January 4, 2025 • 31 mins
Dean explains reactive tool, and important to have in case something bad comes up along your home. Dean advices a caller about a leak and re-piping. Dean talks about the size of screws to use when roof sheathing. He talks accessories to have in your essential tool kit such as a hammer, a flat pry bar, wood chisel blades, and explains the “cat's claw”.
Lastly, Dean says to have multi-tip screw drivers and wrenches. Dean recaps his list of tools that he finds to be important to have.
Lastly, Dean says to have multi-tip screw drivers and wrenches. Dean recaps his list of tools that he finds to be important to have.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
DFI AM six forty live streaming in HD everywhere on
the iHeart Radio app. Dean Sharp The house Whisper Live
every Saturday and Sunday morning, the most unique home improvement
show that you will find anywhere. Follow us on social media.
(00:27):
We only do the good kind of social media, uplifting, informative, inspiring,
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and of course this very program also the House Whisper
podcast that you can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand.
(00:51):
Hundreds of episodes, all searchable by topic. Do you know
we're about to start our ninth season here on KFI.
Can you believe that we're going to be that'll be
happening at the end of this month. We are your
home improvement reference library. And finally, if your home is
in need of more personal house Whisperer attention, if you
(01:12):
thought to yourself, you know what we really need. We
need Dean and Tina standing in our living room taking
a look at that thing, helping us figure out what
to do next. Well, that's doable too. You can book
an in home design consult with us. Just go to
house whisperer dot design. All right, it is an all
essential homeowner tools weekend that we're doing. But right now,
(01:35):
top of the hour, as is our custom, it is
time to go to the phones find out what's going
on with your home. I want to talk to Tim. Hey, Tim, welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Home, Hi Dane, how are you? Good morning?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Good morning sir? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
We got a fourteen year old house and a couple
of years ago we had a pinhole leak in one
of the copper pipes above our kitchen and the ceiling.
So the plumber came out, cut off that section and
replace placed it with a new section of pipe. And
(02:12):
then last year we had another pinhole leak in the
same section of pipe. It's like a ten foot section.
We've gotten a water conditioner for the house. So the
fear is is this the start of many pinhole leaks?
Replacing all the piping sounds like a nightmare. I've done
(02:36):
some research. I found one company that does repiping, as
they call it. It looks like they inject some kind
of polymer into the existing pipes as a coating to
protect it against future leaks. But I wanted to get
your thoughts on what's the best way to address this.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Oh yeah, I feel for you, you know, And it's
a fourteen year old house. That's young for above ground
copper to be failing that is young. Are you guys
in a Have you guys had your water tested? You
know what? Do you have heavy mineralization in your water?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, it's very hard water here where we live. We're
in San Diego, and that's why we went for the
water conditioner. When I researched it, everybody I talked to
it seemed to be a fifty to fifty toss up
between the conditioning system and the other type of system.
(03:35):
So we went with the conditioner to reduce the lime
scale on the pipes.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Right right, Yeah, well okay, so yeah, I feel for you.
You do have a young house, and normally, normally in nowadays,
we consider copper piping to have a twenty twenty five
year lifespan to it. To say that there aren't systems
(04:01):
out there that are way way older than that, but
that is essentially what you know the copper manufacturers are
actually saying. Listen, this is what it's good for. And
most of the time though, that's it when we've got
in ground plumbing and you're talking about overhead stuff. So yeah,
I am a little concerned about that. So what do
we do? Well, you've got two choices, essentially when it
(04:25):
comes to a well three when it comes to dealing
with the system that you've got there at the house.
Number One, you keep going to bed nervous every night
because another pinhole league develops somewhere else and potentially damages
other things, and that's no good. So is it wise
(04:46):
at this point for you to look to the other
two alternatives and just get it handled? Sure, of course
it is. The two main alternative you've got is a
physical repipe okay of the house, meaning that new pipes
are run, new plumbing lines are run to all of
(05:08):
your fixtures in the home, and the copper isn't necessarily
pulled out. I mean when they when re pipers will
they'll pull out what they can, but they're not going
to go tearing up walls just to get an abandoned
copper pipe out of the wall, because it doesn't matter,
it's doesn't have water running through it anymore. They'll just
leave it in place, doesn't hurt the wall, doesn't hurt
(05:30):
the house as they run the new material. That would
be in my recommendation to run a new system or
repipe system using pecks piping. It does not react to
the hardness in the water the same way that the
copper does. And the thing with pecks, it's flexible, which
(05:51):
means that we can minimize the amount of joins of
actual you know, ninety degree fittings and so on everywhere.
A PEX system can theoretically be run end to end
from manifold all the way to the end of a
(06:12):
fixture without any additional fittings, which means it's that much
more reliable in terms of not worrying about a fitting breaking,
which is most of the time where a leak occurs.
So there's that, or there are companies out there who,
as you were saying, are doing epoxy re pipes, and
(06:32):
it's basically where they take the system that you've got
and they will shoot inside of those pipes under high
pressure and high volume flow an epoxy substance that clings
to the inside of the pipe and essentially becomes a
lining for the inside of the pipe. Have I seen
(06:53):
those done successfully, Yes I have. Have I seen them botched?
Yes I have. So my advice to you is twofold
number one. You got to get it priced out, okay,
price out both options. Price out a repipe among two
or three qualified services, and price out a an epoxy
(07:18):
on the inside of the existing copper lines, and price
that out with two or three qualified services. And when
I say qualified services, it's not just any old plumber
who occasionally does an epoxy job on pipes. Go with
a company that has a guarantee and that does this
a lot, because it's easy to mess up, because if
(07:39):
it isn't done exactly right, then the epoxy can build
up in some areas too thick, even clog up, and
significantly reduce flow in your copper system. So it's a
it's a it's a valid, viable way of lining the
inside of aging failing pipes. It works, it works, but
(08:03):
it's got to be done by somebody who really really
knows their stuff. And is it going to be cheaper
than a repipe, don't know, don't know. Honestly, it's not
a given that it's cheaper. Is it a little less invasive, sure? Okay,
but it doesn't necessarily. You know, a little bit of
(08:23):
drywall removed here and there for a repipe is not
the end of the world. Drywall is inexpensive and it's
easy to fix. So the question is what's it going
to cost for your particular home. You should always homeowners,
always get multiple bids and explore every avenue before you
make a decision.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
What do you think the chances of this one twelve
foot pipe is just a defective pipe. Since I've had
both ten o lakes in the same pipe.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It's possible. It's possible, it's a little odd, and it
may just be its location or the way that the
water settles in that pipe. It's just really really hard
to guess. But because you've had problems with that section twice,
if it's accessible, if it's something running through the attic,
(09:19):
I might suggest replacing that section with a piece of pecks,
not copper again, but pecks which can tie into copper
lines just fine. And then cross your fingers and see
if anything else goes bad anywhere else in the house,
and you know what, you might be in the situation
where it holds up just fine. You're like, yeah, for
whatever reason it was that bad pipe or that pipe
(09:42):
located with our water in this bad situation. But if
anything else goes bad anywhere else in the house, then
you've got to assume that the whole system is beginning
to show its age or is failing for whatever the condition.
Does that make sense, Tim, I gotta go. Thank you
(10:03):
for your call. I hope that helps. Always, always, always
explore every option. Windows shopping is free, getting qualified estimates
for everything so that you know ahead of time. Yeah,
we've made the most informed decision possible. Thanks for your call, Tim.
All right, when we come back, more of your calls
your home with Dean Sharp the house whisper. I am
(10:24):
I Jean Sharp, the house whisper at your service. Thanks
for joining us on the program today. What is that?
That's the sound of my basketball? Yes, I am holding
them back. This is my emotional support basketball. I hold
on to it when I'm exceptionally tired and life just
(10:45):
get you know, it's just a basketball. Uh, we're not
talking about basketball today. We're talking about essential tools for
your home. But right now I am spending some time
going to the phones. I want to go back to
the phones. Before we get back to essential tools, take
at least one more call let's talk to Ivan. Hey, Ivan,
welcome home.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Hey, good morning. I am well sir, how.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Can I help you?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Well, here's a question about roof sheaving seven sixteen OSB.
My question there is what length of screws rather than
nailing it would you use to anchor it to the raptors?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Well, let me ask you this, why are you thinking
about using screws versus nails?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Well, looking at thinking they won't pull out like nails do,
because I've got an older roof and I've seen some
of the nails have pulled through the you know, work
their way out through the plywood, and some of the
old plywood has warped. So I'd like to replace all
that sheathing there, Okay, and I figure screws would hold that.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Uh, screws will hold better. You're it's a lot of
work putting screws in up there versus nails. That's what
I'm just implying. So here's the thing. So I'm going
to answer your question as far as the the length
of the screw you know, generally speaking, the thickness of
(12:26):
your sheathing and then that thickness again into the wood. Okay,
so you got roughly you know, half inch. When it
comes to a screw, you've got roughly half inch sheathing,
and if you can get a little bit more than
a half inch penetration into the wood with your screw,
(12:48):
then you'd be in good shape. So a one inch
screw inch and a quarter inch screw you want to
go deeper, you know, by all means you don't really
need to go much deeper than that. So there you go.
Now there is an easier way though that I can
give you some advice on if it were me. If
(13:10):
it were me, I would still be using nails up
there and not screws. You know, by and large, you know,
in the industry we don't screw down sheeting sheathing for roofs.
We still nail it. But if there's a concern about
anything working their way out in the future, then I
would use eight penny nails, and I would use a
(13:32):
particular kind of nail that's known as a ring shank nail. Okay,
a ring shank eight penny gun nail is a nail
that has ridges on it, and essentially it's kind of,
if you want to call it, this barbed and so
because of that, ring shanks do not easily work themselves
(13:54):
lose under any circumstances whatsoever, and yet they shoot in quickly, effectively, efficiently.
And so for a roof sheathing situation, eight penny ring
shanks is kind of like the ultimate in long lasting
performance for the sheathing and ease and speed of installing
(14:18):
the roof sheathing itself, because you can use a pneumatic
nailer or you can use an electric nailer and actually
get it all done faster and more efficiently. Now, just
one little area of a roof that you're repairing, that's
one thing you know, have at it, use whatever connective
you know, fasteners you want to use. But if we're
(14:40):
really talking about resheathing an entire roof, it's just a
big road to hoe. As they say, there's just a
lot there, and so if you want to take the
time to screw it all down, that's fine, go for it.
But we typically don't do that because number one, we're
not worried about it creaking or anything like that like
(15:02):
a floor. That's why we don't even glue down roof
sheathing two rafters, it's just nailed and applied because they
will hold, They will hold long term if it's done right.
And if the nail makes connection. So it's a little
unorthodox to use screws for a roof ivan, but I'm
(15:23):
not going to tell you not to. I just want
you to make sure that you know what you're in
store for. Ultimately, I would still use nails in a heartbeat.
And if I wanted things just really, really firmly a
fixed up there, then I would use a ring shank
style nail and you will be in good shape. My friend.
(15:43):
Thank you for your call. Appreciate it. Hope that helps.
I know it does, really would encourage you. Just go
ahead and nail that roof sheathing in. You won't regret it,
not if you use the right nails. All right, y'aul.
When we come back, let's dig back into our list
of essential home owner tools to take care of the
(16:06):
stuff that happens around your house. Remember how I said
not to be expecting to pull a bunch of nails
with your claw hammer. Well, what are we gonna pull
nails with? We will discuss pride bars and nail polars
and chisels when we come back your Home with Dean
Sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
CAMPI AM six forty and live streaming and HD everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. You are home with Dean Sharp,
the house Whisper, the place where we talk about all
things regarding your home design, construction, DIY, decor, landscape, interior scape,
(16:56):
you name it. We're here to talk about your home today,
and we're starting out the year this first weekend of
twenty twenty five by giving you my list of essential
homeowner tools for your essential homeowner toolkit. Now, this is
not a project list. This is not like, oh, I've
got to build a thing, you know, whenever you have
(17:17):
to do something like that. The project is going to
define the tool list itself because it needs certain things.
This is the toolkit that's sitting in the garage or
the workshop, or wherever the case may be, or closet
somewhere in the house. This is your go to a
what I call reactive tools. This is when something goes wrong,
something's up, something needs to be fixed or adjusted, or
(17:40):
that kind of thing. That's essentially what this Essential homeowner
toolkit is. And is it a given that most homeowners
have a toolkit like this at their house. Nope, nope.
I got to tell You've been in a lot of homes,
lots of homes, sometimes homes of my friends, and they're like, yeah, Dean,
(18:01):
this thing happened. I'm like, oh, well, let's take a
look at it. Wish be able to fix that up.
Let me, Can I get a wrench or a screwdriver
from you? Ooh yeah, I think I think I have
one of those.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, So this it's not expensive. It's worth putting together
and worth it to you to have for your home.
Now we've been talking. We've talked toolboxes or better a
tool bucket, and I gave you explicit, cutting edge professional
advice when it comes to the right hammer to have
(18:36):
for your home. Now, let's talk about accessories for that hammer,
accompanying tools for that hammer. I told you that I
don't want you spending a lot of time prying nails
with your claw hammer, even if you get the right
kind of claw hammer, pulling out a bunch of nails.
That is the job of a nail puller. I'm not
(18:57):
talking about a person talking about an actual tool in
the back in the day. And I think this was
always a this was always a nickname. Although I think
for a while it was an actual brand name. Back
in the day, we used to call them in the
framing world a cat's paw. A cat's paw is a
(19:18):
steel tool, all steel, and these days I like the
fact that they along the shaft they have a little
rubber comfort handle, but on one end relatively straight with a
very very small head and a little split in it
like a mini mini hammer clawset way way better cupped
(19:39):
and pointed for digging in and digging out the head
of a nail and getting it going, and then the
other end with a ninety degree angle on it to
really get great leverage. They're about twelve inches long, and
they're an essential part of any toolkit because that is
what nails should be getting pulled out with. They're all steel.
(20:01):
They're heavy duty, tempered steel, so you can use your
hammer to drive them into certain situations in order to
dig that nail out right. Not gonna be a clean dig,
but that we're not talking about, you know, delicate finish
work at this point. We're talking about when a nail
needs to get pulled out of a piece of wood
(20:22):
or whatever the case may be. An actual nail puller
and along that line, different though pride bar. Now, I'm
not talking about a big old crowbar, the kind of
thing that you see, you know, like on murder mysteries
where somebody gets you know, killed with a crowbar. I'm
not talking about the three foot long demo style crowbar.
(20:43):
I'm talking about a flat pride bar. It's about let's say,
fourteen inches long, it's about two inches wide. It is
flat spring steel on one end again, gentle curve on
the other end, ninety degree turn. There are innumerable uses
for a pride bar. It could be used to leverage
(21:06):
and lift something up temporarily, to get under or to
level something. It can be used to separate studs. I mean,
I could go on and on, but just trust me.
A flat pride bar and a nail polar as accessories
to your hammer. Okay, does that make sense? And here's
(21:26):
an area where it gets a little gray, but in
my opinion, it's well worth it. And that is a
small set of wood chisels. Now, typically wood chisels something
that I like to keep out of the hands of
a homeowner because they're sharp, and they are usually for
building projects, for making projects for woodworking. But over the
(21:48):
years I have found so many just random uses for
a good wood chisel, whether you know, don't use it
as a prie bar per se, but as a space
as something that can cut a nail. And I don't
want you to go out and buy some super expensive
set of Japanese wood carving wood chisels. I'm talking about
(22:10):
a basic set of wood chessels that's not going to
run you more than fifteen bucks or so, so that
if you end up damaging the tip of the chisel,
like having to drive through the shaft of a nail
to cut it off or something like that, then you
know you're not worried about it. You're like, oh, there
goes my super expensive wood chisel. Now these are just
utilitarian items. You only need three okay, quarter inch half
(22:35):
inch three quarter inch wide wood chisel blades. They can
find them in sets of three to five and you
should have them on hand. Infinite number of uses for
that tool as well. All right, I got more for you.
We'll do it right on the other side, can' if
I Jean Sharp the house whisper a welcome home. Thanks
(22:56):
for joining us on this cool Southern California Saturday morning,
the first Saturday of twenty twenty five and we are
getting you ready for a productive maintenance year for your
home by talking about the essential homeowner toolkit. These are
(23:16):
the basics of that I think makes a complete essential
toolkit for taking care of your home, not building new projects,
but taking care of the things that may come up
along the way. Let's dive back into the list, shall we.
We got time today for a couple more, and of
(23:37):
course we're going to continue this on tomorrows show, Part two,
the Big Show tomorrow morning from nine to noon, we
will go further as well as taking more of your calls.
All right, no toolkit is complete without a full set
of screwdrivers. And in my opinion, the best essential toolkit
(24:03):
screwdriver is not a whole set of screwdrivers, but one
multi tip, multi purpose screwdriver, now, is there. You know,
I always get this argument from certain folks like, no, no, no,
you should have a full set of screwdrivers. Okay, because
they're lean, they have better access, you know, they're not
(24:25):
as bulky, and it's just it's proper. Well, yeah, that's fine,
you're right, there's nothing wrong with having a full set
of screwdrivers if that's your thing. It's just like there's
nothing wrong with having a full set of standardized fixed wrenches. Okay,
But for the average homeowner, for the average repair, for
(24:49):
the average bit of home maintenance, ninety five maybe ninety
nine percent of the time, you don't need the specialized
slim screwdriver or the specialized fixed open and closed end wrench.
What you need is a good screwdriver and a multi
tip screwdriver and an adjustable end wrench. More on the
(25:11):
wrench as we get to that part of the list.
So just to say, multi tip screwdrivers, a multi use
screwdriver is worth its weight in gold. You have more
than one, have one sitting in the tool drawer in
the kitchen, one out in the bucket, in the you know,
in the garage, whatever the case may be. My preference,
(25:33):
and it's just my preference, but of course I'm correct
about this. My preference is I'm not a big fan
of the multi tip screwdrivers that store tips in the handle,
you know, where that little dial access back there. And
I'll tell you why. There's nothing more frustrating than going
(25:53):
to your screwdriver and you need a particular tip and
find that it has fallen out, you know, because the
dial accidentally was left open, and now this tiny tip
is you know, god knows where it is. I like
a multi tip screwdriver in which everything is embedded into
the actual shaft of the screwdriver itself. Now that's not
(26:16):
a thirty tip screwdriver, it's not a twenty eight tip screwdriver.
That makes it more like a nine in one or
eleven in one multi tip screwdriver. But for your general repairs,
that's enough. It means that there's a Phillips head tip
that's large and a small one. It means that there's
a large flathead and a small one. It means that
(26:39):
there's nut driver settings as well, and probably some square
shaft of stuff as well. The point is, the point
is it's enough. It's enough for the typical homeowner repair.
And so you know, go for the like an eleven
in one. A clin makes them, to wall makes them,
(27:01):
Milwaukee make that. You can find these just about everywhere
and they're well worth it. And I like one with
a little rubberized handle too, just because even if you're
you know, unlike the handle on the homeowner hammer, which
I told you earlier in the show, I don't really
care what the handle's made out of as long as
it's not cheap, because you know, how many nails are
(27:25):
you going to be as a homeowner doing a repair job. Okay,
you're not doing probably a thousand nails, right, That's when
the comfort grip and shock absorbing handles come into play.
Just a handful of nails, Just a handful of nails.
But I do like a nice rubberized grip on a screwdriver.
(27:46):
And why is that? Because you know, screws are a
whole different thing, and you're putting a lot more effort
into driving in a screw or removing a screw just
a single screw, then you are, you know, nailing ten nails.
And so I do like a screwdriver that is all
set up with a good rubberized handle on it. Along
(28:09):
this line, the other thing that I want you to
have on hand are hex wrench sets or what some
people know as alan wrenches hexagonal wrenches. This is the
kind of stuff that so many things these days have
little hexhead screws. Whether you're putting together furniture, whether you're
assembling something, or you're just maintaining a device, A folding
(28:36):
hex wrench set is my preference. Again, sometimes you can
find individual wrenches alan wrenches that are stuck into a holder,
and the problem with that is, again long term, what
are the odds that you go back to that thing
and find that the one that you need is the
one that's missing because it fell out of the holder.
(28:56):
It came out. I like a folding hex wrench set,
kind of like a Swiss army knife set up with
the folding wrenches. Now, yeah, sometimes it's a little bit
bulky and it might get in the way of access.
And that's when if that's the case, you know, you
run to the hardware store and buy one, just the
one hex wrench that you need. Now, when I say that,
(29:18):
I've set that all up for you, so you're imagining
what that is, right, this folding kind of Swiss army
knife that's got six or eight or ten hex wrenches
of various sizes. I want you to have three of these,
not all three of the same. I want you to
have one set that is a hex wrench set that
is metric. I want you to have another that is imperial, okay,
(29:45):
and I want you to have another these days that
is not actually a hexagonal wrench, but is a TORQS
t RX, A torque set and it's little star bits
because they are so so common. If you have those three,
if you've got hexagonal wrenches that are both metric and imperial,
then you got that covered. And if you've got a
(30:07):
torquees set on your folding hex wrench set, then you're
pretty well handled. And chances of finding something outside of
that in your home, yeah, it could be a little
specially item. Again, that's when you go to the hardware
store and just buy that one little tool for a
couple three bucks and take care of it. Otherwise, these
(30:27):
guys right here, they'll have you covered all right. Tomorrow,
my friend, we are going to continue this list. It'll
be part two of our Essential Homeowner Toolkit. But that
wraps it up for me today. Here, thank you for
spending the time with me. It's been a privilege. As always.
Follow us on social media Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, x Home
(30:51):
with Dean, same handle for all of them. The house
Whisper Podcast is everywhere that your favorite podcasts are found
and your home is in need of some personal house
Whisper attention book an in home design consult with us
at house Whisperer dot Design. We're right back here tomorrow
from nine to noon. Until then, get out there in
(31:13):
this beautiful day and get busy building yourself a beautiful light.
We'll see you 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 AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
DFI AM six forty live streaming in HD everywhere on
the iHeart Radio app. Dean Sharp The house Whisper Live
every Saturday and Sunday morning, the most unique home improvement
show that you will find anywhere. Follow us on social media.
(00:27):
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(00:51):
Hundreds of episodes, all searchable by topic. Do you know
we're about to start our ninth season here on KFI.
Can you believe that we're going to be that'll be
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(01:12):
thought to yourself, you know what we really need. We
need Dean and Tina standing in our living room taking
a look at that thing, helping us figure out what
to do next. Well, that's doable too. You can book
an in home design consult with us. Just go to
house whisperer dot design. All right, it is an all
essential homeowner tools weekend that we're doing. But right now,
(01:35):
top of the hour, as is our custom, it is
time to go to the phones find out what's going
on with your home. I want to talk to Tim. Hey, Tim, welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Home, Hi Dane, how are you? Good morning?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Good morning sir? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
We got a fourteen year old house and a couple
of years ago we had a pinhole leak in one
of the copper pipes above our kitchen and the ceiling.
So the plumber came out, cut off that section and
replace placed it with a new section of pipe. And
(02:12):
then last year we had another pinhole leak in the
same section of pipe. It's like a ten foot section.
We've gotten a water conditioner for the house. So the
fear is is this the start of many pinhole leaks?
Replacing all the piping sounds like a nightmare. I've done
(02:36):
some research. I found one company that does repiping, as
they call it. It looks like they inject some kind
of polymer into the existing pipes as a coating to
protect it against future leaks. But I wanted to get
your thoughts on what's the best way to address this.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Oh yeah, I feel for you, you know, And it's
a fourteen year old house. That's young for above ground
copper to be failing that is young. Are you guys
in a Have you guys had your water tested? You
know what? Do you have heavy mineralization in your water?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, it's very hard water here where we live. We're
in San Diego, and that's why we went for the
water conditioner. When I researched it, everybody I talked to
it seemed to be a fifty to fifty toss up
between the conditioning system and the other type of system.
(03:35):
So we went with the conditioner to reduce the lime
scale on the pipes.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Right right, Yeah, well okay, so yeah, I feel for you.
You do have a young house, and normally, normally in nowadays,
we consider copper piping to have a twenty twenty five
year lifespan to it. To say that there aren't systems
(04:01):
out there that are way way older than that, but
that is essentially what you know the copper manufacturers are
actually saying. Listen, this is what it's good for. And
most of the time though, that's it when we've got
in ground plumbing and you're talking about overhead stuff. So yeah,
I am a little concerned about that. So what do
we do? Well, you've got two choices, essentially when it
(04:25):
comes to a well three when it comes to dealing
with the system that you've got there at the house.
Number One, you keep going to bed nervous every night
because another pinhole league develops somewhere else and potentially damages
other things, and that's no good. So is it wise
(04:46):
at this point for you to look to the other
two alternatives and just get it handled? Sure, of course
it is. The two main alternative you've got is a
physical repipe okay of the house, meaning that new pipes
are run, new plumbing lines are run to all of
(05:08):
your fixtures in the home, and the copper isn't necessarily
pulled out. I mean when they when re pipers will
they'll pull out what they can, but they're not going
to go tearing up walls just to get an abandoned
copper pipe out of the wall, because it doesn't matter,
it's doesn't have water running through it anymore. They'll just
leave it in place, doesn't hurt the wall, doesn't hurt
(05:30):
the house as they run the new material. That would
be in my recommendation to run a new system or
repipe system using pecks piping. It does not react to
the hardness in the water the same way that the
copper does. And the thing with pecks, it's flexible, which
(05:51):
means that we can minimize the amount of joins of
actual you know, ninety degree fittings and so on everywhere.
A PEX system can theoretically be run end to end
from manifold all the way to the end of a
(06:12):
fixture without any additional fittings, which means it's that much
more reliable in terms of not worrying about a fitting breaking,
which is most of the time where a leak occurs.
So there's that, or there are companies out there who,
as you were saying, are doing epoxy re pipes, and
(06:32):
it's basically where they take the system that you've got
and they will shoot inside of those pipes under high
pressure and high volume flow an epoxy substance that clings
to the inside of the pipe and essentially becomes a
lining for the inside of the pipe. Have I seen
(06:53):
those done successfully, Yes I have. Have I seen them botched?
Yes I have. So my advice to you is twofold
number one. You got to get it priced out, okay,
price out both options. Price out a repipe among two
or three qualified services, and price out a an epoxy
(07:18):
on the inside of the existing copper lines, and price
that out with two or three qualified services. And when
I say qualified services, it's not just any old plumber
who occasionally does an epoxy job on pipes. Go with
a company that has a guarantee and that does this
a lot, because it's easy to mess up, because if
(07:39):
it isn't done exactly right, then the epoxy can build
up in some areas too thick, even clog up, and
significantly reduce flow in your copper system. So it's a
it's a it's a valid, viable way of lining the
inside of aging failing pipes. It works, it works, but
(08:03):
it's got to be done by somebody who really really
knows their stuff. And is it going to be cheaper
than a repipe, don't know, don't know. Honestly, it's not
a given that it's cheaper. Is it a little less invasive, sure? Okay,
but it doesn't necessarily. You know, a little bit of
(08:23):
drywall removed here and there for a repipe is not
the end of the world. Drywall is inexpensive and it's
easy to fix. So the question is what's it going
to cost for your particular home. You should always homeowners,
always get multiple bids and explore every avenue before you
make a decision.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
What do you think the chances of this one twelve
foot pipe is just a defective pipe. Since I've had
both ten o lakes in the same pipe.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It's possible. It's possible, it's a little odd, and it
may just be its location or the way that the
water settles in that pipe. It's just really really hard
to guess. But because you've had problems with that section twice,
if it's accessible, if it's something running through the attic,
(09:19):
I might suggest replacing that section with a piece of pecks,
not copper again, but pecks which can tie into copper
lines just fine. And then cross your fingers and see
if anything else goes bad anywhere else in the house,
and you know what, you might be in the situation
where it holds up just fine. You're like, yeah, for
whatever reason it was that bad pipe or that pipe
(09:42):
located with our water in this bad situation. But if
anything else goes bad anywhere else in the house, then
you've got to assume that the whole system is beginning
to show its age or is failing for whatever the condition.
Does that make sense, Tim, I gotta go. Thank you
(10:03):
for your call. I hope that helps. Always, always, always
explore every option. Windows shopping is free, getting qualified estimates
for everything so that you know ahead of time. Yeah,
we've made the most informed decision possible. Thanks for your call, Tim.
All right, when we come back, more of your calls
your home with Dean Sharp the house whisper. I am
(10:24):
I Jean Sharp, the house whisper at your service. Thanks
for joining us on the program today. What is that?
That's the sound of my basketball? Yes, I am holding
them back. This is my emotional support basketball. I hold
on to it when I'm exceptionally tired and life just
(10:45):
get you know, it's just a basketball. Uh, we're not
talking about basketball today. We're talking about essential tools for
your home. But right now I am spending some time
going to the phones. I want to go back to
the phones. Before we get back to essential tools, take
at least one more call let's talk to Ivan. Hey, Ivan,
welcome home.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Hey, good morning. I am well sir, how.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Can I help you?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Well, here's a question about roof sheaving seven sixteen OSB.
My question there is what length of screws rather than
nailing it would you use to anchor it to the raptors?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Well, let me ask you this, why are you thinking
about using screws versus nails?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Well, looking at thinking they won't pull out like nails do,
because I've got an older roof and I've seen some
of the nails have pulled through the you know, work
their way out through the plywood, and some of the
old plywood has warped. So I'd like to replace all
that sheathing there, Okay, and I figure screws would hold that.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Uh, screws will hold better. You're it's a lot of
work putting screws in up there versus nails. That's what
I'm just implying. So here's the thing. So I'm going
to answer your question as far as the the length
of the screw you know, generally speaking, the thickness of
(12:26):
your sheathing and then that thickness again into the wood. Okay,
so you got roughly you know, half inch. When it
comes to a screw, you've got roughly half inch sheathing,
and if you can get a little bit more than
a half inch penetration into the wood with your screw,
(12:48):
then you'd be in good shape. So a one inch
screw inch and a quarter inch screw you want to
go deeper, you know, by all means you don't really
need to go much deeper than that. So there you go.
Now there is an easier way though that I can
give you some advice on if it were me. If
(13:10):
it were me, I would still be using nails up
there and not screws. You know, by and large, you know,
in the industry we don't screw down sheeting sheathing for roofs.
We still nail it. But if there's a concern about
anything working their way out in the future, then I
would use eight penny nails, and I would use a
(13:32):
particular kind of nail that's known as a ring shank nail. Okay,
a ring shank eight penny gun nail is a nail
that has ridges on it, and essentially it's kind of,
if you want to call it, this barbed and so
because of that, ring shanks do not easily work themselves
(13:54):
lose under any circumstances whatsoever, and yet they shoot in quickly, effectively, efficiently.
And so for a roof sheathing situation, eight penny ring
shanks is kind of like the ultimate in long lasting
performance for the sheathing and ease and speed of installing
(14:18):
the roof sheathing itself, because you can use a pneumatic
nailer or you can use an electric nailer and actually
get it all done faster and more efficiently. Now, just
one little area of a roof that you're repairing, that's
one thing you know, have at it, use whatever connective
you know, fasteners you want to use. But if we're
(14:40):
really talking about resheathing an entire roof, it's just a
big road to hoe. As they say, there's just a
lot there, and so if you want to take the
time to screw it all down, that's fine, go for it.
But we typically don't do that because number one, we're
not worried about it creaking or anything like that like
(15:02):
a floor. That's why we don't even glue down roof
sheathing two rafters, it's just nailed and applied because they
will hold, They will hold long term if it's done right.
And if the nail makes connection. So it's a little
unorthodox to use screws for a roof ivan, but I'm
(15:23):
not going to tell you not to. I just want
you to make sure that you know what you're in
store for. Ultimately, I would still use nails in a heartbeat.
And if I wanted things just really, really firmly a
fixed up there, then I would use a ring shank
style nail and you will be in good shape. My friend.
(15:43):
Thank you for your call. Appreciate it. Hope that helps.
I know it does, really would encourage you. Just go
ahead and nail that roof sheathing in. You won't regret it,
not if you use the right nails. All right, y'aul.
When we come back, let's dig back into our list
of essential home owner tools to take care of the
(16:06):
stuff that happens around your house. Remember how I said
not to be expecting to pull a bunch of nails
with your claw hammer. Well, what are we gonna pull
nails with? We will discuss pride bars and nail polars
and chisels when we come back your Home with Dean
Sharp the house whisper.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
CAMPI AM six forty and live streaming and HD everywhere
on the iHeartRadio app. You are home with Dean Sharp,
the house Whisper, the place where we talk about all
things regarding your home design, construction, DIY, decor, landscape, interior scape,
(16:56):
you name it. We're here to talk about your home today,
and we're starting out the year this first weekend of
twenty twenty five by giving you my list of essential
homeowner tools for your essential homeowner toolkit. Now, this is
not a project list. This is not like, oh, I've
got to build a thing, you know, whenever you have
(17:17):
to do something like that. The project is going to
define the tool list itself because it needs certain things.
This is the toolkit that's sitting in the garage or
the workshop, or wherever the case may be, or closet
somewhere in the house. This is your go to a
what I call reactive tools. This is when something goes wrong,
something's up, something needs to be fixed or adjusted, or
(17:40):
that kind of thing. That's essentially what this Essential homeowner
toolkit is. And is it a given that most homeowners
have a toolkit like this at their house. Nope, nope.
I got to tell You've been in a lot of homes,
lots of homes, sometimes homes of my friends, and they're like, yeah, Dean,
(18:01):
this thing happened. I'm like, oh, well, let's take a
look at it. Wish be able to fix that up.
Let me, Can I get a wrench or a screwdriver
from you? Ooh yeah, I think I think I have
one of those.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, So this it's not expensive. It's worth putting together
and worth it to you to have for your home.
Now we've been talking. We've talked toolboxes or better a
tool bucket, and I gave you explicit, cutting edge professional
advice when it comes to the right hammer to have
(18:36):
for your home. Now, let's talk about accessories for that hammer,
accompanying tools for that hammer. I told you that I
don't want you spending a lot of time prying nails
with your claw hammer, even if you get the right
kind of claw hammer, pulling out a bunch of nails.
That is the job of a nail puller. I'm not
(18:57):
talking about a person talking about an actual tool in
the back in the day. And I think this was
always a this was always a nickname. Although I think
for a while it was an actual brand name. Back
in the day, we used to call them in the
framing world a cat's paw. A cat's paw is a
(19:18):
steel tool, all steel, and these days I like the
fact that they along the shaft they have a little
rubber comfort handle, but on one end relatively straight with a
very very small head and a little split in it
like a mini mini hammer clawset way way better cupped
(19:39):
and pointed for digging in and digging out the head
of a nail and getting it going, and then the
other end with a ninety degree angle on it to
really get great leverage. They're about twelve inches long, and
they're an essential part of any toolkit because that is
what nails should be getting pulled out with. They're all steel.
(20:01):
They're heavy duty, tempered steel, so you can use your
hammer to drive them into certain situations in order to
dig that nail out right. Not gonna be a clean dig,
but that we're not talking about, you know, delicate finish
work at this point. We're talking about when a nail
needs to get pulled out of a piece of wood
(20:22):
or whatever the case may be. An actual nail puller
and along that line, different though pride bar. Now, I'm
not talking about a big old crowbar, the kind of
thing that you see, you know, like on murder mysteries
where somebody gets you know, killed with a crowbar. I'm
not talking about the three foot long demo style crowbar.
(20:43):
I'm talking about a flat pride bar. It's about let's say,
fourteen inches long, it's about two inches wide. It is
flat spring steel on one end again, gentle curve on
the other end, ninety degree turn. There are innumerable uses
for a pride bar. It could be used to leverage
(21:06):
and lift something up temporarily, to get under or to
level something. It can be used to separate studs. I mean,
I could go on and on, but just trust me.
A flat pride bar and a nail polar as accessories
to your hammer. Okay, does that make sense? And here's
(21:26):
an area where it gets a little gray, but in
my opinion, it's well worth it. And that is a
small set of wood chisels. Now, typically wood chisels something
that I like to keep out of the hands of
a homeowner because they're sharp, and they are usually for
building projects, for making projects for woodworking. But over the
(21:48):
years I have found so many just random uses for
a good wood chisel, whether you know, don't use it
as a prie bar per se, but as a space
as something that can cut a nail. And I don't
want you to go out and buy some super expensive
set of Japanese wood carving wood chisels. I'm talking about
(22:10):
a basic set of wood chessels that's not going to
run you more than fifteen bucks or so, so that
if you end up damaging the tip of the chisel,
like having to drive through the shaft of a nail
to cut it off or something like that, then you
know you're not worried about it. You're like, oh, there
goes my super expensive wood chisel. Now these are just
utilitarian items. You only need three okay, quarter inch half
(22:35):
inch three quarter inch wide wood chisel blades. They can
find them in sets of three to five and you
should have them on hand. Infinite number of uses for
that tool as well. All right, I got more for you.
We'll do it right on the other side, can' if
I Jean Sharp the house whisper a welcome home. Thanks
(22:56):
for joining us on this cool Southern California Saturday morning,
the first Saturday of twenty twenty five and we are
getting you ready for a productive maintenance year for your
home by talking about the essential homeowner toolkit. These are
(23:16):
the basics of that I think makes a complete essential
toolkit for taking care of your home, not building new projects,
but taking care of the things that may come up
along the way. Let's dive back into the list, shall we.
We got time today for a couple more, and of
(23:37):
course we're going to continue this on tomorrows show, Part two,
the Big Show tomorrow morning from nine to noon, we
will go further as well as taking more of your calls.
All right, no toolkit is complete without a full set
of screwdrivers. And in my opinion, the best essential toolkit
(24:03):
screwdriver is not a whole set of screwdrivers, but one
multi tip, multi purpose screwdriver, now, is there. You know,
I always get this argument from certain folks like, no, no, no,
you should have a full set of screwdrivers. Okay, because
they're lean, they have better access, you know, they're not
(24:25):
as bulky, and it's just it's proper. Well, yeah, that's fine,
you're right, there's nothing wrong with having a full set
of screwdrivers if that's your thing. It's just like there's
nothing wrong with having a full set of standardized fixed wrenches. Okay,
But for the average homeowner, for the average repair, for
(24:49):
the average bit of home maintenance, ninety five maybe ninety
nine percent of the time, you don't need the specialized
slim screwdriver or the specialized fixed open and closed end wrench.
What you need is a good screwdriver and a multi
tip screwdriver and an adjustable end wrench. More on the
(25:11):
wrench as we get to that part of the list.
So just to say, multi tip screwdrivers, a multi use
screwdriver is worth its weight in gold. You have more
than one, have one sitting in the tool drawer in
the kitchen, one out in the bucket, in the you know,
in the garage, whatever the case may be. My preference,
(25:33):
and it's just my preference, but of course I'm correct
about this. My preference is I'm not a big fan
of the multi tip screwdrivers that store tips in the handle,
you know, where that little dial access back there. And
I'll tell you why. There's nothing more frustrating than going
(25:53):
to your screwdriver and you need a particular tip and
find that it has fallen out, you know, because the
dial accidentally was left open, and now this tiny tip
is you know, god knows where it is. I like
a multi tip screwdriver in which everything is embedded into
the actual shaft of the screwdriver itself. Now that's not
(26:16):
a thirty tip screwdriver, it's not a twenty eight tip screwdriver.
That makes it more like a nine in one or
eleven in one multi tip screwdriver. But for your general repairs,
that's enough. It means that there's a Phillips head tip
that's large and a small one. It means that there's
a large flathead and a small one. It means that
(26:39):
there's nut driver settings as well, and probably some square
shaft of stuff as well. The point is, the point
is it's enough. It's enough for the typical homeowner repair.
And so you know, go for the like an eleven
in one. A clin makes them, to wall makes them,
(27:01):
Milwaukee make that. You can find these just about everywhere
and they're well worth it. And I like one with
a little rubberized handle too, just because even if you're
you know, unlike the handle on the homeowner hammer, which
I told you earlier in the show, I don't really
care what the handle's made out of as long as
it's not cheap, because you know, how many nails are
(27:25):
you going to be as a homeowner doing a repair job. Okay,
you're not doing probably a thousand nails, right, That's when
the comfort grip and shock absorbing handles come into play.
Just a handful of nails, Just a handful of nails.
But I do like a nice rubberized grip on a screwdriver.
(27:46):
And why is that? Because you know, screws are a
whole different thing, and you're putting a lot more effort
into driving in a screw or removing a screw just
a single screw, then you are, you know, nailing ten nails.
And so I do like a screwdriver that is all
set up with a good rubberized handle on it. Along
(28:09):
this line, the other thing that I want you to
have on hand are hex wrench sets or what some
people know as alan wrenches hexagonal wrenches. This is the
kind of stuff that so many things these days have
little hexhead screws. Whether you're putting together furniture, whether you're
assembling something, or you're just maintaining a device, A folding
(28:36):
hex wrench set is my preference. Again, sometimes you can
find individual wrenches alan wrenches that are stuck into a holder,
and the problem with that is, again long term, what
are the odds that you go back to that thing
and find that the one that you need is the
one that's missing because it fell out of the holder.
(28:56):
It came out. I like a folding hex wrench set,
kind of like a Swiss army knife set up with
the folding wrenches. Now, yeah, sometimes it's a little bit
bulky and it might get in the way of access.
And that's when if that's the case, you know, you
run to the hardware store and buy one, just the
one hex wrench that you need. Now, when I say that,
(29:18):
I've set that all up for you, so you're imagining
what that is, right, this folding kind of Swiss army
knife that's got six or eight or ten hex wrenches
of various sizes. I want you to have three of these,
not all three of the same. I want you to
have one set that is a hex wrench set that
is metric. I want you to have another that is imperial, okay,
(29:45):
and I want you to have another these days that
is not actually a hexagonal wrench, but is a TORQS
t RX, A torque set and it's little star bits
because they are so so common. If you have those three,
if you've got hexagonal wrenches that are both metric and imperial,
then you got that covered. And if you've got a
(30:07):
torquees set on your folding hex wrench set, then you're
pretty well handled. And chances of finding something outside of
that in your home, yeah, it could be a little
specially item. Again, that's when you go to the hardware
store and just buy that one little tool for a
couple three bucks and take care of it. Otherwise, these
(30:27):
guys right here, they'll have you covered all right. Tomorrow,
my friend, we are going to continue this list. It'll
be part two of our Essential Homeowner Toolkit. But that
wraps it up for me today. Here, thank you for
spending the time with me. It's been a privilege. As always.
Follow us on social media Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, x Home
(30:51):
with Dean, same handle for all of them. The house
Whisper Podcast is everywhere that your favorite podcasts are found
and your home is in need of some personal house
Whisper attention book an in home design consult with us
at house Whisperer dot Design. We're right back here tomorrow
from nine to noon. Until then, get out there in
(31:13):
this beautiful day and get busy building yourself a beautiful light.
We'll see you 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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