How To Hide From The Summer Heat

Jim breaks down the best ways to battle the Texas heat, using AC ducts, barriers, and why keeping the attic cool isn’t necessarily the solution. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Texas Home Improvement is on the air with your host,
Jim Jackey.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
I really appreciate your show.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
Really helped me to know what to do and what
not to do.

Speaker 4 (00:12):
You're a very logical man, you or you are so correct,
So thank you very much.

Speaker 5 (00:16):
I'm getting on my back forward and drinking a beer
and your honor.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 6 (00:19):
Paul.

Speaker 7 (00:19):
Now with all your home improvement questions at seven one three,
two one two five eight seven four. That's seven one three, two,
one two five eight seven.

Speaker 8 (00:27):
Four Texas Home Improvement brought to you by Ready, Seal,
Stain and Seiler USA Insulation Wall, Home insallation for existing homes,
Sunburst shutters, where beauty in these energy efficiency, American standard,
Comfort the.

Speaker 9 (00:41):
Way you like it do.

Speaker 8 (00:43):
West Services Foundation Repair, plumbing and air conditioning. When you
want the best called due West Arborist, Non demand tree
care Specialist, lintle lift. If your garage is smiling, your
beams are frowning. Guardian Roof Systems, Residential and commercial Experts.
Texas Remodel Team Windows the official window installer of Texas

(01:05):
Home Improvement. James Hardy Sighting the best sighting on the planet.
Victor's Remodeling and Construction.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Hardy Flag Specialist, and Southern Water Solutions Healthier Cleaner Water
and now.

Speaker 9 (01:20):
Broadcasting live from the Dutton Ranch. Here's Jim dot.

Speaker 5 (01:28):
Hey.

Speaker 6 (01:28):
Welcome to Texas Home Improvement, your total home improvement source
seven one three two one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two one two five eight seven
For any home improvement question you have, pick up the phone,
give me a call. Let's talk about it here on
Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Now.

Speaker 6 (01:49):
Don't forget up the website though, tchipro dot com, because
there's all kinds of help information there. Now, the first
thing you're gonna find is all the different people you
hear me talk about. And you notice I don't typically
give out their web addresses because you simply go to
tchipro dot com and you got everybody you're looking for. Now,

(02:11):
secondary thing you're gonna find there's all kinds of questions
and answers and videos to go with a lot of
those questions and answers, copies of our TV show, copy
of newsletters. By the way, sign up for our newsletter.
It goes out every other week. It's free at charge,
and there's a sign up spot right there at thchipro
dot com, and of course the ask Jim button where

(02:34):
you can send in email questions. All of that's available
at tipro dot com. TCHI is for Texas Home Improvement
thi pro dot com. But I'm here to take calls
and answer questions. You guys picked the subject matter by

(02:54):
calling in and asking a question, and every caller is
a new subject matter likely seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four. Now suit I can
do to help you out here on Texas Home Improvement?

(03:15):
All right, We're gonna start with an email question that
came in from Michael. I was told that a spray
on radiant barrier on the underside roof decking can drastically
reduce att attempts during the summer. Is this true and
generally what is the price range for this? Well, it

(03:35):
is true, but it's not true. Here's the deal. Spray
on barriers are no longer supposed to be called radiant barriers,
and the reason for that. A foil type barrier will
block ninety five to ninety seven percent of the radiant
heat a spray on barrier if it is mixed properly

(03:59):
sprayed on, properly, everything is done the way it's supposed
to be, will only block up to sixty five percent.
So you got a thirty point swing there, and so
it's really no longer called a radiant barrier doesn't help absolutely,
but the foil barriers are going to help you way more.

(04:22):
So take a look at a foil type barrier, now,
the one I use you hear me talk about it
energy Q radiant barrier. It lays on the attic floor
so it keeps the heat that is in the attic
from getting into the insulation, which allows your air conditioning
bill to do better. And really, isn't that why we're
doing this. I mean a lot of times people think that, well,

(04:44):
I'm gonna make the attic cooler so my HVAC system
will work better, and it doesn't work that way. That
system is designed to work in the heat, and you know,
it doesn't know the difference between an attic with a
barrier and one without. So uh, if you're going to

(05:06):
try to go with a barrier, go with a foil type.
Not to spray again. If you got a question seven
one three, two one two five eight seven four that's
seven one three, two, one two, five, eight seven four,
and I'll see what I can do to help you

(05:26):
out here on Texas Home Improvement and Barbie up in
Spring sent an email dirt around. I think this should
be slab and black fence. First of all, thank you

(05:48):
for what you do. I listened to your show weekly
thirteen years ago. I had foundation work done at my house.
It seems like they didn't do a great job with
replacing the dirt. Now I have areas around my slab
that are like a hole. If I stick a shovel
handle in them, they seem to be solid. I just

(06:12):
don't know what to think or that they did a
good great job with the finish work. I believe I
need a little dirt to fill those areas. So my
questions are what kind of dirt and where do I
get it? Like I said, I don't think I need
a lot. Okay, we'll start with that because she does

(06:33):
have another question that's HVAC related. Look, when you have
foundation work done, the house is picked up, there's going
to be a little bit of a void under the house,
So dirt does move, and when you pack the dirt
back in the holes, you're not able to pack it
back as tight as it once was, so it's not

(06:56):
unusual to get a little bit of settlement. This is
thirteen years later. You can get some dirt, whether it's
a top soil or what depends on the soil at
your home. And I say that because you're in spring
and a lot of the soil up in the Spring
area is a sandy loam type soil, and so there's

(07:17):
no reason for you to spend money on a top
soil if you're in a sandy loam where you can
just get a local dirt and put it in. But
if you're in where you just got the black gumbo
clay soil, you can even just buy a bag of
potting soil if you want to put it in there,
but there's no reason to spend that kind of money.

(07:41):
If you've got to pick up, you can go to
a place called Living Earth and they can load up
to pick up with dirt for you to fill these
type of holes in. Otherwise, like I said, just some
bags from lows Er Home Depot. We'll fill it in.
And it's not a it's not how well the Foundation

(08:04):
company did on that. That's just an act of nature
because you can't fill in behind the piers and everything
with the dirt, so it will tend to wash back there.
What determines if they did a good job or not
is did it stay put? And if the foundation hasn't moved,
they did you a good job? All right? Second part

(08:26):
of her question, I also have black around the AC
vents on my ceiling and my kitchen, only nowhere else
in the house. What causes this and what do I
need to do to get rid of it? Well, typically
the black is caused by a couple of things. One
can be dirt going through the HVAC system, but since

(08:48):
it's only hitting the kitchen, I don't think that's going
to be the issue. The secondary issue is probably more likely,
and that's the cold there going through the vent is
meeting warm air, and when that happens, it can cause
a little sweating. That sweating or a period of time
can start to grow molds and mildews which are black

(09:10):
in color. And I'm not saying it's going to be
a harmful mold. I'm not. I'm not trying to insinuate that.
I'm simply saying that can cause it. The fix is
usually pretty simple. You got to go up in the
attic around where the ac duck goes through the ceiling,
and pack some insulation around it, because usually what's happened

(09:30):
is the insulation wasn't put back good when the duck
work was hooked up, and the cold air and warm
air meet, and like I said, it just causes the sweating.
So usually you can deal with that pretty easily by
just getting insulation back around it, and that keeps it
from sweating again. If you got a question seven one

(09:51):
three two one two five eight seven four. That's seven
one three, two one two five eight seven for any
home improvement question you have, feel free to pick up
the phone, give me a call, and I'll see what
I can do to help you out here on Texas
Home Improvement. Let's see, Chuck, Welcome to Texas Home Improvement.

(10:13):
How can I help you?

Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yes, sir, I'm a native Houstonian and I've lived here
all my life, but I've always lived in apartments and
condos and I do now. The reason I'm calling this
because I work now at one of Houston's oldest and
established mom and pop hardware stores, and we sell a

(10:38):
lot of top soil, different kinds of top soil, different
kinds of brands. And the reason I'm calling this because
when customers come in, we suggest one of the most
popular brands, which happens to be Miracle Grow, but many
customers resisted resist Miracle Growths kind of like round up,
you know, right, And I just I just wanted to

(11:00):
know what's the deal with that. I mean, I do
not have the green thumb. I mean, the garden section
is not my forte. But I'm on my lunch break,
I'm listening to your show, and I just wanted to
know what the deal is with Miracle Grow and why
there's a sigma attached to it?

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Can you explain?

Speaker 6 (11:19):
Well, the only stigma attached to it is it's a chemical,
and sometimes people are just reluctant to buy stuff that
has the chemicals name in it. You know, Miracle Grow
is a liquid that everybody used to spray on stuff
to grow it. And if you read the bottles on it,
it'll tell you don't put it on fruit, don't put

(11:40):
it on you know, vegetables and things like that. And
so people have a reluctance. Now if they're putting in
flowers and things like that, I'm not sure why they
would have the reluctance.

Speaker 4 (11:55):
Then okay, but that's why I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (11:59):
Now let me ask you a quick question. Sure, what's
the hardware store.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
South Land?

Speaker 10 (12:07):
Yep?

Speaker 4 (12:08):
Yeah, at A Yeah, the family owned Mom and Bob yep.

Speaker 6 (12:13):
Well no, all right, I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
Thank you.

Speaker 11 (12:18):
Go right.

Speaker 6 (12:21):
Seven one three, two, one two five eight seven four.
We'll be right back. James. Hardy siding the best siding
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(12:42):
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(13:04):
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need to take a look at James Hardy Siding. You
can go to thchipro dot com click on the link

(13:28):
for James Hardy Siding. You know DUS air Conditioning can
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just routine service you need, or hey, you got an outage.
You got to get your system up and running, or
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(13:48):
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(14:10):
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Speaker 9 (14:40):
It ain't hot. It's just Chuck Norris making salsa happy.
For it from Texas Home improove Maker.

Speaker 6 (14:53):
Well it's not exactly the fourth, is it. We're a
week away from Labor Day weekend. Look, if you got
a home question, pick up the phone and give me
a call. Seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. That's seven one three, two one two five
eight seven four. Any home improvement question you have, pick

(15:14):
up the phone, give me a call. We can talk
about it here on Texas Home Improvement. And with that,
you know, I also have email questions that come in
through our website thhipro dot com. So let me jump
into one of the email questions here real quick. Uh okay,

(15:35):
this one comes from Joe and he says, Jim, listen
to your Sunday program and wanted to let you know
I used Ready Seal PCN on my porch deck and
it looks fine. Here's my situation. I had a corral

(15:56):
fence four by four by eight inch one by six
by fourteen pressure treated installed in two thousand and seven
with concrete near but not at the surface. The four
by fours have rotted just above the concrete below the surface.

(16:16):
What did I do wrong? At seventy eight? I am
not going to rebuild it, rather have someone do it
for me. Don't think the remaining post in the ground
with concrete can be easily removed. Seems like the way
to go is to saw the posts below the ground line,
cover the area with soil, and use an auger to

(16:40):
drill a hole adjacent to the old post in the ground,
and start all over your suggestions. Please don't forget about
what I did wrong with the post rotting just above
the concrete. Okay, what you did wrong is you kept
it underground, so the moist ground stayed touching that the

(17:03):
whole time. And the secondary thing that most people do wrong,
and I don't know this from the conversation, but when
you put that concrete, you have to dome it so
that water that gets on it drains off. And I
normally want it right at ground level, or actually just
slightly above enough that you're not going to hit it

(17:25):
with the lawn mower, but enough that water will drain off.
And if you have a little dip where the water
sits on it and sits against the post, it will
eventually rot it. In two thousand and seven, you know
that was after they made the change on the chemicals
for treating wood and it doesn't work as well as

(17:49):
it used to. And there is a difference in the
treated four by fours that you get. Some are rated
for ground contact, some are rated for ground contact, and
if you got the wrong post, it can rot off
rather quickly as well. But I mean, let's be real,
you've had those posts for eighteen years. Yes, I would

(18:12):
have expected them to last longer, but I'm really thinking
it all played down to the way the concrete was
domed or not domed. But how do you go about
doing it now? You can pull that concrete up out
of the ground. There's apparatuses that are available in ways

(18:33):
that fence guys will literally rip those up out of
the ground so that you can utilize the same hole
for the new post. And I would advise that. And
when you put the concrete again, have it domed up.
And you may want to consider switching over to a
metal post, but quite frankly, there is nothing wrong with

(18:55):
using a wooden post. Just make sure you get one
that's rated for ground contact.

Speaker 5 (19:02):
UH.

Speaker 6 (19:03):
Buyou City lumber over off Telephone Road.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
UH.

Speaker 6 (19:08):
They carry ground contact And I would highly recommend you
take a look at that. The stuff you get at
the box stores be honest with you. When I look
at it, I'm always questioning if what the what the
rating is because it just doesn't seem and look is
treated as what I get at regular lumberyards, souh. But

(19:31):
Bayou City lumber they specialize in that treated lumber, so
that that's where I would take a look at again
if you got a question. Seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. That's seven one three two
one two five eight seven four. Now see what I

(19:51):
can do to help you out here on Texas Home
Improvement your total Home Improvement source again. Seven one three
two one two five eighths seven four. I know we're
gonna get ready to take a break here in just
a minute, but I do remind everybody passading. Livestock show
on Rodeo is coming up in September Prayed September sixth,

(20:15):
but the cookoff September thirteenth through the fourteenth. That's at
the Pasadena Fairground. It's the corner of Red Bluff and
Fairmont and the rodeo itself will kick off on September
nineteenth and run through the following Saturday, the twenty seventh,
I believe it is. Anyways, come on out and have

(20:37):
a great time. Got a great lineup for entertainment as
well as one of the best rodeos in the state.
You are up close and personal and you may get
hit with a little dirt in the stands when you're
watching the rodeo. You can go to Pasadena Rodeo dot
com for tickets. You know American Standard Heating and Cooling.

(21:12):
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(21:35):
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(21:58):
great system, go to American Standardair dot com. That's American
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Speaker 1 (22:19):
If it ain't broken, fix it anyway, you're with Jim Dotton,
Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 6 (22:26):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. Your total home
improvement sour seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. I got all open lines, which is unusual.
So let's pick up the phone, give me a call.
Let's talk some home improvement here. Seven one three two
one two five eight seven four. And let's see here.

(22:54):
So this is something I hear about quite often. This
comes from Barbara. She needs a facial board replace. Someone
willing to do a small job because of the damage
a piece of fatia came off the dormer. So the
problem is, regular contractors are going to have to charge

(23:17):
you a ton to come out and do this. You know,
the cost of the vehicle, the labor, because a contractor's
paying somebody getting the truck drive out there, and granted
that the repair may only take ten minutes, but then
he's got to cover the costs of going back somewhere

(23:38):
and if they had to go pick up materials. It
all adds up, and so contractors have to charge a
minimum charge that people look at it and say, oh
my god, that's just it's a ten minute job. It
can't cost that much. Whether you're going out to do
a ten minute job or a ten hour job, the
drive time and all that stuff is the same, and

(24:00):
so it and you know, insurance on vehicles, it's just skyrocketed.
Payrolls are skyrocking. Everything keeps going up, and so it
makes it where contractors just can't go do these little
things like this anymore. That's where you really do need
to probably look at getting a handyman or you know,

(24:22):
a neighborhood kid who's knows a little bit and able
to put the board back up, because it really doesn't
take much to put a board like that up, but
you got to have somebody who is willing to do
it at a reasonable cost. And the unfortunate thing is
most of the time contractors aren't able to do that.

(24:45):
Got a question seven one three, two, one two five
eight seven four, And let's head to We're gonna head
out to Woodville. Michael, listen, Chim, how can I help you?

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (25:01):
I just bought me some ready seal and I've got
my porch deck. I was gonna feel it well, the
very front of it. I capped it with a one
by six.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Haughty? Can I say that?

Speaker 6 (25:15):
No? Now?

Speaker 2 (25:17):
You can thank it brown.

Speaker 6 (25:20):
Yeah. Well, you can put the product on, but it's
just not gonna come out looking right.

Speaker 10 (25:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (25:29):
I knew it wouldn't look as the bulls bo.

Speaker 9 (25:32):
Yeah uh.

Speaker 6 (25:33):
And the problem is once you once you put the
ready seal on there, paint's not gonna want to stick anymore.

Speaker 10 (25:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (25:42):
So I would think that, yeah, I would. I would
tell you just go ahead and paint that and and
be done with it.

Speaker 10 (25:51):
So you're in Woodville, ok, Yeah, I live right off
for seventeen forty six.

Speaker 6 (26:01):
So you go out of town, you make a right
there at the gas station and head on out.

Speaker 10 (26:08):
Well, as soon as you get down their ways, there's
forty three hundred yep. I live down there, my brother,
my brother. You keep going. You know where the big
Herford bull is, Yes, sir, he lives that next road
past that Herford Bull.

Speaker 6 (26:28):
Okay, we got a place if you keep going down.
When I talk about the Deer Lease and in the
Dunton Farm and all that stuff, we're further down seventeen
forty six on the right hand, on the left hand side.

Speaker 10 (26:43):
Yeah, I think I've seen it.

Speaker 6 (26:45):
Yeah, down there where there's a yellow building, We've got
a pavilion outside now and the Red Barn down below.
And I just had fiber optics run in for internet
service last week because I do the show from up
there a lot, and my internet service really isn't that
great when I'm there, so I kind of try not

(27:08):
to go too often when I got to do the show.
But that's going to open it up where I can
be up there a whole lot more now. So. But yeah,
the area, do what I said, I love the area there.

Speaker 10 (27:21):
Oh me too. My whole family's from up here. We've
been here since I say, my grandfather moved here in
the twenties.

Speaker 6 (27:28):
Oh yeah, okay, where my brother lives.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
That's where my grandfather lives.

Speaker 6 (27:36):
Well, you maybe can answer a question for me. Then
you know where the restaurant was the It was Magnolia Tree.
Then they started calling it Oak something or other. I
see they're remodeling in there again. What are they doing
in there now? Do you know?

Speaker 10 (27:51):
I have no idea they've been They've been working on it.

Speaker 5 (27:54):
For quite a while.

Speaker 6 (27:56):
Yeah, they have.

Speaker 10 (27:57):
I go, I go down behind that road to go
to the UH Walmart. Yeah, instead of going down the highway,
I cut through yep, and you go behind. You go
behind that place, and they've been we have back door opening,
you know, tearing stuff.

Speaker 5 (28:13):
Out and uh for quite a while.

Speaker 10 (28:16):
And then they've noticed that they've redone the front yep.

Speaker 6 (28:20):
Okay, Well, I've just been curious what they were trying
to put in there.

Speaker 10 (28:23):
So it's according to what the where the highway is
gonna go. They haven't decided whether the sixty nine is
going to go to the east or the west of Woodville.

Speaker 6 (28:37):
Ah okay, And.

Speaker 10 (28:40):
You try to find out and nobody knows.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
Yeah, all right, well, Michael, I appreciate it. Then you
have a great afternoon, you too, Jim. Take care seven
one three two one two five eight seven four, And
I'll see what I can do to help you out
here on Texas Home Improvement. And I'll tell you what.

(29:06):
I'm not going to jump on to the next call
yet because we're getting ready to have to take a break.
But look, I get all over the state. I mean
yesterday I started in Houston, I went down to Kingsville,
up to Dallas. I get around a lot, and uh,

(29:27):
Woodville happens to be one of the places I go
to frequently because we do have the place up there
and We've had that place for thirty something years. That's
where the deer lease is and it's it's always fun
to be out there and enjoin nature. Got a question

(29:47):
seven one three, two one two five eight seven four.
We'll be right back with more Texas Home improvement. You know,
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(30:08):
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(31:13):
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(31:59):
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(32:20):
look gorgeous. Call sunbur shutters. Seven one three four six
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Speaker 1 (32:40):
If somebody tells you you can't do it, tell them
to kiss your crew bar.

Speaker 9 (32:44):
What this is Texas Hold Improvement with Jim Dutton.

Speaker 6 (32:51):
Welcome back to Texas Home Improvement, your total home improvement.
So we're seven one three two one two five eight
seven four Christine, Jim, how can I help you?

Speaker 3 (33:06):
Well, here we are in the apartment again. You know
you helped me a long time ago with the stinky
garbage disposal thing. So but the vent system still doesn't
work in this apartment. But you know, I know what
to do. I run out the water and I put
the little planks in there and everything. But now I'm

(33:26):
on the fourth floor. It's the top floor. You know,
we got a bad roof.

Speaker 10 (33:30):
And all that.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
And then the lady below me on the balcony hurt
like ceiling keeps getting bulges and stuff. Well, this is
a stucco place, right and on my balcony. It has
kind of like a little tiny wall and the stucco
is coming off of that ledge and it has for

(33:55):
years since Harvey and Beryl and whatever that did never
fix anything, of course, but anyway, so this is the
second time that she's had to have her whole ceiling,
you know, knocked out and redone and then but I
have a drain in mind. Nobody else has, but the
all the fourth floors have a drain in their balcony.

(34:16):
So I don't know if it's cracked or what. But
they decided, Okay, what we're going to do is we're
going to seal the concrete because mine has never been sealed.
I said, okay, so I don't know if they're going
to replace the drain or not, but I'm not going
to put anything down the drain, let me tell you that.
But uh so Thursday they powerwashed, okay, then yesterday they

(34:40):
painted it. I'm like, oh my god. Of course they
never tell you it's toxic. But I'm old enough, like
really old to know. You know, I got to open
up the door. I got two blower fans, you know.
I open up the front door. Thank god there was
order order, because I face south in orderly wind come through.
So I put the blower fans on that whatever paint.

(35:04):
But I checked today when he came for the second coat.
It's master seal see two through five. So I don't
know what kind of crap this is. But I'm googling everything.
I'm like, oh wow, I think I'm an expert on
seal it now, but I want to know how long
it takes to dry. But guess what he did today?

(35:27):
He well, of course he has these golf golf shoe
deep things, you know, and he's in there, but he's
bringing something that looks like grape nut flakes. Here are
grape nuts? Yeah, it's sand. He puts sand and then
he paints over it. And I'm like, oh, a popcorn
ceiling on the floor.

Speaker 5 (35:46):
Oh my god.

Speaker 6 (35:47):
But anyway, that's done to keep it from getting too slick.

Speaker 3 (35:52):
Yeah, yeah, I say, But you know there's another guy
up in Louisville, Ohio that does you know? He did
something in Dallas, you know, and the other places that's
non slip. But it's a lot better. I got his
little picture. But anyway, so I'm wondering. So he got
finished by noon today and I put both lower fans

(36:15):
from noon to two thirty and then I closed the
door and you know, turn my air back on. How
long is this going to take to dry well?

Speaker 6 (36:26):
Dry wise, it'll take just you know, probably several hours
as all older. Wise, it's probably going to be there
for a while. But it's outside, so the older shouldn't
affect you inside. Why are you opening the door and
blowing fans when it's out on a porch that way?

Speaker 3 (36:44):
Because the wind has been from the north. And see,
there's no air movement, So I've been putting the fans
for air movement because that little wall is about two
and a half feet high. Uh huh, so it's kind
of like a well, you know, or like a tub, right,
so I wanted to get air movement. There's no there's

(37:06):
no fin up above in the ceiling, see right.

Speaker 6 (37:08):
But the product would dry whether it had air movement
on it or not.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
But even this morning, after the first coat, it was
still tacky.

Speaker 6 (37:18):
Right, yeah, because it's going to take hours and lots
of hours for it to totally dry out. But like
I say, the air movement's really not going to speed
that up. I I would go ahead after he's done
and left I would close the doors and windows and
everything and just keep them closed till at least till tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
Yeah, So now on this stuff, is this stuff flammable.

Speaker 6 (37:48):
When it's when it's liquid, it probably has a little bit,
but it would it would have to have probably a
constant flame on it to be burning. Once it's a
dry it's not. It's nothing to worry about.

Speaker 12 (38:03):
Yeah, okay, and then uh, A lot of times they
say like, I don't know about this master seal, but
not to put like rubber back rugs on there.

Speaker 6 (38:14):
Yeah they'll they'll stick. Yeah, and they can also make
it change colors.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
Yeah, well we'll what won't to see. I have furniture
with those you know, it's like metal furniture, but it
has those little plastic things on the bottom.

Speaker 6 (38:31):
You'll be fine.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
To put like little aluminum foil cups on them or something.

Speaker 6 (38:38):
No, No, those little plastic bottoms that are on chairs
and stuff, you'll be fine, especially if the chairs are
moving once in a while. The problem with the rubber
back rugs you put them down and it may sit
there for weeks before it gets moved. H So yeah,
with with chairs and stuff, you won't have any issues.

Speaker 3 (38:59):
How about my shoes. Do I have to get a
tear of golf shoes?

Speaker 4 (39:02):
I mean, oh no, ma'am.

Speaker 6 (39:04):
No, you're good.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
That's kind of what he had.

Speaker 3 (39:06):
He was walking around. I said, hey, you reach out,
Sap and get you some of those old fashioned golf shoes.

Speaker 6 (39:11):
Yeah. No, his shoes were so while he's putting on
the product, he's able to walk on it without damaging it.

Speaker 11 (39:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:18):
Yeah, okay, all right, you so much.

Speaker 6 (39:21):
You're welcome. You take care and again our number seven
one three, two one two five eight seven four. You
know Texas Remodel teams windows. They are gorgeous, and this
is you know, these guys are experts at putting these
windows in. Now you can get a vinyl window, which

(39:42):
is what I have in my home, because they're energy efficient,
they're cost effective to buy. But if if you esthetically
you want to go with a wooden window or a
fiberglass window, they've got those for you as well. But
you know, a window is only as good as the
installation of that window, and it's kind of like an
air conditioning system. You have the best window, but if

(40:04):
it's improperly installed, it's not going to be energy efficient.
And that's the same with an HC. But look, if
you're looking for windows, you want a patio room with
glass Like we were just talking about her patio room.
One close that into a glassroom. Texas Remodel Team Windows
can help you two eight one three nine nine forty

(40:24):
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zero six y two for Texas Remodel Teams Windows. You
know our water, it's you see it on the news
all the time, even it's getting worse all the time. Now,
Southern Water Solutions can come out test your water and
design a filtration system to make your water good again.

(40:48):
And that may be just water filters, that could include
a water softener, reverse osmosis. But they've got it all
at Southern Water Solutions eight three, two five nine three
thirty nine ninety three. You know, foundation problems don't go
away by themselves. That's the reason you want to call

(41:08):
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catch it early enough, preventative maintenance will typically take care
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Speaker 9 (41:35):
More fun than putting pop rocks in the cat litter box.
Here's Jim Dunton on Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 6 (41:43):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement seven one three,
two one two five eight seven four Jason and Katie.
How can I help you?

Speaker 13 (41:55):
Yes? Uh uh, mister Dutton, I have a twenty nine
year old house, single story. I'll called you before above
the humid fire. Yeah, luckily I got a new ac outside.
The only change was they didn't change the heater on
it and everything, But the windows are single pain. Should
I go Should I replace my windows? Or should I

(42:16):
go ahead do the attic solar fan? Which one should
I get first? Is what I'm asking to help out.

Speaker 6 (42:23):
Well, a solar fan is going to be way less
expensive than the windows. You know, you're only talking hundreds
for a solar fan, but it's not going to do
as much for your energy bill as the replacement windows
will do. When I replaced the windows in my house
that was built in nineteen seventy three, I had single

(42:44):
pane windows and they were I had storm windows over
the windows. I changed it out for the double pain
vinyl windows, and my energy bill went down thirty five percent.

Speaker 13 (42:58):
Okay, who would you suggest I go with the windows
out here Kada.

Speaker 6 (43:04):
Texas three model teams windows at two eight one yep
three nine nine four zero six two.

Speaker 13 (43:12):
All right, you think that will be? That will help
out a lot with the oh yeah inside that would
that were for the for the money for the bank
for your box, That.

Speaker 6 (43:20):
Way help out better? Exactly right? All right, thanks you
so much, you bet by Bay. I mean personally, I
the solar fan is going to be so cheap. I
would probably go ahead and put that in as well.
But the windows is what you're really gonna need. We
got another hour of Texas Home Improvement to go seven
one three, two one two five eight seven four. You know,

(43:43):
if you're looking for siding for your home, you need
to take a look at some James Hardy siding. They
got so many choices. Whether you want a lap siding,
a stucco look, a wood shake, doesn't matter, even the
you know, vertical look. You used to be in style
back in the fifties and it's rolled back into style
again now. But the thing with James Hardy siding, it's

(44:04):
cement based, so it's not going to deteriorate, it's not
gonna rot, it's not gonna catch fire, bugs aren't gonna
eat it. It's just a permanent siding once it's on,
and it holds paint better than wood ever even thought about.
So if you're looking for sighting, take a look at
James Hardy Siding and you may want to look at
the color plus that's got the paint baked on at

(44:27):
the factory. Go to thhipro dot com, click on the
link for the contractors and click on James Hardy Siding
it and then just go through and imagine how beautiful
your home could be.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
It says home improvement is on the air with your home, Jim.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
I really appreciate your show.

Speaker 3 (44:50):
Really helps me to know what to do and what
not to do.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
You're a very logical man. You or you are so correct,
So thank you very much.

Speaker 5 (44:57):
I'm setting on my backboard and drinking a beer and
you're on or thank you.

Speaker 6 (45:00):
Call now with.

Speaker 7 (45:01):
All your home improvement questions. Seven one three, two, one
two five eight seven four. That's seven one three, two,
one two five eight seven four.

Speaker 8 (45:09):
Texas Home Improvement brought to you by Ready, Seal, Stain
and Seiler USA Insulation Wall Foam Insallation.

Speaker 9 (45:16):
For existing homes sunburst.

Speaker 8 (45:18):
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(45:38):
roof Systems Residential and commercial roofing Experts, Texas Remodel Team,
Windows the official window installer of Texas Home Improvement, James
Hardy's Sighting the best sighting on the planet, Victor's Remodeling
and Construction, Hardy Flank Specialists, and Southern Water Solutions Healthier,
Cleaner water.

Speaker 9 (45:59):
And now broadcasting.

Speaker 8 (46:02):
Live from the Don Ranch, here's Jim Docky.

Speaker 6 (46:09):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements, your total home
improvement source. Seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. That's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four again. Any home improvement question you have,
pick up the phone, give me a call and I'll
see what we can do to help you out here

(46:30):
on Texas Homeprovement and starting a new hour, we've got
all open lines again. So seven one three two one
two five eight seven four Now don't forget about our website,
t hipro dot com. It is full of helpful information.
I mean, there's obviously links to the people you hear

(46:52):
me talk about because I'm not giving out their web
addresses very often. But there's also questions and answers and
videos and copies of TV show, copies of old newsletters,
a place for you to sign up for the newsletter.
It goes out every other week. It's free of charge.
There's no nothing special you gotta do. Plus the ask

(47:13):
Jim button where you can send in email questions. All
that's available at thipro dot com. And without all that
being said, why don't we jump into an email question
here again? Seven to one three two one two five
eight seven four. So this comes from Brad and actually

(47:41):
this came a week ago with all the HVAC questions
on Saturday. Have an odd one. My house was not
well designed, as the two evaporator units that are located
on either end of the house in small closets next
to the master and secondary bedrooms. There should have been
dage holes through the foundation for a gravity feed drainage

(48:04):
for the evaporators, but the contractor failed to do it.
The workaround was using a drain pan about eight by
twelve with a pump inside the pan to move the
condensation up then out a pipe in the attic and

(48:25):
out of the house. A power outage disabled to kill
switch one day, so I came home to a flooded
floor one day. That workaround was to get new pumps
with proper kill switches, but both pumps are still noisy
and right next to the sleeping areas. The solution seems

(48:47):
to handle the drainage problem. But do you know if
there's a quiet pump or some way to reduce the
sound or soundproof the pumps when they operate? Thanks and
always okay, uh Brad, I got I gotta tell you.

(49:09):
I don't know how loud your pumps are, so I
don't know if there's quieter ones. But truthfully, yes, there
should be pumps that are quiet enough you don't hear them.
You're not gonna soundproof the pump itself. It would require
buying another pump, but you could put soundproofing in the
room if there was enough room in that closet around

(49:29):
those units. But truthfully, after reading through this, if you
had room up in the attic, I would move those
units up in the attic and let them drain like
a regular HVAC system does. That opens up those two
closets for storage, and it solves your drainage issues, gets

(49:50):
rid of the noise, and look, the HVAC units are
made to be in the heat anyways. You know, people
a lot of times think it's going to operate more
efficiently if it's in air conditioned space. It's not. It's
made to operate in the heat. And most of the
time the unit that's in a closet is the same

(50:12):
unit that would be hanging in an attic. Yes, it
does require some minor modifications, but it is It should
be able to be moved, so personally, I think I'd
be looking at at going that way rather than messing
with it down in the closet. But as far as

(50:32):
the pumps, there's a lot of different pumps available, so yes,
you should be able to find a quieter pump to
move the water where I mean, your HVAC guy can
check on it, but you could check with grangers because honestly,
this is something you could change out yourself, even because

(50:56):
it's just hooking the hose up to the pump itself
to discharge it. And plugging it in. Uh. I'm sure
you're your pump is on a float switch of some kind,
so you you'd obviously have to hook that up. But uh,
your HVAC guy should be able to handle this for

(51:18):
you if you'd like to have him do it. If not,
if you need another one, uh, you know, calling another
AC guy. Got a question seven one three two one
two five eight seven fours. The number to call that
seven one three two one two five eight seven four

(51:41):
Henry in Texas City, How can I help you?

Speaker 11 (51:44):
Hey, Jim, I had a quick question to ask you.
I recently bought a sharp fan that uh on the
bottom of it. I'm not electrician, by the way, lecture
at the bottom of it has a power chord. It's
probably about four foot and the end of a power
cord is like a brick and it has the prong

(52:05):
built in that brick. Well, what I was looking at
to see if I can add an extension cord in
the direction that says do not use an extension cord.
So my question to you is, can I buy one
of those surge protectors that has the bigger cord and
then plug the fan to it?

Speaker 6 (52:27):
You know, if you read almost all the things that
we buy have that tag that don't use an extension cord.
How big a court, how long a cord are you
looking to get?

Speaker 11 (52:41):
Well, the fan itself is about three and a half
to maybe four foot, and it's too far from the
outlet where I want to plug it into, so I'm
looking probably another four foot maybe five four or five.

Speaker 6 (52:54):
Okay, if it was me, I would just buy a
heavy duty extension cord as short as I can. And
if I couldn't get one, because it sounds like you
really only need something like six foot long.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Uh, that is correct.

Speaker 6 (53:10):
I I actually would just make one. Uh, but make
it a heavy duty cord.

Speaker 10 (53:16):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (53:17):
Your your shop fan there probably has what a twelve
gage while you're on.

Speaker 11 (53:23):
It, Well, actually it's not a shop to it's ford
like for the inside the house. We're going to use
it in the bedroom.

Speaker 6 (53:30):
Okay, it's been the.

Speaker 11 (53:32):
Same the cord, same as the size of the extension cord.

Speaker 6 (53:37):
As a as an indoor extension cord where you can
see the two sets of wires running.

Speaker 8 (53:42):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (53:43):
Yes, okay, get you just a regular extension cord, a
short one, and you know, get a ten footer. They
come ready made good to go. Uh and and you'll be.

Speaker 11 (53:56):
Fine, Okay, all right, thank you.

Speaker 6 (53:59):
You bet take care. You know, here's a deal with
too many of the manufacturers out there. They will put
stuff like that on almost everything because avoids your warranties
on stuff when you use it with a chord. And

(54:21):
you know the problem is if if you don't where
you gonna put the fan right, I mean three foot cord,
that's ridiculous. But if an issue happened, you take the
extension cord off. Who knows the difference. The big problem

(54:42):
with extension chords is we typically try to use two
light of gauge. So always make sure that the chord
that you're using is heavier than the cord that you're
plugging into it, and you typically will be fine. Use
the ortist cord that you can because the longer the chord,

(55:03):
the more loss there is in the line. And a
lot of times people don't realize that either, but uh,
you have a drop in what's going through the power
line that put the extension cord as it travels the
length of the cord. So uh, too light a weight
and too long will put wear and tear on the

(55:24):
motor of that fan that you don't need. So if
you keep it a heavy cord short, you'll be just fine.
Got a question seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. That's seven one three, two one two
five eight seven four. Let's talk about Southern water solutions

(55:45):
because if you are, you know, uh, having issues with
the water coming into your house, you know, I saw
on I think it was on Channel eleven the other
night on the news, them showing some pipes in an
area where they were having a meeting and they were
showing how much debris is running through their pipes. Well,

(56:06):
they need a filtration system. And it was with a
municipality that a water mud district that's trying to up
the rates and they got multiple places and they're doing
it throughout the state, trying to up the rates to
put in new equipment. You know, blah blah blah. We
all hear that all the time. But look, if you've

(56:28):
got stuff coming through your water, you need a filtration system. Sometimes,
if you got too many chemicals because they're over chlorinating
and stuff like that, sometimes you're going to want to
put in a water softener to take as much of
that stuff out as you can, as well as a
reverse osmosis for drinking water because the water softener really

(56:50):
what it's going to do is take the minerals and
stuff like that out very well. But at Southern Water
Solutions they know all this, They test the water, they
designed this the systems to accommodate the water coming to
your home. So call Southern Water Solutions at eight three
two five nine three thirty nine ninety three. That's eight

(57:12):
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You know, American Standard is nationally recognized for excellence for performance, reliability,
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(57:33):
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That's American Standardair dot com and those American Standard heating

(57:55):
and air conditioning systems. I'm telling you, the variable speed
is what I have my home. Love it you will too.

Speaker 8 (58:04):
Jim Dutton is like a cool drink of water out
of the garden hose.

Speaker 9 (58:10):
You know that was just gross. Here's more with Jim
on Texas Home Improvement.

Speaker 6 (58:17):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements. Seven one three,
two one two five eight seven four. We're going to
head out to Liberty, Texas. Tracy. This is Jim. How
can I help you?

Speaker 5 (58:30):
Yes, sir, I'm enjoyed the program, and I had a
quick question. Is there any many splits that you really
recommend that are truly DIY that an individual can do themselves?

Speaker 4 (58:45):
No?

Speaker 5 (58:48):
Well, that's what I.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Was afraid of.

Speaker 5 (58:50):
I've got I don't even want to mention the brand name,
but I've got a major name brand one that is
allegedly DIY, and I'm about to take it out and
do something different. I've spent a lot of money as
far as having a real AC guy come out of Lufkin. Okay,

(59:11):
So is there another brand that you would recommend that
I could have a professional install.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
That would be good.

Speaker 6 (59:22):
You've already got this system. If the professional guy couldn't
make it work for you or what?

Speaker 5 (59:31):
The original one that I got from home depot was defective.
Thankfully he was still there. They sent me a new system.
I paid them fifteen hundred dollars to come install the
new one, and I don't think it was working when
he left. It does not.

Speaker 6 (59:51):
Cool, Okay. The issue with many splits a lot of
times that causes that is the coolant levels is critical
in those. You know, in a standard home HVAC system,
we deal in pounds of coolant and in those mini

(01:00:11):
split systems they actually deal in just ounces. I mean
they are that sensitive, Yes, sir, So what brand is it?

Speaker 5 (01:00:23):
It is a Mister Cool and okay, first service call
when I found out it was the originally unit was defective.
That was a four hundred and fifty dollars service call
and then another fifteen hundred dollars service call.

Speaker 6 (01:00:38):
Yeah. And I see the ads for the Mister Cool systems,
and you know they market it as being an easy
do it yourself. It is not an easy do it yourself.
It's they get very complicated and very picky on what
needs to happen to work. However, how old.

Speaker 5 (01:00:57):
Is it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:59):
Brand?

Speaker 5 (01:01:00):
This is a new project put a tiny home in
sam Rayburn and it was all new construction. And this
has been an ongoing situation for two months. So before
you before it really got hot.

Speaker 6 (01:01:19):
You mentioned you bought it through home depot.

Speaker 5 (01:01:23):
Yes, sir, I bought it online at Home Depot. It
was shipped to the store. I picked it up. I
installed the first one.

Speaker 6 (01:01:31):
Yep, Okay, it didn't work.

Speaker 5 (01:01:34):
I called an ac company and there was some kind
of valve, like I say, thankfully he was there and
put him online with mister cool, and they shipped me
a new complete system. And it still doesn't work well.

Speaker 6 (01:01:47):
The beautiful thing about home dealing with Home Depot on
something like this is you can almost always get them
to take it back and refund your money. So would
that be and said, that's the direction I would go
with that system. As far as a new system. I
actually have too many splits in my own house plus

(01:02:08):
a regular system because I've got different parts of my
house cooled different ways. I'm going to give you two
brands that you can take a look at, Mitchubishi, and
Mitchubishi has been in the mini split system forever and
they really set the standards on a lot of the stuff.

(01:02:30):
And then the other one would be Diiking.

Speaker 5 (01:02:35):
I've read the reviews of both and they both stay excellent.
But I'm going to need a professional to come do
it correct.

Speaker 6 (01:02:43):
Yes, yeah, it is not doing and in Texas. You're
supposed to be licensed to install air conditioning systems anyways,
and to work on them. Now, that's not to say
a homeowner can't do it themselves, because you can, because
you're allowed to work on your own house even when
a license isn't required. But the complexity, and like I said,

(01:03:08):
the levels that you got to hit with the coolant
and all that stuff makes it where you really do
need somebody who is used to working on them to
come in and help you.

Speaker 5 (01:03:20):
Okay, Well I will research both those brands and may
just start over from scratch and consider this an expensive
learning lesson.

Speaker 6 (01:03:30):
Yeah. Well, like I say, you should be able to
recoup your funds from home depot. If you end up
needing somebody to help you with it, call my office
at due West. You know we have a complete air
conditioning division and we can help you out with it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:48):
Okay, I appreciate your time, Thank you, Bet, take care, yes, sir,
and look, if you need air conditioning help, feel free
to give du Wes air conditioning all seven one three
four seven three seven one five six and we'll be
more happy to help you out with with air conditioning.

Speaker 6 (01:04:09):
James, we're probably gonna get hit with the news break
here in just a second. But how can I help you?

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
Well, in my home that we've loan for own for
just two years. The trim I think they painted over
because white trim, But then's white paint over the top
and it doesn't stick, so it keeps coming off.

Speaker 6 (01:04:29):
And healing all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:04:33):
Yes, okay, So do I do I need to sand
everything completely or something? Or what do I need to
do to repaint that?

Speaker 6 (01:04:40):
Yeah? Well, what they did is they put a latex
paint over an oil base. The original was probably an
oil base, and when they painted it with latex, it
does not stick right and probably will. Yeah, you'll you'll
end up, yes, sanding it all back down to that
original paint and then go over it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:01):
That's a big job, Yes, it is.

Speaker 6 (01:05:05):
You want to know the honest truth. It's going to
be a whole lot easier to replace that trim than
to sand it down and paint it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
Oh wow, oh gosh, okay, okay, okay, Well, I appreciate
knowing that, all right, Absolutely appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (01:05:23):
Now you can you can put a chemical stripper on
it if you want, but that does that does get
a little bit messy.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
Yeah, I'm sure.

Speaker 6 (01:05:33):
Yeah, all right, take care.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
Thank you so much. I appreciate it. How about it?

Speaker 5 (01:05:37):
Right?

Speaker 6 (01:05:39):
Seven one three, two one two five eight seven four.
James Already Siding the best siding on the planet. If
you're looking for sighting for your home, you got to
take a look at some James Hardy siding. I mean
this stuff is cement based, looks gorgeous, holds up to

(01:05:59):
the web. Have you ever seen what happens to vinyl
siding when it has a darker color on it and
it heats up, it literally will start sagging. You don't
have that problem with James Hardy siding. Also, it holds
paint better than wood. Ever thought about that. You've got
all the different designs that you can go through with
lap siding and different size lap sidings, to the vertical looks,

(01:06:24):
the wood shake, the stucco, I mean, you name it.
James Hardy Siding has it available as well as all
the trim packages to go with it as well. Now,
if you want to get more information, go to thchi
pro dot com, click on the link for James Hardy
Siding and starts scrolling through and just imagine how gorgeous

(01:06:44):
your home could be. With some James Hardy siding.

Speaker 9 (01:06:51):
Grab your nuts and boats. You're with the Jim Dutton
on Texas.

Speaker 6 (01:07:01):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvements. Your hotel Home
Improvement sour seven one three two one two five eight
seven four. Let's head back into a call here, we're
going to go to Spring and James. This is Chim.
How can I help you?

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
Jim got a question for you. You've been doing a
lot of calls this morning or today, seemed like on
air conditioners.

Speaker 6 (01:07:28):
Aw, we have it when it's warm out.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
Yeah, yeah, especially yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:07:35):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:07:36):
I had a happen to come out. I have a
five tome Goodman unit, two story house. They come out
and checked it and I actually said the temperature drop
was like eighteen point five. It was actually running okay,
but the call, the call was dirty. So I paid

(01:07:57):
them to come back out another day to clean the
coll and the guy did a good job on that.
Then he tells me that my capacitor, which is starting
the compressor just fine, is running below is not putting
out the Now there's an electrical term. I don't know

(01:08:21):
what it is on those capacitors, but below Yeah, he
said it was below normal, that it would it's going
to be a threat to the compressor even though the
fan motor and everything on the condentural call is working fine.
He wanted he wanted to replace that that condenser or

(01:08:43):
that capacitor, replace the uh what what do you call
the the deal that has the contacts in the conduction?

Speaker 6 (01:09:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:09:04):
Ok, anyway, wants to replace the I'll think of it
in a minute. But any way, the contactor. Yeah, he
wanted to replace the capacitor, the contactor, and then put
a starting capacitor on the unit.

Speaker 6 (01:09:21):
Okay, a hard starter or a soft start.

Speaker 2 (01:09:24):
A hard start Okay. So he wanted to do that
for just about sixteen hundred dollars. Okay, I'm kind of
wondering how far off is in this.

Speaker 6 (01:09:38):
Well, he's probably not far off price wise. That the
price sounds in the right ballpark for the stuff that
he's talking about doing. But the thing you got to
look at he should be able to tell you, Okay,
here's the range of that capacitor, and here's where it's

(01:10:01):
coming in at, and if it's just slightly below, you
don't need to replace it.

Speaker 9 (01:10:06):
Yet.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
Now it was quite a bit below. It was supposed
to be seventy okay, plus or and I think he
put a meter on there and that said it was
doing like fifty five.

Speaker 6 (01:10:22):
Okay, I would go ahead and replace that then, because
it's not going to burn up your compressor or anything
like that. But when that capacity goes out, what's going
to happen is your system's going to just shut down
on you. And so now you're going to be stuck
with an emergency call in order to get the system
back up. The thing is fifty five, you know, you

(01:10:46):
probably would be okay this year. It would be next
year that this would be an issue, but you're aware
of it, so you can make a decision whether you
want to do that one hour or later. But yes,
it is going to have to be done. The As
far as the contacts, you know, unless you see something

(01:11:07):
that is corroded or given an issue with that, I
don't know that I'd be messing with.

Speaker 2 (01:11:14):
That, okay.

Speaker 6 (01:11:16):
And the hard start kit, I've never heard of that.

Speaker 2 (01:11:23):
I've actually put one of those on a refrigerator before, yeah,
but I've never heard of that on a condenser coal.

Speaker 6 (01:11:30):
Oh, very very common now on on HVAC systems. You've
got two systems, you've got a hard start, or you've
got a soft start and you know how old is
your ac system?

Speaker 2 (01:11:44):
Ten years?

Speaker 6 (01:11:45):
Okay, and you don't have a generator, correct, No, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:11:51):
So.

Speaker 6 (01:11:53):
The hard start is used. You know, if your system
is having a hard time get drawing enough power to
turn it on. The hard start system is used. If
you had a generator because they struggle putting out enough
boost amperage to get one going, then you put a

(01:12:17):
soft start kit on. But if you haven't had any
real issues yet, you know, everybody wants to put them on,
but they're not always needed.

Speaker 2 (01:12:30):
Okay, Well, this is the first time we've had any
problems with this unit.

Speaker 6 (01:12:37):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:12:38):
And of course, oh Goodman is not necessarily top of
the line. But it was actually running good. And have
I cleaned the calls like you're supposed to do. Yeah,
it was running a little on the high pressure side, okay,
and so but he cleaned the calls very good. But

(01:12:58):
I was shocked at that price. I thought those capacitors
were like fifty seventy five hours.

Speaker 6 (01:13:06):
Typically when you're getting a capacitor put on, you're typically
going to be anywhere from depending on the capacitor two
fifty to five hundred.

Speaker 2 (01:13:16):
Dollars my goodness. Okay, all right, well that's all sixteen
hundred for all of that.

Speaker 6 (01:13:26):
This, well, the hard start kid is probably the biggest
chunk of that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:31):
Okay, okay, all right, Well I'll look into uh, you know,
upgrading that capacitor then, and I guess the as far
as the contactor, if it's not broke, don't fix it,
just let it.

Speaker 6 (01:13:49):
Yeah, I mean, if you typically if the contactor is
having an issue, you're able to tell it. I mean,
did he just say it's looking on under or what
did he tell you?

Speaker 2 (01:14:01):
Yeah, it was this from eyeball inspection.

Speaker 6 (01:14:07):
Okay, And did did he show it to you? Were
you able to look at it?

Speaker 2 (01:14:12):
I did not see what he what he was looking at?

Speaker 6 (01:14:15):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
I mean I know those contactors. I've seen them before,
and they always look like, you know, they've been used.
I mean, you have bolted that shark that's sparking every
time they opened or close yep. And so I could
not tell if it was you know, at the end
of its life or that was just normal normal wear

(01:14:36):
and tear.

Speaker 6 (01:14:38):
I would take a look at how much he's wanting
to charge for it. If it's not a great deal.
I you know, I wouldn't have an issue putting one on.
But out of all the things that you talked about,
the uh, the capacitor is probably the biggest one that
I would take a look at.

Speaker 2 (01:14:55):
Okay, all right, well, I'm glad to get your opinion
on it now, thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:15:01):
And I'm gonna say this for you and everybody else listening,
because my guys, we'll do this as well. When we
come out and look at a system. We're going to
give you a list of all the things that are
not at the factory spec as far as capacitors and
contacts and all that kind of stuff. Ask questions as

(01:15:26):
far as how far out of spec is it and
things like that, and then you can make a decision
whether you need to do it this year, next year,
or whatever, because a lot of times it's kind of
like car maintenance. They'll tell you to replace your spark
plugs at one hundred thousand miles, Well we're at ninety

(01:15:46):
nine thousand. I'm getting the full service. Should I go
ahead and do the plugs now or get it on
the next oil change? And with an air conditioning system,
you're basically the same thing because you should have it
service twice a year, and so just because something's getting
out of whack doesn't mean you need to have it
done right now. You can catch it on the next service.

Speaker 2 (01:16:09):
Yeah, okay, okay, good advice.

Speaker 6 (01:16:13):
All Right, you take care, okay. And you know he
mentioned that Goodman's not being the best system. A lot
of people don't realize, but Goodman got bought out by
Dyke in a couple of years ago, and so there

(01:16:34):
has been some pre major changes taking place over there.
And yes, that is the same Dike in that you're
hearing at the ballpark now, but uh so, it is
a system that has been changing over time. Got a
question seven one three, two, one two, five, eight, seven four.

(01:16:56):
Let's talk about USA Insulation.

Speaker 3 (01:16:58):
Now.

Speaker 6 (01:16:58):
I had my house done almost a year ago now
and I love it. My son saw my what it
did for my house. He had his house done by
USA Insulation as well. What do we have done? Well,
we had our walls reinsulated. My house was built in
nineteen seventy three and I had R eleven fiberglass insulation

(01:17:19):
in the walls and it hadn't deteriorated or anything. But
the R eleven, you know, that's not much insulation when
I had them inject the phone into the walls. I
now have R twenty six in my walls. It's sealed

(01:17:40):
up all the air gaps, reduced the noise from outside,
and in fact they can reduce the noise up to
eighty percent. I mean, it really makes a huge difference.
But here's here's where it comes down. You know I
mentioned earlier I had replacement windows done. My electric bill
dropped by thirty five percent. I had the wall inlation done.

(01:18:03):
My old electric bill is running roughly two hundred dollars
a month, even during the summer months, and it dropped
down to one hundred and twenty dollars on a three
thousand square foot house. You need to take a look
at USA Insulation four zero nine three one six ninety

(01:18:24):
nine fifty seven. That's four zero nine three one six
ninety nine fifty seven. You know, Dois air Conditioning can
help you with all your air conditioning needs, whether you
had somebody tell you you need a new unit, or
you just want to get your unit serviced, or you've
got to break down and you need to get it
up and running again. Call Duist air Conditioning at seven

(01:18:47):
one three four seven three seven one five six will
come out, We'll take a look at the system, see
what's going on, and give you your options seven one
three four seven three. Well that's kind of what I
was just talking about a minute ago, wasn't it getting
your options when you had the HVAC guy out there?

(01:19:09):
I didn't know that spot was coming up. Hey, let's
talk about Guardian roof Systems, because if you're needing a roof,
you need to talk to the guys over at Guardian
roof Systems. Now, I've used them several times. They put
a flat roof on my office, they did a shingle
roof over on the house. I mean, I've used them
on charity projects. In fact, that's that's how the way

(01:19:32):
we met was when a hurricane came in and we
were talking about roofing. And I'm very particular on the
contractors that get on the show here and roofing contractors.
There's a lot of them that aren't worth their not
worth the time of day. But Guardian roof Systems, one
of their guys called me and he had some great information.

(01:19:54):
So I took some time and I went and met
with the owner of Guardian Roof Systems and they're knowledge
and their in depth association with the industry really impressed me.
I mean, he works on legislation, he keeps up with
the latest technology, he helps drive some of the technology.

(01:20:15):
And you may be thinking, oh, what kind of technology
is there and roofing, Well there is quite a bit.
You know. Right now they're working on what's called a
fortified roof, and that's where the plywood is all taped
and sealed so if it rains, rain water is not
going in when the underlayment is put on. You know,

(01:20:37):
we used to say felt paper, but now they use
synthetics that's secured down better so that if a windstorm comes,
it's not coming off. Your shingles are nailed more times
than on a normal installation. That becomes what's called a
fortified roof. And why is that important. Well, you get
a storm that comes in, shingles start peeling off. You

(01:21:00):
want the underlayment to stay. But if the underlayment ends
up peeling off, you got that tape still on those joints,
which keeps water from going in the house. It minimizes
your damage. Now, this is a national movement that started
in Florida, but Guardian Roof Systems is on top and
knows this technology. Again, this can help with insurance reductions

(01:21:21):
as well. You're looking for a roofing contractor who knows
what he's doing, is gonna take great care of you,
call Guardian roof Systems two eight one four zero seven
seventy two eighty. That's two eight one four zero seven
seventy two point eighty. You know Southern Front Doors. This

(01:21:44):
is a company you've heard about on the station for years.
I mean Michael Barry's been talking about him forever and
we had the opportunity to talk with him that they
joined us here on Texas Home Improvement. And if you
are looking for a door company, you need to call
Southern front Doors. These guys know the industry, know what
they're doing, and he has excellent installation teams to put

(01:22:08):
the doors in for you. Now, the selection of doors
they have, I don't think anybody has more doors on
their showroom floor than he does, at like one hundred
and eighty doors or something that you can look at.
Plus they got a lot more that you could just
plane order. So if you're looking for doors, talk to
the folks at Southern front Doors two eight one eight

(01:22:30):
nine to oh fifty eight sixty. They do got a
website that you can look at the different doors as well,
but and for that you just go to thchipro dot
com and click on the link for Southern front doors.
But call them two eight one eight nine oh fifty
eight sixty.

Speaker 1 (01:22:52):
There are two things we don't abide in Texas unfriendly
folks and dishonest contractors. So if that's you the Red Rios,
Is that a way? Here's more Texas Home Improvement with
Jim dot.

Speaker 6 (01:23:09):
Hey. Welcome back to Texas Home Improvements, your hotal home
improvement source. All right, I'm gonna jump into a quick email.
Here came from a net and she says ants and
other insects coming into home through vents in brick just
above the concrete slab. This has been a nightmare more

(01:23:30):
than once. Is it safe to seal these vents with
some type of calk? Thanks for your kind advice. No,
it is not safe. The brick is just a veneer there.
It is never gonna keep insects like that out. And
those wheepholes, that's what they're called. Those those little holes
are there for a reason because the brick sits on

(01:23:52):
a ledge. It's about an inch and a half lower
than the floor inside. And what happens is, like I said,
the bricks of Veneer, moisture goes through the mortar lines
in the brick, it runs down the backside. There's about
an inch inch and a half gap between the brick
and the wood frame of the house, so that water

(01:24:12):
runs down the back and it runs out through the wheepholes.
And that board that's at the top of your brick
is called a freeze board. That's all open to the
outdoors as well. What stops things from going in is
the wall that's nailed to the studs on the outside

(01:24:33):
and sealed up, and your sheet rock and stuff that's
sealed up. But you will not have a house that's
so sealed that ants and bugs like that can't get in.
So it's more important to control them outside than it
is to try to block them from getting in. And
if you sealed up those wheapoles, yeah, you could be
looking at water damage later. So let's not do that.

(01:24:57):
We'll be back in just a moment. USA Insulation. Look,
if you're looking for insulation for your home, for your walls,
talk to the folks at USA Insulation. I talked about
this a minute ago that I had my house done,
my son did. But look, they don't tear the walls out.

(01:25:20):
They drill holes through the mortar line through the mortar
in your brick and inject the foam into the cavity
through some tubes, fills it up, seals it up, and
then they patch the holes back. It really is that simple.
Call USA Insulation four zero nine three one six ninety

(01:25:40):
nine fifty seven Sunburst shutters. You know, I had my
new shutters installed last week. Looks gorgeous. Does a beautiful
job of blocking out the lights from around the neighborhood
at night. You know, I had just blinds up before.

(01:26:03):
They were the two inch blinds that the Sunburn shutters
does such a better job. And I've had Sunber shutters
for the last fifteen years. I just had them put
on some more windows. And look, if you're looking for
a way to transform the look of any room of
your home, you won't believe transition that Sunburn shutters can

(01:26:23):
make the living room area that we had done. It's
a night and day difference, and when you close it up,
it creates that dead air space between your window and
the shutter inside the home to help with energy efficiency,
as well, call Sunburn Shutters and Design and talk with
one of their design consultants. Seven one three four six

(01:26:44):
two eighty eight hundred. That's seven one three four six
two eighty eight hundred.

Speaker 9 (01:26:51):
Fucking live all. It wouldn't matter anyway.

Speaker 11 (01:27:00):
Don avapet stay so.

Speaker 9 (01:27:04):
The colchrist it go ahead, drink it in, goes down smooth.
This is Texas Home Improvement with Jim Dutton.

Speaker 6 (01:27:16):
Hey, welcome back to Texas Home Improvement. You know, we
just heard that ad for the Passing Livestock Showing Rodeo,
and look, I do want to personally invite you out
to the rodeo. This is an association I've been involved
with now for quite a few years and it it
really does a lot of good for the youth of
the area and you know, quite frankly for the communities

(01:27:40):
of the area as well. A lot of money goes
into the hands of the kids through the rodeo. We
help with, you know, building different things on the grounds
to help out as well. But the barbecue cookoff will
be September twelfth and thirteenth, and the cookoff is always

(01:28:04):
fun and if you come down the Midway to the
SPS Due West cook Team, Hey, just tell them you
heard it on Texas Home Improvement. They will let you in. Also,
the entertainment for the rodeo starts on September nineteenth. That's
a Friday night with Braxton Keith. He's an up and
coming artist. You will love listening to his music. And

(01:28:27):
it runs all the way through September twenty seventh, when
we end it with Ty Myers. Now some of the
other artists in between. We've got forty nine Winchester Sunday
is a Hispanic Day, a Journey tribute band on Tuesday. Wednesday,
Pekas and the rooftops Randall King on Thursday, South Hall

(01:28:50):
on Friday, and then of course ending it with ty Myers.
So look, make plans to come on out to the
Passing Livestock Showing Rodeo. You'll have a great time and
I will love seeing you out there before we go.
D S Foundation Repair and DUS is a big sponsor
out there at the Passing Livestock Showing Rodeo. Uh and

(01:29:11):
yes I'm on the board of directors out there and
the executive team as well. So but look, if you
need a foundation work done on your home, don't let
some fly by night guide do it. I know there's
cheap people out there, but you know what, you got
a cheap job with no warranty backup do Wes. We've
been in business since nineteen seventy eight. We're gonna take

(01:29:33):
good care of your home and will be here to
honor the warranty if you should ever need it. Rarely
do you need it, though, Call seven to one three
four seven three seven one five six. When you want
the best, call du West