like seventy eight degrees.

(45:05):
So we've got that. But inthe main room we have another unit that
feeds additional many split units, uhin the den and kitchen area. The
problem that we're having is we're notthere all the time. We may go
a month or two without being there. When we do get there, the

(45:28):
drainage has blocked and there's water drippingon the floor. Ye Now, Uh,
these units have been in place forabout uh seven or eight years now,
and one of the heads has gottenso bad that I think we're gonna
have to replace the heads. They'reMitch Mitchbisi units. And Uh, what

(45:52):
I need to know is do youare you aware have they improved the ability
to put colorocks or put bleach intothese grains so it doesn't clog up as
bad or is it still it's justa pain to try to clean them out.
It's a pain to clean them out. Okay, all right, I'm

(46:15):
gonna put you on hold because thereis something that I'm gonna recommend that can
help you with this, but Igotta take care of news, traffic and
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(46:37):
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(46:59):
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(47:22):
Texas Home Improvement is on the airwith your host, Jim Dunton. You
let me all out of trouble frustration, really appreciate You're wonderful. Thanks you
a godsend to listen to your show. Just happened to turn on perfect time.
Well, if you recommend them,then you've never give them from the
show. Any four recommendations, Allknowing that, call Jim now with all

(47:44):
your home improvement questions as seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four Texas Home
Improvement brought to you by Ready Seals, Stain and Seiler Sunburst Shutters. Where
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(48:07):
Team Windows, the official window installerat Texas Home Improvement. James Hardy Siding
the best sighting on the planet floorand the core Victor's Remodeling and Construction.
Hardy Plank Specialist, Revao Synthetic Singlesby f Wave and USA Insulation Wall Home
Insulation for assisting Homes, broadcasting livefrom the Dutton Ranch. Here's Jim Dutton.

(48:36):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvements,your total home improvement source. I
am Jim Dutton here to help youout with another hour of Texas Home Improvement.
Seven one three two one two fiveeight seven fourth number to call at
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. Of course, don't
forget about our website tchi pro dotcom as all kinds of helpful information,

(49:01):
their links to the people. Youhear me talk about, questions and answers,
videos. It's just a wealth ofinformation at thhipro dot com. And
while you're there, make sure yousign up for our newsletter that goes out
every other week. It doesn't costyou anything. And there again it's helpful
information to keep your home going theway you want it. That's also where

(49:21):
you're gonna find to ask Jim buttbutton and that's how you send in emails
to me, so thipro dot com. With that being said again our number
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four, we're gonna go back
and talk with Joe some more andshow you there, Yes, sir,

(49:42):
still okay, So the issue you'rehaving with the mini splits with the drain
that is a common problem with themini splits. There are devices now though,
that you can put inside the littlepan on the bottom of the mini
split so if it does start backingup, it shuts that head unit off

(50:07):
so it doesn't flood anything. It'sbasically a shut off. Smart AC makes
some as well that can monitor ifsomething starts going wrong and notify if you
have Wi Fi there, But thebig thing is to get it shut off
before it causes water damage. AndI was mentioning this a few minutes ago

(50:30):
I saw a device. Now,the one I saw is made for regular
air conditioning systems, but I wouldimagine there'll be one for a mini split
if it's not out yet coming shortly, that will periodically inject the chemical,
the bleach or whatever into the lineto keep it clean, so you don't

(50:53):
have to be there to do it. And if they can get that going
on those mini splits, that wouldbe a godsend. YEP. I agree
with that. That is the soleproblem of They've really been worked well for
us in our situation, But asI said, in a place that's not
occupied on the daily basis, whenthese things clog up and they start to

(51:16):
lead my understanding, or it appearsthose strain pans are so very small that
it doesn't take just a little bitand uh it's water going someplace. So
well, yeah, if anything thathappened on that, I may not sure.
Well those those water shut off Uhyou know, the water shut off

(51:37):
is already available for them. Uh. They make them for oh, tankless
water heaters as well, and youknow how small those are. I mean
that's just like a big book andyou know it just sits in the bottom
there. So the minute to dropof water hits it, that that particular
head unit will be shut off.And so that's already available, and you

(51:58):
may want to talk to your vacguy about putting some of those in.
Okay. Uh. I have asecond question now, because I'm probably gonna
have to replace a couple of theheads on these units, uh because of
the stuff that's all all on itand everything, and I think it's worked

(52:22):
against it. Do you have anyrecommendations? Can you leave the outside unit
as is and just replace the heads? Are okay? You can? Okay?
Uh? And you have to staywith the same manufacturer or can you
go with a different manufacturer. Again, these are the MITS issues that you
mentioned earlier. Uh. And Idon't know you said American standard is tied

(52:45):
to them in some way, shapeor fession. I know they were.
I'm not sure that they still are, but uh okay, and it wasn't
that they were linked together. Theywere. They were just working together on
stuff I see. But you know, Mitchubishi still, be honest with you,
sets the standard on these mini splitsystems. Dykin is another one that

(53:07):
does really good. Uh. Soyou know that gives you two brands.
But if it was me, Iwould stick Since you got an outside unit
that's Mitchubishi, I would stick withthat for the inside head units as well.
Okay, okay, all right,Well that's good advice. I appreciate
it. And uh the problem thatI'm gonna have to deal with is uh

(53:30):
this water shut off thing going forward. But uh, maybe my my HVAC
guy can take care of me.It's down around the Alice Corpus Christie area,
so I'll have to see what's goingon down around in that area.
So yeah, or qualify prepairman.So okay, Jim, I really appreciate
your help on this and appreciate youradvice on it. Thank you, sir,

(53:52):
you bet you take care all right? Bye bye again our number seven
one, three, five eight sevenfour John, this is Chim. What
can I do for you? Ohyes, sir, I actually have a
few comments about the missabishing minis footsystems. I'm actually a contractor installs them.

(54:15):
And to the other gentleman that wasjust on the show, I would
recommend one thing you can actually ifyou take off, if you flip up
the panel to where you can removethe filters, you can actually take a
spray bottle of half bleach, halfwater and spray a lot of it and
it'll go down into the pan andhelp him keep it cleared. Right.

(54:37):
Yeah, And that's what he wassaying earlier that you know, it's kind
of a pain to do it.He can do it, but he's not
there and it clogs up when he'snot there. Right. And there are
the float switches that are used.The city makes us requires that we put
them in on every system and they'reelectronic float switches to where they will auto

(55:00):
madically cut off the unit. Ionly use Mitsubishi that I think they're the
only ones that are good. Thereare no other good ones out there in
my opinion, But also he cannotmix and match because the MANI splits,
the way they operate is they operatethrough it. It's they operate through electronics,
but they operate through a series ofpulses that go through the communication line

(55:23):
from the unit outside to the unitinside. So you have to stay with
the same kind or it's not thesame exact model for it to communicate properly.
That's that's the next thing that Iwas going to say, right,
and then the last thing I wasgoing to say. When you were making
the comments about humidity removal and stuff, I would actually say that because mini

(55:47):
splits are depressors are variable speed,they actually are computerized such that they maximize
humidity removal by slowing down the pressor speeding the compressor up, depending on
the needs of you know, whatthe temperature is inside of the room.
So for instance, if the roomis close to the set tent, it

(56:10):
can scroll down the compressor to whereit's not running very fast, and that
way it can maximum and the fanand it's that way it can maximize humidity
removal. So I know they saythat, but I got to be honest,
I have not found that to bethe case, really, I put
I put in a bunch of them. That and one other thing that I

(56:31):
you know that I would like tosay about mini splits in general is and
you would know this too, I'msure, but you know when when inspectors
go and inspect houses they use thisridiculous uh infrared gun to check the temperature
at a grill. Well, thefact is is between the coil up in

(56:52):
the attic or wherever your coil isand the termination point where it actually exits
into the room itself, you canlose as much as twenty percent of the
temperature of that air just by theair going through the duck court. So
another positive about many splits is youdon't have that with that it it will

(57:15):
actually you know, there's no Yeah, they're produced. Is the air coming
in? Yes, that's right,that's exactly right. And I'll straight up
if I was building a new houseright now, without question, I would
put many splits in. I wouldcertainly I would certainly consider it too,

(57:36):
because although you know you have topipe everything in the communication wires and the
pipes to each place, it's reallyno different than having to run duckwork and
such and right, and you haveabsolute control. Everybody has control of their
own space. And so I reallylike them. But we've had terrible luck

(57:57):
with trying to repair other brands.But Miss ABC, you know, is
golden in my opinion, that contributionI have, you know, and I
know there's other brands out there,but I've had good luck with the Mitchubishi
and the dyke In or the twobrands that that we've had. Dike and
I have not. Diken uses cheapercontrols and sensors and things like that,

(58:22):
and they really tend to throw techniciansfor a loop because there are so many
sensors in the system that I don'tknow if Mitsubisci just uses the highest quality
sensors or what. But I don'tseem to have sensors go out on Miss
ABC's like I do with with Dekins. Just mind say I have not experienced

(58:44):
that, but doesn't mean it doesn'thappen. And uh, you know a
lot of times and U and Iguess I'm gonna ask you this, John,
A lot of times technicians like whatthey've been trained on. Have you
been trained on both? Yes,sir, I have, Okay, I
have in fact that you know,if each of these companies, they have

(59:07):
like a secret website for people whoare diagnosing them and such as they give
it out whenever you're talking to theirtechnical support department if you're a licensed contractor,
right and you know, they giveyou access, which is really really
good. But you know, Ijust still find that mister Beecies are just

(59:28):
the highest quality. Yep, andit is. Yeah, I said that
as well. They set the standardthat the rest of them basically follow absolutely,
and you know, I don't youknow, we put them in,
but we've been in mostly this conventionalair conditioning, but I'm always thinking about

(59:49):
someday there's going to be a changewhere you know, you're not running cold
air through a hot, hot,hot attic. It just doesn't make any
sense because you lose so much coolingwith going through that duck work. Well
that that day is January first,twenty twenty five. Yeah, yeah,
I think you might be right.Yeah, I mean, I'm sure you've

(01:00:12):
talked about how that refrigerant is semiexplosive and it's going to change the way
that it's we have to install themand everything, well, the numbers I'm
hearing. Yeah, And you know, John, I have an HVAC company
as well. But the numbers we'rehearing from places is like a thirty five,
thirty eight percent increase in cost ofunits linked with this new ductwork requirement.

(01:00:39):
It's just crazy. And not onlythat, but you know what about
the installation Yep, definitely going torequire more technical expertise. And you know
you can no longer just sweat anelbow in. You're gonna have to use
these shark bite type fittings to doall that. And I don't know,
I'm not looking forward to it.I think it on shark bite. I

(01:01:00):
thought they were going with the crimpingh Well they are, but they still
have the O ring and stuff inthem that, right, in my opinion,
can go bad and will go badeventually. Yep. Yeah, So
John, are you do you ownyour company or you you work for a
contractor. I own my company.I'm personally licensed, been doing it for

(01:01:23):
a long time, and I reallyliked the business. And you know,
and if I thought I saw anopening to contribute, I'm waiting for the
rain to subside here, and Ithought I would give you a respect your
show and your knowledge, and thoughtI would call in not a problem.
I appreciate the call, enjoyed theconversation. You take care. Let's head

(01:01:47):
to uh Missouri City Reubens like,you know what, Reuben, I'm gonna
put you on hold because I justblew through a break that I probably better
take before I talk to you.Okay, okay, let's think a quick
break here on Texas Home Improvement thatthis is what happens when you don't watch
the clock very well and you getinto a conversation. But let's talk about

(01:02:07):
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You know, if you're having asewer leak under your homes foundation. That's
something that really needs to be addressed, but it needs to be addressed by

(01:02:52):
somebody who can take care of theplumbing as well as the homes foundation.
That's why you want to call doWest, both a plumbing company and a
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(01:03:16):
At floor Endecore, we know proas your one stop source. We
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(01:03:38):
Loyalty program. You get what youneed, when you need it, where
you need it. Come discover floorend Decore where we know pro. You
know American Standard. We talk aboutthem quite often. That's my choice in
air conditioning systems. In fact,I've been using them in my personal home
since nineteen ninety nine when I hadmy first system installed in San Antonio.

(01:04:00):
Now I have the variable speed.Love it You talking about ultimate control of
humidity. Hey, that's it.The variable speeds will do it. But
you know, American standard heating andair conditioning systems are recognized for excellence for
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(01:04:25):
changing Texas weather and you know itmeets it head on. Keep your home
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(01:04:45):
That's Americanstandardair dot Com. Jim Duttonis not perfect, but he's always right.
Here's more with Jim on Texas HomeImprovement. Hey, welcome back to
Texas Home Improvements, your total homeimprovement source seven one three, two one

(01:05:09):
two five eight seven four. We'regonna head back over to uh Ruben and
Ruben. Thank you for being sounderstanding on that. How can I help
you. Well, I've got abig year anyway, So but uh recently
I called you and asked about uhuh well, a friend of mine was
having a modular home built in SanAntonio, but they said no because they

(01:05:32):
won't build them the rocks and theywon't add a chimney to it. Anyway.
Is this something that your company wouldor does do or because I told
her, I'd called you and findout if uh it's something your company does.
We do not uh D West,which which is my construction is we

(01:05:54):
do foundation repair, retaining walls.You don't concrete work things like that.
And then we have the air conditioningcompany that we service units and do new
installs and of course plumbing to anytype of plumbing you need. But I
don't do new home construction or anything. Oh okay, well I told her

(01:06:16):
I'd give you a holler and findout. You bet, take care.
And it's not that I haven't builtnew houses. In fact, we've with
the show here, we've done afew houses where we've teamed up with other
contractors and organizations and built new homesfor soldiers and stuff from the ground up.

(01:06:38):
But it's just not something I doon a daily basis for a living
seven one three, two one twofive eight seven four Scott and friends would
welcome to Texas Home Improvement. Thankyou, sir. I'm going to need
a recommendation from you. Okay.Home was flooded at Harvey and I had

(01:07:00):
everything done. I guess I needdrywalls, gonna have throughout the whole house
up to six foot on new kitchen. Well, there's no kitchen. I
mean I need a full kitchen,two bathrooms, flooring, cabinets, countertops,
appliances. I just need like arecommendation for a contractor that does all
that. Okay, give Victor's Remodelingand Construction a call Victors Yepkay. His

(01:07:31):
number is eight three to two twofour to three ninety nine ninety seven.
I certainly appreciate another quick question.Yeh fowong was something like that, take
like a six weeks depends on whatyou're going in with, you know,

(01:07:53):
uh, and how big a house? Two thousand square feet okay, and
just going in with basics, notdoing fancy upgrades of stuff, not particularly.
I mean I like to talk tohim about it, see what the
price difference will be. I guess, yeah, well yeah, and you

(01:08:15):
know because the labor putting in.We'll use cabinets as an example. The
labor put cabinets in. Whether youuse a prefab or custom made, the
labor to install is the same,but the cost of the cabinets can be
a massive difference, I'd imagine.And then the other thing is the time
it takes, because when you docustom cabinets, they can't do they can't

(01:08:39):
make them until after the walls andeverything are sheet rocked. Where off the
shelf. Cabinets you know they're readyand you pick them up and go.
So that's the stuff that makes thetime difference. But yeah, give Victor
a call and he'll he'll work itout with you. Hey, I certainly
appreciate it, your bet. Takecare well. Back in a moment with

(01:09:00):
more Texas how improvements seven one,three, two, one two, five,
eight seven four. Look, ifyou're looking for window film for your
home, yeah, something that hasn'tbeen talked about in a long time,
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(01:09:24):
home or the temperatures coming in yourhome. Even you need to talk to
the folks at Concord Window Film.It's a professional grade window film, not
the cheap stuff that you get atthe box stores and Amazon and places like
that. But it is a doit yourself project that you can work on
to make your house more comfortable andenergy efficient. Now, if you want

(01:09:46):
a dark tent, or you wantit virtually almost clear so you can't you
know, so you don't even noticeit's there, it still blocks up to
ninety nine percent of the UV racefrom coming through. So call Concord Window
Film at eight eight eight two zerosix fourteen thirteen. Helping you save money

(01:10:10):
without being as cheap as a datato Chicken range. Here's Jim Dunton on
Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcomeback to Texas Home Improvement. Seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. That's seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. I'mgoing to read an email and this is

(01:10:32):
kind of no, not kind of. This is longer than an email I
would normally use on the air.But uh, you'll see why I'm using
this here in a few minutes.This came from Michael and he says,
in the summer of twenty twenty two, my AC went out. The company

(01:10:53):
I paid to regularly well let MEAshit the subject first. HVAC company refuses
to take responsibility for dammage they didto my ceiling, So in the summer
of twenty twenty two, my ACwent out. The company I paid to
regularly service for about five years toldme the compressor locked up and the unit
would need to be replaced. Theyinspected my furnace and said it needed to

(01:11:15):
be replaced as well. The househas always seemed muggy in the summertime.
The house was built in the midsixties. The original duck work was still
in place. The few times Iventured in the attic in the past,
the duck work did not appear tobe in great shape. I inquired if
I should have the duckwork replaced.I was told that new duck work would

(01:11:39):
improve the airflow, so I agreedin late July. The AC and furnace
was replaced. Several months later,when things had cooled down, I believe
in October, they came to replaceall the duckwork. I forewarned the company
that there was no flooring in theattic and if they stepped off the beams

(01:11:59):
they would damage my ceiling. Afterthey left. A number of days later,
I noticed fresh cracks in my ceilingin the hallway and by each ducked
in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and garage. When the
initial follow up on my HVAC occurreda few weeks later, I noticed the

(01:12:21):
technician or I notified the technician ofthe damage. He denied the company had
damaged my ceiling. I informed himit was not damaged before they went up
in the attic. He said hewould tell the owners. I heard nothing
back. The company called to schedulebi annual maintenance. I mentioned the roof

(01:12:41):
damage, which is actually ceiling damage, and how the tech told me the
owners would call about the damage andthey never did. I was asked to
take photos and email them, inwhich I did. Next PM visit was
from a different technician. I askedabout the status of getting my ceiling repaired.

(01:13:04):
He said he knew nothing of itand asked me to show him where
the damage was. He took picturesand said he would tell the owners.
He called someone and after he wasdone, he said one of the owners
would reach out to me again.The company called to schedule the next PM.
I asked why my ceiling has notbeen repaired. The person said they

(01:13:28):
would relay the message to the owners. I got an estimate for repair from
my ex neighbor, who has apainting business and coincidentally subcontracts repairs from this
HVAC company. I was quoted fourthousand dollars. In early May, tech
arrives to do the PM. Hewas one of the ones in my attic

(01:13:53):
that replaced the duckwork. He wasconfirmed when he asked if I remember remembered
him from the job. I showedhim all the damage. He agreed that
it looked like they did the damage. He stated how great the company is
about fixing things they have damaged.I responded that it has been over a

(01:14:15):
year and a half and I amnot experiencing their greatness. He took pictures
and said he was calling the owners. Then he told me one of the
owners would call me. Three weeksago, someone from the company called.
He said he was coming by tosee the damage. I assumed he was
one of the owners. I showedhim all the ceiling area's damage. He

(01:14:40):
took video of each. Then hetold me he would have to submit the
video to the partners to review.Two weeks later, I had no updates.
I called him and left a voicemail. He called me back to say
they reviewed the damage, but therewas nothing to pay to fix since it
had been too long, and hesays they're doing He also informed me he

(01:15:05):
had just started with the company.So with that background, this HVAC did
four thousand damage to my ceiling andhis denying responsibility, what can I do?
I've never had to deal with anirresponsible company on a personal concern.
Michael, Well, there's a couplethings here. One, you're dealing with

(01:15:32):
the house from the sixties and thesheet rock is going to be extremely brittle,
so moving the duckwork around could havecaused some cracks in it. But
the bigger problem that I see here, you just kept talking to the text
whenever they would come out up untilthe end. When it's a year and

(01:15:55):
a half later, then you startcalling somebody at the company you need.
When you have something like this happen, you have to call and notify them
immediately. I mean it could haveeven been a problem just waiting the few
days to notice it. I mean, if you have work like this done,

(01:16:16):
you go through and you check andsee if you see a problem right
away, Okay, so you sawthe damage a few days later, that's
when you needed to pick up thephone and notify them, not a couple
of weeks later when a text showsup. At that point they can already
say, hey, somebody else couldhave been up in the attic and caused
this. So I'm going to pusha little bit of this problem back on

(01:16:42):
to you as the homeowner for notfollowing up and making the necessary calls.
But beyond that, if you wantto pursue this, you know, and
let me back this up by callingin and dot documenting when you called,
by sending emails, which you didat a later date. You did send

(01:17:04):
the pictures and stuff, so thatdoes document it. That gives you documentations
showing I did notify them. Tellinga tech doesn't do a whole heck of
a lot. But at this pointyour choices are to accept it, which
doesn't sound like you want to do, so I'm not going to say that

(01:17:26):
you should. The second thing isto reach out to one of the owners,
buy phone and email, and ifyou can't get a hold of them
or you don't want to take thatroute, you file a small claims.
This is four thousand dollars, soyou file it in small claims, and

(01:17:46):
I can tell you right now,they're going to ask, you know,
where did you notify them? Howdid you notify them? So you may
run into an issue with that,but those are really going to be your
alternatives to get this taken care of. And again to everybody, when you're
dealing with a contractor, it doesno good to get horsey with them because
I can tell you they'll dig theirheels in. But you notify them,

(01:18:12):
you bring it up immediately, youcall up and say, hey, you
know, I hate to make thisphone call, but when the guys finished
up yesterday on the installation of myduckwork, I noticed that there's a couple
areas where the sheet rock is pusheddown and cracked a little bit. Can
I get somebody to come out andtake a look and see what we can

(01:18:33):
do about it. Be nice.The contractor will work with you way better
when you're nice. Then you say, hey, you guys came out and
you broke my sheet sheet rock.I want this fixed immediately. You're not
going to get very far that way. So just my two cents on this,
But yeah, it sounds like whatyou're going to have to do at

(01:18:54):
this point, though, has headdown the small claims direction. It's just
too small of an amount to gointo a full blown lawsuit. But when
you file small claims, a companyhas to have an attorney show up,
and for four thousand dollars, itmay be cheaper for them to just go
ahead and fix it rather than starthiring attorneys to fight something like this.

(01:19:18):
All right again, our number sevenone three, two one two five eight
seven four. I'm getting ready totake a quick break while we're gone.
Let's get a couple of calls inhere that we can take here before the
end of the show. Seven toone to three two one two five eight
seven four. You know Sunburst shutters. I love their shutters. I've got

(01:19:40):
them in my house. I mentionedlast week. They're at the deer LEAs.
My parents have it, my sisterhas it. You know, anybody
who sees the Sunburst Shutters they wantsome Sunburst shutters in their home, and
that they are customizable. I meanyou've got different sized lovers and trims and
stuff to really make it your ownfor your home. In fact, that's

(01:20:01):
why Sunburn Shutters does offer design consultations, so you can work with an expert
to make sure you get that perfectlook and fit for your home. Now.
The material that Sunburn shutters use isPollywood, and Pollywood is guaranteed to
never warp, crack, chip,or peel. That's a lifetime guarantee.
And you know it insulates two tothree times better than that wood shutter.

(01:20:26):
So it's just a better way ofputting shutters on your home and they're gonna
look gorgeous from here forward. I'vebeen out to homes where they've got Sunburn
shutters for the last twenty seven yearsthat look like the day they were put
in. Call sunbur Shutters seven onethree four six two eighty eight hundred.
That's seven one three four six twoeighty eight hundred. At floor End Decor,

(01:20:51):
we know pro as your one stopsource. We deliver everyday savings on
over a million square feet of instockflooring tools and installation material. See how
our flooring experts can help save youtime and money. With our best in
class selection at rock bottom prices andwith pro level benefits like our dedicated Pro
service Team, Pro Hotline, ProPremier Financing and unbeatable Pro Loyalty program,

(01:21:14):
you get what you need, whenyou need it, where you need it,
come discover floor and decore where weknow pro all right, So you
need an air conditioning system or youneed to get one serviced, call my
company du West air Conditioning. Wewould love to come out and be your
HVAC contractor. And if you needrepairs or a new system, we got

(01:21:34):
some great financing available to help youout as well. So when you want
the best, you call due Westat seven one three four seven three seven
one five six. You know alot of window companies can put in new
windows, but can they make thetrim look right? Do they use high
end cock to seal up the airgaps? And do they offer multiple styles

(01:21:57):
and choices so you can get theexact windows you need and want for your
home. Jim Dutton, host ofTexas How Improvement for Texas Remodel Team.
They have a window division that doesnothing but windows, and they can make
sure that things like your trim,your brick, even your windowsill looks perfect
because after all, they are ownedby a construction company. They carry all
the major brands of windows, andtheir insul crews are second to none,

(01:22:20):
giving them a four point nine starsout of five on Google Reviews and an
A plus rating with the BBB plusa thumbs up from me. Great windows,
great prices and a great installation calledthe Texas Remodel Team Window Division for
your new windows today two eight onesix one two fifty nine ninety one two

(01:22:42):
eight one six one two fifty nineninety one online at Texas Remodel Team dot
com. The only state where youeat jalapenos to cool your mouth off.
Welcome to Texas Summer. Here's morewith Jim Dutton on Texas Home Improvement.
Hey, welcome back to Texas HomeImprovement. Seven one three, two one

(01:23:04):
two five eight seven four. SoI got an email from Charles in the
Woodlands. He says, what arethe pros and cons of saltless whole home
water softener versus the present conventional systemthat uses salt. Currently systems lasted nine

(01:23:24):
years but now leaks and must bereplaced. Is there a brand that you
recommend? Well, first of all, here's a big difference if you only
it depends on the hardness of yourwater whether you have to have a salt
system or not. When you're inan area with really hard water, it's

(01:23:45):
going to require a salt system.These these saltless systems can only do so
much with the water, and sothat's going to be the first thing is
you got to get the water testedto see what you can use. Now,
there are some companies out there whoare hawking these and they come up

(01:24:08):
periodically hawking these salt free systems andthey're they're wrapping wires around your pipes and
stuff like that, and as thewater goes through, it's changing the molecular
make it no, that's garbage.Avoid that. Now there are systems out

(01:24:28):
there that the water runs through andit runs through the radio waves from wires
that are attached to the pipes tothe metal pipes. Uh, and that
it can help with the minerals thatgo through the water, but it's not

(01:24:48):
going to change the hardness of thewater. And so that's you know,
two different things. But some ofthe sales guys get carried away with what
the system will be capable of doing. So if you truly have hard water,
you need to take a look atassault type system. And you know,
just like we were talking about onmini splits, Mitsubishi sets the standard

(01:25:12):
for mini splits, Culligan still setsthe standard for water softeners. So that
is one brand you can take alook at. I've had a Cullagan system
in the past when I lived inSan Antonio. I currently have a Brita
water softener system in my home andI've had it for I don't know five

(01:25:33):
years, and I love it.It works great. But you know,
it just depends on how your watertests. So get the water test done
and let them make recommendations to you. But Brita and Culligan are the two
systems that I have used in thepast and currently and know that they will

(01:25:58):
do what you need to get done. So hopefully that helps you with that.
Oh let's see, there was somethingelse I was going to bring up
at when I was reading that.Oh, well, we'll get to it.
So Donald says, the size ofgenerator run a central AC in my
home. The AC is a threeand a half ton sixteens here pain installed

(01:26:21):
in two thousand and nine. Whatis the running watts needed? And with
is the start what is the startingsurge watts needed? Is this enough info
or is more information needed? Iwant a whole home generator but can't afford
it, so I'm looking at portablegenerators. Look instead of looking at a

(01:26:45):
portable generator that will run the HVACsystem. That way, what I would
look at is get a portable generatorand maybe get a portable cooling system.
It's a window unit or one ofthese that are on wheels that you can
wheel from room to room. Youknow, those come in one ton one

(01:27:05):
and a half ton, so youcan definitely cool down a room with no
big problem. Because, let's faceit, if we're out of power completely,
you know, trying to cool thewhole house may not be the smartest
thing to be trying to do,and you really don't want to be running
your whole house air conditioner on aportable generator. When you install a whole

(01:27:35):
house generator, you're typically installing aneighteen thousand or twenty two twenty four thousand
kilowatt type system, where a portableyou're looking at a thirty five hundred something
along those lines, maybe up totwelve thousand, and that's going to put
a strain on the HVAC system thatyou don't need on there, especially if

(01:27:57):
you're dealing with a system that isalready fifteen years old. So my recommendation
would be get a portable. They'renot that expensive and it will save you
money in the long run. Becauseyou're not putting wear and tear on that
home system. All right, let'stalk about ready seal far in the way.

(01:28:17):
The best stain and sealer to puton any outdoor wood that you have
now, Ready seal is a woodstain and sealar in one so you can
add color and seal the wood frommoisture in one easy step. And combining
the stain and sealar it eliminates extracost, saves time during application, but
it still produces a high end qualityfinish every time. You don't have to

(01:28:41):
worry about, you know, watersoaking in and things like that because all
ready seal wood stain and sealers penetratedeep into the wood fibers moisturized in the
wood with waterproofing oils and creating aflexible barrier that keeps the moisture out.
And this is the simplest do ityourself project you will ever do. Spray
it on, brush it on,roll it on. Don't worry about run

(01:29:03):
laps or streaks because as it soaksin, it spreads out and hides all
that stuff you want some ready seal. It's at the box stores, lumberyards,
hardware stores. To find a storenearest, you just go to readyseal
dot com. You know, ifyou're having a sewer leak under your homes
foundation, that's something that really needsto be addressed, but it needs to

(01:29:24):
be addressed by somebody who can takecare of the plumbing as well as the
homes foundation. That's why you wantto call do West both a plumbing company
and the foundation repair company to makesure if your homes foundation stays intact years
after the plumbing work is done.When you want the best, call do
West seven one three four seven threeseven one five six online at dudash west

(01:29:47):
dot com. You know Energy Qradium barriers. The radium barrier I recommend
all the time because it's a multilayer system with a thermal break in the
middle that allows you to two sandwichhit behind building materials, lay it on
the attic floor. You don't haveto worry about if it's touching something,
unlike single ply type radium barriers.I've personally been using the energy Q radium

(01:30:13):
barrier for over twenty years. That'swhen I had it put in my own
house. Well, actually I didn'thave it put I had my boys put
it in the house for me.We just bought the material and put it
in. But this material, itreally will reduce your energy costs. In
fact, it usually pays for itselfin a matter of months. Call ENERGYQ
Radium Barrier at one eight hundred ninehundred sixty two to twenty. That's eight

(01:30:39):
hundred nine hundred sixty two to twentyor just go to thchi pro dot com
and click on the link for energyqradium Barrier. When Jim Dutton recommends a
contractor, he won't steer you wrong. Dylan A Jim falling in real quick
about one of your threaded contractors detectedthrough model theme. He'll you've been working

(01:31:00):
with them for four or five yearsnow, just project after project. He's
the only guy we call. Andthey did a great job on an outdoor
kitchen for a huge patio extension,outdoor fireplace the kitchen as well. Nothing
but good things to say about them. Were constantly spreading the good word regarding
their team from our neighbors. Itreally is a good time to get things

(01:31:21):
done around the house with Texas Remodelteam. If you're needing any type of
remodeling, whether it's just a roomedition or an outdoor kitchen, or maybe
just a patio cover. Highly recommended. Call Texas Remodel Team now at two
eight one six one two five ninenine one. That's two eight one six

(01:31:41):
one two five nine nine one ourclick the link at thhipro dot com.
Get your home improvement to the nextlevel. Uh, you do have a
level, don't you? You knowthat thing with the weird green water and
the bubble to the Texas Home Improvementwith Jim Dott let's up go. Hey,

(01:32:06):
welcome back to Texas Home Improvement.Look, just a quick reminder,
like I said at the beginning ofthe show, take the time to go
through with just your camera on yourphone and record every room and everything in
every room of your home before thestorm comes in. That way, you've
got a benchmark to show what wasthere on this date. And if you'll

(01:32:29):
do that, it'll make it mucheasier if you do have to deal with
insurance company on things. And look, if you don't have flood insurance,
you're probably a little late getting itnow because you got to have, you
know, a thirty day wait forthe flood insurance, so they ain't happening
at this point. But if you'rescared, you probably better start looking at
it for the next storm. Withthat, just a quick reminder, we'll

(01:32:51):
have more Texas home improvement tomorrow attwo o'clock right here on seven forty KTRH.
So in the meantime, go tota hipro dot com. It's a
resource to help you out twenty fourto seven with all your home improvement needs.
Again it's tchipro dot com. Havea great afternoon. We'll talk to

(01:33:12):
you tomorrow. James Hardy Siding thebest siding on the market. I love

(01:33:33):
this stuff. In fact, I'vegot it on my own house for the
last fifteen years. I went withthe Color Plus. So you know all
I've had to do is I've washedthe house once to keep it clean.
You don't have to worry about bugs, you don't have to worry about rotting,
you don't have to worry about water. It holds paint better than anything
I've ever seen. Why would younot take a look at James Hardysiding for

(01:33:57):
your siding on your home? Andthe Color Plus has the paint baked on
it at the factory, so asit goes on the house is already painted.
Looks gorgeous. And you can getlap siding. You can get the
stucco look. You can get awood shake, you can get all kinds
of different trims and stuff. Youcan really upgrade the looks of your home

(01:34:18):
and make it look just the wayyou want, like a gingerbread house to
making it look like a European chateau. James Hardy Siding. Go to thchipro
dot com and click on the linkfor James Hardy Siding.

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