A/C Questions as The Heat Continues into Mid-October

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

Speaker 2 (00:10):
You save me a lot of trouble frustration.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Really appreciate You're wonderful.

Speaker 4 (00:14):
Thanks you.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
The godsend to listen to your show.

Speaker 5 (00:16):
It's happened to turn on perfect time.

Speaker 6 (00:18):
If you recommend them, then you've never give them from
the show. Any four recommendations, all going down.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Call Jim now with all your home improvement questions at
seven one three two one two five eight seven four.

Speaker 7 (00:29):
That's seven one three, two, one two five eight seven four.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Texas Home Improvement brought to you by Ready Seal, Stain
and Seiler, Sunburn Shutters. Where beauty meets energy efficiency, American
Standard Comfort the way you like it do, West Services,
Foundation Repair, Plumbing and air Conditioning, Guardian Roof Systems, Texas
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(00:53):
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Speaker 7 (01:09):
Now broadcasting live from the Dot Ranch. Here's Jim Done.

Speaker 8 (01:17):
Hey, welcome to Texas Home Improvement your total home Improvement source.
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, just feel free to
pick up the phone, give me a call, and I'll

(01:37):
see what I can do to help you out here
on Texas Home Improvement again. Seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. And of course, don't forget
about our website t hipro dot com. All kinds of
helpful information there, links to the people you hear me
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(01:58):
a wealth of information to help you when you go
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ask Jim button when you go there as well, where
you can shoot email questions to me. But I want
you to also take a look at our newsletter that
goes out every other week. You can sign up for

(02:19):
it there. But there's old editions at the site as well,
so thipro dot com. That's also where I tell you
to go when you're looking for any of my sponsors,
you know, rather than trying to google them and all
that kind of stuff, just go to thchipro dot com

(02:42):
and you'll find them all there. You don't have to
worry about getting a copycat or something like that. So anyways,
if you got a question seven one three, two, one, two,
five eight seven four, let's head up to spring. First
call of the day, Troy, how can I help you today?

Speaker 9 (03:02):
Yes, sir, are the bedrooms that we're not using.

Speaker 10 (03:04):
We have shut the air conditioning vent, but of course
air still leaks out. And now I've got a about
a half inch of black that's all the way around
the up on the wall around the air conditioning vent,
and I just need to know what do I do
to treat that.

Speaker 6 (03:24):
I hope it's not mold.

Speaker 8 (03:26):
But well, the first thing you can do is open
events back up. Your air conditioning system is designed for
the square footage of the house, and when you start
choking rooms off that way, it actually messes up the
balance of the system and the efficiency of it. And

(03:46):
one of the reasons you're getting what you're getting there,
that's kind of a black slime, that mildew that builds
up because it's compressing the air, and the warm air
meeting the cold air starts letting that stuff grow, and
by opening it up, you'll help minimize it. As far
as cleaning it up, you need to go ahead and

(04:08):
wipe it all down.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
You know.

Speaker 8 (04:10):
You hear a lot of people say you can use bleach,
and and bleach will definitely help. But they make regular
cleaners with an enzyme in them to eat up the
living organisms so that it doesn't reappear again. And you'll
want to get some of that as well. Just spray

(04:31):
on there and clean it. But the very first thing
you got to do, though, is open up the vents
and let the air circulate like it's supposed to.

Speaker 10 (04:40):
And what is this cleaner called?

Speaker 8 (04:44):
You know, there's different brands, so I don't want to
give you a set brand that you gotta go get.
But if you but you're just looking for a mold
and mildew cleaner, gotcha?

Speaker 11 (05:00):
Gotcha?

Speaker 4 (05:01):
All right?

Speaker 9 (05:02):
All righty, well, thank.

Speaker 12 (05:04):
You so much.

Speaker 8 (05:05):
You bet you take care all right, and look for
everybody listening. You will find that your AC system will
work better by leaving all the events open if it
was properly sized to begin with. Now, if your system
is undersized, hey, choking off a room like that may help,

(05:30):
but you know it is designed to circulate air. Throughout
the house and to have airflow. And when I say airflow,
the plant, a box, the duckwork, all that stuff is
designed for a certain airflow to pass through the coils

(05:51):
and everything of the system. And when we start choking
off the flow completely that way, especially when we're doing
multiple rooms, you will start having issues. You know, this
is just the beginning signs down the road. You would
also start getting mildew and mold growing in corners around

(06:11):
where windows are, in different openings like underdoors, stuff like that.
So it can it can actually be quite destructive. Got
a question seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. That's seven one three two one two five

(06:31):
eight seven four. And I'll see what I can do
to help you out here on Texas Home Improvement And
let's see. Shannon from Selena sent in an email about
hard hard water deposits. We have hard water deposits showing
up green and white on faucets, aerators, et cetera. A company,

(06:56):
Mustang sud put out this report. A plumbing company we've
used recommended flow Tech. However, there are postings online that
basically say it's snake oil. We heard softeners are expensive,
don't actually remove the hard minerals and leave a slick,
greasy feel. Is there a cost effective solution? Well, I

(07:23):
personally have a flow Tech device in one of my houses.
I have my home in Dallas, and I have my
home in Pasadena. And in Dallas, I have extremely hard water,
and so I do have a water softener there. In Pasadena,
I don't have extremely hard water. However, there are mineral

(07:46):
deposits calcium build up, and the flow Tech device works
great for that. That's what it was made for. Sometimes
what people expect the flow Tech device to do is
operate a water softener, and it's not. It is there
to basically change how the minerals flow through the water

(08:10):
and keep them from building up on the shower heads
and faucets and things like that. So I definitely would
endorse just putting a flow Tech device in. And they're
not a sponsor anything of the show, but it is
something that I've used and I've had it now for
over a year, and it makes a heck of a difference.

(08:32):
I could tell it the first day that we put
it in that it was doing its job. Our water
softener is expensive. Sure, you're typically looking at several thousand
dollars to put a water softener in. As far as
that slimy feel that people complain about, it all depends

(08:53):
on how your system is set up to operate. Sometimes
they're set up to do too much and that will
give you that slimy feel. I personally like having a
water softener. Uh. I like the feel of the water
and everything. So it's just it's personal taste what somebody likes.

(09:15):
But I yeah, as far as the flow tech, the
only real issues I've seen with it is when people
expect it to be a water softener and that's not
what it is. So for what you're describing the mineral
deposits and stuff, I think it would work great again.
If you got a question seven one three, two, one two,

(09:38):
five eight seven four Roy in pair Land, how can
I help you today?

Speaker 13 (09:45):
Yes, sir, I've wondered, how many times can you reroof
with composition shingles without your decking being completely war out
for and driving so many.

Speaker 8 (09:53):
Nails typically your decking will outlive the house, Yes, sir, so.

Speaker 13 (10:02):
I mean six nails per shingle. I was thinking, if
you you know, do it three or four times, you
probably got nail holes everwhere you don't.

Speaker 8 (10:12):
It sounds like a lot. But when you take a
look at at at the size of a shingle, you
know you're basically talking ten inches tall. You're talking two
feet two and a half feet long, three feet Uh,
that's that's a that's a pretty big area to have
just six nails in it.

Speaker 9 (10:32):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 13 (10:33):
Uh what is your opinion on metal If you want
with a metal roof.

Speaker 8 (10:37):
I love them. They they look good, they're extremely durable.
They will help cut down on your insurance costs a
lot of times, uh, you know, because they take the
storms better than regular shingles. To the downside on a
metal roof is when it rains, it's noisier. If you

(11:02):
get hail damage or anything like that on your property,
and that can happen to any of us, the insurance
company won't necessarily replace it because it's still functional. It
may not look as good as it did, but it's
still totally functional. Okay, yes, sir, But I will tell

(11:26):
you we've got them at the Deer Lease. My parents
had it on their last house. I mean, metal roofs
are great. But you know, back to your question as
far as how many times you should have no issues
at all reroof in the house ten times with the

(11:48):
same plywood.

Speaker 13 (11:50):
Okay, yes, sir, all right, well I appreciate your time, sir, Thank.

Speaker 8 (11:54):
You, you bet you take care And with that seven
one three two point two five eight seven four. Any
home improvement question you have, pick up the phone, give
me a call, and let's talk about it here on
Texas Home Improvement. You know American Standard, It's been my

(12:28):
choice in air conditioners from my personal home for years.
I put the first one in my house back in
nineteen ninety nine and I've been using them ever since.
And why well, they are nationally recognized for excellence for performance, reliability,
and customer satisfaction. And I love that reliability. Take care
of your family all year long with American Standard Air.

(12:51):
An American standard heating and air conditioning technology meets the
ever changing Texas weather head on. So keep your home cool,
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(13:11):
time comfort the way you like it. That's American Standardair
dot com. And you know, the first system I put
in my house was a single speed. Now I'm using
a variable speed that gives you total control on the
humidity levels.

Speaker 14 (13:27):
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(13:51):
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Speaker 8 (13:58):
You don't dos. Air Conditioning can help you with all
your air conditioning needs. And right now, while we're going
through this change over with the new air conditioning systems,
you don't have a lot of people telling you, oh,
you got to replace that system. You can't work on
the old coolants. You can still work on the old coolants. Now.
If you got an old system that's say R twenty two,

(14:18):
I would recommend just replacing it. But if you're still
at the four ten, a hey fix it, don't replace.
You want the best called due West.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
When Jim Dutton of Texas Home Improvement recommends a comedy
he won't steer you wrong, and he recommends Guardian roof Systems.

Speaker 8 (14:36):
I said, down to Leak City, Hello JD, Hey Jim,
how you doing that?

Speaker 6 (14:40):
Man?

Speaker 15 (14:40):
I did call you last week about a timnycat fleek
and I'd had somebody come out and basically they ripped
me off.

Speaker 12 (14:47):
You recommended I called Guardian Roofing. I did call that.

Speaker 15 (14:50):
The technician came out, he was on time, He's courteous.
He said, yep, they've used the wrong type of sealant.
So he cleaned it and resealed it and managed that.

Speaker 12 (14:59):
Did it?

Speaker 15 (15:00):
You for recommending Guardian, And kudos to Guardian for doing
a polite, pleasant, good.

Speaker 12 (15:06):
Job for me. I really really appreciate that, and thank
you so much.

Speaker 8 (15:09):
You've got take care.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
Guardian roof Systems the official roofing company of Texas on 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, or click the link under Trusted Contractors at
thhipro dot com.

Speaker 16 (15:30):
In the history of man cab, there has never, ever, been,
not even once, any such thing as a sudden hurricane.
They form hundreds of miles out of the ocean. They
tracked them for two or three weeks. Every evening on
the local television news, the anchorman says to the viewing audio, Look,

(15:56):
the hurricane will be coming through your neighborhoods a week
from teas hell.

Speaker 17 (16:07):
They just wait on it.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Our thoughts are prayers to those affected by this very
active hurricane season. We're back to Texas Home Improvement with
Jim Dutton.

Speaker 8 (16:21):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements. Your total home
improvement source 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, feel
free to pick up the phone, give me a call,

(16:41):
and I almost see what I can do to help
you out here on Texas Home Improvement. So I got
an interesting email from William and Katie. He says, I
want to build my own backyard shed for beginners. I'm
wanting to build my own shed in lieu of buying one,
as they are way up outside of my wheelhouse budget.

(17:02):
I recently retired early after military service and my official
oil field career. I'm looking for a project that's worth
the challenge and a feeling of true accomplishment for myself.
Could you advise me where to start? This shed should
be just big enough to house the basic homeowner, lawn

(17:26):
and garden tools, etc. Are there any pre designed plans
for this that would help this novice carpenter. Although I'm
accomplished in homeownership, basic projects and such, I prefer wood
finished it all with ready seal, of course, with basic
configurations that I know I need to start with the

(17:49):
size of the shed and yard size first and foremost.
Price point is important, yet I prefer quality. I do
have all the tools for this already. I believe I'm
a I'll leave this part off this kind of personal
stuff there. So William, here's what I would tell you.

(18:12):
You can go to even the box stores, both Lows
and Home Depot have a catalog department, a book department there,
and one of them that they'll have, in fact, they
have multiple to choose from, is a shed design book
to where you could go through and pick out a
design that you wanted to build, So that would give

(18:36):
you the designs you're looking for. If you contact the
folks over at McCoy's, I don't know if they still
do this or not. But McCoy's Lumberyard used to have
ready made kits that same thing. They've got the designs,
they give you the lumber kit. Everything is in one package,

(18:57):
so you know that you've got all the materials that's
required to build the shed that you're looking at. Now.
As far as the size, for most homeowners, a ten
by ten would get it. If I was going to
take the time to build something, I would build at
least a ten by twelve. You know, that's basically the

(19:19):
size of a kind of a bedroom in a house.
And if you want to go a little bigger, you can.
But any kit that you build, you're gonna want to
look at sixteen inch studs on center, you know, two
by four studs sixteen inch on center. You said you
want to stain the wood, so you got a choice

(19:43):
as far as your would on the side, and you
can go with four by eight sheets because you can
stain those, or you could go with a cedar siding.
It would cost more, but it sure would look nice
when it's done, So you do have some choices on that.
But as far as the floor and stuff, use four

(20:03):
by six is for skids and then two by six
floor joist, it should be plenty. But like I said,
if you get one of the kit designs, it'll give
you the option of whether you want to do a
concrete floor or something up on skids. That way you'll
find for for sheds. Typically the skids are better because
you can move it then if you ever want to.

(20:26):
But there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing a concrete floor.
So William, I wish you all the luck in the
world with that, Sir again, our number seven one three
two one two five eight seven four Larry, this is Jim.
How can I help you?

Speaker 11 (20:44):
Hi, Jim? You have mentioned at a company that does
cook ups for generators, you know, portable so that you
can use them as a standby.

Speaker 8 (20:54):
Yes, sir, right touch electric? Right touch yep right touch electrical,
I said electric. It's electrical. And their number is two
eight one, okay, six four five five five two six.

Speaker 11 (21:15):
All right, very good, thank you so much.

Speaker 8 (21:17):
Oh you bet you know. I I get a lot
of calls about generators. Do you have one that you're
going to put in?

Speaker 12 (21:25):
Yes?

Speaker 11 (21:25):
I have one that that will basically handle my downstairs.

Speaker 8 (21:29):
There you go. Okay, Well, I'll tell you what when
I come back. Uh, after news trafficking weather. Here, I'll
talk about generators real quick, and uh, we'll talk to
you a little bit later, Larry, Thank you, sir, thank you.
And with that again seven one three, two, one two, five,

(21:50):
eight and seven four. You know, Lental Lift is a
product that takes care of those sagging overhead garage door openings.
And you know what I'm talking about. The sides are up,
the middle is down, and you can see it as
you look across your overhead garage door because the configuration

(22:14):
on the door itself, the middle is just way down.
Well basically it's the lentil. It's sagging. So they come
in Lental Lift does with a new lentil. They put
it underneath. It's got an arch in the opposite direction.
They push it up on the edges and the arch
pushes the middle up until the weight and everything balances

(22:36):
out and it's nice and flat. They secure it on
the edges, trim everything out, and you have a lifetime
warranty that is never gonna sag again. Call Lental Lift
at eight three three nine zero three two two two six.
That's eight three three nine zero three two two two
six to.

Speaker 7 (22:58):
The first responders.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
The men and women who spend long hours away from
their families to protect our families without even thinking twice.

Speaker 7 (23:08):
Thank you from all of us at Texas Home Improvement.
Here is Jim Dutton.

Speaker 8 (23:15):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement Your Total Home
Improvement Source again. 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 again. Seven one three two

(23:39):
one two five eight seven four. Any home improvement question
you have, pick up the phone, give me a call
and let's talk about it here on Texas Home Improvement.
So the I said I was going to talk just
a little bit here about generators, and the I did

(24:04):
some checking this week because I get a lot of
calls about generators, and you know, people don't necessarily all
like the same type of different generators, and there's there's
different ways of looking at doing it. So here's what
it came down to. What I found for the best

(24:31):
portable generators was one I happened to have, Generaic, and
I went to several different sources looking at how generators
were rated and stuff. And now I'm only running a
Champion that's the brand. I only run a thirty five

(24:51):
hundred generator. The twelve thousand is big enough to run
most things in your home and it'll even run the
AC system depending on the size of it. So just
FYI on that. But with the as far as whole house,

(25:15):
when when you put in whether it's a portable or not,
you're going to have to have the relay switch to
be able to switch from household to the generator power
and in doing that, it's got to be able to

(25:36):
keep from feeding back down the power lines. You don't
want to electrocute somebody working on the lines down downstream somewhere. Now,
for whole house generators, you know you've heard me say
for years I would take a look at GENERAK and
Generac is in the running, but they were rated it

(26:00):
is louder than a lot of generators. A Cohler had
some that were actually rated very well and quiet. Champion
has whole house generators and they were actually rated as
the quietest and had some great options on fuel types
because and I've brought this up to people before as

(26:23):
far as natural gas, well, with some of the Champion generators,
it gave you the choice of natural gas or LP gas,
same generator, being able to convert back and forth between
the two gases without having to do all the orifice
changes and all that kind of stuff. So that was

(26:45):
highly rated because when a bad storm comes in, you
may lose the gas flow for natural gas and be
able to then just switch over to an LP tank
and keep the generator going. So those were the ones
that were the highest rated. Cummings came in extremely well

(27:08):
looked at as well. So really, what it comes down
to because the complaints I've gotten from people when I
talk about generak is theirs didn't work or you know,
it wasn't producing power like it should, and there have
been some complaints on it. But when they started comparing
the numbers sold versus the complaints, it's right in line

(27:33):
with the others. So the biggest the difference that they
found on the rating scales was the fact that the generaks,
a lot of them were noisier and didn't offer the
dual fuel that some of the others offered to be
able to withstand. The least recommended ones were actually the

(27:59):
gas one because you had to keep gas on hand
and diesel wasn't highly recommended either, just because of again
storing storage of the fuel. But uh, you know, if
you're getting ready to look for a generator, look what
you got to decide is who's going to do maintenance

(28:21):
on it, because all of them require maintenance. And do
you want it where it automatically is going to kick
on or not? And are you going to go out
and do the test firing because the one thing, the
one downside that they had on the Champion generators, even
the whole house ones, was the fact that it did

(28:41):
not do an automatic test every month. You had to
go out fire it up in order to verify everything
was working and and do the monthly run on it,
where like Generak and the cohalers had that built into them.

(29:02):
But there was a huge price difference as well. Uh,
the Champions came in very affordable as compared to some
of the others, But again you got to find somebody
who works on that brand or is a dealer for
that brand. So there's two cents worth on generators that

(29:26):
I happened to check into. Got a question seven one
three two one two five eight seven four. That's seven
one three, two, one two five eight seven four I
will tell you on my personal house. I I don't
have the switch wired into my house. I do at

(29:46):
my office in Pasadena, and we use a portable there.
We can run all our phones, computers and everything. Uh,
but I don't have a generator big enough to run
the air conditionings system in the office, so that that
would be something else to look at. Alrighty, one quick

(30:11):
second here, excuse me, I had to hit the mute button.
I had to cough there, all right. So Grace and
Alvareto sent me an email about ac heating building a
Muller home. Would like to do mini splits. Your thoughts,
what would you recommend? H I like mini splits. We'll

(30:33):
get to that when we come back with more Texas
Home Improvements seven one three, two, one two, five eight
seven four. You know, Texas Remodel Teams Window Division can

(30:55):
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(31:20):
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Speaker 1 (31:53):
When Jim Dott, Texas Home Improvement recommends the company, he
won't steer.

Speaker 18 (31:57):
You off like Do West Services add your phenomenal company
out regarding a foundation watering system and so tired of
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Speaker 19 (32:07):
Miserable so cross that keep getting destroyed. It's just a nightmare.
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West and he was phenomenal and you run a tip
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Speaker 20 (32:25):
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I mean, you just have made yourself a wonderful company.
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Speaker 8 (32:54):
Hey, do you have rooms in your home with a
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getting too much glaze coming through your windows? Or maybe
you got some neighbors that are maybe trying to look
through them a little more than they should be. Well
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(33:15):
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Speaker 16 (33:55):
There has never ever beyond this sudden hurricane. I hope
I'll live long enough for someone a lot smarter than
I to explain to me so I can understand the
mirror pull of plywood. There's always that one couple we

(34:15):
his implywood. Hell, we could ride it out. Well, they
look out the wind and see that convoy of army jeeps,
army trucks, helicoter, State police and National Guard. What the
hell of a hauty that all those people just couldn't find?

Speaker 7 (34:33):
No damn plywood.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
All the thoughts are prayers to those affected by this
very active hurricane season.

Speaker 7 (34:40):
Here's more Texas Home Improvement with Jim.

Speaker 8 (34:45):
Heay. Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement seven one three,
two one two five eight seven four. All right, So
I read an email before we went building a Mueller home.
Would like to do many splits. Your thoughts? What would
you recommend? Many splits are great? You know in Europe
most AC systems are done with mini splits. We're just

(35:05):
adopting them over here. We're still stuck on using our
old central air and heat systems. Which work just fine,
but for energy efficiency, the mini splits are actually better.
And you know where we had that guy who called
as far as shutting off some rooms that they're not using,
with many splits, you can do that because each room

(35:26):
can have its own what's called head unit in there
and one outside unit to control them all. And it
doesn't disrupt anything by shutting off certain rooms. So again
it helps with the efficiency. But just the sheer seer
rating of mini splits is typically better than standard HVAC systems,

(35:49):
So I absolutely would tell you go ahead and take
a look at it. On the same token, I'm going
to tell you it typically is going to run you
a little bit more than a standard central air and
heat system. So pay me now, pay me later, I guess,
is uh the way it goes. But the mini splits

(36:10):
no great systems. You'll love it all right, Let's head
back into a call here seven one three, two one
two five eight seven four were going to Conroe and Todd.
This is Jim. How can I help you? How you
doing wonderful?

Speaker 21 (36:25):
I got a question on the AC unit, which I
mean my central ic the unit which from what I
had generally have no problems with it.

Speaker 5 (36:34):
I mean, it's never quit cooling.

Speaker 9 (36:38):
But I heard I don't know.

Speaker 21 (36:40):
I don't know if I heard it on here or
on some other show or something like that, that after
the first of the year that the prices on units
are going to go up like thirty forty percent, correct, Okay.
And this unit, from what I can tell, I've only
been in his house like two and a half years.
From what I can tell, the outside union is an
eight I don't know what size it is, Like the

(37:03):
sticker is all worn. I mean it would you suggest,
you know, being I mean, it's not that old.

Speaker 8 (37:12):
And when you say it's an eighteen, you're talking it's
from twenty eighteen, correct, Okay, I would not if I
was in your shoes, I would not be looking at
replacing that, Okay. Because your average air conditioning system, you know,
the outside unit, you're typically getting ten to fifteen years

(37:37):
out of them. Okay. And so you know you're only
at six with yours right now, pushing seven. Keep it
maintained and you should get many many more years out
of it. If you called me and said you had
a system that was, say fifteen years old, or a
system that was an R twenty two then I would

(37:59):
be telling, uh, yeah, I'd probably be looking at replacing
it before they run out of the current units.

Speaker 21 (38:07):
Right right, Okay, I just I mean, I, like I said,
I don't remember where I heard that, but I'm thinking, okay, well,
you know I need.

Speaker 11 (38:15):
To replace this.

Speaker 8 (38:17):
Yeah, and one of the things people are worried about
is are they going to be able to get the coolant?
You know, the current coolants and all that. That is
not going to be an issue. Nothing to worry about there.
So uh, now you're you're you, you should be able
to get many more years out of your system.

Speaker 21 (38:33):
Okay, well, I appreciate it, all right.

Speaker 8 (38:35):
You take care and look. For most of us, the
outside unit typically gets replaced, uh twice with the inside units.
You know, you put the whole package in together. You
got the unit up in the attic, you got the
one outside, and usually the outside the compressor out there

(38:59):
goes bad and you end up replacing the outside unit.
But the heating unit that's in the blower motor that's
inside up in the attic or in a closet or
whatever usually is still good. So you just replace the
outside unit. Then the second time around, if the compressor
or the coils go bad on the outside unit again,

(39:19):
or at that point the inside unit goes bad, then
you replace both. But it's really for most of us
not something that you have to replace both every single time.
And like I said, the target for most manufacturers is

(39:40):
for the unit to last about fifteen years, so ten
to fifteen. You know, you hear a lot of times
people call in it that their units lasted twenty years.
It's not that uncommon. The issue that you run into
is the energy efficiency of it. As you get that old,
they're just not that energy efficient anymore. And so well,

(40:03):
at that point it may make sense to go ahead
and replace it as well. Got a question, we got
another hour to go. I know we got one more
short segment in this hour, but seven one three two
one two five eight seven for is the number to
call it? Seven one three two one two five eight

(40:23):
seven four. And I'll see what I can do to
help you out here on Texas Home Improvements, your total
home improvement source. Don't forget about our website t hipro
dot com. It's there's a resource to help you out
twenty four to seven. So anytime you're having a home
improvement issue, start at thipro dot com. We'll be back

(40:46):
in a minute with more Texas Home Improvement. You know,
Texas Remodel Teams Window Division can help you with all

(41:08):
your window needs, but they can also help you with
a sunroom. Yeah you got you got a beautiful patio cover.
You love it, You like sitting out on the path.
Oh you don't like the mosquitoes and the flies coming
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make it gorgeous. That's Texas Remodel Teams Window Division and

(41:34):
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That's two eight one six one two fifty nine ninety one.
And of course if you're up on the north side,
they have their complete remodeling division there, but for the
for the sun rooms and the window replacements and all that.
They go all over the city to help you. So

(41:57):
again two eight one six one two fifty nine ninety one,
or just go to thchi pro dot com and click
on the link for Texas Remodel Team.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
When Jim Dutton of Texas Home Improvement recommends a company,
he won't steer you wrong and he recommends Guardian roof Systems.

Speaker 8 (42:15):
I said down to League City, Hello JD.

Speaker 12 (42:17):
Hey Jim, how you doing that?

Speaker 15 (42:19):
Man? I did call you last week about a timneycap
fleek and I've had somebody come out and basically they
ripped me off.

Speaker 12 (42:26):
You recommended I called Guardian Roofing. I did call them.

Speaker 15 (42:29):
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.

Speaker 12 (42:36):
It and manage that did it.

Speaker 15 (42:38):
Kudos to you for recommending Guardian, and kudos to Guardian
for doing a polite, pleasant good job for me.

Speaker 12 (42:45):
I really really appreciate that, and thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
You 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 seventy two eighty our click the
link under trusted contractors at thhipro dot com.

Speaker 8 (43:08):
I know you've heard me talk about this for years.
When it comes to foam insulation, foam works best in
the walls, and when it comes to putting into the walls,
of your existing home. I want you to call USA Insulation. Well,
I took some of my own advice and I had
them out about two months ago to do my home,

(43:29):
and so I injected foam into my existing walls. Man,
did it make the house so much quieter and comfortable
because you know, it helps get rid of hot and
cold spots. It kind of balanced out our HVAC system.
And they can do the same for you as well.
Call USA Insulation at three four six two nine seven

(43:53):
twenty eight hundred. That's three four six two nine seven
twenty eight hundred, or go to thchipro dot com and
click on the link for USA Insulation.

Speaker 17 (44:08):
I've been through two hurricanes.

Speaker 22 (44:09):
I was a hurricane Carlo when I was a kid
in Houston, and everybody leaves except for one guy who's
gonna stay there and tie himself to a tree on
the beach.

Speaker 17 (44:18):
To prove a point. And the point was he said
that at fifty three years of age, he was.

Speaker 22 (44:22):
In good enough physical condition to withstand the wind and
the rain from a four stree hurricane.

Speaker 17 (44:28):
Let me explain something to you. It isn't that the
wind is blowing, it's what the wind is blowing.

Speaker 22 (44:39):
If you get hit with evolvo, it doesn't really matter
how many situps you did that morning.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
active hurricane season.

Speaker 7 (44:50):
Here's more Texas Home Improvement with Jim duckman.

Speaker 10 (44:55):
Ay.

Speaker 8 (44:56):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. Seven three one two
five eight seven four. That's seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. I've got an event I'm
going to tonight in Pasadena.

Speaker 20 (45:11):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (45:12):
It's it's basically uh by the National Exchange Club and
they're doing their their inaugural charity Book of Golden Deeds
Award gala. And a friend of mine, Clint Castello, he's
the president of the Passing Livestock Showing Rodeo, is receiving

(45:33):
that award tonight, and so I'm gonna be out there
for the gala tonight to watch him receive his award.
And I just want to take a moment here to
congratulate him. And uh, this is actually a great honor
for him. Clint does a lot of stuff around town.
You know, people don't realize what all he does. You know,

(45:54):
he's not just donating his time to the Passing Rodeo,
but he helps out a lot of other organizations when
they need help with things as well. So again, congratulations Clinton,
I will see you this evening.

Speaker 9 (46:08):
With that.

Speaker 8 (46:08):
That's it for this hour of Texas Home Improvement, but
we've got another hour to go. Seven one three, two
one two five eight seven four. You know Sunburst shutters.
They are a perfect example of something you can do
to your home that will not only make it more beautiful,
but more energy efficient as well. The polywood shutters are

(46:31):
the most popular shutters in America for a reason. They
are going to insulate two to three times better than
a traditional wood shutter, and that construction the pollywood is
guaranteed to never warp, crack, chip, or peel. That's a
lifetime guarantee. Plus, Sunburst Shutters offers design consultations so you

(46:53):
can work with an expert to make sure you get
that perfect look and fit for your home. So give
your windows the treatment they deserve. Call Sunburst Shutters today
at seven one three four six two eighty eight hundred.
That's seven one three four six two eighty eight hundred,
or just go to t HI pro dot com and

(47:16):
click on the link for Sunburst Shutters.

Speaker 12 (47:23):
Texas Home Improvement is on the air when.

Speaker 13 (47:27):
Your host, Jim Dutton, you can lead me a lot
of trouble frustration really quick.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
You're wonderful, Thank you the god thing to listen to
your show.

Speaker 6 (47:36):
It happened to turn on perfect time. Well, if you
recommend them, then you've never give them from the show.
Any four recommendations, all going.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
That tall Jim, Now with all your home improvement questions
at 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 Seeler, Sunburn Shutters. Where beauty meets Energy Efficiency Eraicon
Standard Comfort the way you like it do. West Services

(48:03):
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, Party Plank Specialist, Reva
I Synthetic Singles by f Wave and USA Insulation Wall

(48:26):
Home Insulation for assisting homes. Broadcasting live from the Dotton
Ranch Pier's Jim.

Speaker 8 (48:34):
Don Hey, Welcome the Texas Home improvement your total home
eight seven four in the home improvement question you have,
feel free to pick up a phone, give me a call,

(48:55):
and I'll see what I can do to help you
out here on Texas Home Improvement All. Also, don't forget
about our website t hipro dot com. There is all
kinds of helpful information there, links to the people you
hear me talk about. There's questions and answers and videos,
and I mean, it's just like I said, a wealth

(49:15):
of information when you go to thchipro dot com. And
one of the things you're going to see there is
our newsletter. It goes out every other week. It's free
at charge, and we do have old copies there, but
you can also sign up for it when you go
to thhipro dot com. With that being said, seven one

(49:35):
three two one two five eight seven four, let's start
loading up our phone lines and start answering some home
improven questions. So seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. Tom and Tom Ball, how can I
help you?

Speaker 9 (49:53):
Hello?

Speaker 5 (49:53):
Yes, I had a question about the duct work in
my heading what Okay, the how long should my duckwork last?
My AC guy tells me I should replace it. The
home was built in ninety two. I believe it's original,
and I've got another guy out that tells me it
looks fine.

Speaker 8 (50:14):
Is it the silver color or is it the gray color?

Speaker 5 (50:18):
It's a silver shiny Okay.

Speaker 8 (50:22):
Unless there is something wrong with it, there's no reason
to replace it.

Speaker 3 (50:26):
Really.

Speaker 8 (50:27):
Nope. Okay, Now here's what's going to happen. Though. If
there is something wrong with it, I would advise you
to replace it before the end of the year. Starting
January first, they are upping the R value that you
have to put in on the duckwork, so the duckwork's

(50:48):
going to be a little bit more energy efficient supposedly,
but they're also getting a lot more stringent on the
static test so it can't have leaks in it. But
if your system, if your duck work right now isn't

(51:10):
full of holes and doesn't have water damage to it
or anything like that, there's no reason to replace it.

Speaker 11 (51:19):
Really.

Speaker 5 (51:20):
So I'll say it's fifty years old. You say the
same thing, yep, ah, okay, So they're just trying to
get a because I've had other people telling me they've
never even heard of having to replace your duck work.

Speaker 8 (51:35):
Now. The only time you have to replace duck work
is if there's a problem with it, you know. And
it's the same with cleaning duck work. You know, a
lot of times people are being told, oh, you need
to get your duck work cleaned. Well, the type of
duck work you have isn't good for cleaning anyways. And
in fact, you know, I was watching one of the

(51:56):
TV commercials about duck cleaning this week and I made
the comment, you know, every time I see them cleaning
duct work, it's the old metal duct. It's not the
flex duck that we use. The flex duck like you have.
It's not real good for cleaning because it starts tearing
stuff up on the inside.

Speaker 5 (52:18):
I see, Yeah, that's not heard, and it's just basically
stirs up a lot of stuff anyway. I've noticed a
lot of dust settling in my home though, So that's
one thing I was kind of looking forward to replacing
the duct work to kind of think. I was thinking
that was the cause.

Speaker 8 (52:35):
Well, it can be, but it's not because the inside
of the duct, you know, not because the age of
the duct. The only way that's going to be the
case is if the inside of the duct is has
gone bad, if you've never had it cleaned, there's really
nothing that should have made it go bad. Now, if
it's got some holes in it, it can be drawing

(52:58):
in air from the attic and put us in. But
most of the time the dust that we get into
our house comes from around light fixtures where the ac
ducks come through the ceiling stuff like that. Nowadays they
cak and seal all that, but if you went back

(53:18):
just twenty years ago, it wasn't being done that way.

Speaker 5 (53:22):
I see.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
Okay, okay, good enough.

Speaker 5 (53:26):
I like your answer because I've the estimates i've seen
are or almost they can be as high as it's
getting a new unit, it can be.

Speaker 8 (53:33):
I mean, for a single story, say twenty four hundred
square foot house, you're probably getting bids around eight grand.

Speaker 5 (53:43):
Yeah, yeah, that's right.

Speaker 8 (53:47):
I give you. I can give you the address to
send me a check.

Speaker 12 (53:51):
Ok Okay, that's very very good.

Speaker 5 (53:54):
I don't see that issue come up very much, so yeah,
I wanted to call you on that one.

Speaker 8 (53:57):
So it's not a problem tough.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
I like it.

Speaker 8 (54:00):
You take care, Thank you very much, Bye bye bye.
And again seven one three, two one two five eight
seven four. Look the other thing, and I was, I
had I own an an air conditioning company here in town,
and I was talking with my guys on Thursday. I
think it was Thursday. Yeah, uh, Wednesday or Thursday. Anyways.

(54:24):
The other thing that air conditioning companies love to push
is the UV lights. And there's nothing wrong. They do
exactly what they say they're going to do. But if
there's nobody in the house who's kind of sickly and
stuff like that, ninety five percent of us don't need

(54:45):
UV lights in our home. It's that small percentage who
has somebody who's susceptible to getting sick that need the
UV lights. So just my two cents on that. Seven
one three, two one two, I've eight seven four. Let's
head out to sugar Land and Jerry. This is Jim.
How can I help you?

Speaker 2 (55:06):
Hey, Jim, I have a train system, UH installed years
that they just had to replace the furnace upstairs. And
the date on it, according to the installer, was two
thousand and six.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
Okay, I don't know if the entire system was. It
was all put in it one time, so I don't
know if those dates or when it was made or
when it was installed or what.

Speaker 8 (55:36):
But that would be the best way. If it's the sticker,
that's if it's the tags that are on the unit,
that would be manufacturer state.

Speaker 4 (55:45):
Okay, Well, that doesn't mean anything about the installation day.

Speaker 8 (55:48):
No, no, okay.

Speaker 4 (55:51):
Well I had the furnace had to be replaced, and
it was replaced with a carrier, and I'm I won't
too since it's so old. I would like to go
ahead and get the outside unit and the evaporated cor replaced.

Speaker 8 (56:08):
Okay, is replacing it with carrier?

Speaker 4 (56:11):
Okay?

Speaker 8 (56:12):
Or should I absolutely go back with train?

Speaker 6 (56:16):
Now?

Speaker 8 (56:16):
I mean, well, you just said it was a train
that was replaced with carrier in the attic, correct, correct? Okay,
Then I would replace the outside with carrier as well
and have a match. Oh okay, all right, now you're saying,
but you're saying that outside that upstairs unit is from six.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
It was David. The front of was David O six.

Speaker 8 (56:42):
Yes, And when did they put it in.

Speaker 4 (56:46):
I'm not sure. I'm thinking it was twelve or thirteen
years ago, but it may have been a little older
than that.

Speaker 8 (56:57):
It more likely is older than that because typically you
won't find systems sit around even a full year.

Speaker 20 (57:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (57:08):
Now, if I replace the outside unit, I should also
go ahead and replace that evaporator coil.

Speaker 8 (57:17):
You know, with a unit that is from six. Be
honest with you, if I was gonna start replacing it,
I would probably replace both the inside and outside.

Speaker 16 (57:31):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (57:32):
You know, typically I tell people once you hit twenty years,
don't don't mix some the new stuff with the old stuff.
But you know you're right now that's from six to now.
You're nineteen years basically into it. So I would take
a look at just putting in a whole new system.

(57:53):
If you can swing it, you're gonna pull. And the
reason for you is you're gonna find it's gonna be
a whole lot more energy efficient that.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
Yeah, well it's uh.

Speaker 4 (58:04):
I heard you mentioned earlier about the everything changing in January,
and I thought my system was as old as it is.
I go ahead and just get everything replaced this winter.

Speaker 8 (58:17):
Yep, we'll get my office a call.

Speaker 9 (58:21):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (58:21):
You know, one of the guys Jay or or Wade
can come out and take a look at it and
and tell you exactly what you got and what it
would take to either mixed with with what you have
or replace the whole system, all right, but you thank you.

Speaker 4 (58:38):
Nothing nothing wrong with carrier.

Speaker 8 (58:40):
Oh no, not a thing wrong with carrier. Look the
way the way the AC systems work. I mean you
got UH train, American Standard, Carrier uh Lenox uh. Those
are the top tier systems, and then they drop down

(59:01):
into a second tier system and the lower tier systems.
All of them operate basically the same and last the
same amount of time. The difference in the systems are
going to be the how quiet they are, how much
maintenance they require, and different things like that. But in

(59:24):
today's environment, you know, none of the systems are really
considered bad anymore.

Speaker 4 (59:33):
Well, Jim, thank you very much.

Speaker 8 (59:34):
You bet you take care. And again our number seven,
well before we do that, if you need air conditioning work,
call my office do West air Conditioning seven to one,
three four seven three seven to one five six. I
gotta put a shameless plug in there. Again. If you

(59:55):
got a home proven question seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. And you know I mentioned
air conditioning units there. My choice that I run in
my personal home is actually American standard, and I've been
using American Standard in my personal home since nineteen ninety nine.

(01:00:15):
I just find that they are very quiet. They do
a great job, and American Standard heating and air conditioning
systems are nationally recognized for excellence for performance, reliability, and
that customer satisfaction which is so important. So take care
of your family all year long with American Standard Air

(01:00:37):
and American Standard technology. It meets the ever changing Texas
weather head on so you can keep your home cool
in humidity free, or be ready for a little heat
when you need it. Invest wisely and invest in the
home comfort system that will last you a long, long
time comfort the way.

Speaker 4 (01:00:55):
You like it.

Speaker 8 (01:00:56):
That's American Standardair dot com. You know, if you're having
a sewer leak under your homes foundation, that's something that
really needs to be addressed, but it needs to be
addressed by somebody who can take care of the plumbing
as well as the homes foundation. That's why you want
to call due West both a plumbing company and the
foundation repair company to make sure if your homes foundation

(01:01:19):
stays in tac years after the plumbing work is done.
When you want the best, call due West seven one
three four seven three seven one five six online at
dudash Weest dot com at.

Speaker 14 (01:01:31):
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Speaker 8 (01:02:02):
You know Texas Remodel Teams Window Division can also take
care of sunrooms for you. Call Tim Fox over there
at Texas Remodel Team today. You know they carry all
the major brands of windows and their installation crews are
second to none. But there's there're sunrooms. They do the
same thing. You say, you got a beautiful patio cover,

(01:02:24):
you love it, but you would like to unclose it.
You can air condition it, you can just make it
where you can open up the windows and have the
screens to keep the mosquitoes and bugs out and stuff. Well,
Texas Remodel Team Window Division can do all that for you.
Two eight one six one two fifty nine ninety one.

(01:02:46):
That's two eight one six one two fifty nine ninety one.

Speaker 16 (01:02:53):
In the history of man Cab there has never ever been,
not even once need such thing as a sudden hurricane.
They form hundreds of miles out of the ocean. They
track them for two or three weeks. Every evening on
the local television news, the anchorman says to the viewing audience, Look,

(01:03:19):
the hurricane will be coming through your neighborhoods a week
from teusday.

Speaker 8 (01:03:30):
Hell, they just wait on it.

Speaker 7 (01:03:33):
Our thoughts are prayers to those affected by this very.

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
Active hurricane season. We're back to Texas Home Improvement with
Jim Dutton.

Speaker 8 (01:03:44):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements. Your total home improvement.
So it's seven one three, two one two five eight
seven four Robert, How can I help you today?

Speaker 9 (01:03:58):
Hello, Jim, I called you love. I used some Wyman's
for cleaner and polish on our hardwood floors, and my
wife accidentally splashed a few drops on the laminate flooring. Yeah,
in the kitchen, and you told me, you know, use
some kind of decrease or like a dish.

Speaker 8 (01:04:18):
Like gone or something. Yeah.

Speaker 9 (01:04:20):
Yeah, Well, I tried it and it did not take
it off. So I was just wondering what else I
could try that won't damage to finish.

Speaker 8 (01:04:28):
Yeah, I'm wondering. The floor that it got onto was
a laminate floor, correct, yes, sir, And I'm afraid it
might have soaked down into the laminate then, and if
it did that, there will be nothing that's going to

(01:04:49):
take it out.

Speaker 11 (01:04:51):
Okay.

Speaker 8 (01:04:52):
If it was on the surface, it would it'll take
it off. But if it soaks down into it, it's
there to stay.

Speaker 20 (01:05:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (01:05:02):
No, it's on the surface. It just looks like, you know,
somebody spilled something on it, you know, a couple of
drops of something. It just looks shiny.

Speaker 8 (01:05:14):
I'll tell you, I don't know of anything else to try,
but I'll tell you who would probably know. Okay, go
stop in at one of the floor in Decord locations. Okay,
go back to the pro desk and it's usually towards
the back of the store and kind of centralized, and

(01:05:35):
talk with them back there because they'll probably have both
products there and if there if there's anybody who's going
to know how to get it off, they're going to know.

Speaker 9 (01:05:45):
Okay, Well, I appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (01:05:47):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 8 (01:05:50):
Okay, And and you know, the unfortunate thing is sometimes
you just can't get everything off that you get on
to some of these floors. It just depends on what
it is. But when it comes to any type of
hard floor surface floor in the course, got you covered.
And I think I think they'd be able to help

(01:06:13):
you out with that, alrighty seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. So I got an email
from George about a handyman issue. He says, I need
someone to take down my old gutters which are falling
off and replacing paint some of the rotten facial boards.

(01:06:36):
I live just west of the Galleria. Thank you in advance. Well,
I tell you who I'm going to have you call.
There's gonna be Victor's remodeling in construction. Not that this
is a big job, but he does small jobs as well.
But uh, because of the gutters in the in the
wood replacement and stuff, you need somebody who knows what

(01:06:57):
they're doing and has the right people for it. So
call Victors at eight three two two four three ninety
nine ninety seven, and I believe he'll be able to
get you taken care of with that. Issue that you're having.
So again our number seven one three two one two

(01:07:18):
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 Brenda out in Hawkley has
a roof repair for a metal roof and let's see

(01:07:42):
roof repair for metal roof and insulation for attic. Unfortunately,
I don't know anybody who goes out to Hawkley that
I can say I can do it. But I'll tell
you what. If you'll call Guardian Roof Systems, you can
check if they go out there, but if they don't,

(01:08:03):
they probably know somebody out there and that would be
better than me just trying to guess at someone. So
two eight one four zero seven seven two eight zero
that's two eight one four zero seven seven two eight
zero for Guardian Roof Systems. Give them a call and uh,

(01:08:24):
I think they'll be able to help you out with that.
Excuse me, I had to hit the mute button. There
a little cough going. Uh. Allergies are killing me right now.
The the uh oh shoot, ragweed is the one that

(01:08:46):
just tears me up every year. Anyways, we're gonna take
a break for news, traffic and weather. We'll be back
with more Texas Home improvement seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. You know, USA Insulation did

(01:09:12):
my house about two months ago now, and I've been
telling you guys for years when it comes to foam insulation,
use it in the walls because inch for inch it's
going to give you the highest our value. Well, one
of the things we did at my house was I
put plexiglass over some of the studs so I could

(01:09:32):
watch the foam go in and see how it goes
behind the insulation and compresses it and everything. And you
can see it as well by going to our YouTube
channel for thchi And anyways, if you're needing insulation for
your home, call USA Insulation three four six two nine

(01:09:57):
seven twenty eight hundred. That's three four six two nine
seven twenty eight hundred. And they're growing, I mean, this
is a growing company. They're looking for some salespeople as well,
and so if you're looking for a job and you've
had experience in uh, you know, outside sales and stuff,
call them three four six two nine seven twenty eight hundred.

Speaker 1 (01:10:22):
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.

Speaker 7 (01:10:31):
That would be Jim Dunton on Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 8 (01:10:39):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements. Your total home
eight is seven four. And I'll see what I can
do to help you out here on Texas Home Improvement.
Let's head straight back to our calls, going to go

(01:11:00):
head up to Conroe and best. This is Jim. How
can I help you?

Speaker 20 (01:11:05):
Hi, Jim, I was listening to you talking about January
and realized I needed to call you.

Speaker 16 (01:11:13):
I have.

Speaker 20 (01:11:16):
A mother in law edition if you will that we
you know mom, Mom passed away, so she's not back
there anymore. And we really keep the air off. It's
on its own, separate unit. It's twelve hundred square feet,
really nice, and like I said, we really don't don't

(01:11:37):
use it. I keep I keep it as hot as
I possibly can in the wintertime as covids I possibly can.
The unit was installed in two thousand, so it's twenty
four years old. It works just fine. I keep it
maintained twice a year. My dealer up here says the

(01:11:58):
heating part is fine, but he's also talked about January
and the price increase, and on and on and on.
I'm probably going to sell the house in about for
four or five years, So I just don't know. Do
I just let it go as long as it will run,
or do I need to replace it before prices go up?

(01:12:21):
Or what about those little mini systems that you were
talking about earlier?

Speaker 8 (01:12:24):
Well, and that's what I was going to bring up,
because the fact that nobody's staying in it, if that
system went out, you wouldn't be in an emergency rush
to get another one put in. He said, that would
be the ideal time to probably look at switching it
over to a mini split system.

Speaker 12 (01:12:43):
Okay, now it cools it.

Speaker 20 (01:12:46):
I mean it services a kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom,
and a huge closet. Its services. So would I need
a mini slip for all of those rooms?

Speaker 8 (01:13:00):
You probably need more than one mini split, but you
do only need one outside unit. And then they put
different head units in different parts of the home in
order to circulate the air properly.

Speaker 20 (01:13:14):
Okay, okay, So is that more cost effective than replacing
with a with a new post january system.

Speaker 8 (01:13:25):
It more than likely would be in the situation you're in.
But I'll be honest. If you're looking at selling that
house in a few years and like you said, you're
not using those rooms right now. No, I've seeing that
that uh mother in law suite. No, I would not
replace it.

Speaker 20 (01:13:45):
Okay, so just let it go as long as it
will and then look at mini systems. Ye, when the
time comes, if you help me figure this out.

Speaker 8 (01:13:56):
Yeah, if the time comes, because the little bit of
use that you're putting on it, you're likely not going
to have to replace it before selling.

Speaker 20 (01:14:06):
Well that's good, that's good. No, and I do keep
it maintained. I have a really good dealer here and
they come out and are pretty honest. So okay, Well,
thank you so much. We really appreciate your health.

Speaker 8 (01:14:20):
Take care and again seven one three, two one two
five eight seven four. Randy, how are you today?

Speaker 2 (01:14:32):
I'm wonderful, long time due West Plunging customer, very satisfied
every time.

Speaker 8 (01:14:38):
I'm glad to hear that I.

Speaker 2 (01:14:40):
Wanted to get that plug in. I need to get
your opinion for an AC drain line. I've had some
problems this summer with I've got two acs.

Speaker 8 (01:14:50):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:14:51):
There's a product that I sought advertisement on and been researching.
It's called I Flow yep.

Speaker 8 (01:14:59):
And I has that little bottle of chemical that it
puts down in there too to keep it flowing.

Speaker 2 (01:15:05):
But yeah, but the thing is from my research, I
saw that you know, when your attic temperatures get up
in the nineties, which is most of the time down
here in Texas, that it uses a lot of the chemicals.
And I was wondering if that's a bad thing, you know,

(01:15:25):
because the one thing I don't want to do is
have to run up into the attic every two or
three months.

Speaker 8 (01:15:32):
Well, it depends on how much of the chemical that
they're saying it's using. I mean, how long is that
bottle supposed to last before it's got to be replaced.

Speaker 2 (01:15:44):
Well, it's based upon the size of the bottle and
attic temperature. That that was why I was That's why
I was asking you if you if you knew anything
about it.

Speaker 8 (01:15:55):
I've seen them, but I don't know how long the
bottle asked or anything. I can't imagine why the temperature
would cause it to use more of it. Other than
that promotes the growth of the algae and stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:16:12):
But but your overall opinion of the eye flow. Have
you ever used it, heard the results of it?

Speaker 8 (01:16:22):
Not yet. It's it hasn't been out long enough that
I've in our area that I've I haven't run into
it yet. But I love the concept of it.

Speaker 2 (01:16:34):
Yeah, so did I. That was the only thing is
I mean, you can't buy it direct. You have to
go to like a home depot. They carry them at
a home depot is the only place I saw locally.

Speaker 16 (01:16:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:16:46):
And and they don't have it set up for ac
guys to put them in. It's kind of set up
for homeowners to do it themselves. Have you priced it yet?
How much they get for him.

Speaker 2 (01:16:58):
Per kid? It's right around one hundred bucks or just
under like eighty nine or ninety some dollars at home depot.

Speaker 8 (01:17:07):
And have you had problems with your system with that
line backing up?

Speaker 2 (01:17:11):
I had this summer, yes, Now, prior to that, I maybe,
And I've been in this home since ninety four when
it was first built, and I had over all of
those years, I probably only had a couple of occasions
that I had a problem with the drain line. But

(01:17:32):
this year I had my eighty guys out here two
or three times they actually had to cut and rerun
the drain line it And because of the particular place
where it just seemed like it kept plugging up.

Speaker 8 (01:17:53):
Well, I will tell you, for one hundred bucks, I'd
be all over it.

Speaker 2 (01:18:00):
Kind of a lot of thoughts.

Speaker 8 (01:18:01):
What's the worst thing that's going to happen is it's
going through the fluid faster than you want it to
and you quit using it. But just looking at the
way the thing operates, it doesn't use that much each
time it goes because I have looked at them. I
just haven't you know, done the research to know reliability

(01:18:24):
and all that yet. But the concept of how it's
supposed to work, I think is ideal.

Speaker 16 (01:18:31):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (01:18:31):
And I have instructed my guys, my AC guys to
check it out because it is one of those things
that I may start recommending to people.

Speaker 2 (01:18:41):
Yeah, is it easy to install or do you have
to do something to where you connect it to your
drain line?

Speaker 8 (01:18:49):
You do have to put it where it feeds into
the drain line. You'll have to have a you know,
a riser available for that. But if you've been dumping
any bleach down and stuff. You already got that available,
so yeah, it's a it's a fairly simple hookup.

Speaker 16 (01:19:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:19:06):
And as far as as far as changing out the bottle,
you know, realistically, when you have your unit service twice
a year, you can probably have it changed out at
that time. And it's it's more or less like one
of these swiffers, you know, where the bottle just sits

(01:19:26):
into the handle. It's a it's a quick in and
out to change it.

Speaker 20 (01:19:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:19:31):
And I also believe it ties into like a phone
system or whatever else to notify you.

Speaker 8 (01:19:42):
Okay, yeah, I think.

Speaker 2 (01:19:46):
Yeah, okay, I just wanted to get your opinion on it.

Speaker 8 (01:19:51):
Well, if you get it put in, let me know
because how how it goes, Oh, I shall do it
all right, Thank you sir, Thank thank you. Jim, have
a great weekend you as well. Bye bye bye bye.
And let's see here. Let's let's talk real quick about
concord window film, because you know, we're talking about acs

(01:20:14):
and how hot it gets and all that stuff, and
you know, one of the things that can help is
a window film because it blocks all that glare and
all that heat that's coming through sliding glass. Doors and
windows and stuff that's heating up inside your home. Now.
Concord Window Film has window films that can go from

(01:20:35):
a darker tint to give you the privacy to a
tenth so light you can't even tell it's there. And
all the window film they sell blocks up to ninety
nine percent of the UV race from coming through your windows.
So if you have a problem with the heat, the glare,
and possibly even people looking through your windows that you
don't want seeing through the windows, call Concord Window Film

(01:20:58):
at eight eight eight twos your six one four three.
That's eight eight eight two zero six one four one three,
or just go to thchi pro dot com and click
on the link for Concord Window Film. You know a
lot of window companies you can put in new windows,
but can they make the trim look right? Do they

(01:21:19):
use high end cock to seal up the air gaps?
And do they offer multiple styles and choices so you
can get the exact windows you need and want for
your home. Jim Dutton, host of Texas ho Improvement for
Texas Remodel Team, they have a window division that does
nothing but windows, and they can make sure that things
like your trim, your brick. Even your windowsill looks perfect

(01:21:40):
because after all, they are owned by a construction company.
They carry all the major brands of windows, and their
insall crews are second to none, giving them a four
point nine stars out of five on Google Reviews and
an A plus rating with the BBB, plus a thumbs
up from me. Great windows, great prices and a great install.
Call the Texas Remodel Team Window Division for your new

(01:22:03):
windows today two eight one six one two fifty nine
ninety one two eight one six one two fifty nine
ninety one online at Texas Remodel Team dot com. All right,
so we've had quite a bit of talk today about
air conditioning systems, and look, if you want somebody who's
going to shoot straight with you on whether you should

(01:22:24):
replace your AC system or not, call my company du
West air Conditioning at seven one three four seven three
seven one five six. We can come out take a
look at what you've got going on to look at
the age of it, look at you know, all the stuff,
how it's working, and help you make a decision whether

(01:22:45):
you should replace it or not before the new systems
come out January first. And it costs you a heck
of a lot more money. Now. We can also help
you with your routine maintenance and service agreements and all
that stuff as well. But you know, with with the
big changes that are taking place, truly, I want my
guys to be able to help you out. So call

(01:23:06):
to West air Conditioning seven one three four seven three
seven one five six.

Speaker 16 (01:23:13):
There has never ever been a sudden hurricane, and I
hope I'll live long enough for someone a lot smarter
than I to explain to me so I can understand
the miracle of plywood. There's always that one couple we

(01:23:34):
get implywood. Hell, we could ride it out. When they
look out of the window and see that convoy of
army jeeps, army trucks, helicopter, State Police and National Guard.
What the hell of adventure with all those people just
couldn't find no damn plywood.

Speaker 1 (01:23:53):
Our thoughts are trailers to those affected by this very

Speaker 7 (01:23:58):
Here's more Texas Home Improvement with Jim Dunman.

Speaker 8 (01:24:05):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement seven five eight
seven four. We're going to head out to c Brook Mark.
You having a good day.

Speaker 23 (01:24:14):
Today, Oh yes, sir, thank you for taking my call.

Speaker 8 (01:24:18):
My pleasure I appreciate you calling.

Speaker 23 (01:24:21):
I'm not very good with my hands, so I have
to rely on everything that you guys tell me. I
have a nineteen sixty five house, a little a little
younger than me, and it has the asbestos sighting, okay,
and it's their twelve inches by two feet and I

(01:24:46):
was taking off some of the old fashioned window metal
hanging things that go over the windows.

Speaker 6 (01:24:57):
Uh.

Speaker 23 (01:24:57):
And I took a little bit of the siding off.
So I'm trying to find a place where I can
get something. Of course I know it's not going to
be asbestos, which I don't want, but something to replace
the twelve by two foot piece society.

Speaker 8 (01:25:13):
Oh yeah, there used to be stores that carried it,
and I ran into some at a lumberyard, and I'm
trying to remember where the heck that was. I think
it was up in Lagrange, but even that's been about
three years ago. So whether they still have it, I

(01:25:36):
don't know, because they only had about two bundles of
it sitting there. Oh how wide of section of it
did you end up?

Speaker 23 (01:25:47):
Oh it's just one sheet, a little piece that's two
feet by one foot.

Speaker 8 (01:25:55):
Oh, you just need one piece, huh.

Speaker 23 (01:25:58):
One piece that's it, Yes, sir, could could I use it?
I went over to home depot and they had some
of the cement stuff, but I don't know if that
was hardy siding or not. And you said that I
could cut that into the right piece and put that
in and just paint it. Yeah, it's not really a cut.

Speaker 8 (01:26:17):
It's probably gonna be a lot thicker though. Oh yeah.

Speaker 23 (01:26:24):
I mainly it's it's on the side of the house,
and I'm not really worried about cosmetic looks and all that.
I'm just worried, you know. I don't want termites to
come in and just you know, I just want it
to be safe. If there's something else I can put
on it, that would be great.

Speaker 8 (01:26:43):
Well, you could put any type of siding on it
to protect it. The big thing is that that oldest
best of stuff was only about an eighth of an
inch or so thick, and you would need something that's
thin like that to slide up under it. But honestly,
if you're not too worried about the way it looks,
I'm gonna give you two options that I would look at. Okay, One,

(01:27:07):
I would take a look at getting some cedar shakes.
The cedar shake is basically what old wood roofs were
made out of. Oh okay, and the reason I'm telling
you use that is it tapers down just like that

(01:27:28):
siding would, so you'd be able to slide it up
underneath and just fill in that that one gap with it. Uh,
and you can paint it so it's it's not going
to stick out too bad, but it's definitely gonna show.

Speaker 11 (01:27:44):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (01:27:44):
So that would give you give you one option, but.

Speaker 23 (01:27:48):
On the side of the house, and you can't even
see where or it's that, so it's really.

Speaker 8 (01:27:54):
Not a problem. Then that's that's exactly what I would get.
It's just some cedar shake and plug it in.

Speaker 23 (01:28:02):
Oh well, oh great, well that sounds easy.

Speaker 8 (01:28:05):
Okay, let me take so much. You bet you too,
Bye bye blah.

Speaker 11 (01:28:11):
Oh.

Speaker 8 (01:28:11):
I used to do quite a bit of work with
those old shakes that way. You gotta you gotta be
very careful with them. They're they're brittle. They're more brittle
than glass was, to be honest. So anyways, we're gonna
take quick break. We'll be right back. Let's talk about
ready seal. You know, ready seal is far in a
way the best product for staining any type of wood.

(01:28:31):
You know, like those woodshakes we were just talking about.
You could put ready Seal on those and it would
soak in and protect that wood for years to come. Now,
Ready Seal is a great do it yourself project. You know,
he was saying that he doesn't he doesn't do a
lot of do it yourself. Not good with his hands.
But you can roll this product on, you can spray it,

(01:28:53):
you can brush it. You don't have to worry about runs,
laps or streaks. I've made it drip. I've made eight
it run looking to see how it would dissipate, and
it does great. You need something to protect the wood
around your home, you need to take a look at
Ready Seal. You can find it at the box stores, lumberyards,
hardware stores. To find the store nearest you go to

(01:29:15):
readyseal dot com. You know, if you're having a sewer
leak under your homes foundation, that's something that really needs
to be addressed. But it needs to be addressed by
somebody who can take care of the plumbing as well
as the homes foundation. That's why you want to call
do West both the plumbing company and the foundation repair
company to make sure it's your homes foundation stays in

(01:29:38):
tact years after the plumbing work is done. When you
want the best, call do West seven one three four
seven three seven one five six online at dudash West
dot com. If you know, we all have garage doors
and over time they traditionally start sagging in the middle

(01:29:58):
because when the builders built them, they just don't use
heavy enough materials and so it starts to sag and
it it makes your house just look sad. You need
to talk to the folks at Lental Lift. They'll put
a new steel lentel across there, jack everything back up,
secure it, and give you a lifetime warranty that it'll

(01:30:19):
never happen again. Eight three three nine zero three two
two two six. That's eight three three nine zero three
two two two six for a lentle lift.

Speaker 1 (01:30:33):
When Jim Dutton recommends a contractor, he won't steer you
rock dyln Hey.

Speaker 12 (01:30:37):
Jim will fall in real quick about one of your
dreaded contractors.

Speaker 3 (01:30:41):
Text the through Model THEMS.

Speaker 2 (01:30:42):
We've been working with them for four or five years now,
just project after project.

Speaker 14 (01:30:47):
He's the only guy we call.

Speaker 12 (01:30:48):
And they did a great job on an outdoor kitchen
for a huge patio.

Speaker 20 (01:30:53):
Extension, outdoor fireplace, the kitchen as well.

Speaker 23 (01:30:57):
Nothing but good things to say about them, more consotly
spreading the good word regarding their team.

Speaker 16 (01:31:02):
From our neighbors.

Speaker 8 (01:31:03):
It really is a good time to get things done
around the house with Texas Remodel Team. If you're needing
any type of remodeling, whether it's just a room edition
or an outdoor kitchen, or maybe just a patio cover.

Speaker 9 (01:31:16):
Highly recommended.

Speaker 1 (01:31:17):
Call Texas Remodel Team now at two eight one six
' one two five nine ninety one.

Speaker 7 (01:31:23):
That's two eight one sixty one two.

Speaker 1 (01:31:25):
Five nine ninety one, or click thelink at thhipro dot com.

Speaker 17 (01:31:32):
I've been through two hurricanes.

Speaker 22 (01:31:33):
I was a Hurricane Carlo when I was a kid
in Houston, and everybody leaves except for one guy who's
going to stay there and tie himself to a tree
on the beach to prove a point. And the point
was he said that, at fifty three years of age,
he was in good enough physical condition to withstand the
wind and the rain from a four stree hurricane.

Speaker 17 (01:31:52):
Let me explain something to you. It isn't that the
wind is blowing, it's what the wind hit blow.

Speaker 22 (01:32:03):
If you get hit with Evolvo. It doesn't really matter
how many situps you did that morning.

Speaker 1 (01:32:09):

Speaker 7 (01:32:14):
Here's more Texas Home Improvement with Jim Dutton.

Speaker 8 (01:32:19):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. Let's jump into
our last call of the day, Ben, How can I
help you?

Speaker 3 (01:32:26):
Yes, Jim, I'm building a fence at a four inch
square tubing and I need a gate post right at
the corner of my workshop. But it is on drill piers,
so it's about eighteen twenty four inches diameter piers and
I'm hitting that when I dig down. I was curious
about either using a hammer drill to drill down into

(01:32:48):
that and which some anchor bolts or something into that
drill pier, or should I just jog around it to
get some depth on that gig post?

Speaker 8 (01:32:57):
How far down he lot? How far down going before
you hit that?

Speaker 4 (01:33:02):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (01:33:03):
Maybe a for eighteen inches?

Speaker 8 (01:33:05):
Okay? And is it flat enough on the top that
you can go ahead and anchor into it?

Speaker 3 (01:33:11):
Yeah, it looks like it, do it.

Speaker 8 (01:33:13):
I mean, yeah, You're not going to hurt that peero
at all.

Speaker 23 (01:33:17):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:33:17):
It's been in there about four year or so.

Speaker 8 (01:33:19):
Yeah, yeah, you'll be fine, right.

Speaker 3 (01:33:21):
All right, I appreciate, appreciate, help.

Speaker 8 (01:33:24):
You bet take care of a good day by with that,
have a wonderful Saturday afternoon, and join me again tomorrow
at two o'clock for more Texas Home groupment. Before we go,
let's talk about James Hardy siding, the best siding on
the planet. You know, we were just talking about that oldest,
bestest siding. And you know, if you got a house

(01:33:46):
like that, you can take all that siding off and
replace it with James Hardy siding and it would look gorgeous. Now,
you got a lot of choices when it comes to
James Hardy siding, whether you want to go with a
lap siding stuck old look or you know, would shake
look like I was just talking about with him, to
go ahead and put the wood shake in there. James

(01:34:09):
Hardy makes all that stuff. Now it won't work on
his project because it's too thick, but to redo the
house with it would be gorgeous. Take a look at
James Hardi siding by going to thhipro dot com and
then just pick the link for James Hardy Siding and
scroll through and just be amazed at how beautiful your

(01:34:33):
home could be.

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