October 19, 2024 • 28 mins
Dean continues taking caller's burning questions surrounding their homes. He covers the usage of plexiglass and how to keep shower walls dry. Dean shares how to maintain a cascade pond clean with water balancing enzymes. Additionally, Dean covers built-in sprinklers and the types of systems that exist and how reliable they can be.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI.
HEYM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Am.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I Ami why dreaming an e d everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app. Hey, welcome to Home for every week
we help you better understand that place where you live.
I'm Dean Sharp, the house whisper. There's Lucky the rooster
going off in the background. Here with you live like
I am. Every weekend Saturday morning six to eight Pacific time,
(00:31):
Sunday mornings nine to noon Pacific time. Thanks for joining
us on the program. Hey, Heather got pretty worked up
about that dirty dancing thing. I'm just saying, I really
did just take my money.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Now I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Did you did you have you had dreams of Patrick
Swayze just lifting you up about my dash?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
What gen xer gal hasn't I mean that movie was
like I watched it over and over again and I thought,
I'm going to go to a camp and meet a
hot guy and he's going to teach me to.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Dance, you know, as like it happens in life, right.
I mean, who hasn't, really, who hasn't had that dream?
Who hasn't gone to camp meta hot guy and learned
how to dance.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
In a journey way.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
What happened to you?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
All right, Well, I'm happy for you. I'm really happy
for you. Other We're going to get you tickets. We're
gonna we're gonna get you out there.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Reporting live from Dirty Dancing on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Breaking news, breaking news. Baby, not in the corner.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Not in the corner, She's on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
All right, y'all, thanks for joining us on the program today.
I've just got some bits of interesting info to talk
to you about. Plus we're taking calls. The number to
reach me eight three three to ask Dean A three
three the numeral to ask Dean anything you want to
talk about regarding your home design, construction, DIY, whatever. We'll
(01:59):
go back to the phone, maybe right after our next
little news break, we'll go back to the phones. In
the meantime, let's see where was my note here? Come on, Dene.
Oh no, that's my Dirty Dancing note. I don't need
that one. Oh, this is really interesting. Producer Michelle actually
sent this my way this week, from which I'm very
(02:21):
grateful because sometimes as much as I like to keep
my finger on the pulse of everything that's going on
in the building industry, sometimes you know what, sometimes something
slips by. And this was a biggie if you want
an if you are interested in home construction and building
materials and the impact that it has just generally speaking,
(02:44):
on the planet, on the environment and so on. And
believe me, home building has a massive carbon impact on things.
It's something that we're always trying to refine and change.
But I have never been one to embrace the scarcity
model of saving the environment. In other words, the idea
that like, okay, you know what we should all do.
(03:06):
I mean, as a last resort, sure, but you know,
we all just need to kind of strip down, wear
grass skirts, live in huts made out of hay, and
forego modern civilization altogether. I think there are more creative
ways to approach that. And here is a company that
you might be interested in that has done just that.
(03:28):
Planted P L A and T plant with a D
no E, but it's pronounced planted. Okay, just plant with
a D on the end. What is significant about what
they have done They have developed a building material that
replaces plywood and OSB oriented strandboard, both of which are
(03:52):
made out of wood by products or you know, chipboard
from woodmills, making other things or as you know, plywood.
Plywood's been around forever. In a day, they have a
material that competes with and I believe on every level,
beats plywood and oriented strandboard, Tina, You're we're gonna be
(04:14):
seeing this very soon. In fact, a major builder here
in the US has just ordered two hundred and fifty
thousand sheets of it for their own situation, for their
own projects. It is made out of grass. Grass, Okay, Now,
this is grass that can grow forty feet in a year.
(04:38):
This is grass that is As a result, this material
is stronger, more weather resistant than both OSB and plywood.
This is a material most importantly you think, yeah, yeah,
well we've heard about that, you know, because bamboo, giant
bamboo is technically the world's largest grass the rules. Bamboo
(05:00):
has been used for that kind of stuff constantly. But
here's the problem. If you live in the US, right,
bamboo is grown in China. We don't grow bamboo here,
I mean, you know, not other than just like in
your little garden right or in your backyard. I'm talking
about giant bamboo. We don't have the climate zone for
(05:20):
giant bamboo. But this is not bamboo. This is a
kind of perennial grass. They are growing it on farms
in North Carolina, and this company is in North Carolina.
It is US grown, US based material. Fifteen thousand acres
(05:45):
of grass replaces one hundred and forty thousand acres of
forest in terms of its productivity. This is grass that's
going to grow and it's going to die anyway, and
then it regrows. You cut it and it regrows at
multiple crops throughout the course of a single year. This
(06:06):
is a major, major, major move forward toward things like
carbon recapture and climate change and building materials and building
more sustainably and just better, just better. Okay, So the
company is on its way. It was actually founded, I
(06:27):
believe by a couple of SpaceX engineers who just wanted
to do something more valuable for things that are happening
on the ground right here. They're based in Oxford, North Carolina.
They're expanding. The more location, you're going to hear more
and more and more about this material. I guarantee you
some of the best building materials like modern mill using
(06:50):
upcycled rice holes coming out of the South. And so
here we are Oxford, North Carolina. Planted is the name
of the companies. You go check it out plant d
okay dot com and see this incredible material and what
they plan to do with it. We are going to
see newer and better things coming from fibrous plants like
(07:13):
grass that can be grown very very fast and very
very sustainably. We're gonna see more and more of it
as we go. All right, We're i's going to see
some more calls when we come back. You are home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper Cam by Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper at your service. Thanks for joining us
on the program today. We're just doing a little Saturday
(07:34):
morning free for all, like we tend to do these
days on Saturday mornings. I've got some interesting news and
views for you regarding your home, home design, home remodeling,
home construction, the industry, all of that kind of stuff. Today,
some updates for you. But also, of course we're taking
calls and it's time to go back to the bones
(07:55):
right now, So let's do it. I want to talk
to Sue. Hey, Sue, welcome home.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Hey Deane, thanks for taking my call so much. I'm
in my childhood home. I'm back in it and ever
since I was a kid. I remember my dad's fighting
with the bathroom wall next to the shower. It would
crumble and do all these things. Well, it's doing it now,
(08:22):
and I just got done digging all the wet plaster
out and fix it. You preparing it, and then I
sealed it three times with kills, and then I put
two coats of paint over it. But I'm afraid it's
going to do it because it's just the nature of
the beast. Can I put a sheet of Plexi glass
over it? And it's not that large, it's only seven
(08:44):
inches wide by about a yard tall. The area.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Well, yeah, I mean, I think my first question is
why is it getting wet? How is it getting what specifical.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Shower curtain right next to the shower. We just have
a shower curtain there, So I think the moisture just
from the bathroom, just from the yeah, the shower because
we close the door a.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Shower, So.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Okay, so you think it's just moisture, it's not actual
water from the shower getting past the shower. I mean,
is the shower curtain right on the tile edge line
or is it in set a couple.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Of inches it's right on the tile line.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
That's the problem right there. Oh, that's the problem. The
shower curtain should never be so whether it's a shower,
I mean, you could you can do this, You could
afford to do that if you have a shower door
where the glass is just literally sealed and making a
barrier right there, okay, because the water is going to
(09:48):
get beyond it. But if you're using a shower curtain
in a in a shower situation, like a top shower
scenario like that, the tile should extend, you know, a
good couple of inches two three inches beyond the edge
of you know, the line of the shower curtain where
the shower curtain touches the wall. Because this kind of
(10:09):
stuff happens all the time. It's a it's actually a
mistake that a lot of people make. I'm not saying
you made it, you know, because you know who whoever
did the tile work. But when you've got a tile
in tub, for everybody who's listening, by the way, especially
if you're in the middle of a remodel and you're thinking, okay,
how are we going to do this tub? Don't bring
the tile work down just right down onto the top
(10:31):
of the tub wall and stop it there. The tile
should go beyond the tub all the way down to
the floor by a couple of inches, and then the
tub should be in set from it. And that is
what ends up protecting your dry wall from getting soaking
wet during a shower. So here's the thing. I would
give you two options. Well, you know, obviously you have
(10:51):
three options. You could retile the shower. Uh. That's not
what we wanted to do, Dean, Uh, I get it.
But in the future, sure you decide to change up
the tile, just no stretch that stuff further. The second option,
which would be far more potentially attractive than you know,
(11:12):
putting a piece of plexiglass on the dry wall there, which,
by the way, I don't. I mean it would probably
it probably work, okay, but I'm also concerned about any
kind of moisture getting but behind the plexiglass. So your
shower curtain, the rod, is it screwed in to the
(11:36):
to the tile or is it a pressurized shower rod.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It's a pressurized rod.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Let's take that shower rod and move it in two
or three inches. Okay, move it in two or three inches,
and you know what, I almost guarantee that your moisture
problems will magically disappear.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Okay, that sounds like the easiest And there you go.
All right, say thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
You are so welcome. Yeah, everybody, you know, water splashes
and water carries, I mean it runs. Water has an
incredibly high surface tension. That's the science behind it. So
when it comes to that, anytime you got to splash zone,
you got to overtile, you gotta tile beyond. You got
to run the waterproof materials well beyond the line that
(12:28):
you think you want them to stop. So and I'm
not talking about a foot or so. We're just talking about,
you know, two three inches past the line of the
shower curtain and you'll be all set. Great question soon,
glad I could help. All right, when we come back,
should we take another call or two? Sure? All right,
more calls when we return Your Home with Dean Sharp,
(12:52):
the House Whisperer. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI AM six forty. Okay, fine, being
Sharp the house whisper at your service. Here we are
on a beautiful southern California autumn Saturday morning. I know
(13:12):
you're up, you're listening. You're with us. I appreciate it greatly.
I know how valuable your weekend time is, so when
you spend time with us here, we try and make
the information, the answers, the content entertaining and useful to
you on every level. By the way, a little update
on our new project, the murder slash Renovation Home. Yeah,
(13:35):
I'm not doing so well, Tina. It's just kind of
I came up with renovate or Decapitate and where a
show where aspiring new designers compete to discover if their
designs live on to compete next week or if it
is truly their last. That's it gives a new definition
(13:58):
to eliminate nation round. I'm saying, she has no interest
in this whatsoever. She's like, move on, move on, buddy. Yeah, yeah,
I think it's it's gone far afield. What I'm fascinated
by it. Listen, if you had to live with somebody
who was completely I do. No, you don't myself. No,
(14:23):
that doesn't count. If you had to live with somebody
who's completely enamored with true crime, true crime, true crime.
I walk in Tina's listening to she's doing a puzzle
and listening to a podcast. This is her favorite, by
the way, way of relaxing. She's in the garden room,
which we built specifically so she could do puzzles. She's
(14:43):
in the garden. I walk in. She's sitting there doing
a puzzle, relaxing. Great, fantastic, she's great at it. Listening
to murder, right, are you not tell me that's not true?
That's a fact. That is that's absolutely a fact. All right,
(15:03):
let's go back to the phones, shall we. Sounds like
a good idea. Let's talk to Ray. Hey, Ray, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Thank you so much for taking my call. My neighbor
has a small water fountain, pond, cascading feature in her
backyard and her husband has succumbed to Parkinson's and so
she has no idea how to maintain this and it's
getting pretty green. Is there a toxic concern for the
critters that are drinking out of it? First question? Second
(15:37):
question is how do I keep it from getting green?
But how do I treat this thing and take care
of it for her?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Okay, So describe the water feature to me, because there
are different kinds. Does she have fish in it? Is?
Is it like a coy pond?
Speaker 6 (15:49):
No fish, no fish, no coy pond is quite small.
It's it's the best way I can describe it as
a short cascade about three feet cascating down to a
basin that is probably two feet in diameter and full
of semi precious stones. There's agates and quartzes and jaspers
(16:10):
and petrified wood. I think it's just beautiful when the
water is running over these colored rocks.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Okay, all right, great, that's fair. That's fair, all right.
So if we don't have any living creatures in there,
then our best bet is to well, I'll give you
a number of different approaches. Our best bet, essentially, though,
is to treat it like a pool. Okay, treat it
like pool water, and that is to add not a lot,
(16:37):
but find the right balance of chlorine to add to
the water to keep it clean and fresh and pure
and whatever. Now, if you're concerned that there are woodland
creatures that are using this as a water source for themselves,
then you could take another approach, which is you can
(16:58):
go online and look for or enzymes, water balancing enzymes.
That's another way to do it. That's actually my preferred
way to do it. In fact, we had for a
number of years we had a hot tub that we
used zero chlorine in. We only used enzymes to keep
it under control. Enzymes break down organic material to a
(17:23):
point where it makes them non bioavailable to algaes and
the kind of stuff that grows and develops and becomes
a problem in water. It's the way that nature kind
of handles like It's why most of the time streams
and lakes are clear water, with the exception of the
occasional algae bloom that happens seasonally. So enzymes are a
(17:47):
good way to do it. And the nice thing about
it is you only add a little bit and they
last quite a while before you have to redo it.
If you have to shock a water like that, a
system of water, in other words, you don't want to
just drain it and then restart it. If you have
to shock it and you don't want to go the
chlorine route, then a lot of people are surprised to
(18:08):
find out that hydrogen peroxide is a fantastic way to
shock the water and to help it move towards a
sterile state. I'll just pour in a good amount of
hydrogen peroxide. It will flash off and not end up
becoming a problem for anybody who drinks it. Down the road.
But I think at the end of the day, maintenance
(18:30):
and regular servicing is going to be the key for
this thing. And if there is a let me emphasize
this my biggest concern, especially you know, we're kind of
sliding out of this time of year, but it's still relevant.
If there is a pond, even a small one of
a basin of two feet or so, make sure that
that feature runs for a while every day, maybe multiple
(18:52):
times during the day, for short periods of time, because
my biggest concern would be mosquitos, mosquito larvae growing in
still water, and so just disrupting that lower basin with
a movement surface movement every few hours or so, that's
enough to keep mosquitoes from successfully laying their eggs in there,
(19:14):
and then you don't have, you know, a mosquito habitat
for the rest of the neighborhood.
Speaker 6 (19:20):
It does appear to be running twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Okay, that's good. That's a good thing. That's a good thing.
As far as the mosquitoes, I.
Speaker 6 (19:29):
Do believe there is a timer on there to control that,
to control that, but I haven't taken the thing apart,
and I can't pressure wash it to give it an
initial cleaning. Is that advisable?
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely, And whenever you go in with
something like that, just you know, just to go in
and try and clear out, you know, as much as
you can on day one so that it minimizes your
you know, your water treatment from therefore, that way, you
can just make small moves, small non toxic moves, and
(20:01):
stay up on it. And if it's running twenty four
to seven, by the way, that's not necessary. You know,
a water feature, by definition, is there for us to
enjoy sound the look, you know, not many of us
are enjoying water features at one in the morning until
four or five or six in the morning. And so
if there is a timer, do her a favor and
(20:22):
set that timer so that it shuts itself off at
night so we don't have to worry about it. And
the still water overnight is not going to cause any
mosquito issues because as soon as it starts running again,
their toast. Okay, all right, thank you, Ray, thanks for
the question, my friend, good luck with that. And hey,
what a good neighbor I hear, I thought as he
(20:44):
was starting to say, I've got a neighbor next door
they've got a water feature, it's not being maintained. What
you know that most of the time I get those
kind of questions, like what do I do with my
crappy neighbor who is disrespecting the neighborhood. And here Ray
is just stepping up and he's like, what do I
do to help my neighbor next door because she has
(21:06):
fallen on some difficult circumstances that my friend makes you
you have one caller of the day. I appreciate you.
I appreciate that spirit, especially in this day and age.
Good Lord. All right, when we come back, we'll try
and fit in another call or so before we are done.
Go nowhere your home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
(21:27):
Hey have I Dean Sharp, the house whisper at your service.
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program today.
Here we are at the end of another two hour program.
Don't forget tomorrow's show, the Big Show. From nine to
noon tomorrow, we're going to be talking about the monitored
home revolution. Every you know, I've talked about smart homes before.
(21:51):
This is a very very specific angle on that, and
that is a home monitoring. You know, Tina and I
were just on vacation and we were just back in Vermont,
had a fantastic time. One of the interesting things was,
more than ever, we were getting alerts like, hey, there's
a cat in the driveway and somebody's at your front door.
(22:11):
And that's because we have to a certain degree a
monitored home. It was like having a relatively large amount
of control over our home when we are not there.
Now that's convenient. It's also you could argue a safety
and security benefit. But there are also levels of monitored
(22:34):
home conversation that I really want to dig into tomorrow,
some having to do with something that a lot of
us are facing, which is aging parents, aging in place
in a home, the cost of being able to watch
and care for a loved one without in home nursing
care or putting them in a nursing home. Some of
(22:54):
the new monitoring technology can make a big difference when
it comes to so you're not going to want to
miss tomorrow's show. Everything from security to aging in place,
it is the monitored home that is tomorrow's show. All right,
let's wrap this one up with maybe one more call
if we can. I want to talk to Leslie. Leslie,
Welcome home.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
Well, I live in a city that requires built in
sprinklers in all homes built since the eighties. I live
in a tract house. It was built in nineteen ninety
three and it's about three thousand square feet, two story
tile roof. I've never had the sprinkler's service. In the
(23:36):
early years, I did have one small drip from one
of the sprinkler heads, and we have that replaced or fixed.
I don't remember, and I don't have any drips or
leaks right now. But I'm afraid of these sprinklers. I'm
afraid they're going to burst or blow. And my question
is can they be legally disconnected? And can I just
tell my home insurance company that I don't have sprinklers?
(23:59):
Must they be working and active? And do they need maintenance?
Speaker 6 (24:03):
Do I need to excuse me?
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Have someone come out and look and monitor them because
they are so old? Or what do I do if anything?
Or are they safe? Can I just ignore them?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Okay? I got you all right? So most in most cases,
by the way, it's some kind of PVC system that
is running your fire sprinkler lines. It's a very stable,
very safe system. Okay, it's been it's got standing water
in it. That's great. The sprinkler heads themselves. When you
(24:37):
find one that's dripping or leaking, that's just because that
little glass vial may have shifted, or maybe there's a
tiny bit of dripping. They're very, very easy to maintain.
They're very safe systems, and I would not advise you
disconnecting it. I don't want you to worry about it.
It's there to help protect you know that the incidents
of death and major property damage in a home fire
(25:02):
with fire sprinklers installed is like less than one percent.
I mean, it is amazingly efficient. They don't go they
don't all go on it once. They are a heat centric.
Each one of those heads has that little vial that
bursts open only when the time is right. They don't
go off because you burnt the toast or you filled
(25:25):
the house with smoke. It has to do with the
heat of an actual fire activating each individual head. So
they are safe systems. Now, you didn't install the system,
you bought a home in which it was already installed.
The reason I'm suggesting you don't, you know, disconnected, is
because if you live in a city that requires it,
then your homeowner's insurance very very more than likely requires it,
(25:48):
and you'd be taking a hit in your in your
even if they allowed it, you'd be taking a hit
in your in your premium because you're basically saying, hey,
homeowners are insurance, I want to make my home less
safe than it is right now, and they're they're going
to respond by saying, well, okay, and pay us more
(26:09):
money because you know, we don't want your home to
be less safe. My last bit of advice to you
is simply this. The world is full of really good
fire sprinkler contractors. I've never met a shady fire sprinkler contractor.
I'm not saying they're out They're not out there, but
I really doubt it because they're so highly intensely specialized
(26:32):
and regulated by you know, fire marshals and so on.
So my suggestion would be call around to your local
fire sprinkler contractor and simply pay somebody to come out
and evaluate the system. Maybe they'll come and do it
for free, but to have them come out and say, listen,
you know, here's my system is built in the nineties.
(26:52):
Tell me if it's safe, tell me if I need
it to do anything, tell me if it needs any
maintenance or give me the assurance that I'm in good
And that's how you're going to get that question answered.
That's exactly what I would do if I was in
your shoes, Leslie, I would simply call out an expert,
have them give me a consult and tell me you
(27:13):
know yay nay, give me a rating on my system,
and alleviate my fears or confirm them. Either way, you
just want an answer to the question. I can't answer
it here. I can only direct you to the proper procedure,
and that's what you would do. You would just call
an independent fire and sprinkler come and if anywhere on
the system there's a tag or a label or an
(27:34):
indicator of the company that installed it, if they're still around,
give them a call and have them come out and
look at their own work again. Either way, get it
inspected and you'll sleep better at night. But don't disconnect.
They last a long, long, long time, and very very
rarely does anybody have any problems with their fire sprinklers.
(27:56):
All right, everybody, Well, that's it for today. Handle on
the law is coming up next. We will be back
here tomorrow morning from nine to noon talking about the
monitoring revolution in your home. You're not going to want
to miss it until then, Get out there in this
beautiful day and get busy building yourself a beautiful light.
(28:19):
We'll see tomorrow. This has been Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on KFI
AM six forty every Saturday morning from six to eight
Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from nine to noon
Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI.
HEYM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Am.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I Ami why dreaming an e d everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app. Hey, welcome to Home for every week
we help you better understand that place where you live.
I'm Dean Sharp, the house whisper. There's Lucky the rooster
going off in the background. Here with you live like
I am. Every weekend Saturday morning six to eight Pacific time,
(00:31):
Sunday mornings nine to noon Pacific time. Thanks for joining
us on the program. Hey, Heather got pretty worked up
about that dirty dancing thing. I'm just saying, I really
did just take my money.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Now I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Did you did you have you had dreams of Patrick
Swayze just lifting you up about my dash?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
What gen xer gal hasn't I mean that movie was
like I watched it over and over again and I thought,
I'm going to go to a camp and meet a
hot guy and he's going to teach me to.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Dance, you know, as like it happens in life, right.
I mean, who hasn't, really, who hasn't had that dream?
Who hasn't gone to camp meta hot guy and learned
how to dance.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
In a journey way.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
What happened to you?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
All right, Well, I'm happy for you. I'm really happy
for you. Other We're going to get you tickets. We're
gonna we're gonna get you out there.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Reporting live from Dirty Dancing on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Breaking news, breaking news. Baby, not in the corner.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Not in the corner, She's on Broadway.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
All right, y'all, thanks for joining us on the program today.
I've just got some bits of interesting info to talk
to you about. Plus we're taking calls. The number to
reach me eight three three to ask Dean A three
three the numeral to ask Dean anything you want to
talk about regarding your home design, construction, DIY, whatever. We'll
(01:59):
go back to the phone, maybe right after our next
little news break, we'll go back to the phones. In
the meantime, let's see where was my note here? Come on, Dene.
Oh no, that's my Dirty Dancing note. I don't need
that one. Oh, this is really interesting. Producer Michelle actually
sent this my way this week, from which I'm very
(02:21):
grateful because sometimes as much as I like to keep
my finger on the pulse of everything that's going on
in the building industry, sometimes you know what, sometimes something
slips by. And this was a biggie if you want
an if you are interested in home construction and building
materials and the impact that it has just generally speaking,
(02:44):
on the planet, on the environment and so on. And
believe me, home building has a massive carbon impact on things.
It's something that we're always trying to refine and change.
But I have never been one to embrace the scarcity
model of saving the environment. In other words, the idea
that like, okay, you know what we should all do.
(03:06):
I mean, as a last resort, sure, but you know,
we all just need to kind of strip down, wear
grass skirts, live in huts made out of hay, and
forego modern civilization altogether. I think there are more creative
ways to approach that. And here is a company that
you might be interested in that has done just that.
(03:28):
Planted P L A and T plant with a D
no E, but it's pronounced planted. Okay, just plant with
a D on the end. What is significant about what
they have done They have developed a building material that
replaces plywood and OSB oriented strandboard, both of which are
(03:52):
made out of wood by products or you know, chipboard
from woodmills, making other things or as you know, plywood.
Plywood's been around forever. In a day, they have a
material that competes with and I believe on every level,
beats plywood and oriented strandboard, Tina, You're we're gonna be
(04:14):
seeing this very soon. In fact, a major builder here
in the US has just ordered two hundred and fifty
thousand sheets of it for their own situation, for their
own projects. It is made out of grass. Grass, Okay, Now,
this is grass that can grow forty feet in a year.
(04:38):
This is grass that is As a result, this material
is stronger, more weather resistant than both OSB and plywood.
This is a material most importantly you think, yeah, yeah,
well we've heard about that, you know, because bamboo, giant
bamboo is technically the world's largest grass the rules. Bamboo
(05:00):
has been used for that kind of stuff constantly. But
here's the problem. If you live in the US, right,
bamboo is grown in China. We don't grow bamboo here,
I mean, you know, not other than just like in
your little garden right or in your backyard. I'm talking
about giant bamboo. We don't have the climate zone for
(05:20):
giant bamboo. But this is not bamboo. This is a
kind of perennial grass. They are growing it on farms
in North Carolina, and this company is in North Carolina.
It is US grown, US based material. Fifteen thousand acres
(05:45):
of grass replaces one hundred and forty thousand acres of
forest in terms of its productivity. This is grass that's
going to grow and it's going to die anyway, and
then it regrows. You cut it and it regrows at
multiple crops throughout the course of a single year. This
(06:06):
is a major, major, major move forward toward things like
carbon recapture and climate change and building materials and building
more sustainably and just better, just better. Okay, So the
company is on its way. It was actually founded, I
(06:27):
believe by a couple of SpaceX engineers who just wanted
to do something more valuable for things that are happening
on the ground right here. They're based in Oxford, North Carolina.
They're expanding. The more location, you're going to hear more
and more and more about this material. I guarantee you
some of the best building materials like modern mill using
(06:50):
upcycled rice holes coming out of the South. And so
here we are Oxford, North Carolina. Planted is the name
of the companies. You go check it out plant d
okay dot com and see this incredible material and what
they plan to do with it. We are going to
see newer and better things coming from fibrous plants like
(07:13):
grass that can be grown very very fast and very
very sustainably. We're gonna see more and more of it
as we go. All right, We're i's going to see
some more calls when we come back. You are home
with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper Cam by Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper at your service. Thanks for joining us
on the program today. We're just doing a little Saturday
(07:34):
morning free for all, like we tend to do these
days on Saturday mornings. I've got some interesting news and
views for you regarding your home, home design, home remodeling,
home construction, the industry, all of that kind of stuff. Today,
some updates for you. But also, of course we're taking
calls and it's time to go back to the bones
(07:55):
right now, So let's do it. I want to talk
to Sue. Hey, Sue, welcome home.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Hey Deane, thanks for taking my call so much. I'm
in my childhood home. I'm back in it and ever
since I was a kid. I remember my dad's fighting
with the bathroom wall next to the shower. It would
crumble and do all these things. Well, it's doing it now,
(08:22):
and I just got done digging all the wet plaster
out and fix it. You preparing it, and then I
sealed it three times with kills, and then I put
two coats of paint over it. But I'm afraid it's
going to do it because it's just the nature of
the beast. Can I put a sheet of Plexi glass
over it? And it's not that large, it's only seven
(08:44):
inches wide by about a yard tall. The area.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Well, yeah, I mean, I think my first question is
why is it getting wet? How is it getting what specifical.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Shower curtain right next to the shower. We just have
a shower curtain there, So I think the moisture just
from the bathroom, just from the yeah, the shower because
we close the door a.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Shower, So.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Okay, so you think it's just moisture, it's not actual
water from the shower getting past the shower. I mean,
is the shower curtain right on the tile edge line
or is it in set a couple.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Of inches it's right on the tile line.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
That's the problem right there. Oh, that's the problem. The
shower curtain should never be so whether it's a shower,
I mean, you could you can do this, You could
afford to do that if you have a shower door
where the glass is just literally sealed and making a
barrier right there, okay, because the water is going to
(09:48):
get beyond it. But if you're using a shower curtain
in a in a shower situation, like a top shower
scenario like that, the tile should extend, you know, a
good couple of inches two three inches beyond the edge
of you know, the line of the shower curtain where
the shower curtain touches the wall. Because this kind of
(10:09):
stuff happens all the time. It's a it's actually a
mistake that a lot of people make. I'm not saying
you made it, you know, because you know who whoever
did the tile work. But when you've got a tile
in tub, for everybody who's listening, by the way, especially
if you're in the middle of a remodel and you're thinking, okay,
how are we going to do this tub? Don't bring
the tile work down just right down onto the top
(10:31):
of the tub wall and stop it there. The tile
should go beyond the tub all the way down to
the floor by a couple of inches, and then the
tub should be in set from it. And that is
what ends up protecting your dry wall from getting soaking
wet during a shower. So here's the thing. I would
give you two options. Well, you know, obviously you have
(10:51):
three options. You could retile the shower. Uh. That's not
what we wanted to do, Dean, Uh, I get it.
But in the future, sure you decide to change up
the tile, just no stretch that stuff further. The second option,
which would be far more potentially attractive than you know,
(11:12):
putting a piece of plexiglass on the dry wall there, which,
by the way, I don't. I mean it would probably
it probably work, okay, but I'm also concerned about any
kind of moisture getting but behind the plexiglass. So your
shower curtain, the rod, is it screwed in to the
(11:36):
to the tile or is it a pressurized shower rod.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It's a pressurized rod.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Let's take that shower rod and move it in two
or three inches. Okay, move it in two or three inches,
and you know what, I almost guarantee that your moisture
problems will magically disappear.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Okay, that sounds like the easiest And there you go.
All right, say thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
You are so welcome. Yeah, everybody, you know, water splashes
and water carries, I mean it runs. Water has an
incredibly high surface tension. That's the science behind it. So
when it comes to that, anytime you got to splash zone,
you got to overtile, you gotta tile beyond. You got
to run the waterproof materials well beyond the line that
(12:28):
you think you want them to stop. So and I'm
not talking about a foot or so. We're just talking about,
you know, two three inches past the line of the
shower curtain and you'll be all set. Great question soon,
glad I could help. All right, when we come back,
should we take another call or two? Sure? All right,
more calls when we return Your Home with Dean Sharp,
(12:52):
the House Whisperer. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp
on demand from KFI AM six forty. Okay, fine, being
Sharp the house whisper at your service. Here we are
on a beautiful southern California autumn Saturday morning. I know
(13:12):
you're up, you're listening. You're with us. I appreciate it greatly.
I know how valuable your weekend time is, so when
you spend time with us here, we try and make
the information, the answers, the content entertaining and useful to
you on every level. By the way, a little update
on our new project, the murder slash Renovation Home. Yeah,
(13:35):
I'm not doing so well, Tina. It's just kind of
I came up with renovate or Decapitate and where a
show where aspiring new designers compete to discover if their
designs live on to compete next week or if it
is truly their last. That's it gives a new definition
(13:58):
to eliminate nation round. I'm saying, she has no interest
in this whatsoever. She's like, move on, move on, buddy. Yeah, yeah,
I think it's it's gone far afield. What I'm fascinated
by it. Listen, if you had to live with somebody
who was completely I do. No, you don't myself. No,
(14:23):
that doesn't count. If you had to live with somebody
who's completely enamored with true crime, true crime, true crime.
I walk in Tina's listening to she's doing a puzzle
and listening to a podcast. This is her favorite, by
the way, way of relaxing. She's in the garden room,
which we built specifically so she could do puzzles. She's
(14:43):
in the garden. I walk in. She's sitting there doing
a puzzle, relaxing. Great, fantastic, she's great at it. Listening
to murder, right, are you not tell me that's not true?
That's a fact. That is that's absolutely a fact. All right,
(15:03):
let's go back to the phones, shall we. Sounds like
a good idea. Let's talk to Ray. Hey, Ray, welcome home.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Thank you so much for taking my call. My neighbor
has a small water fountain, pond, cascading feature in her
backyard and her husband has succumbed to Parkinson's and so
she has no idea how to maintain this and it's
getting pretty green. Is there a toxic concern for the
critters that are drinking out of it? First question? Second
(15:37):
question is how do I keep it from getting green?
But how do I treat this thing and take care
of it for her?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Okay, So describe the water feature to me, because there
are different kinds. Does she have fish in it? Is?
Is it like a coy pond?
Speaker 6 (15:49):
No fish, no fish, no coy pond is quite small.
It's it's the best way I can describe it as
a short cascade about three feet cascating down to a
basin that is probably two feet in diameter and full
of semi precious stones. There's agates and quartzes and jaspers
(16:10):
and petrified wood. I think it's just beautiful when the
water is running over these colored rocks.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Okay, all right, great, that's fair. That's fair, all right.
So if we don't have any living creatures in there,
then our best bet is to well, I'll give you
a number of different approaches. Our best bet, essentially, though,
is to treat it like a pool. Okay, treat it
like pool water, and that is to add not a lot,
(16:37):
but find the right balance of chlorine to add to
the water to keep it clean and fresh and pure
and whatever. Now, if you're concerned that there are woodland
creatures that are using this as a water source for themselves,
then you could take another approach, which is you can
(16:58):
go online and look for or enzymes, water balancing enzymes.
That's another way to do it. That's actually my preferred
way to do it. In fact, we had for a
number of years we had a hot tub that we
used zero chlorine in. We only used enzymes to keep
it under control. Enzymes break down organic material to a
(17:23):
point where it makes them non bioavailable to algaes and
the kind of stuff that grows and develops and becomes
a problem in water. It's the way that nature kind
of handles like It's why most of the time streams
and lakes are clear water, with the exception of the
occasional algae bloom that happens seasonally. So enzymes are a
(17:47):
good way to do it. And the nice thing about
it is you only add a little bit and they
last quite a while before you have to redo it.
If you have to shock a water like that, a
system of water, in other words, you don't want to
just drain it and then restart it. If you have
to shock it and you don't want to go the
chlorine route, then a lot of people are surprised to
(18:08):
find out that hydrogen peroxide is a fantastic way to
shock the water and to help it move towards a
sterile state. I'll just pour in a good amount of
hydrogen peroxide. It will flash off and not end up
becoming a problem for anybody who drinks it. Down the road.
But I think at the end of the day, maintenance
(18:30):
and regular servicing is going to be the key for
this thing. And if there is a let me emphasize
this my biggest concern, especially you know, we're kind of
sliding out of this time of year, but it's still relevant.
If there is a pond, even a small one of
a basin of two feet or so, make sure that
that feature runs for a while every day, maybe multiple
(18:52):
times during the day, for short periods of time, because
my biggest concern would be mosquitos, mosquito larvae growing in
still water, and so just disrupting that lower basin with
a movement surface movement every few hours or so, that's
enough to keep mosquitoes from successfully laying their eggs in there,
(19:14):
and then you don't have, you know, a mosquito habitat
for the rest of the neighborhood.
Speaker 6 (19:20):
It does appear to be running twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Okay, that's good. That's a good thing. That's a good thing.
As far as the mosquitoes, I.
Speaker 6 (19:29):
Do believe there is a timer on there to control that,
to control that, but I haven't taken the thing apart,
and I can't pressure wash it to give it an
initial cleaning. Is that advisable?
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely, And whenever you go in with
something like that, just you know, just to go in
and try and clear out, you know, as much as
you can on day one so that it minimizes your
you know, your water treatment from therefore, that way, you
can just make small moves, small non toxic moves, and
(20:01):
stay up on it. And if it's running twenty four
to seven, by the way, that's not necessary. You know,
a water feature, by definition, is there for us to
enjoy sound the look, you know, not many of us
are enjoying water features at one in the morning until
four or five or six in the morning. And so
if there is a timer, do her a favor and
(20:22):
set that timer so that it shuts itself off at
night so we don't have to worry about it. And
the still water overnight is not going to cause any
mosquito issues because as soon as it starts running again,
their toast. Okay, all right, thank you, Ray, thanks for
the question, my friend, good luck with that. And hey,
what a good neighbor I hear, I thought as he
(20:44):
was starting to say, I've got a neighbor next door
they've got a water feature, it's not being maintained. What
you know that most of the time I get those
kind of questions, like what do I do with my
crappy neighbor who is disrespecting the neighborhood. And here Ray
is just stepping up and he's like, what do I
do to help my neighbor next door because she has
(21:06):
fallen on some difficult circumstances that my friend makes you
you have one caller of the day. I appreciate you.
I appreciate that spirit, especially in this day and age.
Good Lord. All right, when we come back, we'll try
and fit in another call or so before we are done.
Go nowhere your home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
(21:27):
Hey have I Dean Sharp, the house whisper at your service.
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program today.
Here we are at the end of another two hour program.
Don't forget tomorrow's show, the Big Show. From nine to
noon tomorrow, we're going to be talking about the monitored
home revolution. Every you know, I've talked about smart homes before.
(21:51):
This is a very very specific angle on that, and
that is a home monitoring. You know, Tina and I
were just on vacation and we were just back in Vermont,
had a fantastic time. One of the interesting things was,
more than ever, we were getting alerts like, hey, there's
a cat in the driveway and somebody's at your front door.
(22:11):
And that's because we have to a certain degree a
monitored home. It was like having a relatively large amount
of control over our home when we are not there.
Now that's convenient. It's also you could argue a safety
and security benefit. But there are also levels of monitored
(22:34):
home conversation that I really want to dig into tomorrow,
some having to do with something that a lot of
us are facing, which is aging parents, aging in place
in a home, the cost of being able to watch
and care for a loved one without in home nursing
care or putting them in a nursing home. Some of
(22:54):
the new monitoring technology can make a big difference when
it comes to so you're not going to want to
miss tomorrow's show. Everything from security to aging in place,
it is the monitored home that is tomorrow's show. All right,
let's wrap this one up with maybe one more call
if we can. I want to talk to Leslie. Leslie,
Welcome home.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
Well, I live in a city that requires built in
sprinklers in all homes built since the eighties. I live
in a tract house. It was built in nineteen ninety
three and it's about three thousand square feet, two story
tile roof. I've never had the sprinkler's service. In the
(23:36):
early years, I did have one small drip from one
of the sprinkler heads, and we have that replaced or fixed.
I don't remember, and I don't have any drips or
leaks right now. But I'm afraid of these sprinklers. I'm
afraid they're going to burst or blow. And my question
is can they be legally disconnected? And can I just
tell my home insurance company that I don't have sprinklers?
(23:59):
Must they be working and active? And do they need maintenance?
Speaker 6 (24:03):
Do I need to excuse me?
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Have someone come out and look and monitor them because
they are so old? Or what do I do if anything?
Or are they safe? Can I just ignore them?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Okay? I got you all right? So most in most cases,
by the way, it's some kind of PVC system that
is running your fire sprinkler lines. It's a very stable,
very safe system. Okay, it's been it's got standing water
in it. That's great. The sprinkler heads themselves. When you
(24:37):
find one that's dripping or leaking, that's just because that
little glass vial may have shifted, or maybe there's a
tiny bit of dripping. They're very, very easy to maintain.
They're very safe systems, and I would not advise you
disconnecting it. I don't want you to worry about it.
It's there to help protect you know that the incidents
of death and major property damage in a home fire
(25:02):
with fire sprinklers installed is like less than one percent.
I mean, it is amazingly efficient. They don't go they
don't all go on it once. They are a heat centric.
Each one of those heads has that little vial that
bursts open only when the time is right. They don't
go off because you burnt the toast or you filled
(25:25):
the house with smoke. It has to do with the
heat of an actual fire activating each individual head. So
they are safe systems. Now, you didn't install the system,
you bought a home in which it was already installed.
The reason I'm suggesting you don't, you know, disconnected, is
because if you live in a city that requires it,
then your homeowner's insurance very very more than likely requires it,
(25:48):
and you'd be taking a hit in your in your
even if they allowed it, you'd be taking a hit
in your in your premium because you're basically saying, hey,
homeowners are insurance, I want to make my home less
safe than it is right now, and they're they're going
to respond by saying, well, okay, and pay us more
(26:09):
money because you know, we don't want your home to
be less safe. My last bit of advice to you
is simply this. The world is full of really good
fire sprinkler contractors. I've never met a shady fire sprinkler contractor.
I'm not saying they're out They're not out there, but
I really doubt it because they're so highly intensely specialized
(26:32):
and regulated by you know, fire marshals and so on.
So my suggestion would be call around to your local
fire sprinkler contractor and simply pay somebody to come out
and evaluate the system. Maybe they'll come and do it
for free, but to have them come out and say, listen,
you know, here's my system is built in the nineties.
(26:52):
Tell me if it's safe, tell me if I need
it to do anything, tell me if it needs any
maintenance or give me the assurance that I'm in good
And that's how you're going to get that question answered.
That's exactly what I would do if I was in
your shoes, Leslie, I would simply call out an expert,
have them give me a consult and tell me you
(27:13):
know yay nay, give me a rating on my system,
and alleviate my fears or confirm them. Either way, you
just want an answer to the question. I can't answer
it here. I can only direct you to the proper procedure,
and that's what you would do. You would just call
an independent fire and sprinkler come and if anywhere on
the system there's a tag or a label or an
(27:34):
indicator of the company that installed it, if they're still around,
give them a call and have them come out and
look at their own work again. Either way, get it
inspected and you'll sleep better at night. But don't disconnect.
They last a long, long, long time, and very very
rarely does anybody have any problems with their fire sprinklers.
(27:56):
All right, everybody, Well, that's it for today. Handle on
the law is coming up next. We will be back
here tomorrow morning from nine to noon talking about the
monitoring revolution in your home. You're not going to want
to miss it until then, Get out there in this
beautiful day and get busy building yourself a beautiful light.
(28:19):
We'll see tomorrow. This has been Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on KFI
AM six forty every Saturday morning from six to eight
Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from nine to noon
Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
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