Irrigations Systems and Inspecting Termites

Jim start with some email questions on contractors and irrigation systems. He also takes calls about inspecting for termites, insulation in a cathedral ceiling, translation strips with laminate flooring, a non-slip product to put over concrete, and much more. Jim continues in the second hour answering your phone calls and email questions on home improvement projects.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is probably gonna sound a littlestrange to you. Texas Home Improvement is
on the air with your host,Jim Dot What I need to know?
You always give me the way togo, great observation. You got to
be on the radio. Well,this might be the answer to my prayers.
And I'm really glad I could talkto you. You're you're the smartest

(00:20):
guy. No, and I meanthere. Call Jim now with all your
home improvement questions at seven one threetwo one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. Texas Home
Improvement brought to you by twos ServicesPlumbing, Foundation, Repair and air Conditioning.
Texas Remodeled. Team Windows, theofficial window company of Texas Home Improvement.

(00:41):
American Standard Comfort the way you likeit. James Hardy Sighting the best
sighting on the planet. USA InsulationWall foam insulation for existing homes, ready
seal stain and seiler floor in thecore, Sunburst shutters where beauty meets energy
efficiency. Guardian Roof Systems, Residentialand commercial rooping Specialist, Woodland's Water Restoration,

(01:03):
Your hometown solution for property damage andvictors. Remodeling and Construction Party Blank
specialists and now broadcasting live from theDutton Ranch. Hears Jim Dutton. Hey,
welcome to Texas Home Improvements. Yourtotal home improvement source. Seven one

(01:25):
three two one two five eight sevenfour. That's seven one three, two
one two five eight seven four.Any home improvement question you have, pick
up the phone, give me acall, and we'll see what we can
do to help you out here onTexas How Improvement. This is Labor Day
weekend. I know a lot ofpeople are working on projects. I've been
working on one myself this morning.But you know, let's face it,

(01:49):
it's a two oh seven, twooh eight, and it's time to take
a break. And we can takea break by taking a nap. You
know that that sounds really good.But or we can listen to Texas Home
Improvement and figure out how we're gonnakeep our projects going and get them done.
And that's kind of what I hopeyou do. So pick up the
phone, give me a call,and let's talk about it. You may

(02:09):
have a contractor out there doing theproject, you may be doing it yourself,
just thinking about a project. Itdoesn't matter. Seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.And of course don't forget about our website
t hi pro dot com. It'sthere's a resource to help you out twenty

(02:30):
four seven, So you check itout anytime you have a question or you're
looking for somebody you heard me talkabout because I tick typically I'm not putting
out their web addresses because it's easierfor you to just go to th hi
pro dot com and click on linkto the company you're looking for, and
that way you're rest assured you gotthe right company. You know, you're

(02:51):
not getting somebody who's a copycat orsomething. While you're there, sign him
for a newsletter. It goes outevery other week. It's free of charge.
That's also where you find the askJim button where you can send me
an email. So it's all availableat t h i pro dot com.
Again, if you got a question, no. Seven one three two one

(03:13):
two five eight seven four. That'sseven one three two one two five eight
seven four, and I'll see whatI can do to help you out here
on Texas Home Improvement, your totalhome improvement source. This portion of Texas
Home Improvement is made possible by PasadenaLivestock Showing Rodeo the Rodeo Parade is next

(03:35):
Saturday on the ninth running down SpencerHighway, and then the cookoff itself is
September fifteenth through the sixteenth. Thatwill be Friday and Saturday, and of
course the Rodeo September twenty second throughthe thirtieth. You want to get more
information or you want to go aheadand get your tickets because tickets are selling
fast. In fact, we mayhave some sellouts on some of the shows.

(03:58):
Go to Pasadena Rodeo dot com.That's Pasadena Rodeo dot com and again
seven one, three, two,one two, five eight seven four Almost
start with an email question. It'sa from Lisa in Nederland and she says

(04:18):
contracts contractors for a new home buildnew home builds for Neerland Port Arthur area.
Okay, well you've got a fewchoices here. You know a lot
of times people want to try todo some of the stuff themselves. Other
times they just want to hire acontractor who's going to do it turnkey,
take care of everything for you.If you want to do it yourself,

(04:43):
take a look at you build it. Now, you build it. They
have franchises all over the country andbasically what they do is they have a
list of subcontractors that you can use, and you become the general contractor.
You hire the guys, you tellthem when to be there, how you
want things done. That leaves itopen where you can do certain parts of

(05:04):
the project yourself. So that's oneway of taking a look at it.
The other way you can give acompany, Well, David Weekly Homes is
a good example. They build trackhomes, but they also have a division
that does custom homes on your lot, so you could give them a call

(05:26):
and they have the nice thing aboutdealing with David Weekly. They got showrooms
where you can go in and pickall the stuff you want. You got
designers and stuff to go over,all the plans and everything. So that'll
give you two places that you cantalk to and make a decision kind of
which way you want to go.And again our number seven one three two

(05:48):
one two five eight seven four.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. So I
know a lot of people are runningirrigation systems right now, and it's not

(06:12):
just for water in the yard.A lot of them for the foundation warding
as well. But I got anemail from Larry in Garland and he says
he's asking about an irrigation system loudthump when the system automatically turns on.
He says, about two weeks ago, when my irrigation system turned on during
the night, I got a loudswishing sound and then allowed thud. Not

(06:36):
the hammer effect where it keeps hammering, just one thud. I have one
master valve that then feeds to thefour other valves when I turn each on
manually. No thud. I havean old system that uses the anti siphon

(06:57):
where pipe comes out of the groundand a brass valve at the top.
Let's air again. The pipe continuesback into the ground. What's the problem
at the solution with just a waterhammer aarrester installed before the first valve handle
it? Thanks much, Larry,Well, Larry, what you described is

(07:20):
actually a water hammer. The whenyou get that thumping sound where it's when
you turn the water on, that'susually an old ring or a washer that's
just playing war out and you replacethat washer and you're good to go again.
When it's just that one thud that'snormally a water hammer. So the

(07:43):
fix is pretty simple. I mean, your system wasn't doing it before,
so I don't see a real needto add another arrester. It probably has
one somewhere. So shut all thewater off to the to the house,
open all of our drain all thepipes out, then close all the valves,

(08:07):
turn the water back on, andgo to the furthest one away from
where the water comes in the house, open it up, let the water
flow through. What that does is, as you were asking about those arrestors,
it drains the water out of themand lets it fill back up with
air again, and that should takecare of the water hammer you're having.

(08:28):
If it doesn't, yes, youcan put an arrest or there where your
system is, but like I said, unless this was doing it since the
whole time that the system has beenrunning, there's probably not a real reason
to add an arrestor to it now. So hopefully that'll help you out with

(08:50):
that situation, Larry and anybody elsewho's having that problem. Now. That
swishing sound you hear when they comeon or turn off, and I really
think, Larry, it's it's probablywhen your system is turning off. But
regardless the way those valves work thatit's they're electric controlled, and that little

(09:11):
silenoid comes on and it rotates alittle ball valve that then starts letting the
water run through. Well, asit's rotating, the water starts rushing through
the little opening, and that's whereyou're starting to hear the kind of that
rushing swishing sound. Once it's openall the way, then that usually stops

(09:35):
again, or once it's closed allthe way. It does it both opening
and closing, because you're restricting thewater flow and it's not like when you
manually turn it on and off.You're actually opening and closing a gate valve
typically, and the irrigation system isusually a ball valve. Now, if

(09:56):
your hose bibbs have where you're justturning a level a quarter turn, than
you're dealing with a ball valve thereas well, and you'll hear that same
swish and if you open it slowlyagain. Our number seven one three,
two, one two five eight sevenfour probably more than you wanted to know
about water valves, wasn't it.Seven one three, two one two five

(10:18):
eight seven four. By simply callingin, you get to pick the subject
that we're talking about, and itreally is that simple. And don't worry
about being afraid to call in andtalk on the radio. It's just you
and me holding a conversation. Yes, there's some other people listening, but
hey, they don't know who youare. I don't know who you are

(10:39):
other than your first name typically,and beyond that, it's just a question
and conversation. So I wouldn't worrytoo much about, you know, being
afraid to call in anyway. Sevenone three two one two five eight seven

(11:00):
four That seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four and I'll see
what I can do to help youout here on Texas Home Improvement, So
Robert in Saint Paul has a brickand mortar work. He says had to
remove a couple of bricks on theside of the house to replace a bad

(11:22):
water faucet. Need someone to reinstallthem with matching mortar. Well, you
need a brick mace, and youneed one of the companies who specializes in
restoration work. There's a lot ofcompanies out there who do new brickwork,
but if you ask them to comeout and match mortar colors and stuff,

(11:43):
it would look horrible. So you'rereally looking for, like I said,
a company that retro fits on doingrepairs, and I'm looking up where Saint
Paul is. Okay, it's inthe North Texas. Well. If you're

(12:05):
up in North Texas, that's areal easy call. You just give the
folks at lone Star Masonry Repair acall at eight one seven seven zero nine
six eight three four. We're gonnatake a really quick break here on Texas
Home Improvement. We'll be right backseven one three two one two five eight

(12:28):
seven four. You know, SunburntShutters is the best selling plantation shutters in
America, and for a great reason. One they insulate up to seventy percent
more efficiently. They look gorgeous.They give you that rich look of fine
wood shutters without woods and hairent problems, you know, the chipping, cracking,

(12:48):
warping, splitting, all that kindof stuff. You don't have to
worry about that with Sunburst shutters.And they're gonna last longer. I mean
I've been out to people's homes wherethey've been in there for twenty seven,
twenty eight years now and they stilllook gorgeous. So if you're looking for
some shutters for your home, youneed to take a look at sunburst shutters.
I have them in my home,my parents have them, my sister
have them. We even have themup at the Deer Lease. Call Sunburst

(13:11):
shutters at seven one three eight ninesix eighty one fifty. That's seven one
three eight nine six eighty one fiftyand get one of their design consultants to
come out and work with you soyou get that perfect look and fit for
your home. That's seven one threeeight nine six eighty one fifty for sunburst

(13:31):
shutters. All right, it's nonews to anybody. This is air conditioning
season. I mean, you needa system that's working and working well.
But you know what else you need. You need a system that's going to
be energy efficient for you. Soif your electric bill has been outrageous and
you're running a twenty year old system, yes it's a lot of money to

(13:52):
replace it, but think about howmuch lower your energy bills could be.
I can tell you I just gotmy electric bill ye yesterday, two hundred
dollars for a three thousand square foothouse. Now I'm using a variable speed from
American Standard and it just does amazingat keeping the home comfortable. Do West
air conditioning can do the same thing. For you. You can call them

(14:16):
at seven one three four seven fivezero zero zero four and let them come
out take a look. Now,we don't mind servicing your twenty year old
system, but if you're ready fora new one, we don't mind giving
your price for that as well.When you want the best, call due
West. Some places put up withdishonest, corrupt contractors. Don't try that.

(14:39):
Here here's more with Jim Dotton onTexas Home Improvement. They welcome back
to Texas Home Improvement. Seven onethree two one two five eight seven four.
That's seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. Any
home improvement question you have, feelfree to pick up the phone and give

(15:00):
me a call. This portion ofTexas Home Improvement is made possible by Ready
Seal. Let's see, we're gonnahead over to South Park and Christine.
Welcome the Texas Home Improvement. Howcan I help you? Hi? Tim,
Great, thanks for taking my call. Yeah, I was curious about
the your experience with termites. I'vegotten a few homes recently through inheritance and

(15:26):
new to the business, and I'vebeen told the second you mentioned termites,
you have termites, and I'm notreally sure how to visually inspect for them
anything. That's the case, Idon't want to talk about termites if if
I'm want to get them just becauseI talk about them. But no,
that's a comment I heard. Yeah, well, termites are an issue.

(15:50):
You do have to keep an eyeout for him. But you know,
really, when you look at howmany houses are here in the Houston area
and how few houses have termites,it's not as bigger of issue as we
always make it out to be.The reason we make it out to be
such an issue, though, iswhen you have them, it can be

(16:11):
a nightmare to get rid of them, and it costs a few bucks to
get rid of them. It's it'snot cheap, and if you let them
go for any amount of time,the expense to get rid of them drastically
goes up. Because if you keepan eye out, you catch them early.
It's just a treatment for a fewhundred several hundred dollars around the perimeter.

(16:37):
But when you let them get infestedinto the house and you get to
the point where the house has tobe tented and all that kind of stuff,
now you're talking, you know,ten thousand dollars and stuff. So
it is important to keep an eyeout with the evidence of that inside.
You would normally you would, allright, But the easiest thing to do

(16:59):
is if you have an extermination service, have them check the house period when
they come out to do service workfor you, and you know, just
kind of keep an eye out forit that way, all right, So
if they've been on the exterior,they may come back, just keep checking
on it. They definitely can comeback, so you definitely want to keep
watching. Yes, yeah, allright, well great, they sure helped

(17:22):
him, you bet, take careand again our number seven one three two
one two five eight seven four.That's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. And on theturmites, you know, there are a
lot of the exterminating companies will notexterminate for termites. Now, they'll kind

(17:45):
of look around and see if theysee them, but there's very few companies
left that will actually do treatments fortermmites just because the warranties and stuff like
that are rather pricey when if theydo return, and so you're you're a
lot of times stuck with orcan oryou know, one of those termin x,

(18:07):
you know, one of the bigguys like that, because they have
the deep pockets to cover the warrantiesand such. There are other companies who
do it, don't get me wrong, but that's normally the reason that most
of them don't want to get intodoing termite exterminations. And the one you
really got to watch for, eventhough we don't hear as much about them

(18:27):
anymore, is the foremotion termites.When when they first hit, we heard
a lot about them because they arefast, and by that I mean if
they get into the wood, itis gone rapidly, so you got to
really keep an eye out for him. But I think that's slowed down just
a little bit and we're better atwatching for it. What are you watching

(18:52):
for typically on termites. If youstart seeing a little tube run up the
side of the foundation, going upto the where the brick or the siding
is, that's a great indication youhave a termite issue on the inside on
your sheet rock. If you startseeing these little pinholes and it looks like
it's got dirt around it, that'san indication you've got termites, and so

(19:15):
you'll want to get somebody out tolook at it and get it treated right
away. You know, the mudthat comes up the side is their trail
to go inside. And typically bythe time you're seeing those little holes in
the walls, in the sheet rockwhere it looks like a pinhole in the
dirt, the paper behind the paintis eaten up with termites. It's full

(19:40):
of trails and stuff in there.But it's still not necessarily eating all into
the wood, but it's a goodindication that it probably is. So that's
the reason that if you start seeingthat, you need to make that call
immediately. The worst thing you haveto do when you have termites, like
I said, is get The worstthing is have the whole thing tinted and

(20:02):
then replace a bunch of rotten woodthat got eaten up by the termites.
And honestly, you know it's it'ssome lumber and sheet rock and things like
that. But if you don't haveto do it, don't do it.
I mean, make the call earlyand avoid that problem. So it's a
lot like foundation issues. It canbe prevented, you just have to watch

(20:26):
and catch it early. We're gettingready to take a break for news,
traffic and weather. Here on sevenforty ktrh pick up phone. Give me
a call any home improvement question youhave seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. That's seven onethree two one two, five eight seven
four. Well, you know,when you're talking about termites and stuff,

(21:00):
if you had James Hardy siding,they're not going to eat out that Hardy
siding up because it's cement based,so it stays looking gorgeous. That don't
mean you can't get him into thestuds, but your siding won't have to
be replaced. And the nice thingabout James Hardy siding it holds paint better
than wood ever thought about. Itreally is a durable product, stays looking

(21:25):
gorgeous, and he got so manydesigns to go with. I mean,
yeah, most of us are usedto the lap siding and they've got different
widths on that. But you knowyou got the stucco look, the wood
shake look, the contemporary look,or you know where you got the bat
and boards going up and down,all the trim facias off. It's the
whole nine yards and you can getthe color plus that's got the paint on

(21:48):
it from the factory as well.If you want to learn more about James
Hardy siding, go to our websitethhipro dot com and click on the link
to James Hardy Siding. Summer timein Texas our favorite time of the year.
Let its snow, snow. Thisis Texas Home Improvement with Jim dot

(22:14):
Hey. Welcome back to Texas HomeImprovement. Seven one three, two one
two, five, eight seven four. This portion of Texas Home Improvement is
made possible by u s A insulation. All right, let's get ready and
head back into some calls here againstseven one three two one two five eight
seven four going to Cyprus and DavidWelcome to Texas Home Improvement. How can

(22:40):
I help you? Hi, Yes, sir, I'll just have a question
about a cathedral ceiling. Okay,it's my grandmother's house and the ceilings about
sixteen feet high or so. Woulda false ceiling like you see in buildings,
Would that be a cheap, easyway to go to help cool off

(23:00):
the house because it gets really reallyhot and the house is like forty years
old. It's a brand new ac, brand new furnace. Yep. But
we haven't replaced any of the windowsor the insulation. Well, and that's
part of the issue is the insulationin that cathedral ceiling is typically six or

(23:22):
eight inches. It doesn't get tobe that fifteen or sixteen inches that we
have in the rest of the attic. Now you may want to check the
insulation and the rest of the houseto see how thick it is, because
that's what you're typically looking for,is like I say, fifteen to sixteen
inches. And did you say thehouse is forty years old, yes,

(23:44):
sir, Yeah, okay, Soyou also may want to talk to the
folks over at USA Insulation. Theyhave a foam insulation that they can inject
into the walls and five or glassinsulation from nineteen basically eighty would be our
thirteen in the walls at best.That's kind of when they change from R

(24:07):
eleven to thirteen with the foam injected, and they've got a non expansive foam
that they can put in there.They can raise it to like R twenty
four, R twenty six something inthat range, plus seal it up and
it just makes it way more energyefficient. And that's kind of where you're
headed with what you're needing to doon that cathedral ceiling. I wouldn't put

(24:33):
a false ceiling in there because you'llhave nowhere for the aired events. So
as the heat builds up, itjust stays in there and it will still
heat up the living space, butsome things you can do to make it
more comfortable. In their one isthey make a product called cool coat and
it's k O O L coat.It's an additive that you can put into

(24:57):
regular paint, and when you paintthat ceiling in that room, put that
cool code in there. It actsas a radiant barrier and that will help
to keep the heat from coming in. The other thing is, whenever you
reroof that house the next time,take a look at energy Q radiant barrier.

(25:18):
It can go under the shingles andthat will drastically reduce the heat load
that's going through to that insulation.And then the final thing is on those
cathedral ceilings, the USA insulation,that non expansive foam they have in most
cases, they're able to put thatin cathedral ceilings as well, and that

(25:41):
would drastically raise that our value theretaking care of that insulation problem, you
get. Okay, okay, well, thank you very much for answering that.
Yeah, I didn't. I don'twant to go into any research on
false ceilings if it's not going tohelp anything. Yeah, yeah, you
wouldn't have a event there's so itreally wouldn't help you any okay, all

(26:03):
right, I'll look into the whatwas the name of the company you said,
U s A insulation. In fact, if you go to our yeah,
if you go to my website thhiprodot com, you'll find them there.
All right, Yes, sir,thank you very much for helping me
out today. My pleasure. Youhave a great afternoon and a wonderful labor
day weekend. You two. Thankyou, right and again our number seven

(26:30):
one three, two one two fiveeight seven four heading to Rosenberg. Hello,
alum, welcome to seven forty KTRH. Yes, sir, thank you
so much for what you do onyour show. I love it. I
listen all the time. Thank you. Just wanted to get your thoughts.
We bought an investor property two orthree years ago. It's a two thousand

(26:52):
or newer, twenty four hundred squarefoot, two story standards cookie cutter home,
and the the occupants I sent usa message last night that the foundation
has shifted so much they can't openthe front door and they got cracks in
the door frames everywhere else. ButI haven't been there yet to look at
it is. I wanted to getyour thoughts on that. I did install

(27:15):
sprinklers on the entry on the left, but I leak checked them, ran
them for five minutes, two zoneseach, and that was that. I
haven't done anything else because of thewater restrictions. Right, But and the
the the entry doors on the lefton the side where I installed the sprinklers
too, I thought maybe that mightbe it, and maybe I could water
the other side kind of help thesituation. Thought, well, you know,

(27:41):
because of the water restrictions, you'regonna need to use some soaker hostes
or drip irrigation. Put it aroundthe foundation, run it, put it
on a time or sort it runstwice a day, fifteen minutes each time.
That'll get moisture going back into thesoil and cause it to expand.
Now it's not gonna band all theway back the way it was, but

(28:03):
it'll darn sure help. And thoseare exempt from the water restrictions until we
get up to like stage four orfive. Oh okay, now, I
will tell you up front renters alot of times, Oh you're running up
my water bill. It does increasethe water bill, you know, ten
fifteen bucks. It's usually not ahuge deal on the water bill, but

(28:26):
renters will will make a bigger dealout of it than it is. That's
going to help you minimize the problemfrom getting any worse than it is right
now. And you know, havemy company do West Foundation Repair come out
take a look. It doesn't costyou anything to get an estimate, so
you know what you're dealing with.Do you get some nice trees out in

(28:47):
that front where those doors are startingto stick? The HLWA send out nastygram's
about two or three four weeks ago. There's one oak tree per front yard,
per house in the neighborhood. Thehouse next door is all dark,
there's no grass, Yeah, burnedup. We have one oak tree trying

(29:07):
to make it. Yep, soI got one tree tall, but it's
an oak. It's making up andits roots are reaching out looking for moisture
and it's finding it under that foundationand that's probably why it's rapidly moving.
So a simple root barrier may helpyou out tremendously as well. But like
I said, gived West Foundation Repaircall and let us take a look at

(29:32):
it and will be more happy tohelp you out with it. Okay,
thank you so much. You bettake care and we're gonna take a quick
break seven one three, two onetwo five eight seven four. Let's talk
about Texas Remodel Teams window division.You know, we've talked about Texas Remodel
Team as far as being a remodeler, but they've got a window division.

(29:55):
That's all those guys do is replacementwindow. So if you need windows for
your home, I want you tocall Texas Remodel Team. Now. For
the last ten years they've been partof the show and you never hear complaints
on them. They do a greatjob. In fact, they have a
four point nine stars out of fiveon Google Reviews and an A plus rating

(30:17):
with the BBB. They'll take greatcare of you. Call two eight one
six one two fifty nine ninety one. That's two eight one six one two
fifty nine ninety one, or justgo to thhipro dot com and click on
the link for Texas Remodel Team.They can help you whether you want vinyl

(30:38):
windows, wood windows, or fiberglass. That's Texas Remodel Team. All right.
So we were just talking about thatfoundation problem and if you need to
call dust Foundation Repair, give usa call at seven one three four seven
three seven one five six let oneof the guys come out take a look,

(30:59):
see what's going on. Like Isaid, if you're you know,
in the city limits areas, itdoesn't cost you anything to get an opinion,
and then you may find all youneed is preventative maintenance. We're full
Bowe repair again. It's due WestFoundation Repair. Welcome to Texas summer,
the only state where you get condensationon your butt from the hot water in

(31:22):
the toilet bowl. Here's Jim DotTexas Home Improvement. Hey, welcome back.
This portion of Texas home improvement ismade possible by sun burst shutters.
Again our number seven one three,two one two five eight seven four.
We're gonna head out to Spring andTim. How can I help you today?

(31:48):
Hello? Tim. We will putTim on hold and we'll head to
the next call. Then let's see, we're gonna go to Northwest Houston.
Robert. This is Jim. Howcan I help you? Hello Jim,
thanks for taking my calm. We'reremodeling an older kitchen, an older house,
and we took up the ceramic tilein the kitchen and the rest of

(32:12):
our house is flooring and we're gonnaput in some Lamont flooring and we want
to put in some transition strips.The transition strips that I bought have like
a little quarter inch sticking out inthe bottom. Is there a strip that
goes underneath that that's supposed to snapinto because I didn't get it when I
picked up the material. Yes,there isn't. And they typically sell them

(32:37):
separate. Okay, is it?Are they standard sizes? Like if I
buy a metal strip as opposed toa plastic one because I'm afraid the plastic
will crack with time. Well,I've had mine down for twenty years and
they haven't cracked yet. Well okay, well I'll call the company then and

(32:59):
see if they're got him. I'msure they've got them. They just maybe
forgot Yeah, yeah, just justcheck on them. And what happens is
the wooden strip comes out being eightfeet long. Those little plastic strips are
three feet long, and so yougot to use multiple ones typically because they're
made for like the door waste andstuff like that. But they work very

(33:22):
well and you shouldn't have any problemswith them breaking. Okay, thank you
so much. You bet take careagain At number seven one three, two,
one two, five, eight sevenfour, Hey, tim, are
you there? Hey, how areyou? Thanks for taking my phone call?

(33:44):
You bet? How can I helpyou? Okay, I've got a
house that was custom built in twothousands and the Scott Champion windows, aluminum,
double windows, thermal et cetera.But I'm starting to have leaks around
the windows and it's a brick house, and so I've had people come out

(34:07):
and cough, et cetera, andit seems like it comes back. The
question is do I just keep onhaving people cock it? Do I end
up trying to replace a huge numberof windows? Is it leaking? The

(34:28):
cocking is being done where the windowmeets the brick correct, yes, yeah,
Okay, So I don't know thatthat's the source of the leak.
In other words, it could bebad installation, could be defective window,
could be just a cocking to seeon the window. So I can't tell

(34:52):
you exactly what it is. SureI've had out and they look at it
and they do a water says wecan't do it. But sure enough with
her urricane season. A matter offact, there's somebody out there. That's
why I had you on mute whenI was asking a question. And my
Spanish isn't very good. Well,when you have it cocked, does it

(35:14):
fix the problem? Well, thething is they they cocked. I had
some windows replaced where the seals werebroke, So I can't tell you exactly
what fixed what. Okay, sothere's I Actually my main problem is that

(35:37):
on the back on the second floorthere's a TV game room that's Scott.
That Scott three windows across that arelike three feet to six feet tall and
bug there's a two bricks going acrossand then there's an arch with three more

(35:58):
windows going a offs and that topone ends up, I end up on
the bottom windows. It ends updripping through onto the blinds and then down
to the window sills. Okay,it's knocked through. And I've had those
windows replaced and I've had them cocked, and it's like, wait a minute,

(36:22):
we need It's like going to adoctor until they really find the problem.
You can spend a whole lot ofmoney. Yeah, I'm getting nowhere.
So and if I do replace thewindows, my question is you have
wood windows, you have a liminum, and you have the plastic right so

(36:42):
vinyl vinyl. So yeah, that'smy problem. I don't know the answer.
And which window would you be recommended. Thank you, good ahead.
Obviously I haven't looked at the place, so I can't say what's causing the
leak, but I will tell youmost of the time it is the cocking
it causes the leaks because the waywindows are put together nowadays. In your

(37:04):
house is only twenty years old,you know, the glass is pretty much
sealed onto the framework, and thenthe window gets installed and it gets cocked
around it. On new construction,they're also doing weather stripping around the outside,
and if that was skipped, thatcould possibly explain some of the issues
you're having. As far as newwindows, you know, I personally would

(37:30):
first verify what's causing the problem bycalking the existing windows before I had new
ones put in. If I gowith new windows, I can tell you
what I put in my own house. It was vinyl windows. They're extremely
cost effective, they are extremely energyefficient, and they're durable. You know

(37:51):
a lot of times people worry,oh, well, it's it's going to
crack over time. You know,it may forty fifty years from now.
By then you're gonna want different windowsanyways, So that's what I would go
with now, unless you want thelook of wood or the fiberglass stuff that's
offered. Then you go with those. But for the money, you're not

(38:15):
going to beat the vinyl windows.But again start with having them cocked and
sealed first. With that, we'regonna take a quick break. We'll be
right back. Thank you. Youknow you've heard me talk about USA Insulation,
and I'll tell you what. Ifyou are looking for a way to
increase the r value of your home, take a look at USA Insulation.

(38:37):
You know a lot of times wethink, oh, there's nothing I can
do with these walls. There is. USA Insulation has proprietary non expansive foam
they can inject right into the wallsof your existing home. You'll get the
best our value. It has agreat fire rating and it's going to cancel
up to eighty percent of the noisefrom outside as well. So call USA

(39:00):
Insulation at three four six two nineseven twenty eight hundred. That's three four
six two nine seven twenty eight hundred. Let them come out, take a
look, give you a price toget your house more energy efficient, and
they can address the attic at thesame time. Now they're going to use

(39:20):
a breathable insulation in the attic,but on the walls. It's gonna be
all nice and sealed up and energyefficient. Woodlands water Restoration. You know
that last guy I mentioned hurricane season, and we all know that when a
hurricane comes in, we need acompany we can trust to get the house
put back together and deal with theinsurance company. That's what they do at

(39:43):
Woodlands Water Restoration. But it's notjust from hurricanes. It can be from
a flood obviously, mold, fire, any type of damage two eight one
five, seven, six eight fourfive nine four. Woodlands Water Restoration the
only state where you eat halloweenos tocool your mouth off. Welcome to Texas

(40:05):
Summer. Here's more with Jim Duttonon Texas own improvements. They welcome back
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four Stephen West Houston, How
can I help you? Yes,sir, Jim, thank you. I
was wondering what I could put ona my front porch. It's a good

(40:27):
sized porch concrete, But when it'shumidity or rain that that concrete gets so
slick. I'm afraid I or somebodyelse who could take a fall. Something
with some grits, some sort ofaggregate you could put on it. I
don't know, what what's they want? You know, if you'll go over
to Floren Decor, they actually havea product that can be put onto tile

(40:52):
now to make it where it's notslippery. And that same product I think
would work on that slick concrete finishas well. Okay, is it something
you paint on It just rolls onand it's invisible, you won't see it.

(41:14):
Oh okay, blowing to core.Well, thank you for this suggestion.
I'll go check them out. Yeah, tell them you're looking for the
non slip product to go on thetile. Non slip. But even though
it's they have it for tile,you think it way works. I think
it'll work just fine on that slickconcrete as well. Thank you so much.

(41:36):
I appreciate your help. You betyou take care you two sir.
Thank you. Man. With that, we got to take a break for
news, traffic weather. We'll beback with another hour of Texas Home improvements.
Seven one three, two one twofive eight seven four. Austin,
you have a wonderful labor day andwe'll visit with you again next weekend.

(42:08):
Let's talk about American Standard, youknow I mentioned them a little earlier.
That is my choice and air conditioners. American Standard is nationally recognized for excellence
in performance, reliability, and customersatisfaction. You can take care of your
family all year long with American Standardair. In American Standard technology, it

(42:30):
meets the ever changing Texas weather headon. So keep your home cool and
humidity free, or be ready fora little heat when you need it.
Invest wisely and invest in the homecomfort system that'll last you a long long
time. That's American Standard heating andair conditioning comfort the way you like it.

(42:50):
And like I said, check outthat variable speed. I've had mine
for I don't remember this one forfour or five years already. I guess
four years. And that variable speechjust makes a world of difference, not
only on your energy bills, butyour comfort level. This is probably gonna
sound a little strange to you.Texas Home Improvement is on the air with

(43:15):
your host, Jim. Do whatI need to know? You always give
me the way to go, greatobservation. You got to be on the
radio. Well this might be theanswer to my pros. And I'm really
glad I could talk to you.You're you're the smartest guy no, and
I mean there call Jim now withall your home improvement questions at seven one
three two one two five eight sevenfour. That's seven one three, two

(43:37):
one two five eight seven four TexasHome Improvement brought to you by Duos Services,
Plumbing, Foundation, Repair and airConditioning, Texas Remodeled Team Windows,
the official window company of Texas HomeImprovement. American Standards, Comfort the way
you like it. James Hardy Sighting, the best sighting on the planet.
USA Insulation Wall Foam insulation for existinghomes, Ready seal stain and seiler flooring

(44:01):
decor Sunburst Shutters where beauty meets energyefficiency. Guardian Roof Systems, Residential and
commercial rooping specialist, Woodland's Water Restoration, your hometown solution for property damage and
victors remodeling and construction, Party plankSpecialists. And now broadcasting live from the

(44:22):
Dutton Ranch, here's Jim dot Hey. Welcome back to Texas Home Improvements,
your total home improvement source. Thisportion of Texas home improvement is made possible
by American standard heating and air conditioning. And don't forget about our website thchipro

(44:45):
dot com. But let's start withthe number to call in seven one three
two one two five eight seven fourthat's seven one three two one two five
eight seven four. On the website, you'll find the people you hear me
talk about. I'll find a wholelot of questions and answers and videos to
go with those. You'll also finda place to sign up for our newsletter

(45:07):
that goes out every other week.And of course you ask Jim Button where
you can send in an email question. It's all available at t hi pro
dot com. Now, let's getready to head straight back into the call.
Seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four. We're gonna go

(45:27):
to sugar Land, Albert. Welcometo seven forty KTRH. How can I
help you? Okay, thank you? Regarding AC ducting, Yes, I've
got a situation where the duct comesout of the AC unit and it runs
to a series of rooms. Sothe first and the second room are freezing,

(45:49):
and then by the time it getsto the third and the fourth room,
I guess it's the same duct runningyou know, in single file to
the to the four rooms. Bythe time it gets to the third and
fourth room, it's very warm,and I'm wondering, you know, how
should duck systems be designed properly?Number one and number two. If you

(46:14):
have this situation, is there anythingthat can be done, like some kind
of diverter or something that could beabsolutely Yeah, that doesn't sound like the
duck work is designed wrong. NowI'm not. I don't know what the
sizes of the ducks are that youhave, because that can be an issue.
But the normal is to have atrunk line that runs down and then
feeders that come off of it forthe different rooms. And in order to

(46:37):
balance it out where you get thesame temperatures everywhere, they put in what's
called a damper, and it's reallyjust a flap that gets adjusted so it
restricts some of the air going intothe first room, which pushes more air
down to the second and third room. And so by making those minor adjustments

(46:57):
they balance out the air and temperaturesin the rooms that way. Okay,
So those these dampers are in theevent or the monitor like these are in
the ceiling, right, so thoseof the right there at the end.
No, No, the dampers arein the duck work itself. And where
it would be is, yeah,when you got the main trunk line running

(47:17):
down, there would be a damperthat goes into the duck. That's going
to the first room right there whereit meets the Yeah, the main I
suspect they didn't they didn't put thosein, and honestly, a lot of
times they don't put them in inthe beginning, and then if there's issues

(47:39):
like this, then they get addedin and do what's called a balancing of
the system. Right right, Butthis is a condo or apartment, so
I don't know if it's how theywould access the attic space to get in
there and put them in. They'restill even in the down homes and condos

(48:00):
there's access to the attic space.Okay, okay, well I appreciate it.
Is there anything that can be putin at the air monitor itself the
event? I know they have dampersthere at the event, but adjusting it
at that point, you know,if you if you try closing them off,
I think all it does is theairflow remains the same. It just

(48:22):
increases the speed of the air.Its yeah, it does put some restriction
on the air then, And nothat those aren't made to for balancing the
system, you would have to havethose dampers put in. Okay, all
right, thank you very much,appreciating you bet you take care you two

(48:46):
and again seven one three two onetwo five eight seven four we're gonna head
to Kingwood and Pete. Welcome toTexas Home Improvement. Thank you to appreciate
you taking my call, my pleasure. I have I have a hot water
heater that's five years old. It'sgas, and I am getting a lot

(49:07):
of iron chips, you know,coming through the system into the bathtub and
the master bath. I've had itflushed twice and actually had an attempted by
a plumber to replace the anode rod. He couldn't. He couldn't get the
other anod out rod out. AndI don't know if it's a source issue
or if the actual water heater isbad. I can't imagine five years old.

(49:29):
I mean it would be bad,but I'm just trying to figure that
out. It's normally gonna be thewater supply itself. Yeah, yeah.
What the an old rod does iswork on to keep the older the water
from having an older, But it'sit's really not going to solve the problem

(49:53):
that you're having with the iron thatthat's normally going to be in the water
itself. Well, you know,they used to flush Manz twice a year
in neighborhoods, and they rarely dothat now anymore, correct, which is
a shame. Okay, well,I appreciate that. I do have one
other question for you, Sure,go ahead. He called about windows.

(50:15):
I have a house that's built ninetyeight, and when I'm washing windows on
the outside, I think the sealhas gone at the top of the window
because I'm getting a lot of watercoming through inside over the window glass and
then down the inside of the window. Ye is there anything I can do
for that without sort of replacing thosewindows or yeah, you're talking about where

(50:36):
the glass in the frame meat,Yes, sir. Yeah, you know,
typically windows have a plastic strip thereand those will tend to deteriorate,
and if they do, you caneither put in a new plastic strip if
you can find the right size,or just glaze it like they used to
do with windows, and they actuallymake the glazing in a cock tube now.

(51:00):
Yeah, so you can seal itup and and keep the same windows
without having to spend the money onreplacements. Okay, So you go your
local home improvement store and you canget this window window glaze, and it's
a type of application you can eitherget it in a cocking application or where

(51:20):
you have a little tub and usea putty knife to put it on.
Either way, Okay, I see, well, I surely appreciate that it's
cheaper than replacing the windows, whichyou know, I know you recommend vinyl
windows. That that's that's another investment. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
I mean not everybody can do themdo them at once, and especially if

(51:42):
you're having a water leak that way, you absolutely want to go ahead and
get it sealed up. Yes,sir, I really appreciate your your hell
when you bet my pleasure. Havea wonderful labor day weekend you two right
seven one three two one two fiveeight seven four, gonna head out to
Katie. Hello, David, Hi, how are you wonderful? How about

(52:07):
you? Oh? Doing well?I enjoy your show. I listened to
it on weekends when I running errandsand always always a good conversation, and
I learned a lot. I wantdidn't ask you a question. I'm trying
to, you know, do someaesthetic things for my house. And the

(52:31):
the numbers on the house on thecement, you know, they're really faded
and I'm pressure washed it down toyou know, just about nothing, and
I want to paint them, butI don't know what type of paint to
use on on those. And Iwas wondering if you had any suggestions on

(52:51):
that. You talk about the painton the curb for the house address,
well, not on the curb,but actually on the house. You have
you know, a little that littlecement square okay, and those have just
faded. It's about twenty five yearold house. Are they recessed or are

(53:13):
they just are the numbers flush?Okay? So if you'll go you just
go to the box store even andthey'll have a masonry paint and you literally
can just get the black or whatevercolor you want to use in a masonry
paint in a little brush and andrepaint them. Okay, just a masonry

(53:37):
p Yeah, you're looking for masonrypaint. If if you don't find it
at the box stores, you cango to like a Sherwin Williams or one
of those places. The problem isthe box store usually will have it in
a in a lot, smaller quantitybecause you don't need a lot. You
get just that that one little bithe can and it's going to take care
of it. Yeah, Yeah,I was afraid. I would have to

(54:00):
buy a whole gallon of it,and yeah, eat that much like letters?
Well you get it, get agallon and go around knocking on the
neighbors doors. Hey, would youlike your numbers painted? I could do
that. I thought of one otherquestion while I was on hold, if
I may. I had a powersteering leak on my truck, and I

(54:25):
finally got that in a number ofother issues fixed this summer. And I've
pressure washed and I've been trying toget the stain out, but you know,
the sill for the cement on thedriveway is pretty much gone because the
age I suspect, and and I'mhaving a hard time getting that stain out.

(54:46):
And I was wondering if there wasany chemical that I might could use
that it would do it. Theregular dawn soap, you know, and
scrubbing it, letting it set fordays and power washing, and it's just
I can't seem to get it out. And you're not going to the problem
is concrete is very porse, andit soaks down into the pores of it

(55:09):
and it's there to stay. Now, over time the sun will burn it
out some. But yeah, they'reonce they've been sitting there and soaked in.
It's it's there to stay. Okay, okay, well, I mean
it's it was worth a shot.I'll just part my truck over it.

(55:30):
There you go. Way, youhave a very blessed labor day, and
it was it was nice talking withyou. I appreciate it and thanks for
calling in. Yes sir again sevenone three two one two five eight seven
four. You know one thing aboutJames Hardy siding. You don't have to

(55:52):
worry about those stains like that becauseone, it's on the wall, so
you're not getting stuff that's hitting straighton it. But it's painted and it
holds paint better than wood ever thoughtabout. And the paint is what protects
it. And hey, yeah youcan get a stain on paint, but
you just go over it with newpaint and the stain is taken care of.

(56:13):
But the nice thing about James Hardysiding isn't the fact that it'll hold
paint better than what ever thought about. It's a fact that it's not going
to deteriorate over time, being cementbased. Bugs don't like, it is
not going to catch fire, youknow, it's just once it's on,
it's done. So if you're lookingfor a siding to put on your home,

(56:35):
and let me tell you cement typesiding is the number one way to
increase the curve repeal of your home. You need to take a look at
James Hardy Siding. Just go tot hipro dot com and click on the
link to James Hardy Siding. Allright, so we were just talking about
windows there a second ago, andyou know, if you're ready to replace

(56:59):
the window is on your home.You're tired of high energy bills, you're
tired of all the noise from outside, and you're tired of looking at windows
that are just playing ugly. Youknow what happens with aluminum frame windows as
they age and oxidize and all that. Take a look at Texas Remodel Teams
windows. You'll have a choice whetheryou want vinyl, which I use in

(57:22):
my home, would fiberglass, Itdoesn't matter. Texas Remodel Team has them
all. So you make the decisionhow you want your home to look.
Call two eight one six one twofifty nine ninety one. That's two eight
one six one two fifty nine ninetyone, or just go to thhipro dot

(57:45):
com and click on the link toTexas Remodel Teams, window Division. Texas
the only state where a seatbelt bucklemakes a pretty good Brandon iron. Click

(58:07):
in our ticket. This is TexasHome Improvement with Jim Dunton. Hey,
welcome back to Texas Home Improvement.Your total home improvement sores seven one three
two one two five eight seven four. I'm just gonna let you in on
a little insight here. You're notI typically do the show from my house,

(58:28):
which I am today, And I'msitting here and I watch out the
backyard, and I've got a pondin the backyard, so I see geese
and squirrels and rabbits, all kindsof stuff running around. All a sudden
everything disappeared. I had a hawkmade two passes through the yard looking for
dinner, and boarded everything scatter whenwhen he came around. Anyways, you

(58:52):
got a question seven one three twoone two five eight seven four. We're
gonna head out to Madison County.Hello, Al, Hello Jim. How
can I help you today? Well, one kind of maybe shift gears a
bit with the subject of manufactured homesthat have suddenly become apparently very popular,

(59:16):
maybe because of maybe the tiny homesbut uh, the subject of luxury manufactured
homes not not a mobile home andnot a trailer home. So you know,
listening to the salespeople. But wewe stepped off in boldly two and

(59:37):
a half years ago and ordered acustom manufactured home with two to six exterior
walls, party board and batting allthe way around, metal roof. Beautiful
house. But we've had nothing butissues, heartaches, struggles from the point

(59:59):
of purchase because we we did acash cash by we decided to move out
on family land up from moving outfrom the Houston area, and it's just
been a right now, I guessthe most expensive issue that we're facing right
now again gets back to the subjectof windows in this custom house we had

(01:00:22):
I'm going to call them black ofa better term picture windows, the noors
being a single window, no notsu are uh I guess five of them
are three roughly three by six feetand there's three about three feet by three
feet in they're dual pain and they'velost their seal and uh. The manufacturer,

(01:00:45):
which is here in in Texas,up in East Texas and Malakoff where
it's built, you know, theyhave been very uh reluctant to do anything.
We know it's going to be anexpensive fix because they're gonna have to
because of the way that we're framedin and finished in. You cannot literally,
you literally cannot replace the glass unitas you might under normal circumstances.

(01:01:10):
They'll literally have to take off theexterior party plank or come in and take
off a lot of nice trim workon the interior to literally remove the windows
instead of replacing the glass units themselves. So just wondered how you might,
uh might approach that, what yourthoughts are, So you know we're talking,

(01:01:37):
I'm thinking we're talking in the neighborhoodof you know, twenty thousand dollars
plus to do this with five windows. Well, the first thing I would
say is normally the window manufacturers aregoing to have a warranty on those that
should kick in and cover the expensefor the builder, and it's it's up

(01:02:00):
to him to a lot of timesput it in, but not up to
him to have to bear the expenseof getting the window. And they have
looked at it that because normally theway windows put together, regardless of how
it's framed, you should be ableto replace the glass without having to replace
the whole frame. And I understandthat and actually literally have had that done

(01:02:24):
and a brick and mortar house thatwe saw it moving up here. But
this and I didn't really did notfully, I guess, understand it until
I had an individual, an individualglass company come out from Bryant College station
and look at it and they said, you know, there's literally no way

(01:02:45):
to do this without taking off theexterior hearty or taking off all the trim
from the inside to either remove thewindow entirely or access it where you could
take where you could replace the glassunit itself within the frame. Wow.
Okay, so the manufacturer willing todo it? Well, no, they're

(01:03:12):
really they're not. I mean theythey've been put on notice now for almost
a year and you know we're atyou know TDHCA with the tech with the
state there. You know, it'sa great idea, but you know,
getting uh, someone that can pushback against these manufacturers is is really it's

(01:03:34):
really difficult. What was differently beingbuilt here in Texas? Well? What
was the warranty on the on thewindows that they gave the walking on the
windows? Uh it's five years okay, okay, Al, can can you
hold on for a minute. Ineed to take a quick break for news,
traffic and weather and we'll come back. Oh, thank you, Welcome

(01:03:59):
back with Mark Texas how Improvement.So let's talk air conditioning for a second.
You know that you got windows inorder to keep the air from outside
from coming in and vice versa,or your air from inside from going out.
Well, American Standard is to makethe inside of your home comfortable.
And American Standard heating and air conditioningnot only can they make the air comfortable

(01:04:25):
temperature wise, but humidity control andthat means a lot. But let's get
down to the basic function. Imean, American Standard is nationally recognized for
excellence for performance, reliability and customersatisfaction. So you can take care of
your family all year long with AmericanStandard air and American Standard technology. It

(01:04:46):
meets the ever changing Texas weather headon. So keep your home cool or
humidity free or be ready for alittle heat when you need it. Invest
wisely and invest in the home comfortsystem that will last you a long long
time. Comfort the way you likeit. That's American Standard Air dot com.

(01:05:09):
He'll give you his honest opinion everytime. That'll get you unfriended on
Facebook. Here's more with Jim Duttonon Texas home improvement. Hey, welcome
back to Texas Home Improvement. Sevenone three, two one two five eight
seven four. This portion of Texashome Improvement is made possible by the Pasadena

(01:05:32):
Livestock Show and Rodeo. It isRodeo time in Pasadena. Rodeo itself is
September twenty second through the thirtieth.You can get the complete lineup of entertainment.
And when you go to Pasadena Rodeodot com if you want to come
out for the cookoff, hey,that is actually September. Let's see fifteenth

(01:05:56):
and sixteenth, and that'll be aFriday and Saturday, and I'll be out
there at the sps D West CookingTent. I'm going to be actually doing
the show from out there that weekend. And of course the passing in Rodeo
Parade will take place next weekend Septemberninth, down Spencer Highway. But regardless,
if you want to get more information, you want to enter a float

(01:06:18):
in the parade, whatever, justgo to Pasadena Rodeo dot com. All
right, let's get ready and headback into our call. We were talking
with Al and again our number sevenone three, two one two five eight
seven four. And also we weretalking that the windows had a five year

(01:06:39):
warranty on them, and it soundslike you you put them on notice before
the five years was up. Correct, absolutely, Okay, have you had
started dealing with an attorney yet?No, you know, just one of
those things that you know, I'vehad a number of people say, you
know, not dollars, not bigenough to get an attorney involved, you

(01:07:01):
know, And we just want tobe we want to be fair and reasonable
about it. We want what wewhat we purchased. And so I'll digress
a moment too. We do havetwo single hung I guess you call them
single hung windows that the dual painfeal is broken on those. However,
they can the way they are framedin according to the independent glass company we

(01:07:24):
had come out that those could bereplaced, uh you know, the normal
method of replacing what. I haven'ttaken the frame out or any exterior wall
off. But yeah, it's uhso just interested to hear because you know,
these houses are becoming more and morepopular. Well, is not a

(01:07:49):
factor of the housing itself, it'sit's actually an issue with the window manufacturer
when they fog up that way.You know, the the builder they buy
their windows from somebody who's supposed tomake them where they don't fog up like
that because what causes that is theseal on the pack has broken and it

(01:08:12):
led air in there and that causesthem to fog. So it's really not
an issue with the construction of thehome itself. Yeah, well, I'm
just the input from the independent glasscompany. Sure, they're saving us more
because of the installation method has probablyled up to the cause of the broken

(01:08:36):
seal, which we really you know, wife and I really don't care,
so to speak, long as itis taken care of, you know,
because you know we have we've paid. You know, we've paid for this.
Yep, it's right up front.They don't they won't, they won't
move them to your site and untilyou are paid up, and you know,

(01:08:58):
we're trying to enjoy the family land, and this is just it.
It's taken all the joy out ofout of the move to the to the
rank. Sure. So here's whatI would do if already put them on
notice and they're not taking care ofit, You've been dealing with this for
a year, I would simply letthem. Know. Look, I don't
want to have to go legal,but I will if I have to.

(01:09:23):
You got thirty days. In thirtydays, you will now start dealing with
my attorney. And you know thatgives them ample time to deal with the
situation because they don't want to haveto deal with attorneys either. It's cheaper
them to come out and just fixthe windows. The amount of money you're
talking about, even if it wasonly five thousand dollars, it is worth

(01:09:45):
bringing in the attorney to force themto do it because when it gets to
that point, the attorney's also goingto get paid from whoever they have to
go after it. Really, youmay have the upfront costs, but you
end up recouping it back in asituation like this, because you will.
And I'm just basing on our conversationhere, but you're within your warranty time.

(01:10:09):
You've given them ample time. Nowit's time to start pulling off the
cuffs and pushing a little bit.I would love to send you some pictures
just for you to sleep first hand. Yeah, because I'm really confused on
why they The glass guy says itcan't be done without removing all the siding

(01:10:31):
and stuff, because I mean,we even put replacement windows in in houses
without removing the sidings. So Iwould love to see the pictures now are
th Hi stuff? You know,typically when you go to the website and
use the ask Jim, you're notgonna be able to send pictures. But
if you'll go to send them atJim at t hi pro dot com,

(01:11:00):
h pro dot com. Okay,yep, I'll get I'll get them that
way. Okay, I'll I'll sendthem to you a little laterus as I
get home and just have you somefeedback, Uka would be great. I'll
take you so much for your time. And we've been listening to you for
years and you give us a lotof help every time we listen to you.

(01:11:25):
Well, I appreciate that you havea wonderful labor day for you.
Two nights too, sorry, rightand again seven one three two one two
five eight seven four we're gonna headover to champions Hello, Larry. All
right, Jim, someone ran intomy mailbox and demolished it. Is there

(01:11:45):
someone you can recommend who can repairthat? It depends what what was it
made out of? Brick? Okay? Was it brick? One? Then
yeah, you're you're gonna be lookingfor a brick masonry and uh, let's
see where did his number go?I have a brick guy that I use,

(01:12:10):
and I thought his number was righthere, but I'm not seeing it.
Here we go, mister brick sevenone three eight five six eight three
five nine. Okay, all right, sir, all right, we'll give
him a call. Thank you somuch. You're welcome. You take care

(01:12:31):
right, Yeah, people do that. Not nice, but it does happen
again our number seven one three twoone two five eight seven four more.
Go ahead and bring in another call, Jonathan. How are you today doing

(01:12:51):
good? Sir? How are yougoing wonderful? How can I help you?
In reference to the gentleman's call aboutthe stain in the driveway, Yeah,
trick that my granddad passed down.You take copious amounts of mineral spirits,
pour it over the site, letit soak in, pour more of

(01:13:14):
it in, and then take akitty litter, throw it on top,
use a brick to crush it upinto a fine powder, and then kind
of scrub it in with the brick. Let it set for a few days,
and then just sweep it up.M okay, And you may have
to do it a time or two, but it'll draw it out soak it

(01:13:40):
up. You may have just alittle bit of a spot. But I've
used it quite a few times andhad fairly good luck with it. Okay,
Yeah, I use kitty litter whenit first happens to soak stuff like
that up, But when it's beensitting for a while, I've not had
good luck with that. But doingwhat you just said, the mineral spirits

(01:14:01):
will resoften the oil stain, andthen the kiddy litters start soaking it up,
so that probably would work. Yes, yes, sir, all right,
well I appreciate that. All right, you have a blust stay sir,
you as well take care and againour number seven one three two one

(01:14:23):
two five eight seven four. Let'stalk about sunburst shutters. You know,
those are the best selling plantation shuttersin America, and Pollywood shutters, which
is what they make theirs plantation shuttersout of. It gives you that rich
look of fine wood shutters without wood'sinherent problems. It performs better, lasting

(01:14:46):
far longer than traditional wood shutters andinsulating up to seventy percent more efficiently.
Now, Pollywood shutters are guaranteed notto chip crack, warp or split.
But everything at Sunburst Shutters is designedto last longer, look better, and
outperform all of the products on themarket. And yes, I do have
Sunburst shutters at my house. Myparents have it, my sister has it.

(01:15:11):
We even have them up at theDeer. At least, they really
do look gorgeous. If you're lookingfor shutters for your home, you need
to take a look at Sunburst Shutters. They'll have a design consultant come out
and work with you to get youthat perfect look and fit for your home.
Seven one three eight nine six eightyone fifty that's seven one three eight

(01:15:33):
nine, six eighty one fifty fourSunburst Shutters. You know, I'm aware
none of us are thinking that it'sgonna ever cool off. It's gonna stay
this miserably hot forever. It's not. I mean we're hit and fall now.
The weather's gonna start changing before long, and you know what, it's

(01:15:57):
going to be time to service thatacsism again. And you know you do
need to have it done twice ayear because once you're getting it ready for
the summer months, once you're gettingit ready for the winter months, and
it still requires cleaning the fan andall the stuff that dust does when they
do a service on your air conditioningsystem. But the thing is, you

(01:16:23):
get your car service because it's gotall those moving parts, so does your
air conditioning system Now at due West, Yes, we can take care of
all the services that you need onyour AC system. We can do the
repairs if you have one that's broken, and obviously we can replace your system
with a new one if you needthat as well. But we can also

(01:16:45):
finance all that for you. Sowhether it's just a service that you need
or full blown replacement when you wantthe best called due West air Conditioning at
seven one three four seven five zerozero zero four. To all you folks

(01:17:06):
who like to vent on social media, shut up and vent your attic.
It's probably a one hundred and fiftydegrees in that. We're back to Texas
Home Improvement with Jilly duckt Hey,welcome back to Texas Home Improvement seven one
three, two one two five eightseven four. This portion of Texas Home

(01:17:28):
Improvement is made possible by Guardian roofSystems. All right, let's see here
Sheila and waksa hat she she sentin an email and if you live out
in the country a little bit.This is one that's going to really pertain
to you. She's asking about maintaininga septic system. We've lived in our

(01:17:53):
current house for three years. It'sabout seventeen years old. The previous owner
told us they did not do anyspecial additives to the septic system, so
we haven't either. This month,we had several backups into our showers.
We were able to plunge it enoughto where no water is standing, but

(01:18:15):
when the water is running, theshower makes a glug glug glug sound about
every three to four minutes. Doesthat mean that possibly we have trouble further
down the line? Can you recommendwhat approach we should take or a company
that services Ellis County thinks, Well, first, I'm gonna tell you I

(01:18:41):
don't have a company I recommend becausethe septic companies they typically work their little
area and that's it, and soI just don't know anybody in that area.
But the second thing I'm gonna tellyou is, I'm not convinced yet
that you have a septic problem.Normally, if you've got a septic problem,
you're gonna have a backup outside.You're gonna you your discharge lines,

(01:19:02):
your lateral lines. You know thatour leech field is normally going to be
so saturated that it's coming up throughthe soil. In other words, you
got a nice green lawn while therest of us have burnt brown grass going
right now, the glug glug soundyou're hearing and stuff, all that is

(01:19:28):
describing to me that you may havea clogged vent pipe and so it's not
allowing the water to train out properly. And I would check that approach unless
you don't. Unless you do haveyou know, wet areas out in the
yard from your leech field and stuff, then yes, you're having an issue
with the septic. But it soundslike you have a plug in the vent

(01:19:55):
pipes. Now, it can stillbe in the sewer pipe where the vent
pipe goes up. Something could havegotten in there and plugged that up,
But I think that's the approach Iwould check first. Now, how can
you check it out? Well,the first thing you can do is actually
run a snake down through the lineand try to clean it out that way.

(01:20:15):
But also you can run it downthrough the vent. If you don't
have a snake, a water hosecan help with that. As well,
and that would also tell you ifthe septic is full. The third thing,
a tank on a septic system doesneed to be pumped out periodically.
I don't know how long it's beensince yours was pumped out. If you've

(01:20:39):
been there three years and it hasn'tbeen pumped out and the previous owner didn't
have it pumped out, it canbe that you're just playing filled the tank
with the solids. Your leech fieldis still working properly, so that may
be another thing that you've got tolook at. But again, normally,
if that's the case, you're havingmore moisture coming up to the surface because

(01:21:01):
everything is full, and there's usuallya clean out that would be backing up
on you as well. So Ireally just based on the information on the
email, I really think you mayhave a venting issue. Gotta take a
quick break. We'll be back withone last segment of Texas home improvement.

(01:21:32):
Let's talk about ready Seal. It'sfar and away the best product for staining
a fence, a deck, orany outdoor wood surface, and Ready Seal
stain and Sealer is made here inTexas, so it really it understands how
it's got to combat that Texas sun. Now, this is a stain and
sealer in one so you can addcolor and seal the wood from moisture in

(01:21:57):
one simple step. And combining thestain and sealer it eliminates extra cost because
it saves time during the application,but it still produces a high end quality
finish every time. Stain and sealwith no cracking, chip being flaking or
peeling and already seal wood. Stainand sealers penetrate deep into the wood fibers,
moisturizing the wood with waterproofing oils andcreating an inflexible barrier that keeps the

(01:22:23):
moisture out. You want to learnmore about ready seal, well, you
can go to ready seal dot com. You want to know where to get
it the box stores, lumber yards, hardware stores, or again, when
you're at ready seal dot com,it'll help you find the location nearest you.
Ah. USA Insulation, You've heardme talk about them for quite a

(01:22:45):
while. Now. If you wantto make your home more energy efficient,
you need to talk to the folksat USA Insulation. You know, it
sounds like it's going to just beterribly expensive because you got to tear off
the siding or tear off the sheetrock in order to get in there and
put new insulation. No, youdon't. This is relatively simple and really

(01:23:06):
not all that expensive, because ifyou got a brick home, they just
drill a hole through the mortar lines. They insert a tube and inject a
non expansive, proprietary foam insulation intothe wall that encapsulates any insulation that you
may have in there, increases theR value, helps with the noise reduction

(01:23:28):
from outside, but it's also agreat fire retardant. I'm telling you this
is the way to make your housemore energy efficient and more comfortable. Call
USA Insulation three four six two nineseven twenty eight hundred. That's three four
six two nine seven two eight zerozero's but it tells you you can't do

(01:24:00):
it. Tell him to kiss yourcrew Bar Improvement with Jim Dutt. They
welcome back to Texas Home Improvement soreal quick. I got an email from
Mark here just about forty minutes agoon attic insulation. He says, I'm
redoing the insulation in my attic becauseof race sealing inside the house. I

(01:24:24):
have attic walls with two by fourstuds and the attic floor. What insulation
should I use in each What sidefaced or unfaced? Well, you really
don't need facing. I mean typicallythe reason we have facing is to staple
the insulation during new construction. Buton those walls in the attic you may

(01:24:45):
need to put the facing. Itdoesn't matter which way you have it facing
though, because once it's in there, you're gonna slice up the paper anyways.
So that it's still breathable. Onthe attic floor, I would typically
use blown in insulation. There's aproduct up in the Dallas area called Milo

(01:25:06):
Insulation. I really love that,and they're expanding into Houston, but they're
not quite there yet. So again, blown in fiberglass will take care of
you. On that, have agreat labor day, and don't forget two
o'clock tomorrow right here on seven fortyKTRH another hour of Texas Home Improvement.

(01:25:27):
Before I go, though, let'stalk about Woodlands Water Restoration. You know,
when disaster happens, and it doesn'tmatter if it's water damage, fire,
flood, mold, you need acompany you can trust. I've used
Woodlands Water Restoration multiple times, andif you're having issues, you need to

(01:25:48):
call Woodlands Water Restoration. They don'tonly come in that was bad English.
They not only come in and takecare of the construction part, but they're
going to deal with the insurance foryou as well and make sure you get
everything you've got coming. So don'tgo through this alone. Call the experts

(01:26:09):
at Woodland's Water Restoration for all thedamage to your home two eight one,
five, seven, six eight fourfive nine