A Flashing Leak

Jim starts with a couple calls about a flashing leak on sheetrock and a drainage issue with an unsealed slab. He continues on the phone lines talking bathroom remodel, questions to ask a contractor, and much more. Jim continues in the second hour with more of the best home improvement advice. Don’t forget the website, thipro.com!

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Texas Home Improvement is on the airwith your host, Jim dot Us.
The universal shut off switch called asledgehammer. Hi Jim, thanks so much.
I had to lead adore your show. Your fantastic I'd love all the
knowledge that you have. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
I do my best to listen everyweekend. I learned something virtually every

(00:25):
weekend. Call Jim now with allyour home improvement questions at seven one,
three, two and two five eightseven four. That's seven one three,
two, one two, five eightseven four. Texas Home Improvement is burnt
you by two Win Services Plumbing Sundayshould Repair and air Conditioning America's Choice Windows,
where you'll get ten windows for justfifty nine eighty American Standard Comfort the

(00:47):
way you like it. James HardySighting the best sighting on the planet.
Devers Engineering, Floor and Decor forall your hard surface flooring, Ready Seals,
stain and Sealer. The Texas remindsun Verse Shutters where beauty meets energy
efficiency, Guardian roof Systems and VictorsRemodeling and Construction, Party play Specialist and

(01:08):
now broadcasting five from the Great Stateof Texas years Jim dot Hey Welcome to
Texas Home Improvements, your total homeimprovement source. I'm Jim Dutton here to
help you out. Seven one three, two one two five, eight seven
four is the number to call anyhome improvement question you have. Seven one

(01:33):
three two one two five eight sevenfour. This portion of Texas Home Improvement
is made possible by Guardian roof Systems. And if you're looking for a great
roofing company, you're looking for Guardianroof Systems. And of course don't forget
about our website t hipro dot com. There's all kinds of helpful information there,

(01:57):
links to the people hear me talkabout, questions and answers, a
lot of video clips of course theyask Jim button is there, and a
place to sign up for our newsletterthat goes out every other month. So
if you got questions or just lookingfor somebody to hire, start at t
h i pro dot com. Andwith that, let's get ready to take

(02:22):
some calls. But you know whatyou got to call in seven one three
two one two five, eight sevenfour. We got all open lines right
now, and it's always easier toget in at the beginning of the show
than it is at the end.So seven one three two one two five
eight seven four and I'll see whatI can do to help you out here

(02:42):
on Texas Home Improvement. And youknow talking about Guardian roof Systems. I
know we had some areas that gotsome hail storms earlier in the week.
And if you did and you needa great roofing contractor to come out and
check your roof, Guardian roof Systemscan do that for you and they'll shoot
straight with you. You know whatneeds to be done, if anything,

(03:07):
and don't get in too big arush to have a contractor jump right on
the job. Now you can callGuardian roof Systems at two eight one four
zero seven seven two eight zero.But the reason I want to costion you
on a couple of things. One, contractors, the roofing contractors are not

(03:29):
allowed to absorb the deductible that mustbe paid, so know that upfront.
Two it's a felony if you don't. Not only is the roofing contractor committee
of felony, but you as theproperty owner artist, well it's insurance fraud.
But you don't have to do thework immediately. You know a lot

(03:53):
of times people think, well,oh I got damage, I gotta have
this roof replaced immediately. If it'snot leaking, don't worry about replacing it
immediately. You can go through theprocess. You've got a year to even
just file a claim, so takeyour time, go through, make sure

(04:14):
you got everything, then get thework done and Guardian Roof Systems can can
work with you. I would recommendyou call them and have the roof check
before you play call in a claimso you don't have a ding on your
insurance. You know, let themsee and tell you yo, yes,
you Because the way the claim's workis the insurance company wants so many damaged

(04:39):
shingles within a ten foot square areaat ten by ten areas. So if
you don't meet that, you don'twant to file a claim. Wait for
the next storm. But if youdo meet that, hey you got a
year to file the claim, thenyou've got another year to go ahead and
do the work. So, likeI said, this is not something that

(05:00):
you've got to jump on and havea contractor on your roof the next day.
Take your time, get it doneright, and again Guardian Roof Systems,
you can give them a call attwo eight one four zero seven seven
two eight zero in fact, Ijust had them do some roof repair for

(05:20):
me at my place last month,So great company to deal with. Anyways,
you got a question seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three two one twofive eight seven four. We're gonna
head out to Cyprus and Melinda.This is Jim. How can I help

(05:42):
you? Hello? I have anarea where I have a corner that faces
an outer wall. The outer wallis brick, and above it is where
the roof hits party plank on thesecond floor, first floor roof that's up
to party planks. No matter howmany times I clean this corner that faces

(06:03):
outward, there's something looks like blackmold forms only in that corner. And
I don't know what to go.If it's the roof, if it's the
brick not being sealed, if it'ssomething coming down through where the hardy plank
hits a roof, you know theshingles. But there is flashing up there,

(06:24):
right, But if the flashing hasa leak, you could be getting
water down in there. But ifyou were getting water in there, I
would expect you would be seeing itinside as well. There's no water,
I mean, because it's not wet. It's just the discoloration, yeah,
on the paint, and it's thepaint on the first floor, correct,

(06:45):
yes, okay, more than likely. Then what's causing that is the water
that comes off the roof is splashingup and hitting the paint there, and
it is this kind of like avalley where you got quite a bit of
water coming down. Yes, there'sno good, Yep, it's hitting down
there. It splashes up and it'sreally just a mildew that's growing because of

(07:13):
every time it rains, you're gettingmoisture there and it allows it to grow.
One of the things you could tryspraying on there is wet and forget
Okay, on the inside wall,that's where it shows up. Oh,
it's inside the house, not outside. It's not only outside, it's inside
on the cheet rock, Okay.And that that's where I was asking.

(07:35):
I would think you would see itinside, and I thought that you were
saying, no, you're not seeingit. Yeah, if you're getting that
on the inside, you more thanlikely than do have a flashing leak that's
running down inside the wall. It'sprobably on the sheathing and then drains outside

(07:56):
through weep holes and such, orjust underneath the side. Uh So my
recommendation in that case would be getGuardian roof Systems out there to check the
roof for a leak. Okay,if there is no leak, then we
need to start looking at other areasthat it could be. Are there windows
up there that are in that wall? Then oh, there's a window to

(08:20):
the length about eight inches. Okay, so the windows from nineteen ninety one,
which I wish I could replace,was better windows. Yeah yet,
but but the the calking and stuffaround the window could have deteriorated, and
so you could be getting some moisturein that way. Uh. It even

(08:41):
can be something as simple as there'sa waterline in that area. If the
corner's entrance is on the outer walland dext to the internance to the bedroom,
so there is no waterline in thatarea, then get yeah, get
Guardian out because it's I was like, you got a flashing leak. Okay,

(09:03):
all right, oh well, thankyou very much, you bet you
take care, all right, thankyou, bye bye. Yeah, when
you start getting it on the sheetrock, sheet rock's gonna get the black
stuff on it because of moisture.And it doesn't have to be enough water
that it runs on the floors.Rainthing a few drips every time it rains,

(09:24):
and let's face it, we geta lot of rain, it will
soak in. And the sheet rockis basically powder between paper. That's what
drywall is, and it'll hold moisturefor a long time and you will get
a wall it starts turning black becauseof that. And yeah, that that

(09:46):
typically is a molding issue. Now, if it is mold, you may
need to do some remediation work onit. And if that's the case,
Woodlands Water Restoration Company two eight onefive seven six eight four five nine would
be a company you would want tocall because they can take care of remediating

(10:07):
the mold and redoing all the sheetrock and everything back the way it should
be, and they'll deal with yourinsurance company as well. So again that's
Woodland's Water Restoration two eight one fiveseven six eight four five nine. Got
a question, pick up the phoneand give me a call. Seven one

(10:28):
three two one two five eight sevenfour. That's seven one three two one
two five eight seven four And I'llsee what I can do to help you
out here on Texas Home Improvement,your total home improvement source and let's see,

(10:48):
I wasn't sure about this email thatcame because it says it's for Farmer's
Branch, but it has a Houstonphone number, and he says needs a
roofing contractor. But I'm not surewhat city. I'm gonna make the assumption
that it is Farmer's Branch he needsit, and that would be Airrington Roofing.

(11:13):
And that's two one four six nineeight eighty four forty three. That's
two one four six nine eight eightyfour forty three for Errington Roofing. And
that's who you would call if you'rein the Dallas Fort Worth area. And
again if you're in the Houston area, well, then it's Guardian roof Systems

(11:33):
at two eight one four zero sevenseven two eight zero. Like I said,
I couldn't really tell exactly what hewas looking for because all it said
was roofing contractor. But again ourphone number seven one three two one two

(11:54):
five eight seven four. And I'llsee what I can do to help you
out here on Texas Home Improved.And let's get back into an email question.
Here it says, please provide directionin hiring exterminator for treatment or hospital

(12:15):
prevention of termites in northeast Houston,there was water damage from upstairs bathroom and
as comes from Billy in Humble,Well Billy, you would talk with your
exterminator, but there's not a lotto put out to prevent termites from coming.
Typically termites are treated after they've arrivedbecause they swarm and they travel,

(12:39):
and so there's not a lot toput out for preventative sunburst shutters. You
know, this is the best sellingplantation shutters in America, and Pollywood shutters
from sunburst shutters, they are great. They don't they don't warp, chip,
crack, split, none of thatkind of stuff. Pollywood gives you

(13:01):
that rich look of fine wood shutterswithout those inherent problems, and it performs
better, lasting far longer than traditionalwood shutters, and it insulates up to
seventy percent more efficiently. In fact, it comes with a lifetime warranty.
So if you're thinking shutters for yourhome, you truly are thinking sunburst shutters.
Now, they do have a designconsultant who you can work with to

(13:24):
make sure you get that perfect lookand fit for your home. Seven one
three, eight nine six eighty onefifty that seven one three eight nine six
eighty one fifty for Sunburst Shutters,or just go to thhipro dot com and
click on the link to Sunburst Shutters. Well, if you're having an air

(13:45):
conditioning problem, I want you tocall my company, do West air Conditioning.
We can come out service any makermodel and when we service it and
do your spring and fall checkup,We're going to open up the outside unit,
clean it, clean the coils.We're going to take the fan out
of the inside unit, clean it, clean everything up there and make sure
that everything's working the way it's supposedto be. Seven one three four seven

(14:09):
five zero zero zero four. Oneof the only men in the world with
a decent haircut. Here's Jim Dottonon Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome

(14:31):
back to Texas Home Improvement. Thisportion is made possible by u S A
installation. Again, if you gota home improvement question seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.That's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. Let's head toSplendora and Rick. Welcome to Texas Home

(14:54):
Improvement. Thank you, Jim.Just quick question, I've got a garage
that I've I'm getting I don't believeit was sealed the slab was sealed underneath
it during It's an older, probablyforty year old garage, and hydraulic pressure
is pushing water up through it.At first I thought it was condensation,
but it's definitely not condensation. Isthere anybody that you know or any technique

(15:18):
you know that I can see ofa slab from the bottom. There are
some things that they are working with, mostly with the poly you know,
with the eurythanes that they can injectin there, but I have not seen
any of them seal it completely.No. Typically, what works better is

(15:41):
to deal with the drainage around it, all right. You think that's it's
drainage, and then it's coming upthrough the slab that's discusing it. Yeah
all right, yeah, get somefront drains or get the water away from
the slab. The first step isif you've got any water by the slab,
that's got to be gotten away.Second step is if you've got water

(16:03):
that is subsurface that's going underneath there. That's when a French drain would work.
But what happens with most people,you know you mentioned the age of
the house. What happens is,over time, the soil level outside increases
from doing landscaping, mowing grass,things like that, and just over time
it gets a little higher. Soinstead of having four or five inches of

(16:26):
slab showing, we get down towhere there's an inch showing, and the
water through capullary action, we'll travelunderneath there and start through static pressure coming
up through that concrete. So yeah, if there were a little different,
Clem Dora. We've got subside,and we've got tree roots sticking out that
weren't sticking out ten years ago.And i've got probably it's a very thick

(16:49):
slab that's in some places eight inches. I don't think they did a very
good job grading it before they putit in. Right, I've got at
least eight inches of slab shown allthe way around the garage except the front
where it's the run up to thedriveway to the doors are. So I
can still get water away from theslab, be sure. Yeah, if
you get water away that that's gonnahelp a lot. And you know,

(17:11):
even Hoover Dam leaks water through theconcrete as thick as it is, I
mean, concrete is porous. Soall right, well, thank you very
much for your time. Appreciate you. Bet take care, but it's it's
traditionally it's gonna be the water.You gotta deal with the water, not

(17:32):
just the ceiling underneath. You know, the way they steal concrete underneath is
nothing more than putting a sheet ofplastic down, and it does get holes
in it. It's not a permanentthing. And a lot of people don't
realize this, but that plastic,it does degrade over time. When we
go under a house that had plasticput in it forty years ago, that

(17:56):
plastic is like a tar layer underneaththe slab at that point. And plastic
that was put in forty years agowas not put in as a vapor barrier
to keep moisture from coming through theconcrete. What it was put in for
is to keep when the concrete waspoured, to keep the soil from sucking

(18:17):
the moisture out of the concrete,which would speed up the drying process.
It would hold the moisture in theconcrete longer and minimize cracking of the concrete.
So now they put a heavier vaporbarrier down that they are trying to
use to keep moisture from coming throughthe soil and end up through the concrete.

(18:41):
But forty years ago that wasn't thecase anyways, if you got a
home improvement question seven one three,two, one two, five, eight
seven four that seven one three,two, one two, five eight seven
four and one more thing, becauseI do get a lot of people who
call us at due west about themoisture coming up and stuff. And look,

(19:07):
you can put a sealer over thetop of concrete, but it does
tend to blister off because the staticpressure the moisture is coming through the concrete
and pushes up. But this particularhouse, if he's got eight inches of
slab showing, you got to getthe standing water away from the house.
And if you still have an issue, what a French drain does is you

(19:30):
got to dig a trench that's downbeyond the bottom of the foundation, and
in some cases you've got to goquite a ways beyond. I'm talking minimum
is twelve inches, but a lotof times you're wanting to go three to
four feet to capture the moisture that'straveling. Moisture will go to the lowest

(19:52):
point, and so by having aFrench drain that is lower like that,
the moisture it's and the soil willtravel into it, and then it's able
to be dealt with whether you've gotto pump it out or if you're on
a slope somewhere where you can daylightto pipe out to let it drain.
But so there is ways to dealwith it, but it all depends on

(20:17):
the problem. Again, if youhave a question seven one, three,
two, one two, five,eight, seven four. We're gonna take
a quick break for news, traffic, and weather. We'll be back with
more Texas home improvement. You know, the best siding on the planet is

(20:41):
James Hardy Siding, And if you'relooking for siding for your home, I
would begin by taking a look atJames Hardy Siding because they've got so many
choices, whether it's a stucco,the lap siding, four by eight sheets,
you want to go with, awood jake, or they even got
contemporary designs now and they've got allthe trim boards and facia boards and soft

(21:07):
boards to go with it. Now, if you're gonna put soft boards up,
put the continuous vented soft boards.It's it's got the holes drilled in
it. And that's the best wayto ventilate your attic. That's the way
you get the air going into theattic. Anyways, you want to find
out more about James Hardy Siding,go to thhi pro dot com com and

(21:29):
I am to tongue tied here,aren't I? Go to thi pro dot
com click on the link to JamesHardy Siding. What kind of folks listen
to Jim Dutton on your Total Homeimprovement? Doctors and lawyers, country people,
city people, conservatives, bunch ofharry legged women and liberal fruitcake.
We love you all. Here's morebut Jim Dutton on your Total Home Improvements.

(21:53):
Hey, welcome back seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four
or this portion of Texas Home Improvementis made possible by Texas Remodel Team again
our number seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four. We're gonna
head out to Rosenberg. Andy.Welcome to Texas Home Improvement. Are you

(22:19):
there? Andy? We're gonna putAndy on hold and let's go to Linda
in Lake Conrow. Linda, howare you today? I'm good and you
I'm doing great. So I amin the middle of a bathroom master bath
remodel. My house flooded, butI asked them to demo the garden tub

(22:47):
and I think it was fiberglass typeshower. And I have a gentleman that's
doing my work, and I wantto know if he's gonna put the hardy
backer up and then the child.Does he need a moisture barrier? There
should be one behind the backerboard.Oh there is already on it, or

(23:15):
no, you have to put it. No, you should put a moisture
barrier behind the backer board and thenthe backerboard goes on. Okay, Now
my husband passed away, so I'masking questions that normally he would have known.
That's okay, the moisture barrier.What type of plastic? How thick?

(23:40):
Where can I find that? Really? Any plastic because this is just
a small area. You can useany plastic sheathing that you that you find
just a roll of plastic, Iwouldn't use the I wouldn't use that real
light like painters used to cover furnitureor anything, but something like a six
mill Okay, okay, all right, great. I really appreciate you taking

(24:07):
my call and thank you for yourtime. Oh not a problem at all,
And if you have any other questionsyou feel free to call me.
I will thank you, sir.You're welcome, Bye bye again Our number
seven one, three, two,one, two, five, eight seven,
four. We're gonna head back toAndy and Rosenberg. How are you
Andy? I'm doing fine. Howare you doing today? I'm doing great?

(24:32):
How can I help you? Iappreciate taking my thought. I've got
a contractor coming in next week toa mother's house, and I've just wonder
what kind of good what a goodquestion to ask them while they're out there
trying to give me an estimate?What's getting an estimate? Four? Well,
my mother's shower had brought it outon the bottom, and it's a

(24:53):
wood frame house and had rought itout. So I'll have to have the
shower, part of the rest ofthe part of the bathroom all redone.
Okay, Well, they're gonna haveto rip it. They're gonna have to
pull it all the way down tothe floor and then so probably repair a
few structural items underneath and rebuilding.Now just a well what yeah, what

(25:17):
a good question to get with thecontractor? Thought it sounds like this is
a cross space house. Yeah,okay, So the first question to ask
him is gonna be one, areyou gonna use treated wood or regular lumber?
Because you're gonna want treated lumber.This this is a wet area.

(25:40):
Even though it the original construction wasnot treated. When you go back and
rebuild it, you do want touse treated lumber. Two Does he have
insurance? That was what I've alreadyasked him that. Okay, I asked,
yeah, to make sure they've gotgeneral liability at the very least,

(26:03):
and have their have their insurance companysend you a policy, because there's a
lot of con there's a lot ofthem that will say, oh, yes,
I have insurance, And if youdon't have the insurance company send you
a policy, you don't know forsure that they have it. And if
they provide the copy of the policy, I mean they can just as easily

(26:26):
order an insurance policy. It's canceled, but they're still sending out copies.
So typically a certificate of insurance comesfrom the insurance provider, and that's that's
very normal to get that. Thenext things, as far as the work
being done, are you going backwith tile or how you get what type

(26:47):
of shower system you're going back inwith? Well, I'm pretty sure we're
going to make it an economical freeretro fit. Okay, it's not going
to be anything we wanted to looknice or nothing super answer, right,
Oh, there's absolutely nothing wrong withthe panel systems that are available nowadays.
I mean they look great and theyand they they hold up very well and

(27:08):
they're less prone to leaking. Soyeah, nothing wrong with that at all.
The shower pan, I would requestthat that's a a man made one
piece shower panh just just less problematic. How old house is this maybe sixties

(27:33):
okay, so more than likely theplumbing under it is cast iron then yeah,
So any pipes that they have toreplace, you want done with PVC.
As far as the drain system inany waterlines, you want to use

(27:53):
pecks, okay. In uh,you can expect that the that the cast
iron lines are probably not going tobe very good underneath this thing. So
I don't know how much they're goingto have to replace, but definitely be
looking at that now. On thewalls themselves, I want no sheet rock

(28:18):
in the wet area. And sometimesI'll say, oh no, we use
green rock. That's a moisture.All contra builders for some reason having their
head the green rock is fine forshower stalls, it's not if it gets
any moisture on it. It's justlike the walls. The green rock was
designed for in the bathroom it wallsitself, and regular sheet rock is for

(28:44):
the rest of the house. Butaround the tubs, around and showers,
you want to use a concrete backerboard like Hardy has and there's several other
manufacturers because that's not going to deteriorateif it gets moisture on it. So
what this is, they're that Hardybacker board. Tell me it comes in

(29:07):
at the quarter inch bot behind there. Typically behind that you would put a
half inch and then you know.The other big questions for him are,
once you start on the job,are you staying on it or you're gonna
have multiple jobs running where you're pullingguys off this to go service other jobs.

(29:29):
Yeah, we do want to Wewe would love to have them come
in and out really quick, getit all done. And with that,
I'm gonna have to put you onhold because i gotta take a quick break
here. Uh, let's talk aboutTexas Remodel Team. This is your complete
home remodeling company. And if you'relooking to do a remodel in twenty twenty
three, Texas Remodel Team can helpyou out. They can create truly special

(29:53):
spaces inside and out and currently theyhave some beautiful flooring options for you as
well. Tim and his guys,they'll come out for a free consultation,
give you an estimate and get theseprojects going for you. It's fast,
easy, and you know what theyknow what they're doing and they will stay
on the job until they get itdone. So if you're looking for a

(30:15):
remodeler, Texas Remodel Team can helpyou out. Two eight one six one
two fifty nine ninety one. That'stwo eight one six one two fifty nine
ninety one. You know DUS FoundationRepair. We can help you with all
your foundation problems, whether it's justa little corner of the house that's moved,
you got a cross space house thatneeds leveling, or you got to

(30:38):
raise the whole house up out offloodwaters. When you want the best,
you call due West seven one threefour, seven three seven one five six
at seven one three four seven threeseven one five six or just go to
thhipro dot com and click on thelink for due West, the show that

(31:08):
kicks the competitions. You are listeningto Texas Home Improvement with Jim dot Hey.
Welcome back. Seven one three twoone two five eight seven four don't
forget. You can catch up onall the best of the Shoulder in the
week with our super podcast. It'son Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart

(31:29):
really anywhere you listen to podcasts.Of course, it's always available on our
website t h I pro dot com. Now again, if you've got a
question seven one three, two onetwo, five eight seven four And I
was talking with Andy about remodeling projectat at his mom's house. And Andy,
there's a couple more things that you'llwant to ask about. Verify with

(31:56):
him that he's covering the rotten wood, and by that, I mean,
what's he going to hit you forchange orders? How much rotten would is
he including in his bid? Becausechange orders can kill you on a project
like this, So you're gonna wantto know up front how much of the

(32:17):
wood he's covering versus where it's goingto kick into a change order. And
really, since it sounded like youdon't have a tubs around and stuff like
that picked out yet, what didhe include for a price for that kind
of stuff? Because if he didn'tinclude enough, you know, again,

(32:38):
everything can get out of hand becausetypically on remodeling they put a budget in
there for the tubs around or indifferent things like that. But if you
pick something that's more expensive, thenyou got to pay the difference, and
you got to make sure that theirbudget is large enough to cover what you

(32:59):
want to put in and then payingfor stuff. When you're doing a remodeling
project, contractors a lot of themwant to come especially smaller ones want to
come in and Okay, I'm thisfar along, I need to collect some
money because I gotta go do this, and I gotta do make sure you

(33:20):
got that all lined up up front. You never want to let your payments
get ahead of the work they've done. Now, I understand an upfront deposit
for them to go pick up materialsand start the job and all that kind
of stuff, but at the restof the job, you should be paying
no more than what's been completed foran estimate on how you say, an

(33:51):
estimate per phase? So have theyRiPP it all out? How much would
this cost? How much the structuralboss and so forth like that? You
can, but you know, thisis a small enough project they're probably not
gonna want to break it out intothat tight of of numbering. But yeah,
it's nothing wrong with asking, allright, I really appreciate it all.

(34:19):
This does hell Well. If youhaven't any questions, you know,
during the process or anything, justfeel free to give me a holler.
Oh, thank you grand much.You bet you have a great weekend.
Well, dude, thank you rightagain. Our number seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.It's head to North Houston. Jerry,

(34:45):
Welcome to Texas Home Improvement. Yeah, sir, I got a couple of
questions you might can help me with. Okay, I got I got an
old farmhouse up there in the country, up and car me Texas. It's
up by round top. The housepart of beings to be raised up,
but i'll be tore down one ortwo I don't know yet. But what's

(35:06):
applies difference between a slab and ahouse built on peering beams as far as
the construction cost, right, thecost it was more cheaper to do peering
beans or poor seamen slab. Mostgenerally, it's actually a little less expensive
to do a slab than it isa peer and being hmm, okay,

(35:30):
I'm gonna tell you if it's nota whole heck of a lot of difference,
they are very close. I hadsome contractors to me a peering beam
is no good. I say,a peer of beans being around for ages.
Oh yeah, I got absolutely nothingagainst the peer and beam foundation,
as long as it's done properly.Right. My next question, you know,

(35:53):
any good contracts of the remolers thatdo old houses could come up and
tell me the house is working,we're saving or not before I do anything.
How old the house is it?It might be a hundred years old.
Okay, here's here's how you canmake that determination. And it's actually

(36:14):
very simple. Go through the house. And if you've got a lot of
rotten wood and things like that,that's expensive work. That's when you got
to start looking at it. Butif the roof has been kept on the
house where you're not full of rottenwood, typically it is less expensive to

(36:35):
remodel than to replace. Rule ofthumb right now is you're looking at somewhere
two fifty two seventy five a squarefoot for building new construction. It has
really skyrocketed. I know that.Uh boy, you know anybody up in

(36:55):
that area that might do stuff likethat? And how far out was it?
It's not ninety miles. Uh,it's on the other side of Brenham.
Okay, yes, round round roundtop. Yep, I know where
round Top is? I forget Okay, Uh call Victors Remodeling and Construction.

(37:20):
Okay, So and you know hehe actually has an office in here in
Houston and one in Austin. Mhm. So I'll give you the Houston
number since your your local at eightthree two. Let me get up to
him. No problem, but yeah, he'd uh, he'd be able to

(37:42):
help out with it up there.Okay. It's eight three two two four
three two four three ninety nine ninetyseven are very seven yep. Okay,
all right, that's what I needto know. Pleagular, take care you
bet. Let's talk about USA Insulation. You've heard me say for years when

(38:09):
it comes to insulation, foam worksbest in the walls, and when it
comes to putting it into your walls, you need to call USA Insulation.
I've been recommending them long before theywere a sponsor of the show, and
it's because they know how to putit into existing walls without tearing everything up,
and without trying to put the wholehouse into a foam blanket basically and

(38:35):
sealing everything up. They seal thewalls but leave the roof the attic where
it's breathable, and by sealing thewalls that way, you can reduce the
noise from outside up to eighty percent, as well as making your house more
comfortable and energy efficient. And ifyou've got an older home that has no
insulation in the walls, can youimagine the difference it'll make. But even
if you've got a thirty or fortyyear old home that are eleven's not in

(39:00):
the job that the foam would dofor you, call USA Insulation three four
six two nine seven two eight zerozero. Well, let's talk about Woodlands
Water Restoration. This is somebody youhope you never ever have to call,
but you need to write the numberdown because when you need the number,

(39:20):
you need it fast because you've gota problem. They take care of water
damage, fire mold. You know, when disaster happens, there's no telling
what all's got to be dealt with. But Woodlands Water Restoration they can deal
with the insurance company as well asget your project taken care of two eight
one five seven six eight four fivenine, helping you save money without being

(39:47):
as cheap as a data to chickenrange. Here's Jim Dutton, Texas Home
Improvement. Hey, welcome back toTexas Home Improvement. This portion is made
possible by floor and a core.Got a question seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. Wegot a whole hour left to do of

(40:08):
Texas Home improvements, so you gottime to call seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. I'mgonna finish talking just real quick about remodeling
though, because you know it's acommon question, should I remodel or should
I tear down and build new?And typically if you tear down and build

(40:30):
new. Now, the house wewere just talking about was out in the
country, so this really wouldn't applyto it. But when you're in the
city, keep in mind you tearit down, you have to meet all
the new building codes that include setbacksand high restrictions and whatever else is in
your area. You have to bringall the electrical is now new code,

(40:53):
all the plumbing. Everything changes wherewhen you're remodeling, it exists in place.
Your grandfathered in for a lot ofstuff. And that's the reason.
A lot of times it is lessexpensive to remodel, and you're gonna find
it a lot of times the househas a little more charmed and building new

(41:14):
I don't know what it is abouta lot of the new construction anymore,
but the industrial look is in andI'm not big into the industrial look.
So that's just my personal preference.But regardless, get a question, pick
up the phone and give me aholler. Seven one three two one two
five eight seven four. We'll beback after news, traffic and weather.

(41:50):
You know, American Standard Air ismy choice in air conditioners, and American
Standard is nationally recognized for excellence forperformance, reliable, and customer satisfaction.
You know, I own an airconditioning company, and yes I do American
Standard systems. I have American Standardin my personal home even because I know

(42:10):
the systems are gonna last. Youcan take care of your family all year
long with American Standard Air. InAmerican Standard technology, it meets the ever
changing Texas weather head on, keepyour home cool and humidity free, or
be ready for a little heat whenyou need it. Invest wisely and invest
in the home comfort system that willlast you a long, long time,

(42:34):
comfort the way you like it.That's American Standard Air. And when you're
taking a look at American Standard Airdot com, scroll through and take a
look at the dual speed and variablespeed systems. Those have the best humidity
control. Texas Home Improvement is onthe air with your host, Jim us

(42:58):
the universal shut off switch called asledgehammer. Hi Jim, thanks so much.
I had to lead adore your show. Your fantastic I'd love all the
knowledge that you have. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
I do my best to listen everyweekend. I learned something virtually every
weekend. Tall Jim. Now withall your home improvement questions at seven one

(43:20):
three two one two five eight sevenfour. That's seven one three, two
one two five eight seven four.Texas Home Improvement is burnt. You buy
two Wins Services Plumbing, Foundation,Repair and air Conditioning America's Choice Windows,
where you'll get ten windows for justfifty nine eighty American Standard Comfort the way
you like it. James Hardy Sightingthe best sighting on the planet. Devers

(43:43):
Engineering, Floor and Decor for allyour hard surface flooring, Ready Seals,
stain and Sealer that Texas Remodel Team, sun Verse Shutters where beauty meets energy
efficiency, Guardian roof Systems and VictorsRemodeling and Construction. Hardy Plank spec Now
broadcasting five from the great state ofTexas. Hears Jill dot Hey, welcome

(44:09):
to Texas Home Improvement, your totalhome improvement source seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. That'sseven one three, two one two five
eight seven four. This portion ofTexas home improvement is made possible by floor
and Decor. And of course,don't forget about our website, t hipro

(44:34):
dot com. There's all kinds ofhelpful information there and links to the people
you hear me talk about, questionsand answers, and videos to ask Jim
Button to send in email questions,even a place to sign up for our
newsletter that goes out every other week. That's all available at t hi pro
dot com. And that's where you'llgo to find some people you hear me

(44:55):
talk about, because I typically don'tthrow out the website because it's easier to
just go to thhipro dot com andget the link that way. All right,
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. We're going to
head to the Galleria area and Stephanie, how can I help you today?

(45:15):
Yes, I hope I'm not violatingany rules because it's not a remodel that
I am doing new construction in collegestation, and I just heard you talking
with the other collar about spray foaminsulation and that it was appropriate for the
walls, but you need to leaveyour house breathable. But they're upslanning to
do that in the attic as well, So is that not appropriate in our

(45:38):
climate? I do not recommend it. I recommend the foam in the walls
and use a breathable insulation in theattic like fiberglass or something. You get
the same R value, but you'renot having in our climate. When you
encapsulate everything, you are totally dependenton the air conditioning system to bring in

(46:00):
fresh air to keep from getting Sickholmsyndrome. And there's been many times where
a house will start getting mold andmildew in it because the humidity levels aren't
being controlled well enough. I willsay some of the new AC systems are
doing a better job of it.But you spend a lot of money on

(46:22):
foam insulation and fiberglass in the atticgives you the same R value, which
gives you the same energy efficiency.Well, I appreciate that learning and the
HVACT meeting which I'm having next week. You might like, I don't know,
you might not like that. Hewas saying that, yes, you

(46:45):
should go with this Linux multi variable. I don't know eighteen er systems.
I think, well, where's theloads factor to determine this? And then
there's some air pressioner that that's keepingyour air fresh. He goes, oh,
yes, we always turn those off. I thought, oh, good
lord, I don't think you shouldbe turning off something. I'm buying the

(47:07):
fresh air intake. Yes, Ithink that was. I can tell you
some horror stories where I've gone outwhere the motors for the flappers quit working
on the fresh air intake and thehouse just turns into a disaster area.
And that's the reason I don't carefor the encapsulation type situation. It's just

(47:29):
too dependent on parts. But youknow, I will tell you what the
eighteen seer variable speed and all thathe was talking about, that is the
ideal type system for this type ofhome. The load calculations just give you
how many tons of that you need? Okay, okay, well, enlightening.

(47:53):
I appreciate the learning, you bet, And yeah, you want to
make sure that they do do theload calculations because builders are notorious for undersizing
the unit, and you want toyou don't want to oversized because then it's
not on enough to do the jobproperly. But undersized it doesn't get the
temperature comfortable correct. And I've hadtwo oversized systems in my path, just

(48:20):
buying a home and not knowing better, and then it turned into humidity problems
in each of those homes for havingtoo much tonnage. Yeah. Yeah,
So that the load calculation is tomake sure that you have the right tonnage.
And then the rest of the stuff, like the variable speed. I
have variable speed in my own house. And the reason I love the variable

(48:42):
speeds it stays on at a verylow speed, so you're not feeling the
cold air blowing on you, butit's dehumidifying the whole time, and it
does a much better job of controllinghumidity. Okay, but then if you
combine that kind of a stock variablespeed for controlling humidity, but yet you

(49:04):
don't have a breathable attict, youcould still be getting yourself into some trouble
in a high humidity environment. Youcan, yes, okay, all right,
well, I appreciate you, thankyou for taking you, take care
bye bye, okay and again sevenone three, two, one two five
eight seven four, and I'll seewhat I can do to help you out

(49:27):
here on Texas Home Improvement, isit Diana? Hello, Yanna? Are
you there? Yes, yes,sir, I'm here. How can I
help you? Okay? Um,I just just did a remodel in my
bathroom and I just had a questionabout the towel in my shower. Um

(49:47):
the young man who put it in. When I took my first shower,
he put it in, and Inoticed a pretty good five puddle in the
towards the back of my shower,and so I asked him to come and
fix it. So his his um, his answer to that was to put
sealer on it, and so heput cedar, came back again, put

(50:12):
more seedar on it to get ridof the puddle, and I guess it
worked. I'm not really sure becauseI hadn't used a shower, and but
now my whole shower is super slippery. Yeah. So what would you do?
Would you? I mean, isthere any way to get cedar off
of the floor of a shower.It'll wear off on its own. But

(50:35):
it didn't do a thing for fortaking care of that low spot. They
must have done. They must havedone the old style where it was a
mud bed and then put the tileon top of that, and they didn't
do a good job of putting itin because it's got a low spot that's
that's holding water. And yeah,and the only way to fix that is

(50:58):
that tile's got to come out.More mortar bed goes in to raise the
low spot and then it gets retiledand that'll take care of your slickness too.
Okay, okay, So this thisa question I guess your your professional
experience with this. Would you gowith the same person who put it in?

(51:19):
Or should I get somebody else todo it? No? Absolutely,
I would let them do it.Any contractor can have a mistake happen,
and honestly, this is a smallmistake. Now, the difference going to
between a great contractor and a badone is going to be how they address
this problem. But if they're willingto step up and take care of it,

(51:43):
by all means, let them doit. Okay, Okay, okay,
woman, that's what I'll do.I thank you for your time,
if for your invaluable help with this, and I listened to you all the
time. Well, thank you,I appreciate that. Thank you. Having
a great afternoon, you two byebye, and and understand in Texas.

(52:06):
Uh, you know sometimes people I'mjust gonna hire somebody else and now mussume
it don't work that way. Youhave to give them the opportunity to fix
it if you're going to plan onsuing them, because like I said,
this, this could happen to anybodyand it's not a difficult problem to fix.

(52:27):
Again our number seven one three,two, one two five eight seven
Sandro. Welcome to seven forty KTRH. How can I help you? Hello,
Thank you for taking my call.I got several questions. We have
a home, right, a homethat we're getting to get back because we
had to eidict the last tenant.Okays a lot of work. How do

(52:52):
I know if it's gonna need foundationworks? Well, we know the garage
I had, the detached garage.We know that one was as the floy
is you know, flop side it. Okay. On the house typically if
you have doors it or not squarein other words, either has a gap
in the top or it's rubbing sheetrock cracks that are diagonal above doors and

(53:15):
windows. That would be indications thatyou're having foundation movement. Okay, all
right, because we took a picturefrom the outside, you know, the
windows and all that, and itlooked Okay, it doesn't there's no gap
on the frame of the windows oranything like that. There's no big gap
or nothing like that. Yeah.Yeah, So now I know we're gonna

(53:38):
also need a roof. Okay,it has current has an illuminum roof.
Believe the house is about fifty yearsold. We bought it back in eighty
six, and it was we boughtit was already like twenty years old.
But the addition did not have analuminum so I know for sure the additions

(53:58):
will have to be Okay, sodo you all replace aluminum roofs or are
They're supposed to still be good forlifetime. But we were told at one
time a lot of the metal roofslike that are lifetime roofs and you shouldn't
have to worry about them. Okay, okay, all right, And there's

(54:22):
someone that we can call that cantell us because we're debating whether we should
fix it and move back home becausewe have a home that has a lot
of stars right now, and youknow it's be getting older. You know,
we need something that's just one level, right that would tell us.
Okay. If if this is howmuch it's going to cause if you get

(54:42):
it fixed away you want it,or if this is how much you're gonna
you know, if you sell itas this, or if you sell it
and then let me fix it andthen sell it, there's someone we can
contact. Well for as far asselling purposes, you would contact a real
actor, okay, and they wouldtake a look, and you know,

(55:04):
they would be able to say,Okay, here's what we could sell it
for as is, and here's whatwe could sell for fixed okay, got
you okay? Sounds good? Okay. And it also has that old asbestos
little panels from the outside. Yeah, would I have problem skin that removed?
Why do you want to remove it? This is in bad shape?

(55:28):
Okay. If it's in bad shape, and it's and if it if it
is asbestos, because a lot ofthose panels, even though they look like
the asbestos ones, they actually weren'tasbestos. Okay, I thought I just
thought they were. Yeah, ifit truly is asbestos, if you have
a contractor remove it, it's quiteexpensive because it all has to be sealed

(55:50):
and uh, you know, permanentlydisposed of. Where as a homeowner you're
actually allowed to take it off anddispose of it in the landfill without doing
all this other stuff. But likeI said, a lot of those where
people thought they were asbestos, theyactually weren't. The asbestos was already removed

(56:14):
from them years ago. Can youput new tile I knew siding on top
of that? You can? Okay? And if I was to remove it
myself when I get in trouble,nope, oh okay. And normally what
you're gonna find underneath, underneath isa siding there already those were normally put

(56:36):
over some other siding. Oh okay, got you? Okay? Is there
a number we can call to getsome more information from you and see what
else you have to do? Youknow? And like I said, now
do you does do us come doa free estima to see if any foundation
or Oh? Absolutely, And youcan call the Due West office at seven

(56:57):
one three four seven three seven onefive six. I'm sorry seven one three
four seven three seven one five sixOkay. And I did get the number
two the person that I called afew callers before Victor construction or remodeling,
yep. And he has an officehere in the Houston area. Yes,

(57:21):
ma'am. Okay, yeah, becausewe're trying to get this home back and
the only problem two is currently thewasher and dryer set up are in the
garage, you know, and Ido not want to be walking back and
forth. There's no way, yea. I will not move there. If
they cannot be moved, I willnot move there. I will not move.

(57:44):
Well, it can be moved.It's just going to be a matter
what does it take to move it? Okay, okay, okay, And
they will be able to give methe Victor Construction will be able to give
me all that information. Correct,yes, ma'am, yep, okay,
okay, all right, so thinkyou so very again our number seven one

(58:06):
three, two, one two,five, eight seven four. Let's talk
about siding for a second. Youknow, if you're looking for siding for
your home, take a look atJames Hardy siding. It's the best siding
on the planet. It's cement base, so once it goes on, you
don't ever have to worry about it. It's not going to deteriorate. It
holds paint better than wood ever thoughtabout. And yes, it can go

(58:30):
over those panels that are already onthe house. Now here's the thing that
people a lot of times don't realize. Those panels will crack and break as
you're driving nails through them, butthat doesn't mean they're gonna fall out.
And if they some of them dofall, they're able to be picked up.
But typically those panels were on topof old T one eleven siding,

(58:51):
So you can take them off andput James Hardy siding right over that old
T one eleven siding and have agorgeous house forward this stay forward. So
if you're wanting some great sighting foryour home, take a look at James
Hardy Sighting. You can go tothhipro dot com and click on the link
to James Hardy Sighting. Thinking aboutputting the band back together? We're back

(59:25):
with Jim Dutton on Texas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome back to Texas Home
Improvements. Seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four. That's seven
one three two one two five eightseven four. Let's head to Spring Branch

(59:45):
and Robert. This is Jim.How can I help you? Hey?
How you doing wonderful? I replacedair conditioning unit or replaced a three ton
unit with a four ton unit umand it's an older home, but prior
to replacing it. Um every timethe AC unit would come on, doesn't

(01:00:09):
matter if it's a three ton orthe four ton. It's more noticeable with
the four ton, but all thelights in the house would dim. Yeah,
I don't think I don't think that'sUh. Is that a problem in
the panel with the breakers or isit? What? What is that?
How old the house is it?It's about forty years old. Okay.

(01:00:30):
It can be the size of theservice coming into the house even but and
and related to how much stuff isrunning in the house. Uh, if
it just you know, dims downand then comes right back up. There
there are some other things that cancause it as well as uh, you

(01:00:50):
know, if there's a short inthe breaker that is used for the AC
unit, And the short can beas simple as the wires aren't screwed in
tight on the back of the breakers. So there's several things that can cause
it. The fact that it wasit's happening on both the old and the

(01:01:12):
new unit gives me an indication thatit is not related to the unit itself.
You know, the old unit mighthave needed a hard start kit to
avoid that. A brand new unitshouldn't need that. So it's going to
be something from the electric service comingto the house or within your panel itself.

(01:01:34):
And so either way, I wouldhave an electrician come out and check
it. If you'll give the guysat right Touch Electrical a call, they
can come out and check it.And their number is two eight one four
zero seven six one nine nine sixone nine nine. Yep. Okay,

(01:01:58):
So you just said something. Sinceit's a new unit, it shouldn't need
the hard start kit. Is thatwhat you said? I mean, I
thought it was like a like athere's a difference between a hard start kit
and a surge protector, is thatright, Yes, sir. A surge
protector is to protect the unit ifthere's a surgeon power or a lightning strike,

(01:02:21):
you know, something that's gonna giveit a jolt of power. What
the hard start kit does is asa unit ages, and it's not working
as efficiently when it tries to fireoff. When it first starts up,
it'll try to draw more power thannormal and that puts a strain on everything.
The hard start regulates how much powerit's gonna draw. I see,

(01:02:46):
okay, all right, well I'llget on I think I'll let my contractor
to put the EIGHTHC in. Ithink I'll let him figure that out.
Okay, probably is the best thing. But I appreciate your time. You
bet, take care and we'll discussthat when we come back. But let

(01:03:09):
me talk about air conditioning real quickhere. You know, American Standard is
my choice in air conditioners, andAmerican Standard is nationally recognized for excellence for
performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction. Take care of your family all year
long with American Standard air. InAmerican Standard technology, it meets the ever

(01:03:30):
changing Texas weather head on, soyou can keep your home cool and humidity
free or be ready for a littleheat when you need it. Invest wisely
and invest in the home comfort systemthat will last you a long, long
time comfort the way you like it. That's American Standard Air dot com.

(01:03:51):
And again when you go there,check out those variable and dual speed systems.
That's where you're going to get yourbest humidity control. Not any others
don't work great. I'm just sayingfor humidity control that gives you the most
reliability. That TuS, That's right, Tomas, that's such a domamus,

(01:04:18):
Texas won't I'm from Texas. IfTexas we have the death penalty and we
use it, that's right. Ifyou've come to Texas and kill somebody,
we will kill you back. Thisis Texas Home Improvement. When Jim doesn't

(01:04:39):
that's rights. Hey, welcome backto Texas Home Improvement. Seven one three,
two one two five eight seven four. This portion of Texas Home Improvement
is made possible by Ready Seal Anduh, I just wanted to address something
else on that unit there, becausehe was saying, well, he's is

(01:05:00):
going to go back to the contractorwho installed the AC unit. This is
a power supply problem. It's notthe unit that has problem because it was
happening with the old unit and happeningwith the new unit. The AC company
does not do the power. That'swhere you would need an electrician to come

(01:05:24):
in and check it out. I'mnot saying that they wouldn't help you find
an electrician and stuff, but Ican tell you up front it's going to
be a charge because they're actually notlicensed to do electrical work. Yes,
they can hook up the whip fromthe panel to the unit and that kind
of stuff, but that's as faras the electrical goes and the feed the

(01:05:46):
amount of power coming in and allthat. They aren't able to go in
and make alterations on that. Thatis what an electrician does, so you
can definitely talk to them, havethem check their connections and stuff like that.
But from everything that you described tome, this is going to be

(01:06:09):
an electrical issue that actually will fallin the hands of the homeowner. The
other question I probably had though,was you went from a three ton to
a four ton, And my questionwould have been why. You know,
so often people think they're gonna upthe tonnage to have more air to cool

(01:06:30):
house faster, things like that,and air conditioning just doesn't work that way.
You want to do a load calculationand put the right size unit in
and on an older home, whichthis was keep in mind as you do
upgrades, that changes your load calculation. So if you put a you can

(01:06:56):
let's just say it was borderline ata three ton, well, I quite
frankly probably would have gone to athree and a half, but let's just
say it was borderline. So thatwas the reason the decision was made to
go to four ton. While youdo the four ton and now you do
insulation in the walls, reinsulate theattic windows, any one of those things

(01:07:16):
or any combination thereof. You've nowchanged the heat load calculation and that unit
that was borderline is now oversized.So you kind of got to sometimes take
a look at, well, whatall are we going to be doing to
the house in the near future,in order to give the contractor who's doing

(01:07:39):
the HVAC work more information for sizingproperly. The unfortunate thing is a lot
of companies still don't do load calculationsto make sure they're putting in the right
size unit. Even though it's regulatedand required, it just isn't happening the
way it should. And so thatwould be the first thing I would tell

(01:08:00):
you if you get someone coming outto do an HVAC system, make sure
they do the load calculation. Butthe main thing I wanted to go back
to is just to make sure thatwe understand that the AC contractor is not
going to be able to do anythingon the electrical work. Now. Again,
he may help you find somebody,but as far as them going in

(01:08:24):
and finding the issue, that's notwhat the HVAC contractor does. Anyways,
you got a question seven one,three, two, one two, five,
eight seven four that seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
Got an email from well, theyonly gave their last name, so

(01:08:49):
I don't want to put that onthe air anyways. It says need the
name of a company who builds pergolasand install gutters and rain barrels. Any
help or suggestion you can offer isgreatly appreciated. And gave the zip code
seven seven zero one five which ison the east side of town. If

(01:09:09):
you want to get a pergola built, call All Star Construction. They can
take care of that. Seven onethree eight four seven zero two nine four
and they can get you some helpwith that. Again our phone number seven
one three two one two five eightseven four That seven one three two one

(01:09:32):
two five eight seven four. Letme talk to you about Sunburn shutters.
The best selling plantation shutters in Americaare Pollywood shutters from our friends at Sunburn
Shutters. Now. Pollywood gives youthat rich look of fine wood shutters without
woods inherent problems. He performs better, lasting far longer than traditional wood shutters

(01:09:54):
and insulating up to seventy percent moreefficiently. Plus, Pollywood shutters are guaranteed
not to crack, warp, orsplit everything at Sunburn Shutters is designed to
last longer, look better, andout perform all other products on the market.
And yes, I do have SunburnShutters in my home. I love

(01:10:14):
my Sunburst shutters, and sunbur Shuttersoffers design consultations so you can work with
an expert to make sure you getthat perfect look and fit for your home.
Call Sunburn Shutters at seven one threeeight nine six eighty one fifty.
That's seven one three eight nine sixeighty one fifty, or go to thhipro

(01:10:35):
dot com and click on the linkfor Sunburst Shutters. Hey. You know,
if you're having a problem with yourair conditioning system or you're looking to
get a second opinion on your airconditioning system, call my company, due
West air Conditioning. You know,when we have a service agreement, when
we go out, we take theoutside unit apart, we clean all the

(01:10:56):
coils and everything. We go inside. We take the fan motor out,
we take the blower molder out,and we clean not only the motor,
but the housing and everything to makesure that the dust isn't throwing anything out
of balance. We lubricate any partsthat need lubrication, check all the contacts
and everything and that's that's to helpyou not have problems with your unit later.

(01:11:18):
And if somebody's telling you a,oh, your system's ten eleven,
twelve years old and you need anew system, call us for a second
opinion. Before you have a newsystem. Put in seven one three four
seven five zero zero zero four.That seven one three four seven five zero

(01:11:38):
zero zero four. When you wantthe best, you call Due West.
Here's more Texas Home Improvements with JimDutton. Welcome back to Texas Home Improvements.

(01:12:01):
Seven one three, two one twofive eight seven four. We're gonna
head up to Tom Ball and Terrythis at him. How can I help
you? I need some advice.I bought a brand new I have a
brand new home. Well it's twoyears old now that I bought a Dr
Horton home. My home is unlivableand I can't live in it because the

(01:12:27):
mold is so bad. They saidmy ac ducks were not done properly.
I hired an attorney. The attorneycan't do says that Texas has passed a
new law where it protects the homethe builders. Do you have any advice?
Well, I'm paying a home thatI can't live in. What is

(01:12:51):
this new law that protects them fromsomething not being done. Right, I
honestly, wait, she was.I had an attorney and she's up in
the Dallas area. Okay, hehandles molds. And now it is because
when I moved in, I hadmold within the first six months, and

(01:13:15):
they worked on it. And becausethey've worked on it, now they can't
pursue it legally within some new Texaslaw that has passed. But did they
get it fixed. No, itjust came back in another area and then
another area, okay, and eachtime it reoccurs, that's a new Yes.

(01:13:38):
Okay, Now I know what you'rewhat you're talking about, okay.
And what did they supposedly do wrongwith the duck work? Somebody came and
looked and they said, it isjust the duck work is too small,
okay for the home in the attictand that is what caused all the mold.
And they said, there's even mold. I had somebody come and inspect

(01:14:01):
it. There's even mold in thegarage in the cement. That's even moldy,
they said. And I've never heardthat before. Yeah, and that
wouldn't be from the h VAC systembecause the garage isn't air conditioned. Yeah,
so okay, So I'm going tomake an assumption here that this is

(01:14:24):
a foam insulated home and it's fullyencapsulated, okay, which means you got
foam insulation in the walls in theattic, not fiberglass up in the attic.
And yes, okay, this iswhat your house is doing. Is

(01:14:48):
exactly why I tell people all thetime foam in the walls is great fiberglass
or some breathable insulation in the attic, because that keeps this from happening.
Your system is dependent on the airconditioning system to pull in fresh air.
There should be a fresh air inpipe pipe that goes up through the roof

(01:15:13):
and brings in the air. Now, one of the things that happens with
these that can cause what you've gothappening is there's a little electric motor that
flips a damper on that fresh airintake. And if that motor goes out,
you start getting mold growing in thehouse because it's no longer pulling fresh
are in to circulate through the house. So it could be a very simple

(01:15:39):
fix. The duck work typically doesn'tadd to this type of problem, not
to the tune that you're talking about. What the duck work normally causes is
areas that are hotter and colder thanother areas of the house. Where the
duck workers too small, that areawill tend to in the months heat up

(01:16:00):
and not cool off like the otherareas of the house do. So I'm
not saying that you don't necessarily haveit undersized duckwork, but I'm saying I'm
not sure that these two items aregoing to be related to each other.
So to the go ahead to makethe hole libable, does all the sheet

(01:16:24):
rock have to come out? Itwould depend on how much mold is in
the house. Typically I would sayno, But I'm going to give you
the name of somebody to call whocan work with you on this. And
it's Woodland's water Restoration And one ofthe things that one of the items that

(01:16:46):
they specialize in is the mold debatementpart. And part of doing that is
to make sure that things are sizedproperly and fresh area intake and everything.
You can reach them at two eightone five seven six eight four five nine,

(01:17:08):
okay, And if you'll give thema call, they should be able
to work with you on this andI know it's going to sound like it's
probably expensive. Understand that. Alot of times, if the contractors not
the type of situation that you justdescribed to me, your homeowners may be

(01:17:28):
picking this up. It'll depend onhow your policy was written. Okay,
Because I had called my homeowners insuranceand they said no, they couldn't help
me. Yeah, and that's usuallythe first answer you get. State Farm.
Yeah, okay, it's not justState Farm, it's pretty much all

(01:17:49):
of them. No, nobody wantsto take responsibility nowadays. Yeah, we
have not lived in that home forover I guess about a year now,
oh my, yes, and stillpaying the house note everything. Are you

(01:18:12):
Are you keeping the AC system running? Yes? Okay. And they told
me that's what caused the mold becauseI wanted my home at seventy two degrees.
Oh no, that's that is absolutelynot what's causing the problem. Any
home should be able to be keptat seventy two degrees. And they said,

(01:18:34):
that's that's what caused the molding.It was my faults. Yeah.
Now I can tell you when peoplewant to try to keep a house at
like sixty seven, yes, thatcan start causing you other problems. But
a seventy two degrees. No,you should be fine, especially on a
new house because it's about twenty squarefeet. Yeah, give give them a

(01:19:00):
call and uh, you know,if you have other questions, just feel
free to call me. Okay,we'll do all right. They take care,
thank you. Yeah, that's that'suh. That right there is exactly
why I tell you don't encapsulate thehome completely. It's got to breathe some

(01:19:23):
I'm gonna head into and I knowwe're gonna rick. We're gonna probably have
to take a break here in aminute. But how can I help you?
Oh, I just got a quickquestion. I'm trying to put in
a above ground pool and I wantto know if you know somebody that could
come in put down the sand andeverything and level up the ground anger before

(01:19:43):
I do that. You know whoI would call as a landscaper for for
that. Okay, just any landlandscaper? Do you have one that you're
No, I don't. I don'thave one that I did I use or
anything. But you know they're theygo in and they do you know,
the plants and flower beds and allthat stuff, and so they're equipped to

(01:20:06):
do that little area in a heartbeatfor you for really cheap. All right,
thanks a lot, Jam, Iappreciate it, you bet, you
take care and we'll be back injust a minute with more Texas Home improvement.

(01:20:30):
You know, far and away thebest product for staining a fence,
at deck, or really any outdoorwood surface is Ready Seal stain and sealer,
and Ready Seal is a wood stainand sealer and one so you can
add color and seal the wood frommoisture in one easy step. Combining saint,
stain and sealer. It eliminates extracosts, saves time during application,
but it still produces a high endquality finish every time. Stain and seal

(01:20:56):
with no cracking, chipping, flaking, or peeling because all ready seal wood
stain and sealers penetrate deep into thewood fibers, moisturizing the wood with waterproofing
oils and creating a flexible barrier thatkeeps the moisture out and it's goofproof.
This is a simple, do ityourself project, no runs, laps or
streaks. It can be sprayed on, rolled on, brushed on, and

(01:21:18):
it's gonna last years longer than comparableproducts. And again I've said this before.
It'll make a great summer project forthe kids to stain your fans or
deck or whatever you got outside forwood. Want to get more information,
go to thhipro dot com and clickon the link to Ready Seal. All

(01:21:39):
right, so talking about the foaminsulation, I've said this hundreds and hundreds,
probably thousands of times. I lovefoam insulation. I'm not opposed to
foam insulation. I'm opposed to totallyencapsulating the house. Well. USA Insulation
they understand that as well. That'sthe reason they'll foam your walls, but

(01:22:01):
they'll use breathable insulation in the attic. And when I say they'll foam your
walls, they can retrofit your homewith foam insulation in the walls. They
actually will drill, Like if it'sa brick home, they can drill between
the mortar lines, get into thewall cavity and fill it with a non
expansive foam insulation. If you gotinsulation in there, it'll encapsulate it.

(01:22:25):
If you don't, say you're inan older home, it'll fill it up
and you won't believe the energy efficiencydifference. I mean, your electric bills
are instantly going to start going down. It'll reduce the noise from outside up
to eighty percent. But by keepinga breathable insulation in the attic, you're
still getting our value. But youdon't have to worry about this sick home

(01:22:46):
syndrome like we were just talking about. You want to get some more information
or have USA Insulation come out andtake care of your home. Three four
six, two nine seven twenty eighthundred. That's three or six two nine
seven two eight zero zero better thanyour favorite beverage washing down to the big

(01:23:10):
bag of pork grinds. This isTexas Home Improvement with Jim Dutton. They
welcome back to Texas Home Improvement,your total home improvement source, real quick
on the phone. You know,I say this a lot different building techniques

(01:23:32):
for different parts of the country.You can't put plastic around the house in
Texas like that you do in theNorthern States for the cold weather. The
insulation is the same thing. It'snot the type of insulation, it's the
application. And you know, unfortunatelybuilders want to adopt the same thing everywhere.

(01:23:54):
The places who sell it kind oftry to do the same thing,
and we need to have a adjustmentsin how things are used in different parts
of the country. Windows are thesame thing. We don't need triple pane
windows in Texas, we need doublepain The triple paine doesn't save us any
more money. Anyways. That's foranother show that we could actually start tomorrow

(01:24:16):
at two o'clock when we come backwith more Texas home improvement. Before I
go, let's talk about Woodlands WaterRestoration. I mentioned them for dealing with
this particular problem. When disaster happens, and I'm talking about water damage,
fire mold, you need a companyyou can trust, and in the Houston
area turn to the restoration experts atWoodlands Water Restoration. I've used their services

(01:24:42):
and I hope you never have touse their services. But if you do,
you need a company who knows whatthey're doing, who can work with
the insurance company, who can workto get your home back where you can
live in it again, and thatis Woodlands Water Restoration. So whether you
need them today or need them nextweek, write the number down now so
you have it. It's two eightone five seven six eight four five nine.

(01:25:09):
That's two eight one five seven sixeight four five nine. Or just
go to thhipro dot com and clickon the link for Woodlands water restoration,