All About A/C Units

Jim starts the show with a few email questions about repairing or replacing a refrigerator and new flooring. Jim also gets a couple calls about A/C unit regulations and repairs. Jim continues in the second hour on the phone lines answering all your home improvement questions. Don’t forget the website thipro.com!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Texas's Home Improvement is on the air with your host,
Jim Dutton.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Let me out of trouble, frustration, really appreciate you're wonderful.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Thanks here. So the godsend that listen to your show,
it's happened to turn on perfect time.

Speaker 4 (00:18):
Well, if you recommend them, then you've never give them
from the show. Any four recommendations, all going that.

Speaker 5 (00:23):
Tall Jim, Now with all your home improvement questions. That's
seven one three two 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 Ready Seals, Stain
and Seiler, Sunburn Shutters. Where beauty meets energy efficiency, American
Standard Comfort the way you like it do. West Services

(00:44):
Foundation Repair, Plumbing and air Conditioning, Guardian Roof Systems, Texas
Remodel Team Windows, the official window installer at Texas Home Improvement.
James Hardy Siding, the best sighting on the planet, Floor
and decre Victor's Remodeling and Construction. A party plank specialist,
Reva Synthetic Singles by f Wave and USA Insulation Wall

(01:07):
Home Insulation for existing homes. Broadcasting live from the Dot Ranch.

Speaker 6 (01:13):
Here's Jimmy, Hey, welcome the Texas Home Improvement Your total
home improvement sour seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. That's seven one three two one two
five eight seven four. Any home improvement question you have,

(01:33):
just feel free to pick up the phone, give me
a call, and I'll see what I can do to
help you out here on Texas Home Improvement. You know,
when you go to thchipro dot com, which our is
our website unified, there's all kinds of helpful information there
as well, like links of the people you hear me
talk about. That's the reason I don't give out web
addresses because you can just go to thchipro dot com

(01:56):
and I'm rest assured you get in the right link
that way. But there's also a place to sign up
for our newsletter that goes out every other week. It's
free of charge, and you can look at old newsletters
by going to thchipro dot com. There's also the ask
Jim button for sending in email questions. It's just a
wealth of information when you go to thchipro dot com.

(02:22):
Uh again, our phone number seven one three two one
two five eight seven four is for any home improvement
question you have. I know it's Labor Day weekend. We
are here live taking calls and answering questions. So if
you got a project you're working on, project you're thinking about, uh,
maybe you're gonna just sit in the lazyboy chair and

(02:43):
uh think about all the projects you could be working
on during this Labor Day weekend. Eight that's fine as well.
Just give me a call seven one three two one
two five eight seven four and we can definitely talk
about out what we uh think we'll get your project

(03:03):
taken care of for you. So again seven one three
two one two five eight is seven four, And I
think we'll start off with some email questions and let's
see refrigerator repair. This comes from Shim in Houston and

(03:25):
says my Maytag fridge French store about ten years old,
is not cooling. Please recommend a repair person or company. Well,
here's the problem. If you go talk to the appliance
manufacturers and stuff, they're expected life nowadays of a refrigerator

(03:46):
is about nine years. They're not building the quality refrigerators
that we used to buy and keep it until the
outside looked old and dated. We'd put that one in
the garage and put a new one in the in
the kitchen for the name twenty years. I mean, they
tell you upfront when you're buying them that nine years

(04:07):
is about it. So you're at ten years and it
quit cooling. You know, the problem is you get a
repair person out there, You're already gonna pay for the
trip charge and diagnostic just to be told I don't know,
compressor shot or something like that, and it's not worth
putting the money into it. You're better off to go

(04:29):
get a new one. So I hate to tell you this,
but you're probably better off to just go look at
a new one than you are to look at fixing
one that's ten years old. That way, So, and as
far as a repair place to call, honestly, I don't
even know of a good repair company anymore. I would

(04:53):
have to call some of the places that sell the
equipment and talk to them. I know the maytag manage
looking for something to do. He always is in the commercials,
But that doesn't mean you want to call him. Uh again.
Seven to one three, two one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two one two five eight seven

(05:16):
four And Roxanne from Missouri City High Jim the home
builder made a horrible job installing carpets in my twenty
seven hundred square foot home eight years ago. Starting first year,
carpets wrinkled and got bumpy everywhere. What are my options

(05:39):
for changing them to non carpet and how much is
the range of each option I need to start saving
for changing them? Well, look, you don't necessarily have to
change them. You know when it when it's when it
gets uh wrinkly that way, the carpet just needs stretching,

(06:02):
and that's really not that uncommon. And if you have
somebody come in and clean the carpets, they a lot
of times can stretch it at the same time and
take care of it. So it's really inexpensive to do.
So that's the first thing I'm going to tell you now,
as far as can you put something else in absolutely

(06:22):
what would you like it to look like? You want
a wood, a tile, you know, they got all kinds
of choices and you can do. If you're going to
do it on a concrete slab, I recommend floating And
the main reason for that the glues in our area

(06:43):
tend to have issues with the moisture that comes up
through the concrete, and a floating floor tends to do better,
so that would be one of the directions you could go. Obviously,
you can go with a tile, and you can get
tile that looks like wood or slate or whatever you
want to look like. Slate floors are another option. So, uh,

(07:04):
if you're looking for an option other than carpet, go
to floor and de Core and you'll see that there
is price ranges everywhere from eighty nine cents a square
foot to you know, fifteen dollars a square foot. You
just go in and choose what you're looking for and

(07:25):
then you can start budgeting from there. But if the
carpet is still in good shape, to be honest with you,
I would look at having it stretched first. Any carpet
installation company could do that for you, and like I said,
most of the carpet cleaners can do that for you
as well. So seven one three, two one two five

(07:46):
eight seven four. That's seven one three, two, one two,
five eight seven four. Any home improvement question you have.
This one came from William and he says, I am
selling my home and the buyer is requesting a written
inspection report of my foundation, no matter if the foundation

(08:06):
has or hasn't any issues can you assist with this?
I don't care to have a whole home inspection, just
a foundation, Thanks Jim. Well, actually no, and no foundation
company should be able to assist with that, because what
you're requesting is a report, an inspection report, and in

(08:31):
Texas there's only two people who can do an inspection report,
and that's going to be either an engineer or a
home inspector. And typically home inspectors they're not real good
at doing the foundation inspection part. So and especially since
you just need the foundation looked at, you're going to

(08:52):
be looking for an engineer who can come in and
do the foundation inspection. Now, you can call the Due
West office and we'd be moren't happy to refer you
to a couple engineers who can do it, and that
number would be seven to one three four seven three
seven one five six. Or go to Foundation Performance Association.

(09:19):
It's an organization of engineers UH and do WES is
a sponsoring member of it. That you will find on
their website a list of different engineers who can come
out and do the inspection and write the report for you.
And that's really what they're looking for now. Normally the

(09:43):
seller is not the ones who would be doing that.
The buyer would normally be the one who would hire
somebody to come in take a look and do that
part of it. But I know we're shifting back from
being you know, sellers are kings and they can sell
anything and get top dollar, to where buyers are now

(10:04):
starting to be a little more picky and stuff like that.
But still on an inspection report like that that normally,
like I said, belongs to the buyer to get done.
So you may want to talk with your realator a
little bit about it and see, but your relator also
ought to have an inspector, an engineer who can do inspections.

(10:28):
That way, do wes can come out and take a
look and if there is an issue, write you an
estimate for repairs. But what we what we can't do
is write you a report that says the foundation looks
great and there's no problems here. Now I'm going to
caution you a little bit further on engineer reports. They're

(10:51):
typically only good for the day they are written. They
make no prediction of the future assessment of that foundation,
so you'll want to keep that in mind. Uh. But
other than that, I mean, that's really the direction that
you need to head with it again. If you got

(11:12):
a question seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. That's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four, And I'll see what I can do
to help you out here on Texas Home Improvement your
total home improvement source. Uh, it is Labor Day weekend.
I know a lot of people are going to be
out doing projects and thinking about projects and checking on

(11:37):
things and also just out having a good time. So uh,
if you got time to pick up the phone, I
got lots of open lines available today seven to one
three two one two five eight seven four. And Candy

(11:58):
is asking for sighting replacement, floor replacement, sheet rock replacement, MDF,
floor replacement, plumber. She needs everything called Victor's Remodeling and Construction.
He would be able to help you out with all
the different things that your home needs, and you can
reach them at eight three to two two four to
three ninety nine ninety seven. We're gonna take a quick break.

(12:22):
We'll be right back with more Texas ow Improvement. Seven
one three two poe two five eight seven four. So
you're thinking about some windows for your home, well, you
need to take a look at Texas Remodel Team's window division.
You've heard me talk about Texas Remodel Team for the
last ten plus years, but a lot of times we

(12:43):
didn't talk much about their window division. But they carry
all the major brands of windows, and their installed crews
are second to none, giving them four point nine stars
out of five on Google Reviews and eight plus rating
with the BBB and a thumbs up for me because
I know they're going to take great care of you. Now.
Their window division goes all over the Houston area, So

(13:07):
if you're looking for windows for your home, whether it's vinyl, wood, fiberglass,
doesn't matter, called two eight one six one two fifty
nine ninety one. That's two eight one six one two
fifty nine to ninety one and they can come out,
take a look and show you some great windows for

(13:27):
your home.

Speaker 7 (13:29):
At floor End Decore, we know pro as your one
stop source. We deliver everyday savings on over a million
square feet of instock flooring tools and installation materials. See
how our flooring experts can help save you time and
money with our best in class selection at rock bottom
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(13:51):
Loyalty program. You get what you need, when you need it,
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we know pro.

Speaker 6 (14:00):
All right, your air conditioning system, Let's face it is
vital to your comfort in your home. You know, we
didn't used to have air conditioning years ago, but now
it's considered a necessity. And if you're needing your air
conditioning system serviced, replaced for just plane taken care of.
You want the best, you called due West seven one

(14:20):
three four seven three seven one five six for all
your air conditioning needs.

Speaker 5 (14:27):
When Jim Zutton of Texas Home Improvement recommends a comedy,
he won't steer you wrong, and he recommends Guardian roof Systems.

Speaker 6 (14:34):
I said, down to Leak City, Hello JD.

Speaker 8 (14:37):
Hey Jim, how you doing that?

Speaker 4 (14:38):
Man?

Speaker 8 (14:39):
I did call you last week about uh chimneycat fleek
and I'd had somebody come out and basically they.

Speaker 9 (14:45):
Ripped me off.

Speaker 8 (14:45):
You recommended I called Guardian Roofing. I did call them.
The technician came out, he was on time, he's courteous.
He said, yep, they've used the wrong type of sealing.
So he cleaned it and resealed it and managed that
did it. Kudos to you for record a mending Guardian,
and kudos to Guardian for doing a polite, pleasant good
job for me. I really really appreciate that, and thank

(15:07):
you so much.

Speaker 5 (15:08):
You've got to take care of Guardian roof Systems, the
official roofing company of Texas Home Improvement. Here's their number
two eight one four oh seven seventy two eighty. That's
two eight one four oh seven seventy two eighty our
click the link under trusted contractors at thhipro dot com.

(15:28):
Hang on, cooler weather is coming. Sometime in November, you
were listening to Texas Home Improvement with Jim dot.

Speaker 6 (15:41):
Hey. Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. Seven one three
two one two five eight seven four. That's seven one
three two one two five eight seven four. Any home
improvement question half Feel free to pick up the phone,
give me a call and I'll see what I can
do to help you out here on Texas Home Provement.

(16:01):
So Sherry had sent in an email outside Brick Chimney
Repair needs a brick mason and give mister brick Brick
a call. Let me get the number here. For you.
They can take care of all your brick needs and
get your your home back into shape the way you

(16:23):
want it. And maybe it's on the other sheet here,
Oh where did I put it? I know I've got
the number for them. Well, I tell you what I

(16:46):
got two number sheets and something. There we go. It
is seven one three eight five six eighty three twenty nine.
And give them a call and they can take care
of all your brick needs, whether it's uh the fireplace
or after foundation repair or anything else. So uh again

(17:07):
seven one three eight five six eighty three twenty nine.
And again if you got a question, our phone number
seven one three two one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three two one two five eight seven four.
And I'll see what I can do to help you
out here on Texas Home Improvements, your total home improvement source.

Speaker 10 (17:31):
You know.

Speaker 6 (17:31):
I just want to give you a reminder next weekend
Passing Livestock Showing Rodeo Parade. If you're in the Pasadena area,
it'll be going down Spencer Highway. I will be there. Uh,
I'll be up towards the front of the parade with
the other vice presidents of the Passing Livestock showing Rodeo
UH two weeks on September thirteenth and fourteenth, the passing

(17:56):
Livestock Showing Rodeo Barbecue Cookoff takes place. Be out there
both days. I look forward to seeing you out there.
You can come by the SPSDUS Cookers booth if you
tell them that you heard it on Texas Home Improvement,
we'll get you inside. Look forward to meeting some of
you out there. And then of course in three weeks

(18:18):
the Rodeo itself kicks off that September twentieth, runs through
the twenty eighth. Got a great lineup of entertainment. You
can go to Pasadena Rodeo dot com to hear the
complete or not here to see the complete lineup and
purchase your tickets as well. So again it's a great

(18:40):
family event. Got a carnival for the kids, got boots
for the parents to go through, and of course you
can't beat the rodeo itself. You're up close and personal.
You can see the animals better than any place, and
you can go through the agbarn and see all the
animals that the students have raised as well.

Speaker 11 (19:00):
Well.

Speaker 6 (19:00):
That's all taking place at the Pasadena Fairgrounds. In Pasadena, Texas.
That's at the corner of Fairmont and Red Bluff. But
go to Pasadena rodeo dot com for more information on it. Again,
that's where I'm going to be for the next few weeks.
But give me a call seven one three, two point
two five eight seven four and I'd be more than

(19:22):
happy to help you out with any home improvement question
you have. So this one comes from Russ in uh Springtown.
He says, Jim, what is the best way to insulate
a mobile home? Double wide sixty foot vaulted ceiling attic
is only about twenty four inches currently has flake cellulos

(19:43):
in the attic. The electric bill is three to three
hundred and eighty five dollars a month. Roughly twelve hundred
square foot windows are double with three inch air gap.
I cain't say I've seen windows with three inch air
gap before, but nonetheless, how you're going to insulate it? Well, look,

(20:05):
you probably don't have a lot of room to add
a whole lot of insulation in the attic. You should
have typically about fifteen sixteen inches of insulation, and if
you got twenty four inches of attic space, you're going
to pretty much fill that attic space. The other thing

(20:26):
you could take a look at, though, is adding foam
insulation to the walls. A lot of times we don't
realize just how much temperature, air conditioning heating we lose
through the walls of a structure. We always think about
doing the attic because that's easier to do than the walls,

(20:47):
but the walls actually can make a huge difference on
your energy bills. Check out USA Insulation. It's a foam
that they can inject into the walls that help you
out getting your walls better insulated and lowering those energy bills.
So that would be the direction I would tell you

(21:09):
to head with that. Again, if you have a home
improvement question seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. That's seven one three, two one two five
eight seven four. It's Labor Day weekend. We're taking calls,
answering questions and looking to see what we're going to
do on these home improvement projects again. Seven one three,

(21:30):
two one two five eight seven four. Oh, let me

(21:57):
introduce you to Concord window film. Talked about them for
a while, and if you're looking to make your home
more energy efficient, more comfortable, you need to take a
look at Concord Window Film because if you have rooms
in your house with a lot of windows that are
too hot, You're getting too much sun and heat coming
through sliding glass doors that are heating up your floors

(22:18):
and furniture. You know, maybe you're getting too much glare
coming through your windows. Concord Window Film can take care
of all of these. It's a professional grade window film,
not cheap stuff like you get on Amazon. In that
that you can install yourself and customize it based on
what you need. Like the stuff we were just talking about.
It can go from a darker tint to give you

(22:40):
the privacy to a tent so light you can't even
tell it's there. And all of the window film they
sell blocks up to ninety nine percent of the UV
race from coming through your windows. So call Concord Window
Film at eight eight eight two zero six one four
one three.

Speaker 11 (23:00):
It's hot.

Speaker 5 (23:01):
I've just seen a chicken lay an omelet. If you're
listening to Texas Home Improvement with Jim.

Speaker 6 (23:07):
Dug Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. Seven one
three two one two five eight seven four. That's seven
one three two one two five eight seven four Any
home improvement question you have, pick up the phone, give
me a calling. Let's talk about it here on Texas

(23:27):
Home Improvement. We're gonna head to the Woodlands and Matt,
this is Jim. How can I help you?

Speaker 12 (23:34):
Hey, Jim. We had three windows replaced by the Texas
Rough Model team about three weeks ago. They did a
fabulous job.

Speaker 6 (23:46):
Oh they're great people over there. Yeah, they did.

Speaker 12 (23:49):
And we had some trim and stuff that need to
be replaced in and around it, and they made it
look like they never did a thing. It was a real,
real nice plun back to the original look. So excellent
recommending them.

Speaker 6 (24:03):
And that's one of the things a lot of people
don't realize, but most window companies they won't touch the
trim and finish around the windows. They'll they'll flip it
back to you and say, well, you'll have to take
care of all that. But because they're a remodeling contractor
and a window you know, replacement window company, they've got
the people to take care of everything and do it

(24:25):
in one easy, smooth transaction for you.

Speaker 12 (24:31):
Yeah, they were great. Rick was the carpenter that worked
for us, and he just did he did a great job.
So really appreciate that. Hey, I called in about AC
and I've got two units outside and one of them
is getting about I don't know. Twelve fifteen years now
still works fine. But we've got these new regulations coming

(24:54):
in at the beginning of the year, and I'm just
wondering how that might impact me or fishing. Maybe consider
doing something ahead of time based on what the new
rules are going to require. Just not sure yet, Okay,
what I should do?

Speaker 6 (25:11):
Well, I will tell you. You know, I own an
air conditioning company, and these new regulations are going to
raise the cost of AC systems. I'm hearing now anywhere
from twenty to thirty eight percent, and so more than

(25:32):
likely it's going to be up in that thirty eight percent,
because not only is it raising the cost of the equipment,
but the installation and if you've got to have duckwork
changed out, it's now got to pass a static test.
I mean, they've really added a lot of junk to it.
I had to clean that up by the way.

Speaker 4 (25:55):
The uh.

Speaker 6 (25:57):
So, here's here's the deal. You know, you're asking about
units that are twelve to fifteen years old. The expected
life of an AC system, if you talk to the manufacturers,
is around fifteen years or so. And if you talk
to a lot of the AC companies, they'll tell you, oh,
ten to fifteen the odd at ten to twelve, they're

(26:19):
they'll telling you replace them. If your system is working good,
I wouldn't worry about replacing it yet. Be prepared that,
yes it's going to need replacing down the road, and
yes it is going to cost more. But you know,
if you got any inclination you may move or anything

(26:42):
like that. There's no reason to change it out now.
If this is a for a forever house and you
know you're not going anywhere, uh, and the system's been
kind of sluggish on making it through on these really
hot days, then yes, take a look at you changing
it out. But if it's doing good for you, you're you know,

(27:04):
and you're not having any issues, I would tell you
to keep it.

Speaker 4 (27:10):
Okay, that's great.

Speaker 12 (27:11):
Another question I had was about the hard start kids,
if those are worth worth getting.

Speaker 6 (27:19):
Yes, you got hard start and soft start kits, and
you know they do different things and depending on what
your needs are, like if you have a generator for
the house, you know a lot of times they'll tell
you need to put a soft start kit on it,
because otherwise it'll overload the generator when it's trying to

(27:41):
fire off. Yes, then it's absolutely is worth doing. Normally,
as an AC system ages, it will need one of
these type of kids added to it, just because the
parts do start wearing and it does start firing off
harder than it used to, and that's when those become critical.

Speaker 12 (28:02):
Okay, all right, well thanks lot, then you bet.

Speaker 6 (28:06):
You take care and have a great labor day.

Speaker 12 (28:09):
All righty, thanks Fike.

Speaker 6 (28:10):
Bye and seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. It's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. Look real quick on the new rules
on the AC stuff. If your system has been acting up,
if your system doesn't cool a house even when we're

(28:32):
doing these triple digit temperatures, it should keep up. I
can tell you I have in my personal home an
American standard variable speed system. Even when it's one hundred
and five outside, I can lower the temperature of my
home to sixty eight if I want it there. Now,
I don't take it down to that, but it is

(28:54):
available to me if I want it. And if your
system's not able to keep the house at a reasonable
temperature for you, which sixty eight to me is not reasonable.
I during the day like to keep mine at seventy two,
sometimes seventy three. I just said it where I'm comfortable
at night. Quite honestly, my thermostid has set at sixty

(29:16):
nine in the house.

Speaker 13 (29:18):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (29:18):
Again, I keep it where it's comfortable. So if if
your system's not able to do that for you, you may
want to look at a new one, even if your
system is only twelve to fifteen years old. But if
it's not broke, I'm not going to be the one
to tell you you've got to replace it. But if
you are having issues with it, that's when you want

(29:39):
to take a look at it. All right, seven one
three two one two five eight seven four Down in Baytown.
How can I help you?

Speaker 4 (29:49):
Hey, Jim, I.

Speaker 14 (29:49):
Got a couple of questions. Okay, this is about about
air conditioning. I had a train. After about ten years
and four months, the crater were text technician came out
and said it needs about eight thousand dollars worth don't work. Wow,
I had I had a variable speed and one of
the compressors are going out, and then so the other

(30:10):
thing is have gone bad and they didn't recommend A
question they say was I want to repair it. I
want to think about a new system. And also they
recommend it as the duckworths. The house is built in
ninety seven, it's twenty seven years old. About changing that
duckworth and the added because this is getting kind of flaky.

(30:30):
So uh right now I'm trying to decide what do
I want to do a place to want a new
system and stuff.

Speaker 6 (30:37):
And okay their ducks, well don that music means I
need to take a quick break here. You might hold
on through the break and we'll go over this in
detail with you. Fine, all right, we'll be back with
more Texas how improvements seven one three, two one two,
five eight seven four. You know, talking about air conditioning systems.
If you are looking for an air conditioning system for

(31:00):
your home, take a look at American Standard Heating and
air conditioning. You know, American standard systems have been around
for a long time. In fact, I put the first
one in my home back in nineteen ninety nine. And
you can take care of your family all year long
with American standard air because American standard technology meets the
ever changing Texas weather head on. So keep your home

(31:23):
cool and humidity free or be ready for a little
heat when you need it, and you know the American
Standard systems are nationally recognized for excellence for performance, reliability,
and customer satisfaction. So invest wisely and invest in the
home comfort system that will lasts you a long, long
time comfort the way you like it American Standardair dot Com.

(31:50):
And again, if you're looking at it, take a look
at the variable speed systems. I have it. I love it.

Speaker 7 (31:57):
At Floor End Decor, we know pro It's your one
stop source. We deliver everyday savings on over a million
square feet of in stock flooring tools and installation materials.
See how our flooring experts can help save you time
and money with our best in class selection at rock
bottom prices and with pro level benefits like our dedicated
Pro service Team, Pro Hotline, Pro Premier Financing and unbeatable

(32:19):
Pro Loyalty program. You get what you need, when you
need it, where you need it. Come discover Floor and
Decore where we know pro.

Speaker 6 (32:28):
Ah Lental Lift. You know, let's face it, we all
have lintols above our garage door, and almost all of us.
If you look at it, it is sagging, and the
older it gets, the more it's SAgs. Well in most cases,
it's a steel plate that goes above your garage door
that keeps it from sagging. And that steel plate typically

(32:50):
just quite isn't big enough. So over the years, when
you get that sag, you'll notice that the bricks are
cracking or boards are shifting, and it can be very
expensive to fix. Lintle Lift has a patent system that
will fix the problem in just a few hours for you,
and you know, for just a fraction of the costs,

(33:11):
and it comes with a lifetime transferable warranty. So remember,
if your house is smiling, your beams are frowning, call
Lental Lift at lentlelift dot com. In fact that you
just go to their website lentlelift dot com and they'll
be able to help you out with that. But let's
face it, we all have them. We all need to

(33:33):
keep them looking good.

Speaker 5 (33:35):
When Jim Dotton, Texas Home Improvement recommends a company, he
won't steer you wrong like Due West Services.

Speaker 15 (33:41):
I had your phenomenal company out regarding a foundation watering
system and so tired of lugging those miserable so corrosive
that keep getting destroyed. It's just a nightmare. So anyway,
I had Jacob out from your company, Due West, and
he was phenomenal, and you run a tip top organization.

(34:04):
He was dressed beautifully. The truck he drove up and
was perfect. I mean, you just have made yourself a
wonderful company. I can't thank you enough. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (34:14):
Do West Services Foundation Repair Total Plumbing and Air Conditioning
called seven one three four seven three seven one five six.
That's seven one three four seven three seven one five
six online at do dashwest dot com. That's du dashwest
dot com. Do West Services is hotter than a mile

(34:38):
of Texas asphalt. Go ahead and grab if it makes
you feel better, We don't mind. You're listening to Texas
Home Improvement with Jim dot Hey.

Speaker 6 (34:49):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. Seven one three, two
one two five eight seven four. When we left, I
was talking with Don about some Americ conditioning issue and so.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
Not.

Speaker 6 (35:04):
Let's let's start with the AC system itself. I mean
eight grand for repairs. They're telling you the compressor is out,
and what else is out?

Speaker 14 (35:12):
It's the variable speed and in the low low speed
or the low whatever compressor went out. Okay, I want
to the system. There are some things within that needs replacing. Uh,
I'm trying to remember I don't have the list in
front of me right now. But okay, and right now
I'm just running the one compressor and running in about

(35:35):
seventy five degrees and it seems to be it's cooling.
But how long is that's gonna last? I have no idea.

Speaker 6 (35:41):
Yeah, okay, Uh so first of all, i'd get a
second opinion before saying it's time to replace it. Yeah,
I believe believe it or not, there's a lot of
unscupulous people in air conditioning. Uh. For some reason, they
get in their heads that and some of them are

(36:02):
as little as eight years. Will tell you if the
system is eight years old or older, it's time to replace.
The manufacturers will tell you fifteen years is really the
average life. I do personally start telling people at twelve years,
I start questioning how much you want to put into
repairing it and give the option. But now you also

(36:26):
mentioned the duck work, and why are they telling you
the ducks need to be replaced.

Speaker 14 (36:33):
It's some enough, but silver coating on is kind of
flaking off. Okay, there's three layers of a summers, three
layers of instillation, the covering inner layer and the lining
on the inside of the duck work. Right, they said
you might want it since it's twenty seven years old.

(36:54):
A new duck work would be more efficient if I
put a new system in. If I don't put the
news been a preparedness, leave it as it is.

Speaker 6 (37:03):
Yeah, Well, the new duck the new duck work is
more efficient only because they mandated it go from R
six to R eight and actually starting January one, it's
got to go even higher. Uh, And starting January one,
it's got to pass the static tests when you change

(37:23):
out the duck work. So yes, it would increase the
R value a little bit in the duck work. Will
your home? Will you feel the difference? Will you see
it in your energy bill? Not a bit?

Speaker 16 (37:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (37:39):
Uh, it is so small it's not worth doing for
that particular reason alone. If the duck work is falling apart,
then yes. But you know, the metal on the outside,
uh is is much like a radiant barrier. As long
as the inside of the ducks is still doing good
and the lining on the outside holds the insulation in place,

(38:02):
you really don't have a reason to have to replace
it yet.

Speaker 14 (38:07):
Yeah. On one of the duckworks close aptic close to
the system. I've gone up and it had fallen, it
broke apart, soet back together and tape it up with
the silver tape. But it's still still doing good.

Speaker 6 (38:21):
Yep.

Speaker 14 (38:24):
So I'm still like in a quander door, I would
spend fifteen to twenty thousand dollars for a new system
where this system was put in in twenty thirteen.

Speaker 6 (38:32):
You don't say, again, you don't. I don't think the
duckwork needs to be replaced at that age.

Speaker 14 (38:47):
Yeah, I'm talking about the air conditioning.

Speaker 6 (38:50):
Sure, put in on the air conditioner itself. Though, like
I said, I would get a second opinion first before
I did anything else, because if it's just minor parts
on the rest of it, you know, capacitors and things
like that that are out of tune or out of

(39:12):
factory recommendations rather uh, then that's something that can wait.
It doesn't have to be done right now, you know.
And a lot of times what happens is, yeah, we'll
check and get the compressor, you get the capacitors checked,
you check the motors, and yes, it may be out
of the factory specs, but it's still operating, and you

(39:36):
get another two to three years out of that capacitor.
And even when the capacitor does go bad, you're talking
three hundred dollars or so. So you replace the compressor.
Now you replace capacitors in another two or three years.
You bought yourself a lot of time.

Speaker 14 (39:55):
Yeah, Well, does your your company the company who opinion?

Speaker 6 (40:00):
Oh? Absolutely? Yeah. And if you tell them that you
and I talked on the radio that there's there's no
charge to get a second opinion on it.

Speaker 14 (40:11):
Okay, Uh, what's that? What's your what's their number?

Speaker 6 (40:15):
Seven one three four seven three seven one five six.

Speaker 14 (40:22):
Seven one five six Yeah, I'll give them a call
first thing Monday, and I get a second question.

Speaker 6 (40:29):
Okay.

Speaker 14 (40:31):
After Hurricane I had I want to say this question
as a comment I had called Guardian Ruffins. I take
a look at my roof, not h someone that's or
they'll come out. Look, I've never seen the hider hair.
I've never called or anything. So I was just kind
of disappointed based on your recommendation.

Speaker 3 (40:48):
Verything.

Speaker 6 (40:49):
Yeah, they have been overwhelmed with calls after the hurricane. Uh.
They actually had a recording on their machines after a
week that was saying that they were just overwhelmed and
trying to get to all the calls just as quick
as they can. But it's definitely been an overwhelming thing

(41:11):
for them.

Speaker 14 (41:12):
Yeah, I did that. I call them the second time
and I just got their recording. They said that, yeah,
overwhelmed and stuff. But first time I call like one
or two days hurricane and talked to someone. So anyway,
I'll take a look at it, but I will call
you a conditioned company.

Speaker 6 (41:28):
All right, all right, I appreciate it. Take care. Hey,
let's talk about Texas Remodel Team. Look, if you're looking
for replacement windows for your home, you talk to the
folks at Texas Remodel Team. These guys can take care
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(41:49):
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Texas Remodel Team can take care of all that for you.
They're fast, their experts, installation crews will just keep you happy.
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(42:09):
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com and click on the link for Texas Remodel Team.

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Speaker 6 (43:04):
Hey, let's talk about Due West. If you're having a
plumbing issue and you need a plumber you can trust,
give do West Total Plumbing a call. It's the same
number seven one three four seven three seven one five six.
When you call in, we'll ask you you know you
need plumbing, foundation repair or air conditioning, and we'll get
you set up with the right division but look, there

(43:26):
are so many issues with plumbing out there. Whether it's
just a dripping faucet, you need to replace the water lines,
the sewer lines, a clogged up toilet, it doesn't matter.
Do West Total Plumbing can handle it all. So if
you got a plumbing problem, you call the best. You
call due West at seven one three four, seven three

(43:47):
seven one five six at seven one three four, seven
three seven one five six or as always, just go
to thchi pro dot com and click on the link
for due West Total Plumbing foundation repair.

Speaker 17 (44:02):
For air conditioning, need new shutters for your home, go
to sunburstshutters dot com where beauty meets energy efficiency sunbursts
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Speaker 5 (44:12):
We're back to Texas Home Improvement. Here's Jim Dutton.

Speaker 6 (44:18):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement, your total home
improvement source. Look, it is Labor Day weekend, and I
know a lot of people are you know, doing things,
but you know, I had to look up where what
is Labor Day? What's where did it come from? And
stuff from the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday,

(44:39):
September fifth, eighteen eighty two, in New York City in
accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union, so
it actually came from a union, and the Central Labor
Union held its second Labor Day just a year later,
on September fifth, eighteen eighty three. By night eighteen ninety four,

(45:02):
which is just the next year, twenty three more states
had adopted the holiday, and on June twenty eighth, eighteen
ninety four, President Glover Cleveland signed a law making the
first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.
Took two years to give us a day off. Actually,

(45:23):
I guess it took yeah, two years. That's not a
bad deal there. So I hope everybody does enjoy their
Labor Day weekend this weekend. And I don't know about
you guys, but I got a floor that I'm going
to finish putting in in the master bedroom of my
house over the Labor Day weekend. But you don't necessarily

(45:44):
have to work on something. You can just think about
the projecting and get it ready for the following weekend.
But I do have another hour of Texas Home improvement
to go, so feel free to pick up the phone
give me a call at seven one three two one
two five eight seven four or that's seven one three, two,
one two five eight seven four. We're gonna break for news,

(46:04):
traffic and weather now and we'll be back with more
Texas home improvement. You know, Sunburn shutters is a perfect
example of something you can do to your home. They
will not only make it more beautiful, but more energy
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(46:28):
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you can't beat the construction. Pollywood is guaranteed to never warp, crack, chip,
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(46:51):
they look as great as the day they were put in.
And if you're thinking about having some, why not call
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Speaker 1 (47:22):
Text it is Home Improvement is on the air. When
your host, Jim Dutton.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
You sail out of trouble frustration really quick.

Speaker 4 (47:31):
You're wonderful.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
Thanks you so the godson that's listen to your show,
it happened to turn on perfect time.

Speaker 4 (47:36):
Well, if you recommend them, then you've never give them
from the show. Any four recommendations.

Speaker 5 (47:41):
All knowing that tall Jim, Now with all your home
improvement questions, that's seven one three two 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 Ready Seals, Stain and Selar Sunburn Shutters. Where beauty
meets energy efficiency, American Standard Comfort the way you like
it do. West Services Foundation Repair, Plumbage and air Conditioning,

(48:05):
Guardian Roof Systems, Texas Remodel Team Windows, the official window
installer at Texas Home Improvement. James Hardy Siding, the best
sighting on the planet floor and the Core Victor's Remodeling
and Construction. Party Plank Specialist, Reva I Synthetic Singles by
f Wave and USA Insulation Wall Home Insulation for assisting homes.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
Broadcasting live from the dot ranch.

Speaker 6 (48:31):
Pier's Jim Done. Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements.
Your total home improvement source seven one three, two one
two five eight seven four. Any home improven question you have,
that's what we'll talk about here on Texas Home Improvement.
You guys picked the subjects by calling in and asking

(48:53):
you questions. So seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. And of course don't forget about our
website thipro dot com. All kinds of helpful information there,
links to the people you hear me talk about, questions
and answers and videos. I mean, it's just a wealth
of information when you go to thipro dot com. That's

(49:15):
also where you find you ask Jim button where you
can send in email questions, as well as a place
to sign up for our newsletter that goes out every
other week. So again that's tchipro dot com. But it's
time to take calls and answer questions. So seven one
three two one two five eight seven four. Clara in

(49:36):
Jersey Village, How can I help you?

Speaker 3 (49:39):
Hi, Jim, longtime listener, first time caller. A. I am
looking for a recommendation. I was recently under contract with
a big notable company, so I thought, And they've come
out twice to do this inspection of the heating and

(49:59):
the ac with the changing of the systems, and it
is literally turned into be a cold call sales pitch event,
and I'm looking to find a recommendation for somebody who
would like. They come out and they spray off the
air conditioner, they check the heater, they check the capacitor

(50:23):
and it's done on a like semi annual basis.

Speaker 6 (50:27):
Okay, well let me tell you about it. Yeah, absolutely,
so let me tell you about Due West air Conditioning.
What we do is when we come out, we take
the outside unit apart, we take the housing off, We
clean the coils, We check all the capacitors, uh, the compressors,

(50:49):
make sure everything you know, where it's at on where
the factory setting is. But get everything nice and clean,
put it back together. We go in the attic, We
take out the fan motor, clean all the get all
the housing taking care of there and the dust off
of everything, grease and lube and you know, oil all
the stuff that needs that done to it. Uh, and

(51:12):
just check for oil leaks and all that kind of stuff.
Check the coil in the attic, to make sure that
it's not clogged up or getting dirty if in all
that kind of stuff. So we go through all that process,
and yes, we do have an annual agreement that we
can do with you to take care of your unit.

Speaker 3 (51:32):
Okay, so I would just call and that goes for
the heater too.

Speaker 6 (51:38):
Yes, ma'am. We do it twice a year, spring and
fall to make sure you're ready for both.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
Okay, okay, so just call DUS and make that arrangement.

Speaker 6 (51:48):
Yep. And the number is seven to one three four
seven three seven.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
Okay, Well, jam you and most helpful today because this
last experience was just you know, they came in, they
did a little and then they said, oh and it
would be an additional five thousand dollars to do this.

Speaker 18 (52:11):
This this this is like.

Speaker 6 (52:13):
No, hi, grand holy cow.

Speaker 16 (52:17):
I know, I know.

Speaker 3 (52:19):
It was everything from replacing the sink in the kitchen.
Uh yeah, it was ridiculous. Anyway, thank you for your help.

Speaker 6 (52:30):
You're welcome. You have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
We will you as well.

Speaker 6 (52:36):
Thank you, Thank you, ma'am. Bye bye bye bye again
our number seven one three two one two five eight
seven four seven one three two one two five eight
seven four David, how can I help you today?

Speaker 14 (52:56):
Hi?

Speaker 2 (52:56):
How are you today?

Speaker 6 (52:57):
Wonderful?

Speaker 2 (53:00):
I've got an ac question, kind of a long story.
I ended up with a system with a single speed
motor in it, okay, which is not really a big
issue during the summer, but during the winter it blows
too hard for the heating element. We don't have gas,
we're all electric, but for the heating element to actually

(53:21):
heat the air enough. So I ended up having to
switch out from a ten kilowatt heating coil to a
fifteen which is more than what I want to do.
But at any rate, how big of a deal is
it to switch out the circuit board and put in
a two speed motor on that?

Speaker 6 (53:43):
Honestly, I don't know. I've personally never been asked to
look at that. So my air conditioning guys would be
able to answer that in a heartbeat, But honestly, I'm
not sure myself how easy it is or not.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
Well, sorry to throw you a curve, No, that's all right,
h Yeah, it's just something. I mean, the circuit board
is easy to access, and the motor, obviously it is
easy to access too, so it's it's just a single
speed motor, but it has to have the connection in
order to be able to switch back and forth between.

Speaker 6 (54:20):
Right and I'm in. What I'm thinking is and this
is what I'm not sure about. Can it be done?
I'm sure it can be done. The big issue is
going to be what would it cost to do it?
Because the circuit boards or what just get stupidly expensive sometimes. Yeah,
and that's what I'm not sure about.

Speaker 2 (54:41):
That's kind of what I was wondering, if it's going
to be cost effective to do it or if it's
just better go and run it until end up replacing
the system.

Speaker 6 (54:49):
How old is the system?

Speaker 2 (54:51):
Oh, that's probably seven or eight years Okay.

Speaker 10 (54:58):
In we're sign now.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
But yeah, my previous system, it would go at a
lower speed for the heat, which would pick up more
of the heat heated air to circulate in the house
versus blowing just warmer air into the house.

Speaker 6 (55:14):
Sure, Now, what brand of system do you have?

Speaker 2 (55:20):
I think it's a general.

Speaker 6 (55:23):
Okay, and the readA I'm asking there. There's a lot
of systems that this fan speed can be adjusted on it,
and what may make more sense than trying to change
everything out would be to set the fan speed to
the slower speed year round, the system would stay on

(55:47):
a little bit longer to bring the house down to temperature,
but that actually does then a better job of dehumidification.
The cooling is actually more comfortable that way, and it
may give you the heating that you want and not
cost you hardly nothing to do, just a service call.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
That's an interesting thought.

Speaker 6 (56:15):
Because most of them there's a jumper wire that is
used to set the fan speeds of the motor, And
it doesn't matter if it's a dual speed fan motor
or not. It's just the power that's going basically through it,
you know, that regulates it, and by simply moving that

(56:35):
jumper wire it adjusts it down.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
That's one of the things that I would need to
research a little bit more. I'm not sure if it's
got the jumper wire or not, because.

Speaker 6 (56:46):
Well, if you call the office and can tell them
what brand it is, they'd be able to the technician
there would be able to tell you right away if
it's Hasard or not.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
Is that something that you can put a switch in
it to switch between high and low speed on it,
or is that just you just doing one or the other.

Speaker 6 (57:05):
Yeah, it's one or the other. But what you would
find is you wouldn't notice the difference on air conditioning. Well,
you would in that if it's blowing so hard that
it can't heat the air, because normally our heaters are
oversized for our units anyways, and so if it's blowing
so hard that you can't heat the air, it's also

(57:25):
blowing so hard that if you sit in certain areas
your house, you're probably uncomfortable with the fan blowing on
you that hard. It would help balance some of that out.
It really won't change your energy bill or how well
it cools the home because the slower air going across
the cooling coils allows that air to cool a little

(57:47):
bit better, But do you humidify better? And so it
makes it all around more comfortable for you.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Well, and it would help on the heating because yep,
I could put that till a coil back in it,
pull that fifteen out, yep.

Speaker 6 (58:04):
Okay, talk to if you call my office, I'll tell
you what you do. Call the office at seven one
three four seven three seven one five six and talk
with j Okay, and you know have have what type
of air condition you have? Tell him what you and
I talked about and he'll be able to help you

(58:24):
out with that.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
Okay, Well, thank you appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (58:28):
You bet you take care.

Speaker 2 (58:30):
Bye, Bank.

Speaker 6 (58:33):
And again seven one three two one two five eight
seven four Rick and Magnolia. You're doing all right today?

Speaker 11 (58:42):
Yes, sir? How are you? Jim?

Speaker 6 (58:44):
I am wonderful.

Speaker 11 (58:46):
I'm glad to hear it. He how can I A
couple of weeks ago, A couple of weeks ago, uh
you know there, I'm in Magnolia, just northeastern. The ambient
air temperatures got up over one hundred degrees and I'm
four or five o'clock or the house temper chair we'll

(59:07):
get up to let's say eighty six, eighty seven degrees,
and at night it would cool back down and it
would be fine up until we'll say two in the afternoon,
and then we'll start heating up.

Speaker 6 (59:21):
Yep.

Speaker 11 (59:22):
Okay. I had a one of the bigger companies, I'm
not going to say the name come out, and of
course they said I need a whole new AC. My
house was built new and I think it's like two
thousand and five and I think it's the original AC.

(59:43):
And I just I just don't want to trust them
because I was outside a day or two later and
I heard a humming and the AC wasn't kicking on,
and I pulled the cover off off and it looked
like the compressor capacitor had not been replaced in years.

(01:00:07):
And I put a new capacitor on it, and it's
running good. Now. My question to you is, does that
sound like the capacitor had reduced capability in the Maybe
the the AC unit in the attic was freezing up
or something. Be honest, I'm not an ac man. I'm
a dummy when it comes to that.

Speaker 6 (01:00:28):
The capacitor typically is not going to cause that kind
of problem. What the capacitor will do is it's either
going to start it or not start it. Typically, well,
upstairs attic was freezing up like that, that would have
been a result of the coolant levels being too low.

Speaker 11 (01:00:51):
Okay, that brings me in the next question being the
older house that I'm in. Can you still get the
friend rent for the older houses or do I have
he quoted me between twelve and twenty four thousand dollars
for a whole new acre.

Speaker 6 (01:01:17):
There's no cool there. There is absolutely no coolants for
any AC system that's not still readily available. So even
if you have R twenty two. Yes, it's available.

Speaker 11 (01:01:31):
Okay. He pretty much told me that we can't get
it anymore.

Speaker 6 (01:01:34):
So he lied.

Speaker 11 (01:01:37):
Okay, I appreciate that. Uh my friend was an ac
man up in the Whodlands area, passed away years ago,
and I'm missing dearly because he would come over on
Sundays and then fix me up. But all right, yeah, Jim,
I appreciate your I appreciate your input. Not a problem,

(01:02:00):
and I may call you company and get them to
come out and do a checkout and advice.

Speaker 6 (01:02:09):
Yeah, more than happy to take a look at for you.

Speaker 11 (01:02:13):
All right, man, Jim, I appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (01:02:15):
You bet, take care and.

Speaker 11 (01:02:16):
Have a good Hollo weekend.

Speaker 6 (01:02:19):
Yep, you as well have a wonderful Labor day again.
Our number seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. That's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. With that call, I've got all open
lines available. Let's talk about American Standard real quick. You know,

(01:02:40):
there's a lot of different air conditioning systems out there,
and there's a lot of good ones out there. Don't
get me wrong. Now, American Standard I've used in my
personal home since nineteen ninety nine and American Standard heating
and air conditioning systems are nationally recognized for excellence for performance, reliability,
and customer satisfaction. So you can take carry your family

(01:03:01):
all year long with American Standard Air and American sent
Or technology meets the ever changing Texas weather head on.
So keep your home cool and humidity free or be
ready for a little heat when you need it. Invest
wisely and invest in the home comfort system that will
lasts you a long, long time comfort the way you

(01:03:23):
like it. American Standardair dot Com. And when you're looking
at the systems, you know, we've talked a little bit
here today about the variable speeds. That is what I
have in my house. I love it because it will
ramp up and ramp down. Humidity control is the best
out of those variable speeds. You know, if you're having
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(01:03:45):
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(01:04:07):
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Speaker 7 (01:04:12):
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(01:04:35):
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know pro.

Speaker 6 (01:04:43):
All right, So the temperatures got just a little bit
milder these last few days, and you're starting to look
forward to the fall temperatures where it's going to drop,
and you're thinking about that patio you got outside and
the cover on it, and you think it wouldn't it
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(01:05:06):
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Speaker 5 (01:05:44):
This election year, you need to listen to someone who
doesn't have bad hair or hot air and it's all
about improvement and repair. That would be Jim Dunton on
Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 6 (01:06:00):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements your total Home
Improvement source seven one three two one two five eight
seven four Matt Mission Bend. Welcome to Texas Home Improvement.
Thank you, sir, my pleasure. How can I help you?

Speaker 16 (01:06:23):
Well, So, I have a five ton unit on a
two story house that's eighty twenty eight hundred square feet
and it's four zones.

Speaker 10 (01:06:36):
It's got a Honeywell HD four thirty two panel zone panel,
and I got the Internet gateway and everything to the thermostats.
Everything seems to work. Okay, But lately, within the last week,
I started noticing a lot of blowback condensation inside of
the beginning part of the ducks as they're coming out

(01:06:58):
of the planeum. So I'm figuring that the air pressure
is probably going too high over the face plate of
the coil and blowing fluid off, But I'm not sure
how to stop that. I think my bypass, which is barometric,
is balanced, but I don't know what else to check

(01:07:18):
on that. My dampers are all Honeywell automatics as well,
so they're opening and closing properly. But I just have
a lot of high pressure in the planum. So I'm
not sure what to look for.

Speaker 6 (01:07:30):
And you're sure that the dampers are opening and closing.

Speaker 10 (01:07:34):
Yes, there's a cutout in the end of the planeum,
a little door that seals, and I can open it,
and I can actually visually inspect the motors opening and
closing the dampers.

Speaker 6 (01:07:48):
Okay, And nobody's messed with any of the vent covers.
You don't close any of them that would cause back pressure,
did they No?

Speaker 10 (01:08:01):
Normally I keep them open for that very reason. I
did notice one in one of the rooms that was
semi closed. I think it was from my mother in
law cleaning. She accidentally pushed it, but it was only
halfway closed. And it was only one out of all
the events in the house, all the registers.

Speaker 6 (01:08:17):
Okay. The only other thing, just off the top of
my head that I could think of, would be if
one of the duckworks got a kink into it, you
know where maybe they're strapped up and one of the
straps broke and then it drops down. It could kink
a duct and cause this kind of problem.

Speaker 10 (01:08:40):
Okay, there is a slight would I don't know if
i'd call it a kink, but there is a compression
in a bend off of the bypass itself, which I
think is probably too small as well. This was original
build and it looks like it's a fourteen inch Maybe
it should have been a sixteen inch on original build,
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:09:00):
On a five time.

Speaker 6 (01:09:02):
Yeah, but that would cause them back pressure.

Speaker 10 (01:09:04):
Trying to make a p trap out of it, you.

Speaker 6 (01:09:06):
Know, yep, And that could cause the back goes up. Yeah.
So try straightening that out and see if that fixes
your problem.

Speaker 10 (01:09:15):
Okay, And and do you think if I'm gonna do that,
I should upgrade to a sixteen inch.

Speaker 6 (01:09:22):
No, first thing I would do, since it's been working
for so long, is to just straighten it out and
see if that solves the problem. Because if it does,
then I mean you could look at the sixteen if
you want, But if that fixes the problem, I would
fix that and leave it go.

Speaker 10 (01:09:38):
Well, I'm gonna have to replace it the cot and I'm.

Speaker 6 (01:09:40):
Gonna have to. I'm gonna have to put you on
hold because that music meant I need to go to
news trafficking weather. I'll put you on hold and we
can come back to it. Let's talk real quick about
Concord window film, because you know window film. You can
get a lot of different window films, and a lot
of it is junk. I mean, you need to order
stuff off of Amazon and not know what you're getting.
But when you you deal with Concord window film, you're

(01:10:02):
getting a customized based window film based on what you need.
You know, stuff to keep rooms temperatures right and keep
people from looking inside, and they have darker tints. They'll
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(01:10:25):
eight two zero six one four one three. Double up
on the old spice.

Speaker 5 (01:10:35):
It's going to be hot a little while longer. You're
listening to Texas Home Improvement with Jim Dunton.

Speaker 6 (01:10:43):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement your Total Home
Improvement source seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. We're talking with Matt out in Mission Bend
about some AC stuff where it's back pressuring and Matt,
sorry about that, but we had to go to the
news trafficking weather.

Speaker 10 (01:11:04):
I understand, Jim, no problem. Why don't I switch questions.
I think I got a good answer on the first one,
and I'll check on the kinks. Okay, I'll have to
replace that duck because it is it is holding water
right now. I got half a bucket out of one
duck just yesterday, so I will have to replace those.
But my other question is.

Speaker 6 (01:11:23):
Well, hang on because that kind of changes stuff a
little bit, because I'll bunch of money. What you're going
to find is, since you're getting that much water out
of it, yes, sir, you're going to find that the
insulation inside that duck has probably collapsed into the duct
and that's going to be your back pressure.

Speaker 10 (01:11:42):
Oh that's yes, I see what you're saying. Well, I'm
going to replace the fourteen inch duct and I'm going
to replace another fourteen or sixteen that's going to the
main living room, both of those that were holding water. Okay,
hopefully that will reduce the back pressure and slow the condensation.

Speaker 6 (01:12:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:12:03):
My other question is related to the fact that the house,
as I mentioned, is about twenty eight eighty. It's an
open concept high ceiling that overlooks the upstairs to the downstairs.
So I got about eighteen hundred downstairs nine hundred square
feet upstairs. But I have four zones. This was the
original design on the house when we bought it. I

(01:12:25):
was just wondering having four zones on there. I'm constantly
calling for some room somewhere, so I'm constantly running the
AC and I was wondering if I reduced that down
to two zones, one being the upstairs, one be in
the downstairs, if that might put less stress on the
system and allow it to cycle better or if or

(01:12:50):
is that irrelevant?

Speaker 6 (01:12:51):
Do you think it's actually irrelevant. I mean, the hardest
thing on the system is startup, And that's one of
the reasons the variable speeds work so well because they
actually once they're on, they stay on for an extended
period of time. They don't have to start up as
many times.

Speaker 10 (01:13:12):
Right, and they can run at a lower speed, a
lower fan speed, cooling better versus the high pressure. So
in my case, I don't have a variable speed motor,
but I was looking into like an ECM whisper system
where you can install it on. Would it be better
to buy a varial speed motor? Would I have to
change the board for that as well?

Speaker 16 (01:13:33):
Well?

Speaker 6 (01:13:33):
You would have to change all kinds of stuff if
you went to variable speed the board, the thermostats able
to work.

Speaker 10 (01:13:43):
Yeah, that I'm not sure if you're familiar with the product,
But it's an ECM whisper that's an add on, after
market add on. It's supposed to be able to be
installed on a non variable speed motor to control it
variably based on the plantum pressure.

Speaker 6 (01:14:00):
Really, you know, I'm not familiar with that.

Speaker 10 (01:14:04):
Oh yeah, I just found it last week doing research
online and it's they provide instructions. It doesn't seem too
difficult to put in. I'm not under any warranties anymore.
So it's my risk.

Speaker 4 (01:14:18):
Sure if I.

Speaker 10 (01:14:24):
Know we're on the radio and I'm sorry, but if
you give me one second, I can tell you I
saved it to myself.

Speaker 6 (01:14:30):
So I'd like to look that up.

Speaker 10 (01:14:33):
Yeah, and I'd be happy to let's see here one
sick uh.

Speaker 4 (01:14:40):
Okay.

Speaker 10 (01:14:41):
It says it looks like a zone system. The website
is fan fanhandler dot com. It's an DCM modulator that
eliminates the need for bypass dampers by controlling the system
blow speed.

Speaker 6 (01:14:58):
Okay, Oh, I'm I'm going to take a look at that.
And because there's a lot of people who could use
something like that.

Speaker 4 (01:15:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:15:06):
Well, when my system blows, it blows good. It just
blows hard and it blows cold. And sometimes the rooms
send me low warning temperatures because I guess it's blowing
so hard. By the time at registers, I'm already at
sixty eight degrees when I have it at seventy set
at seventy six, and then I get a warning, and
then I go upstairs and I got liquid not yet

(01:15:27):
coming through the ceiling. But that could happen at any time,
so I'm trying to avoid that.

Speaker 6 (01:15:32):
Yep.

Speaker 10 (01:15:35):
Well, I appreciate it. I'm going to try some of
your suggestions. And do you think that if you happen
to take a look at that ECM modulator that you
might post it on the website or anything.

Speaker 6 (01:15:48):
I can do that because I.

Speaker 10 (01:15:51):
Would like to look it up and see what your
thoughts are.

Speaker 6 (01:15:54):
Okay, yeah, let me let me take a look at
it and I will do that.

Speaker 10 (01:16:00):
Okay, Well, thank you so much for your time. I
appreciate the advice you bet, take care, great show.

Speaker 6 (01:16:07):
Thank you, sir, Thank you, bye bye bye, and again
our number seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. And you know there's new stuff coming out
all the time, and you know at face you say, okay,
how are they changing a single speed to adjust the

(01:16:28):
fan speeds up and down? Well, again, just like that
jumper wire we talked about earlier, the fans themselves will
many times take different speeds, so they maybe have found
a way to adjust the fan speeds on a lot

(01:16:49):
of these systems. I don't know, but darn sure want
to take a look at it because that could alleviate
a lot of heartache for a lot of people. Let's
see here, Tim and Magnolia, how can I help you.

Speaker 2 (01:17:05):
Yes, I wanted to question.

Speaker 19 (01:17:08):
My wife keeps saying asking me about getting our ducks
AC ducks cleaned.

Speaker 11 (01:17:12):
On the inside.

Speaker 19 (01:17:14):
Is that something that needs to be done or is
that recommended to have a company come in and clean
the inside of their ducks.

Speaker 6 (01:17:23):
It's something that's way over recommended, you know, unless something
has happened. The air that goes through those the duckwork
is filtered air. So unless there's been a construction project
or your filter wasn't fitting properly and you got a

(01:17:45):
bunch of debris sucked into it, you shouldn't have a
lot of reason to have to do duckwork cleaning. I'm
not saying it never needs to happen, but it's not
something like a lot of people in the industry will
try to tell you, oh, yeah, you need to have
it done on a regular basis to keep it up. No,
that's not the case.

Speaker 19 (01:18:05):
Okay, So like mold and anything that just naturally would
not get in there.

Speaker 6 (01:18:12):
Not unless there's an issue with something else.

Speaker 19 (01:18:15):
Okay, all right, And then having the inside the air
handler like have that serviced and cleaned or is that.

Speaker 6 (01:18:24):
That should be checked twice a year when when your
unit is being serviced, okay, and if it needs it,
then yes, it should be cleaned at that time.

Speaker 2 (01:18:34):
Okay, all right, all.

Speaker 19 (01:18:36):
Right, but there but when they do that, even though
you have the flex ducks or some of those, you
know that's kind of plastic. Look you know the metal that, Yeah,
when they go in there to clean that, is that
a legitimate cleaning or connect damage the those kind of
If you.

Speaker 6 (01:18:53):
Got the plastic flex duck inside, it can absolutely damage it.
And that's that's the other reason I don't recommend it
a lot of times, because you know, whether it's going
through with those little plastic whips in there to clean
it or anything else, if you've got the plastic line
duck work, it can tear that. Once that tears, now

(01:19:15):
the air is going into the insulation of the duck
and it starts sweating and all that. When it meets
the warm air in the attic, it can do more
harm than good. If you don't need it. Now, the
way to tell if you actually need to get the
ducks cleaned or not, just remove one of the registers

(01:19:36):
and literally reach up in there and see if the
ducks are dirty.

Speaker 19 (01:19:41):
Okay, all right, okay, Well that really helps thank you, Jim,
appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (01:19:46):
You bet you take care. Bye bye. Well, I guess
i'd better run a quick break here. Let's talk about
Sunburst shutters. I love my Sunburst shutters. I've had them
for years. I'm getting ready to have to do some
more windows with them. But the Pollywood shutters from Sunburst Shutters,

(01:20:07):
they are gorgeous. They're made of Pollywood, which is guaranteed
and never warped, crack, chip or peel.

Speaker 8 (01:20:14):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:20:14):
That's a lifetime guarantee. But you know, more so than that,
they insulate two to three times better than a traditional
wood shutter because it creates that dead air space between
the glass and the shutter, and that helps control temperatures.
And whether it's cold or hot, it doesn't matter, it's

(01:20:35):
gonna help you. Now. Sunburn Shutters does offer design consultations,
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(01:20:58):
eight hundred. Or just visit some shutters Houston dot Com.

Speaker 7 (01:21:04):
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(01:21:27):
You get what you need, when you need.

Speaker 6 (01:21:29):
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Speaker 7 (01:21:31):
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Speaker 6 (01:21:35):
All right, we've had a lot of talk today about
air conditioning systems and look, if you need somebody to
come out and service your unit, or get a second
opinion on if you need a replacement, or just you know,
a primary person to take care of your air conditioner
called du West air Conditioning my company. We'd be more
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(01:21:59):
you could reach us at seven one three four seven,
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Speaker 5 (01:22:20):
Texas Heat. I just tried to take a shower, but
my wife used up all the cold water. You're listening
to Texas Home Improvement with Jim Dutton.

Speaker 6 (01:22:34):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. Seven one three, two,
one two, five eight seven four. We're gonna head to
Kingwood and Eric. This is Jim. How can I help you? Hi, Jim.

Speaker 18 (01:22:48):
I hate to labor the point, but uh, I'm back
on AC systems. Okay, you were just talking to someone
about the startup of the system is really the hardest part.
And uh, right before the last hurricane that just hit us,
like literally three weeks, I had gotten a soft start
put on, I'd gotten a natural gas line, you know,

(01:23:11):
I like to hook up for a trifuel generator. I got,
I got that put on.

Speaker 6 (01:23:17):
I bought me a trifuel.

Speaker 18 (01:23:18):
Generator and all that right before the thing worked And
so I was able to hook the generator up and
it was only at thirteen thousand kilowatt generator, but it
worked flawlessly. And the startup, the soft start kit that
I had put on to the big unit for downstairs

(01:23:42):
worked fine. I mean, it handled it fine.

Speaker 2 (01:23:45):
All of that.

Speaker 18 (01:23:46):
But my my question is, what would it be advantageous
to put it on both units if we have two
that way, when it starts each time, would would that
end up saving energy as well as saving the unit itself.
As far as like the starting.

Speaker 6 (01:24:07):
Each time, well, it won't save you really energy and
and definitely not enough to notice it on a bill
if that's what you're looking for. Uh, however, I losia no, no,

(01:24:34):
I'm I'm sorry. I just lost all my computers and
everything is the reason I was asking. I'm sorry. But
the the as far as putting it on all the
other systems, you know, it does help with with the

(01:24:55):
the system itself, not banging the compressors and motors and
all that kind of stuff, and that that's really what
it does, so that it it regulates the draw of
power that it's going to take for the startup and
as capacitors and stuff age. That's one of the things
that they do is they slam start everything. Uh, and

(01:25:16):
that's what it avoids. Okay, unless you're having an issue
with the system, I wouldn't add it. That's one of
those things that you add once you're having some type
of problem with the system.

Speaker 18 (01:25:32):
Okay, So so my my okay, So my next question
or my next statements to you is that after like
right as we were without electricity for seven or eight days,
and then I had ordered a like a one tho
a one ton unit you know that goes inside, roll.

Speaker 6 (01:25:52):
Around right, Yeah. Portable.

Speaker 18 (01:25:55):
Yeah it's a portable, but you still have to you know, uh,
you have to put it to a window to get
the exhaust out and all that kind of stuff. I
was thinking that that, since that covers about five hundred
square feet or so, to use that downstairs and just
blow through the living room and all of the downstairs.
And then the next time we have one of these

(01:26:17):
events or we lose electricity, I can use the generator
and everything for the smaller unit, so that way the
upstairs can be somewhat cool as well and keep the
temperature in the house a lot better than just one unit.
Because it was still eighty degrees sometimes seventy nine degrees.

Speaker 15 (01:26:37):
In our house.

Speaker 18 (01:26:38):
I was very leary about lowering the thermostatic, you know,
too low, because I wanted it to keep us comfortable.
But you know, not too bad, you know what I'm saying.
So that's my next that's my plan, I you know,
plan in my head that if we lose electricity for
an extended period of time, then that's when I'll break

(01:26:59):
out that or I never even used that, still have
it in the box, but apparently they're pretty dead, gum good.
I was, yeah, doing some research and was actually going
to use it in our master bedroom because it gets
kind of warm in there, you know, just from the
you know, the way that everything is vented and everything.
But our units are relatively new because our house flooded

(01:27:22):
during Harvey, so we had to have our outside units
replaced and all that, so they're they're relatively newer, you know.

Speaker 6 (01:27:30):
But still if that's occasion you got that one room
that's hot that way, you need to get your system balanced.
And that's nothing nothing more than where they put a
damper in there to redirect some of the air to
balance out the room temperatures. Yeah, because as nice as

(01:27:50):
those little portables are, they're they're not super energy efficient,
right right.

Speaker 18 (01:27:58):
And yeah, and I'm not really worried about that part
of it, yeah, to be honest with you, because I wouldn't.
I wouldn't run it unless we needed to run it.
I wouldn't sure want to, you know, it's the secondary thing.
But anyway, well, sir.

Speaker 6 (01:28:14):
You take care and have a great labor day. We
got to take a quick break. We'll be right back
with more Texas home improvement. You know, far and away,
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(01:29:44):
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(01:30:07):
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Speaker 5 (01:31:07):
When Jim don't recommends a contractor, he won't steer you
Rock Dylan.

Speaker 9 (01:31:12):
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(01:32:16):
There's only one Texas Home Improvement. Here's Jim Dutton.

Speaker 6 (01:32:23):
Hey, welcome back to Texas on Improvement. Let's head to
our last call of the day. VICKI, how can I
help you?

Speaker 9 (01:32:30):
I hope you can.

Speaker 13 (01:32:31):
I live in a townhouse unit and we have had
flooding issues in our living rooms. It's not coming in
the doors or the windows or from the roof. Nobody
has leaks in their roof or upstairs coming to the
downstairs or anything like that. And as far as we know,
we don't have broken slabs, and we just have this
flooding issue. And unit number one is not a second

(01:32:53):
living room and they didn't have any flooding. And then
unit's two, three, and four, I say sunk in one
step downright into the living room had flooding. And then five, six,
seven didn't have flooding and they're not shunking. And then
number eight it's sunking and it had flooding. So we're
trying to figure out what could be how it could
be getting entire homes if it's not coming through the

(01:33:14):
doors or.

Speaker 6 (01:33:14):
Windows, if it's a sunken living room and it's below
ground level. In the bottom of that sunken living room.
Concrete is porous and moisture will travel through it and
it will get into those sunken rooms. It's a big
problem for them. And one of the fixes is just

(01:33:36):
fill them in with concrete. Now, some people don't mind that,
other people, Oh, no, absolutely not. But that quite frankly
is the easiest fixed form. Yeah, otherwise you're dealing with
you have to deal with the drainage around it, because
that's really what it is. And you'd have to put
a French drain that's deeper in the ground than the
bottom of the foundation in order to correct that problem.

(01:34:00):
And with that, VICKI, I gotta let you go because
we are completely out of time today. Join us again
tomorrow at two o'clock for more Texas home improvement. Let's
talk about James Hardy siding before we go, though. You know,
if you're looking for siding for your home, for your business,
for any place, James Hardy siding is the siding to
take a look at. It's cement based, so it doesn't rot,

(01:34:21):
it doesn't deteriorate, it holds paint like no other siding
on the market and it just plain looks gorgeous. I've
got it on my house. I've had it for the
last though sixteen years now. I went with the color
plus and you know what, I love it and I
would do it again. If you are looking for siding
for your home, take a look at James Hardy Siding.

(01:34:42):
You can go to thchipro dot com and click the
link for James Hardy Siding. With that, have a great
Labor day and we'll talk with you again tomorrow.